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There it was. A fragment of the Bloodgem, a powerful stone of extraterrestrial origin, capable of empowering whoever infuses themselves with its strange energies. And it was in the hands of this Nosferatu woman.

Your eyes flitted between the stone in her hand and the face of the woman who may or may not be trying to trick, trap or kill you and your whole family. You weren’t too familiar with Nosferatu customs, but this one seemed to be pretty far removed from whatever passed for hideous vampire culture. Her red dress looked to be made of fine materials, and it had been tailored to fit her slight, skinny frame.

Noticing that you were still undecided on the stone, her ruby lips quirked upwards slightly, and you couldn’t help but allow your gaze to travel to the fangs that constantly protruded from her upper lip. A common trait of Nosferatu was their inability to hide their fangs. At the very least, though, Mina made sure that the rest of her teeth were mostly straight and clean.

You stretched your hand out, allowing Mercy's tendrils to experimentally probe the stone before you touched it. And her reaction was immediate.

Mercy hissed and retracted her tendrils, the edges of them visibly smoking from the brief contact.

You cast a suspicious glare at Mina, but the vampire was only frowning in confusion. Part of you was glad that her eyes could glow in the dark. That was the only way you could tell how she was feeling, considering the poor lighting and the web of dark fabric obscuring the upper half of her face.

“A curious reaction. What is the nature of that, er...thing you are wearing?” she asked, looking you up and down with those glowing eyes of hers.

“Nevermind that. Why don’t you start by telling me what that thing is, and how I'm supposed to use it.” you said, rubbing the cloth covering your arm in an attempt to soothe Mercy.

“I was hoping that you would allow the Bloodgem to interface with your body, thus bolstering your physical form, and protecting you from things such as psychic intrusion, possession and vampiric infection.” Mina said, lowering her head to stare curiously at the stone. “But…seeing as how that is no longer possible…”

Mina tightened her hand around the stone, and seemed about to place it in her dress’s pocket.

“And…you were just going to let me have it? Just like that, without any catch?” you asked, making her pause in putting it away.

“That was the idea, yes.” she said, brandishing the Bloodgem once more.

You stared at it, and your pulse quickened. Having that would undoubtedly give you the boost you needed to beat Ward, but Mercy seemed to be having a bad reaction to it. Maybe it had something to do with the gem's effects.

If Mercy was a ghost that'd been conjured up by Khonshu, then maybe you couldn't use the gem, and wear Mercy at the same time. But that didn't mean that you couldn’t hold onto it for later.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Ask for a container to hold the gem.
>Take the gem with your own hands, and ask Mercy to create a gap for you to place it on your skin.
>Ask her if she can do something else for you instead. (Write-in)
>Gently turn down Mina's offer. You'll accept her vow of non-hostility as reward enough.
>Write-in.

((We're reposting this because the last vote was never decided before the thread auto-archived!))

>>6188810
>>Take the gem with your own hands, and ask Mercy to create a gap for you to place it on your skin.
Alright, voting this again

>>6188810
>Ask for a container to hold the gem.
I’ll be taking mine again. Ana could use it without worrying like we have to with Mercy.

I’d say flip for it if we stay deadlocked for another day.

>>6188810
>>6188871
>Ask for a container to hold the gem.
Ok i fold, we'll give it to someone else. Better get moving before Ben mercs count orlock

>>6189606
Yay for victory!

More seriously, my real reason to hold off is the chance that if we get Klynar DNA for Mercy then she could bond better. If we don’t hand this off and we determine it wouldn’t interfere with that bonding then I’m okay with using it.

I also know we can’t verify that for a while, hence my inability to budge on using it.

Handing it to Ana is just one idea as an alternative, but I can be talked out of that. Who knows, maybe we can do something really wacky and have Edison make an emitter gun. Kinda like the sonic one we have, but it makes vampires explode instead of glass. Build it into a booster array and use it to vaporize every vamp in a city.

>>6189018
>>6189606
>Ask for a container to hold the gem.

Taking these. Writing...

>>6189653
There are all sorts of possibilities!

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“Can I…get it to go?” you said cautiously. “Like, do you have a bag, or…?”

“A…bag?”

“I'm good with paper or plastic.” you joked, not trying to let your fears and anxiety show in your tone. Was this how Ben felt under all that bluster?

Mina closed her hand around the shard, and you almost thought she'd rescind her offer. But a moment later, she reopened her hand to show a small bottle, containing the Bloodgem shard.

“Will this do?” she asked, her expression unusually flat, considering the circumstances.

“It will. Thanks.” you said, taking the bottle from her hand and allowing Mercy to tuck it away somewhere. Hopefully she wouldn't try to discard it without you knowing.

Slowly, Mina closed her hand and drew it back.

“Then, we have a deal…?” she inquired, meeting your eyes with her burning gaze.

“I wouldn’t trust it.” Mercy chimed in.

Normally, you wouldn’t. But, you couldn’t afford to make an enemy out of her right now, so a temporary truce wasn’t the worst idea in the world. Especially when you were this strapped for time.

You’d spend more time thinking over the consequences of this decision once you weren’t in danger of getting torn to shreds by a horde of zombies.

“We have a deal. I’ll try my best to take your brother down without taking him out.”

“And you plan to do it without the Bloodgem.” Mina stated, eyeing you curiously through her veil.

You folded your arms over your chest and gave the vamp a challenging look through your cloth mask.

“Yup. Haven’t you heard? I’m apparently ‘The Slayer’...!” you said in a mockingly menacing voice, making air quotes with your fingers.

To your great relief, an amused glint entered the Nosferatu’s eyes.

“While that remains to be seen,” she went on. “I trust that your family has sufficiently trained you. Far be it from me to doubt your abilities.”

She gave you a slight bow, and then carefully stepped out of your path. You carefully walked past her, not taking your eyes off of her until you were far enough that you couldn’t feel her beady red eyes on you. And while you couldn’t be entirely sure, you thought you heard her mutter a “thank you” before the sounds of struggle from the council chamber came into earshot.

“I hope I’m not too late…!”

—--------

You were prepared to encounter some kind of resistance upon returning to the council chamber. But everyone was too preoccupied with beating the stuffing out of each other to even notice your arrival.

Ben and Ward were engaged in a grapple, flying around and smashing each other into walls while being engulfed in green flames. It was hard to tell who was winning from here, but you wanted to assume that Ben had the upper hand, on account of the green flames.

“At least they were both still alive.” you thought.

(Cont.)

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Well, one of them was. The other was technically undead. A little monster hunting humor is good every now and again.

Momentarily, you pulled your eyes away from the blazing green fireball banging around above your head, and took in the chaotic scene unfolding before you.

Despite having burning rubble raining down on them, no one seemed to be paying the other two any mind.

Carnelian was more concerned with crushing Walker's head, but that helmet of his must have been made of sturdy stuff if a juiced-up, demon possessed Were couldn’t so much as dent it.

“Hey! Quit slobbering on me!” Walker complained from his position on the ground, wildly kicking his feet and desperately pulling at Carn's hair.

A Harpy's enraged screech drew your attention away from the two, and you watched as a giant winged she-beast flailed around and flapped her wings so as to throw Ana off of her back.

The Huntress was grabbing hold of both her wings, and in one fluid motion, she rucked them both under her arms and yanked herself to the side. The Red Harpy squawked in surprise and suddenly lost control of her own flight, and both of them were sent crashing through the chambers’ stone table.

Meanwhile, Solomon Kane and the Zombie Prince were keeping Delphyne and Grandma Young busy.

The old monster hunter moved surprisingly fast for someone his age. Fast enough to keep up with a Gorgon, apparently. It was all Delphyne could do to avoid being beheaded by the wickedly sharp axe that he was swinging around.

Solomon had an entire arsenal at his disposal, and all Delphyne had were a pair of daggers. One of them looked to have been stolen from Kane himself.

Beside the two of them, Young was engaging in a fierce exchange with the Zombie Prince. The undead councilman was flailing wildly at your grandmother, and she easily managed to deflect or dodge his each and every blow, but with each pass, you noticed that her seemingly bottomless well of positive energy was slowly getting dimmer.

Even with half his head missing, he was still a threat to everyone in this room.

“Stop this, Garth! What has gotten into you!?” Young begged.

The zombie didn't answer. Didn't even show any signs of having heard her, and just kept barreling towards her.

What will you do?

>Tell Ben to put out his flames so you can help him tag team Ward.
>Forcefully pull Carn and Walker apart. One of these guys might be on your side. You'll just have to find out which one.
>Swap in for Delphyne. If this guy and Khonshu know each other, then maybe you can come to an understanding. If not, then at least you'll get the experience of fighting a legendary monster hunter.
>Help your grandma dismantle the Zombie Prince. If he's the one controlling the zombies outside, then he's the first one you should take out.
>Write-in.

>>6189819
>>Tell Ben to put out his flames so you can help him tag team Ward.
gotta keep our word. And freeing up Ben should swiftly snowball the battle.

>>6189819
>>Tell Ben to put out his flames so you can help him tag team Ward.

>>6189819
>Tell Ben to put out his flames so you can help him tag team Ward.
I wouldn’t mind Solomon either, but Ben doesn’t have a problem with killing so we want to intervene sooner rather than later.

>>6189821
>>6189939
>>6190040
>Tell Ben to put out his flames so you can help him tag team Ward.

Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>6190345
Watch this

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>6190345
Maybe we can do better?

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>6190345

>>6190357
>>6190454
>>6190705
>45

Taking this. Writing...

Man, this quest was not blessed by rngesus

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>45

You cupped your hands and shouted up at Ben.

“Hey! How am I supposed to tag myself in if you’re still stuck in radioactive fireball mode!”

For a moment, everyone slowed their movements and acknowledged your arrival in their own way.

Young's expression was a mix of relief at your safe return, and frustration at the fact that you willingly chose to dive back into the middle of this mess.

Interestingly, Solomon and Harpy made to move towards you, but both of their dance partners blocked their escape by launching surprise attacks while their attention was turned.

One of Carnelian’s eyes rolled back to stare at you in clear shock, while the other remained lit by fury, still fixated on Walker. The thrall in question was too busy being mauled to do much of anything else.

And, thankfully, the recipient of your request responded by putting out his flames right away, and peeking down at you from over Ward's shoulder.

“The radioactive part hasn't actually been confirmed yet…!” he complained, forcefully prying the Nosferatu’s hands from his throat. “Also, what're you doing back here!?”

“I'll explain later, but please don't kill him. I made a deal.” you frantically signed.

“I came back because you need my help.” you declared aloud.

Ben peered at you out of the corner of his eye, and you could see understanding dawn on him, even if the non-verbal part of your request left him feeling puzzled.

He gave you a small, almost imperceptible nod, and that was all you needed to see before you jumped in to save him.

You raised your arms to fire multiple bolts of cloth at Ward, but there were already several extending from your back, and coiling around the vamp. You leapt into the air, allowing Mercy to pull you closer to your target and your teammate.

Ward attempted to backhand you as soon as you got within range, but Ben's hand closed around his wrist with a grip that probably felt closer to an iron vice.

The vampire's arm stopped dead, and you were able to plunge multiple cloth blades into Ward's back. You expected them to emerge from his chest with a spray of blood, but they instead folded in on themselves as they impacted the tough muscle and warded bones.

It was like trying to pierce a brick wall with a rubber sword!

Along your skin, you felt Mercy shudder as she retracted her bandages. They were a deep red, and slightly singed at the edges. Either Ben's been cooking him like a pot pie, or all that magic coursing through his body was causing him to run hot!

Ward’s free hand pushed off of the wall, sending the three of you hurtling backwards at an alarming speed! Panic shot through you, but Ben reacted almost immediately by spinning a web that would keep you all suspended in mid-air.

(Cont.)

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You shook off your initial surprise, laced a bundle of bandages around Ward's throat and pulled back hard! This threw him off balance, and the two of you started to lean backwards, still fixed at the same elevation by Ben’s web. Your fists blurred as you struck at his spine, neck and head at a speed that had previously been impossible for you. With each impact, the light that glowed from beneath the vamp’s skin intensified, showing that the wards were doing their job to protect him.

Ward let out a snarl as he tried to twist around to grab at you. Ben had to let go of his hands in order to free up his own to produce that web, and he was paying for it by giving the enemy more space to maneuver.

But you weren’t a helpless little girl. You've been training for this all your life. You were literally bred for this, prophecy or not.

You wound your arm back, and launched a lightning fast punch aimed at his bicep. The attack pushed his arm forward and spun him back around, where Ben was waiting with a silver dagger.

You almost thought he would try and plunge it into his heart, but his swipe had been aimed much higher.

A spray of blood flew out from the left side of his face as Ben's dagger passed through it, and the angle of his strike told you that he had just gouged out Ward’s left eye!

“This one would make a fine hunter.” Mercy observed, as she bound Ward's right arm to his chest.

“It is in his name.” you muttered, trying not to get dizzy as the three of you spun at a fixed angle in the air.

The structure of Ben's web reminded you of a flying trapeze, if a bit more complex.

“Feel like throwing up yet?” he asked.

He didn't so much as glance at you, or address you by name, but you knew that the statement had been meant for you.

“Nope, sorry. I've gotten sicker on park swings when I was a kid.” you shot back, tightening the bandages around Ward's throat. “What about you? I hear your inner ear gets more sensitive with age.”

“If Khonshu told you to tell me that, then I'd like you to tell him to kindly shove it up his craw.” Ben said, webbing Ward's other eye shut.

“I rescind my earlier assessment…” Mercy hissed.

You were about to reply, when something shot out of Ward's chest! Ben jumped back, narrowly avoiding being caught by what appeared to be Ward's own ribs! They tried to close around Ben like a venus flytrap, only managing to graze his arms and legs. But that brief bit of contact was enough to slice straight through the fabric of his costume, and even a few layers of skin!

At the same time, Ward threw his head back, cracking his skull against your nose hard enough to break it. The feeling of crunching cartilage and an outpouring of blood through your nose was enough of a shock for you to release your grip on the vamp.

As you fell, your hand reached out to grab a nearby web strand, and, with a sharp tug, you swung yourself over to another cluster of weblines.

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You were breathing heavily through your mouth, and was about to tug your mask aside so that you could breathe easier, but the feeling of Mercy's bandages entering your nose nearly caused you to lose your balance!

Her threads probed the inside of your flattened nose, soaking up the blood, forcefully pushing everything back into place, and carefully stitching up whatever blood vessels had ruptured in your face.

Within seconds, the bleeding had already stopped, and your nose was already in the process of being rebuilt. You weren’t sure how much of that was Mercy, and how much was due to Kumiho super-healing. Either way, you were grateful that your face hadn't just been ruined by that stupid vamp.

The bandages around your face parted for you, and you spat out a mouth full of blood.

“Thanks, Mercy.”

“Thank me later. Fight now.” she said simply.

You gritted your teeth, leaned back, and started swinging round and round on the webline you'd been parched atop. After several passes, you flung yourself back at Ward.

By now, his ribcage had retreated back into his chest. He'd been struggling to free himself from the net that Ben had artfully crafted, and had only managed to free his left arm and right leg. This left him dangling precariously, and entirely vulnerable to the flying kick that you sent crashing into his chin.

His head rocked back, and the impact jarred his other hand loose. On your way out, his claws raked across your back, drawing blood, but not wounding you severely enough to slow you down. Mercy got to work stitching the wound closed immediately, and you trusted your natural healing to take care of the rest.

“KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!” Ben shouted, in what had to be the most deadly serious tone you've heard him take on in a long time.

You both followed his voice and looked up. And that’s when you saw piledrive into Ward like a man-shaped flaming javelin. Both men were sent crashing to the ground, and the impact that resulted from their landing was so intense that it formed a crater!

Ward's whole body lit up so bright that he was almost painful to look at. And if it was this bad for you…

Ben was thrown aside like a ragdoll as soon as the light died down, and Ward climbed out of the crater with a scowl so furious that you thought he might have a stroke. Such things were impossible for vampires, of course, but a girl could dream…

You dropped down behind the Nosferatu at the same time that Ben had rolled onto his feet. And the two of you stood on either side of him, poised to strike.

But Ben’s attention had been ripped away from the extremely dangerous vamp by something happening in the middle of the room.

You followed his gaze, and your eyes widened as you saw Ana flying into a wall, a hole burning into the armor she wore around her chest.

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“ANA!” Ben shouted, firing a cluster of web-bolts at the offending Harpy. She'd been stalking closer to the blonde huntress in an attempt to finish her off, but Ben was currently trapped between two dangerous enemies, with two people that he desperately wanted to protect.

And so, not wanting to be treated like a burden, you made an impossible decision so that he wouldn't have to.

“Go help her! I'll take care of the guy with the glow-in-the-dark skeleton here.” you declared.

Ben looked at you as if you had gone mad, and you mentally commanded the bandages around your eyes to retract, giving him a serious look of your own.

After a long, tense moment. Ben gave you a begrudging nod, and gave Ward a nasty glare.

“Don't do anything crazy. Play it safe.”

“Got it, dad. Go kick that big bird's ass.”

It had mostly been a joke, but having you call him dad vastly improved his mood.

“Gladly!” he agreed, before turning around and attaching a pair of weblines to the Harpy’s wings. “Hey, turkey legs! What temperature do you wanna be cooked at!?”

You briefly cracked a smile, but it was gone after only a second when you returned your attention to Ward. His eye was in the process of regenerating, but it was slow. A side effect of Ben's dagger.

His other wounds had almost fully closed by now, you thought. This would most likely be the toughest fight of your life.

After seeing Ben swing away and not come back, Ward gave you a sneer brimming with contempt and condescension.

“Well, well. It's just you and me again, little fox. I don't know how you managed to get past my sister, but I intend to-”

“SHUT UP!”

Your angry shout caused Ward to pause mid-sentence. And only now did he see the unconcealed rage burning in your eyes.

“You're trying to hurt my family again! AGAIN!”

The force of your words seemed to hit him like a physical blow, and the vampire took an involuntary step back.

Not again. NEVER again.

Ward opened his mouth to say something in protest, but you beat him to it.

“I SAID SHUT UP! I don't wanna hear it!”

Another step closer. Another step back.

“You want a monster? Some ‘mythical Slayer’? Well come here and I'll GIVE YOU ONE!”

On cue, Mercy enveloped your face in bandages once more, giving you a fittingly monstrous appearance as you let out a bellowing roar!

You'll do whatever it takes to protect your family. Even if you have to become a monster to do it.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Step in and launch a series of savage attacks while remaining in his blind spot.
>Have Mercy replicate the structure of Ben's webs, and use them to restrict Ward’s movements.
>Attach Mercy’s tendrils to Ward's clothes and have her turn them into a bundle of razor sharp wire.
>Fill the area with a silk web of your own, and utilize hit-and-run tactics to repeatedly strike at Ward from multiple angles.
>Gather all your strength into one punch, and hit Ward in the chest so hard that the damage disrupts his internal wards.
>Write-in.

>>6191168
>>Fill the area with a silk web of your own, and utilize hit-and-run tactics to repeatedly strike at Ward from multiple angles.
M-M-MAXIMUM-

>>6191168
>>Fill the area with a silk web of your own, and utilize hit-and-run tactics to repeatedly strike at Ward from multiple angles.

>>6191168
>Fill the area with a silk web of your own, and utilize hit-and-run tactics to repeatedly strike at Ward from multiple angles.
Sure, I’ll join the train. Mercy’s got more “hands” than Ben does to pull on a web. We can dodge in far more directions and with more precision as a result.

If we really, REALLY need to go nuclear then Mercy mentioned she couldn’t integrate further without changing our physiology until we had Klynar DNA. Which implies she could integrate further if she did change us. What’s one more change when we’re already part fox demon?

Let’s see what this does…

>>6191170
>>6191393
>>6191569
>Fill the area with a silk web of your own, and utilize hit-and-run tactics to repeatedly strike at Ward from multiple angles.

Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>6191573
show me some real numbers, c'mon

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>6191573
Show me some imaginary numbers!

>>6191617
Damn, we got Sakura Matou over here

>>6191573

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>6191754
epic fail

>Gather all your strength into one punch, and hit Ward in the chest so hard that the damage disrupts his internal wards.

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>6191758

>>6191575
>>6191617
>>6191756
>95

Clutched it! But do you wanna know what's better than 95?

>>6191759
>96!

Taking these. Writing...

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>96

“Mercy, what do you say we TP this council chamber?”

“What is-”

“It means I want you to cover the place in cloth, Merse.” you impatiently explained. “We’re gonna weave a web of our own.”

And before Ward could react, you raised your arms and thrust them out, sending bolts of cloth from your arms and back. They wove artfully around the countless weblines still hanging above you, until they draped down so low that the rolls of fabric were actually dragging along the floor. It sort of reminded you of those trees that got TP'd so bad that you couldn’t see an inch of green on them.

Ward let out an indignant huff as he angrily swiped his arm at the curtain of cloth that just fell over his face.

“Not even down here a day, and you're already redecorating the council chambers.” he said with his trademark derisive sneer.

“The only thing getting rearranged is your face, you smug little leech.” you growled back.

You expected his face to turn purple from anger, but he actually seemed to enjoy it when you talked back to him. What a weird guy.

There was a brief moment of tension as the two of you sized each other up, and you could tell that he was trying to figure out exactly what Mercy’s deal was. You didn’t give him any time to think about it.

You moved without warning, and in the blink of an eye, the distance between you shrank rapidly. You came up in front of him, leaned out of the way of an experimental claw swipe, and synchronized the direction of your movements with that of the cloth that was sweeping back and forth in front of his face.

And in the brief moment that his vision became obscured, you struck out at him from a blindspot that you and Mercy had created with a bit of subtle fabric manipulation.

Your punch landed clean across his jaw, and he attempted to grapple you in retaliation, but the cloth tendrils still connected to your back yanked you away, just in the nick of time.

Confusion spread across Ward's face, and he watched as the strings connected to Mercy’s main body lifted you up into the air like a stunt double in a cheesy martial arts movie.

You expected Ward to make another swing at you as soon as you reentered hsi range, and the guy didn't disappoint. Right before his claws could tear your stomach open, Mercy pulled you up and away, held you there in the air for a moment, and then swung your body around so that your foot connected with the back of his head.

He staggered forward, entangling himself within the curtain of fabric, and leaving him wide open for another kick to the face. Mercy whipped you towards him, and you twirled in mid-air like a ballerina, your leg stretched outward to meet his cheek.

To his credit, his head barely budged at the full force of your kick, which was impressive. But you knew enough about basic anatomy, and combat in general, to know that it was almost never a good idea to tank hits like that, even if you could.

(Cont.)

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For example, that kick just now probably had his brain rattling around in his skull. Him taking the brunt of your attack meant that his neck and spine was absorbing all that damage, and that had to be wearing on his Scrimshaw wards. They were already glowing brighter from how much work they were putting in to protect him

Ward tore desperately at the fabric entangling his body, and you used the time that bought you to gracefully glide out of his reach, and around to the side of his face that was still missing an eye. Accidentally, you whipped him in the face with your tail on your way out, and you had to forcefully pull it back before he sank his teeth into it.

A moment later, Ward freed himself and swung a punch out at you. It was going to miss, you could tell from the-

Two wickedly sharp bone-blades popped out from between his knuckles, and you had to suddenly lower your center of gravity in order to dodge the one coming right for you!

Between your newfound flexibility, and Mercy’s ability to keep your body suspended by the strings attached to your suit, you managed to slip right under the sword's arc, but there was no way to avoid having your strings cut.

You flowed smoothly away from Ward, using a mix of Kumiho agility and the elegant, floaty movements that Mercy made possible with her expert string-pulling. The real hard part was keeping him away from the others’ fights.

“Your movements are refined. Graceful, even.” Mercy offered, sounding pleased. “But they can be refined even further. You clearly aren't too used to having a tail.”

“Oh yeah? What was your first clue?” you asked, surprised at the steadiness of your voice after all this flipping around. Your stamina wasn't flagging at all. You weren’t even remotely tired!

You deftly dodged another series of slashes and stabs from Ward's bone blades, not taking a single hit from any of his attempts to harm you. Normally, you’d be struggling to keep up with his superhuman speed, but now it was almost like you were fighting on even ground. And that was very bad news for him…

Experimentally, on that last acrobatic maneuver you used to flip over the arc of his swing, you swung your fluffy white tail at his face, and watched him sputter as some of your hair went into his mouth. During that brief period of blindness, you swung the upper half of your body towards the ground, planted your hands, and swung your right leg up in a cartwheeling axe kick.

(Cont.)

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Your heel caught directly under Ward’s chin, and his body actually lifted off of the ground from the sheer weight of your kick. At that moment, Mercy’s cloth tendrils snaked down from the ceiling to wrap around Ward’s top half, pulling him up even further. You jumped up, grabbed his legs, and allowed Mercy to fling both of you into the air. You flipped end over end in the air, tucking your arms and legs close to your chest, before unfolding them to reach out for the nearest line of fabric. You swung off of one, into another, and then proceeded to boost yourself further into the air by bouncing between them like the monkey that your mother liked to refer to you as.

Once you reached a satisfactory height, you spun around, spotted Ward still hanging in the air by a literal thread, and dove straight for him. He must’ve spotted you too, because he positioned his body to receive your inevitable attack, no doubt preparing to pop out that nasty looking rib cage again.

So, you allowed him to think that you were coming at him straight on. Meanwhile, you told Mercy to create a gap for you to slip out of the suit from the back. Mercy’s cloth slid from your body like a glove, but she never changed her posture or altered her trajectory, keeping your real body hidden behind the hollow shell that was her decoy body. You even tried flattening your ears against your head, which wasn't as easy to do on command than some people might expect.

Just as you predicted, an array of sharp bones shot out of Ward’s chest in an effort to intercept you, but they only succeeded in impaling Mercy, who, due to her nature as a spirit, couldn’t be so easily hurt. His crimson eyes flew open in shock, and you could see him trying to puzzle out why you had done what you did, when he finally noticed the Korean girl spiraling towards him feet-first at an alarming speed.

“Suck on this!” you shouted, driving the tip of your foot directly into his windpipe, crushing it as easily as he had your nose. It was a satisfying feeling, but this guy wasn't off the hook just yet.

What wasn’t a satisfying feeling was having Mercy glomp onto you like a plastic bag blowing in the wind, but you had enough self-discipline not to react too poorly to it. Your restraint was soon rewarded by having your descent rapidly slowed by a bolt of cloth that shot out from your arm and gave you something to rappel from.

Ward didn’t get that luxury, and instead plummeted to the ground, landing right on his face. You landed gently a few meters away from him, watching him carefully to see if he had any other tricks up his sleeve. But all the annoying vamp did was squirm around in an effort to avoid curling up in pain.

“Smooth as silk.” Mercy said, clearly taking pride in your performance.

“Do you think we hit him enough?” you asked, creeping closer to him.

(Cont.)

You stopped abruptly when your ears twitched, picking up a faint cracking sound coming from Ward. Was he...rearranging his bones again? How long could he keep this up? You weren’t even sure if it was possible to take him down without dealing a fatal blow.

“We should finish him…” Mercy suggested. You shook your head, wondering if there was an alternative to just…hitting him really hard.

What will you say/do?

>"Stay down, Ward. Don't make me do something that you'll regret."
>"So…hypothetically, if I hadn't just kicked your butt six ways to Sunday, what would you have gained from offing me? Aside from vampire clout, I mean.”
>"It's okay if you want to cry. I promise I won't tell the rest of your vampire friends."
>”Those Scrimshaw wards don't make you invincible, you know. Vampire or not, if you don't calm down, your body's gonna quit on you.”
>”You know, this is the EXACT thing I was talking about earlier. Bad decisions and consequences. If you could stop being evil and creepy for two minutes, I won't have to beat you senseless.”
>Write-in.

>>6192332
>>"Stay down, Ward. Don't make me do something that you'll regret."
lets do this the nice way?

>>6192332
>>"Stay down, Ward. Don't make me do something that you'll regret."

>>6192332
>”Your sister made a deal with me, thinking you were in over your head. I think she’s even deeper. You listen, you walk, you try to fix the situation. Maybe you do enough to keep a holy war from descending on her. You listening yet?”
They do seem to look out for each other, and he seems petty enough that he’d enjoy bringing up how he stopped her bad idea for the next couple centuries. Might work better than just telling him to give up for his own sake.

Tell him a reaper hid in her thrall’s shadow, one our god had to personally intervene with when it revealed itself. I don’t know if he knows, I don’t know if SHE knows, but it had to come with some deal she made.

If Khonshu is ever struck, retaliation from his other disciples will be deeply personal. It’ll start with her, because Khonshu already knows she’s connected to a threat and has told others.

That last part might be a lie, but it’s to make sure he doesn’t think killing us is a solution to this problem.

y'know it's a bit late but it's worth saying that shit with baiting ward by splitting up was fucking awesome, Mercy is insane. I hope she stays around.

>>6193248
That was my hope. Might be able to do crazier stuff if we can get the right DNA. She’s cloth for now, and being able to shift into actual Kumiho claws or enhance our senses would be sweet.

Course, if she gets the DNA then she could do her own thing too. I’ll take her support while we have it.

>>6192369
>>6192696
>"Stay down, Ward. Don't make me do something that you'll regret."

Taking these. Writing...

>>6193248
>>6193676
That'll be very viable in the near future! You'll be encountering more symbiotes from here on out.

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“Stay down, Ward. Don't make me do something that you'll regret.” you warned, standing over his crumpled form.

You really hoped this guy didn't have a second phase, or something.

Ward glared up hatefully at you, his other eye having fully regenerated from having been stabbed out. His healing factor truly was something else.

“You…! What have you done to my sister!?” he growled, his disheveled hair falling over his face as he struggled to pick himself up.

Parts of his skin would occasionally bulge unnaturally, confirming your suspicion of him rearranging his bones. He still wanted to fight.

A quick glance to your right told you that some of the others’ fights were beginning to wrap up.

In the time that you weren't looking, Carnelian had already torn out Walker's throat, and pulled one of his arms clean off of his body! Despite this, however, the blue muscular man still seemed to be trying to put up a fight. Like Garth, dismemberment didn't appear to bother this guy much. You were starting to see how he could bounce back from having his head blown off. Did this have something to do with the reaper following him around?

Your gaze naturally drifted over to Ben and Ana. The Huntress was still struggling to her feet, while your foster father was relentlessly pummeling her assailant with a green flaming fist.

He was perched atop her back, where he'd bound her winged arms with webbing. Over and over, he slammed his fist into the side of her head, until she finally managed to tear her arms free, reached up and snatched Ben with those raptor claws of hers. Ben looked more surprised than anyone else when the Harpy tore through his webbing so quickly. He did say that his webs were supposed to be a lot stronger after he got put on this new diet. So that either meant that he was cheating on his diet already, or this bird lady was exceptionally strong.

From the look on Ben’s face, though, you feared that it was the latter.

Delphyne seemed to be finishing her fight as well. Solomon was having a lot more trouble keeping up with her movements now, and you thought it might’ve had something to do with the toxin now dripping from the mouths of several of her head-snakes. Apparently, those things were venomous.

Out of everyone, though, you were the most worried for your grandmother. She’d given up on trying to defeat Garth, and was instead keeping herself on the defensive, for some reason. And, if your eyes weren’t deceiving you, you thought that Garth was draining Young’s chi just by being near her. It was her worst match-up, which was exactly why she was trying to keep him occupied, and away from everyone else.

The sound of rustling fabric dragged your attention back to Ward, who was now kneeling on one knee, breathing hard, and looking even more frustrated after you’d bothered to check on your loved ones instead of giving him 100% of your attention.

“I demand that you answer me…! What have you done to Mina!?”

(Cont.)

You sighed, growing tired of his attitude before you felt any actual exhaustion from fighting him.

“You are remarkably patient. I would have ripped out his tongue long ago if I were you.” Mercy purred in your ear, causing a shiver to run through your body at the odd sensation.

What will you say?

>”How should I know? We must’ve missed each other. Maybe she took a different tunnel.”
>”I’m not your sister’s keeper, man. That’s supposed to be your job.”
>”She sent me in to take you out before someone else could kill you. She’s seriously worried about you.”
>”Oh, her? I sent her packing a little while before I got here. If you hurry now, you can probably get her to safety before the zombies get in.”
>Write-in.

>>6193723
>>”Oh, her? I sent her packing a little while before I got here. If you hurry now, you can probably get her to safety before the zombies get in.”

>>6193723
>”She sent me in to take you out before someone else could kill you. She’s seriously worried about you.”
>”You can stick around and help Grandma for info to repay her with, or ditch us to meet up sooner. Get moving either way, I have people to help.”
I’ll offer a small carrot for him to help us resolve the bigger fight quicker. I doubt he’ll take it though.

>>6193731
>>6194264
Would you like me to roll for the result of this one, or would you like to wait for another vote to roll in?

>>6195435
Roll for it

>>6194264
+1

>>6194264
>>6195555
>”She sent me in to take you out before someone else could kill you. She’s seriously worried about you.”
>”You can stick around and help Grandma for info to repay her with, or ditch us to meet up sooner. Get moving either way, I have people to help.”

Taking these. Writing...

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“She sent me in to knock you out before someone else could kill you. She's seriously worried about you.” you said, pulling bandages away from your eyes and mouth to reveal a stern expression.

Surprise registered in the vampire's eyes, and you waited for him to lash out at you, physically and verbally. But no rebuke came.

Instead, he searched your face for any sign of deceit. And when he found none, he ended up looking more confused than before.

You stood there for a moment, waiting patiently for him to arrange his thoughts and formulate a response. After a while, the nasty scowl that had once soured his features was replaced by a thoughtful look. He was still openly suspicious of you, of course, but you no longer sensed open hostility from him, which was an important step in negotiating with literal bloodthirsty monsters.

Seeing that he wasn't going to stab, scratch or bite you in the immediate future, you kept going.

“If you want, you can stick around and help out. I'm sure Grandma Young can give you something to repay your sister with. Or, you can ditch us all and sit your sister down for a family meeting. Either way, I'm gonna need you to get moving. I've got people that need my help.”

Your voice softened a touch at the end there. He might be an undead creep, but he was an undead creep that loved his sister. It was sort of touching if you forgot about the fact that he'd been trying to kill you a minute ago.

With a disgusting squelch, Ward retracted the bone blades back into his arms, and he was no longer rapidly restructuring his own skeleton. Some of the tension left your muscles when you saw the bright glow of his scrimshaw wards dimming considerably, and you took a step back to give room to get up.

A dark thought popped into your head then. It would be easy for him to pop those blades back out, turn up the lights, and make one last desperate attempt to slay the Slayer.

But fortunately for him, he was smarter than that.

Ward slowly rose to his feet, brushed off his shirt and jacket, both of which had gotten torn during all the fighting, and looked you square in the eye.

“Why would you make a deal with my sister?” he said, narrowing those beady little eyes at you. “What did she offer you?”

You let out a groan and shook your head.

“Nothing that I wanted, or needed, that badly.” you admitted with a shrug. “I promised her that I wouldn't kill you because I have zero interest in shedding any more blood than is absolutely necessary.”

He gave you an odd look.

“Truly?” he asked.

“Totally.” you assured him.

There was an awkward pause, and then Ward averted his gaze, shook his head, and let out a snort that told you exactly how embarrassed he was feeling.

He muttered something to himself, and your keen ears caught the “can't believe this” towards the end.

(Cont.)

“You're nothing like what I've heard.” he said in a clearer, but less provocative voice.

“Who is spreading all these rumors about me!?” you shouted. But what you were really incensed about right now was the fact that he hadn't apologized. For anything.

“It would appear that my sister has been looking into that exact inquiry.” Ward observed, turning to stare out the open door where you'd entered through.

She is? Was that why she was asking about that stuff during the meeting?

“I suppose I shall learn more once I catch up with her.” Ward said, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose. “Although...I might accomplish the same thing by interrogating her newly enrolled thrall.”

The Nosferatu turned, and you followed his gaze to the buff blue man was who slowly, but surely, being dismembered by Carnelian.

That guy was REALLY tearing into him.

What will you do?

>Help Ward pry Carnelian off of Walker before one starts a fight with the other.
>Warn Ward about the reaper. Maybe he might have some idea about why its here.
>Check on Ana, and help Ben fry this bird.
>Intervene between Solomon and Delphyne's fight before either of them die. The longer you fight, the more time you waste.
>Tag in for your grandmother and put the Zombie King into retirement.
>Write-in.

>>6195939
>>Help Ward pry Carnelian off of Walker before one starts a fight with the other.
Who's on which side? I think Carnelian might have the wrong idea here

>>6195939
>Help Ward pry Carnelian off of Walker before one starts a fight with the other.
Sure, I’ll support >>6195941 since Ward seems to be gravitating to the thrall. Might shock Carnelian enough to slow down.
>Warn Ward about the reaper. Maybe he might have some idea about why its here.
If not the reaper, then that Khonshu intervened directly when Walker was introduced. He’s not what he seems.

Ward shouldn’t leave with him no matter how awkward it gets with Carnelian or the others.

>Help Ward pry Carnelian off of Walker before one starts a fight with the other.
>Warn Ward about the reaper. Maybe he might have some idea about why its here.

Hey scorekeeper - I haven't look in a while so happy this is still going

>>6195941
>>6196511
>>6196765
>Help Ward pry Carnelian off of Walker before one starts a fight with the other.
>Warn Ward about the reaper. Maybe he might have some idea about why its here.

Taking this. I probably won't be able to make a post right away since I'll be busy today, but I'll try to get as much work done from my phone as I can.

>>6196765
Welcome back! I'll keep writing this quest until you or I get tired of it! Or at least until we can settle on an appropriate ending.

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Ward turned to approach Walker, and you grabbed his arm before he could get any closer. He stared down at your hand clenched around his wrist, looking mildly offended, and more than a little wary.

An appropriate response, you thought.

“Wait. I think a reaper is bound to him. I don't know why, but Khonshu told me to be careful around him.” you warned.

He held your gaze for a moment, and you stared right back, just to let that reaper warning sink in. You released his arm after several seconds, and he attempted to hide a slightly contemptuous, but thoughtful look as he continued his approach to where Walker and Carnelian were fighting.

Well, you didn’t know if “fight” was a proper way to describe what was going on here. Carn was just sort of tearing him to pieces in the corner of the room.

Ward walked up behind the Were, and loudly cleared his throat. One of Carn's eyes swiveled around to stare back at him, and he finally stopped mauling Walker to pay attention to the people around him.

A low rumble reverberated from his throat, and he bared bloody fangs and claws at the unimpressed vamp.

“Pull yourself together and put those away, Carnelian. I fear that we have all been deceived.” Ward said, meeting his multicolored gaze with his own burning red eyes.

Carnelian began to rise to his full height, and you interposed yourself between them before a fight could break out. Unfortunate for you, though, that gave you your first clear look at Walker after having gone a few rounds in the ring with Carn.

His stomach had been torn open, and blood gushed out from his many open wounds, painting his blue skin a dark shade of red. You could see his entrails slowly snaking their way back towards his torso, and your sensitive ears were able to pick up on the sound of his flesh slowly knitting itself back together.

Both his limbs were gone by this point, and he only had one intact leg remaining. The others were either strewn about the room, or damaged beyond repair by the standards of modern medicine.

It was a gruesome sight. If Wanda were here, you'd bet money on her losing her lunch.

“He's right.” you said, placing a hand on Carnelian’s armored chest. “Something's going on here, and we can’t afford to waste time fighting each other while a horde of zombies is beating your door down.”

Carnelian sobered upon hearing your words of reason, and the darker half of his face seemed to retreat, if ever so slightly.

“Then it's true. Simon Garth has truly betrayed us…” he said in a half-snarl. He appeared to be making an active effort to stave off the bloodlust that threatened to consume him.

Carn shook his head, and his eyes settled on Ward. They narrowed in suspicion.

“And you jumped at the chance to join him in his treachery.” Carn growled, poking a wickedly sharp claw into his chest. “What were you offered? Or were you that eager to stab us all in the back?”

(Cont.)

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Ward had a slightly strangled look on his face, and looked about to say something, when you clapped your hands together to get their attention.

“We can argue over who's right later. Right now, we've got someone here who can give us some answers.” you said, turning to look at Walker's crumpled form.

Rather than screaming or crying out in pain, he just seemed to be patiently waiting his turn to speak. The reaper didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.

“Finally. I thought that guy'd never tire out.” he sighed. “If you can give me my arms back, I'll tell you whatever you wanna know.”

You all exchanged a look and, after a moment’s hesitation, decided to oblige his request. You and Ward carefully lined both his arms and leg up to the rest of his body. Walker sounded confident that he’d be in decent shape if you gave him a few more minutes to heal. Mercy seemed to have other plans, however.

Without warning, multiple bolts of cloth shout out from your back, and invaded the numerous openings within his flesh.

“Hey! What’re you-”

Walker’s words abruptly cut off as the two of you realized what Mercy was trying to do. Ward’s eyes widened in amazement as he stared at the countless number of threads weaving their way in and out of Walker’s flesh.

Mercy was…stitching him back together!

“Oh…thanks. Are you a medical student, or something?” Walker said.

“No. But maybe I should be…” you breathed, just as enthralled as everyone else. “Oh! We’ve got questions for you. Like, are you really Mina’s thrall?”

He shook his head. Ward gave you a look after hearing you use his sister’s nickname.

“Nope. That was just some bullshit lie that she cooked up so no one would get too suspicious.” he said easily.

“Then why are you really here?” Ward inquired, still holding Walker’s other arm in place while Mercy worked.

“Got a tip saying something big was about to go down here, so I decided to do a little digging, until I found a witch who was willing to magic me here for some cash.”

“And who are you to my sister?” Ward asked, an edge to his voice now.

“She caught me snooping around one day, and told me she wanted to hire me to stop you from doing anything stupid, like killing a kid because some crusty old vampire told you to.”

You hoped the glance that you shot Ward wasn’t too accusatory.

“So she knows, then. And here I thought I was covering my tracks.” he murmured.

You leaned forwards, and looked Ward directly in the eye this time.

“Ward? Who told you to kill me?”

Ward bit his lip, causing a tiny trickle of blood to dribble down from his mouth.

“My orders were given to me by my new master. He forbade me from speaking his name, but…”

(Cont.)

Ward averted his gaze, and you gave him time to think very carefully about his next few words. After a minute, he turned back to you, determination and indignation burning in his eyes.

“The name of my master is Varnae. He is…the first vampire ever to exist in recorded human history.”

You frowned, not able to fully comprehend what he was telling you.

“But…there’s no way that Varnae is still alive. Blade killed him.”

“Or so everyone thought. But I assure you that I was not deceived in this regard. Varnae is alive. He warned me about you and The Huntsman, before sending me here to take care of the both of you.”

He said it all with a straight face, like he truly believed what he was saying. So he was either the most gullible vampire in the underworld, or the first vampire truly had put a hit out on you. Was this what Khonshu meant by “dire situation”.

“He told me that you had gained access to a powerful magical weapon that would bring an end to all vampires, everywhere. My sister must have overheard our conversation, but she stole a march on me by asking you about it directly.”

“Damn. I might have to renegotiate my rates.” Walker said.

Carn just growled, reminding you all that the bloodthirsty Were was still standing there.

What will you say?

>”Do you have any idea what Varnae’s actually planning?”
>”These rumors are getting SO out of hand.”
>”Hey Walker. Care to clue me in on why and how you’ve got a reaper following you? Is she still here somewhere?”
>”Out of curiosity, where did you get that anonymous tip from?”
>Write-in.

>>6198545
>>”Do you have any idea what Varnae’s actually planning?”
Damn, big lore

>>6198545
>”And I’m sure his thralls have already laid groundwork in the Metropolis that The Slayer was going to turn against monster-kind and the Council would break or join her. You tear each other apart, they let him turn this into a staging ground for his invasion for ‘protection’ while sidelining or killing anyone who survives.”
>”… what? I fight criminals, and he acts like one.”
Pour salt on the wound. They probably saw plays like this coming from our visit and some STILL decided we were the bigger threat. Also, lampshade the big-picture thinking if they look at us funny.

>>6198545
>>6198656
Since we’re split, I’ll switch to backing >>6198571. My write-in is tossing a guess for what Varnae is doing anyway.

>>6198571
>>6199365
>”Do you have any idea what Varnae’s actually planning?”

Taking these. Writing...

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“Do you have any idea what Varnae is actually planning?” you asked imploringly.

Ward ruefully shook his head.

“If I did, I wouldn't be here right now after having just tried to kill you.” he explained with a disgruntled expression.

“Tried” being the operative word.

“Your sis seems to think that this is all some big ploy to rile up the vampire community.” Walker chimed in, attempting to wiggle his fingers as Mercy sewed his arms back onto his torso.

“And he's using me to do that?”

“You, and the Montesi Formula...” Ward murmured.

“Mina said something about that before, but I've never heard of it before.” you said. “What is it?”

“It is an incantation from the Darkhold that allows the speaker to target and destroy a vampire of their choosing.” Carnelian began, having regained his senses. “Depending on how it is used, and how powerful the person speaking the incantation is, the caster can either target and destroy a nearby vampire…”

“Or they can wipe out every vampire on this plane of existence.” Ward finished. “Every. Single. One.”

You stared at both Vamp and Were in turn, and you were waiting for one of them to tell you that this was all some big joke. But neither laughed, and neither seemed particularly happy about this.

“Y-you're serious…!?”

“Deathly serious.” Ward confirmed. “Now you have some understanding of why I was so adamant about, erm…taking you out of the picture.”

You gave him an unimpressed look.

“You mean ‘killing’ me.” you corrected.

Just because you held off on killing him doesn't mean that you've forgiven him for what he's done. And…he may have…had a decent point there.

“Why would the first vampire believe that you have such a thing in your possession?” Carn said.

“I don't know. Why didn't your mother teach you to apologize to people that you've torn limb-from-limb?” Walker added.

“Do not speak ill of my mother.” Carnelian growled.

“What about your dad? Grandparents? Can I talk trash about them instead? I’m not picky.”

Carnelian looked right about to go back for round 2, when, at your behest, Mercy used her other arms to forcefully keep the hyena Were at bay.

“Wait! We still need answers out of him.” you pleaded. “But you might be onto something. What does Varnae stand to gain by lying about all that stuff?”

“You mean besides eliminating a clear threat to vampires everywhere?” Ward said.

“Thanks, Ward. That might be the nicest thing you've ever said about me.” you said, flashing him a sardonic grin.

He returned the gesture, his own smile lacking any kind of real warmth.

“Hm. Perhaps we would have been better off asking my sister, after all.” he concluded.

“It's really not as complicated as you might think.”

Everyone stared down at Walker.

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“Me and the skinny vampire chick have been talking, you see.” he continued. “And the only motivation Varnae has for doing any of this, is if he wants this vampire war to kick off with a bang.”

A terrible feeling crept up your spine, then, as you realized what Walker was getting at.

“Varnae's spreading misinformation on purpose, so that he can rile up all the other vampires that are undecided on whether or not they should take part in the war!” you blurted out.

Walker gave you a thumbs up, and the other two looked at you in surprise.

“Of course! If a super old, crusty vampire wanted a world mainly populated by vampires, what better way to accomplish that than by instigating a war where every vampire feels compelled to defend themselves?” you continued.

Impossibly, Ward's face seemed to grow even paler at the thought.

“That would…”

“Undoubtedly place vampires as the dominant species on the planet.” Carnelian finished.

“Unless someone finds the Montesi Formula for real.” you chimed.

“And now you're all pretty much caught up. Congratulations.” Walker said, shifting where he lay on the ground, so that he could pull himself up.

You and Ward took a step back to give him some room, but Mercy was actively helping him up with her cloth tendrils wrapped around his limbs.

When she finally let go, he was a little unsteady on his feet, but in far better shape than he had been a minute ago.

Walker flexed his muscular arms, admiring the stitch-work that had held his body together.

“Not bad, kid. You even fixed my clothes for me. Maybe you should become a tailor instead of a doctor. The world's your oyster, and all that.”

“Thanks. And, thanks for telling us what you know.”

“Wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn't.” he replied easily. “Now we just need to link up with Big Blue and the Girl Scouts and get the hell out of here.”

“Out of curiosity,” you began. “Is ‘Big Blue’ that tall, cat-monkey guy with the nice smile?”

Walker nodded.

“That's him alright.”

“He took our Deathbirds and said he was going to park them somewhere.”

“That just means he did his job. Right about now, he should be out there buying time before we're ready to peel out.” Walker said, finding his hand cannon on the floor, and inspecting it for any damage.

Ward huffed out an indignant sigh.

“I see Mina has thought of everything. What else is new?”

“Fleeing would be prudent. We cannot hope to take on an entire horde without proper defenses.” Carnelian encouraged.

“Exactly. And don't you worry, Underdog. I won’t leave you behind because of a petty little grudge.”

He was checking for ammo now. After confirming his suspicions, he leveled the sight at two targets in the room.

(Cont.)

One was at the Harpy, who was still somehow giving Ben trouble, even after all this time. And the other was the Zombie Prince. You remembered what Walker had said before everything went to shit. About how Simon had betrayed all of you, and was directing a zombie horde to come and wipe you all out. Either way, you got the impression that the blue guy wasn't too shy about pulling that trigger.

What will you do?

>Tell him to shoot the Harpy. His bullets might not penetrate her tough skin, but it'll distract her while you and Ben figure something out.
>Tell him to shoot the Zombie Prince. If all this really is his fault, then maybe blowing his head off isn't the worst idea in the world.
>Take the gun away from him. No one else other than Varnae has to die before this is over.
>Using Mercy's voice, let out a loud roar to grab everyone’s attention, and update them all on the current situation at hand.
>Head back outside and help “Big Blue” fight off the zombie horde. The others can figure out a plan while you're away.
>Write-in.

Forgive me for using an AI generation for this guy. I'll try to look for good reference images later.

>>6199859
Ah, I didn’t consider Varnae was a vampire supremacist. Makes sense though.

>Take the gun away from him.
Compulsive hero behavior. Really though, getting rid of Garth gives more ammo for the “we need to defend ourselves” argument since he’s a council member and (re)killing him would be a big deal. Pissing off the harpy chick is just gonna mean she filets Walker and keeps at it while zombies close in. Ben has better escape options than Walker does.

How are Delphyne and Ana?

>Using Mercy's voice, let out a loud roar to grab everyone’s attention, and update them all on the current situation at hand.
We’re ditching to screw over a bigger, meaner asshole that’s been playing most of us. Losers stay behind!

Most of that image isn’t bad, but the gun looks like it has an old-time TV knob to change channels in it.

>>6199859
>>Using Mercy's voice, let out a loud roar to grab everyone’s attention, and update them all on the current situation at hand.
We did start this arc trying to solve things with diplomacy, lets keep it up

Completely unrelated to all this, I had a thought related to Mercy and our mom. Last time we were kidnapped, we learned the CRADLE HQ was a no-gods-allowed zone. We also know that Mercy has a Khonshu mark that helps her keep sane. Did that get weakened while we were at the base? It might be why she picked up a bloody tinge at the time and didn’t help fight the transformation we were undergoing.

We’ll want to talk to her about what we do if we get in a fight there now that she’s awake.

>>6199931
>>6200248
>Using Mercy's voice, let out a loud roar to grab everyone’s attention, and update them all on the current situation at hand.

Taking these. Writing...

>>6199931
That's fair. That was the only image I generated that could get the helmet close to the way I wanted it. AI generated guns usually look a bit wonky. Anything mechanical, really.

>>6200672
That's a good thought! You can have words with Mercy and Khonshu once things have settled down here.

So, bad news. I got really sick yesterday, and I've got chills, so I'm sort of just stuck in bed for now. I'll continue writing and post the update as soon as I'm able. Sorry for the delay!

>>6201050
Damn. I know at least 7 other people with flu or COVID today. Hope you feel better soon, and I hope there isn’t a second wave of all this soon.

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Instead of snatching the gun away from him, you leapt past him, onto the table, and silently commanded Mercy to give your voice a boost.

Cloth bandages snaked their way up your torso, covering your neck and face, and, using the same trick you’d seen Mercy perform earlier, let out a bellowing roar. You felt Mercy’s jaw distend from your place in the suit, but despite your head technically being in her mouth, the sound didn’t sound nearly as loud to you as it naturally should.

Everyone in the room slowed to a stop, and they went completely silent after-

An even louder BANG immediately followed your roar, and a second later, a chunk of the Zombie Prince’s shoulder went missing. Everyone turned to look at Walker, but he simply clicked his tongue and muttered a curse, before lowering his weapon. You gave him a grateful nod, and scanned the room.

Harpy had Ben pinned to the ground with one foot, his head poking out from between her talons. Ana was propped up against a wall, breathing heavily, and looking a bit dazed from whatever the Harpy hit her with.

Solomon Kane was face down on the ground, Delphyne standing over him and looking triumphant. The only one who hadn’t listened to your command was the Zombie Prince himself. He was still going after Grandma Young with everything he had. Delphyne saw this, and bent down to pick up Solomon’s axe and rapier.

“Why won't stop? What's wrong with him?”

“I don’t know!” you shouted, dragging everyone’s attention back to you. “But I do know who’s behind all this. Ward’s been in contact with a vampire called Varnae, and he’s been spreading rumors about me to rile up the vampire community. I think he wants to use me to rally more vampires behind his cause.”

This time, the Zombie Prince did stop. He turned his head–or what was left of it, to stare at you through his one remaining sunken eye. You took this as encouragement to go on.

“Ward’s sister figured this out before any of us did, and she sent me in here to stop her brother, or anyone else from dying. Because of her, there are people out there right now fighting to protect us and our Deathbirds until we sort this mess out. So, let’s focus on getting out of here alive, before we start pointing fingers and assigning blame.”

“She telling the truth.” Ward said, walking up to stand beside you. “I’ll help explain everything after we are out of immediate danger.”


“You’d better…” Carnelian snarled, both eyes narrowing at Ward in suspicion.

The sound of Delphyne’s grip tightening around her stolen axe reached your sensitive ears.

“My Honor Guard should still be out there.” she said, already looking about ready to bolt for the door.

“Last I checked, they were.” Walker offered. “I might not know much about amazons, but I figure your girls can handle themselves for a while.”

(Cont.)

“And where do you fit into all this, Deadhead?” Ben asked, his voice slightly strained from the weight of the Harpy’s foot being placed on his chest. Noticing this, she lifted her foot up, and allowed Ben to roll onto his back and do a quick kip-up to get back on his feet. “Don’t tell me you’re doing all this out of the goodness of your heart.”

“Hell no. I’m getting paid for this. You're the one who’s working for free.” he shot back.

So these two did know each other.

“Yeah? Well, it’s my job to protect her. I just didn’t expect you to be the one to try and steal my thunder.”

Deadhead jerked a thumb back at you.

“Are you kiddin’? If there’s anyone likely to steal your thunder, it’s this kid. Did you teach her to scrap like that?”

“As much as I’d love to take credit for that, she was more or less this cool when we first met.”

“Alright, people! Focus!” you called out, loudly clapping your hands together. “We've got an army of zombies outside our door, and we're sort of stranded. If anyone's got ideas, I'd love to hear ‘em.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

“We should be out there fighting with them, not hiding in here.” Delphyne suggested.

“Hiding isn't such a bad idea.” Young offered. “I told Ol’ Smokey to create an exit tunnel between my shop and the Council Chambers if I take too long with this meeting.”

“Who knows how long that would take?” Delphyne argued, her hand inching towards the snakes on her head. If you didn’t know any better, you thought she might be trying to pull on her hair snakes out of frustration.

“You should all take your chances with the Deathbirds.” Harpy put in. “Although, it might be tricky to navigate through the horde.”

“Why don’t you fly us all out of here, then?” Ben chimed. “You're pretty strong, and I can bundle everybody up in a web net so you can carry us up into the air.”

What will you do?

>Bring the others into the Council Chambers for safety, and hold out until that tunnel appears.
>Head out and help the others defend this position until it comes time to leave.
>Sneak outside, grab your Deathbirds, and ride on out of here.
>Have Harpy fly you all out of here. You're not sure how much you can trust her, but it sure beats getting eaten alive by zombies.
>Write-in.

>>6202040
>The Pocket Dimension. Use that.
So it IS Deadhead rebranded. That "blew his head off" comment threw me off, I remember that going different.

>>6202040
>>6202069
Supporting. Anyone who can’t fly and doesn’t have business being outside can go into it to for easy transport. So Harpy, Huntsman, and maybe Delphyne (to speak with her tribe) and us (Mercy can catapult us around, I’m sure) can stay outside.

>>6202040

>>6202069
+1

Harpy should just fight the whole zombie army herself. Solo Ana then solo us? I'll just assume Ben got locked down protecting injured Ana lmao.

Still recovering from being sick, and I'm at least healthy enough to leave my bed, so let's get this show back on the road!

>>6202069
>>6202475
>>6202555
>The Pocket Dimension. Use that.

Good idea! Writing...

>>6202555
She seems pretty sturdy!

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Your eyes darted around the room, from face to face, until they finally settled on Ben's toolbelt.

A smile spread across your face, then.

“Hey Huntsman. Do you still have that portal projector flashlight thing?”

You caught the exact moment when he caught on to what you were trying to do.

“You really are trying to steal my thunder.” Ben said. You sensed nothing but pride from his words.

Several moments later, Ben had the projector in his hand and pointed at the far wall. Gasps and murmurs echoed throughout the room as a swirling red portal formed right before their very eyes.

“Okay, people…” Ben began. “We don’t have enough time for me to give you the full tour, so you’re just gonna have to trust me when I say that this is gonna lead you and everyone else to safety.”

“A portal. Where does it lead?” Harpy hissed curiously, her head tilting at an odd angle.

“He said it already. Somewhere safe.” Ana said in a brusk tone, before unceremoniously disappearing through the portal.

The other council members briefly traded glances, and then started filing in behind her. You nodded approvingly, and allowed a small smile to cross your features when you spotted Ben giving you a wink and a discreet thumbs up from across the room.

Young was first to follow Ana inside. Out of everybody, she seemed to be the most exhausted. And the source of her exhaustion was hot on her heels.

Despite missing half of his head, the Zombie Prince looked almost docile in the way that he silently trailed after Young. If you didn't know any better, you might've thought that he was actually harmless.

Ward went behind Simon, possibly as a way to show that he was willing to comply with the Slayer's wishes. Carnelian, on the other hand, didn't seem to like that two potentially dangerous creatures were the only ones following your most injured and infirmed party members into the portal, so he placed himself directly behind Ward in line.

Delphyne went next, and Harpy…

Harpy stopped in front of the portal, and turned back to look at you.

“Come on, we don't have all day.” Deadhead complained.

You weren't sure why he hadn't gone in himself by now.

“What about you all?” she asked.

“What about us?” Ben said.

“Will you go inside?”

You shook your head.

“Not yet. We have something to do first.” you said, not wanting to divulge too much about the pocket dimension at this very moment. The task was made easy by your current lack of knowledge on the subject.

Harpy nodded slowly and swiveled her long neck around until she was giving Deadhead a questioning look.

“Ladies first. I'll leave when you leave.” he confirmed, his gun still resting in his hand. “Can't have you chowing down on the kid when I'm not looking.”

Her red eyes went to his gun briefly, and then back up at his helmet.

(Cont.)

“Mm. That won't kill me.” Harpy observed.

“Then we've got something in common.” Deadhead said in annoyance. “Now move.”

“Who will carry projector?”

The question made all of you pause. Not because you hadn't thought of it, but because you weren't expecting her to scrutinize that part of the plan. No one else had thought to even ask whether Ben, as the owner of the projector, could enter the portal as well.

“I will.” Ben declared.

“And I'll stay out with him, just to make sure nothing happens.” you added.

“And the horde?”

“We'll try our best to play keep-away.” Ben said.

“But don't worry. We're, like, really good at it.” you assured her.

“I can help.” Harpy asserted. “None of you can fly.”

Ben loudly cleared his throat. Harpy glanced at him.

“None of you fly well.” she amended.

Ben seemed to deflate a bit at that.

“I can carry you. Consider it an apology. For attacking.”

You all exchanged glances. You weren’t sure if it was a great idea to let a “Bandit Queen” that close to the projector, but she did make a decent point.

What will you say/do?

>Accept Harpy's help. Those big wings of hers should come in handy.
>Politely decline her offer. She might not be immediately hostile, but you're not sure how much you can trust her.
>Offer Harpy a way out. She's not on the council, and she shouldn't have a reason to stay if she doesn't want to.
>Write-in.

>>6204060
HMMMMMM. What are we thinking guys, what's her angle? She's kinda seriously dangerous but I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt. It's worked out so far.

>>6204060
>>Offer Harpy a way out. She's not on the council, and she shouldn't have a reason to stay if she doesn't want to.

>>6204060
>>Accept Harpy's help. Those big wings of hers should come in handy.
you know what, the only point against her is that she beat up Ana and she literally asked for it. And the spider sense will warn from any trickery, 2v1 we should be safe

>>6204071
She’s supposedly a Gamma Beast, and I think it was said they’re aggressive and powerful as a rule. I assume this extends to not playing well with or relying on others.

So she’s either looking to turn us over to someone who will give her something she wants (always an option for everyone) or she doesn’t like the idea of being trapped somewhere she can’t fight out of. If the latter, she’s finding excuses to stay out.

I’m inclined to trust for now since we’re already doing so for Ward and Garth. For an excuse not to put us entirely at her whims, mix

>Offer Harpy a way out. She's not on the council, and she shouldn't have a reason to stay if she doesn't want to.

with something like

>Don’t have her carry anyone to start. You’d prefer to keep her free to fight.

The only reason Ben couldn’t carry all of us is the risk he’d get in a fight that’s too much for him to handle. If we’re assuming that, we want Harpy to be unencumbered. If we get bogged down on the ground then she can pick us up then.

But really, we can just grab one of them while they’re airborne and catapult ourselves into the sky. Mercy can handle turning into a hang-glider or gliding suit, I’m sure. We don’t need to be carried.

Deadhead is the bigger problem since he doesn’t have our mobility options and he’s pissed off Harpy. Maybe we can talk him into the portal by encouraging him to work with the others on fighting from/defending the portal if needed? If that fails we can point out we’re just being polite since we can toss him in anyway. We can be sure he’ll survive the landing.

>>6204338
Thinking I should clarify this more since I did post somewhat contradictory votes.

I don’t know why she agreed to come here personally, but I figure asking her if it’s worth sticking around for is a good idea. We’ll be doing it for the others eventually anyway. If it is, keep her unencumbered and ready to fight while we all escape. If not, she’s free to move on for something better. I don’t need the specific reason now, her affirmation either way is enough.

Having her WOULD be good. I realized my hang glider idea can’t work with Ben since he needs his flames to generate thrust, and Mercy can’t deal with that. Harpy is the one we’d need to launch from if there’s nothing tall for us to climb.

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>>6204303
+1

Red Harpy isn't really evil any more than the Hulk is, or at least wasn't in the comics I read. I didn't recognize the name but now it makes sense Ben and Ana were having trouble with her. She's an off-and-on Bruce Banner antag and can hold her own with the actual Hulk.

>>6204338
>>6204198
>>6204303
>>6204485
We appear to be tied between:

>Offer Harpy a way out. She's not on the council, and she shouldn't have a reason to stay if she doesn't want to.

and

>Accept Harpy's help. Those big wings of hers should come in handy.

How would you guys like to resolve this?

>>6204926
I'd rather not swap so if nobody else does lets just roll for it

>>6204926
>>6204928
I’m willing to swap as long as we propose gliding on our own to start, using Harpy to help us maintain speed if needed. We’d be one less passenger to handle so she can intercept enemies better.

It also keeps us out of her claws, but that’s a smaller concern for me. I’m sure she’s the better air combatant so it’s not like we’d escape her if she turned anyway.

>>6204935
pass, gliding ain't flying. If we trust her we are safer getting carried, if we don't then get her out of the way, going for middle of the road gives the worst of both worlds.

>>6204941
I don’t see much of an issue in having Mercy attach to Harpy mid-flight to be carried if speed is what we need instead of a fight, but I suppose there’s also nothing stopping her from dropping us if she needs to fight and we can safely descend from there.

Settle for letting her know we can handle getting dropped if she needs her talons for something on incredibly short notice?

>>6204985
this is kinda getting ahead of ourselves, we haven't even started fighting. But sure.

>>6205001
Yeah, I overthink things. Thanks for humoring me anyway.

>>6204926
Switching to
>Accept

>>6204926
>>6205010
>>6204303
>>6204485
>Accept Harpy's help. Those big wings of hers should come in handy.

Apologies for the delay! Taking these. Writing...

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After thinking it over for a minute, you gave her a nod.

“Okay. You can help.” you decided.

“I'd like to go on record as being the one to remind you both of what a terrible idea this is.” Deadhead said, holstering his firearm. “But if you're dead-set on doing this, I'm riding shotgun.”

At Harpy’s confused look, he decided to elaborate.

“See, I was hoping that I could hitch a ride on your back.”

“Hey, no fair. I wanted to ride on her back.” you said. “I'm the one she's offering help to.”

“Fine. I guess I'll just grab one of her bird feet and hang on for dear life.” he grumbled.

“You won't need to. I won't drop you.” Harpy assured him.

“I'll hold you to that.”

“And I'll be flying right alongside you guys.” Ben added.

“That’s another thing. When the hell did you even start flying?” Deadhead asked.

“I took lessons.” Ben replied in a matter-of-fact’ manner.

“You took lessons on becoming a giant green ball of fire? I smell bullshit.”

“Maybe you should get the inside of that mask cleaned out more often.” Ben suggested.

“Find me a small hose and I'll do it in a heartbeat.”

You let out a weary sigh, walked over to Harpy, and raised your arms like a small creature asking for uppies.

The bird woman gently wrapped her hands around your midsection and easily lifted you up to her shoulder. You climbed onto her back and planted your hands on her shoulders.

“Thanks for doing this.” you said, hoping that she didn't have any ulterior motives for wanting to remain outside of the pocket dimension.

“I misjudged the situation. I want to make up for it.”

“Yeah, well…everyone’s done things they probably aren't proud of today. We should get to make up for our mistakes.”

“Wise words for one so small. I hope you survive the Metropolis.” she said. And, before you even got a chance to reply, she flapped her mighty wings several times, and rose into the air.

—---

After Ben and Deadhead finally stopped bickering, your foster father spent a depressingly short amount of time burning through your carefully laid traps and barricades.

But those weren't your only obstacle in exiting the mountain. Along with Mina's other forces, they were working to keep the zombies out. And with them gone, you were left with a writhing mass of undead stumbling over each other for a chance to sink their rotten teeth into you.

A bar of emerald flame shot past you and carved a sizable chunk out of the oncoming horde, forcing them back, and forcing you to shield your face from the wave of heat that was now assaulting your senses. Mercy seemed to shudder in its presence, and you had to remind yourself that your new partner was very much flammable.

(Cont.)

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With every step that Ben's flames forced them back, he took a step forward. This gave Harpy some room to breathe. The giant bird woman leaned her head back, stretching her neck at an odd angle to accomplish this, and a glowing red vein revealed itself along the abnormally long appendage. The glowing vein bulged and began to pulse, and you thought your ears were picking up a low, thrumming sound.

Suddenly, Harpy threw her head forward, a pale red light shot from her open mouth. The light impacted the horde of burning zombies like a high pressure fire hose, if high pressure hoses could emit concussive energy. The continuous stream of energy forcefully ejected every zombie within the tunnel, and everything that had been standing at the entrance. They were all pushed back or pulverized by the strength of her beam, and you couldn't help but stare in amazement as this giant bird woman cleared the way for you.

Ben wasted no time in taking advantage of this, and flew out of the tunnel to create a partition of fire that would give you all some room to comfortably leave the mountain.

Harpy took to the air a moment later, carrying you and Deadhead in tow as she rose higher and higher. From your vantage point, you could see that Deadhead hadn't been exaggerating in the slightest when he said that an army of zombies were coming. Because that's what you were looking at right now.

Zombies of all races, big and small, as far as the eye could see. It was a scene that might make a lesser woman wet themselves and start vehemently praying to their god.

“Where did they all come from!?” Ben shouted above the constant groaning of the zombies below.

“They were hiding beneath the sand!” you called back.

“Does anybody see Big Blue?” Deadhead asked.

When no one confirmed that they had, he let out a frustrated grunt.

“Bring us around, Godzilla.” he said, making a circling motion with his finger.

Harpy growled softly, but did as she was told, swinging around to circle the mountain. And it wasn't until you reached the right side of the mountain that you saw what you were looking for.

“Over there!” you yelled, pointing at point in the ocean of dead bodies where you saw four women wearing golden armor, and a blue furry man fighting off the zombie menace.

Harpy and Ben made a b-line for them, and both of them repeated the same attacks they'd used to clear the tunnel entrance. Green flames burned a perfect circle around the group, and Harpy’s concussive beam pulped anything that it touched.

The Amazons easily dispatched what remaining enemies they had within the ring of fire, having brought all manner of weapons with them to the summit. And James had…

You squinted at him. Were those...glowing Wolverine claws?

(Cont.)

James looked a little different from when you'd last seen him. For one, he wasn't wearing a shirt. It had been burned off to reveal his bare, but extremely hairy chest, and he was now sporting what looked to be a VR-headset and a pair of heavy gloves with two sets of three green plasma blades being emitted from small ports between his knuckles.

Thick wires ran up his arms, behind his shoulders, and down his back. You thought you saw a gray box on his hip acting as the power source for this invention, but you couldn't tell what the headset was being used for yet.

You took a deep breath, cupped both hands to your mouth, and shouted at the top of your lungs.

“HEY JAMES! UP HERE!”

The alarm in everyone's faces was clear from where you were. But James’ face cleared up immediately when he saw who you were.

“Oh! Hey Cindy! I'm glad-”

James turned sharply to intercept a flaming zombie that was trying to catch him off guard. All it took was a single pass from his plasma blades, and the zombie was lying on the floor, in pieces.

“I'm glad you're okay.” he finished, before turning to address the Amazons. “It’s okay. They're here to help.”

A moment later, Ben touched down beside James, whipped out the portal projector, and aimed it at the ground. The red swirling portal appeared before him at the press of a button.

“Everybody in!” he demanded. No one argued.

Two of the amazons from their group were visibly limping, and you decided that it wouldn't be a terrible idea to check them for bites later. The other two were helping them towards the portal, giving their shoulders for support, when the ring of fire went down.

A fresh wave of zombies smothered the flames with their bodies, and acted as a bridge for the others to climb over. The undead rushed in, and Ben struggled to hold them off with only one hand available. He seemed to be trying to move the portal closer to the Amazons in all the confusion.

Deadhead cursed and whipped out his pistol, while Harpy was back to spewing concussive energy. James turned a dial on the gray box attached to his hip, and the color of his claws changed from purple to light blue.

He swung out his arms at the approaching zombies, making wide, sweeping arcs. These claws must have been endothermic, because they froze zombies solid on contact!

What will you do?

>Jump down and have Mercy transform you into a swirling whirlwind of death and fabric.
>Offer to hold the portal steady while Ben rejoins the fight.
>Stay right where you are, and use Mercy's extra arms to keep the zombies off of them.
>Write-in.

>>6205493
>>Jump down and have Mercy transform you into a swirling whirlwind of death and fabric.

>>6205493
>Jump down and have Mercy transform you into a swirling whirlwind of death and fabric.
Is there any other option for disciples of Khonshu? Just make sure none get close to the amazons since they’re the most injured.

>>6205493
>>Jump down and have Mercy transform you into a swirling whirlwind of death and fabric.

>>6205495
>>6205587
>>6205638
Roll 1d100+5, bo3!

Rolled 2, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 1, 3, 4, 1, 3, 5, 1, 4, 3, 1, 3, 3, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 3 = 64 (25d5)

>>6206032
You know, i didn't get to say, Deadhead's pretty fun to have around, it's a nice surprise

Rolled 48 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6206032
>>6206034
Motherfucker, that is NOT what i put there

Rolled 12 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6206032
Rolling.

>>6206035
Might have done 100d5? It caps the number of dice at 25 but doesn’t warn you about it for some reason.

Rolled 48 + 5 (1d100 + 5)

>>6206032

>>6206035
>>6206038
>>6206079
>Two 53's!

Taking these. Writing...

>>6206034
I want to make random merc appearances become more normal going forward. I think it would be pretty fun! And I'm glad you like him!

Accidentally passed out while writing! Sorry for the delay, but I think I'm going to finish and post the results of the roll tomorrow morning when I'm fresh. This update is going to be a bit on the longer side.

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>53

You rose from your perch atop Harpy's back, paying close attention to the way Mercy’s bandages felt as they slithered up your face.

“We're going in, Mercy.”

“Naturally…” she hissed. “This is the will of Khonshu. You are his Wrath.”

You peered down at your fingertips, each one of them now sporting a wicked talon. Even though these fox claws are annoyingly long, they still have their uses.

“Cover my fall.” you demanded, not wanting to waste time. You slid from Harpy’s back and pushed off of her flank, hoping to gain some momentum in your fall.

Harpy’s arm shot out and snatched you out of the air.

“What are you doing?”

“I need to get down there! They need me!” you shouted.

Harpy’s eyes widened in realization, and her grip on your torso loosened, allowing you to continue falling towards an army of the undead. And as the ground quickly raced up to meet you, Mercy’s bandages were working overtime to cover you with enough fabric to cushion the fall. You flipped rightside up a few feet before you hit the ground, just in time for Mercy to finish reinforcing your suit.

You landed with a slight bounce, like you were a kid on a trampoline. And an instant later, your entire outfit burst off of you, and rapidly reshaped itself to form a myriad of coiled cloth tendrils. Each tendril shot out with surprising speed, piercing the bodies of each zombie, over and over again.

Cloth rolled from your back and rained down on your enemies like a storm of knives. As for the ones that were further away, multiple bolts of cloth snaked out from your hands, searching for targets to snap at.

At the same time, James was rolling in and slashing at the zombies that had been stunned, rather than dismembered. His endothermic claws froze them solid, making their bodies into obstacles for the rest of the horde.

When you realized what he was up to, you decided that you would try and arrange your dead in a line, so that James could repurpose them as a barricade.

You danced around the battlefield, severing limbs with razor thin blades made of silk, and breaking bones with graceful, decisive movements. Mercy's cloth swirled around you as you moved, subduing your enemies and impaling them when they got too close. She made it so that you were practically untouchable in the middle of this huge horde.

At least, that's the way it felt, before the Were-zombies entered the scene.

They came without much warning, crashing through James’ barricades, and pouncing towards you with teeth and claws bared. Mercy was unable to slow them down fully, so you had to turn your full attention on them.

(Cont.)

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One tried to slip past you and go for the Amazons, Mercy caught it by the foot and dragged them back towards you. The caught Were instead decided to attack you from behind, and ended up impaled by several dozen bolts of cloth for his trouble. He managed to get close enough to scrape your left shoulder with his claws, but you couldn’t afford to worry about becoming a zombie in the middle of a horde.

The second Were tried to force you onto your back by throwing themselves at you, but you caught her by the arms and threw her to the ground hard. You sensed the third moving for you, and you turned around just in time to receive a claw across the face. The third Were opened his mouth wide enough for your entire head to fit inside, and for that, he earned a full force punch to the roof of his mouth. Mercy followed up by sweeping a cloth blade through his mouth, cleanly severing the top half of his head with one pass. Several more blades popped out and stabbed down at the prone Were from before, severing her spine at multiple points throughout her body.

James was trying desperately to prevent more undead from spilling in, but he alone was incapable of holding that much ground against this many targets.

Two things happened then. The most expected reaction came from Ben in the form of a bar of green flame. With only one hand available, he was still able to hose down a fresh wave of undead with his fire powers. The second came from above, with Deadhead dropping into the fight like a bomb.

The big blue merc crushed a cluster of undead with his sheer bulk, and immediately started swinging as soon as his feet touched the ground. With only a single punch, he was able to behead a common zombie, and with his handgun, he could blow holes straight through the much tougher Were-zombies.

“Yeah! Get some!” he shouted, even as he was being bitten from multiple angles. It didn’t seem to bother him at all, though.

“They’re all inside!” James shouted.

Ben was beside you in an instant, and you allowed him to grab hold of you and throw you into the air without struggling. Halfway up, you stretched out your arm towards Harpy, and Mercy’s bolts of cloth grabbed hold of her foot and reeled you in. A glance down showed you that James had been thrown as well, and more tendrils shot out from your back to reel him in as well.

Ben and Dead head were the last ones on the ground, and for the sake of saving time, Ben decided that it wasn’t worth being so gentle with Deadhead. Your guardian burst into flames, grabbed hold of Deadhead, and shot into the air while carrying the merc. They both screamed on the way up, but for very different reasons.

Thankfully, Harpy had no problems holding a burning Deadhead. She seemed to be made of tougher stuff.

“To Monster Metropolis!” you shouted.

(Cont.)

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Harpy turned toward the city and started flying in that direction. As you flew away, you all watched as the space you’d been holding was completely overrun by the undead, and you thanked Khonshu that you didn’t have to stay there a moment longer than was absolutely necessary.

“You okay?” Ben asked, flying alongside Harpy. Mercy cringed at his close proximity.

“I’m alright. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Grandma Young should be able to disinfect these wounds when we get back.” you confirmed.

“Is it really that easy to disinfect wounds from a zombie?” he said, clearly concerned for your well-being.

You nodded.

“Zombies have been around for a while now, so we’ve more or less figured out how to differentiate how they were created, and the proper remedy for counteracting the virus.”

“Some people can even fight off the virus with nothing more than a bolstered immune system and a good night’s rest.” James added.

“Did you hear that, Deadhead? It sounds like you’re gonna be just fine.” he said, flying a bit lower to look the man in the eyes.

“Isn’t my first time getting bit. Probably won’t be my last.” he said in a casual tone. “Even if I did turn, it's not like I could bite anyone else.”

He wrapped a knuckle against his helmet for emphasis.

“You can’t take it off?” you asked.

“Not without taking the rest of my head with it.” he said, some bitterness entering his voice.

You wondered if his helmet had anything to do with the reaper that was following him. He hadn’t brought it up a single time yet, and she didn’t do anything to help him when he jumped into that horde. You would just have to keep an eye on him for now, and bring it up to Grandma Young later.

—--------

You were given some trouble for re-entering the city on the back of a Gamma Beast, but you were able to clear things up when Grandma Young exited Ben’s pocket dimension.

Delphyne looked glad to be reunited with her Honor Guard. You were just happy that you managed to get there before any of them died.

Ward was currently trying to convince Harpy to fly him and James back to his and Mina’s estate, and Carnelian was headed for the Metro’s marketplace to stock up on supplies before he departed.

Ben was busy covering Deadhead’s burns and bites with webbing. The two of them seemed to be on slightly better terms than they had been at the start of this.

“Hey. Sorry for blowing your head off back then. I was on the job and…you know how it is.” Ben said.

Deadhead waved him off and shook his head.

“It’s cool. Most people don’t even apologize when they do that to me, so thanks for that.” he replied. “Plus, you helped out a friend of mine before. So I’d say we’re more or less even.”

“Oh yeah? Who was it?”

“For their safety, I can’t disclose that information right now. Just know that I’m grateful.”

(Cont.)

As the two of them went back and forth on that subject, the Zombie Prince was just sort of…standing around and watching everyone. He wasn’t nearly as ferocious now as he had been while fighting your grandmother.

“Come, Cindy. We need to get those wounds looked at.” Young said, tugging at your sleeve.

What will you do?

>Let Young guide you back to her shop.
>Hold off on that, and accompany Carn to the Monster Market.
>Tell Ward and Harpy not to leave without you. You have things to discuss with Mina as well.
>Take a moment to thank everyone for their cooperation. It costs nothing to be kind, after all.
>Write-in.

>>6206461
>>Take a moment to thank everyone for their cooperation. It costs nothing to be kind, after all.

>>6206461
>>Take a moment to thank everyone for their cooperation. It costs nothing to be kind, after all.

>>6206461
>Take a moment to thank everyone for their cooperation. It costs nothing to be kind, after all.
We were played against each other but stopped before anyone did something they couldn’t take back. That’s victory enough for one day. We can all figure out what our next victories will be tomorrow.

>>6206469
>>6206559
>>6206722
>Take a moment to thank everyone for their cooperation. It costs nothing to be kind, after all.

Taking these. Writing...

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“Hold on. There’s still something I need to do.” you said, gently removing Grandma Young’s hand from your sleeve. “Everyone! If you could all please wait a minute before you leave!”

The members of the Monster Council all stopped where they stood, and turned to face you.

“I would like to thank you all for cooperating with us as much as you have been. I know that a lot of you don’t know me very well, so it means a lot to see you put aside your differences and work together in a time of crisis. It shows me that whatever your differences, each and every one of you is willing to set your own feelings aside for the sake of others.”

Looks of surprise registered on their faces as they exchanged glances with one another. But there was one member of the council whose face seemed to ooze with pride upon hearing your little speech. You gave Grandma Young a nod of acknowledgement.

The council’s moment of stunned silence was abruptly broken by the sound of applause. Everyone turned to see Ben and Deadhead giving you a polite round of applause. Ana was standing beside them as well, gracing you with an approving smile.

Soon after, the other council members favored you with their own gestures of approval. A polite smile from Ward, a toothy grin from Carnelian, a slight nod from Harpy, and a unified cheer from Delphyne and her Honor Guard.

“It is us who should be thanking you, Cindy.” Carn said as he rejoined the group. “We questioned your good intentions, and our suspicions blinded us to the nature of the trap we found ourselves in. I hope you can forgive us for nearly getting you killed today.”

“Yeah, you’re not bad, Slayer girl.” Delphyne offered. “You’re a hell of a fighter, and you’re a decent enough person to stick out your neck for people that you barely know. Young’s lucky to have you as a granddaughter.”

“You’re damn right I am.” Young preened, as if she had been the one to receive a compliment.

“If you ever find yourself in Amazon territory, feel free to pay us a visit. You and your blonde friend.” Delphyne said, gesturing to Ana. “In fact, you should both give me your numbers.”

She pulled out her phone from before, and you were surprised to see that she had full bars down here.

“Does that phone really work down here?” you asked.

Delphyne nodded eagerly.

“My boyfriend made it for me a while back. He said that I’ll always have service wherever I go. And the battery is nuclear powered, so I never have to recharge it.”

“That’s some anniversary gift.” Ben commented, coming over to get a better look at the phone. Ana was right behind him.

>Delphyne has been added to Ben’s Contacts!
>Delphyne has been added to Cindy’s Contacts!

(Cont.)

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You all traded contact info with Delphyne, and you couldn’t help but wonder whether her phone could reach yours, even if you had no service. You were about to test this theory when Carnelian took a step closer to you. He lifted a claw and slowly lowered it onto your shoulder. You tried not to flinch as his paw gently rested against Mercy's fabric. At the very least, she was a lot less scared of him than she had been of Ben.

“To address your earlier concern, there is indeed a demon inside of you. But it can be restrained.” he said, tightening his grip on your shoulder ever so slightly.

A thrill of power rushed through you, and you felt something about yourself changing almost instantly.

A quick glance at your hands confirmed your suspicion, when you saw a noticeable lack of fox demon claws. Your breath quickened in anticipation as you ran those perfectly human fingers through a lock of normal looking, black hair!

“H-how did you-!?”

“Your body is still your own, Cindy.” Carn reassured you. “If you can learn to suppress the demon inside of you, then you will once again be the master of your own body. Remember this feeling.”

As soon as he removed your hand, your hair became white, and your nails grew out in an instant. Your shoulders sagged in disappointment, but Ben was quick to give those shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey, at least now we know it’s possible to turn you back to normal.” he said.

“And it looks like you might be able to take this form whenever you want.” Ana added, as if it were a good thing.

And…maybe it was. While in your fox form, you feel faster, stronger, your senses are sharper, and you heal way faster than normal. You still felt like your mom should’ve told you about all this earlier, but you haven’t found any clear downsides to this deal, aside from a potential regular diet of life energy.

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to practice when I get home.” you said to Carnelian. “Can I still borrow that journal of yours sometime?”

“Of course.” he agreed. “I’ll be sure to get it to your grandmother sometime after this.”

“See? Things are looking up already.” Ben chimed in.

You smiled up at him, your fox ears twitching as they picked up on background conversations.

Ana and Delphyne were discussing a potential visit to the Amazon village, and Ward was interrogating James about his resemblance to a blue furry creature that was working with Varnae. And…you were pretty sure that Deadhead was talking to himself. Unless…he was talking to the reaper.

You wanted to risk a glance over your shoulder, but then you remembered that feeling of dread that had overtaken you the first time you laid eyes on the reaper.

(Cont.)

What will you do?

>Ask Delphyne if you can use her universal phone to call someone. (Who?)
>Ask Delphyne if you can go with her and Ana to visit the Amazon village soon.
>Try to recreate the feeling of suppressing your demon form.
>Intrude on James and Ward’s conversation. If they’ve got more information on Varnae, you’d like to hear it.
>Confront Deadhead about the reaper situation. You need to know if you can trust him.
>Go with Grandma Young to disinfect your wounds.
>Write-in.

>>6207216
>>Ask Delphyne if you can use her universal phone to call someone. (Wanda)
She won't believe the day we've had.

>>6207219
>>6207215
Supporting. Summarizing what happened to us will be fun. Kidnapped, reverse kidnapped, proved the school rumors that we’re not fully human right, had a panic attack, met another Khonshu disciple, was the target of a coordinated assassination attempt, found out grandma and mom are alive, found out inter-family drama is real and it sucks. That’s not even half of it!

Also, we tried to center ourself before and failed pretty hard. Not looking forward to round 2 so we don’t need magic drugs to keep us in our human form.

>>6207219
+1

>>6207219
>>6207476
>>6207258
>Ask Delphyne if you can use her universal phone to call someone. (Wanda)

It's unanimous! Writing...

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“Um, would it be okay if I borrowed that for a bit?” you asked, pointing to Delphyne’s phone.

“Huh? Oh, sure. Knock yourself out.” she said, handing it over to you.

“Thanks! I promise I won’t drop it.”

Delphyne shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn't care less.

“I couldn’t crack that thing with an arrow. If you could even put a dent in it, I’ll be surprised.”

—-------

Whatever operating system Delphyne's boyfriend installed on her phone, it was mercifully intuitive, and thus very easy to navigate.

It only took you a minute to figure out how to send Wanda a text warning her of your impending call from an unknown number, and it took you even less time to figure out which app you had to use to dial her number.

Your roommate picked up after about four rings, and you prepared yourself to get chewed out by your sidekick for going radio silent without so much as leaving a single text.

“Hello…?”

“Hey, Wanda! Can you hear me?”

“Oh my god, girl! Where have you been!? Everyone's saying that you skipped class, got bit by a stray dog in front of the whole school, and started GUSHING blood, so Spider-Man had to swing you to the ER before you got rabies!”

You let out a nervous laugh and stepped away from the group to find a private place to talk.

“Yeah, everything happened pretty fast back there. So, the dog that bit me wasn't actually a stray, but the familiar of my grandmother, who's secretly been alive this whole time, by the way.”

You heard a loud thump on the other end of the line, followed by several muttered curses from Wanda.

“Hold up! Your grandma’s alive!? That’s awesome, Cindy!”

“I know! I was pretty skeptical of her, since she waited this long to tell me that she's still alive, but she's been really cool about everything so far. There's just a lot of drama between her and my mom. Ooh! Guess who's parents have been secretly alive this whole time!”

“No way…”

“Yup!”

“SHUT! UP!”

“I know!”

“Are they alright? Have you seen them yet?”

“I've only seen my mom so far, and that was earlier today when she had me kidnapped.”

“...Is that a…joke?”

You let out a long, suffering sigh and leaned your head against a wooden support.

“No, it was a whole thing. I was following my grandma’s familiar, and we ran into two giant monsters fighting each other. One was sent by the Kaiju King, and the other was this centuries old gargoyle who used to own slaves. And-”

“Hold on. Back up. What's a ‘Kaiju King’, and which giant monsters did you run into? I'm not finding anything on my Monsterpedia.”

“They all come from this place called the ‘Monster Metropolis’. That's where I am now.” you said.

“Like…right now?”

(Cont.)

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“Yup. I helped save this Gorgon Queen a little while ago, and she lent me her phone, which gets service pretty much anywhere!” you remarked, taking a moment to marvel at the compact little device.

“Gorgon Queen!? Like, a Medusa, or something.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“And she's, like, royalty?”

“I think so. She's the leader of the Amazon Tribe down here, and everyone seems to respect her a lot.”

“Riiiight. Can we get back to the thing with your mom kidnapping you?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sure.” you said. “So, it turns out that my mom has been running this government organization called ‘Cradle’, and she's been recruiting all these super-kids to work for her. Some of those kids jumped me at a construction site, and I was totally whooping their butts for a minute, but then this army of zombie soldiers trapped me in a shuttle and brought me back to their base.”

Wanda gasped with an appropriate amount of shock.

“And you actually made it out?”

“Yup. My mom showed up wearing some weird getup, and she asked for me to meet her in her private quarters.” you continued. “We unmasked, we cried, and then we started catching up.”

“Aww, that's so sweet! I think…”

“Yeah. It got a lot less sweet when my mom told me that I'm half fox demon.” you said in a flat tone.

“What, like a hidden bloodline!? You're so lucky…!”

You sat there sputtering for a moment, genuinely taken aback by her reaction.

“Lucky!? I've got white hair, animal ears and bag-lady claws!”

“That sounds like a pretty easy cosplay…” Wanda muttered.

“Wanda, this is serious! I can't go to school like this!”

“Why? Can't you turn back?”

“Well…I can, but-”

“Then why’s it such a big deal? Ooh! Does it come with any new powers!?”

“Well…I'm stronger, faster, I've got sharper senses, I heal faster…”

With each improvement you named, you found yourself getting quieter and quieter, because you just knew that anything you said would only prove Wanda's point.

“Oh no. The absolute horror of it all. What a terrible curse you've been burdened with…” Wanda said in the flattest tone that you could ever recall her using with you.

“Okay, so it’s not all that bad.” you begrudgingly admitted. “But it still sucks how my mom kept it from me for so long. Also, it turns out that my mom never even believed in Khonshu! Unbelievable!”

“Okay, now that’s a serious issue?”

“Really? That’s the one you care about?”

“Absolutely. It’s one thing to force a religion on a kid, but to do it without even caring about the religion in the first place? I’m sorry, but that’s psychopathic behavior.”

“Sociopathic, maybe.” you murmured. “And the religion wasn’t forced on me. It was just…introduced to me at an early age.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Shut up.”

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“What? I didn’t say anything! Tell me more about your mom.”

“Well, we actually didn’t get to talk much, because the Kaiju King summoned me to the Monster Metropolis because everyone thought that I was actually in trouble.”

“There goes that Kaiju King guy again.”

“He’s sort of like the ruler of this place. He draws monsters, and they jump off of the page and come to life.”

“That’s such a cool power!” Wanda exclaimed. “Did you get to draw your own monster!? I bet someone with your skills could create something amazing!”

You blushed, and turned your head slightly so the others wouldn’t see.

“No, not yet. I was kind of out of it when they summoned me here, and the Huntsman had to carry me to my grandma’s place.”

“So the Huntsman’s there with you?”

“Yeah, he was the one who got me out of school. Everyone kept calling him Spider-Man, so he just sort of went along with it.”

“Pfft! Rookie mistake.”

You purposely avoided pointing out that she had made that very same mistake not too long ago.

“Sooo? What happened next!?” she asked eagerly.

“Well, I blacked out for a while, and when I woke up…I forgot to explain the whole ‘Mercy’ thing, didn’t I?”

“What ‘Mercy thing’?”

“Okay, so…Khonshu gave me a gift before I left school this morning. He put a blessing on my cast so that my arm would heal up faster, but he also placed the spirit of a dead, alien Warrior Priest inside of it. She’s a worshipper of Khonshu, like me!”

“GIRL! You are TERRIBLE at telling stories!” Wanda laughed.

“I am afraid that I must agree.” Mercy said. “This is a rather poor attempt at weaving a tale.”

“Shut up! It’s been a crazy day, okay?”

“Uh, what was that? Cindy, who was that?”

You locked eyes with your fellow Warrior Priest and let out a sigh.

“That was her.”

“The space ghost! She talks! She’s a ‘she’!”

“Your friend is very excitable.” Mercy observed.

“Oh, you have no idea.” you said, rolling your eyes.

“This is so weird! Can you show me a picture of her?”

“I don’t know. What’s your opinion on cameras, Mercy? I promise they won’t steal your soul.”

“Then why offer the warning? Is there actually a chance of that happening?” she asked, concern clear in her voice.

“Does that phone have Facetime?” Wanda asked.

“No clue. I barely know how to use this thing.”

“Can you at least send me a selfie of ‘fox demon Cindy’?”

“Sure thing…” you said, navigating your way to the camera app, and angling the front facing camera so that it captured both you and Mercy in the shot. “Say cheese, Mercy!”

“Why would I-”

A bright flash lit up both your faces, and Mercy blinked in alarm.

“What was that!?”

“Sending it now.”

(Cont.)

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“Got it.” Wanda confirmed. “Damn, girl! That’s not a bad look for you. If this hero business doesn't work out, we could probably set you up as an Instagram model.”

You snorted a laugh and shook your head.

“Yeah, right.”

“I'm serious, Cindy! It's kind of sad how ignorant you are to your own cuteness.”

“We can talk about my career as an influencer, when I get back.”

“I'll hold you to that~.” Wanda hummed.

“Anyway…” you went on. “A little while later, I woke up after Ben and the others took down this gross looking giant iguana, and I finally got to meet my grandma for the first time.”

“Uh-huh. And how'd that go?”

“Things were…tense for a little while. I was still kinda mad at her for not coming to me sooner, but the more we talked, the more I felt like she really did care about me. It turns out that she's been trying to convince the guys in charge of the Monster Metropolis that I'm not a threat to them.”

“Why would they think you're a threat to them if you've never even been there before?”

“Something something about a prophecy that everyone believes is real. There's some super old vampire that's been gaslighting everyone into thinking that I'm their worst enemy, and we almost got wiped out by this huge horde of zombies because of him!”

“Zombies?! They've got zombies down there?”

“I think they've got a little bit of everything down here…”

“What's this vampire guy got against you?”

“I think he just wants to use the prophecy as a way to inspire vampires to join in this huge war they're trying to drum up.”

“Right, right. The vampire war.” Wanda said. “That's not…happening anytime soon, right? Because I was hoping to squeeze in a little more training before then.”

“You and me both.” you said with a laugh. “But, I really don't know. I managed to get the Monster Council on my side, but I still need to track this guy down and stop him from making me sound like a monster to all these monsters.”

“What's a ‘monster council’? Is that another part of the story that you left out?”

“I can help with this part.” Mercy volunteered.

—------

Like you, Mercy seemed to have a pretty good memory when it came to recalling specific details. While you didn’t know the stories of each member of the council, your fellow Warrior Priest was able to accurately recall the physical features of each member, as well as their personality quirks and general motivations.

By the end of her explanation, Wanda was moping like you've never seen before.

“Ohhhhhh…”

“What's wrong?”

“Are you kidding!? You just went on a once in a lifetime, life-changing journey filled with all kinds of character-defining moments, and you didn’t invite me!”

You and Mercy exchanged glances.

(Cont.)

“Uh, Wanda? Everything I just did was incredibly dangerous. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know, but…!”

Man, she sounded really down about this. You expected her to be a little jealous, but this was just ridiculous.

What will you say?

>"I can always bring you down here next time. The Monster Metropolis isn't going anywhere."
>"I didn't want to risk bringing you along with all these people coming after me. You could've been seriously injured, or worse."
>"You don't have to personally be here for my most traumatic events, Wanda. You being here for me now means the world to me. There aren't too many people around my age that i can talk about this stuff with."
>"I'm sorry for leaving this long without saying anything to you. I had a big day, but I should still learn to communicate these things better.
>Write-in.

>>6207946
We exchanged glances with Mercy? Did she pop out as a cloth head? Is anyone freaking out about the fact that something with way too many teeth is growing next to us?

Maybe they’re all looking away and we can still surprise them all later.

>”Fiiiine. I’ve, uh, never taken a friend to visit my family before, and now I have a grandmother living down here. Would visiting her down here be once-in-a-lifetime enough for you to be satisfied?”
Basically the first vote, but with more awkwardness and banter. We live with Ben, the latter is unavoidable.

>>6207946
>>"I can always bring you down here next time. The Monster Metropolis isn't going anywhere."

>>"I can always bring you down here next time. The Monster Metropolis isn't going anywhere."

>Write-in.
"I was bitten by a talking dog from my still alive grandmother, fake rescued from school then actually kidnapped by my still alive mother. When was I supposed to send the meet up request?"


>and the Huntsman had to carry me to my grandma’s place.
>I woke up after Ben and the others took down this gross looking giant iguana
COVER BLOWN

>>6207958
I probably should've described her head popping out in that prompt.

>>6208006
Whoops! Retcon that!

>>6208050
It’s really that I want to give Ben a heart attack later when he learns the “suit” is actually an alien. Punchlines are all about delivery.

Is… is the joke that Khonshu heard Ben was planning on a suit and figured he could beat Ben to the punch? He could have picked a different blessing, but when given the option of one-upping Ben at the same time…

>Cover blown
>”Oh god, please don’t tell Huntsman I called him my guardian. He’s already joked about being my ‘real one’ since I met him first and he will NEVER let me live it down if he hears about it.”

But retcons are cheap in the comicverse so that’s smarter.

>>6208006
Don’t forget we had to call on a nuclear-powered phone just to get cell service here.

>>6207958
>>6207963
>>6208006
>>6208204
So it looks like the only unanimous vote is:
>"I can always bring you down here next time. The Monster Metropolis isn't going anywhere."

Should we proceed with this? There are also the options of combining certain write-ins, or supporting someone else's write-in.

>>6208204
That'd honestly be a really funny way for her to find out. It fits, with her discovering Cindy's secret identity by accident.

>>6208843
i'm cool with adding other stuff

>>6208843
Same, I’m always up for more snarking. Combining is fine.

>>6208848
>>6208876
>>6207958
>>6207963
>>6208006
>>6208204
Taking and combining...

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After a healthy amount of guilt-tripping, your ironclad will caved in before you even realized what was going on.

The sigh you let out after coming to a decision on the matter was long, and at least a little bit genuine.

“Fiiiine. I've, uh, never taken a friend to visit my family before, and now I have a grandmother living down here.” you explained, sounding more bashful than you would have liked. “Would visiting her down here be enough of a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience for you?”

“That’d be…really nice, actually.” she replied, her voice warm with sincerity.

The two of you basked in that tender little moment for a few seconds longer, until Wanda couldn't take it anymore.

“I mean, it's a start. The next time you forget to keep me in the loop, you might be the one who needs rescuing.”

“Wanda, I was bitten by a talking dog owned by my very alive grandmother, got fake rescued from school by a superhero, and then got kidnapped by my very alive, actual mother. When exactly was I supposed to send you an invite to my family trauma-dump?” you said, trying not to sound too snippy.

“Oh, great! And I missed the talking dog!?” she blurted out, positively fuming now. “Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that it tells jokes!”

“Actually, he didn’t really have much of a sense of humor.” you admitted.

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better…!”

“No, I really mean it. He barely made me giggle!” you lied, not wanting to mention the conversations you had about the books you’ve read. “Besides, I was mostly too busy fighting for my life to appreciate the novelty of it.”

“Weren’t too busy to invite your foster dad, though...” Wanda said, still sounding a bit butthurt.

You scoffed at her.

“I didn't invite him, he just showed up at-”

Wait. What did she just say? And, for that matter, what did you almost say?

“At my school. He showed up at my school, after I got bit. He was really worried about me.” you corrected.

“Uh-huh…” Wanda said, her tone far less sulky, and far too knowing. “You know, I tried getting in contact with him too, but it keeps sending me back to voicemail. I sure hope you called him before you called me. I can't imagine what must be going through his head right about now.”

“Yeah, I…talked to him a few minutes ago.” you said, hoping you sounded casual in using your little white lie to throw Wanda off your scent. “It's a good thing that talking dog bit me, or I'd be grounded for like…a whole year.”

Your laugh sounded fake, even to your own ears.

“I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, you guys did meet up after he beat up that--what was it you said? A ‘giant iguana’, right?”

(Cont.)

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Your eyes went wide, and you mentally reviewed your retelling of the story so far. Had you really been stupid enough to use Ben's real name while telling your story?

“I never said that.” you denied.

“Yeah, you absolutely did.” Wanda persisted.

“Are you sure you didn't mishear?” you insisted. “I mean, I am talking to you from a nuclear-powered phone in what might be another dimension. There's bound to be some connectivity issues. Like, does anyone even know how 5G works?”

Another fake laugh escapes your lips, and it becomes increasingly obvious that you're not fooling Wanda. She's always so easy to distract most of the time, too. Why'd she choose now to get all insightful?

You groaned, and ran a hand down your face. You would have to double down on the lie, it seemed.

“Oh god, this is so embarrassing…” you muttered through the gaps in your fingers. “Can you please not tell the Huntsman thay I called him my guardian? He's been joking about how he's my real guardian because he met me first, and he will NEVER let me live this down if he ever finds out.”

“Wuuuuut…?”

Wanda was momentarily at a loss for words, which urged you to keep up the lie.

“I know, it's stupid. Sometimes when I'm not paying attention, I'll get the two of them mixed up in conversation, and it makes things super confusing.” you explained, hoping your little act was convincing enough to get Wanda to back off.

“Soooo, the Huntsman isn't your foster father.” Wanda said, not phrasing it as a question, but her tone implying that she was still doubting you.

“Believe me, things would be so much easier at home if he was.” you said with a sigh.

“But I thought…nevermind. Sorry I brought it up.”

You ignored the twinge of guilt you felt at having to lie to your friend again.

“It's fine. What's one more mind-blowing family-related revelation?”

“At least you've got a decent excuse for skipping class this time.” Wanda chuckled. “Remember to call Night Nurse for a doctor's note later.”

You winced, realizing that you would have to drop by the clinic and explain why you removed your cast and boot earlier than ordered.

“Right. Thanks for the reminder. Could you, uh…”

“Carlie's helping me copy the notes you missed, and I'm already generating a slightly overdue literary analysis report for you using AI.” she reported.

“No…I'll do the report. Mrs. Warner's been cracking down on that kind of stuff ever since half the class handed in assignments without proofreading them. Gimme a QRD.”

“You've got math homework. Pages 73-76 on that slim, flimsy workbook.”

“73…73. I remember those formulas.”

(Cont.)

You were searching yourself for a writing utensil that you knew you didn't have, when you noticed the tip of your right pointer finger growing darker. You frowned, and touched the face of your finger to your thumb. A dark strand of black goo now connected the two fingers, and a quick sniff allowed you to easily identify the substance.

“This is ink dye…!”

Just above the mark you made on your arm, Mercy’s eyes appeared, blinking several times as if she were a drawing that had come to life.

“What was that?” Wanda asked.

“N-nothing. I just found something to write with.” you said, pressing the tip of your finger to your arm. The ink stained Mercy's bandages through several layers as you used it to write out the formulas from your workbook.

You could work on solving them later. The hard part would be finding time to write that report for your literature class before you passed out from exhaustion.

“Doctor's note, math homework, lit analysis.” Wanda recapped. “You've got two more assignments that're due tomorrow, but I think we can push for late acceptance considering everything that's happened. You probably won't even have any points taken off.”

“Thanks, Wanda. You're a lifesaver.”

“Just don't forget to invite me along next time! It never hurts to have a ‘lifesaver’ in your corner.”

What will you say?

>"Just don't blame me if you get stepped on while Grandma's giving us the tour. The traffic down here is scarier than the actual monsters."
>"Remind me to speed up the process on your new suit. If you're gonna make a good first impression on my grandmother, it probably won't be while you're wearing that bathing suit you call a costume."
>"Have you made any progress on that 'vigilante post board' app you mentioned before? I don't think either of us have any experience with coding."
>"Actually, I was thinking we could go shopping after this. With Mercy here, I'm gonna save a ton of closet space and diversify my wardrobe while I'm at it!"
>Write-in.

>>6209364
>>"Remind me to speed up the process on your new suit. If you're gonna make a good first impression on my grandmother, it probably won't be while you're wearing that bathing suit you call a costume."

>>6209364
>>"Remind me to speed up the process on your new suit. If you're gonna make a good first impression on my grandmother, it probably won't be while you're wearing that bathing suit you call a costume."

>>6209364
>"Remind me to speed up the process on your new suit. If you're gonna make a good first impression on my grandmother, it probably won't be while you're wearing that bathing suit you call a costume."
>"Have you made any progress on that 'vigilante post board' app you mentioned before? I don't think either of us have any experience with coding."
Of all the things Khonshu can bless us with, computer science aptitude probably isn’t one of them.

>>6209414
>>6209456
>>6209750
>"Remind me to speed up the process on your new suit. If you're gonna make a good first impression on my grandmother, it probably won't be while you're wearing that bathing suit you call a costume."

Taking these. Writing...

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“Do me a favor and remind me to speed up the process on your new suit. If you’re gonna make a good first impression on my grandmother, it probably won’t be while you’re wearing that bathing suit you call a costume.”

“Hey! That’s an iconic ‘Phantom Blonde’ original prototype suit. After I get my new suit, I’m sure I’ll look back fondly at the times I wore it out in the field.”

“You only wore it like a handful of times.” you said, leaning your shoulder against a nearby wall.

“Come on. Don’t pretend like you never made a prototype suit.”

“I…that’s besides the point.” you argued, feeling your cheeks growing hot. “You and Huntsman are completely obsessed with costumes.”

”Sounds like a man of refined taste.” Wanda commented. “I am gonna have the biggest superhero wardrobe once I make my big debut. But I’ve still gotta establish my fanbase first, so consistency is key for my rookie years.”

From the way this conversation was going, you could tell that she was about to go on something of a tangent. Without even meaning to, you were almost mentally checked out of the conversation, when you sensed motion behind you.

You pushed off the wall and spun around, only to find James openly approaching you, his visor and gloves missing.

“Oh, sorry. Is now a bad time?” he asked.

“Oh, no! It's totally fine.” you insisted.

“Oooh~! Is that James~?” Wanda cooed.

You hit the end call button before she could say anything else.

“Was that okay? It sounded like your friend was still talking.”

“I'll just tell her that I lost connection.” you said with a shrug. “So, what's up?”

James craned his head back until he was staring into the sky.

“I do not see anything.”

You just barely manage to suppress a giggle as you shake your head.

“No, I mean ‘what do you need’?”

“Oh! I just wanted to thank you for saving us back at the summit. You barely knew any of us, and you still chose to help us, even after Ward tried to kill you.” he said, sounding genuinely impressed by you. “I knew those rumors couldn’t be true.”

“I'm not half as bad once you get to know me.” you said with a teasing smile.

“I believe you.” he said, without a hint of sarcasm.

His earnest attitude made you feel a little embarrassed, and you shuffled your feet awkwardly.

“To be completely honest with you, I came over here for another reason.” James said, looking a little nervous himself.

“You did…?” you asked expectantly.

He nodded.

“There is something that neither I nor Wilhelmina has told you.” he admitted. “Not because we don't trust you, but I assume that she wanted to be the one to tell you in person.”

“What’s wrong?”

(Cont.)

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“Varnae has three other collaborators.” he said, a serious look in his eye. “One is a Limbo Demon known as Belasco.”

Your expression immediately turned grave, and you stopped your nervous fidgeting.

“The current ruler of Limbo!?”

James nodded seriously.

“The very same one.”

“Why would a Vampire Lord and the Ruler of Limbo suddenly decide to team up? Is it just to make my life harder?”

“I'm afraid it's much worse than that.” James said, shaking his head. “Varnae needs Belasco in order for his plan to work. As Ruler of Limbo, he holds dominion over the soul of nearly every deceased vampire.”

You frowned at him at first, but your brain eventually processed what he was trying to tell you.

“No…”

“Varnae doesn't just want to include every living vampire in this war. He wishes to bring back every vampire who's ever lived, and place them under his control.” James explained.

Every single one!? That'd be…the end of the world!

Judging by the look James was giving you, he understood that you were able to grasp the gravity of this situation.

“You said he has three collaborators.” you said through bloodless lips. “I'm assuming one of them is a guy called Skul?”

“How did you know?” he asked.

“Just a hunch.” you said dryly. “And who's the other one?”

James stared down at his feet, looking ashamed for reasons that only he understood. You gave him as much time as he needed.

“The third collaborator is a mutant scientist by the name of Hank McCoy. And…biologically, I am his son.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“‘Biologically’?”

“I am his clone.” he revealed. “He created me from his own DNA, and that of The Wolverine.”

His raised a fist, and three long, jagged bone claws ripped their way out from between his knuckles. The process seemed to visibly cause him pain, and you stared in wonder as his blood trailed down the ivory blades and onto his hand.

The sight must have put Mercy on edge, because you could feel her coiling to strike.

What will you say?

>”We need to tell the others. Like, right now.”
>”Wait, you said your dad is Hank McCoy? The big blue fuzzy guy that's on the X-Men!? You do look a lot like him.”
>”How're Varnae and Belasco planning on reviving that many vampires? That shouldn't be possible, even for them.”
>”What's your dad's role as a collaborator? Why does Varnae need him?”
>”James, this is really important. How close are they to accomplishing their goal?”
>Write-in.

>>6210418
>>”We need to tell the others. Like, right now.”
Motherfucking mutant Henry Kissinger, kid you got it rough. Logan why haven't you killed the blue fuck already

>>6210418
>”We need to tell the others. Like, right now.”

>>6210418
>”We need to tell the others. Like, right now.”
>”Wait, you said your dad is Hank McCoy? The big blue fuzzy guy that's on the X-Men!? How much do they know about this?”
Huntsman does have an in with the X-Men, so he’ll need to know if/how to best use that in light of this.

If James has any concerns about how Huntsman would react to him being a clone, tell him both of us have experience with various clone types. One of them is a man-sized chicken scientist. We can set up a support group for him later.

>>6210456
>>6210660
>>6210783
>”We need to tell the others. Like, right now.”

Taking these. Writing...

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You reached out and squeezed his arm, causing him to flinch.

“We need to tell the others. Like, right now.” you urged, looking him directly in the eyes.

James took a halting breath, but nodded his agreement.

—---------

Due to James’ summary being mercifully brief, and Ben’s tendency to dominate a conversation, you managed to catch every Monster Council member before they left. And, with your help, he was able to neatly recap everything he had just told you.

At the revelation of Varnae’s true goal, everyone immediately began to argue over whether what he was doing was possible in the first place. Predictably, however, Ben was the first to break up the flow of the conversation when he was asked directly what he thought about everything.

“Huh? Sorry, but I’m seriously having trouble getting the image of Beast and Wolverine bumping uglies out of my head.” he said, running a hand down his mask.

Everyone turned to look at him, and you had to have Mercy cover your mouth so no one could see the grin forming on your face. Your group had decided to relocate to a nearby inn so that you weren't causing a scene outside. It was hard enough just getting here without creating a massive traffic jam.

Ward had decided to buy the place out for the night, with what you could only identify as an assortment of colorful gemstones. With the room to yourselves, you had all decided to spread out a bit. Harpy had flown up to the rafters, and was watching the precession from above. She was scarfing down a potful of some seafood dish that the chef had cooked up before being asked to leave.

Ward and Carn had taken opposite sides of the room, each their backs pressed against a wall so that they didn't have any blind spots. Delphyne, having already taken back her phone, was busy typing out the contents of the conversation. You were surprised to find out that she wasn’t just texting her boyfriend this entire time.

And sitting at the main table, which was just two tables pushed together, were you, Ben, Ana, Grandma Young, James, Deadhead, and oddly enough, Simon Garth.

Deadhead was openly glaring at the zombie with only half a head, but you also had to acknowledge that his helmet had always possessed a perpetual frown. And, even though the merc was responsible for him only having half a head, the Zombie Prince didn’t seem too bent out of shape about it.

On a similar note, Young wasn’t too bothered by the zombie’s presence, despite the fact that he had been trying to kill her earlier today. Instead, she was calmly sipping tea and listening to everyone speak.

“This ‘Beast’,” Ana began, doing a much better job at composing herself than you were. “He is a prestigious scientist, correct?”

“One of the brightest minds in the world, I heard.” Ben added. “I just can't wrap my head around why an X-Man would want to help a vampire end the world.”

(Cont.)

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“I've heard tales of Varnae, and I know Belasco personally.” Young chimed in. She was in far better shape than she had been after coming out of the portal. “If they are working together at all, it should be cause for concern, regardless of whether their plan has a chance of working.”

“How did my sister end up catching wind of this plot?” Ward asked.

“She never said. She was the one to approach me with her plan.” James said.

“And what was her plan exactly?” Delphyne inquired.

“She wanted me to find a way to save Ward, but that's all I know.” you volunteered.

“We weren’t totally sure how many of these guys weren’t compromised.” Deadhead explained. “And since we weren’t sure who we could trust, the plan was to pull her brother out, and figure out the rest as things developed. Once she found out that she could trust you, she changed her plan to include you.”

“So…she wants me to be the one to take down Varnae? Wouldn’t things be easier if we all ganged up on him all at once?” you said.

“That goes without saying.” Delphyne agreed. A quick glance at her Honor Guard told you that they felt the same. “What I wanna know is what this scientist is hoping to gain.”

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“The professor was incredibly secretive about his work, but he did appoint me to aid in his genetic experiments. Varnae has been asking him to breed monsters with particular genetic traits, so that Skul can add them to his growing army. The creature that attacked the Metropolis earlier today was his doing.”

Young nearly choked on her tea.

“That horrible creature was made in a lab!?”

“Yes.” James confirmed, maintaining his straightforward manner of speaking. “Not only that, but he has also been breeding mutant clone hybrids to defend himself, just in case the others attempt to betray him.”

“So he’s making mutants and monsters in his lab to…do what exactly?” you asked, leaning forward in your chair.

“Dunno.” Deadhead shrugged, his gun resting on the table in front of him. “The guy didn’t even trust his own son enough to tell him.”

“There is one thing that I can tell you all for sure.” James said.

Everyone turned to face him.

“Whatever my creator is doing down here, he is not acting with the permission or approval of the other mutants. More than that, I have gotten the impression that he is purposely avoiding contact with them.”

“So he’s acting in secret, then.” Ben concluded. “I wonder what the X-Men would think of their dubious little doctor growing a bunch of mutants in test tubes. No offense.”

He directed that last part at James.

(Cont.)

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“You can insult me however you like, so long as you can help me shut down that lab.” James insisted. “I fear that the doctor has been doing more than just making his own mutants.”

“What do you mean?” you asked.

James closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. His jaw worked, as if he was still chewing over the words that he couldn’t quite get out.

“Sometimes…I hear…screams.” he finally said. “Somewhere deeper into the lab. I don’t have access to it, and it’s heavily guarded.”

“They have hostages.” Carnelian inferred.

“It’s more than that…!”

James sounded like he was getting a little choked up here.

“The screams—their voices…” he murmured. “Some of them sounded…’young’.”

Young gasped, and Ben leaned closer, his features no doubt darkening under that mask.

“James…are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure. I can never forget what I heard.” he declared, a trail of blood trickling from one of his clenched fists.

You placed a hand on his arm, and you felt some of the tension leave his muscles. Was he really telling the truth? You weren’t calling him a liar, but you just couldn’t think of a reason for why an X-Man would go so far as to experiment on children.

Ben nodded once and folded his hands in front of him.

“I think we should call Callisto.” Ben offered.

Ana made a slight face, but no one else saw it.

“Who’s that?” Young asked.

“A friend of ours.” you answered. “She’s the leader of a group of mutants called the Morlocks.”

“I just think that since this involves mutant stuff, she should be included in our operation.” Ben argued.

“I say we bring this to the Kaiju King.” Young suggested. “His support will be invaluable in thwarting Varnae’s plans. Especially if this Beast has been breeding monsters for them.”

“And mutants.” Ben chimed in.

“I can get behind that idea.” Delphyne said.

Carn and Ward muttered their agreement, and the Zombie Prince groaned, his mutilated head sagging so low that it was almost touching the table. Deadhead was still eyeing him warily.

“What kind of opposition can we expect?” Ana said, idly scratching at her neck. You guess anyone with a cloak that fuzzy would get itchy every now and again.

“Skul’s forces number in the hundreds,” James began. “But the biggest threats we face have been engineered by my creator.”

“And just one of those was enough to trash the city.” you observed.

“I’m not too thrilled about fighting an army of those things.” Ben said, shuddering at the thought.

“Don’t worry. If my message makes it back to my people, they’ll be ready to fight this Vampire Lord.” Delphyne assured you. “The Amazons will stand beside you.”

(Cont.)

You gave her a grateful nod, and a few of her snakes returned the gesture.

“You will also have the support of the Were tribes.” Carnelian declared from his place in the corner of the room, before turning to glance meaningfully in Ward's direction.

The vampire favored him with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"As you well know, obtaining the support of all five families is no small task. It will take me an entire human's lifetime to get my point across without sounding like a madman." he said with a clear look of disgust. "If my sister has planned this far, there is no doubt that she has at least rallied the support of some-"

"Actually, she said that she would be entrusting you with that responsibility." James informed him.

Ward let out a long, suffering sigh.

"Of course she is. Mina is famously terrible at public speaking, after all..." he said, running a hand through his pale gray hair. "Very well. I will call an emergency meeting and explain everything to the best of my ability."

"Thank you." you and Young said at the same time.

"Don't thank me. We all have a stake in this upcoming battle." Ward replied.

"Great point. Just...maybe don't lead with that at the big vampire meet." Ben advised. "Something tells me it won't go over well."

Ward rolled his eyes so hard that you thought they might roll up into the back of his skull.

"I swear. Everyone always thinks they're so clever with the vampire jokes." he grumbled.

What will you say/do?

>Use Delphyne's phone to call someone. (Who?)
>"Now that the Zombie Prince has calmed down, can we expect the zombies to side with us too?"
>Request the Red Harpy's help. If she needs money, then maybe she and Ben can work something out.
>Agree with Young's suggestion to bring this to the Kaiju King's attention.
>Write-in.