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After watching Mekara disappear into a storm of debris, you reached behind your back to grab your portal projector, placed just above your vibranium dagger.

“Hold this for me?” you said, handing the device to Ana, who carefully accepted it.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I need to get something real quick. Just point it at that wall, flip that switch, and hold it steady until I get back.” you explained.

Ana did as you said, and a red, swirling portal formed on the area you’d pointed at. This wasn’t her first time seeing it happen, but it was her first time handling the equipment.

“Thanks. I’ll only be a minute.” you promised, disappearing into the portal, and reappearing in the purple and amber pocket dimension where you’d left the spoils of your last heist. It felt like forever ago.

Your eyes raced back and forth, searching your stash for the cache of alien weapons you stole from Rolo. And thanks to you having the foresight to properly organize your loot during your time in Vegas, it didn’t take you long to find the guns.

“There you are…”

You bundled everything up in a web-sack, slung them over your shoulder, and raced back out the way you came. As always, the transitional process of crossing between dimensional spaces left you feeling all tingly, but you were otherwise unphased.

When you dropped the guns on the ground in front of her, Ana’s eyes dropped along with them.

“Are those…?”

“Yup. Figured we'd need them sooner or later.” you confirmed with a nod, placing your now empty hands on your hips. “And lucky for us, they're not that hard to use.”

You knelt down to pick up a rifle with a spiraling helix shaped barrel.

“Here. Let me show you.”

Ana had already shut off the projector, and was listening intently. You weren’t an expert on alien guns or anything, but you had least figured out the basics after trying them out.

You just had to hope that these things would be powerful enough to deal some damage to that overgrown iguana over there.

—-----------

A few minutes later, you were back in action, although somewhat weighed down by the veritable arsenal of alien weaponry strapped to your body. If the buildings here were taller, you’d be able to cover greater distances with each swing, but at least this way you could get a good web-swinging rhythm going. Empty streets meant no traffic, and no traffic meant that you could fly through this crumbling city without losing much momentum.

Sure, you would have to dodge the occasional sand blast or flying boulder, but that was a walk in the park compared to what Mekara was doing. The giant robot lady, and honor guard for the Kaiju King, was dodging and weaving between collapsing buildings, taking pot shots with her wrist cannons where she could, and firing missiles when she thought she could get away with it.

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The big stubby-armed lizard creature laid down flat on his belly, scuttling away at an impressive speed so as to avoid the explosive projectiles. It bounded off of a nearby building, and sharply rotated the lower half of its body in order to whip its long tail in Mekara’s direction. And from that tail came a wave of sand that sliced through anything in its path. Mekara managed to vault over the attack, just barely managing to pull her foot back in time, before descending on her prey, Wolverine claws extended.

Her opponent leapt back, Mekara’s claws just barely managing to graze his skin. Now that you were closer, you were able to get a better look at what you were dealing with. The big lizard had indeed resembled an iguana, in the way that its flesh sagged and its back and tail were lined with spines. Most alarming were its large, bulging eyes that never seemed to blink, and its mouth full of razor sharp yellowish-brown teeth.

Those large, unblinking eyes flicked to you for a second, but it paid for its inattentiveness with a solid slash across the chest from Mekara. Yellowish-green blood leaked from its fresh wound, and it tried to retreat, only to earn a missile to the face for its trouble.

Mekara didn’t let up. She chased him down and sank her claws into its long, prehensile tail. She tried to stake it to the ground, but the lizard managed to lift both its tail and the giant robot clinging to it. Mekara was flung through the air, crashing into a building that was uncomfortably close to you.

As soon as you were close enough, you leveled a sleek, bronze chrome cannon at his head. Your arm fit snugly in a compartment where the gun’s stock would normally be. It sort of reminded you of Samus’ arm-cannon from Metroid, but narrower.

You pulled the trigger repeatedly, and multiple lances of blue superheated plasma ripped through the scales on the creature’s face. You’d aimed a few of those shots at those big, beady eyes of his, but they didn’t seem to affect him as strongly as they should.

“Would it kill you to at least blink?”

In response, the reptile curled in on itself and started thrashing around on the ground, kicking up a ton of dirt and sand in the process. Its long tail whipped and coiled around his feet like a lasso, and when he flung it towards you, a literal tidal wave of dirt followed in the same direction.

First came the shockwave from the whipcrack of its long tail, sending you hurtling backwards into something solid. Mekara curled her fingers around your torso and pulled you close to her chest, using her back to shield you from the worst of it.

(cont.)

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Several moments later, Mekara tried to turn her head to find the monster, only to receive a tail swipe to the face. You flew from her grasp as she tumbled into another cluster of buildings. The giant lizard pounced on her then, tearing at her armor with its sharp claws, and coiling its tail around her throat. Mekara shielded herself with her arms, whilst simultaneously popping out a pair of buzzsaws and grinding them against the creature’s tail.

That forced it to break away from her, and gave you enough time to snag the corner of a building with a webline and slingshot yourself back towards the beast. And this time, you weren’t worried about conserving your ammo in the slightest.

“You know, you sort of remind me of the school pet I had when I was in the third grade. I sort of killed that one too, but that was just because I overfed it.” you said, remembering the ugly little thing that had been placed in your care. “On a related note, I hope you’re hungry!”

You flew tight circles around the reptile, peppering it with plasma bolts and shards of some material that you couldn’t quite identify. When you ran out of ammo on the shard rifle, you glued it to a wall and pulled out another gun, running through your bullets and discarding your guns just as fast. You could’ve tried bringing additional clips with you, but you weren’t entirely sure which ones were compatible with which gun, and you didn’t want to risk potentially damaging them.

The giant monster scrambled around buildings and lashed its tail out at you, managing to protect its vulnerable underbelly by blocking your bullets with the thicker scales on its back. The dirt that it kicked up while it moved was also drastically reducing visibility.

By this point, you’d discarded most of the guns that you brought with you on this trip. The only guns you had remaining were two shotguns that seemed to take in the surrounding air through vents on the barrel to formulate ammo, a sidearm with a truly impressive clip-size, despite its actual size, and the Metroid arm-cannon. That last one seemed to operate off of built-in heat sinks, and you were attempting to absorb some of the residual heat through your hand in order to avoid venting it, but you weren’t sure how long you could keep that up.

You were just considering swooping down and blasting it straight in the eye when something miraculous happened. A lance of bright green light streaked past you and blasted straight through the monster’s left eye!

That must’ve been Ana. She’d been particularly excited to use that sniper rifle.

Blood poured from the opening in its eye, and the creature shrieked, shaking its head to drench itself and its surroundings in blood. Some almost got on you, and-

DANGER!

You twisted out of the way just time to avoid it splashing on you, and used your cloak to shield yourself from the stray droplets. Everything that its blood touched began to sizzle, an acrid smell reaching your nose as the fumes began to fill the air.

“It’s got acidic blood!?” you shouted. “Is it wrong that I find that insanely cool?”

“Kinda!” Mekara shouted, racing past you and driving an elbow towards the monster’s throat. It managed to lean out of the way just in time, but it didn’t anticipate the long, sharp blades protruding from her elbows to catch it on the side of its neck.

More blood began to flow, and the lizard swiped its claws at her reflexively. Mekara flipped her blades around so that they were protruding from her wrists, and slashed out, taking two of its fingers in the process. The beast staggered back, and Mekara advanced. Another blade popped out of her foot, and she swept his leg, slashing its thigh open.

The bloody creature faltered, and Mekara took that opportunity to deliver a flying roundhouse kick to its head. Its head snapped to the side, but as its body began to turn, it managed to fling its whiplike tail at Mekara, sending her hurtling into a nearby wall.

You winced, and only narrowly managed to avoid a sand slash that was sent in your direction. This thing was tough! Hopefully Ana’s next shot could put it down for good. You just had to buy her time to line another one up.

You placed an explosive mark on the inside of the hand cannon, removed it from your arm, and threw it at the creature’s face. The resulting explosion left its face charred, the intense heat burning past its flesh and exposing a thick layer of fat underneath.

You drew both shotguns, aimed them at its face, and fired.

—-----------

Your eyes shot open, and you sat up quickly, taking note of your surroundings. You were in someone’s bedroom, but it was entirely unfamiliar to you. A black dog sat in the doorway, tilting its head at you curiously. Your eyes flitted around the room until you saw a mirror pointed at the bed.

What do you see?

>A slender body bound entirely by cloth, and a mouth full of frighteningly sharp teeth.
>A feminine form with flowing white braids, wrapped in cloth covered with runic symbols.
>A masked figure, wearing a wide-brimmed hat in the shape of a crescent moon.

>>6151393
>>A slender body bound entirely by cloth, and a mouth full of frighteningly sharp teeth.
Back at it

>>6151393
>A slender body bound entirely by cloth, and a mouth full of frighteningly sharp teeth.

>>6151393
>A slender body bound entirely by cloth, and a mouth full of frighteningly sharp teeth.
Hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving, Scorekeeper!

>>6151425
>>6151982
>>6152048
>A slender body bound entirely by cloth, and a mouth full of frighteningly sharp teeth.

Taking these. Writing...

>>6152048
I did! Thanks for asking! Hope you anons enjoyed your holiday as well.

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You narrowed your eyes at your reflection, opening and closing your mouth experimentally. Well, it was less a mouth, and more a jagged tear along the fabric where a mouth would normally be. But even so, you didn’t doubt that they could tear through bone and muscle quite easily. At least, that’s what your original body was capable of. This one was…

You stared down at your hands and flexed your slender, claw-like fingers. This vessel was…small, to say the least. Far younger than you’d expect a warrior priest to...

Your gaze drifted downward, at the noticeable curve around your chest.

Correction. Warrior-priestess.

You directed your attention inwards for a moment, sensing the slumbering host breathing beneath your biomass.

No…”biomass” wasn’t the right word anymore. This was a type of cloth. A fabric suffused with your consciousness. A meager vessel that was already being worn by another host. And for the host to be this young…

“Cindy?”

You turned your head to stare at the black hairy thing. It could apparently talk, and it knew your new host. Was she its friend? Or maybe its owner?

You sniffed the air and mentally sorted through the various scents that filled your nose. Dust, waxed wood, paper, and the musty smell of old clothes were immediately familiar, but there was also an interesting fragrance coming from your host’s hair. It smelled sweet, like a kind of fruit. It was surprisingly pleasant.

“Are you feeling alright…?” the furry creature said, his voice full of concern.

No, not a furry creature. The ”dog”. The furry thing was a dog. This wasn’t your first time seeing one, but it was more than a little disorienting to be awoken after…

By the Gods, how long has it been…?

Your joints popped as you flexed your muscles, lowered yourself onto all fours and arched your back. You relished in the feeling of popping the vertebrae of your host’s spine. That eternal slumber that you were promised appeared to have ended early.

You let out an involuntary yawn, stretching your mouth unnaturally wide as you did so, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw the black dog stiffen.

“What the devil has gotten into you, girl?”

A long, papery tongue flitted out to lick at the corners of your mouth as you turned an inquisitive eye on the chatty mammal. Your nostrils flared, and a different scent filled your nose now.

“Demon…” you growled.

The black dog growled right back, flattening his ears and baring his teeth at you.

You sprang off the bed, planted yourself on the wall behind the bed, and crawled your way onto the ceiling from there, hissing all the while.

The demon dog started to bark, and you had to stop yourself from doing the same. It was hard to ignore your baser instincts, even now.

(Cont.)

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Irritation filled your every stitch as the dog’s barking resounded throughout the room and bounced off of its walls, and you wanted nothing more than to silence it for good. But…you were vaguely aware of the fact that your new host was somewhat fond of this creature. Deep down, you could feel it. Her memories and emotions were but a trickle compared to the control that you were capable of exerting in this moment, but they were far from ineffectual. Your host’s will could still influence your decisions, but in her current state, you doubted that she would be able to put up much of a struggle.

Someone had begun to stir downstairs at the dog’s persistent yapping. Your irritation had finally reached its peak, and you stretched a hand out towards it. Several bolts of cloth snaked out from your arm and coiled around the creature, rendering it immobile and unable to speak.

You were about to celebrate the blessed silence that had replaced its barking, but your eyes widened when the demon dog shifted into another form entirely!

You stared in mild amazement as a snake slithered out through the gaps in your bandage snare, and down the stairs.

“Strange…” you mused, following its path from your place on the ceiling.

You crawled out of the bedroom and into a larger room. From the looks of things, you were in some sort of shop. And according to your host’s memories, the old woman frantically waving a broom at you was your host’s grandmother.

She didn’t seem to be a warrior priestess herself, but you got the impression that she was…dangerous. You just couldn't figure out how.

“Cindy! Get down from there!” she pleaded.

“I'll get her down!” proclaimed another demon standing beside her. Except this one was covered in green paint, and wearing strange clothes.

Her pants were torn, and they had been dyed a deep shade of purple. She wore a mask that resembled the wrinkled face of an angry man with skin as green as the paint coating her body, and the gauntlets covering her hands were abnormally large and constantly curled into fists.

She gently tapped those fists together, and you looked her up and down. You couldn't imagine this ridiculous creature forcing you to do anything.

And you were about to say as much, when a familiar voice echoed through your mind.

“Be at ease, child. They are not your enemy.”

You closed your eyes and took comfort in the words of your patron god. On some instinctive level, you had suspected as much.

“Then lead me to your enemies, for they are my enemies too.” you offered.

“Those that would threaten my Hunter’s Moon and the safety of those that inhabit the realm of man are all subject to my wrath.” he declared “Your eagerness to serve is heartening, my disciple.”

A shudder ran through you at that. You knew that he was talking about your host, but to feel his light pass over you once more…! You thought yourself beyond such sensations.

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“Is that my purpose here? Am I to serve you once more?”

“You are right to assume so. I take it your slumber has been peaceful? Have you felt the foul touch of Black Pharoah’s influence?” he asked.

“My mind has been blessedly silent.” you promised. “Thanks to you, my lord.”

And it had been. Before Khonshu, you had been subject to the everlasting torment that was the Mark of Knull, a brand placed upon you by none other than the “Crawling Chaos” himself. Much like other members of your kind, it plunged your mind into a seemingly inescapable quagmire of madness and torment. That was, until Khonshu offered to remove it for you.

You would never forget the kindness he showed you, nor would you forsake the clarity that his brand brought you. You could feel it, even now, resting gently on your forehead, where your previous brand had been. It marked the depth of your devotion. Like many others before and after you, you were a living example of what Khonshu’s Mercy had wrought.

“I am pleased to hear that, my child. Because I am afraid that my Hunter’s Moon requires your assistance.”

“Say no more, my lord. Just point me in the direction.”

And, without another word, Khonshu impressed upon you a sense of the direction from which his enemies approached. Although, there was…something else here too. Something old and…vaguely familiar.

When you opened your eyes again, you were surprised to see that a younger, more attractive woman had replaced the old lady. No…she was wearing the same clothes, and she more or less smelled the same. Except this one was at least forty or fifty years younger.

“Don’t make me come up there, young lady!” the woman shouted up at you.

You scowled at her and lowered yourself down from the ceiling on a bolt of cloth that was still stuck to it. You locked eyes with the woman, stopping right in front of her as you silently dared her to hit you with that broom. To her credit, though, she didn’t shy away, even when you exposed your teeth and let out a low growl. Her frown only deepened.

“What have you done with my granddaughter? Is this Khonshu’s doing?”

“Something like that…” you hissed. “The girl is fine. Khonshu brought me out to protect her.”

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What are you going to do?” she asked cautiously.

“Eliminate the threat.” you declared without hesitation, flipping over to drop onto your hands and feet, before rising to your full height.

You frowned up at the old, Young woman. This host was still too short for your liking. You would have to fix that.

Your bones popped and your muscles restructured to fit your ideal body, growing to accommodate the figure of a slightly more…"mature" human female.

There, that was better.

You moved to step past the old, Young woman, when, to your annoyance, she moved to block you.

“Wait! Cindy is safer here than she is out there.” she said, shifting her broom so that it was pointed at your slightly enlarged chest.

You barely managed to suppress a snarl, when you heard the demon dog approaching you from behind. The ridiculous green demon was also circling around to flank you.

You didn’t have time for this.

What will you do?

>Ignore them and smash through the front door.
>Strike out at them with cloth tendrils. Not hard enough to seriously injure them, but hard enough to put them out of commission.
>”If you want to protect her, then you’re welcome to come with me.”
>Wake the girl up. Maybe she can convince them to stay out of your way.
>Write-in.

>>6152157
>>”If you want to protect her, then you’re welcome to come with me.”

>>6152157
>”If you want to protect her, then you’re welcome to come with me.”
>Wake the girl up. Maybe she can convince them to stay out of your way.
We can walk and fight, she can talk and call out new enemies as we encounter them. A good split of duties as far as our loose consciousness is concerned, I’m sure.

>>6152159
>>6152351
>”If you want to protect her, then you’re welcome to come with me.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“If you want to protect her, you're welcome to come with me.” you proposed.

You honestly didn't care where they went so long as they stayed out of your way.

The woman's eyes widened, and she lowered her broom slightly, giving you the opening you needed to brush past her and head for the door.

“What are you?” she asked in a challenging tone. “I can sense your lifeforce…'intertwining' with hers.”

You paused at the door, your hand mere inches away from swinging it open.

Now that was a question that you really didn't have time to sit down and answer. She would have to settle for the abbreviated answer for the time being.

“I am a faithful servant of Khonshu.” you declared, glancing over your shoulder at her. “And, so far as I can tell, your granddaughter is as well.”

That statement earned mixed reactions from everyone. The old woman had a conflicted expression on her face, while the demon dog was clearly wary of you.

And the green demon was…

Well, their mask was still very angry looking, and you were having trouble getting a proper read on them.

But, despite their skepticism towards you, you hadn’t told them any lies, and the most overtly threatening thing that you did was tie up the dog.

After a moment of tense silence, the old woman nodded once.

“Very well. We will follow you.”

"Seriously? Just like that?" the green demon said, turning its mask to stare at her.

“Young!” the demon dog exclaimed, giving its master what you thought might've been an incredulous look.

“There's no point arguing, Smokey.” she admonished it.

You all watched as she crossed the room, set down her broom, and took up a cane in its place. It looked to be hand-carved.

But on the way back, something strange happened. With each step, the woman known as “Young” started to shrink. The length of her stride became shorter, and her height dwindled to that of a young child. Her hair had lost some of its length and volume from when she was a full grown woman.

The cane appeared to grow larger in her shrinking hand, and her clothes…

Her clothes really were shrinking! Somehow, they were shrinking to comfortably fit her smaller form. Throughout all this, her stride was unbroken. To her, this was the most normal thing in the world.

The demon dog known as “Smokey” knelt before her as she approached, and Young climbed over it and patted its head. The dog slowly rose with her comfortably seated atop his back, and now it was the demon’s turn to start changing.

Its steps were halting at first. Its legs shook under the weight of its master, but with each step, its feet grew steadier. And larger!

It’s entire body was growing larger, until it looked more like a Dire Wolf than a shaggy old dog.

Young met your eyes as the dog stopped to stand beside you. Despite her appearance, there was still wisdom in those small, squinty eyes of hers.

(Cont.)

“Well? What are we waiting for? If Smokey gets much bigger, we won’t be able to get him out the front door.” the girl said, patting his back. The dog let out a low warning growl, but you were pretty sure that it wasn’t directed at you.

You narrowed your eyes at her.

“Just try to keep up.” you said, before bursting out of the house at a full sprint. You didn’t even look back to see if the others actually could keep up.

You ignored the sandstorm, not having sensitive flesh or squishy eyeballs to be pelted by the rough particulates in the air. If anything, you felt like your legs were kicking up far more dust than the storm was.

They blurred as you tore up the dirt, and you had to take a moment to appreciate the condition of the host body that you were using. This “Cindy” person had a very good body. You’ve never had a host like this before. It was starting to become clear why Khonshu favored her.

But…there was something else unusual about it. It was almost like…

Two things happened as you were groping about Cindy’s body. Out of your head sprouted two ears, and out of your back popped a white, fluffy tail.

You nearly tripped from the way it altered your sense of balance.

You take it back. This was a very abnormal host body.

Where will you go?

>In the direction that Khonshu pointed you in, obviously.
>Towards that strangely familiar presence. Something about it makes you feel vaguely nostalgic.

>>6153033
>>Towards that strangely familiar presence. Something about it makes you feel vaguely nostalgic.
Alright, you made me curious

>>6153033
>In the direction that Khonshu pointed you in, obviously.
Though if we tie, I’m willing to switch so long as we add
>Ask the others what lies in that direction
first.

Something old enough for us to recognize in some form (a person? a power they posses? a connection to a related god? something about their species?) may be known in this area.

It’s a shot in the dark, but more info is always better.

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>>6152157
>Konshu gave her a Klyntar
I FUCKIN CALLED IT. KONSHU THE GOAT AT IT AGAIN

>>6153033
>In the direction that Khonshu pointed you in, obviously.

Konshu's work is never done

>>6153267
>>6154724
>In the direction that Khonshu pointed you in, obviously.

Taking these. Writing...

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You briefly regarded the familiar presence, before shaking your head and picking up the pace. Now wasn’t the time for distractions. You had a mission to fulfill.

Your eyes flickered briefly as a shadow passed overhead. You glanced up…and blinked at the green demon flying through the air ahead of you. The small creature plummeted with surprising speed, smashed into the ground feet-first, and sprang back up into the air, leaving a small crater where she’d landed.

The green demon was capable of covering great distances with each leap, and you found yourself staring at her for several minutes. Maybe the tiny creature wouldn’t be so useless after all. You wouldn’t let her beat you to your objective, though.

Now that you had a good grasp of what your host body was capable of, you thought now would be a good time to switch to a more efficient form of transportation.

You stretched out one, and from it, flew several bolts of cloth, adhering to and wrapping around the structures to your left and right. And, with a sharp tug, you managed to pull yourself into the air. You’ve done this plenty of times before, but after reviewing the memories of your host’s current caretaker, you thought you were starting to get a better handle on this “web-swinging” thing.

You tried your best to imitate the grace, form and fluidity with which this “Ben” character moved, and your host body complied readily. Strange as this body might be with its fluffy tail and twitchy ears, you could tell that it was well-trained for this sort of movement. You barely needed to do anything to strengthen her bones and muscles. She would be a fantastic servant of Khonshu if she was allowed to grow to maturity.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted the green demon bouncing from rooftop to rooftop, and you flung yourself forward in order to get ahead of her.

The storm was getting stronger, so you must be getting close to whatever was causing this disturbance. You silently prayed for it to be some big ugly monster. It's been far too long since you've gotten to hit something.

—---

It didn't take long for you to reach the eye of the storm at the rate you were going, and with the winds no longer buffeting you from all sides, you were finally able to see what you'd been hoping for.

A big, ugly monster.

The jagged tear that was your mouth stretched to Cindy’s ears in a wicked grin, and you found your papery tongue flitting out and licking the side of your face in anticipation.

On the way there, though, you passed a vaguely familiar woman with a long, blonde ponytail. She swung an odd-looking weapon in your direction, and desperately dug through your host’s memories in order to find out whether she was a friend, or foe.

Ah, wait. This was her guardian's mate, wasn't it? In that case, she was a friend. She wouldn't hurt you if she knew who was under all these bandages.

You flipped around in mid-air, meeting Anastasia's eyes through the lens of her scope, before peeling back the layers of your face in order to expose Cindy's. The woman hesitated when she saw the slumbering face of your host, and you took that opportunity to propel yourself towards the battle that was in progress.

From the looks of things, your host’s guardian and a giant metal warrior were attempting to slay a large reptile. It had a long tail that it liked to use as a whip, and a dangerously sharp pair of teeth and claws. But at the rate this was going, the battle would soon reach its conclusion.

The creature bore many wounds, and both its eyes seemed to have been severely damaged. It would only need a few more good hits to bring it down for good.

What will you do?

>Jump onto the back of its head, wrap your tendrils around its upper jaw, and PULL!
>Shift your mass around to form a few extra limbs, and use them to savagely attack its face!
>Fling yourself at the creature as hard as you can, and deliver a flying kick to its neck!
>You don’t know enough about this creature. You should pull your host’s guardian aside in order to learn its weaknesses.
>Write-in.

Pastebins:

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/1ZihFYSV

Equipment and Gear:
https://pastebin.com/WAhveFAd

Contacts:
https://pastebin.com/WdcFXD2s

10 Commandments of the Desperados:
https://pastebin.com/Qpr2jVPE

Costumes:
https://pastebin.com/5Jie54X2

The Huntsman’s Travel Guide:
https://pastebin.com/PU6LWsip

Upcoming Events in the Maximum Universe:
https://pastebin.com/DceSEjiR

>>6154912
>>Jump onto the back of its head, wrap your tendrils around its upper jaw, and PULL!

>>6154912
>Jump onto the back of its head, wrap your tendrils around its upper jaw, and PULL!

>>6154912
>Jump onto the back of its head, wrap your tendrils around its upper jaw, and PULL!
May as well join the crowd. It’ll line it up for a strike to the neck from Mekara.

>>6154723
Neat! I didn’t draw the connection. Guess we need to avoid fire and sonics though.

>>6154917
>>6155197
>>6155266
>Jump onto the back of its head, wrap your tendrils around its upper jaw, and PULL!

Taking these. Writing...

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You swung past the giant metal woman, ignored your host’s guardian as he called her name, before landing on the back of the giant reptile's head.

Its eyes, bulging, bloodshot and slightly deflated in some places, swiveled up to you. On the left side of its face, the flesh was charred and blackened in some places, exposing fat and muscle where its skin sagged. It was as if it was sloughing off of its face, dangling down to its neck.

It started to thrash about, opening its mouth to roar or snarl in protest to your presence. And that’s when you laced your bandages around the upper half of its mouth, layering them multiple times over so that they wouldn’t snap under your own considerable strength.

The creature attempted to bite the bands of cloth forcing its mouth open, but only succeeded in forcing them deeper into its gums. You laced several more layers through its mouth and nose, took a couple steps back, and PULLED!

The monster’s head was immediately yanked back, forcing its neck to bend at an awkward angle as the upper part of its jaw was being relentlessly wrenched apart from the bottom half. The creature began to stagger back, and you noticed, too late, that it was driving you towards the side of a building!

You braced for impact, momentarily loosening your grip on the beast’s jaw, and bringing your arms up to protect your head…!

But for some reason, the creature stopped abruptly, the spines on its back only mere inches away from the wall. You crawled around its torso to get an idea of what had happened, and you very nearly let out a gasp of surprise.

The big ugly lizard was being held in place by a network of webs that were looping around numerous buildings, constructs and fixtures within the area. And where the weblines converged, Ben was holding them all, and pulling with all his might.

You adopted a sinister smile, climbed back around to grab the reins connected to the monster’s mouth, and went right back to pulling! Only this time, you made sure to brace your feet against the adjacent wall, pushing back against it with the host body’s admittedly impressive lower body strength.

The creature’s limbs were flailing wildly at this point, and its tail was stuck between striking at the webs, lashing out at the building behind it, or snaking up to make a grab at you. But none of those things ended up happening, because the giant metal woman had returned with a sword that looked taller than she was!

The metal flashed as she swung down, severing the tail entirely, and cleaving through part of the building you were braced against. Immediately, the beast stumbled forward with a cry, nearly launching you over its head in the process! You scurried down its back quickly, hoping to avoid getting tangled up in those webs.

The giant metal woman stepped forward once more, her sword raised to the air. The sword was long and curved, like a scimitar, with a golden hilt and a jagged edge that looked like the teeth of a chainsaw.

Hmm…

(Cont.)

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“Chainsaw”. Yet another memory from your host. Her thoughts and terminologies were starting to leak through your connection.

You were pulled from your reverie when the metal woman brought her sword crashing down, simultaneously beheading the beast and cauterizing the wound on the way through. You stared in wonder at the smoking sword, its jagged edge now glowing the same shade of gold as its hilt.

She flicked her sword out, cleansing it of the ichor that served as the beast’s blood and glared down at it disdainfully.

“That was disgusting//revolting//repulsive.” she said, her voice becoming distorted with each utterance.

Her glowing red eyes flitted over to you, and you tensed, preparing for an attack. But to your relief, her face softened and recognition filled her eyes.

“Oh! Aren’t you that mummy girl we summoned? What are you doing out of bed?”

You tilted your head to the side and started digging through your host’s memories again. This giant metal warrior’s name was “Mekara”, it seemed. You’ve never encountered a creature quite like her during your travels.

You thought about saying as much, when Ben nearly barreled into you, sweeping you up in a tight hug. Your whole body tensed, and then relaxed involuntarily. You stared over the man’s shoulder in confusion, not knowing what to do with your hands.

Should you push him away?

“Are you alright? You nearly gave me a heart attack.” he said, leaning away from you to get a better look at your body. “Where’s Young and Shaggy? I thought they were supposed to be watching you.”

You stared at him. He stared at you. Particularly, at your body.

“Also, is it just me, or did you get bigger? Did you hit puberty while I was gone?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. His attention was firmly fixed on the twitching, fluffy white tail that had slipped out from your backside.

Ah. You almost forgot about that thing.

Ben was silent for a painfully long minute. You were about to consider speaking up so that you could correct his mistake in assuming that your host was conscious, when the man reached around to grab your host's tail.

—-----

!!!!!

Sensation! The sharp prickling of a cluster of nerves near your tailbone lit up all at once, sending a jolt up your spine that reverberated throughout your entire body! Your eyes shot open suddenly, and you awoke with a strange yelp, a sound you’ve never made in your entire life.

Your first instinct was to strike out at whatever had attacked you, and you felt your fist collide with something solid straight away.

Your eyes focused on Ben, reeling back from your punch and looking about as alarmed as you felt!

“Okay…I’m guessing that’s not a part of your costume…” he said, massaging his left cheek. “Damn, that hurt…”

Your breath quickened as you frantically glanced at your surroundings, your mind struggling to fill in the blanks.

(Cont.)

Where are you? Weren’t you laying in bed before? How’d you get here? Why were you standing on the back of a dead monster!? And why did…

WAS THAT A TAIL!?

You felt like you couldn’t breathe. You were suffocating under all these bandages. You pulled them away from your face, and, almost as if you’d commanded them to, they moved away on their own, freeing up your nose and mouth so that you could take in a deep breath.

This, however, proved to be an awful idea, because a strong, acrid smell filled your nose, along with all the dirt and dust that was floating around in the air. You choked, coughed, and spat out whatever it was that flew into your mouth. So far, you’d only been awake for less than a minute, and you were already having an awful time.

“Cindy. What happened to your hair and eyes…?”

You made a stupid sound of incomprehension as you struggled to get your breathing under control. Ben then reached into one of the pouches on his belt, pulled out a phone and faced it towards you with the front-facing camera turned on.

And on its screen, you saw the face of a Korean girl with snow white hair, and pale blue cat-like eyes. You stared at the screen uncomprehendingly for a moment, your mouth opened just wide enough for you to catch a flash of a pair of elongated canines. Was that supposed to be…you?

You leaned away from the screen, just enough to see two twitching, triangular fixtures on top of your head. You tentatively reached up to touch one, and then flinched as the ticklish sensation registered in your brain.

You gasped and stepped back, nearly falling off the dead creature’s back in the process. But instead of landing in the dirt, you found yourself being scooped out of the air by a giant, metal hand.

“Easy now. I’ve got you.” Mekara said in a comforting tone. “Ooh! Did you do something with your hair?”

She and Ben were looking at you with concern, but all you could think about were your mom’s words back at CRADLE.

She had said that your spirit shared the properties of Kumiho. And if that was the case…then you were finally starting to look the part.

You stared down at your hands, disbelieving. As if on command, the cloth covering them retracted, giving you a good, long look at the sharp claws that now protruded from your fingertips.

What will you say/do?

>”This can't be happening...! There's gotta be a potion or a glamour spell that can get me back to normal. Maybe my grandma knows something that can help.”
>”How did I get here? Am I a sleepwalker on top of all this?”
>”What am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! They already think that I’m a delinquent, and dying my hair white isn’t gonna help my image!”
>Take a deep breath, and take a moment to center yourself. Breathe in, breathe out...
>Write-in.

>>6155731
>>”What am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! They already think that I’m a delinquent, and dying my hair white isn’t gonna help my image!”

>>6155731
>”What am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! They already think that I’m a delinquent, and dying my hair white isn’t gonna help my image!”
>”How did I get here? Am I a sleepwalker on top of all this?”

Not to mention that you’ll need special pants for the tail, or scrunch it up where it’ll be uncomfortable. The latter will also make you look chubby somewhere because it won’t squish down fully. The cat ears are going to get you accused of being a weeb, you’ll never live down the Japanese jokes when you’re Korean. Blue contacts are just COMPLETELY out there to mark how “special” you think you are, the claws are going to make really odd sounds when you grab soda cans even if you can hide them with gloves…

Breaking down into tears in dramatic teenage fashion isn’t unwarranted. Your social life is ruined forever!

>>6155731
>”How did I get here? Am I a sleepwalker on top of all this?”
>”What am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! They already think that I’m a delinquent, and dying my hair white isn’t gonna help my image!”
>Take a deep breath, and take a moment to center yourself. Breathe in, breathe out...
Don't panic...DON'T PANIC

>>6155740
>>6156192
>>6157234
>”How did I get here? Am I a sleepwalker on top of all this?”
>”What am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! They already think that I’m a delinquent, and dying my hair white isn’t gonna help my image!”

Taking these. Writing...

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“How did I get here? Am I a sleepwalker on top of all this?” you demanded, gesturing at yourself.

And for some reason, Mekara and Ben gave you a strange look.

“You mean you don’t remember…?” Ben asked, in the way people did when they thought the other person was talking nonsense. “Because from our perspective, you just swung right in, no questions asked, and started choking that monster out.”

You stared at him. He stared right back. He didn’t wink, he didn’t flash a cheeky grin, and there wasn’t even a hint of amusement at the corners of his mask’s lenses. Ben wasn’t kidding around. He really didn’t know how you got here. That was more than a little concerning.

You wanted to worry about that. You really did. But somehow, that wasn’t your most pressing concern. Not when you had this gnarly set of claws to remind you of what you were. Of what you’d become.

You ran a hand through your bright white hair, making absolutely certain that you weren’t wearing a wig. But no…it felt all too real. And thanks to your training and “unique” upbringing, “dissociation” wasn’t something that you were particularly good at.

Instead, you buried your face in your hands, careful not to poke yourself in the eye, and moaned pitifully into your hands.

“What am I gonna do? I can’t go to school like this! They already think I’m a delinquent, and dying my hair white isn’t gonna help my image!” you cried, lifting a handful of hair and letting it fall back into place for emphasis.

“I think it looks lovely//charming//exquisite.” Mekara offered. “And it perfectly matches the color of that fluffy little tail!”

Your back stiffened, and you glanced back at the fluffy appendage poking out above your butt. As if on command, it wiggled and twitched.

You let out another pitiful moan.

“It’s not that bad!” Ben tried. “Abe tells me that Squirrel Girl manages to hide her tail in her pants, which makes it look like she has a great ass, but no one actually thinks that she’s hiding a giant squirrel tail in her pants.”

Your eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly. It was all you could do to restrain yourself from blurting out a string of obscenities.

“WHO THE HELL IS ‘SQUIRREL GIRL’, AND WHY SHOULD I CARE!?” was what you wanted to say.

But what you actually said was:

“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure people would notice if I came to school carrying a wagon under my skirt!”

“You could tuck it under your shirt.” Mekara unhelpfully suggested.

Instead of dignifying that with a response, you tucked your legs closer to your chest and wrapped your arms around them.

There was no way you were doing any of that. The fat jokes alone would shame you back into being a bunker-dwelling hermit.

“I’m sure your grandma’s got some way of turning you back to normal.” Ben put in. “Is she around here somewhere?”

(Cont.)

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The ears on top of your head twitched, and before you could dwell on the fact that you now had two sets of ears, you realized that your range of hearing had increased considerably!

Your vulpine ears were incredibly sensitive, and you had a feeling that you wouldn't be able to relax if this part of Monster Metropolis wasn't currently deserted.

It was thanks to those highly sensitive ears, you got a general idea of where your grandma was in this mess, but there was also something else drawing your attention there.

Something that you craved, deep down.

“Cindy?”

Ben’s words sounded far off, for some reason, and before you knew it, you were on your feet and staring off into the distance. Your grandma was over there. You just…knew it somehow.

“She’s over there.” you stated, swiveling your ears in that direction. “And I think she’s fighting something.”

No one questioned your theory. Ben and Mekara burst into motion almost immediately. You steadied yourself on Mekara’s hand, and clambered up to her arm, using your claws to scale the metal plating with ease. You’ve never been able to climb anything that fast before.

Mekara gave you a surprised look, and you stared right back at her from your place on her shoulder. Neither of you said anything as she adjusted the grip on her sword and picked up the pace.

The closer you got to your grandmother, the clearer everything became in your mind. You envisioned her and Shaggy fighting a large beast walking on all fours. And it sounded like it had…cloven hooves?

You squinted at several shadowy figures in the distance, and saw that you had miscounted slightly. There was one more person that you forgot to account for. But that was only because their feet hadn’t touched the ground yet.

A short, bulky green creature fell from the sky and landed on the back of a scrawny four-legged creature with the features of a deer, only it had a skeletal head, and possessed multiple sets of human-like arms on its neck and chest.

The beast’s back collapsed under the weight of the green creature, and you got the impression that its spine had been shattered by that impact, along with a decent amount of those human arms.

Soon after, a large wolf with a woman on its back trotted over to the fallen, suffering animal. The horrible, squealing noises that the deer made as it attempted to drag itself towards the wolf made you want to cover both sets of ears.

The woman calmly dismounted from the wolf and closed the gap between herself and the deer. The deer immediately tried to claw and bite at her, and you wanted to yell out a warning, but you were finding it hard to even look at her!

She was surrounded by what appeared to be a veritable corona of light, and something deep within you started to ache.

(Cont.)

The woman’s hands moved in a flash, and the deer froze suddenly, its mouth still wide open. This held it in place just long enough for the bulky, goblin-like creature to grab its head with its meaty hands. And with a sharp twist, it managed to snap the deer’s head in a sickening crunch!

You all slowed after seeing that, and judging by the way that Ben had started to relax, he wasn’t sensing any danger from them.

From your place on Mekara’ shoulder, you saw three figures. The easiest one for you to recognize was Shaggy. He was bigger and hairier than ever, but he didn’t look too different from his usual self. And that made the person by his side…your grandmother? Was she supposed to be this young?

You knew that it was in her name, but if the unreliable, fuzzy memories you’d gathered in that fever-like state of yours were to be trusted, she was far older than this when you first met.

You were still trying to puzzle out this conundrum, while Ben was squarely focused on the bulky goblin.

“Is that a Hulk costume?” he asked.

The green creature, that you were now able to identify as the “Mask Maker”, responded by slamming her fists together. And, to your surprise, this actually created a small shockwave that caused Shaggy to stumble!

He glared at her, but she was too distracted with all her angry grunting and flexing to notice.

Your grandmother was staring up at you now with those wise old eyes of hers, and you could tell that she was studying your appearance. And she did not look happy.

She shook her head ruefully.

“Oh, child. What has that foolish woman done to you…?” she muttered.

What will you say?

>”Which one? Mom or the evil Kumiho?”
>”What do you think? Is there some spell or potion I can use to ‘unfoxify’ myself, at least on the outside?”
>”Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?”
>”I’ve got so many questions. Where’d all your wrinkles go? Why’re you glowing? And what was that thing you did with your hands back there?”
>Write-in.

>>6157313
>>”Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?”

>>6157313
>”Which one? Mom or the evil Kumiho?”
>”Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?”
>Write-in.
>Ben: "WHAT!? Well I mean obviously now with the ears and tail but, y'know, news to me."
I mean of course Ben wouldn't be keeping Cindy in the dark. Even to 'protect' her.


>”What do you think? Is there some spell or potion I can use to ‘unfoxify’ myself, at least on the outside?”
>”I’ve got so many questions. Where’d all your wrinkles go? Why’re you glowing? And what was that thing you did with your hands back there?”

>>6157313

>”Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?”

Also, I do have to wonder: if Khonshu encountered one Klyntar, does this mean that others may already be on earth?

>>6157313
Yes, Cindy. Embrace quipping as a defense mechanism. It’s the only way!

>”Which one? Mom or the evil Kumiho?”
>”Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?”
>Point at Ben. “Except you. You’re terrible at keeping secrets.”
>”Can you teach me how you did all that? I have some. Features. That I need to hide before people try touching it.”
Ben really does tell us a lot of stuff for someone who doesn’t want us expanding a criminal empire after him. We can cut him a break like >>6157356
mentions.

I'm gonna be bit busy tonight, so I'll get started on the update and make a post whenever possible!

>>6157322
>>6157356
>>6157408
>>6157407
>”Which one? Mom or the evil Kumiho?”
>”Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?”
>Write-in.
>Ben: "WHAT!? Well I mean obviously now with the ears and tail but, y'know, news to me."
>Point at Ben. “Except you. You’re terrible at keeping secrets.”

Taking these.

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“Which one? Mom or the evil Kumiho?” you asked in a half-mocking tone, watching her face for any visible changes.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly, before narrowing again.

“How much do you know?” she said carefully.

You knew it!

“Was I seriously the only one who didn’t know that I was half fox demon!?” you shouted, your hands clenched on either side of you.

Ben’s eyes went wide at that.

“WHAT!? Well, I mean…now that you say it, it sounds kind of obvious with the ears and tail, but…y’know, that’s news to me.”

You rolled your eyes and pointed a finger at him.

“Not you. You’re terrible at keeping secrets.”

You thought back to all the times that Ben sat down and told you, in great detail, everything that would happen on his missions and heists. You really wished that he would leave some things out here and there. The less you knew about some of his criminal activities, the better.

Instead of getting offended, Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

“Exactly.” he agreed. “But, what’s a Kumiho?”

“They are Korean fox demons that feed on the life force of humans.” Young answered. “They usually target men, but they’re known to harm and deceive most humans that cross their path. And because of Cindy’s mother, her spirit is infused with that of a powerful and dangerous Kumiho by the name of ‘Ami Han’.”

Ben was frantically looking back and forth between you and Young, but you kept your eyes trained on her.

Shaggy walked up beside the younger…”Young”, and raised his head so that your eyes met.

“Perhaps we should continue this conversation inside.” he suggested. You ignored him.

“How long have you known?” you asked in a low, dangerous voice. It was easier to hear each other now, since the storm had started to die down.

“I found out several months after Nari had Ami Han banished.” she replied, after a moment’s pause. “Your mother wasn’t very forthcoming about your problem until she got desperate enough to reach out to me. For a decent chunk of that year, I was helping your parents find a way to remove the marble. But…everything changed when your mother found out about that prophecy.”

“Prophecy? What prophecy?” Ben asked, clearly the only one lost in this conversation. “And what’s this about Cindy swallowing a marble?”

“Ugh! Again with the ‘Slayer’ thing?”

Now, the surprise that registered on Young's face was clear to see.

“You know of this too?”

“You know who doesn't ‘know of this’? Me. And probably Mekara.” Ben pointed out.

Mekara raised a finger to her lips and shushed you.

[ed]“That’s why I’m staying quiet//hushed//mute while they talk.” she admonished.

Ben threw his hands up in frustration and shook his head.

“Smokey’s right.” Young declared. “This isn’t the kind of conversation we should be having out in the open. The less people know about this prophecy, the better.“

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You stared between the two of them for a long moment, but you eventually conceded with a sigh.

“Fine. But you’d better have a good explanation for all this.”

Young bowed her head to you.

“I will explain everything to the best of my ability.”

—----------

Because of the alien guns that Ben and Ana spread everywhere, you took a while helping them collect everything before you headed back to Young’s shop. Ana was very interested in your new vulpine-esque appearance, but you tried your best to ignore the way that she was looking at you.

That was the last thing on your mind right now, anyways. Your head was practically spinning with all the world-shaking revelations you’ve been subjected to in only the last few hours. Your entire worldview had changed so much since this morning, that it felt like you were back to being a sheltered little bunker baby who knew nothing of the outside world.

How much of what you’d been raised to believe was a lie? Your parents have been lying to you your whole life at this point. And Khonshu…

You dared not think ill of your god, but you couldn’t help but feel a little spurned by the fact that he had known all this, and purposefully kept it from you. Granny Young wasn’t the only one who owed you an explanation, you thought.

And if the tense silence that Ben had subjected you all to was any indication, he was feeling just as frustrated and angry as you were. You wondered what he would do if Young’s explanation wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

You glanced at your grandmother, who had now taken the form of a small child to fit on Shaggy’s back. You weren’t sure how she was altering her age, but you had a feeling that it had something to do with the powerful aura surrounding her. No one else seemed to notice it. Or if they did, they didn’t mention it. But since Ben didn’t comment on it, you thought it safe to assume that he was incapable of perceiving it.

The tense silence stretched on until you all made it back to Young's shop. Once there, you watched as your grandmother rapidly aged into something befitting her title. Her dark, flowing hair turned gray and lost its luster. And without missing a beat, she removed an ornate hairpin from her sleeve and placed it in her hair, pinning it up into a bun.

Ben guided you to a couch and sat you down beside him, while Ana hovered behind you, her strong hands gripping the back of it. The Mask Maker headed deeper into the shop, disappearing behind a corner while she removed her Hulk hands.

“I wonder if she’s got a Spider-Man costume.” Ben wondered aloud as he watched her go.

His attention was pulled back to Young when she sat down across from you, reaching for the teapot. She poured you all a cup and slid them over. None of you reached for your cups, and Young let out a sigh.

“Feh! Why do I even bother bringing out this tea set if no one is going to drink? Go on, it's not poison!”

(Cont.)

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“I will be the judge of that.” Ana said, accepting a cup from Ben. She began to sniff it, and Young shook her head in disapproval.

She turned and met your eyes, not missing the insistent look you were giving her.

“As I have told your guardian before, I believe that your parents are still alive. But…you don’t seem terribly surprised by this.” she decided, her sharp eyes trained on your face. “When did you learn?”

“Earlier today, when she kidnapped me and introduced me to her new army of sidekicks.”

“Hold on a second. That was her!?” Ben asked incredulously.

You nodded, not taking your eyes off Young.

“She and my dad have apparently been in hiding ever since they escaped the vampires that kidnapped them that night.”

It was Young’s turn to nod.

“Yep. That sounds like Nari. She’s a hard one to put down.”

“Apparently.” Ben said, leaning back into the sofa.

Your vulpine ears twitched as they picked up the sound of Ana clearly enjoying Young’s tea. You decided not to acknowledge it.

“Why would your parents leave you in the care of a stranger?” Ana asked when she was done.

You leaned your head back to look up at her.

“She said something about wanting me to have a ‘better life’ without her.”

“Hm. Perhaps it is a part of your training.” she suggested.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked.

“My family believes in growth through adversity. At a young age, I was left to fend for myself in the wild. I nearly lost my life on multiple occasions, but the experience hardened me, made me strong.” she explained, staring into her cup. “Above all else, your family wishes for you to be safe. And the best way for a parent to ensure their child’s safety is to make sure that they are prepared to tackle their problems head-on.”

Ben looked like he was prepared to argue the point, but Young was already nodding her head.

“Now that really sounds like Nari.”

Your mom had confirmed as much during your talk at CRADLE’s headquarters. But that wasn’t what you came here to know.

“You said that you were helping my parents for a ‘decent chunk’ of the year that I was attacked.” you pointed out. “Why’d you stop? Was it because of the prophecy?”

“Yes. Your mother became convinced that you were destined for great things. I didn’t want to risk your life on a gamble that might end in you becoming a bloodthirsty monster. But Nari had no patience for my protests. She went behind my back and arranged a ritual to infuse your spirit with the Fox Bead. By the time I realized what had happened, it was too late. She made contact with the Cult of Khonshu and made a pact with your god.”

“Why didn’t you go after her?” Ben asked, his seemingly calm voice being no indication of the rage that he no doubt felt.

Young shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

(Cont.)

“I…I was afraid.” she said, her expression one of shame. “Afraid that your mother turned you into the monster that she desperately needed you to be. There were powerful monsters here who wanted me to kill you, so that you wouldn’t fulfill the prophecy. I told them that I wouldn’t, tried to convince them that the prophecy was false, but they didn’t listen. Some of them were bold enough to make attempts on your life. I told myself that you would be safer with your parents and the cult for the time being. But the truth is…I was afraid that they might have been right.”

Silence fell over the room, then. You didn’t dare to risk a glance in Ben’s direction, then.

What will you say?

>”So…what? You were afraid that you’d have to kill me if you met me? Or were you just afraid of me?”
>”I’ve seen my baby pictures. I wasn’t so scary that a realm full of monsters should be afraid of me.”
>”What’s with you all and this dumb prophecy!? Where did it even come from?”
>”Then why’d you bring me down here if everyone wants me dead!? Doesn't that seem a little counter-productive?”
>”And what about now? Have I done anything to make you think that I’m a monster?”
>Write-in.

>>6159103

>”Then why’d you bring me down here if everyone wants me dead!? Doesn't that seem a little counter-productive?”
>”I’ve seen my baby pictures. I wasn’t so scary that a realm full of monsters should be afraid of me.”
>>”And what’s with you all and this dumb prophecy!? Where did it even come from?"

>>6159103
>>”What’s with you all and this dumb prophecy!? Where did it even come from?”
Protect the Slayer, hmmm? That came rather timely.

>>6159103
>”Then why’d you bring me down here if everyone wants me dead!? Doesn't that seem a little counter-productive?”
Why did she even think we’d be able to help if we’re such a Doomed Slayer?
>”I’ve seen my baby pictures. I wasn’t so scary that a realm full of monsters should be afraid of me.”
>”What’s with you all and this dumb prophecy!? Where did it even come from?”

>”Why not speak with Khonshu, or even my guardian, to see what I was like? Was I just… forgotten, after a certain point? Written off entirely?”
>”What am I really here for anyway? I’m not the biggest or strongest here. All I have is some prophecy behind me that terrifies everyone. So… I’m the bigger bad to scare everyone straight? I don’t learn villainous monologuing until next year.”
This last one overlaps with the other “why’d you bring me here” vote so I’m okay with ignoring it if it’s an awkward fit in the conversation.

We’re putting Grandma through hell with all this.

Ben had been told about Slayer things by Webb and Mantis a while back. I wonder if he’ll connect those dots soon.

>>6159105
>>6159108
>>6159264
>”Then why’d you bring me down here if everyone wants me dead!? Doesn't that seem a little counter-productive?”
>”I’ve seen my baby pictures. I wasn’t so scary that a realm full of monsters should be afraid of me.”
>>”And what’s with you all and this dumb prophecy!? Where did it even come from?"

Taking these. Writing...

>>6159264
I expect her to get grilled pretty intensely during this arc.

>>6157407
You'll find out soon enough!

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“Then why'd you bring me down here if everyone wants me dead!?” you demanded. “Doesn't that seem a little counter-productive?”

Both Ben and Ana nodded, clearly wanting to know the answer as well.

Your grandmother fixed you with a stern look.

“Cindy, me and the Kaiju King won’t be around forever. We're both very old, and there's no telling what the monsters around here will get up to once we're gone.” she explained, placing her wrinkled hands on the table for everyone to see.

“What about your little ‘Benjamin Button’ performance back there?” Ben asked. “Or did you just use up all of your anti-aging cream before the fight?”

Young shook her head, not at all bothered by his little jab.

“That was a manipulation of my own life essence. I can prolong my lifespan, but I am by no means immortal.”

As if to demonstrate this, Young's golden aura flared up around her, and her appearance changed to that of someone who was closer to you in age. Gone were her wrinkles and gray hairs. And in their place, you saw nothing but unblemished, flawless skin and long, silky black hair.

Whoa. Chi manipulation really did wonders for the body…

The other two were likewise impressed. Ben was practically bursting with curiosity and excitement, but he kept his questions to himself for fear of getting off topic. The fact that he was worried about that at all was more than a little endearing.

“Even in this form, I'm capable of dying of natural causes. The spirit can only persist for so long.” she continued in the voice of a teenage girl. “But before that happens, I will have you prove yourself worthy of their trust…or their fear. Only you can decide which that will be.”

“You…want me to make a good impression on them?” you concluded.

Young nodded.

“It would be safer to assert dominance early on.” Ana agreed. “I will allow you to take credit for killing our prize earlier.”

She reached into her coat, brandished a long, sharp tooth and offered it to you.

You fought back the grimace that was forming on your face and accepted the tooth.

“Oh…thanks, Ana.” you said with a weak smile, mustering up as much enthusiasm as you could manage at this moment.

“This is nice. Both my girls, out on a hunting trip together. And here I am without my camera.” Ben said in a wistful tone, his head resting on his hand.

Ana nodded her agreement.

“That is most regrettable. I left mine back at the hotel with the rest of my luggage. It would appear that I have once again vastly underestimated the amount of danger that we would encounter during our date.”

“It’s like you don’t even know me.” Ben said with a sad shake of his head.

Ana seemed to be doing a good job of keeping Ben distracted. He was already showing remarkable self control that he demonstrated in not pestering you about the conversation you had with your mom.

(Cont.)

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“Do you seriously expect me to ‘strike fear’ into the hearts of all these monsters down here?” you said with a raised eyebrow. “I’ve seen my baby pictures. I wasn’t so scary that a realm full of monsters should be afraid of me, prophecy or not.”


“That’s right.” Ben chimed in. “If anything, she’s gotten way cuter since then.”

Your cheeks went red, and you let out a cough to cover your own embarrassment. While his words weren’t doing you any favors, you let them hang in the air for a moment. There was no sense in denying such a lovely compliment.

“It’s possible to be physically beautiful and physically powerful at the same time.” Young said, tossing her hair as if to punctuate the point. “How do you think the succubi were able to compete with the vampires for so long?”

“Are succubi really that powerful?” Ben asked.

“Yes.” you and Young said at exactly the same time. It left you with mixed emotions.

Young gave you a polite, and only slightly awkward smile before she went on.

“Believe it or not, a succubus used to rule the Monster Metropolis long ago. She was known as Shiklah, the Monster Queen.” Shaggy pointed out. The dog was resting on a plush, bright blue doggy bed in the corner of the room, keeping an eye on all of you from his place on the floor.

“Let’s save that little history lesson for later, shall we?” Young said, quickly changing the subject.

Shaggy let out a huff and rested his head back on the pillow.

“Speaking of history lessons,” you put in. “What’s with you all and this dumb prophecy? Where did it even come from?”

“I heard that it was first foretold by a Cyclopean seer during the Hyborian Age.”

Your eyes widened.

“Seriously? That was way back when during Conan and Red Sonja’s time, right?”

Ben scratched the side of his head.

“Who?”

“They were great warriors from an age long passed, and their tales have been passed down for generations.” Young explained.

From the way she leaned closer, Ana appeared to be greatly interested in this topic.

“And they’re totally awesome! Dad used to tell me stories about them before bed.” you added. “I almost dyed my hair red just to be more like Sonja. Mom almost killed me for that.”

You let out a laugh, but it quickly petered out when you remembered the current state of your household. Even then, they had been lying to you. It colored your rosiest of memories in an ugly light. You’ve never had a reason to doubt them before, but now…

Ben placed a comforting hand on your shoulder, and you nearly forgot yourself and leaned into it. There would be time for hugs and consolations later, you decided.

“Cindy, it doesn’t matter where the prophecy came from, who made it up, or whether it's true or not.” Young continued.

“It doesn’t?” you blurted out.

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“It doesn’t? But I still don't know anything about it!” Ben said, looking a bit put out. From the way that his face scrunched up under that mask of his, you got the impression that he was thinking very hard about something.

"Oh, it's your classic 'destroyer/savior myth', with certain parts that are frustratingly vague and others that are frustratingly specific." Shaggy put in, momentarily raising his head from his pillow.

"I'd still like to hear about it, though. Please. This is important to me." Ben pleaded.

Shaggy let out a sigh, pushed himself up from his bed and plodded over to a stack of books on the floor.

"Alright, come on then. I think I have a transcript of it lying around here somewhere..."

After giving you another pat on the shoulder, Ben obligingly got up from his chair and went to go join Shaggy. You were pretty sure he'd just be getting a basic rundown of whatever your mom told you, but you were interested in seeing whether he would learn something new.

Ana stayed put, not even taking Ben's seat after he left. Her presence behind you was a reassuring one, though.

“I will admit," Young said, ignoring the conversation that your guardian and her servant were having in the background. "That I was worried about what, or who you might become. But now that I've gotten a chance to meet you and your guardian here, I see that I was too hasty in my earlier judgments. Because of me and Nari, you were never really given a chance to live a normal life. The responsibilities that you feel towards our family and your god have robbed you of that possibility.”

You and Ana remained silent, and your stomach twisted at the thought of how much this sounded like the conversation you had with your mother.

“But I may have found a solution that should work out for everyone.” Young said. “I have been discussing matters with the council, and they have agreed to meet with you. So long as we can convince them that you aren’t a threat to monsters everywhere, they are willing to deploy a group of trained warriors who are willing to oversee your duties for you!”

Ana slowly turned to look at you, awaiting your response.

(Cont.)

What will you say?

>”No, grandma! I’m not gonna do that. I can’t have someone worship Khonshu for me. It doesn’t work like that.”
>”I was raised to believe that I could use what I’ve learned to help people. What would be the point of all that hard work if I just…gave it all up?”
>”That’s not your decision to make. I like what I do. It might not always be sanitary, safe or convenient, but it makes me feel like I’m making the world a better place.”
>”You’re doing the same thing that you accused mom of doing! Why're you all trying to control my life? I’m a big girl now, and I don’t need you making decisions for me!”
>”Yeah…I’m not doing any of that. You can tell your buddies on the council that I won’t kick their butts, so long as they don’t get out of line. But aside from that, I don’t plan on encouraging any more of this ‘Slayer’ crap.”
>”And how do I know that these ‘trained warriors’ aren’t buying into this ‘Slayer’ nonsense.”
>”Fine…I’ll meet with them, but I won’t agree to anything else yet.”
>”I wouldn’t mind having some support out in the field…”
>”I need to get some air.” (Step outside for a moment)
>Write-in.

>>6160688
>>”That’s not your decision to make. I like what I do. It might not always be sanitary, safe or convenient, but it makes me feel like I’m making the world a better place.”
Nuh-huh. Great power, yadda yadda

>>6160688
“That… is the same offer my mom made me, more or less. She called it a personal army though. Bit of a step up from a group.”
>Sigh deeply, hold up your hand to forestall whatever counterpoint she has.
>”Can’t we just admit I’m not necessary? You have a council with monsters, mom has a gaggle of teenagers with attitude and powers. My primary roles are filled. Both of you could fill any further contribution I have with a magic 8-ball for far less expense and drama.”
>”I need to get some air. I don’t normally quip this much and it worries me more than anything you’ve said now that I’ve realized it.”
>”It really shouldn’t.”

>>6160690
I’m willing to open with that if Ana or Ben step outside with us at some point. I’m sure Young would brush it off with a “you don’t need to do anything child, you can keep going to school while the council runs” yadda yadda.

Does she even know we do street-level crimefighting? Ben didn’t focus on that and Young doesn’t seem to have had an eye on Cindy very long. I’d get ticked off if she tried to say we shouldn’t be doing that given she’s asking us to run a powderkeg city as a political figurehead.

>>6160688
>”That’s not your decision to make. I like what I do. It might not always be sanitary, safe or convenient, but it makes me feel like I’m making the world a better place.”
>”I was raised to believe that I could use what I’ve learned to help people. What would be the point of all that hard work if I just…gave it all up?”
>”And how do I know that these ‘trained warriors’ aren’t buying into this ‘Slayer’ nonsense.”

Is she offering us sidekicks same as our mother? Everybody trying to get a team together it seems. Are they supposed to take over our Khonshu duties or crime fighting duties or both?

>>6160688

>”That’s not your decision to make. I like what I do. It might not always be sanitary, safe or convenient, but it makes me feel like I’m making the world a better place.”
>”I was raised to believe that I could use what I’ve learned to help people. What would be the point of all that hard work if I just…gave it all up?”
>”And how do I know that these ‘trained warriors’ aren’t buying into this ‘Slayer’ nonsense.”

>>6161061
I don’t think Young would call them sidekicks, but that’s what it sounds like. Probably some admin people to advocate for our interests if we’re elsewhere for a short time too.

They’d end up doing whatever we tell them, unless the council tells them to kill us. A group that fears us WOULD be happier with a dagger right up against our throat, after all.

Unrelated, odds on dad actually being dead because he got cold feet at some point and mom decided he wasn’t needed anymore? I give it 80/20 in favor of death.

>>6160690
>>6160762
>>6161061
>>6161178
>”That’s not your decision to make. I like what I do. It might not always be sanitary, safe or convenient, but it makes me feel like I’m making the world a better place.”
>”I was raised to believe that I could use what I’ve learned to help people. What would be the point of all that hard work if I just…gave it all up?”
>”And how do I know that these ‘trained warriors’ aren’t buying into this ‘Slayer’ nonsense.”

Taking these. I'm a little too tired to finish this update today, so I'm gonna try and post it tomorrow when I have time.

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“And how do I know that these ‘trained warriors’ aren’t buying into this ‘Slayer’ nonsense?” you asked.

“For your sake, let’s hope that they do. The other side of that prophecy paints you as a beneficial savior of their kind!” Young advised. “You should let them help you. It will make your life easier.”

After a moment, you let out a sigh and relaxed your shoulders. You’d been so tense going into this conversation, not knowing how you or Ben would react to what your grandmother had to say.

“That’s not your decision to make. I like what I do. It might not always be sanitary, safe or convenient, but it makes me feel like I’m making the world a better place.”

Young’s smile slipped, but you could tell that she was listening intently. So, you kept going.

“I was raised to believe that I could use what I’ve learned to help people. What would be the point of all that hard work if I just…gave it all up?”

Slowly, Young sat back in her chair, and started aging before your very eyes. All the while, she maintained eye contact with you. After a while, she smiled, and the corners of those eyes wrinkled with amusement.

Your grandmother let out a delighted laugh.

“I must apologize again, Cindy. You are a much better person than I gave you credit for. I don’t know if I have your parents to thank for that, but I’m glad that you feel this way.”

She glanced over her shoulder at Ben, who was listening intently to Shaggy’s explanation about the prophecy.

“If you truly wish to balance your life as Cindy Moon, and your life as the Hunter’s Moon, then I’m in no place to stop you. Not after I missed so much of your life growing up.”

There was an awkward silence between you two for a minute there, but thankfully, she was the one to break it.

“Your…current guardian seems to really care about you.”

“Yes. He is very much a doting father.” Ana agreed, smiling fondly in Ben’s direction.

You chuckled and brushed some white hair out of your face. You could feel your cheeks warming again.

“He’s sweet. Embarrassing sometimes, but he means well. I wouldn’t even be able to speak right now if it weren’t for him.”

Young raised an eyebrow at that.

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“I got my voice stolen by something called a ‘Silvertongue’.”

“What in the underworld is a ‘Silvertongue’?”

You laughed and shook your head.

“Don’t even get me started. It’s a long story.”

“Well…we have some time before the council convenes. I’m open to hearing more of your stories.”


That made you freeze up suddenly. It sounded like your estranged grandma was trying to bridge the gap between you, and possibly make up for lost time.

“I hear you’re going to a private school now. How are you doing in your classes? Are you making friends? Are you having trouble vanquishing evil and getting your homework done at the same time?”

She sure had a lot of questions.

(Cont.)

What will you say?

>”Alright. If I’m going to tell the Silvertongue story, then we’ll need to get Ben in on this. He tells it better.”
>”School’s good. I’m making friends, but I think most of the people there think that I’m some sort of karate kicking delinquent.”
>”I’ve…got a sidekick now. She’s my roommate, and I’m training her so she doesn’t get herself killed. Oh man. She’s probably really worried about me right now…”
>”You probably already know, but I…met mom again. She’s running some sort of government organization, while dad’s out preparing for a vampire invasion? Have you heard anything about that, by the way?”
>”Actually...if it's okay with you, can we do this later? I'm kind of tired, and I'd like to lie down again before we meet with the monster councilmen."
>Write-in.

>>6162674
>”I’ve…got a sidekick now. She’s my roommate, and I’m training her so she doesn’t get herself killed. Oh man. She’s probably really worried about me right now…”
And she'll be mad that she's missing the adventure.

>>6162674

>”You probably already know, but I…met mom again. She’s running some sort of government organization, while dad’s out preparing for a vampire invasion? Have you heard anything about that, by the way?”
>”I’ve…got a sidekick now. She’s my roommate, and I’m training her so she doesn’t get herself killed. Oh man. She’s probably really worried about me right now…”
>”Alright. If I’m going to tell the Silvertongue story, then we’ll need to get Ben in on this. He tells it better.”

>>6162673
>”The Silvertongue story has secret cults, government agencies, potentially civilization-ending consequences, super-spies, and more. But, uh, I wasn’t involved very much. You can ask Ben later, I think the real lesson is that he’s scary when he calls in favors.”
>”School’s good. I’m making friends, but I think most of the people there think that I’m some sort of karate kicking delinquent.”
>”I’ve…got a sidekick now. She’s my roommate, and I’m training her so she doesn’t get herself killed. Oh man. She’s probably really worried about me right now…”
>”You probably already know, but I…met mom again. She’s running some sort of government organization, while dad’s out preparing for a vampire invasion? Have you heard anything about that, by the way?”

Maybe we should skip the Silvertongue story for now. It’s probably longer than everything else combined!

And to ward off the eventual question:
>”I’m not dating anyone. There’s no one I see like that and I don’t want to think about how that’d work. How do you tell them you can’t hang out for a week because you’re taking down a criminal network and need to finish them off before they scatter?”

>>6163007
+1

>>6163280
>>6162711
>>6163007
>>6163686
>”You probably already know, but I…met mom again. She’s running some sort of government organization, while dad’s out preparing for a vampire invasion? Have you heard anything about that, by the way?”
>”I’ve…got a sidekick now. She’s my roommate, and I’m training her so she doesn’t get herself killed. Oh man. She’s probably really worried about me right now…”
>”Alright. If I’m going to tell the Silvertongue story, then we’ll need to get Ben in on this. He tells it better.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“Well, I've…got a sidekick now.” you admitted with only a bit of hesitation. “She's my roommate, and I'm training her so she doesn't get herself killed.”

You paused, finally managed to spare a thought for the vigilante-in-training, and ran a hand through your white hair.

“Oh man. She's probably really worried about me right now...”

Wanda was resourceful, and much more attuned to BVA's gossip vine than you were. And seeing as you were the subject of much speculation and rumor, she'd definitely be one of the first people to hear that you'd been bitten by a black dog, bled all over the ground in front of the school gate, and was then whisked away by “Spider-Man”.

She'd connect the dots eventually. At least, that's what you told yourself.

“This ‘sidekick’ of yours, is she particularly talented?” Young asked, clearly relieved that you decided to engage her in discussion. “I assume she must be for you to involve her in your work.”

You swished your tail forward, rested it in your lap, and began running a hand along the fluffy appendage.

“Oh, she's talented, for sure. Athletic, decent reflexes, and an impressive drive to learn and improve. She complains every now and again when I give her a new assignment, but she does everything I tell her.”

Ana let out an approving grunt from behind you.

“That is a good attitude to have. Does she not possess any other abilities?” she asked.

You leaned your head back to stare up at her.

“Not like you or me. But from what she tells me, she’s been looking for ways to get super powers her whole life. It's honestly a miracle she hasn't tried to jump into a vat of toxic waste.”

That earned you a chuckle from her.

“I hope she hasn't tried to become a Gamma Beast at any point in her life.” Young commented, casually sipping her tea.

You and Ana gave her blank stares.

“Gamma Beasts?”

“Ah. I am talking about ‘Gamma Mutates’. Like that Hulk creature that Eri likes to dress up as.”

“I don't know, She-Hulk turned out okay. She's a lawyer and everything.” you pointed out.

Young did not look at all amused.

“Don't even think about it, young lady. Gamma mutations are wildly unpredictable, and can often result in the person or creature losing their minds as a result.” she explained. “And the mutation only happens if you possess the potential to convert the radiation into a catalyst for mutagenic change. Otherwise, it just kills you, and you end up looking stupid for trying to turn yourself into a giant, muscular irradiated pickle.”

“You sure do know a lot about this stuff, grandma.”

The word sort of just slipped out, but the sheer delight on your grandmother's face made you second guess your intention to retract the statement.

(Cont.)

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“I have to, Cindy. The Gamma Beasts are a powerful faction here in Monster Metropolis. They are kept under control by the Green Knight. You will soon meet him at the council meeting.”

“You mean to say that there is an entire community of creatures like the Hulk living down here!?” Ana asked, gripping the back of your chair a little too hard in her excitement.

“You sound eager. I would recommend against venturing into their territory, for risk that the radiation might affect you as well.” Young warned. “Their lands are subjected to storms of gamma radiation, mutating all life in the surrounding area, and empowering the Gamma Beasts themselves. If not for the Green Knight culling their numbers, I assume that we would have a much bigger problem on our hands than Skul.”

“And for this ‘Green Knight’ to be able to survive in these lands…” Ana began.

“He is a Gamma Beast as well, but he has managed to hold onto his humanity. A rare feat for one subjected to such a fate.”

“I think I would like to meet this Green Knight. He sounds interesting.” Ana decided.

“You are allowed to come to the council meeting if you wish.” Young offered, giving her a kind smile.

“You have my thanks.” Ana said with a polite nod.

“So long as you can keep that bloodlust of yours under control.” Young added. And only then did you realize that her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

You thought Ana was going to deny it, but she just let out a short, thoughtful hum and let the matter drop for now.

“What were we talking about again?” your grandmother asked. “Before all this ‘Gamma Beast’ talk, I mean.”

“Sidekick.” you reminded her.

“Ah, yes. Please, continue, child.” she allowed.

You lowered your eyes, staring down at the cup of cooling tea on the table.

“I don't know. I know that what I'm doing is dangerous, but I can’t help but feel like she's going to do something stupid, whether I help her or not. So, I might as well give her a fighting chance, you know?” you said, carefully leaving out the part where she accidentally found out your secret identity.

Young nodded, her expression growing serious.

“Then I don't have to worry about you letting her think that this is all fun and games. This world has a bad habit of idolizing men in tights, and glorifying the work they do, all without acknowledging the sacrifices that were made for them to reach that point.” your grandmother said. “And speaking of tight…”

She pointed a finger at your chest.

“Are you sure you don't need to loosen those bandages a little? That outfit looks like it was painted on.”

You reflexively tried to cover your chest, before remembering that you didn’t have anything to be embarrassed about.

“What? Khonshu gave me this. Well…he enchanted my cast, and it sort of ‘morphed’ into this.”

(Cont.)

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You pinched at a bandage wrapped around your stomach, pulled it away from yourself, and as soon as you let go, it snapped back into place. It was like elastic!

“Honestly, it doesn't even feel uncomfortable. It's like it was made for me.”

You flexed your fingers, noticed your claws again, and let out a dejected sigh, before returning your hands to your lap.

Young gave you an odd look of concern, but she didn't bother voicing her opinion. Probably for the best, if she was going to insult Khonshu like your mother had. That conversation was bound to go nowhere.

“This sidekick of yours,” Young began. “‘Wanda’, was it?”

You nodded, not at all bothered by the change in topic.

“Are the two of you close?”

“I mean…yeah, I feel like we're good friends already. She's got so much energy and a complete lack of boundaries, but I think that's why we get along. It's kinda nice to know that someone actually wants to be my friend so badly. Aside from B–the Huntsman, I mean.”

“Hey!” Ben called out from across the room. “You're making me sound desperate and creepy.”

You shrugged and gave him an unapologetic smile.

“I think ‘nurturing’ is the word I’d use.”

“My rep’s taking a serious hit. Now I know how Callisto feels.”

“Who?”

Ana and Ben locked eyes, then.

“Oh…she’s just a friend.” Ben answered, trying to sound casual.

Ana noticed the pause, but didn’t comment on it. Neither did you, for that matter. You wondered how the Morlock leader would react when she met Ana. Last time you saw her in Central Park, you got the impression that there was something going on between her and Ben. You just hoped that there wouldn’t be too much drama between all of them.

Ana chose that moment to go over to where Ben was receiving a lecture in phony prophecies, and sat down next to him. You waited until they were deeply embroiled in their conversation before you switched to your next topic.

“You probably already know, but I…met mom again.”

This was a conversation that you were planning on having with Ben as well, and he probably wouldn’t be too happy about being left out of the loop for so long, but…she needed to know.

“She’s running some sort of government operation, while dad’s out preparing for a vampire invasion. Have you heard anything about that, by the way?” you asked.

“About your father, or the vampire invasion?”

“...Both?”

“Hm. Your father, Albert, is probably still alive, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“‘Probably’?”

You didn’t know how reassuring that was supposed to be, but you were relieved that both your mother and grandmother thought that your father was okay.

“If Nari chose him, then he must be capable of at least defending himself.” Young concluded. “And if he’s half as tough as you are, then I don’t think he’ll have any problems.”

That got a weak smile out of you.

(Cont.)

“And as for the vampire invasion,”

You leaned forward, hoping to hear her take on all this.

“News has reached far and wide about this new development in the war, and I have heard our nosferatu council members discussing it openly among us.”

You gaped at her.

“You have vampires on your council talking about the war against humanity!?”

Young raised a hand to prevent any further outbursts.

“I don’t predict that these two will make any decisions until there are more developments. Currently, they have nothing to gain by joining Dracula’s horde. Nosferatu are considered outcasts in most sects, and they would surely be looked down upon while in the company of vampire lords.”

“So they’re staying here because they have more power here.” you reasoned. “That makes sense, but what happens when the situation on the surface changes?”

“Cindy, I’m well aware of how this all looks. Me and the other council members are already taking precautions, just in case we need to deal with them.”

You nodded, mildly mollified by her explanation.

“Good. I hope they don’t believe in that phony prophecy either, or we just might have a problem.”

“If you don’t feel safe being in the same room as them…”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll have you guys with me.”

“That’s right. I won’t let them hurt you.” she promised, reaching out to touch your hand.

What will you do?

>Let her. You’ve spent your whole life not knowing that you had a grandma, and you’re willing to try letting her into your life. Right now, you’ll take all the family that you can get.
>Pull away. You’re not ready for that level of intimacy with a woman that you barely know.
>Flinch back. You don’t want to cut her with your new claws.
>Write-in.

((I'm going to add the Silvertongue bit in the next update, just to make the flow of conversation a little more natural.))

>>6163919
>>Let her. You’ve spent your whole life not knowing that you had a grandma, and you’re willing to try letting her into your life. Right now, you’ll take all the family that you can get.

>>6163925
+1 to this.

>>6163919
>Let her. You’ve spent your whole life not knowing that you had a grandma, and you’re willing to try letting her into your life. Right now, you’ll take all the family that you can get.
I’m sure Cindy wants her family back, even if she buried it because of how impossible it was before now.

Maybe turn our hand down or to the side at first though. Claws and all, y’know? We could ask/will our mummy hand to pad the claws too, make it safer for us to grab things.

Just to give Cindy one more thing to worry about, what is proper handshake/handholding etiquette when you have claws? The correct way to position your tail when meeting a ruling class? I’m sure this has come up with all the different monsters and someone has written a whole book on manners that includes it. One more thing she’ll have to study…

>>6163925
>>6163938
>>6164127
>Let her. You’ve spent your whole life not knowing that you had a grandma, and you’re willing to try letting her into your life. Right now, you’ll take all the family that you can get.

Apologies for the delay! I'm still a little busy from the holidays. I'll put out an update tomorrow as soon as I can. Aside from that, I hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

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>>6165392
yeah we figured. Thanks, it wasn't bad. Have a good one, guys.

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Her youthful hands reached for yours, and you allowed her to take them. You'd been cautious of her going into this, but even you could tell that she cared for you, in her own way. You always considered yourself a good judge of character, but considering everything you've discovered about your own mother from today alone, you were starting to wonder just how accurate that intuition really was.

You watched as Young's hand closed around yours, careful not to let her soft flesh meet those sharp claws of yours. You kept your hand very still, for fear of hurting her. But when she gave it a gentle squeeze, you couldn't help but smile and give her hand a reassuring squeeze back.

You met her eyes, and you saw fear there. Fear that you would reject her advances, or possibly even hate her for not being in your life growing up. It was fading, but not gone. Her remorse was very real, and may have haunted her for years until now. You barely knew anything about this woman. Today was your first time meeting her. Mom never really spoke about her, and you were beginning to understand why.

Your parent's choice to make you half-Kumiho and induct you into the Cult of Khonshu was grossly manipulative from her perspective, and it had created rift between them.

Could she have found a way to contact you without risking the ire of your parents or Monster Metro’s council? Sure, maybe.

Should she have come to get you after those vampires attacked your home? Absolutely.

And she'll have plenty of time to explain herself after this was all over. You haven't completely forgiven her, but you're sort of running low on family members to trust these days, and…

…You'd like to be able to forgive her. You'd like to have a grandmother that dotes on you and cares about you. You wanted to hear stories of her life, find out what her home cooking tasted like.

Be a real family, without the fate of the world hanging in the balance…

Was that too much to ask..?

No. You didn't think so.

“Hey, do you wanna hear more of that Silvertongue story that I mentioned earlier?” you said, flashing your canines at her.

“I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tiny bit curious.” she replied, using her other hand to show a small gap between her thumb and forefinger. Her own smile showed less teeth.

“Alright, if I'm going to tell this story, then we'll need to get Ben in on this. He tells it better.”

You called him over, and he was hanging upside down, above the couch in an instant. He really did move fast when he wanted to.

“Did I just hear you say the word ‘Silvertongue’ twice in one afternoon? Please tell me there aren't any living down here…” he groaned.

“Not that I know of.” Young said with a shrug. “But that doesn't mean I won't ever encounter one in my lifetime. Please, enlighten me.”

“Well, if you insist.”

(Cont.)

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And just like that, Ben was flipping over to flop beside you on the couch, causing you to jump a bit. You'd instinctually moved your tail away from him, and it was yet another reminder that you would have to get used to living with this thing growing out of your lower back.

Thankfully, Ben was here to distract you from such gloomy thoughts.

“Hold onto your seat, Young. Because this story's got all sorts of twists and turns.” Ben warned. “I'm talking secret cults, government agencies, potentially civilization-ending consequences, super-spies and more.”

“Ooh! Sounds exciting.” she said, leaning forward with a grin.

Ben began his dramatic retelling, and you tried not to think about how strange it felt for your claws to scrape across the fabric covering your legs. Or the way your elongated canines made it slightly more difficult to speak without slurring. You couldn't help but feel like these changes were permanent. Like you were always meant to be this way, and your old body was simply a chrysalis. And that was perhaps the creepiest part.

Either you had to find someone that knew how to turn you back into a full-blooded human…or you would have to get used to living life as a Kumiho. Already, you could feel a desire to consume life energy. It was a dull ache, but it deepened each time you sensed a flare up from Young.

The woman was a veritable wellspring of life energy! She had somehow learned to alter her age in her mastery of manipulating chi, and she wasn't at all shy about flaunting that ability. Maybe she could help you get this strange hunger of yours under control. She or your mother.

You still weren't sure what you were going to say to that woman the next time you met, but she had better have a way to at least make you appear to be human. She's only had your entire life to prepare for this, so you weren't going to be accepting any excuses.

You pretended to be invested in Ben’s story, nodding and smiling whenever appropriate, before reaching for your tea cup. You very nearly tipped the whole thing over when your claws reached it before your actual fingers did. You muttered a curse, caught it, carefully brought it up to your lips, and caught a glimpse of your own reflection in the brown water.

This would also take some getting used to. Well…on the bright side, you thought this would make a decent excuse to call out of school for a little while.

—-----------

It turned out to be a good idea to let Ben retell the Silvertongue story. His flair for the dramatic quickly drew everyone in. Even Shaggy, and you thought you could see the Mask Maker peeking into the shop every now and again.

But Young's mood noticeably worsened when Ben told her about everything you'd been through. The guilt was clear on her face, and she kept sneaking pitying glances in your direction that you tried your best to ignore.

(Cont.)

There was nothing to be done about it now. You didn’t have space in your brain to worry about family drama. Not when you were about to meet a group of highly influential monsters that may or may not want you dead.

Ben noticed your uneasiness, but he misunderstood the reason for it, and promised to not make you sound like so much of a victim the next time he told the story.

You just shook your head and gave him a slight smile.

“It's fine. I kinda took a backseat to that whole operation, anyway.” you said with a shrug.

“If I was there, I would have finished off that ‘Serpent Society’ for you.” Ana boasted.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing for them that they got caught by SHIELD first.” he said.

“Mm. They will break out eventually.” she concluded. “And when they do, I will skin them all, make belts out of the leftovers and mail them to you all.”

“Throw in a matching pair of boots, and you've got yourself a deal.” Ben agreed, giving her a wink.

She pretended not to enjoy the display of affection, and you just chuckled. They were sort of cute sometimes.

What will you do?

>Pull Ben aside so you can tell him about your conversation with your mom.
>Prepare to leave for the council meeting.
>Find a quiet room to consult Khonshu. You've got questions, and he's got answers.
>Look for the Mask Maker so you can ask her more about those costumes of hers. You're curious about how they work.
>Write-in.

>>6165862
>>Prepare to leave for the council meeting.
Get things moving

>>6165862
>Pull Ben aside so you can tell him about your conversation with your mom.
Less about the meeting in general, more about CRADLE. What our mom thinks is correct regarding our growth is… skewed, we’ll say. I’m pretty sure she’ll sacrifice them if it makes us “better” somehow, but it’s not like they’ll have places to go back to if she’s removed.

Get him thinking about who could take it over instead. He’s got the contacts with contacts with contacts, after all. All I can think of is Callisto since she’s got fewer mutants to look after now and Glass seemed a little overwhelmed with his group. Maybe Webb instead? Steering them towards SHIELD or the X-Men isn’t a good option.

>>6165392
No worries, that’s to be expected around the holidays. No surprise hospital trip this holiday, so mine went well!

>>6165862
>Pull Ben aside so you can tell him about your conversation with your mom.

>Write-in.
>Ask Grandma if there is a potion or a glamour spell that can get us back looking normal.
This was an option on one of the previous prompts. We should ask as appearing less Kumiho-y can give us options

>Prepare to leave for the council meeting.

>>6165862
>>6165926
I’ll add the write-in here to my vote in >>6165925. I’d defer to grandma on whether it’d play better with the council (they might notice/dislike the glamour, but we’re less confident in this form) but we’ll also want it to resume our normal life pretty soon.

>>6165862

+1 to >>6165862

>>6167478
Looks like you quoted the wrong post.

>>6165865
>>6165926
>>6165925
>>6165939
>Pull Ben aside so you can tell him about your conversation with your mom.
>Ask Grandma if there is a potion or a glamour spell that can get us back looking normal.
>Prepare to leave for the council meeting.

Taking these.

>>6167478
Not sure which vote this post is referring to, but it should be fine, since I'll be using each vote in this update.

>>6165925
Glad to hear it, anon!

Writing...

,,, i meant >>6165926

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Unsure of how to smoothly interrupt the two, you waved to get Ben's attention and signed a message to him.

“Meet me outside in a minute?”

Ben didn't make any obvious outward sign of having received your message, but you could hear him trying to wrap things up with Ana. You didn’t stay to listen to the specifics. There was something else you needed to set in motion. Something of grave importance.

“Grandma!”

You found the woman you were looking for after only a few seconds of searching. It helped that she had also been looking for you, but it was for an entirely different reason.

“I’m so sorry, Cindy. I had no idea that you were-”

You grabbed the old woman by the shoulders and shook her gently, careful not to let your claws dig into her flesh. Grandma Young had been in hysterics ever since she learned about everything you’ve been through after the vampires attacked.

At any other time it might've been a little endearing, but you didn’t have the patience to just stand here and watch her babble the whole time.

“No, grandma…it’s okay.” you pleaded. “If you wanna make it up to me, then you can start by finding a way to turn me back to normal. On the outside, at least. Don't you have a potion, or a spell or something?”

That seemed to shut her up for a second.

“Oh! Right, well…the simplest solution would be to brew a polymorph potion.”

You released your grip on her shoulders and took a step back.

“You mean like in Harry Potter? Aren’t those extremely rare?”

“Not if you know the right people.”

“And…you do?”

“Oh yeah. You bet your ass I do, sweetie.” Young declared with no small amount of pride. “All I need is some DNA from before your big change. A couple strands of hair would do.”

“Is that it? I’ve probably got some lying around my dorm somewhere.”

“I’ll start arranging for the materials to be gathered here for when you come back to visit.”

You beamed at her, and wrapped the old woman up in a warm hug.

“Thank you! You have no idea how much I’ve been stressing about that.”

“I figured you would ask me eventually.” Young replied, her voice somewhat muffled from the way her face was pressed into your shoulder. “It’s the least that I can do.”

Mercifully, you tried to loosen your grip on her, but then she wrapped her arms around you too. There was a moment of stunned silence, before you gently squeezed her and leaned into her embrace.

A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through your chest. This was the first time you’ve ever hugged your own grandmother!

You were about to say as much, when you noticed that Shaggy was patiently watching you both, waiting for his moment to intervene. Young noticed as well, and the two of you broke contact out of panic.

“Hey! We were just, uh…”

“Discussing ways to return Cindy to her human appearance.” Young finished.

Shaggy glanced between the two of you, clearly unconvinced.

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“Really? I wasn’t aware that hugging was a vital step in that process.” he said in a tone that was only slightly sarcastic.

“Love is a very common ingredient in potion-making!” Young argued. “Just a pinch, but not too much, or the whole mixture turns rotten.”

“You always buy ‘condensed love’ from the succubus vendors.” Shaggy put in.

“It’s way better when it's homemade. You know that.” Young said with a laugh.

“I know that. I’ve been saying it for years.”

You took a careful step back.

“You two sound like you’re in the middle of something, so…”

You gestured behind you, and Young deflated slightly.

“We’ll talk later about the potion, sweetie. Just be sure to get me that hair.”

“Will do.” you promised. “I’m gonna step outside for some air real quick. When I get back, we can start getting ready for that council meeting.”

“Of course, of course. Take your time.” Young said in a pleasant

You accepted those kind words at face value and headed out the front door, wishing that hug had lasted just a little bit longer. You were also wishing for some phone reception down here. If you could call Wanda to let her know that you were safe, and to tell her to collect some stray hairs from your comb…

You sighed at the complete lack of bars displayed on your phone’s screen, and then frowned when you noticed the black dog coming up to sit beside you on the porch.

You gave him a weak smile.

“Did Grandma Young tell you to come out here?”

“She might have suggested that I keep an eye on you if I want to avoid becoming a stray.” he said, not meeting your gaze.

“Well, tell her to stop worrying so much. I'm not going anywhere.” you insisted, leaning over a wooden beam from the front porch's railing.

“That might be a little more convincing if you hadn't just been kidnapped earlier today.” he casually shot back.

You rolled your eyes.

“Ugh! Don't remind me. I'm gonna need a full on spa treatment to get the smell of zombie guts off of me.”

“Come on. You don’t smell that bad.” Shaggy tried in a halfway encouraging tone, sniffing the air to punctuate his statement.

“I've got a fox demon's nose now, Shaggy. I think I can tell whether I'm squeaky clean or not.” you said, tapping a finger to your nose.

“If you're looking for a good spa, I can recommend a great one that me and Ana went to in Vegas.”

You glanced over your shoulder at Ben, and saw the top of his head poking out from below the overhang connected to the shop’s second story. He was, of course, hanging upside down again.

“I guarantee that you won't leave there without a single nook or cranny uncleaned.”

“Remember when we had that talk about ‘oversharing’?” you asked, in the sweetest and most patient tone that you could muster.

(Cont.)

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“I do. But now it's starting to look like you've got a problem with ‘undersharing’.” Ben said, pointing an accusatory finger at you.

A small, primitive part of you wanted to bite the outstretched finger, but you resisted the urge and swept his hand aside.

“I called you out here to talk, didn't I? So, let's talk.”

“It's about time.” he complained, opening his hand and offering it to you.

You ignored the proffered hand, jumped past him, latched your fingers onto the roof and flipped onto it using only your upper arm strength.

Whoa! That was way easier than it was supposed to be. Was that your Kumiho transformation at work, or..

Even Ben was surprised. He raised his head to stare up at you, belatedly realizing that his butt was raised higher in the air than his head was at this very moment.

He recognized his compromising position and righted himself a moment later, and you had to fight back a fit of laughter that was threatening to derail this entire conversation.

“Right. I almost forgot that you could do that.” he said. “But I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised. You did help us take down a plane-sized acid-spitting lizard monster, after all.”

Your smug grin fell away at that.

“Yeah, but…I don't actually remember doing that.” you admitted with a shrug. “The first thing that I remembered after I woke up was you pulling my tail.”

“Right. And then you hit me.” he said, pointing that accusatory finger back at you.

You planted your fists on your hips and leaned over him imperiously.

“You pulled my tail!”

“I didn’t even think that it was real!” he protested.

“Then you ask! Don't just yank on it like you're playing tug of war.” you shot back. “It's common courtesy.”

“Well I'm sorry, but Mama Parker never taught me not to pull a girl's tail.” he complained. “Not even when Vic had me convinced that girls really did have tails.”

He paused for a moment then, seemingly becoming confused by something that he just said.

“Oh, wait. That probably never even happened. Guess I must have imagined it.” he muttered to himself.

Your foster parent was a pretty weird guy.

“I'm going to have to agree with the girl on this one.” Shaggy said from his spot on the porch. “Tails should never be pulled or yanked under any circumstance.”

You gave Ben a smug grin.

“I can't believe I'm saying this, but…I think the novelty of having a talking, wise-cracking dog is starting to wear off.” he said with a sigh.

“Someone owes Flint ten bucks~.” you teased. Now there was a prophecy you never thought you’d see fulfilled.

Ben waved your statement off with a dismissive gesture from his hand.

“He won't remember. And he'll be in space soon anyway, so I'd like to see him try to collect on old debts when he's halfway across the galaxy.”

(Cont.)

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Despite having said the words himself, Ben's mood noticeably worsened for a minute.

“Hey. Everything okay?” you asked, crawling a bit closer to him from your place on the rafter.

“Yeah, I'm okay.” he replied, sounding a little deflated. “You were going to tell me about your mom, right?”

You nodded, watching him closely, as if you could see the truth of his words through his mask.

“Yeah. Why don’t we go a little further up, first?”

You started to climb, and was surprised yet again by the ease at which you were able to scale the building.

“Hey, you’re pretty good at that too. Does Khonshu teach all his followers to be ninjas, or is it just you?” he asked, climbing up after you.

“I don’t think it's me. It's this suit.” you said, staring at your right hand in disbelief. “It feels like it's anticipating everything that I want to do, and then it…helps me do it.”

“You make it sound like it has a mind of its own.”

“I feel like it does, on some level. Or maybe it's just Khonshu enacting his will through the suit?”

“Do you think it has something to do with the sleepwalking incident?” Ben asked.

You found that thought to be both terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. On one hand, you were immensely grateful to Khonshu for giving you something like this. But the idea of wearing something sentient without so much as an instruction manual was...

“Maybe. I don’t know. It could be a Kumiho thing, or some other huge secret that I haven’t learned about yet.” you said in a sardonic tone.

“For now, why don't we just deal with what we do know?” Ben said reassuringly. “Like the stuff that happened with your mom.”

You nodded, flipped onto your back, and stared off into the distance as you recounted your reunion with your mother. And somewhere in the middle of that explanation, you realized that Mekara was nowhere to be found.

—---------

Ben had gone very quiet, and very still towards the end of your explanation. You sensed a quiet, smoldering rage radiating off of him. He wasn’t even trying very hard to hide.

“Ben-”

“You can’t go back to her, Cindy.”

It was the first thing he’d said in about five minutes.

“I know she’s your mother and all, but I don’t trust her. Who knows what else she’s hiding from you?”

What will you say?

>”That’s exactly why I need to see her again. She can tell me where my dad is.”
>”I need to know more about the ritual that turned me into this. If I can learn that, then maybe we can find a way to reverse it.”
>”I’m bringing her home, Ben. I’m bringing all of them home. We might be a seriously screwed up family, but we’re still family. I have to at least try to bring them back together.”
>”You’re going to have to promise not to do anything crazy if you see each other in person. I don’t want to lose either of you.”
>Write-in.

>>6167573
>>”That’s exactly why I need to see her again. She can tell me where my dad is.”
She kinda sucks but what's the point in holding a grudge

>>6167573
>Write-in.
>"With her obsession with the Slayer prophecy I don't think avoiding her is an option. She's building an entire army."
>”I need to know more about the ritual that turned me into this. I think life energy is now a mandatory part of my diet and if I can't get it under control I'll need your help breaking a second major curse in less than a year."

>>6167573
>”Hiding the truth doesn’t make it any less real. I can’t walk away and wait for something to blow up years from now instead. I need answers.”
I’d like to bring mom back into the fold, I just can’t see how to do it. Ben’s a criminal, and not a low-level one at that, but even he hasn’t performed ritual magic on a baby to infuse it with the spirit of a fox demon. How do we begin to understand that line of thinking?

Do we tell him about the “decapitating our enemies and it didn’t bother us” thing when we were kidnapped? We’re both finding out the hard way that Cindy Moon isn’t who we thought she was. It’s a good reason to find out what that means.

>>6167573
>>6167575
I’ll add support to this in the vein of “I have one insane parent and I really need to know if both are.”

>>6167594
I’ll back both of these too, but do we really believe we should break what’s been done to us? We’ve been this way for something like 90% of our life even if we didn’t realize it. Even if we dislike/hate mom for forcing it on us, I’m leaning towards acceptance of it until more negative consequences come up.

>>6167575
>>6167594
>>6168275
>”That’s exactly why I need to see her again. She can tell me where my dad is.”
>"With her obsession with the Slayer prophecy I don't think avoiding her is an option. She's building an entire army."
>”I need to know more about the ritual that turned me into this. I think life energy is now a mandatory part of my diet and if I can't get it under control I'll need your help breaking a second major curse in less than a year."

Taking these. Writing...

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“That's exactly why I need to see her again. She can tell me where my dad is.”

Ben went quiet after that. He knew full well that there wasn't anything he could say to dissuade you from searching for your other parent.

“Besides,” Cindy continued. “As obsessed as she is about the Slayer prophecy, I don't think avoiding her is an option. She's building an army, Ben.”

Ben's eyes narrowed.

“You mean her little superhero daycare center? Didn't you say that she was arranging those forces to help you out in the field?”

You lowered your gaze, sat up, and pulled your knees closer to your chest.

“I don't think that's all there is to it. If mom really wants me to get stronger, then she wouldn’t just give me a clear advantage without making me work for it. That's not her style.”

Ben nodded.

“Riiight. She's more of the ‘Abandon your kid and kidnap her after turning her into a half-fox demon’ type.”

You gave him a look, and he averted his gaze to scowl at something far off in the distance.

“That's a good point, too.” you added. “I should ask her more about the ritual the next time I see her too. I'm pretty sure life energy is gonna become a mandatory part of my diet, and if I can't get it under control, then I might need your help breaking a second major curse in less than a year.”

Ben let out a large sigh and shrugged his shoulders.

“There's gotta be a section for ‘Kumiho care' in that parenting handbook that I bought…”

You let out a dry chuckle and leaned your head on his shoulder.

“I'm guessing there's no way I can talk you out of this?”

“Not a chance. Things won't get better for either of us if I just start avoiding uncomfortable truths.”

“Yeah, I know…” Ben groaned. He didn't sound at all pleased about any of this. And you honestly couldn't blame him for feeling that way. Not when he was doing his best to protect you.

But he couldn't protect you from everything. Your mom knew it too, which is why she went through such lengths to prepare you for the worst.

“...Alright, fine. If you really feel like this is something that you need to do…”

He glanced down at you then, as if to confirm that you still felt this way.

“I do.” you stated firmly, your voice lacking any hint of fear or hesitation.

He shook his head in disappointment, but then he reached up to ruffle your hair. His fingertips brushed up against your ears more than once, and you leaned into his touch. Your tail started to wag behind you, and you had to fight to keep it under control.

Hopefully he hadn't noticed that…

“Then I'll support you in whatever way that I can. At least wait for me to get you that vibranium suit before you do anything hasty.” he pleaded.

(Cont.)

“That sounds fair. I guess it's a good thing that we didn't get it made before all this happened.” you said, gesturing to…well, all of you. “At least now we know to include a tail-hole, right?”

You tried to laugh it off, but even Ben could tell that you weren't quite pulling off that bit of self-deprecating humor.

He pulled you into a tight hug and kissed the side of your head.

“Don't worry. We'll figure this out.” he assured you. “Or did you forget that you’re talking to New York's savviest networker? Your mom's not the only one who can rally an army behind you.”

You returned the hug, burying your face in his chest. Then, and only then, did you allow the uncertainty you felt to show on your face.

–----------

After a few more minutes on the roof, you and Ben climbed back into Young’ shop from the upper floor window. And as soon as she caught you sneaking back inside, she immediately started hounding you about what you were going to wear to the council meeting. Because apparently, the “rags” that you were currently wearing wouldn't cut it in a formal setting.

What will you wear?

>Let your grandma dress you up in traditional Korean fashion.
>Rummage through her closet for something decent to wear. There's gotta be something in here that won't make you look like an old lady.
>See if the Mask Maker can't make something for you. She seems pretty decent at arts and crafts.(Provide picture of outfit)
>You're fine with that you're wearing right now. You want to approach these people as a normal, half-fox demon, teenage girl.
>Maybe your suit can reshape itself into something fancier. It is made of cloth, after all.
>Write-in.

>>6169033
>>Rummage through her closet for something decent to wear. There's gotta be something in here that won't make you look like an old lady.

>>6169033
>Let your grandma dress you up in traditional Korean fashion.
She's the expert here. +2 to diplomacy.
>Maybe your suit can reshape itself into something fancier. It is made of cloth, after all.
We might be able to roll it back off our hands and head into underarmor. See if it feels like talking.

>>6169033
>Rummage through her closet for something decent to wear. There's gotta be something in here that won't make you look like an old lady.
Anything that still lets us fight easily. It’s what we’re comfortable in, and comfort is key to confidence.

>Maybe your suit can reshape itself into something fancier. It is made of cloth, after all.
Try to keep it as an underlayer. We’ve seen it change color, so see what options there are for that so it can blend into whatever we eventually wear.

>>6169037
>>6169087
>>6169098
>Rummage through her closet for something decent to wear. There's gotta be something in here that won't make you look like an old lady.
>Maybe your suit can reshape itself into something fancier. It is made of cloth, after all.

Taking these. Writing...

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Somehow, you managed to convince Young to stop trying to dress you up like a doll, and pushed her out of the room before she could get another word in.

That didn't stop her from trying to give unsolicited advice through the door, of course, but you took it in stride.

And as soon as you were sure that she wouldn't come barging back in, you flung open the door to her closet and started rummaging around for something decent to wear.

There had to be something here that wouldn't make you look like an old lady.

“No. No. No. No. N-ooh! This is cute!”

You picked up a modest blue cheongsam, with a cute embroidered white deer on each sleeve, and a flowery off-white skirt that was well enough below the knees that neither Ben nor Young should have any problems with it.

You held it up against your body and rose to your feet, careful not to trip over any of the piles that you created while sorting through your grandma’s wardrobe. You'd been at this for nearly fifteen minutes already, and this was the first thing that caught your eye.

“It's kinda thrifty. I wonder if Grandma Young would let me have it.” you wondered aloud.

Your gaze drifted down to your feet, which were still tightly bound in cloth. And then you had an idea.

“Hey, uh…suit? Can you understand me?”

You felt silly for talking to a roll of bandages in a room by yourself, but you had a hunch that this gift from Khonshu was more than just an accessory.

The suit didn't answer you verbally, but you could feel the cloth covering your body start to shift. It was as if the fabric itself was stirring awake.

“I'm gonna assume that you can.” you decided. “Can you change your shape to make yourself look more…I don't know…inconspicuous? Like this dress!”

You offered a weak smile to no one in particular, and sighed when nothing answered you.

“Forget it. I'll just-”

The bandages on your hands began to unravel, and began flowing just above your skin. You tried to drop the dress, but the fabric of the suit was latched onto it now.

“Whoa! What're you-”

You never got to finish whatever it was that you were going to say, because before your very eyes, Khonshu's gift began to consume the entire outfit.

“Consume” might not be the most appropriate word for what was occurring here, but that's exactly what it looked like!

“No! Stop that! I was just…borrowing it…!”

You grunted with exertion as you struggled to regain control of your fingers. This was crazy! Why would Khonshu give you something like this!?

The carnivorous cloth that bound your body was making short work of the cute little cheongsam, and you feared that you had no hope of salvaging what little would remain.

But there was nothing left. Not a thread, shred or scrap remained when your suit was done.

You let out a frustrated huff and pulled at the bandages on your arms.

“Seriously!? What was the point of all that? Clothes aren't supposed to eat other clothes!”

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You were able to loosen the bandages covering your arms with ease, but you were having a hard time fully separating them from your body.

The cloth slithered and writhed in response, and before you knew it, every bit of the mummy suit was sliding above your skin, rapidly rearranging its own structure.

You watched in complete horror as…wait.

You blinked in surprise, before rushing to a mirror. In your reflection, you saw yourself, white-haired and fox-ified, wearing a white and gray version of the cheongsam that the suit had just absorbed!

The colors were off, but it was nearly an exact replica! It even added a tasteful black underlayer to cover your upper body.

Tiny splotches of color started to fill in the bland outfit, slowly returning the dyes that had been salvaged from the original design.

“Okayyyy…not gonna lie, that is pretty cool.” you said, smiling at your reflection, and twirling back and forth to check yourself out from multiple angles.

Your smile slipped once you realized that you would need to explain what happened to your grandmother, and then reimburse her for it.

As if sensing your thoughts, the living dress stretched out a bolt of cloth and began recreating the dress it had ruined!

You perked up a bit at that. Whatever grandma didn't know, wouldn't hurt her.

“Oh! Thanks. Do you…have a name? My name's-”

“‘Cindy’. Yes, I know.”

You nearly jumped out of your skin when that low, predatory voice snarled into your ear!

“Huh!? Who's there!?”

You whirled around, searching for any signs of danger...only to find a floating disembodied head staring at you from over your shoulder.

You opened your mouth to scream, but a bolt of cloth wrapped itself around your mouth, muffling your voice.

The disembodied head leaned closer, shushing you as if you were a baby. It had So many sharp teeth! But they all seemed to be…made of cloth?

“Be at peace, Warrior Priest. We are allies in this war against the darkness. I too am a devout follower of Khonshu.”

You stared up at those white, soulless eyes in disbelief. This thing was-

“Cindy? Is everything alright in there? We heard screaming!”

Your head turned to stare at the door that your grandmother was standing on the opposite side of. The floating head was staring at you, and you stared at it.

Slowly, the bandages around your mouth loosened, and you breathed a small sigh of relief.

“It's okay, grandma! I'm fine.” you answered, not pulling your eyes away from the strange creature. “I just…stubbed my toe.”

You winced as soon as the words left your mouth. It was a poor lie, but you couldn't think of anything else to say.

“O-okay. Just…try to be more careful.” she warned, her voice taking on an odd note.

Great. Now she was going to think that you were some kind of klutz.

You waited until she stepped away from the door before you started talking again. Now, it was just you and the magic mummy thing.

You continued to stare at it for a while, belatedly noticing that there was another bolt of cloth suspending the head, and it was connected to your back. You barely suppressed a shudder, at that.

“What are you?”

You hadn't intended your first question to come out like that, but if the mummy took any offense, it didn’t show it.

“Very, very old.” it answered.

You frowned at it.

“Can you elaborate on that?”

The head made a rumble of discontentment in the back of its throat.

“I once served as an enforcer of justice for Khonshu in the past. He preserves my soul, and I act as his Fist when times are dire.” it explained.

Your eyes widened and you let out a sharp gasp.

“You're the ghost of a Warrior Priest!” you blurted out, before remembering to lower your voice. “And Khonshu woke you up so that you could help me.”

The head nodded.

“Yes.”

“Cool…! What should I call you?”

The fallen priest hummed in thought for a moment, before meeting your gaze once more.

“You may call me ‘Mercy’. As my previous host once did.”

“It's nice to meet you, Mercy.” you said with a polite smile. “Do you have any...preferred pronouns?”

Mercy hissed.

“What!?”

“Y’know, like ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘they’, ‘it’.” you carefully explained.

“And what concern is it of yours…?” Mercy demanded, getting in your face.

“I just…thought you might have a preference?” you offered weakly, unable to back away from the floating head.

Thankfully, the tense staredown lasted only for several seconds, before Mercy leaned back to give you an assessing look.

“I would prefer ‘she’.”

You nodded, grateful that you didn’t have to argue gender politics with a long dead warrior priest.

“Got it! Girl ghost.” you confirmed, before moving on to your next question. “And, uh… earlier you mentioned a previous ‘host’? Does that make me your ‘current’ host?”

“It would appear so, little fox. Our bond is only skin deep, but I shall do everything in my power to assist you in carrying out Khonshu's will.” Mercy promised. “In spite of recent events, I can sense your faith in him. It is...heartening.”

The jagged tear that formed its mouth split open even wider, and you had to assume that your new colleague was attempting a smile. This was all so freaky…

What will you say/do?

>”I don't think I've ever heard of a Warrior Priest like you. Are there others that Khonshu brings back to life?”
>”So…what exactly are you capable of? You didn’t come with an instruction manual, so I've just sort of been winging it.”
>”What did you mean when you said our bond was 'skin deep'?”
>”Did you look this scary when you were still alive, or did you choose to look scary in death?”
>”This feels kinda weird. I know Khonshu allowed it, but it feels wrong to just…’wear’ a person. Are you really okay with this?”
>Write-in.

Whew! The formatting really kicked my ass on this one.

>>6169791
>>”I don't think I've ever heard of a Warrior Priest like you. Are there others that Khonshu brings back to life?”

>>6169791
Navigating pronoun politics with someone from many, many generations ago does sound difficult. Especially when they’re literally attached to you. Also glad we’ve been supportive of Khonshu, I would not want to argue with Mercy over a lack of devotion either.

>”I don't think I've ever heard of a Warrior Priest like you. Are there others that Khonshu brings back to life?”
>”What did you mean when you said our bond was 'skin deep'?”
I get the “skin deep” part is likely literal, but does the “only” mean there’s more extensive possibilities?
>”Wait. If you’re with me, does that mean he considers things dire?”
How much did he know in advance?

Kinda want to ask about the name, but I’m not sure I want to know if the host was asking her for mercy or because she was the more merciful of the two.

>>6169792
Keeping track of all the tags is annoying, for sure. Made worse by the fact that Mercy shares one with Cindy, even if it makes thematic sense.

>>6169860
>>6169959
Would you guys like me to combine these votes, or wait for another vote to roll in?

>>6169791

>”I don't think I've ever heard of a Warrior Priest like you. Are there others that Khonshu brings back to life? Did you look this scary when you were still alive, or did you choose to look scary in death?”
>”What did you mean when you said our bond was 'skin deep'?”
>”So…what exactly are you capable of? You didn’t come with an instruction manual, so I've just sort of been winging it.”

combination seems good enough considering mine is practically the same but with just slightly more

>>6171562
I’m okay with a combination between our votes as well. I’m also with my write-in piece being kicked out or not made a big deal. It was just an interesting thought I’d had given what Mercy told us.

>>6169860
>>6171571
>>6169959
>”I don't think I've ever heard of a Warrior Priest like you. Are there others that Khonshu brings back to life? Did you look this scary when you were still alive, or did you choose to look scary in death?”
>”What did you mean when you said our bond was 'skin deep'?”
>”Wait. If you’re with me, does that mean he considers things dire?”
>”So…what exactly are you capable of? You didn’t come with an instruction manual, so I've just sort of been winging it.”

Taking these! Writing...

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“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Warrior Priest like you. Are there others that Khonshu brings back to life? Did you look this scary when you were still alive, or did you just choose to look scary in death?”

You bombarded the ghost warrior with all kinds of questions, but Mercy seemed to take it all in stride.

“There have been others, yes. I do not know them all, but we have crossed paths on occasion.” she answered smoothly. “And in regards to my appearance…I will admit that…many aspects of my elegance have been lost since the loss of my original body…”

Scratch that. She seemed genuinely put out. Perhaps you struck a nerve with that line of questioning.

“Cloth is far harder to manipulate by comparison.” she grumbled. “But…this form has its uses.”

“Like being a portable wardrobe.” you said, smiling down at the new dress you just scored.

“Your fascination with clothing is, in itself, fascinating. You will have to introduce me to what this era calls ‘fashion’.”

“Only if you tell me about fashion from…wherever, or whenever you’re from.”

“My kind didn’t wear clothes, little fox. They were often the ones being worn.” Mercy said with what you thought might have been a teasing smile.

Your ears twitched, and you almost reached up to touch them in response.

“Ah! That’s gonna take some getting used to.”

“Yes. This is the first time in a very long time since I have had a host with this many ears.”

Your insecurities got the better of you, and you ended up placing your palms over your human ears. There was that ‘host’ stuff again.

“Hey, what did you mean when you said our bond was ‘only skin deep’?” you asked.

Mercy leaned away from you, and the cord of cloth that held her head aloft thickened as more fabric was pulled from your outfit to form an additional limb. The limb materialized as a hand, and she held it up to look through the gaps of her fingers.

“It means what it means. In my current state, I am incapable of merging my biology to yours without making serious alterations to your anatomy.” she explained.

“I'd appreciate it if you didn't.” you said quickly. “But, isn’t there something I or Khonshu could do to help you get your body back?”

Mercy barked out a sardonic laugh.

“Not unless you could pluck the blueprints behind my genetic makeup from the very codex itself.”

You raised an eyebrow in confusion, so Mercy chose to elaborate.

“Without the unique cellular structure of a Klyntar-”

“A what-now?”

“I am unable to form a proper symbiotic relationship with you.” Mercy said, ignoring your earlier outburst.

“What, like a parasite?”

Mercy narrowed her eyes at you.

“I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as a ‘parasite’.”

(Cont.)

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She dragged out each syllable as if just saying the word was enough to agitate her.

“Sorry. I don’t actually know anything about…what you are.” you said meekly. “I don't even know what you're capable of. You didn't come with an instruction manual, so I've just sort of been winging it.”

“You do not need instruction.” Mercy said in a brusk tone. “Your instincts serve you well. You should listen to them.”

“I'm starting to wonder about that...” You muttered. “I mean, Khonshu sent you here because I couldn't handle things on my own.”

Mercy swiveled around behind your back, deconstructing her current form, and returning the borrowed cloth to the greater whole.

“You are never alone, Cindy Moon. Khonshu guides your steps, and I shall guide your hand. But ultimately, you must make your own choices…”

“Yeah, but…hello?”

You spun around, searching the room for the floating head you’d just been having a conversation with. Where had she-?

A knock at the door caused your ears and tail to perk up in surprise.

“Cindy! Is there someone in there with you?” Young asked.

You let out a weary sigh.

“No, grandma! I was just praying to Khonshu.” you lied.

You weren’t sure how you would even begin to explain what your new outfit really was. You weren’t even sure if you knew enough to give a proper explanation. One thing was for sure, though. Whatever Mercy had been in life, it definitely wasn’t a normal human.

It was a…”Klyntar”. Whatever that was...

Oh well. You’d have time to worry about all that after you’ve presented yourself to the council. Hopefully, they wouldn’t vote to execute you on the spot.

“Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts…” you breathed, before slapping your face with both hands and diving back into Young’s closet for a practical pair of shoes.

—---------

For the very first time since you became aware of it, you were thankful of the natural advantages that came with being half-Kumiho. After all, they allowed you to jump clean over the throng of monsters currently clogging up the streets. They’d all come pouring out as soon as the sandstorm from earlier died down completely. You couldn’t help but compare them to roaches, with the way they scuttled out of sewer grates and rocky crevices.

You could say what you wanted about the people of Monster Metropolis, but they knew when to run for cover. If everyone on the surface had these kinds of survival instincts, then the mortality rate during emergencies could be drastically lowered.

“We’re here.” Young informed you, following close behind as you bounded from building to building.

She seemed impressed by your display of athleticism. And, if you were being honest, so were you!

You were no slouch before, but now, you thought you could keep up with Ben without getting winded! And from the way he was quipping at you, that fact hadn’t been lost on him.

(Cont.)

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As per Young’s instruction, you, she, Ben and Ana landed before a grubby little, wooden two-story shack that looked barely in much better shape than Young’s own shop. Beside it was a stable filled with what you could only describe as giant storks with milky white eyes and black, leathery folds of skin in place of feathers.

“This is where you have your council meetings?” Ben asked in an incredulous tone. ”What's your budget? Half a ham sandwich?”

“No, no. This isn’t where the meeting is being held.” Young insisted, walking over to a tall, spindly naked creature with pale skin that was leaning out of a service window.

Your grandmother was in her middle aged form at this very moment, but she didn’t so much as blink when the strange creature focused its dark, almond shaped eyes on her. A long tongue flitted out of a curved, tapir-like snout, and you resisted a shiver that threatened to make its way out and run up the length of your spine.

“This is where we get our rides. All council meetings take place near the outskirts of the city. We’ll need these to get there.”

She gestured at the creepy looking storks. They were currently squawking aggressively at you and Ben. For some reason, though, they were treating Ana very differently. The woman had a way with animals, no matter how freaky they were.

“Is that tradition? Because if not, I think I’ll make my own way there.” Ben insisted.

You glanced past him at the fleshy storks and wondered if you could pull off something similar to what you did in the park the other day.

“Suit yourself.” Young said with a shrug. “We just need to make sure that Cindy doesn’t get my--I mean her–-cute little outfit dirty~.”

She then proceeded to pat down your coat, and straighten your hair for the fifth time.

“Grandma~! Can’t this wait until after we get there, at least?”

“Not this time, darling. We can’t take any chances here. Not when your life could be on the line.”

"If this meeting was so important, then why weren't Shaggy and the Mask Maker coming with you?" you thought, but didn't say.

“Maybe you should run us through the list of council members that’ll be attending this meeting.” Ben suggested, before leaning away from a snapping beak that got a little too close to his mask.

“Good idea.” Young agreed. “I’ve already told you about the Nosferatu Twins and the Green Knight. Aside from those three, I expect to see the Were-representative ‘Carnelian’, the Last of the Gorgon Sisters, and leader of the Amazon Tribe ‘Delphyne Gorgon’, and last, but not least, the Zombie Prince himself.”

Who do you want to know more about?

>The Nosferatu Twins.
>The Green Knight.
>Carnelian.
>Delphyne Gorgon
>The Zombie Prince.
>Write-in.

>>6172170
>>Carnelian.
Werepeople! These are basically your collective now, Cindy.

>>6172170

also choosing
>>Carnelian
perhaps they can help cindy hide her fox features?

>>6172170
>Carnelian.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ana tried getting more info on Delphyne. If she’s the last of the Gorgons then she’s a monster she can’t fight anywhere else but here. She’ll want to butter her up for a duel.

>>6172170
>The Green Knight.
>The Zombie Prince.

>>6172173
>>6172182
>>6172547
>Carnelian.

Taking these. This next update is going to be a big one, so I'm going to take extra time to write it. I'll post it tomorrow at my earliest convenience!

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“What can you tell me about the Were?”

“Carn? Well, he's a Were-hyena who's earned the trust and respect of the Were community by defending the various packs and tribes of Were-creatures from Gamma Beasts and other roving threats that sometimes wander into their territory.” Young explained. “He's surprisingly level-headed and quiet during serious discussions, but it's a whole different story when he's in combat…”

Your heart leapt at her description of the man.

“And he’s a Were-hyena in the traditional sense, right?” you asked.

“Right…” Young answered slowly, likely wondering what you were getting at.

Most didn't know this, but werewolves weren't the only kind of were. There were all kinds, and the cause of the affliction wasn't always the same.

Most commonly, were-creatures infect other beings with a curse that resembles a disease. This causes them to transform involuntarily, and go on a murderous rampage every once in a while. Those that are born with the curse have greater control over this process, and will generally live much easier lives. Were-hyenas, however, are different in this case.

The legend of the Were-hyena originated from African folklore, in which a malicious demon possesses a man, and forcefully transforms them into a ravenous beast. There are some embellishments here and there, but the people who spread this information got most of the information right.

Were-hyenas are victims of demonic possession, are often known to behave erratically, and are generally short-lived. Whereas, in this case, Carnelian is known to be ‘level-headed’ and ‘quiet’. That made him an outlier in the Were-hyena community. And, lucky for you, you were on your way to meet him.

“I think he might be able to help me with my fox problem.” you said. “I’m only like this because I have the spirit energy of a Kumiho coursing through my veins, right? That’s pretty similar to Carnelian’s situation, don’t you think?”

Young gave you a troubled look. You couldn't blame her, either.

Were-hyenas wrestled with malicious spirits with a will of their own. You were just dealing with the fallout of swallowing a magic marble when you were a baby. Your situations weren’t as similar as you were trying to make it seem, and Young probably knew it.

“I need to try.” you declared. “If I’m wrong, then that’s fine. But-”

You swallowed hard, and for some reason, your throat felt so dry that you couldn’t get the words out. Then, Young’s face softened, and she ran a hand down your face.

“Alright. We can ask. I’m sure he’ll be more sympathetic towards you because of your condition.” she assured you.

You gave her a grateful smile and took her hand in your own. Then, you became painfully aware that Ben and Ana were still standing there, just watching you.

Neither of them said a thing, but you could tell that they were drinking in the scene. Ben had actually pulled out his phone to take a picture.

(Cont.)

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“You were right. This is precious.” Ana agreed.

You hurriedly released your grandmother's hand…and then paused.

Wait, why were you getting embarrassed about showing affection to the grandma that you never got to know? Who cares what they think. You could endure any amount of teasing from Ben if it meant reconnecting with a relative.

At least, that's what you told yourself.

“That’s going on the fridge.” Ben said in a self-satisfied tone.

—-------

If you were being completely honest, you didn’t fully understand the need behind renting these dino birds just to take a quick ride to the building where this council meeting was being held.

They weren't that much faster than any of you on foot, and they forced you to obey the Metro's traffic laws. That included giving the right of way to every big idiot that stomped their way through the city, without any regard for the monsters that didn't fall into the “freakishly large” size category.

Ben had no patience for any of it, and instead flew above you, green flames trailing behind him like the tail of a comet. A part of you was jealous of all these new powers he'd been developing recently.

Right now, though, you'd settle for the spontaneous revelation that you secretly possessed dino bird wrangling powers. This big ugly thing just…wouldn't…sit still!

You tugged on the reins and glanced to either side of you. Grandma Young's bird was perfectly calm. In her current form, she wasn’t much older than you, but she had this serene look about her that you didn’t think you could ever pull off.

Ana's bird was terribly well-behaved as well. Despite having never done this in her entire life, she was somehow much better than you at keeping these things under control.

Maybe there was something wrong with yours.

“Ugh! I think we should seriously consider bringing up the idea of traffic lights at this meeting.” you suggested, staring up at Ben as he literally flew circles around you. It looked like he was trying to form shapes with his flame trails.

Grandma Young chuckled in a way that sounded uncannily like your own.

“There is a rhythm to the Monster Metropolis that everyone must learn. One must recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as being able to quickly grasp their immediate situation.”

She pointed ahead, at a small werewolf child effortlessly weaving their way through the crowd. You watched as he slipped between people’s legs, hitched a ride on a larger, but inattentive creature, hopped to a nearby building, and scaled its walls to gain access to a higher level.

“First, you must recognize yourself. Know what you are capable of, and then recognize the situation. After that, it is up to you to figure out whether you can adapt.” she continued.

“Or find an alternative route.” Ana put in.

Young nodded without looking at her.

“Or that.”

(Cont.)

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“‘Recognize yourself’…” you repeated, staring down at your hands, still gripping the reins.

They were familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. You might be the only girl in Monster Metropolis who didn’t know what she was. The idea was almost laughable.

Almost.

“Can you tell me more about Carnelian, grandma?” you asked, not wanting to dwell on this train of thought for too long. If you did, everyone else might find out how stressed out you were.

Your ears and tail were just as, if not more likely to reveal your mood than your facial expressions were. You could almost feel your ears flattening against your head, even now.

“And the Gorgon, if you could.” Ana added.

You were pretty sure that she just wanted to fight the Gorgon, but you weren’t going to say anything unless it started to look like Ana was going to go feral.

“Very well.” Young agreed. “Before becoming Were-representive, Carnelian was a miner.”

“To be fair, we were all minors at some point.” Ben said, still wreathed in emerald flame, and floating upside down beside Young. “Not sure about you, though. You're not very consistent with your age. Must be a pain whenever you have to fill out forms.”

You grinned at him, and then wiped that grin off of your face when Grandma turned to face you.

“As I was saying,” she continued sounding a bit peeved. “Carnelian was a miner in his youth. Back then, he was still but a man. A human man living in a predominantly human settlement. One day, he and his team got trapped in a cave-in. He was the only one to survive, but when he emerged, he was forever changed.”

“That’s when he got possessed by the demon?” you asked.

Young nodded, her eyes facing forward once more.

“Something happened down in that cave. Something that Carnelian still won't speak of, even to this day.”

At this point, even Ben and Ana were becoming interested in Young's story.

“What I do know is that after he emerged, he learned that a pack of Weres had raided his settlement while he was indisposed. All of his friends and family, gone. Just like that.” Young said, snapping her fingers for emphasis. “He flew into a blind rage, and spent the next few years hunting down each and every one of the Weres involved in the raid, sharpening his skills in every engagement. Becoming a more efficient killer. He gained a reputation for it too. The other Were tribes called him a revenant, an avenging spirit that refused to die.”

“Whoa. He's like the John Wick of Weres.” Ben observed.

Young shot him a blank look.

“I have no idea who that is.”

Ben reeled back as if she'd shot him with an actual gun. The effect was more than a little comical, as he was currently floating upside down.

“You haven't seen---do you guys even get basic cable down here? How about a Redbox?”

(Cont.)

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“What does it matter if a box is red or blue?” Young inquired, her puzzled expression making it nearly impossible not to laugh at her.

Ben’s outburst of laughter was poorly covered up by a hasty cough, and your grandmother glared at him.

“What!? What'd I say?”

“Nothing, grandma~. I just had a tickle in my throat. Honest.” Ben said, still recovering from his sudden coughing fit.

Grandma Young looked like she was about to say something about Ben calling her “grandma”, but she instead shook her head and waved a hand at him.

“Feh! You're interrupting the story!” he complained. “Now, where was I?”

“Something about Carnelian going all ‘John Wick on those Weres’.” you offered, a deceptively innocent look on your face.

Young adapted her age to be a little older than you, just so she could glare down at you from her mount.

“Those were not my words!” she protested. “Look, you almost made us miss our turn.”

Young urged her mount forward, and you and Ana hurriedly did the same. Ben just floated along, slightly above your group. It looked like he was practicing his flight control.

As your dino birds stomped their way through the crowd, you realized that the monsters’ deference to the size of their peers also applied to the animals you rented. No one wanted to get stepped on, pecked at, or pushed around by a giant bald pterodactyl it seemed.

This kind of treatment persisted until you and the rest reached a massive castle wall that was so tall that it merged with the cavern's ceiling! Built into this wall was an iron gate that was used to keep stray monsters out.

A group of guards, a pair of werewolves, stopped you when you got within sixty feet of the gate. They positively identified Young by way of smell test, and then gave the order to raise the gate. From the way she casually bantered with them, you thought it safe to assume that she was pretty popular with the local law enforcement.

Meanwhile, Ben was arguing with a guard about being forced to stop flying while he passed through the gate, and Ana was glaring at a guard who had just tried sniffing her.

You were glad that you’d at least had a chance to shower before this. It would've been both awkward and embarrassing for these guards to think that Young's granddaughter smelled like death.

And that's when you heard it. It was just a word. One word that broke through the jumble of noise that was assaulting both sets of your ears. And you might not have heard it without your new vulpine set, but you did.

“Slayer.”

It was but a whisper on the wind. A muttered word that escaped the lips of some of the guards. They were eyeing you warily, and you tried your best to ignore it. But things didn't stop there, because Weres weren't the only ones with exceptional hearing.

(Cont.)

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Behind you, the word was spreading like wildfire, and numerous monsters were stopping to gawk, and getting trampled for their trouble. You gripped the reins even tighter, not even flinching as your claws drew blood.

Ana must’ve heard them too, because she glared around at them, and rode closer to you. Ben was sitting on the back of her bird now, and he reached over to grab your wrist.

Your hand slowly unclenched, and you felt the wound on your hand begin to knit itself back together. Inheriting a Kumiho's accelerated healing factor was another bonus.

“Don't listen to them. They just don’t know you like I do.” Ben assured you.

“Come on. We should keep moving.” Young urged, glancing back at the crowd with clear concern on her face.

None of you argued with her, and instead rode on past the gates, and into what looked to be a vast wasteland, leaving the people of Monster Metropolis to gossip to their heart's content.

—--------

In order to get your mind off of things, Young indulged you with more stories about the Were-representative.

According to her, Carnelian's exploits led to him being directly challenged by multiple tribe leaders for dealing with threats in their territory, without their permission. Ben thought that was stupid, and said as much, but Ana seemed to understand the logic behind it.

Carnelian ignored their challenges, up until he was hunted down, and surrounded by a particularly aggressive pack. The tribe leader forced him into a duel, and got slaughtered for his trouble. The other tribe leaders became afraid that he would come for them next, and ordered their Weres to slaughter the defeated tribe, for fear that Carnelian would become their leader and rally them all behind him.

Which, did in fact, happen. The human side of Carnelian, the one still capable of rational thought, felt responsible for the pack of Weres that would be wiped out because of him. So, he led them on a conquest that saw him defeating and absorbing the tribes of the other two leaders. This was repeated until, eventually, he had become so powerful that the Kaiju King requested an audience with him.

King Kei recognized Carnelian’s worth, and offered him a position on the council as “Were-representative. This way, Carnelian would get to hold onto his power, and maintain powerful ties with the ruler of Monster Metropolis.

It sounded like a story to inspire awe in children before tucking them in for bed. You could see why Young was excited to tell it to you.

In fact, you were so engrossed in the story that you nearly steered your bird into a shambling zombie.

That was another thing. It wasn't uncommon for the dead to roam the wasteland. And anyone who wasn't confident in their ability to repel or avoid them, bought birds like these.

(Cont.)

“These birds emit an aura very similar to ‘negative energy’, the opposite of chi.” Young explained. “Zombies will only pursue a being that emits positive energy. This way, we can hide our aura within the field of negative energy.”

“So it is a survival tactic.” Ana concluded. “Very clever.”

She stroked the side of her bird's neck, and it squawked in appreciation. You were still learning to get along with your bird, so you didn’t try to do the same.

“Whoa! What's that?” Ben exclaimed in a hushed tone.

You all turned to stare in the direction he was pointing in, and you then nearly gagged.

Far off in the distance, you saw the remains of a giant, pale fleshy worm being consumed by a horde of zombies. It was turned on its side, the wrinkled flesh of its stomach torn asunder, and its guts spilling out onto the gray sand that covered the wasteland. It had a large mouth that was hanging open, showing no visible teeth, and a pair of wide, saucer-like eyes that were milky white in their complexion. They stared lifelessly in your direction, and you averted your gaze as soon as you were sure that it was dead. That thing was so gross!

“What is that?” Ana asked, her voice caught somewhere between awe and disgust.

“It looks like Jabba the Hutt's ugly cousin.” Ben added.

“That is a Gamma Beast. The Green Knight must have passed through here on his way to the meeting.” Young said in a casual tone. “At least now I know he'll actually be attending this time.”

You all took one last look at the dried up worm, and then spurred your mounts forward. You didn't want to be out here any longer than absolutely necessary.

—----------

“Is that a Gamma Beast too?” Ben asked, pointing up at the giant skeleton of what looked like it might have been a four eyed, six-tusked mammoth with the anatomy of a large serpent from the waist down. And piercing through its rib cage where its heart used to be, was a small, jagged mountain peak. The skeletal corpse was splayed out over the natural formation, and looked to have been there for a good long while.

“Nope. That’s where we’ll be holding the meeting.” Young said, a small smile teasing the corners of her lips. She was back to looking like an old woman. but she'd waited until you got closer to initiate the change. All this riding would've been murder on her back if she had reverted the change earlier.

Your jaw nearly hit the floor!

“THAT’S City Hall!?” you exclaimed.

“Truly!?” Ana said, unable to maintain her usual composure.

“Okay, this is WAY cooler than the last place you took us to.” Ben decided.

Seeing the structure grow larger in your vision caused a pit to form in your stomach. The reality of this situation was finally starting to set in. Your performance here would decide whether you were an enemy of all monsters everywhere, or just a normal girl not worth their time.

How do you plan to present yourself?

>Stern and confident. Kinda like Ana! Gotta fake it until you make it!
>Cute and innocent. Maybe you can convince them that you're relatively harmless.
>Elegant and graceful. Your mother gave you lessons on how to present yourself in front of important people. Time to make use of it.
>Just be yourself. That usually works out.
>Write-in.

>>6174011
>>Stern and confident. Kinda like Ana! Gotta fake it until you make it!
keep it cool

Long posts are long! Ana didn’t get any info on Gorgon, but that just means she can get it from the source.

>Presenting ourselves
>Irritable, stressed, and ready to move on to fixing actual problems.
If only we could.

For real:
>Quips and humor. Ben has a way of breaking expectations, and you could use some of that mojo here.
>Stern and confident. Kinda like Ana! Gotta fake it until you make it!
I’d say lead with Ben’s style until a time comes for planning or decisions, then switch gears. We’ve been training/fighting for a god our whole life and picked up our own sidekick recently, so the latter shouldn’t be hard to slip into.

Main thing to keep in mind is that we’re far more important to them than they are to us. Our presence alone means they’ll have to deal with people and leaders who believe in a version of the Slayer prophecy and seek to protect/harm us accordingly, let alone deal with anything we actually do, let alone again what we do in direct response to them! In the meantime, we go home and catch up on missed homework once we’re done our own business. No amount of social anxiety will change the fact that this interaction is stacked in our favor and they all know it.

>>6174009
>Stern and confident. Kinda like Ana! Gotta fake it until you make it!

>>6174009

I agree with >>6174524

Quips and humor and stern and confident

>>6174622
>>6174014
>>6174524
>>6174702
>Quips and humor. Ben has a way of breaking expectations, and you could use some of that mojo here.
>Stern and confident. Kinda like Ana! Gotta fake it until you make it!

Will try my best to blend these two together. Taking these. Writing...

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Ben's always been good at handling people. He liked to throw curveballs to keep them on their toes every now and again, but the genuine kindness that he was capable of showing was nothing short of disarming to those who he decided he liked.

And Ana always seemed so confident in any situation. She walked with purpose, and spoke with conviction. There was an intensity to her that made those around her grow nervous. You wanted to be like that when you grew older.

You admired them both. There was a lot that you could stand to learn from them. Which was saying something, considering how Ben was a career criminal with whimsical tendencies. Even you had to admit that he wasn't the best of role models, but…

You thought back to all the times he saved you, and everything that he did to provide you with a better life. You closed your eyes, breathed in deeply through your nose, and exhaled through your mouth.

It was possible for a person to have admirable qualities without being an entirely admirable person. You understood that now. You just hoped that he wouldn't do anything to invoke Khonshu's wrath.

“Alright. Let's get this over with.” you said, urging your bird forward.

Grandma Young looked like she wanted to say something, but she decided to hold her tongue as your group approached the monster skull.

As you had suspected, the skull had been repurposed as some sort of makeshift entrance.

“That's one hell of a welcome mat.” Ben observed.

“Is anyone else getting ‘creepy evil lair’ vibes from this?” you asked, glancing around at them. “No? Just me?”

“I would literally kill someone for a trophy of this size.” Ana breathed, sounding very impressed with the council's design choices.

You all turned to stare at her.

“What? I never said that it would be any of you.” she said, gesturing at the path that had been carved out of the skeleton's spinal column. “This was all hand-carved, wasn't it?”

“It was.” Young said, giving Ana the side eye. “Although, I would much rather they install an elevator than have us go through this every other week. It really starts to get old after the first two years.”

You let the group chat amongst themselves while you rehearsed your upcoming lines in your head. According to Ben and Abe's standards, you were one of the worst quippers in the Parker family. You were only beating Peter by virtue of him being a literal child with an underdeveloped sense of humor and even Victoria had a few zingers every now and again. At least you were better than Ben's parents, but that was apparently a low bar to aim for.

You had to remember the tips that Ben and Abe gave you.

>Don’t laugh at your own jokes too often.
>Don't wait for anyone to laugh or praise you.
>Don't linger on a particular joke for too long if it doesn't feel like it's landing. If you aren't getting many responses, dust yourself off and try something else.

(Cont.)

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>If you need to take a weak hit for a joke to land, then it might be worth taking. It's entirely up to you.
>Most quips are mocking or derogatory in nature, but try not to be too mean about it. The whole point is to keep your humor playful. In essence, try not to take everything too seriously.
>If you feel that you or someone else is genuinely in danger, then try not to focus too much on getting the quips out. Let them come naturally.

You nodded to yourself, feeling as if you were starting to grasp what they've been trying to tell you. A hand came down on your left shoulder, and you turned your head to find your grandmother giving you a reassuring smile.

“Everything will be fine.”

You returned her smile and nodded your thanks. Everyone here probably had some idea of how nervous, stressed out and irritable you were feeling right now, but you couldn't let any of that show to the council.

Eventually, the hollowed out spinal column led you to a large pair of wooden doors. And leaning against those doors was a bipedal creature covered in blue fur. His eyes and nose were catlike in appearance, but his physique was otherwise very similar to that of a human. He even had hair that was an entirely different color from the coat covering every inch of his skin. It was black, and styled in a dread ponytail.

As soon as you got close enough, the blue creature pushed off the door and approached you. You were prepared for anything, but you didn’t expect him to extend a clawed hand towards you.

“I'll take those.” he said through two protruding lower canines. His voice was far more gentle than you were expecting, and it further contributed to the confusion that you were feeling.

“Uh…”

“It's okay. This is one of those ‘well-trained warriors’ that I was telling you about.” Young said, dismounting from her own bird and offering the reins to him.

You gave the man a reassessing look, before climbing off of your bird. Blue guy offered you a hand, but you ignored it. The guy was almost as tall as Ben, so you still had to crane your neck up to look him in the eye.

The man wore a tattered Tangzhuang with the jacket open to expose his hairy blue chest. Curiously, that fur around that part of his body was of a lighter pigment. As was the fur on the inside of his arms.

His pants were tapered below the knee with bandages, and his sandals looked like they might fall apart at any moment. However strong this guy was as a warrior, he clearly embraced a bohemian lifestyle.

“Thanks.” you said, handing the reins to him. “I'd say to take good care of her, but I feel obligated to warn you that she might peck someone's eye out if you’re not careful.”

“Really? But she's so well-behaved.” the blue creature remarked, running a hand down the dino bird's neck.

You let out a sardonic little chuckle.

“Oh, that's just an act. Believe me, the old bird's a real terror.”

(Cont.)

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“I think you might have the wrong idea about something.” the blue creature said with a laugh of his own, flashing his shiny white teeth at you. It was a surprisingly nice smile.

“These guys only get rowdy with someone that they like. They're actually pretty excitable.” he explained.

“Well, they've got a funny way of showing it.” you joked. “Do you or these birds have a name?”

“People around here call them ‘Deathbirds’, and they call me ‘Big Blue’.” he said, taking the reins from Ana and bringing the birds around so that they were all facing the way you came.

“Yeah, and they call me ‘The Slayer’, but that doesn't make it my name.” you shot back. “I'm Cindy, by the way.”

Big Blue let out a nervous chuckle.

“I’m uh…James.”

“Nice to meet you, James. Grandma Young here tells me that you're trying to put me into early retirement.”

He paused, and took a moment to glance between the two of you.

“That wasn't my intention, but I think you might be long overdue for a vacation.”

When you gave him a confused look, he reached up to point at the hair on his head.

“Your hair's already going gray. Must be the stress getting to you.”

Feeling a bit self-conscious, you almost reached up to touch your hair. But then you noticed the twinkle of amusement in James’ eyes. He was just messing with you.

You shook your head in disbelief.

“What, am I not pulling off the ‘Silver Fox’ look?” you said, casually running a hand through your hair and intentionally twitching your ears.

“No, it suits you.” he insisted. “I guess I'm not in much of a place to judge, huh?”

“If you don't make fun of me for sharing a hair color with my grandma, then I won't make fun of you for looking like an extra in a James Cameron movie. Deal?”

He laughed, paused for a moment to remember who and where he was, and then cleared his throat.

“Deal. I'm gonna go, uh…park these now.”

You all watched him as he left.

“That guy was weirdly friendly, right?” Ben said, narrowing his eyes at the man's back. “I mean, how old is he anyway?”

“They seem to be around the same age, but I cannot say for sure.” Ana said, looking to Young for confirmation.

“He's just big for his age, I think. Feel free to ask him yourself on the way out.” the old woman said in a brusk tone. “Now, are you all ready?”

They all turned to look at you, and you took another deep breath, before nodding.

“I'm ready.”

—------

Upon entering the council chamber, you were immediately met with stares from everyone in the room. The Nosferatu twins, a pair of pale-skinned creatures of the night that possessed the ghoulish features that most vampires lacked, were sitting together on the left, furthermost part of the round table.

(Cont.)

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But, unlike most vampires of their kind, these Nosferatu seemed to have put in a visible effort to resemble humans. Their skill was pale, and almost a sickly green color, but their complexion was free of any blemishes or scars. Their eyes were still bright red, like every Nosferatu, but instead of a solid red, they seemed to possess a bright orange iris that indicated where exactly they were looking.

Their teeth weren't as gangly and gnarled as you would have expected, and their clothes, matching their eyes in color, were oddly regal in appearance. And, somehow, these two actually had hair!

The brother had a shock of white hair that fell over his eyes and face in just the right places. His piercing red eyes glowed through the gaps of his bangs as they tracked your movement.

His sister's hair was long and straight, looking to have been meticulously brushed and combed. Her bangs were drooping and curved, the ones over her eyes being held in place by brass clips so as to form an ornate crisscrossing design.

Her eyes traveled to you, and then to Ben. And, for some reason, the Nosferatu woman let out a weary sigh. Not noticing this, her brother's face broke out into a toothy grin.

Sitting right beside them with his arms folded was the man you'd been told so much about. The Were-hyena known as Carnelian had white fur, with speckles of brown sprinkled here and there. He wore a resplendent, gleaming suit of armor that was far more beautiful than it had any right to be, and you found yourself mentally calculating how much it must be worth.

The Were observed you through two different eyes. On the left side, his eye was red and the color of his fur was consistent with the rest of his body. But on the right side, the side that he showed the vampires, his fur was black as pitch, and his eye was a ghastly shade of green. As if he'd heard your thoughts, the right side of his mouth curved up into a smile. Only the right side of his face, though.

You suppressed a shudder and allowed your gaze to swivel over to the next person down the line.

It wasn't hard to figure out who this guy was.

Deathly pale complexion. Dry skin that looked like it was being stretched taut over atrophied muscles. Cold dead eyes, and a head of long, unkempt oily hair that looked more like a wild animal was resting on his head. This had to be the Zombie Prince.

You couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like this thing was barely registering anything that was happening right now.

Your gaze moved over to the Gorgon that was sitting next to him. She wore…

You stopped and stared at her. Delphyne Gorgon, supposed leader of the Amazon faction of Monster Metropolis, was currently laid back in her chair, resting her feet on the table, and texting on what was most certainly a cell phone.

She wore a pair of tasteful sandals, fishnet stockings, a plaid skirt, a sleeveless black turtleneck top and a pair of fishnet sleeves on both arms.

(Cont.)

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She looked more like an enterprising young woman preparing for a night on the town, and less like a representative on a council of monsters.

“Ugh! Delphyne, would you please put the phone away, just this once?” Young said, moving to take her place beside her at the end of the table.

Several of the snakes on her head swiveled to look at Young, while the rest were looking around the table, and at the three of you still standing before the council.

“I'm looking, I'm looking.” Delphyne insisted, sounding like a petulant teen.

For a brief moment, her real eyes flicked up to meet yours, and you froze, remembering all those stories about Gorgons turning people to stone.

But, rather than give her the reaction that she was looking for, you winked at her.

Several more of Delphyne's snakes swiveled over to stare at you, and the woman's attention left her phone completely for the first time since you entered the room.

Ana looked put off by Delphyne's behavior as well, and she made no effort to hide it.

“Everyone, this is Cindy Moon. My granddaughter, and the supposed ‘Slayer’ that you've all been crying about.” Young announced.

“Hey, guys. Sorry for being late. The zombie traffic was insane, and we had to make a detour because of a giant sandworm blocking the road.” you said.

“Do you hear that, Garth? I'm not the only one complaining about your mindless minions blocking our path.” the Nosferatu man complained.

This earned him a noncommittal groan from the Zombie Prince.

“Oh, here we go…” Delphyne sighed, returning her attention to her phone.

It looked like an argument was about to break out, when everyone turned their attention to the man kneeling beside you.

Ben was in the middle of sculpting a chair out of webbing for you when he paused to address the stares that he was getting.

“What? No one offered us chairs, so I'm making some new ones.”

“How are you doing that?” the Nosferatu man asked, leaning his head to the side to get a better look.

“Fascinating. It is as they say…” breathed the female Nosferatu, her voice frail and slight. “He weaves webs like a spider.”

“I can also juggle while riding a unicycle.” Ben claimed.

“Now this I have to see.” Delphyne said with an amused grin, clearly happy with anything that could alleviate her boredom.

Before Ben could answer, a pair of doors in the back of the room swung open, revealing a massive, green, well-muscled behemoth of a man wearing armor that wouldn't look too out of place on a gladiator. The guy was almost as wide as you were tall!

He took one long look around the room, before settling his gaze on you. You couldn't see his eyes through the holes in his helmet, or the tangled mess of black hair that was hanging out of it, but you tried your best.

(Cont.)

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After a long, tense moment of silence, he started to walk around the table, and towards you. You felt Ben and Ana stiffen beside you, and your sentient outfit began to coil itself around your body, ready to attack if need be.

“Hmph. Is this supposed to be the Big Bad Slayer that you were all so afraid of? I've seen enough.”

His voice was a rumbling and resounding echo in his helmet, and it felt like it had shaken you to your very core. But instead of engaging you in conversation or combat, the giant Hulk turned, and walked out the door, his every footfall sending tiny tremors throughout the room.

Everyone stared at him as he left. Ana looked even more put out, and Ben looked like he was struggling to hold back his laughter.

No one spoke for a full minute after the Green Knight departed, but everyone on the council acted as if this was entirely normal. Was the council always this disorganized?

“I guess we know she's not a Gamma Beast.” the Nosferatu man murmured.

“No. She's a Kumiho, I think.” said his twin. “And a rather strange one at that.”

“You hold meetings inside of a giant Grootslang skeleton, and I'm the weird one?”

Delphyne let out a brief, mocking laugh before going back to her phone. Everyone looked at her, and then away.

“Not many know the names of these beasts.” Carnelian said, his voice coming out as a low snarl, but not an unfriendly one, you thought.

“I also know a bit about Weres, Councilman Carnelian. And I think me and you share some of the same problems.”

Carnelian leaned a bit closer in his seat, that glowing green eye of his scrutinizing you in a way that you weren't entirely comfortable with.

“Hmmm. Oh, yes. There is something inside of you.” he noticed. “As well as something…outside.”

Mercy’s shiver sent a ripple through your clothes that you hoped no one noticed.

“We should talk after this meeting.” you insisted, introducing some confidence back into your voice.

Carnelian nodded, his interest piqued.

Sweet! That’s your secondary objective down. Now all you had to do was convince the rest of these guys to leave you alone.

“Alright, then! Now, I'm gonna need the rest of you guys to tell me about your defenses, the city's general layout, and list of all its vulnerabilities.” you demanded.

The Nosferatu twins exchanged worried glances, and Delphyne stopped tapping away at her phone to look up at you.

“...Why?” the Nosferatu girl finally asked.

“Why else? I can't conquer you guys if I don't know all this stuff, and I've got a busy schedule, so can we hurry this up? I've got a village to pillage at 8.”

Everyone froze, and the room went dead silent. You let the silence hang for a moment, and then burst out into laughter.

“Come on, guys. I'm kidding! Do I look like the type of person who would do any of that?”

(Cont.)

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Slowly, Carnelian and Young joined in the laughter, but your grandmother's laugh sounded more forced due to her nervousness.

The Nosferatu twins joined in later as a sort of respectful, hissing chuckle. The Zombie Prince made a noise that could've been perceived as a laugh, and you chose to believe as such. When you looked up to see if anyone else was laughing, your attention caught on a group of three people who you hadn’t paid much attention to before.

They were all standing where the Green Knight had been when he opened the back doors, and all three of them looked a little shady.

The one furthest to the left was dressed in an all-black ensemble that seemed to be inspired by Victorian era clothing. He wore a black coat, fraying at the edges, a pair black trousers and muddy boots, a tricorne hat and a band of dark cloth covering the lower half of his face.

Furthest to the right was a red-feathered harpy with opulent jewelry covering her arms and legs, and a skintight bodysuit over her torso.

And standing in the middle of them was a bulky, cloaked figure with a helmet that had a skull motif. The outfit didn't scare you at all, but there was something else about them that worried you.

On your way here, you began to notice the faint aura of ‘negative energy’ around the dino birds that Young told you about, as well as the aura that surrounded the zombies lurking around outside.

The same, faint aura permeated the Nosferatu twins and the Zombie Prince, signifying their undead nature. But none of these guys could hold a handle to the bad mojo that the guy in the middle was pumping out. Even Ben was looking at him funny, for some reason.

“Do you wanna know what I think, ‘Slayer’?” Delphyne said.

You turned to look at her, only to be met by a flash from her phone. You blinked in confusion, and she gave you a devious grin.

“I think you look cute in those clothes.”

You stared for a moment, before allowing yourself to take the compliment at face value.

“Thanks. And, might I say, you are ‘Slaying’ that outfit.” you said with a wink.

Delphyne preened upon receiving your praise.

“Thanks, I thought it might be too much for a stuffy old council meeting like this, but then I thought ‘Hey, it's not every day you get to meet a prophetic demon child’. So, what the hell, you know?”

Your smile slipped ever so slightly at that, but you didn't think that Delphyne actually noticed.

“And you. Who does your hair?” she asked, pointing at Ana.

Anastasia raised an eyebrow.

“Me? I do my own hair.”

“You're so lucky to have normal human hair. My hairstyling options are pretty limited because, well…you know.”

She gestured at her writhing mane of snakes, and Ana stared at them in awe.

"I will do your hair if you agree to spar with me after this." she declared.

(Cont.)

Delphyne leaned back in her chair, and you sensed a subtle shift in her demeanor. Her golden serpentine eyes, once glittering with amusement or dull with apathy, were now locked onto Anastasia with a focus that you didn't quite recognize in the Gorgon. There was something unmistakably predatory in her gaze now, and she seemed to be sizing up Ana.

"Alright. I'll play with you a little after this is done." she said, all of her snakes fixed on Ana, hissing in ways that your fox-demon brain somehow interpreted as 'excitement'.

The tension broke when Young loudly cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Can we save the talk of haircare and sparring until after the meeting? We still haven't properly introduced everyone.”

“Agreed.” Carnelian said. “Cindy Moon already seems to have some idea of who I am, so I will instead introduce you to the others.”

“I can introduce myself, Carnelian.” the male vamp said with a barely concealed snarl.

“Then do so.” Carnelian replied with a sneer from the darker side of his face.

Despite being caught between them, the female vamp didn't seem at all perturbed. If anything, she looked weary of all this, much like Delphine had been.

“I am Wilhelmina. This is Ward.” she offered. Ward seemed to take mild offense at this, but he let the matter drop.

Grandma told you a little about both of them on the way here. Both Wilhelmina and Ward had a nickname in the Monster Metropolis. People referred to her as “The Blood Witch”, and her brother as “The Bone Horror”. You couldn't see what made these guys so scary in everyone's minds, but looks were often deceiving when it came to vamps.

“This is Simon Garth, otherwise known as the Zombie Prince.” Young explained, pointing at the zombie sitting on the far end of the table.

The guy barely moved or did anything to acknowledge that he had been introduced.

“He must be shy.” you offered.

“Come now, Ms. Slayer. You're free to use more unkind words in his presence. It's a miracle that he manages to find his way here at all, most days.”

“He has a better attendance record than you, dear brother.” Wilhelmina said, studiously avoiding his gaze.

“And you already know me and Delphyne.” Young added, clearly desperate to get things back on track. “Now that introductions have been made, why don't we move things along.”

The reception to Young's declaration was mixed, to say the least. But no one openly complained. And, having finally finished your custom chairs, Ben offered you and Ana a place to sit.

“I'd like to thank everyone who willingly offered me their names, and everyone that complimented me on my dress.” you said, settling into your seat.

This earned you a glare from Ward, but you took a note out of his sister's book and studiously ignored him as well.

“Oh! And that wasn't me throwing shade at you, Garth. You take your time.” you added.

Garth slowly raised a hand, and then slowly put it back down on the table. You decided to believe that the Zombie Prince might actually have some manners, after all.

Ben sat down beside you, separating you from the vampires. He gave you a subtle thumbs up from below the table, and you nodded your thanks.

What will your strategy be during this meeting?

>Keep up the quips. They seem to be working so far.
>Pick on the vampires. Ward doesn't seem too well liked, even by his own sister. Maybe you can leverage that.
>Try to befriend the Nosferatu Twins. They seem to have the most reasons to hate you out of anyone.
>Endear yourself to Delphyne. She seems pretty easy to get along with.
>Endear yourself to Carnelian. Earning his favor should net you some points in everyone else's eyes.
>Try to include Garth in these proceedings. The poor guy doesn't seem to get much of a say in anything around here.
>Ask about the guys in the back. They've just been standing there menacingly this entire time.
>Write-in.

>>6176153
>>Try to befriend the Nosferatu Twins. They seem to have the most reasons to hate you out of anyone.
Might prevent some treachery

>>6176153
I’ll quit on the quips while we’re ahead. Take that last bit of advice and let them come out unforced while we focus on business. Also, good to know we can command Deathbirds like most other animals since they “like” us too.

>Ask about the guys in the back. They've just been standing there menacingly this entire time.
I take it they’re the rest of the squad of warriors that’ll be entrusted with the solemn duty of watching over The Slayer and either helping us succeed or killing us if we’re determined to be a threat?

I mean, I get it. If you can’t rig the coin flip, rig the results so you win either way. I’m upset about it since we didn’t even know they existed a day ago and we’re already being assigned court monitors like a criminal, but what can you do when prophecies call you out before you’re even born? Kill the gods? We actually like ours.

We still haven’t heard the prophecy, by the way. I’d threaten anyone who tries to tell us the specifics with a thrown shoe out of principle/spite at this point though.

>Try to include Garth in these proceedings. The poor guy doesn't seem to get much of a say in anything around here.
Bonus if we can get him to say anything, but more because the slow speed he’s moving at will give us more time to examine the others as they get impatient. Delphyne was the only one smart enough to bring a phone, after all.

… how does cell reception even work this far underground? Do they build them on the ceiling and run them up to surface towers or do they have their own network? That can’t be easy to maintain.

I’ll flip my focus vote from Garth to the vampires if needed to break a tie. I’m aware our guardians are probably known among vampires, and not exactly favorably. Morbius took care of us at some point so we have some positive impressions on our part, but I don’t want to namedrop him until we know he won’t be targeted.

>>6176153
>Try to befriend the Nosferatu Twins. They seem to have the most reasons to hate you out of anyone.
>Endear yourself to Carnelian. Earning his favor should net you some points in everyone else's eyes.
>Try to include Garth in these proceedings. The poor guy doesn't seem to get much of a say in anything around here.
>Ask about the guys in the back. They've just been standing there menacingly this entire time.

>>6176307
>>6176227
>>6177687
>Try to befriend the Nosferatu Twins. They seem to have the most reasons to hate you out of anyone.
>Try to include Garth in these proceedings. The poor guy doesn't seem to get much of a say in anything around here.
>Ask about the guys in the back. They've just been standing there menacingly this entire time.

Taking these. Writing...

>>6176307
Don't worry. You'll hear more about the prophecy soon! And you're welcome to ask about the cellphone later!

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As the meeting was finally underway, you dropped your friendly smile and adopted a more stern expression. Although, the effect might have been ruined by the cute pair of fox ears resting on top of your head. You couldn’t help but feel self-conscious of them when they kept twitching at every little noise. It was already enough trouble trying to rein in that bushy white tail of yours. Without Mercy’s help in keeping it tied to your leg, it would probably be sweeping the floor right about now.

And speaking of distractions, how were you supposed to pay attention to anything when that bunch of weirdos were just silently staring at you from the back of the room? Would they keep standing there the entire time?

“Quick question,” you said, cutting off whatever Young had been about to say. “Who’re those guys in the back?”

Carnelian half turned to glance at them from over his pauldron, before turning those christmas lights that he called eyes back on you.

“Oh, don’t mind them.” Ward responded, despite the fact that no one had even so much as looked his way. “Those are the brave souls that volunteered to fight and die for your sake. We have here one of the most accomplished hunters in all of human history, Solomon Kane. At least, what’s left of him.”

Ward gestured at the tall, gaunt figure robed in all black. For someone attending a diplomatic meeting, the guy was packing some serious heat. You spotted several daggers and stakes either strapped to his chest, or stashed away in hidden compartments sewn into his clothes, an old pistol making his coat bulge slightly, and a rapier at his hip. His eyes were dark and unfocused, and there were stitches running down both his cheeks. But there was something off about the stitch patterns. They sort of reminded you of the way baseballs were stitched up.

And that’s when you remembered the last place you had seen stitches like these. It was in a morgue. Your father had called these ‘Worm Sutures’. They were the kind coroners used on corpses.

You kept staring at him, wondering what exactly had happened to this supposedly legendary hunter.

“Solomon Kane. It has been a very long time since I have heard that name spoken.” Khonshu said, his comforting, cold presence enveloping the room. Your heart leapt at the sound of his voice, and you suspected that Mercy’s would have as well, if she still had one.

You wanted to glance up at him, to behold his divine form, but you couldn’t risk looking crazy in front of the Monster Council.

“He and my Avatar once vanquished a cult of Set worshippers. To see him lain so low is nothing short of a disgrace.” he said.

“You sound like you respect him a lot.” you thought.

“His trade was worthy of respect. As were his skills in battle.”

(Cont.)

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This Solomon Kane must’ve been an impressive person if Khonshu was complimenting him. Your opinion of him had just shot up by a couple dozen degrees. But the way Khonshu spoke about him as if he was no longer here…you had to assume that the creature standing before you was a revenant or a zombie of some sort.

“His staff is missing, but I can sense his presence buried deep in his subconscious.”

Much like Garth, Solomon didn’t react at all to being mentioned in a conversation. He just kept blankly staring ahead.

“The Harpy on the right is Elizabeth Ross, self-proclaimed Bandit Queen of the Land Above.” Ward continued.

The bird-woman’s head slowly turned to regard the snooty Nosferatu. And while she didn’t scowl, you could see her coming to some sort of conclusion about him in her head. Like she kept a mental tally of anyone and everyone who slighted her.

Her blood-red eyes slowly crawled their way back to you, and for a moment, you couldn’t help but feel like a small rodent staring down the beak of a bird of prey. Because that was undoubtedly what she was. Even if she didn’t really have a beak.

No…instead, she had a mouth full of teeth that looked sharp enough to easily tear flesh. Her wingspan and height were also, if not equally intimidating. Even with her knees bent and the heel of her massive chicken feet hovering above the floor, she was still taller than the other two warriors standing beside her. Her wings/arms were still folded around her so as to give the others room, but you were able to spot the glint of her golden talon sheathes, resting just below her chest.

She seemed to notice you looking, but just kept on giving you a wide-eyed stare that told you exactly how afraid she was of you. Which was to say, not at all. You didn’t know whether to be grateful or offended. A glance at Young told you that she wasn’t too pleased with the Harpy’s presence here. You filed that information away for later.

“I sense an unusually high amount of Gamma radiation from that one. Best to treat her like a wild beast, and put her down should she turn on you.”

A Gamma Beast, then. Good to know. You wondered if Ana knew what she was, or if she was staring at the Harpy for entirely different reasons.

But for the second time since you met her, you were grateful for Ana's obsessive behavior, because it gave the Harpy something else to stare at other than you.

Young’s concern seemed to deepen with the two of these women sizing each other up. At this rate, Ana might just pick a fight with everyone in this room.

“And in the middle there we have, erm…” Ward began, but confusion clouded his face when he went to introduce the one in the middle. The one that was gushing negative energy like a busted fire hydrant. You were most curious about them. And from the looks of it, Ward didn't look so sure himself.

“I’m sorry, who-”

“Dear brother.”

(Cont.)

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Wilhelmina's words were clear and firm as she cut off her brother.

“That one is mine. He is my thrall, remember?”

Ward didn't look like he remembered anything of the sort.

“Really? Him?”

Ward leaned past her and squinted at the bulky hooded figure.

“He doesn't seem like your type." he muttered. “You there. Remove your hood and identify yourself.”

It wasn't a request. You could sense the vague shift in the air as his vampiric influence slammed into his sister’s supposed thrall. But to everyone's surprise, the man stayed stubbornly still, not at all phased by Ward's influence.

“My daughter…I want you to listen to me very closely…”

That voice came from Khonshu. But he sounded different. It lacked the certainty that you'd come to recognize from the protector god. You were very tempted to turn around and look up at him just then, even if he couldn't emote with the bird skull that was his face.

The hooded figure turned to look at Wilhelmina for instruction, and she gave him the barest of nods. He reached up slowly to remove his hood, and Ben leaned forward in his seat.

“You must keep your distance from that one. The stench of death permeates the air around it. Stronger than I've ever seen on anyone else.”

When the figure removed its hood, everyone but the Blood Witch stared in mild surprise. And Ben nearly shot out of his seat. The others turned to look at him. So did you.

He seemed to remember himself, and slowly sat back down.

“Sorry. This web chair isn't very comfortable. I'm still getting used to it.” he said, but his hands were signing something else entirely.

“I know him. He's a mercenary. I blew his head off.”

You raised an eyebrow. That didn't make a whole lot of sense. There weren't too many creatures that could survive having their heads torn off. Let alone a thrall. Maybe this had something to do with that “death aura" that Khonshu mentioned. Could you be dealing with some kind of necromancer?

“Sending coded messages are we?” Ward mentioned, looking a little agitated.

Ben just shrugged.

“What? I can't be the only one doing it.”

Everyone looked at each other, but no one bothered denying it.

“Well try being a little less obvious about it at least.” Ward scoffed, clearly frustrated by Ben’s mere presence.

Ben looked like he was about to say something unkind in return, so you cut him off immediately.

“Sorry about that. We're really grateful to have you explain everything to us. Both of you” you said, flashing your most diplomatic smile as you glanced between them.

Mina tilted her head to the side slightly and gave you a curious look.

Ward barely concealed his sneer as he regarded you.

“Think nothing of it. Someone had to address the Grootslang in the room.”

(Cont.)