The wacky world of my absolutely chaotic imagination Presents: The Somnium Saga
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Posted 2023-04-23 06:28:35
Chapter 8: Turning Point My father had at least done some damage to his killer before he got away. A trail of black blood seemed to follow a distinct path which I was certain would lead me right towards him. It started out simple… but then the weather suddenly had other plans. A rainstorm had begun and the water had begun to dilute the trail of dark blood I was following. The desire for vengeance was eating away at my core like a pang of hunger. Of course, this was not a hunger for food, but one for revenge. I was always a firm believer in the idea of "an eye for an eye", and now those beliefs seem to be truthful. This was my turning point, I tracked the assailant without sadness or joy, only an unfathomable amount of wrath. I had soon followed the trail to its end. The rain had soaked me to the bone, but I had kept moving along. The trail's end led me to the town's port warehouse and dry docks. By the looks of it, it doubled as a junkyard of some sort or perhaps even a landfill. The rain had washed away the rest of the trail by now, but it was clear that my target was somewhere within that wasteland. The only thing left to do was to find them and exact my revenge. A fence stood in my way, but I wasn't gonna let that stop me. There was a rip in the wired fence, it looked as if it had been slashed or something. It was just big enough for me to crawl through. With an instinctive mind, I carefully examined my surroundings, looking for any signs of life. I scaled up pyramids of dry soil and observed all I could. It was then that I caught a whiff of a new scent. Fire… and some kind of meat being cooked. It definitely wasn't anything I'd want to eat, judging by the kind of trashy, fishy smell which seemed to intermingle with the meat's smell. It was my turn to hunt the hunter, and he had foolishly led me right to his lair. I moved stealthily, making sure to remain out of his line of sight. He was now eating what looked to be a freshly cooked gull carcass. He was complaining oblivious to my presence, and almost acted more like an animal than a man. Talk about uncanny. While he looked mostly human, he certainly didn't seem like it. I watched as one of his hands began shaking slightly, and seemed to transform into something resembling a clawed hand made of ink. In fact, ink seemed to be pouring out of his mouth and eye sockets. He shook violently and suddenly turned back to normal with a sigh. He was looking at his hands, clearly distracted, so I took that as an opportunity to ambush him like some kind of wild beast. "What the hell!?" Brimstone shouted at me, actually looking a bit surprised. I glared at him. "Tell me… do you remember that man that you shot down in cold blood?" I asked with a slight growl to my voice. He blinked and then stared at me again. "He was interrupting my task! What does it matter to you anyway!?" Brimstone replied. I slammed his head against a nearby rock. "What does it matter to me?! EVERYTHING!" I screamed at him. A nearby strike of lightning briefly illuminated my face. The storm was intensifying and a harsh gust of wind blew through the structure in which I and Brimstone were standing. "Ah… it's you… my original target. Now I can actually get the job done!" Brimstone shouted at me as he threw me off and headed towards his gun, Hellfire. Another gust of wind blew through the structure, and rain came in with it. I then observed a strange feature of the rain, it was a bit different from the storm I had previously been in. The tingling sensation I felt when a drop touched my skin quickly alerted me that it was acid rain. However while it wasn't all that painful to me, it really seemed to bother Brimstone as he let out a bestial shriek of pain the moment it made contact with his skin. I saw steam, or perhaps smoke coming from the place that had been burnt by the rain. A painful looking boil had appeared on his skin, and a black substance was oozing from it. It was then that I had an idea. Some might say that my idea was a terrible, awful idea, but I wasn't exactly emotionally stable at this time. I mean, this guy had killed the last living person who had actually loved me, in a parental sense, so of course I wanted to make him pay. So, I carefully examined Brimstone's shelter for any signs of structural issues. Sure enough, I found it. The acid rain had been eating away at a pole that was responsible for holding the structure's roof up, so I decided to take advantage of that. I picked up the biggest rock I could find, and obviously still be able to carry, and chucked it right into the pole. It snapped like a twig and I quickly tried to get out of the way. As it fell, it tore a huge gash in the slowly collapsing roof, leaving Brimstone exposed to the acidic rain. He screamed in agony as his skin began to boil and bleed black blood. He crawled towards me, grabbed ahold of my leg, and stared at me. "Please! Have mercy!" He shrieked. I simply huffed and removed his hand from my leg. "You didn't show my father any mercy…so I think you should get a dosage of your own medicine." I replied sullenly yet still aggressive. Brimstone tried reaching to grab me again, but I quickly stomped his withering hand. He let out a final scream before turning into a puddle of ink. "Good riddance…" I said softly. I walked away from the scene as the rain began to come to a stop, a clear sky re-emerging from the dark clouds as I journeyed to find my allies once again. I came across my allies nearby, even though I had specifically told them not to come look for me. We exchanged glances before we began speaking. "Sol! What happened out there?" Flora shouted towards me as I approached her slowly. "I got what I wanted, Flora… the man who killed my father will never kill anybody ever again." I explained. Judging by the look on her face, she was a bit concerned. "How…how did he die, Sol. What did you do?" She asked me, backing away slightly. "A bit of freak accident. I'll spare you the details." I replied, not wanting to horrify Flora any more than she already was. I realized that I still had Dawn's wedding invitation, which was unscathed by the storm somehow. "I have something you might want to see, Flora. I saw your sister shortly before the incident, and I have reason to believe she's in danger. She gave me this." I said as I handed Flora the invite, which also looked to be a distress call. Flora carefully took the wedding invite from my hands. "She's getting married… to Ozzy!?" Flora gasped in horror. "In her own words… it's not by her own choice. She's being forced to… if she doesn't marry Ozzy, then he says he'll kill her true lover and force her to watch." I explained to Flora, whose concerned look seemed to turn into one of anger. "That piece of shit! How dare he do such a heinous thing!" Flora hollered as she clenched one of her fists tightly, her flowering vines changing from a dusky, sunset-like color to a furious reddish one. "That isn't even the worst thing that man has done to her, I'm afraid… when we met at the restaurant, she was covered in all sorts of bruises and scars." I explained solemnly. Flora was furious upon hearing this and not even Kurjak could calm her down. "I'm not a big fan of killing people… but this Ozzy… why if anyone deserves to die it's him!" Flora exclaimed angrily. "That's something that I definitely agree on… after all, he's also the one who sent out that bounty hunter… the one who killed my father. All of this is his doing." I proclaimed. Flora and I had a common enemy… and it wasn't just the Wicker Demon. Why, compared to Ozzy, the Wicker Demon was merely an animal. Sure it had tricked me, taking the form of something as harmless as Zevril, but even then it didn't seem to want to kill me. I remembered how I thought it was about to swipe me with its claw back at the speakeasy, and then came to a realization: it likely wasn't trying to slash me to bits… the positioning was all wrong. Of course the demon wasn't sober in that scenario, but even when somebody is drunk, you can still tell if their intent is to seriously harm you. This didn't seem nearly as aggressive as usual. It could've just been another trick, but even then it didn't quite make sense. Although, I couldn't help but think about how for such a seemingly mindless beast, the Wicker Demon seemed to have a great deal of intelligence within it, albeit a more instinct-based intelligence than a reason-based one. Ozzy seemed to act based on reason… albeit a reason without morality, but his motives were pretty clear. The man didn't want anyone to interfere with his villainous plans, unlike the Wicker Demon who did not have any clear motives aside from hunger that led it to kill and maim its victims; typical behavior for a large predatory animal. "So… how do we go about crashing this wedding?" Flora asked me. I had been so deep in thought that I had nearly forgotten that in order to get rid of Ozzy, we needed to crash his wedding as that would likely be when he had his guard down. In fact I believe that's what Dawn had likely been trying to tell me before Ozzy took her away. "Well, we obviously need a plan… as tempting as it is, we can't just go in there guns a-blazing, chances are there will be guards patrolling the grounds. We need to be strategic… but how?" I rambled on while pacing around. It was then that I heard rapid footsteps heading towards my companions and I. Burlesque was running towards us and then came to a grinding halt as he tried to catch his breath. "You guys need a plan… right? Well, I'm quite the schemer and I think I can be of some assistance. You guys say that you can't go there by land… and the venue isn't near the sea, so why not go there by air?" Burlesque suggested. "One small issue, Burlesque, what the hell are we going to use to take flight and where are we going to find it? Also, I'm pretty sure none of us know how to pilot a plane or anything similar to it!" I responded. This idea would have been great if any of us had the experience. Suddenly I witnessed Burlesque's attire suddenly transform into an old timey pilot's outfit, scarf included. "I know how to pilot… I wouldn't have suggested that idea if I didn't! I even have a license, for Pete's sake!" Burlesque replied enthusiastically. I definitely didn't see that coming, which is really saying something. "Well that's great and all… but in case you didn't notice, there's not an aircraft anywhere near us!" Flora observed. Flora did have a point there, as you kind of need an aircraft to fly. "It just so happens that I know where to find one… say, you guys consider yourselves to be pretty brave right? Because you're kinda gonna have to be brave in order to get that aircraft, mainly because it's in an abandoned military base… well I use the term abandoned very loosely. More like it's devoid of human guards." Burlesque explained, whipping his scarf around. "What do you mean by there are no "human" guards? What about the Bronze Angels? Wouldn't they be patrolling that place?" I asked. Burlesque laughed nervously. "Well… there aren't many of those angels there… at least not anymore. Ozzy sent out two of his other experiments… believing that they'd prove to be more effective than the Bronze Angels… and judging by the fact that practically nobody who goes there comes back in one piece, they definitely are! Of course… you two have survived the impossible before, so I'm sure you'll be fine!" Burlesque explained, looking especially nervous at the moment. "Okay then… where is this facility you speak of?" Flora asked. I saw Burlesque's eyes turn to look at the wastelands of the dry dock and landfill. "Well… it's in there… somewhere." He replied. Flora gave him the stink eye and sighed. "So… what you're telling me is that there's a top secret military base in that dump?" Flora asked begrudgingly. "Well, duh! Trust me, I've been there before. In fact they actually tried to keep me and a few other toons trapped in there like we were aliens! Of course, I managed to escape due to my rather compact body and the fact that the guards weren't all that bright. I mean… who the hell puts a guy capable of morphing his entire body in a generic prison cell with bars rather than having one with only solid walls?" Burlesque explained as if reminiscing over his great escape. That was the thing about Burlesque, regardless of the situation he found himself in, he'd always be able to find humor in it. "Well… what are we waiting for?We've got a heist we've gotta do!"Burlesque exclaimed as he ushered Flora, Kurjak, and I back towards the wasteland. I saw the inky remnants of the strange bounty hunter whose death I was partially responsible for. The clothing which he had oozed from when he began liquifying was still mostly intact. Obviously the guy's clothing wasn't my size, but I believed I could salvage some of it. After all, my dress had been roughed up a bit which left me more vulnerable to attacks by things with sharp edges or claws. The duster trench coat was practically in perfect condition, which would definitely protect me a little more if I were to wear it over my dress. So that's exactly what I did, I stole some of the clothes while my friends were not looking. Kurjak suddenly turned and looked at me. "Wait… where did you get that trench coat from? I might not seem all that smart but even I know that you weren't wearing that just a few minutes ago." Kurjak said, all four of his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Oh! This old thing? Yeah… I kinda just found it lying around out here. Didn't want good clothing to go to waste, y'know?" I replied, of course it wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't necessarily completely false either. "Nice." Kurjak responded, no longer looking at me in suspicion. Stealing the clothes of somebody who was dead felt wrong, as it seemed disrespectful. However, Brimstone showed no respect towards those he killed either. Perhaps it was simply because of his occupation as a bounty hunter, but then again he made it clear that he wasn't in it for the money, he was in it for the murder. Of course that obviously wasn't the only disturbing thing about the guy. None of the Shadowstalkers I had come across seemed to have any evidence of acid burns from the rain, which was odd considering a lot of them didn't seem to particularly care about taking shelter. I also remembered that none of them seemed to have Brimstone's unusual, almost toon-like abilities. It was all so strange, in fact it's origin was a mystery to me. That is, until I shoved one of my hands into one of the trench coat's pockets. Something was inside; I thought it was a bullet or casing at first, but then I pulled out a strange looking vial. Within the vial was a dark, ink-like substance, a chemical of some sort. I rolled the vial around in my hand and saw a label on it. On the label, something was written in almost cursive looking handwriting, like the kind of messy handwriting a doctor of some sort would probably have. I couldn't quite make out much of the words, but I could make out at least two words. "What the hell is 'Toon Venom'?" I hollered in confusion. Burlesque rushed over to me and yanked the vial out of my grasp with great intensity. "Sheesh, Sol! You tryna get yourself killed!? That substance is HIGHLY unstable and I'd even go as far as to call it addictive. No human should ever make direct contact with that thing. Believe me… I've seen what that thing does to someone made of flesh and blood and it ain't pretty!" Burlesque exclaimed, almost seeming as if he were scolding me which was definitely a bit out of character for him. I watched as Burlesque wound up his arm and pitched the vial like a baseball, making sure to throw it as far away from our current location as possible. "Uh… if it's so unstable… are you sure throwing it was a good idea?" I asked him, almost expecting to see a mushroom cloud explode from where he threw the vial. "Relax, when I say that it is unstable, I don't mean that it is explosive. I mean that it causes any human who consumes it to become unstable. It makes you a bit of an uncontrollable beast who's own body is slowly poisoning them as blood gets transformed into an immensely toxic form of ink. Basically, it makes you feel really powerful for a bit, and then it begins to kill you from the inside, like a sort of parasitic thing going on. It also increases the activity of your hypothalamus and other more primitive parts of your nervous system. Basically you turn into a berserker with a huge appetite… and then you die. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few months to kill you, which is not pleasant." Burlesque explained, sounding way more knowledgeable about human anatomy than I would have expected. It was quite concerning really. "How do you know so much about my species?" I asked, definitely feeling a bit unnerved at the time. Burlesque simply shrugged in response. "Well… when you are pretty much used as a lab rat in top secret government experiments, you kinda learn these things, I guess. I'm not completely sure actually." Burlesque responded. Suddenly Flora shushed us without warning. "Be quiet… there's something roaming around here… and I don't think it's too pleased to see us." Flora said quietly. It was then that I heard a metallic clinking sound followed by an almost panther-like growl. A creature emerged, it was catlike but also slightly resembled a bronze angel. It moved like a lioness on the prowl, while my cohorts and I attempted to stay completely silent and motionless. |
 [FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 06:30:51
Chapter 8 ContinuedSomething seemed familiar about it, and I couldn't help but notice that it didn't look like a mech, more like a lioness wearing bronze armor. It had almost bird-like talons and it also had wings. The wings looked like those of a bronze angel, but larger and seemingly relied on something other than thrusters or hydraulics to function. It was as if the wings were part of the creature itself and that they had simply been augmented by machinery. A strange collar with something resembling a glowing radio tracker along with RC antennae was wrapped around its neck. The movement of the creature almost reminded me of the movement of an animatronic, but obviously it wasn't one. "Wait a minute… I recognize that individual." Burlesque said more softly than usual. "What do you mean, by that?" I asked him. "Why, she's a toon like me…albeit not quite the same creature as me since she's a gargoyle. You remember Poli, right?" He said to me, clearly hoping for an answer. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember her all that well, as it had been quite long time since I had last seen her or even been in the same realm as her. "Not really… honestly, I hardly remember anything from my last visit." I responded. Burlesque gasped loudly at this response. I saw Flora facepalm as Poli suddenly looked directly at us all. She snarled like a mountain lion and came charging towards us, aggressively. Burlesque had unintentionally given away our location with his gasp of shock. The lights on the collar were the same color as her eyes. It reminded me of the halo of a bronze angel upon entering attack mode. Poli wasn't in control… the collar was. "The collar! It has her mind controlled, we have to free her from that device!" I shouted. My cohorts looked at me. "Wanna draw straws for which one of us has to get close to her? Normally, I'd be more than happy to get close to Poli… but I sure as hell ain't gonna do that right now!" Burlesque blurted out. "What are you so afraid of? You can literally turn into a big scary demon at will!" Flora retorted. Burlesque had already pulled a bundle of straws from one of his pockets. "Well, I ain't willing to right now! Besides, I already got the straws out so we can draw them!" Burlesque replied, clutching the bundle of straws incredibly tightly. We all sighed and drew straws. Burlesque started to laugh. "Gotcha! All the straws are the same size, so I ain't gotta do nothing!" He howled. Flora looked at Burlesque and grinned slightly. "You might want to take another look at the straw you drew, pal." She said, snickering slightly. A look of dismay appeared on Burlesque's face as he looked at the straw he drew. "Well, shit… guess I didn't cut those straws as evenly as I previously thought." He groaned in defeat. Burlesque's outfit changed once again, this time into a rather fancy looking suit complete with a red rose boutonnière. "Why are you dressed up like someone's high school prom date?" I asked, trying to stifle my laughter. Burlesque sighed as he suddenly pulled an entire violin from one of his pockets, in a typical cartoon fashion. "If you're familiar with the cartoons… you'd know that my character was kinda a lovesick loser sometimes. The item of his affection being Poli. Guess my creators thought it would be funny to have a demon with a crush on a being that's whole job is to ward demons off and keep 'em from being destructive. Y'know, just like one of those old gargoyle legend things." Burlesque explained as he begrudgingly shuffled towards Poli who had apparently lost track of us. "Heya, doll! My, you look incredible, did you do something different with your hair?" I heard Burlesque saying as he attempted to keep Poli distracted with these false flirtations. I could hear Poli snarling at him. "Uhh… don't you think we should help him?" Kurjak whined in concern. Flora simply huffed at this remark. "Nah… I'm sure he'll be fine." She said. I heard Poli snarling at Burlesque again. "Wow! Your teeth are gleaming, who's your dentist? That guy must be great at his job, judging by how white your kind of terrifying looking fangs are!" Burlesque rambled, actually sounding a bit nervous. I heard Poli roar at him, seemingly getting increasingly irritated with his presence. "Are you sure we shouldn't help him?" Kurjak asked once again, seeming a bit tense. Flora once again insisted that everything was fine and that Burlesque could perfectly handle the situation at hand. "Your eyes are like… uh… they burn like the sun! Yes, they are like the sun. They're very vibrant, very fiery!" Burlesque actually sounded like he was panicking now. "Guys… I really think we should help him!" Kurjak yelped as he looked like he was about to run towards Burlesque and Poli. Flora gestured for him to stay by her side and Kurjak walked back towards her. "Oh! I wonder if this could work… I mean that's how they do it fairytales y'know… of course obviously I'm not gonna kiss you on the lips as you are kinda scary looking… you're also a cat-like creature so I'll just kiss you on your forehead instead… I mean I've heard of cat owners doing that sooo…" I heard Burlesque say. Oh boy… this definitely didn't sound like it was gonna go too well. I suddenly heard a loud slap and saw Burlesque go flying into a pile of trash. "WHAT THE HELL!?" I heard a woman's voice scream. I then saw Poli, walking upright and looking less monstrous, marching towards Burlesque. She no longer had the controlling collar around her neck. Flora, Kurjak, and I rushed toward them. "Well…guess it worked! I'm in a bit of pain right now, but hey, it worked out well! Ow…" Burlesque exclaimed as he came to his senses and stood up. "What are you talking about, you pesky little fiend?" Poli hissed. It was then that Burlesque showed her the collar. "Well… this device was making you act all beastly and feral, which was VERY out of character for you." He explained. Poli glared at him, and then looked around in confusion and concern. "Wait… if I was being controlled… do you think that Grabuge might be being controlled by one of those collars as well? And if so… where is he?!" Poli said in a panic. We were at that old military base at this time and we heard some noise coming from the aircraft storage facility, which was an immensely huge warehouse. The rusted metal door of the warehouse looked like something had pummeled it right off of its hinges in rage. "I think I might have some idea of where he is…" I heard Flora say as she stared into the warehouse. "Well, ain't that convenient… I actually came here looking for an experimental aircraft that just so happens to be in that exact warehouse." Burlesque said as he boldly walked into the building. My friends and I followed him in there. "Don't tell me you're going to kiss Grabuge too…" Poli said sarcastically. Burlesque gave her a look. "What? Of course not! I've got a different idea…he's an artist, right? Well, it just so happens I know how to really grind an artist's gears!" Burlesque responded, looking quite devious as he rubbed his hands together. Grabuge landed in front of us, looking especially irate. I noticed that this feral form was especially beastly. While Poli had managed to retain her opposable thumbs, even though they were more like talons in her feral form, Grabuge wasn't so lucky as he only had cloven hooves on all of his legs. This almost made him look like the cursed love child of a dragon and a goat, which was rather common among gargoyles, although most of them resembled odd cat-dragon hybrids. Grabuge didn't roar or snarl, in fact the sounds he made sounded more like the grunts and snorts of an enraged bull as he pawed at the decayed floor and lowered his head as if he were preparing to charge. "Ayy, Grabuge! I'm a real big fan of your artwork, y'know?" Burlesque said. Grabuge raised his head slightly but still pawed at the ground angrily. "So… I was wondering if you could perhaps do some art for me?" Burlesque inquired. Grabuge now stopped pawing at the ground and appeared to patiently await for Burlesque to say something else. "Now… I can't pay you money… but I can pay you with exposure!" Burlesque exclaimed. Grabuge reared up and let out one of the most enraged roars I had ever heard. "Easy there, pal. Don't get all bent out of shape over a mere hobby!" Burlesque mocked, I knew he was just trying to agitate Grabuge so he could remove the control collar as he attacked, but it didn't stop the things he was saying from stinging slightly. Grabuge charged at Burlesque, looking madder than anything I'd ever seen. Burlesque jumped onto Grabuge and tore the control collar off of him before leaping away. Grabuge eventually transformed back into his original toon form, but was still glaring at Burlesque with rage. "I hate you so much…" Grabuge grumbled at Burlesque. Burlesque simply smiled. "I knew that tactic would work… you may hate me for it, but hey, at least you're not somebody's puppet anymore. Be grateful!" Burlesque replied to Grabuge who simply rolled his eyes before huffing. With a snap of Burlesque's fingers, the lights turned on, revealing a massive, aircraft of some sort. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie, or maybe a steampunk fantasy film. "What is that?" I asked Burlesque as he leaped from where he had been standing. "That, my friends, is an airship and it's the key to crashing Ozzy's wedding without having to be on the ground!" Burlesque exclaimed with pride. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 06:36:24
Chapter 9: The Girl Who Lost Everything"That's cool and all… but, the fuel tank on this thing is definitely empty." I heard Flora say as she looked into a hatch on the side of it. A rat leaped out of it and dashed away. This caught the attention of Kurjak who began barking while chasing after it. A few moments later he returned, running full speed back into the warehouse where we were at, yelping while looking clearly startled. He leaped onto Flora, knocking her down. "What's wrong, boy?" She asked the terrified canid. Kurjak stopped whimpering and took a deep breath. "Well… the rat led me to the fuel… but there's something absolutely horrifying in there! I saw at least half a dozen destroyed Bronze Angels… possibly even more! Worse yet… something horrifying stole that rat from me and then snarled at me!" Kurjak cried out, seeming both mad and terrified simultaneously. "Ain't Borzois supposed to be brave hounds used to hunt wolves? I mean you seriously resemble one of them, so why are you so… cowardly! Hell, I bet you even have insect or spider powers judging by your abundance of eyes, legs, and the fact that your saber teeth resemble mandibles of some sort." Burlesque said while looking at Kurjak as if curious about his strange appearance. "Wait… do I really look that horrific!? Wait… you changed the subject on me! If you saw that thing… you'd probably run too!" Kurjak retorted. Burlesque simply laughed. "I ain't afraid of nothing!Who the hell do you think I am, Zevril!? Bah! As if." Burlesque said with a smirk. Kurjak growled at him. "Well, if you're so brave then why don't you just go in there with that thing and get the fuel yourself?" Kurjak barked angrily. "Yeah, Burlesque… why don't you go to get the fuel yourself?" Grabuge scoffed, clearly still bitter about the art thing Burlesque had pulled. "Alright! Fine… I'm going… but Sol's coming with me!" Burlesque replied as he shot me a mischievous smile. I was a bit confused as to why he specifically wanted me to get the fuel with him, as I was by no means physically strong. "Why me specifically?" I asked, a little bit concerned about what might be waiting in the darkness. "Well… you're kinda terrifying to be honest… I mean you did kill a genetically-enhanced guy in one of the most horrific ways possible 'round these parts… so, I know damn well that you're quite lethal… and also an amazing protector of sorts. I'd even go as far to say that you're fueled by vengeance and trauma. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, after all, and it seems to me that you've been scorned for most of your life." Burlesque explained, once again sounding unnervingly like a therapist. "What has happened in my life is none of your business, pal. You don't have an idea in the slightest… besides don't we have fuel to gather?" I replied to him. I was getting real sick of talking and not doing anything. "I used to be a bit of a brute myself… you've seen that side of me before. But back then, I couldn't control it and just let that part of me takeover whenever I wanted to escape from a situation. I might not seem like the kind of fella who regrets physically harming folks, but I really am. So, one day… I decided to take back control as I was sick of the instability of my whole situation. Tired of being unable to control myself. I can't exactly remember how I did it, but one day I found myself able to transform myself at will… while still keeping my mind intact. I never hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it anymore and it's great!" Burlesque once again explained to me. "Well, good for you then, I suppose. Now, can you please stop talking?" I replied. I didn't want to be given life advice by a guy like Burlesque… as Burlesque was an imp. A trickster who was skilled in making things up, but always fell short. Besides, we were not in the same situation as each other. We entered the building that Kurjak had told us about and there was indeed a lot of dismantled and disemboweled Bronze Angels in there. We saw one that looked almost completely intact except for a few scratches and dents on its metallic shell. At first glance, it appeared to be inactive or dead, but a whirring sound indicated that might not have been the case. I just wish that we had noticed this before it started menacingly approaching us as we had our backs turned and were picking up canisters of fuel for the airship. It suddenly screeched at us, which made us turn around. This bronze angel was definitely defective in one or more ways, acting more like a monster than a human trapped in a mech suit. It continued shrieking as it revealed its claws and almost vampire like metal fangs. Unlike the other bronze angels I'd come across, this thing's eyes weren't that bright, and it moved more stiffly like a robot… or possibly a zombie. It could not speak, but it's murderous intentions were clear. It suddenly came to a stop as something large pounced onto it. "Fooood…" a growling voice snarled. It was pretty obvious that this thing was the Wicker Demon… or Zevril, as the two were one in the same. Burlesque gave me a "what the hell" type expression as we witnessed the beast tear into the chest of the decayed angel which was powerless to stop it. It snarled again as it tore deeper into its prey. "Still… so… hungry!" It roared loudly. "Well… looks like we found the thing that gave Kurjak such a scare." I quietly said to Burlesque. I guess I wasn't quiet enough, as the Wicker Demon tossed its prey aside as it turned around and tilted its head at us. "Need… more… need seconds!" It roared loudly as it skulked toward us in a truly predatory manner as it exhaled flames. It moved like a lion… a very messed up, spiky, fire-breathing lion. "Damn! Already? You know there's still some more of that carcass left, right? Talk about being wasteful!" Burlesque quipped. The Wicker Demon snarled as it grabbed the carcass by the leg and threw it towards us with rage. "Well… at least we've no longer got that zombified angel trying to sneak up on us." I said, trying to avoid agitating the Wicker Demon further. The carcass had landed right in front of Burlesque. "Eww, gross, Zevril! It's hard to know who to root for in these abomination versus abomination situations, y'know? Case in point, that horrid bronze angel's cadaver you just threw directly at me." Burlesque responded. The Wicker Demon… er… Zevril, seemed deeply offended by this remark. "ABOMINATION!?" The demon roared as it angrily approached Burlesque. I watched Burlesque wrinkle his nose and look disgusted. "Sheesh, pal! Ever heard of breath mints? It smells like something crawled into your mouth and died!" Burlesque wittily remarked, making sure to be over dramatic with his gestures. The Wicker Demon attempted to bite Burlesque's head off, but was quickly caught off guard when Burlesque transformed into a much scarier version of himself and pried the monstrosity's jaws open. "Luckily I have a whole thing of mints, just for you!" He exclaimed as he pulled an old timey tin of mints from one of his pockets and shoved it into the Wicker Demon's mouth before releasing its jaws. "I must warn you, they may be a bit spicy…but I'm sure you can handle it!" Burlesque once again said as he began transforming back into his normal toon form. The Wicker Demon was coughing and panting after the spiciness of the mints started kicking in. "Need… water…" it gasped as it fell to its knees. It looked at me for some reason. Then I realized I actually had a water bottle on hand the whole time. I looked at the water and then back at the demon, which almost looked as if it were attempting to do something like puppy dog eyes. I was scared of this thing, but I was grateful that it had destroyed those bronze angels. Not to mention it had killed that cannibalistic butcher from earlier. "Ugh… I can't believe I'm actually going to go through with this." I said to myself as I warily approached the Wicker Demon, which was seemingly turning back into Zevril. "You want water… here's your water…please just let us leave as we've got a wedding to crash and we need to get this fuel to the airship, okay?" I said to the exhausted looking creature as I rolled the water bottle towards it before walking out the building with a canister of fuel. "Are you insane!? Have you gone looney!? Have you lost your mind!? That's the freaking Wicker Demon! It ain't got no soul! It ain't gonna be grateful! It ain't got no feelings!" Burlesque ranted while looking at me as if I were a psychopath. I shook my head. "It may be the Wicker Demon, but it is also Zevril… maybe this small act of kindness is the key to helping him keep control over that darker side of himself, much like you did." I replied. Burlesque facepalmed and sighed loudly as he shook his head. "Sol, that's the most wholesome yet incredibly idiotic thing I've ever heard come from your mouth… the wicker demon may be Zevril… but it is also the wicker demon. Don't you remember all those awful things that it did? What it did to Dusk? That thing's a mindless beast! It only has two things on its mind and those things are killing and eating folks!" Burlesque said angrily. "Enough, Burlesque, we need to get the fuel to the airship ASAP." I replied, trying to remain calm. Perhaps Burlesque was right about me having lost my mind… especially considering what I had done earlier, although the guy definitely had it coming. We entered the warehouse where the airship was, and were shocked to find that Flora, Grabuge, Kurjak, and Poli had already found some fuel somehow… meaning that the excursion I had done with Burlesque was pretty much pointless. "What took you guys so long?" Flora questioned. Burlesque huffed and gave me a mildly judgmental stare. "Let's not talk about what took us so long and instead get some fuel in this craft… seeing as you guys somehow managed to find just the right amount of fuel for it by some sort of miracle." I replied, trying to ignore Burlesque's ever-judging gaze that felt as if it were burning into my soul. I looked over toward's the craft's tank and sighed as I knew filling that tank up was going to take hours. Hopefully we'd still get there in time. After many, many hours we finally had the tank at full capacity, and we were ready to take flight in whatever the hell this thing was. It was like someone put a bunch of aerial vehicles into a blender, and got the airship as a result. There were helicopter aspects blended with jet aspects, and the overall shape was like some sort of airbus type plane mixed with something otherworldly. It's wings almost looked segmented, and appeared to have a multitude of hinges as if they were designed to flap like the wings of a bird. Another weird thing about the airship is that there was something almost boat like about it, but nothing could compare to the vehicle's interior. The interior looked like some absurd blend of a spaceship and a cruise ship. It shouldn't have been possible, but yet there I was right in the middle of it. Another interesting feature was some sort of emergency hatch mechanism in the floor. It almost looked like something that an atomic bomb would be dropped out of. Of course there were obviously no bombs on board. "Alright… are you sure that you know how to fly this thing, Burlesque? I mean it looks absurdly complicated." I questioned as I looked around. Burlesque had seemingly forgotten what had happened earlier by this time. "Don't worry about it, I know how this thing works. I have a pilot's license, remember? And it is legitimate by the way." Burlesque replied, making sure to show off his license. This airship was one hell of an aircraft, a map of its interior indicated that it was essentially a Flying Fortress of some sort. Built to carry around powerful government officials during times of peace as well as times of war. It even had weaponry on board. The Flying Fortress airship was yet another anachronism within this rather retro world. I tried not to think about it that much as this realm was just straight up weird in general. I was walking around the airship when I suddenly tripped over something. It was an old, gilded looking pistol with an intriguingly intricate design. A handwritten note was beneath it. I picked up the gun along with the note, and read carefully. The note read: *You know what you have to do… you have to kill him.* It was a very odd note to say the least. I could only presume that this was a note regarding what needed to be done with Ozzy, mainly because it was lying on the floor in front of a portrait of the man, and there was a target crudely painted over his face, a target which definitely wasn't there before I tripped. I blinked just to make sure I wasn't seeing things or just had something in my eye, and was horrified when more messages seemed to appear on the walls of the airship. All of which said the same thing. They all said "KILL HIM" and I could hear whispering voices fading in. All of which were saying "kill him." I watched as dark, featureless yet humanoid silhouettes began to manifest all around me like ghosts. Their whispers slowly turned into screams and I was overwhelmed by their presence. I fell to the floor into the fetal position and shut my eyes, begging them to leave me alone. The heaviness dissipated and I felt something pawing at me. "Why are you sleeping on the floor?" Kurjak inquired, as he tugged on my trench coat and attempted to pull me up to my feet. I was just about to get up when something caused the airship, which was in flight now, to shake violently. Something was slamming into it. An intercom whirred on and I heard Burlesque's voice. "This is your captain speaking… if you know how to tail gun, now would be a very good time to get to your weapons station! We're kinda sorta under attack right now—" another loud bang against the outside of the airship interrupted Burlesque as he was speaking,"Ah, shit! It's another one of those damn Bronze Angels… there's gotta be like a dozen tryna tear this airship apart!" I heard Burlesque holler. I looked out of one of the porthole style windows and saw the onslaught of those horrific biomechanical angels. Burlesque wasn't kidding when he said they were trying to tear the airship apart, and to my horror, there were so many of those things that the ship was starting to lose altitude. However, I also noticed that a large edifice lie beneath us. There was a glass dome-like skylight and I was certain that I saw wedding decorations within it. The intercom whirred on once again. "This is once again your captain speaking… you know how we brought up "crashing the wedding?" Well… looks like we're gonna be crashing it in the most literal way possible… unless something were to distract those damn angels, which I'm pretty sure isn't a simple task!" Burlesque shouted. We were incredibly close to the venue now, and I could see Ozzy standing at the altar with a malicious looking smile. I knew I had to do something… there was no way I could take out that megalomaniacal menace from where I was right now considering I was only armed with a simple gilded pistol and not a sniper rifle. I carefully observed how close we were to the venue's roof, and then I looked at the escape hatch. I rushed towards it, firmly grasping the pistol, and began to open the hatch. "Sol! What are you doing!? You're gonna get yourself hurt… or worse… if you do what I think you are planning to do!" Flora screamed at me. I turned my head to look at her. "Burlesque said that the angels needed to be distracted…right?" I responded. "You can't do this, Sol. What if you don't survive the fall?" Flora cried out, clearly concerned about me. "We're close enough that I shouldn't die instantly… once I crash… I'm almost certain that I will have enough time to do what must be done… and if I don't make it… at least those angels won't be attacking the ship anymore, they will come after me instead." I explained solemnly. "Sol… you don't have to do this. Let me do it for you… I'll come back… as usual, but you, Sol? You only have one life." Flora replied, a sorrowful expression on her face. "I have nothing left to lose, Flora… I have no family, no job, and no place to go. Just let me go; live your life… you have a family, one that loves you and misses you. Go to them…set them free. Don't worry about me." I explained, a single tear streaming down my face as I prepared to do what I knew I had to do. Before Flora could say anything else, I opened the hatch and jumped out of the airship, gun in hand. She tried to reach for me, but I had already fallen too far. As I sped towards the glass dome, Bronze Angels flew after me, screaming in rage as I continued to fall out of their grasps. I closed my eyes as the dome gradually came closer, bracing for impact, but my gun ready to fire at Ozzy. I crashed through the dome, shards of glass stabbing into my flesh with a painful sting as blood started leaking from my wounds. I landed with a thud, and was certain that I had broken several bones. Yet somehow I was still alive, and I opened my eyes. I saw Ozzy pointing and laughing at me. "Well, somebody sure knows how to make an entrance! I thought that bounty hunter I sent had been successful… but it appears that idiot has failed. Speaking of which… where the devil is that wretched creature?" Ozzy spat, sounding rather angry. I weakly reached for my pistol, hoping that I'd be able to get a good shot. "Damn, woman… why don't you just give up already? You're too much of a weakling to do anything to me!" Ozzy boasted. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 06:38:02
Chapter 9 continuedI struggled to get up and wound up slamming against the floor again as I was horribly injured and every movement was painful. "Well… now that you're here… you'll get to witness something incredible in your last moments of existence… and your wretched soul will be quite useful to me as well." Ozzy said with a psychotic smile as he reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a rather sizable vial of a familiar black substance. "Sir! I'd strongly advise against doing this… the experiments did not yield the desired results! Consume that amount and you'll die instantly!" I heard a voice say from the crowd. Ozzy simply huffed at this guest. "Oh, shut up, would you? The only reason they died was because they were too flawed! Not truly human, merely shadowstalker freaks! Vermin… unnatural, unworthy. I however am human, I am near perfect, this toon venom will not kill me… no it will make me stronger. Why, with such power, I will become a god! The ultimate form of perfection, there would be no need for an heir… as my reign will be eternal! Why, I'd be more than the simple ruler of Uncanny Valley… I'd be an emperor of the world! Yes… I will no longer be constrained to ruling over only one place. I could rule this entire world!" Ozzy monologued with sinister enthusiasm as he stared at the substance in the vial. "Sir! I beg of you, do not consume the substance!" The person warned again. I heard yet another wedding guest speak up, sounding a bit disappointed. "Wait a minute… if you're not going to get married then why are we all here in the first place?" The guest questioned. Ozzy glared at the guest. "Oh you'll find out soon enough…" he replied as he suddenly downed the vial like a shot of tequila. He wiped the ink-like substance from the corner of his mouth. I took this moment to shoot the tyrannical dictator, and the gilded pistol packed quite a punch for something so small. Ozzy went down, and I thought I had finally defeated him… that was until I saw his body begin to morph and warp into something more monstrous. An inky black tendril shot up from the ground and flung me into a brick wall. I was severely injured by the impact and could barely move. I suddenly felt the urge to cough, so I did, only to find that I had coughed up blood. My vision was slowly becoming more blurry and I was certain that this was the end as I witnessed tendrils of ink cocoon around the wedding guests and the abomination that was once Ozzy grew to more monstrous proportions as he drained the life from his victims. Ozzy had always been a monster in his mannerisms and personality, but now he had become one physically, a dangerous combination to say the least. The monstrosity had polished off a multitude of wedding guests and now set its eyes on me. It slammed a fist into the ground where it was at and a tendril burst through the ground in front of me. Just before it could crush me, it seemed to catch on fire, which made Ozzy writhe in pain. A familiar shadow loomed over me and I suddenly felt something grab my hand. It was none other than the clawed hand of the Wicker Demon. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 06:42:39
Chapter 10: Face Your DemonsI looked directly into the eyes of the Wicker Demon as it looked directly into mine. My hearing was starting to fade as a ringing in my ears muffled out basically every sound. Ozzy's screams of rage began to fade away along with my sight, but before everything faded, I heard the voice of the Wicker Demon eerily say, "This is not the end…" as it moved its head even closer to mine. I became numb and then everything went black. Had I truly failed? Was this really how I was going to die, without achieving my goal? I didn't want to believe it… but I certainly felt dead. "Wait… if I'm dead, then why am I still thinking?" I said to myself, my voice seemed to have an echo. I looked around and found myself in an empty void, a dark smoke-like wispiness swirled around my body as I moved through the void. This wasn't Somnium's abyss, it was something else. Just what it was, I did not know. I soon came across something that looked like a door, so I opened it and went through it. "Do you remember how it all came to this? What led you here?" I heard the Wicker Demon's voice say as it manifested itself before me in a form much more shadowy than its usual form. I then saw something else. I was in my childhood home on a dark and stormy night that I remembered all too well. The night my father first vanished. The cries of my mother in response to their presence… and the words of the cops at the door. Telling her about the accident and how they had not yet found his body. "You remember that night…Sol… you remember the pain you felt as your mother cried." The demon said to me again. I blinked and another memory appeared. One from one of my school years. I saw a young me, sitting alone on a playground bench with a sketch pad. A mean looking kid, who was bigger than I was at the time, came towards me and yanked the sketchbook out of my younger self's hands. Young me was helpless, trying to get the sketchbook back as the bully held it high above her head. "What a cruel… miserable childhood…does it not hurt still to this day? To have had something stolen away from you… to have been so powerless?" The demon hissed as it stared at me. I averted my gaze from it, only to find myself in yet another memory from my past. The day my mother and I were forced to move out of my childhood home due to us not being able to afford it. The day we had to move into a dingy old townhouse apartment. I saw my mom coughing violently as we walked into the townhome. "Why are you doing this!?" I screamed at the Wicker Demon. It simply grinned at me as the next memory appeared. It was me, visiting my mom in the hospital… just about a year before she died. A year before the disease took her. I had brought her a gift of some sort, and saw her smile at me weakly. She began coughing again… and the next memory came in. This one had sound to it. I saw myself running through the hospital hall towards the room where my mother was. "Mom! I got the job! We just might be able to afford treatment after all!" I heard myself say joyfully as I peeked into her room, with my eyes unfortunately closed… this was a memory that had haunted me ever since it had occurred. I remember opening my eyes to see the coroner standing by the doctor, pulling a sheet over the head of my mom's body. "You just missed her… She flatlined while you were gone. We tried to contact you, but you didn't answer. There's nothing we can do now… we couldn't even resuscitate her, we are terribly sorry." I heard the doctor say. I was then handed the hospital bill, while tears were streaming from my eyes. "You were too late, Sol…she died with only the medical staff to keep her company… when it should have been you by her bedside." The Wicker Demon snarled. It appeared that this thing was feeding off of my trauma, like a psychological parasite. Voraciously lapping up the pain of the past. A glutton of negativity and sorrow. The size of this monster had increased exponentially with every memory. The demon took me through even more painful memories… up until I had to relive the death of my father. I was starting to feel anger rather than sadness. "Yes… feel the anger. Such aggression! Such power! We will be perfect!" The demon roared with joy as images of all the atrocities I had committed out of rage flashed before my eyes. I looked down, honestly wondering if the demon was right. That is until I saw the locket in my hand, the one that belonged to my father. I opened it up and looked at the happy family photo within it and smiled. The darkness of this mindscape I was in started to fade away as memories, not of hopelessness but of happiness began to make their presence known. "No… this is impossible! What are you doing!?" The demon shrieked. I simply laughed and smiled. "I'm taking back control… sure my life had some pretty bad moments but it also had some pretty good moments. I know what I have to do now… I have to take the good with the bad!" I exclaimed, which seemed to terrify the demon who began to shrink in size. "But… what about our bond? What about all of the hell you have been through? All the hell **we** have been through?" The demon whimpered with the fear of a child. "Well, we certainly have a lot of life behind us… and we have both been through a lot… but that's not what matters. What matters is that we don't let it hold us back… but instead accept that it has happened. Sure, the past hurts… but it is better to learn from it than to run from it." I explained to the beast as it cowered from me. The darkness of its form had melted away, leaving Zevril in its place. I began to approach him and he looked up at me with terror. "You're going to kill me… aren't you?" Zevril weeped, the mere fact that he could suddenly speak taking me off guard. I simply smiled and reached for his hand as he started to tremble and close his eyes. It was clear that he was certain that I was going to end him right then and there. He covered his face with his hands, clearly terrified, but appeared to be shocked by the fact that I simply pat him on the head rather than busting it open. "I…I don't understand. Why are you doing this? I mean… after all of those things I did… surely you want me dead, right?" Zevril asked, still panicking. "What makes you so certain that I'll kill you… I mean, come on, you're just a kid…a kid who has been through a lot. You don't know any better… and that's pretty clear to me. You didn't even have much of a childhood, which is quite sad really. It's no surprise that you'd act out violently considering that others were violent towards you from the moment you arrived in this world. Besides, you have saved me more than you have tried to kill me… sure it was because you were hungry but, hey, maybe it's about time I've saved you for once." I replied with a gentle smile. Zevril looked up at me again. "You mean it?" The small creature asked, still hesitant to trust me. "Sure do… and besides I think we're kinda sorta stuck together… like literally as we are somehow bound together. A sort of two minds one body type deal." I explained to Zevril who seemed mildly confused. He stared blankly at me for a bit. "Believe me… I'm just as confused as you are." I said awkwardly, remembering as tendrils of black flames began to engulf me before I ended up trapped in my own head. "Anyway… we still have something we need to do, and that is destroy Ozzy once and for all… as a team. Brains and brawn working as one, for the greater good." I explained as dark flaming tendrils once again began wrapping around me, as well as Zevril who was starting to morph into a slightly less demonic version of his Wicker Demon form. "Let's end this…" he growled with determination. Everything faded to black once more. Upon waking up, I found myself underneath a pile of rubble. "We have no time to sleep… we must go!" I heard a less bestial version of the wicker demon's voice say within my mind. With a powerful kick, the rubble went flying. A large shard of glass showed a reflection unlike any I'd ever seen. Rather than seeing myself, I saw a strange beast with a mane of black fire and massive wings. "So… this is how we look now, talk about a close friendship…" I said to my new friend. I heard the demon within suddenly gasp with joy. "You see us as friends now!? I never thought I would actually have friend like you!" This was a side of the demon I had never expected to see before. It was as if Zevril and his alterego had finally come to terms with one another. "That's great and all… but we need to find Ozzy." I replied, as I attempted to figure out just how to control this strange new form. "Oh… right. Can we get ice cream afterwards though?" The demon asked in a horrifying yet innocent voice. "We'll see about that… but judging by the disgusting ink webs and cocoons all over the place… I don't think the ice cream parlor will be open…" I replied. The Wicker Demon almost seemed disappointed by this fact. I was finally starting to get a hang of this whole symbiosis thing. The power was exhilarating… but deep down I really wanted my old body back and I think that the demon knew that. We walked through a desolate cityscape, webs and cocoons littered the streets. A sorrowful sound broke the silence. The sound of a child sobbing. "Do you hear that?" I asked my other half. "Yes…we must find the source… we must help it." The demon replied sounding a bit gloomy. We headed towards the direction of the sound and found a small child, alone and scared. I recognized her immediately. It was Alice, the daughter of Artemis and Maurice. We approached her and she screamed, but seemed too petrified to run. "Don't worry… we're not going to hurt you. We only want to help… please, tell us what has happened if you can." My voice and the demon's voice blended together when we said this. "T-there was a monster… a huge ugly slimy monster! It took away my family!" Alice sobbed. "Where did this monster go? Do you know?" We asked her, in the calmest voice we could muster. We suddenly heard a growl as a familiar creature emerged from an alleyway near to where Alice was sitting. It was Mylor, and he clearly saw us as a threat to his young human. He let out a noise resembling an aggressive bark and dashed to protect Alice from what he believed was a threat to her safety. "Calm down, buddy. We were simply trying to figure out what was wrong. We mean no harm." We attempted to explain to Mylor. Obviously he was not having any of it as he bluffed a charge and snapped at us, his fur and sharp quills bristling as he continued to snarl. We backed off, wanting to avoid confrontation with our own ally. Mylor stopped growling and walked back toward Alice. He nuzzled her while making a purring sound as she buried her face into his thick fur for comfort. It was heartwarming, but heartbreaking, considering the context of the situation. We continued walking down the street, trying to avoid the various piles of disgusting "villain slime" as Zevril had called it. We suddenly heard another voice, calling out. "Floraaa! Soool! Where are you!?" It howled. I immediately recognized it as belonging to Kurjak, who I saw in the distance roaming around aimlessly. Concerned, we approached him. Though we attempted to look non-threatening, nothing could distract from our monstrous form. "S-stay away from me! I.. I'll bite your ankles if you get any closer." Kurjak barked with fear. I sighed at this. "Don't freak out Kurjak, it's me!" I said, while internally emphasizing to Zevril that he needed to stay quiet. "W-what are you!? And what have you done with Sol!? I see that locket!" Kurjak yipped. I once again sighed. "No, Kurjak, it's me in this body." I replied. A look of horror appeared across Kurjak's face as he rushed towards the belly of this beast form. "Oh god! You ate Sol! Don't worry Sol! I'll find a way to get you outta there, just keep breathing!" Kurjak yipped. "Oh for crying out loud, Kurjak, I'm not in the belly of the beast… I am the beast." I attempted to explain as I shooed him away from where he was at. Kurjak had a blank, yet deep in thought look on his face. "Oh… wait… how exactly did this happen?" Kurjak asked in confusion. "It's a long story… but basically I'm not just Sol anymore… I kinda sorta have someone else in this body with me." I explained, attempting to simplify my situation enough for Kurjak to understand. "Eww… are you telling me that you ATE someone?" Kurjak said in disgust. The Wicker Demon was clearly getting tired of Kurjak's idiocy as I could hear it growling. "NO. What we're trying to say is that we are literally two people, you daft hound!" The Wicker Demon snarled. Kurjak backed off real quick upon hearing the demon's voice. "Words cannot describe how immensely confused I am right now…all this thinking is giving me a headache!" Kurjak replied, rubbing a paw against his face. "Anyway… did you perhaps notice a big, ugly slime monster passing through?" We asked him. "Well, if the slime monster you're referring to looks like an uglier, obese, non-flaming, version of the Wicker Demon then yeah… that thing grabbed the airship right out of the sky and attempted to eat it… the monstrosity smelled like rotting flesh honestly…. We also found Damien along with Dawn. Damien is like… super ripped by the way… but also really violent. Wrongful imprisonment does some serious shit to a guy apparently. Or at least that's what Dawn said." Kurjak rambled on, much to our dismay. "Ugh… I'm starting to think there's a reason that dogs shouldn't be able to talk…" the Wicker Demon groaned in annoyance. "Well… that's a bit rude for you to say." I scolded, even though I might've agreed slightly, considering Kurjak, while lovable, could get annoying real quick. "So, where'd you last see that thing?" We asked. "Well, I saw it in that weird dry docks place that looks like some sort of landfill." Kurjak finally announced. "Thanks for the lead, Kurjak." We replied as we finally decided to actually use our wings rather than walk to the wastelands. "Be careful though, as that thing sure is big and it's got an appetite to match! So basically, what I am saying is try not to get eaten!" Kurjak hollered up at us as we flew along. Ozzy's path of destruction was immense. Wherever that abomination had been, he left a trail of destruction and carnage in his wake. Broken bodies littered the streets, looking almost as if they had been mummified. The moisture and bodily fluids seemingly drained from them completely. Crows pecked at the scattered carcasses of both humans and animals, but struggled to find anything of use to them. Buildings collapsed under the weight of webs and cocoons. A symphony of car alarms could be heard echoing through the entire city. Upon arrival at the wasteland, we were disgusted to find everything covered up in viscous slime. "Gross… there's villain slime everywhere!" Zevril gagged. The ground began to rumble and a gargling roar echoed through the wasteland. "Ah… you've certainly gone through some changes… I could hardly recognize you two at first!" Ozzy's voice echoed. "Well at least we don't look like a sentient pile of sewer sludge!" We spat at the titanic monstrosity. Ozzy let out a laugh. "Your petty insults are nothing to me… I am perfection!" He bellowed. "If by perfection you mean unbearably hideous, then yeah, sure." We replied as we charged forward. "You idiots really believe you can take out a god like me? Oh, please, do tell me another joke." He mocked. "Another joke, huh? Okay… you're so fat that you have your own gravitational pull!" We joked, although this joke might have had some truth to it. "A fat joke… seriously? Why I'd be insulted if you weren't correct about my "gravitational pull", of course it isn't gravity pulling you towards me… it's my tentacles! Oh how I do love these things… makes grabbing a meal much easier!" Ozzy roared. "You sir… are disgusting." I said. I heard the Wicker Demon growling again. "Hey! The only apex predator around here is ME… I am the KING of this place and a pesky pile of gelatin like you is not gonna take my crown!" The wicker demon roared. A unique ability we had was to breathe fire, so that's just what we did. Ozzy screamed in agony, as part of his body had melted away from the flames. "Stings doesn't it?" We growled. Ozzy was enraged. "This means nothing! You mean nothing! In fact if you have any meaning at all, it's merely to be consumed!" Ozzy roared as he shot another tendril towards us. I observed that Ozzy seemed to be struggling to maintain his form a bit. Which revealed a weak spot. "Zevril… look at his chest, what do you see?" I asked Zevril, upon seeing that the bullet wound from the pistol I had attempted to assassinate Ozzy with was incredibly deep. "There's a hole in his chest…" Zevril replied. "Well, how about we give him a case of heartburn that he'll never forget?" I suggested with a play on words. "Sounds like a good idea to me." He responded. "What the devil are you going on about?" Ozzy spat. Without warning we dive bombed right into Ozzy's chest. "Why… consuming you fools was much easier than I thought it would be." Ozzy boasted. Of course, his boast was short lived as we opened fire on his heart, which revealed Ozzy's "human" form nestled inside. It was deformed and almost zombie-like. So, we ripped him out and watched as the monstrous outer shell collapsed into sludge. The deformed remains of Ozzy's humanity lie in the wasteland. Yet my friends were no where to be seen. Only death and destruction remained. "We were too late…look at the state of this place. Nothing remains… what do we do now?" I asked. I heard the wicker demon sigh. "The end… we must restart the cycle…" it said to me. I knew what had to be done. I noticed something among the ruins; it was an old projector with something written on it: you know what to do. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 09:08:40
Chapter 10 (Finale)A short distance away from it was a familiar looking reel, in shockingly pristine condition. We headed towards it and picked it up then placed it onto the old projector and rushed towards one of the only places that still had power and was still standing: Gardens of Heaven. We hooked up the projector and began to play the reel. "So this is it… goodbye, Sol. I only hope that we can still be friends when the cycle restarts… but for now we must part ways." Zevril said to me as everything began to fade away. I once again found myself in Somnium's domain. "So… you actually did it. I must say I wasn't expecting it, which is really saying something when you consider what I am… Few souls manage to face their demons in the manner on which you have, mortal." The deity said with intrigue. I watched as he drew a glyph made of light in the air, a glyph which turned into a portal back to my earth. "Well, what are you waiting for? Don't you want to go home?" Somnium asked, seemingly confused by the fact that I wasn't going towards the portal. I simply smiled at him. "No. I think I'd prefer to stay. Besides, I don't exactly have anything left for me back home. I lost my job and probably my apartment, not that it was all that great, in one day. In Uncanny Valley, however, I have friends. Friends who genuinely care about me; friends who I genuinely care about. I don't want to abandon them again." I explained to the confused god. "Are you certain about your decision to stay?" Somnium inquired. "Yes. Yes I am." I replied. "Very well then…" the god responded as I was transported back to Uncanny Valley. It was no longer rundown and desolate looking, no signs of any dictatorship anywhere. In fact, it was beautiful… and it felt like home. "Well, looks like I got a whole lot of life behind me… and a whole lot yet to come." I said to myself as I headed off to find my friends. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 09:14:07 (edited)
EpilogueI had been reunited with my friends… and even managed to find the Wicker Demon… err… Zevril again. I had bought him some ice cream, just as I had promised I would, and he smiled at me… not viciously, but happily. He still didn't quite have as much control over his forms as Burlesque did, but he definitely tried his best. It was obviously a bit awkward for a while, considering that many people were still terrified of him. Obviously, while beautiful, this place wasn't perfect. There was the occasional crime, but not nearly as many as there were back on my earth. Then again… that might be due to the fact that my old world didn't have a terrifying beast to scare any criminals away. The wicker demon's methods were… lethal, but his heart seemed to be in the right place. Funny how something that was once considered to be the destroyer of Uncanny Valley was now its protector. As for my other friends, they're doing quite well. Dawn and Damien actually tied the knot, just like they had always dreamed of doing. Last time I checked in with them, a new addition to the family was said to be on the way. Artemis, Maurice and Alice are doing well too, and Maurice managed to win over the public and is now governing the place. He's a very skilled leader, truthfully, and actually seems to be sane unlike the "not-so-greats" of the past. Flora is still a bit of a loner, but she finally opened up to Dawn about her true identity. Needless to say she was happy to see her again. My toon friends are doing well too… although they are still struggling to trust Zevril after all that has happened. I do hope that I may see my father again someday, but Somnium has been acting a bit off lately. He's been communicating with me through my dreams, and he says something is returning…something that even a god like him fears. He brought up my old world… told me that something was going terribly wrong with it, something that none of his fellow overseers believed they could stop. One night, I found myself in Somnium's realm and was shocked to see the generally stoic entity appearing to express fear. "He appears in the dreams of my kin every night. I think all the peoples of the multiverse dream of him now…do you not see him, Sol?" Somnium questioned me. "I've had severe insomnia for the past few weeks…even if I did see whoever you're talking about, chances are I have forgotten." I replied. The god looked at me in horror when he heard me say the word "Insomnia." "Insomnia… no… Insomnium… he is returning. He hungers for vengeance and destruction… seeks to destroy order with chaos. I hoped that I had exiled him to an uninhabited part of the multiverse… but it seems I have failed." Somnium lamented. I remembered the story my father had told me… the story about how he had gotten to Uncanny Valley. I remembered the sigil… the machine. The machine which was now supposedly in the possession of my idiot of an old boss. "Oh god…" I said. "His presence threatens to destroy not just your old world… but this world as well. We should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth." Somnium said to me. Meanwhile, back on Sol's old Earth, great events were being set in motion…"Cause of death… heart attack, caused by extreme fear it would appear." The coroner said to me. "Rusty, you writing this down? We've got to record this evidence… the man was literally scared to death!" The coroner yelled at me once again. "Yes sir… I am listening to you and am writing this down." I replied, trying to be the good little mortician's assistant I was supposed to be. "I must say… there has definitely been an uptick in the amount of people being scared to death lately… and even weirder is the fact that they were all in contact with that so-called dream machine at one point." I said to the coroner as I looked over my notes and observed the strange similarities between these deaths. "That's not the weirdest part, kid… the weirdest part is the fact that the corpses looked like they'd been mummified somehow… very shortly after they died. I don't consider myself to be the superstitious type… but it definitely doesn't seem natural. Though time of death seems recent, judging by the condition of the organs, the external appearance of the body makes it look as if it has been dead and mummified for years." The coroner replied. "First it was that animation studio's CEO, Eugene or whatever he was called, then it was the Janitor, then a couple of engineers, then the guys in charged of moving the machine, and finally one of the old governor's lackeys." I replied, going over multiple cases. "What even happened with that governor anyway?" The coroner asked me. "Oh, you mean Harold Braggs? I heard that he went insane or something. Other folks say his wife did away with him which is why she's in prison now." I replied. "Luciana was a real nice woman… if she did away with her husband then something must've happened between her and him that caused her to go mad. Then again he was quite the crooked character." The coroner responded. Just then the phone rang and the coroner ran to answer it. He talked on it for a bit then returned to the morgue. "Well, kid, we've got another body… several actually. That old abandoned prison on top of that hill wasn't so abandoned after all. By the description I've heard, it wasn't the fire that killed 'em…we got more mummies on our hands it seems." The coroner told me with concern. Upon arrival, the fire had already been extinguished, and first responders were everywhere. The bodies recovered all seemed to belong to employees of Dreamcorp, recognizable by what remained of the uniforms they wore. However among them was a charred corpse in a woman's prison uniform. Luciana, the previous governor's wife. As we surveyed the damage, we didn't realize a hooded figure was lurking nearby, watching us closely. Coming Soon: The Somnium Saga: Insomnium |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-04-23 09:24:38 (edited)
Teaser?Contains: Politics (kinda), cult imagery, cannibalism, ritual suicide, psychopathy/sociopathy, lots of death, crime, poverty, starvation, imprisonment, anxiety, cursing, carnivorous predatory behavior, and body horrorProceed with caution: News of the disappearance of Governor H. Braggs and the suspicion of foul play had been spreading far and wide throughout a capital city somewhere in the United States back on Sol's earth. Many presumed that the governor had gone mad for one reason or another, however when rumors of the governor having allegedly been shot down by his own wife, a woman named Luciana, began to spread around, the media naturally latched onto it. However many people were skeptical of this, as Luciana was described as being one of the kindest women a person could meet. Of course, as the governor's term went on, instances of organized crime began to rise, which seemed to affect Luciana's psyche in some way. She began losing that kind and open demeanor, instead began acting in secrecy. There was no doubt that the state's government was beginning to succumb to corruption, although it was mainly the capital city which had an ever increasing crime rate. Things began becoming even more suspicious after a newcomer in the technological industry, Dreamcorp, began to become increasingly sophisticated in a rather short period of time. This directly coincided with a recent "meteor shower" that occurred in the rural outskirts of the capital city, which obviously led to a multitude of conspiracies. It is said that the governor, Harold Braggs, was heavily involved with Dreamcorp along with its funding. There were rumors of a machine unlike any other in existence, rumors that proved true upon the leakage of multiple photographs of it which were later confirmed to be authentic. It was supposedly a sort of AI based system designed specifically for artistic purposes that could cut down the need for human employees in industries such as animation and even sound design. While AIs already existed, none of them were quite as capable of creating accurately proportioned, HD quality characters and soundtracks as this aptly named "Dream Machine." Truthfully, the machine was out of this world, with there supposedly being only one ever made. Of course "out of this world" as a way of describing the Dream Machine was not just metaphorical as it turns out. It quite literally was not from Earth… in fact it wasn't even from the same universe as the Earth that it currently resided on. This otherworldly device is not quite what it seems to be. It's more than just an AI capable of making art that rivals the art produced by most humans, in fact the power within might not be as artificial as many people would expect it to be. An ancient abomination was imprisoned within the heart of the machine, with every passing day, the "enchantment" which kept it at bay grew weaker. It was starving, eager to feast upon the life force of anybody who was foolish enough to let it out. A horrid hunger, born from an ailment specific to its own species that was luckily not considered to be contagious.The disease was almost genetic in nature, much a birth defect of some sort… however, this strange life form still possessed some rather dangerous peculiarities to say the least. Born of a species said to be as old as time itself, a species that was unknowingly worshipped by humanity as gods for millennia; the beast referred to itself as Insomnium… a terrifying name which translated to "nightmare." It's body was most unstable, as was its mind. Comparable to a demon in many ways, the beast could almost act as a sort of parasitic force. It was an outcast amongst its kin, who it was certain were actively searching for it. It desired to escape from its prison… its hunger for chaos gnawing at its very core. Of course the Seal of Somnium being engraved within its prison box kept it from doing so, that is until one day, somebody was foolish enough to release it. A mortal human named Eugene, a CEO known for his constant desire for fame and fortune along with his rather controversial business dealings, found the machine which was in his possession to be on the fritz. It continuously printed out strange symbols unlike anything in the human language, not even in the most ancient ones. Foolishly he tried to dismantle the machine, unleashing Insomnium. Eugene screamed in horror at the smoke-like beast that stood before him. "Wh-what are you!?" He shouted in terror at the creature. It simply laughed maniacally at him before launching itself towards him. Eugene fell to the floor as the beast's form began to solidify and it took off its six-eyed owl-like mask, revealing something mostly incomprehensible beneath, that's only discernible features were rows upon rows of sharp fangs and a long, spiraling tongue. "What am I?" It rhetorically asked the CEO as dark tendrils began to wrap around his body. The CEO was on the verge of dying of fright as the tendrils began tightening more, like the coils of a snake constricting its prey. "I am Insomnium… and I must admit I am quite famished… unfortunately your delicious life force was the first thing I saw upon being released from that dreadful prison, so I'll just take it for myself!" Insomnium said menacingly as it bit down into the CEO and gorged upon his life energy like some sort of monstrous vampire. Insomnium ran its tongue across its teeth as it felt a sudden burst of energy course through its body. Unfortunately, the abomination still felt as if it's life force was unstable. "Bullocks… this instability still curses me… I need more! More energy!" Insomnium roared. The creature struggled to maintain a solid form and retreated back into the broken machine to await its next victim. A lone janitor had apparently heard the screams of Eugene as Insomnium did away with him, and entered the room. Upon discovering the seemingly mummified remains of the CEO, which still appeared to have some sort of smoke billowing from them, the janitor called the police, along with the company behind the machine's presence. Insomnium sniffed the air to check if any Overseers were nearby before once again going in for the kill. "Hello, lunch…" Insomnium hissed to the Janitor who suddenly dropped the phone out of fear at the sight of the gluttonous fiend. The last thing heard over the phone to the police were the screams of terror heard from the Janitor as his life was drained from his body by the seemingly vampiric deity. "Grragh! The flavor is so redundant! Do all of these bloody humans' life forces taste the same!?" Insomnium snarled before the continued instability of its form forced it to retreat back into the remains of the Dream Machine. "This body of mine… it's burning up! I cannot retain my dignity as long as it's failing me! I need to find another… one that's unoccupied. Yes… why it would even disguise my scent. So… filthy! A wicked stench, why every overseer can probably detect me right now! Argh! The stink… the stink of this wretched form…must stop it… must hide the scent!" Insomnium rambled on to itself. As Insomnium lie there, pondering, it once again felt like it's energy was being drained by its primordial sickness. "Ugh… the hunger… I must feed…" Insomnium growled. Suddenly it heard the sound of voices. "I told the boss we shouldn't have given that damn machine to the CEO…" one said. "Do you think the rumors about this thing are true? That there's some kinda alien thing going on with it?" Another voice replied. "Bah! As if… aliens ain't real, bud. Just a work of fiction! What are you gonna tell me next, eh? That the multiverse is real?" The first voice replied. "Well, the boss sure as hell implied that it was a thing." The second voice responded. "The boss is called a mad scientist for a reason, pal, the guy's completely bonkers!" The first voice replied. "Y'know… you're probably right about that. I mean this guy talks about an alien race as old as time… not to mention he and his little in-group supposedly thought up some plot to resurrect the old governor for some reason. They claim he's part of a master plan or something. They talk about using his body as a vessel for some kinda incomprehensible being for the sake of experimenting or something. Even mentioned bringing his old wife to watch the ritual against her will, pretty weird and cult-like if you ask me."the second voice explained. Insomnium was greatly interested by this conversation. "It's a good thing the boss managed to pay off the cops to convince them to not confiscate the Dream Machine as evidence for the deaths of a CEO and a janitor. He plans on using that ornate looking plate that's part of it in the ritual or something?" The first voice once again said. "Wait… wasn't the governor cremated or something?" The second voice suddenly blurted out. The first voice simply laughed, "Nah, the body's been hidden in the lab for the whole time. Apparently the ritual is gonna take place in that abandoned prison on that hill over there." The voice said. Insomnium was most intrigued by what it had just heard, but it's thoughts were soon disrupted by the sudden movement of what it had hidden itself within. These humans were taking it somewhere… and Insomnium knew exactly where. Of course, Insomnium could not have very well let these fools live, knowing what they knew. One thing is certain, dead men tell no tales… and Insomnium was also feeling a bit peckish. Why, if it was to consume these mortals just shortly before the ritual… it just might improve the chances of its successful resurrection! Then the real fun could begin. So, Insomnium decided to go ahead and kill two birds with one stone, besides if these fools couldn't transport Insomnium, then someone else would surely come around and do it for them. In the form of a dense black smoke, Insomnium enveloped the two moving men and laughed as it watched the life drain from their terrified faces as it absorbed their life force. "Energy… oh how delicious." Insomnium said to itself as it reveled in its most recent meal. The monstrous being took in its new surroundings, ravenously fantasizing about what it could do with this world once it was able to maintain a solid form. "Ah… there's so much energy here… what a grand feast! Oh, how I want it! I want it all… no, I need it, I need it all!" Insomnium roared with great eagerness as it took flight. Unfortunately for Insomnium, the energy sickness quickly knocked it out of the air and sent it spiraling downward. "ARRGH!" Insomnium screeched in fury as it had to perform a crash landing. Dark energy seemed to bleed from Insomnium's body as it crawled like a beastly presence, a far cry from its traditionally bipedal locomotion. "I'm so very, very, hungry… this form is fleeting." Insomnium snarled as it surveyed its surroundings in search of its next meal. Suddenly, a man wearing a lab coat with Dreamcorp's logo on it over a shirt with a graphic of ex-Governor Harold Braggs on it came rushing by. Insomnium immediately recognized it as one of its worshippers, as he had a tattoo of the Mark of Insomnium, clearly running late for something. "Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm gonna be late for the ritual! Curse this damn traffic!" The cultist yelled. Insomnium immediately saw the cultist as the perfect grab and go snack, and apathetically latched onto him as he ran, knocking him down before dragging him into a nearby alleyway to voraciously feed on his life energy. Briefly satiated, Insomnium made its way toward the prison in which the ritual was to take place. "Let go of me! It's not too late to stop the ritual, you don't want to do this!" A woman's voice frantically cried out. "We're sorry, Mrs. Braggs… or Luciana as you are now known, but the gods must be appeased with a vessel to walk among us believers. An oracle like your husband would be the perfect host for a god… especially considering you turned him into an empty shell once you shot him. The body is vacant… but this ritual calls for the blood of a widow in order to truly succeed… as you are the oracle's widow, it seems fitting that the blood should be yours. But do not fear, we won't take all of your blood… a simple finger prick by this device is all that is needed for the ritual to begin." Said a female cultist holding a pendant in the shape of the Mark of Insomnium as she began to approach Luciana. Shortly before her blood was spilled into the pendant, Luciana had doused herself in a flammable substance, unbeknownst to Insomnium who had made its way towards its intended human vessel. The cultists slit their wrists and willingly allowed Insomnium to begin to absorb their life essence, but as it was happening, Luciana used a ritual candle to set herself and her surroundings on fire. "Til death do us part!" She shrieked as she burst into flames. The fire was spreading rapidly, and Insomnium knew he had to escape from it. He wasn't able to absorb as much life energy as he had hoped, and something had gone wrong with the ritual. He used his new form to leap out of a window with little effort. "BWAHAHAHA! Now… my takeover can be-" Insomnium was cutoff when he saw dark energy crackling in his new hand. The ritual did not work out as he needed it to, he was still afflicted by the energy sickness which he had hoped the ritual would've fixed so he angrily yelled into the night as it began to storm. (Post Ritual) Insomnium watched the investigators leave the scene, as he perched on part of the prison that was still standing. He was paying particular attention to the coroner's assistant, as he was certain that the young man had seen him. The moment he knew everyone had left, he leaped down into the ruins. He winced in pain as he felt more dark, unstable energy crackling through his body. "Why didn't the ritual work!?" Insomnium growled. He suddenly felt a pain in his head along one in his abdomen. "The energy sickness… oh how it gnaws at my core." He said with a grimace as he began to walk off. After a whole lot of walking, Insomnium caught a whiff of something in the air that seemed to make his mouth water. "Breakfast… lunch… oh what do those humans call the meals they partake in at dusk again? Wait… Ah! I know, DINNER!" Insomnium exclaimed as he took off in a sprint. He soon found himself in a mostly derelict part of the city, where he caught a glimpse of a strange structure. It was bulky, had at least four wheels like some sort of automobile, and the smell of meat being cooked seemed to emanate from it along with smoke. "What a strange vehicle…" Insomnium said to himself as he patiently waited for the right time to strike and claim whatever edible goods the vehicle had within it. Truthfully… he didn't care what was being cooked, as he wanted it all. Waiting outside the vehicle were two, presumably homeless, people. They appeared to be in conversation with whoever was inside the food truck. "I'm presuming you would like extra relish with that, right?" The person in the truck asked one of the men. The man laughed jovially. "Oh, you know me so well." He replied. "To be fair, whenever I'm parked here, you're always the first to arrive, Jarred." The person in the truck said. Jarred took the hot dog as it was handed to him before turning to where his friend was. "What about you, Waldo?" He asked. Waldo simply shrugged before turning to look at the menu. "Eh, Waldo's one of those fellas who likes to take his time." Jarred said to the vendor. "Uhh… chicken tenders, I guess." Waldo finally decided. Once the chicken tenders were done, the two men walked towards a sitting area around a bonfire, unaware of the hooded figure lumbering towards the truck from which they got their food from as it passed them by. "What can we get for you sir?" the vendor asked the hooded figure, who actually seemed slightly dazed as it ran one of its hands across the menu on the side of the truck. "Sir?" the vendor asked the figure again. The figure suddenly turned its attention to the vendor and removed its hood, revealing its face. The face of the old governor which Insomnium had taken over. His eyes were solid black, and dark ichor dripped from them like tears. "Everything… I'm so hungry." Insomnium said before bursting into a fit of diabolical, manic laughter. The two men by the bonfire were so busy having a conversation that they did not hear the screams of terror coming from where the food truck was. "How about that new governor, eh? I heard that he's been working on some legislation to help folks like us." Jarred said to Waldo. Waldo simply huffed. "That's what they all say, Jarred. Typical politician lies." Waldo replied. Jarred sighs at Waldo. "Well, even if that's the case, at least he appears to be sane… unlike that Harold Brag—" Jarred was interrupted by the sound of Insomnium landing behind him and Waldo. "What the… where the hell did that guy come from?" Waldo whispered to Jarred. "I'm starving…" Insomnium said to himself. The two watched in shock as Insomnium devoured his food far too quickly for any normal human being. "Now, you see? That's what you don't want to do. Eat it all at once. Tempting, I know. But if you make it last, it can last all day." Jarred said to Waldo. It was then that Jarred realized that Insomnium hadn't even unwrapped the burger before eating it. "Umm… sir, you realize you're supposed to unwrap the burger before eating it, right?" Jarred said as he tried to get as far away from that crazed lunatic as he could. Insomnium laughed at this remark. Waldo saw his face and recognized it almost immediately. "Say… you look kinda familiar." Waldo said. Insomnium glared at him. "Familiar? How so?" Insomnium asked in a chilling voice. "Wait… you look exactly like that old governor, the one who went insane! Except for one thing… uh… I'm pretty sure he didn't have a British accent." Waldo replied nervously. Insomnium had a blank look on his face. "Uhh… drat! What did he sound like again? Oh, now that's just hilarious! Funny how I can never get the voices right… to be a godly being, to be immensely powerful, a master of disguise, and yet, I cannot get the voice right! Funny, is it not?" Insomnium snarled, revealing his inhumanly sharp teeth as black ichor began dripping from his mouth. Jarred looked at Waldo with a look of terror. "Waldo, we have to go… now." Jarred said to his friend. Insomnium stood up and laughed maniacally, his eyes beginning to blacken as dark energy crackled around him. "Because it's funny. Don't you see? Look at me. I'm splitting my sides. LOOK AT ME… look how damn hilarious I am! I am the funniest wretch on this entire disgrace of a planet!" Insomnium screamed. Jarred and Waldo were now in a full on sprint, running towards the food truck as fast as their legs could carry them. "Mercy! God, help us! There's this man!" Jarred yelled out. To the horror of the two men, it looked as if Mercy and her assistant had been reduced to merely being skeletons in clothes. The two men were frozen in fear, when they heard the sound of something landing on the roof of the truck. The something in question being Insomnium. Insomnium had a service bell in his hands. He rang it to mimic the cliché sound of an old school dinner bell. "Do you hear that? Why it's the sound of a dinner bell! You know what that means…" Insomnium said with a sinister grin before bursting into manic laughter again. Jarred and Waldo started running again as Insomnium leaped into the sky before swooping down at them. "That's right fellas…It's dinner time!" Insomnium roared. The men screamed in terror… only for their screams to be silenced as Insomnium swiftly ended them. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |
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Posted 2023-07-06 15:55:27
Alright, this storyline is completed, now to go onto Insomnium, which will be in a different thread for reasons. |
[FATAL_ERROR] #54485 |