Samandra looked ahead, “A fascist is a fascist; the way I see it is you’re either fighting against them, already dead, or about to be dead.” She said bluntly. “That’s the way it’s got to be, even if someone helps to get food, they should starve or flee the country.” She continued. “If Aerlanica wants to be free, that’s how it has to be. Absolutely no mercy, not to friends, family, or countrymen.”
New Franco He smiled as he kissed her, caressing her body
Luca nods. “Yeah, it looks better on you with the strap, highlights your ankles. Which are fantastic, by the way.” Kenji rolls his eyes, giving an apologetic glance to Corali. “Ignore him, he’s too in his element.” Luca scoffs. “You’re just jealous because your ankles look like they belong on a duck.”
Paul smiles. “I really appreciate it.”
He finds Lucas Cole in his apartment on the top floor of the tallest building in Kansas, watching “CSI: Kitten City” on quite possibly the biggest television he’s ever seen. (Also, Noelle probably wouldn’t be on the list of people Lyn is close to, since they haven’t talked in years. Or she might be listed as her sister but they’re not close at all. Which is why Lyn went to her in the first place.)
Kiki leads them towards the Waffle River tribe.
Ace blushes slightly. “Hey, sometimes it’s hard to say something like that out loud.” She shakes her head. “Besides, you’ve never said anything to him.”
Mikalan has set himself up where he has a clean shot to Luca, he lines the boy up in his sight and fires his shot
The shot is silent, and if anyone was in the room with Luca all they heard was glass breaking and a body hit the floor, the shot went straight through Luca’s skull, an instant kill.
"if that is what you believe, I will not dispute it." Ian said, obviously keeping something to himself. This caused Mi-Kal to look over his shoulder briefly at Ian to see him looking out the window, seemingly in thought. Samandra saw this to. Perhaps he knew he was outvoted and wasn't bothering saying more? Perhaps he thought something different. And perhaps he believed in what they were saying, but didn't want to admit it.
New Franco
Clara smiled. "Anything you need me to do to help?"
The companions, a la tolkein, follow the queen, Tsarina herself spends time with Connie to look at the sights and scenery of this region of Kansas, giving a few squeezes to Connie's hands as they walked. As for Harold, he joyously entertained Nathan and Corey, with help from Darcy of course, about various places in the Waffle Valley, and what they had learned or experienced there. And William, ever the overcareful partner to Kiki, ensured an eye out for both Kiki and Blue, remembering tales of the airport, and not wanting repetition of such events, especially if he had something to say about it.
******
Eastrid shook her head. "It is not...right? yes, it is not right for me to do that; he is a man, and he needs to choose me. I want him to choose me before another man chooses me. Then he will take me to his home where I will stay, and give him many children. I need to show that I am strong, and can give him many children."
Ace stared at Eastrid. "Eastrid...this...this isn't ancient Aerlanic-"
"I am Palaric."
"This isn't ancient Palaric either...you can...you-" Ace pointed to Eastrid, "-choose who you want to be with...you have to consent to it."
"Consent? what does that mean?"
Ace blinked a few times. "It means you have to agree to something."
"Oh, pravynya, like...like agree!" Eastrid said, smiling and happy she figured it out, "Co...con-sen-tah...Pravynya!"
Eastrid nodded. "Well, then I will look attractive, so when I ask him, he will pravynya, and then I will mother his children."
Paul smiles. “Ah, that would be great. Can’t really live with my brother anymore...”
No one else is in the room with Luca; he dies alone.
The walk is fairly uneventful, aside from Connie having to stop and throw up twice, and the group arrives at the waterfall just as a light drizzle of rain starts up.
Casey shakes her head. “It’s not so much about having kids. I’m not even sure Ken wants kids... that’s probably something to ask him about. But... being together is about... being together. Being partners, helping each other with everything. Like, equals. You’re both the same.”
Mi-Kal continued to drive up the mountain pass, they were getting closer to the patrol station and Samandra activated her gauntlets, a blue color emitted from them.
New Franco Golgoth smiled, “Well, just having you exist helps a lot.” He said.
Samandra nods her head, “Of course! It would be awkward, I’ll call them real quick and check and see if they have a room available!” She said
Beyondverse Mikalan enters the room of the now dead Luca and surveys the scene, he grabs Luca’s phone and sends Kira a message,
”No matter where you go, you cannot hide from the fury that awaits you.”
Once at the waterfall, Harold smiles. "Ah...a beautiful place...well, I better go in an apologise...Miss Darcy?"
"Yes Mr Harold?"
"You know the drill."
"Of Course, Mr Harold."
He began to take off his pack and take out some swimwear, seemingly recently purchased. He then curled behind a tree to get changed. Meanwhile, Darcy produced a one piece swinsuit as she clambered up the tree to place their bags in a high branch, seemingly out of sight from any passers by.
"I...I think I should...Probably go in as well." William said, offering Blue to Kiki and taking out a pair of board shorts."
******
Eastrid took a while to grasp this concept. "Partners?"
"Yes...equals."
Eastrid frowned, her brow furrowed. "I am confused..."
Ian looked for landmarks before tapping Mi-Kal on the shoulder. "Pull off here; there should be one around the bend."
It was a good position to have a chokepoint; the mountains rose high on either side of the road, leaving what amounted to a pathetic excuse of a valley; only about fourty meters of flat ground was there, while the craggy cliffs and steep inclines rose up towards two large mountains on either side of them.
As they scouted, sure enough, they saw a collection of five Aerlanicans, malnourished, and dressed in dark grey fatigues. They were looking out towards the exit of the pass, and did not see Mi-Kal or Samandra as they scouted. There were some prefabricated defences and sandbags, and the soldiers were armed with ballistic weaponry. There were a few tents as well, most likely where they slept.
******
New Franco
Clara smiled and hugged him. "Till death do us part."
Elanor nodded. "I...I'll be honest I don't have much experience...sorry...but...I'll try...we can go back to my room...I suppose."
******
"Dandcar Mountains...hmm...where abouts would they-"
A flicker of the air signalled the arrival of another Succubi. She had a smile on her face, wore what ammounted to a black mechanics jumpsuit, had bovine horns and pale white skin while her black hair was pulled back.
"Hello Mistress." She murmured.
"Ah, Harmony...glad to see you back here...where abouts would the Dandcar Mountains be?"
Harmony frowned. "That'd be...Tyramon maybe?"
She slung her backpack off of her back and reached into it, producing a large map that shouldn't have fit inside the bag. She walked over to the table and rolled out the plastic, showing a detailed map of the entirety of Augusta.
"Tyramon, Tyramon, Tyramon...ah, here we go...that'd be in the North West-sorry, North East...right there." She said as a finger planted themselves over the landmark.
"Thank you, Harmony, you are dismissed."
She slipped the map back into her bag, and slung it onto her back. "Thank you Mistress, Have a nice night."
She left the hall.
"Well...Witta, are you ready to leave?"
** *** **
Vara watched as Harmony appeared and approached her. "Hey, Henrin's ok and he got the letter...even asked me to join up...you never told me he was a sweetheart." Harmony said with a smile.
(You know the idea that Shunni went dark because of the resets? What if something similar is happening to Kyra, which led to her becoming Nightstalker? She was abused as a child as well, which is what led to her becoming Nightstalker in the first place) Nightstalker went back to Shunni's taking off her mask. She looked at the woman in the mirror, leaning on the sink. Virtually unrecognizable from the girl she's been years ago, in college for law school. Now she was the deadliest human on the planet, wanted by every police force in this universe. "What the hell happened?" She murmured to herself. "All the other versions of me are scientists, and I'm...what? The villain in the tale?"
Thomas smiled back.
(Sure, yeah) Kara was left confused, even as she boarded her flight. She'd picked up the picture, but Noelle was gone.
Kyra snuggled close.
"Hey. You ok?" Casey asked.
Beyondverse Kara groaned. "No...go away." she muttered
The young girl led Alice through the Palance, down a few purple carpeted corridors, and into a small, but cozy, room. There was a wardrobe across the left wall, while a double bed was pressed up against the far wall beneath a large window with it's curtains currently closed. A dresser was present at the end of the bed, while two end tables were on either side of the bed. A few plants were scattered around on shelves, while some vines climbed over the walls. A door was to the right, most likely leading to a bathroom. Some nick-nacks were littered across various surfaces.
"Well," Elanor said, "Here we are...my room."
******
Nelly grasped Witta's hand delicately.
"Stay safe Witta." Harry said with a wave.
"Yeah...haha, send us a letter." Lorenzo said with a laugh.
And with that, with a breeze that blew past them, Witta saw her vision grow blurry as bits and pieces of her vision seemingly blew away, like a wet piece of paper in a strong gust of wind. It was replaced, in piece meal, by the early morning vision of the Dandcar Mountains, the mountain range a familiar and comfortable sight.
"Sorry about the collar," Nelly said, tugging on the piece of metal around Witta's neck, "I'll see if I can't find anyone to break that off...maybe Iblion's son, wherever he is."
Witta sighed. "He is dead...Iblion killed him." She explained.
Nelly's mouth opened slightly, for a few moments, she tried to find some words of comfort. "I...I'm sorry...I...there's little I can say to help."
She looked out across the expanse. "Maybe your witch friends?" Nelly suggested.
******
"Aww, come on...he's really sweet...I asked him out for drinks when all this is over."
"Drinks?"
"Yeah, make him a cool paper crane as well...hopefully I didn't come off as wierd."
"No...Harmony, Henrin's Tyramonian; they don't drink alcohol."
Harmony frowned. "Oh...right."
She raised her eyebrows. "Tell that to Ophelia though." She murmured.
Alice nodded. "It's nice." She turned to Elanor. "Well? Shall we get on with this?"
******
Witta nodded. "Yes...perhaps...but that depends on any protections there may be. It may be impossible...but I hope not."
******
"Well...I suppose there are always exceptions. Or perhaps she does it purely out of spite for the rules. I wouldn't be surprised, and she wouldn't be the only one to do that, either."
Mi-Kal and Samandra nodded to each other, and Samandra stood up and began walking towards the outpost. She activated her gauntlets and crafted a sword, she also activated her shields which could repeal most basic weapon fire. She might’ve been out-numbered, but she was going to make quick work of these guys
New Franco Golgoth smiled, “You’ve never seemed the type to want to settle down with one person.” He chuckled
(Luna didn’t answer Yumi’s question XD; and I really like what you’re saying about Kyra, it makes sense)
“I’ve been feeling the same way love…” Shunni said, standing in the doorway behind Kyra, “Every other version of me is one of if not the smartest person on the planet.” She let out a sigh, “And here I am stuck being little more than a common wh*re.” She said as she walked up to Kyra, and put her arms around Kyra’s waist, “At the very least, we’ve got each other.”
Lyn sees the message on her phone, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
Ken snorts. “Way to go, Luca, you’ve scared her.” “What? She has nice ankles. It’s my job to notice people’s features, that’s why I’m Sienna’s personal designer.” Ken rolls his eyes again.
Kiki nods. “You should take Nathan too, he’s going to get restless just sitting out here. I can go too, if you want, or stay here with Blue.”
“Like...” Casey shrugs. “You take care of each other. Support each other.”
Macy takes another bite of her food.
Noelle cries softly as she stares out the window of the plane she’s on, watching the airport disappear into the distance.
Kira wraps an arm around her, holding her close.
Gracie shrugs. “I guess so...”
“Noelle?” Lyn calls out softly. Noelle slowly sits up, her face drawn up in confusion.
Samandra smiles, “You’re welcome!” She says as she walks away and begins making a call
“This is George, and you’ve reached the Great Waffle Apartments, how can I help you?” Came a voice over the phone
“Yes George it’s me Samandra, I have a client that needs a place to stay. Until he can get back on his feet, he just spent a few months in jail for a crime he didn’t commit I was wondering could you take him in” Samandra said
Beyondverse Mikalan then exited Luca’s apartment, leaving everything how it was. He also was able to use Luca’s phone to track Kira, as well as find other potential targets. He grabbed his rifle and fled into the night as police (that he called) arrived at Luca’s house.
Elanor nodded slowly. "Ok...I'll...I'll try my best I suppose."
(Fade to black)
******
As Delegata dismissed the other Succubi, Lithalia approached with Crag in tow. "Hello there, Mistress...I trust my girls were obedient?"
******
Nelly nodded. "No point in giving up without even trying...might as well give it a shot."
Nelly gave Witta a tap on her shoulder, before summoning a small bag with a few bottles of water, two sandwiches, a compass and a torch.
"Well, I'm not going to let you go out and get yourself killed," She stated, her voice taking on a motherly tone, "take care of yourself, easy on the steep cliffs, and pace yourself; it's a marathon, not a sprint.
"If you need anything-" She kissed Witta quickly on the forehead, "-just call my name and I'll try to get to you as soon as I can, ok?"
*******
"How do you stand on these afformentioned and enigmatic rules?" Harmony asked, letting her hair down and unbuttoning her jumpsuit slightly. "I mean, I know there's the whole, "Gotta wear long clothes" and "Avoid alcohol" sort of stuff but like...what else is there?"
Ian exited the car, and rested on the bonnet to watch how the situation transpired. Before they left, he lit a cigarette. "Before you head off...I would say something about the rules of engagement...but then again there isn't anyone to really hold us accountable, so it's all in your hands Mi-Kal."
*** ** ***
The soldiers didn't exactly notice her or Mi-Kal, however they looked up to see them. They raised an eyebrow and waved a hand, and looked to be about to call something (most likely a demand for an explaination, or a request to disarm and co-operate). However, upon seeing Mi-Kal and Samandra advance towards them aggressively, with weapons drawn, their faces grew pale.
The head of this troupe, a female, gasped briefly as her hand tumbled from her grasp. "Look...look please, we can sort this out," She began, her voice saturated with fear, "We can just...look we can just work this out, ok? you can just...look we'll give you what you want. Food? you can have our rations. Guns? take them...just...please...please don't-"
"You betrayed Aerlanica." Mi-Kal stated simply.
"We didn't have a choice...what were we supposed to to? let them kill us? let our families starve?"
New Franco
Clara smirked, rolled her eyes, and sighed. "Caught me red handed; guilty as charged."
Mi-Kal looked at them with fire in his eyes, and with a voice that sounded like the deepest pits of hell opening up to consume them, he only told them this, “Far better for you that you had starved; then betray Aerlanica and have to face my wrath.” He screamed as he lunged towards her, grabbing her by the face. A brilliant light shined around him, brighter than the midday sun. The leader screamed, begged him to stop, but Mi-Kal didn’t, channeling the latent Dark Elf abilities within him prevented him from stopping. Channeling his inner erulani, he was heating up the air around him; this caused the aura. It was also causing the leaders face to burn, until he dropped her. Her face was burnt to at least the bone, and her brain was fried, she was dead.
The other soliders met a much less gruesome fate, as Samandra with sword drawn hacked through them fairly easily. Any bullets they tried to shoot were reflected off of her shields. They had no counter for the Gondorians preferred weapon, nor for her agressive fighting style.
The small contingent of soliders lay dead around Mi-Kal and Samandra, the entire engagement lasting less than three minutes.
New Franco Golgoth smirked, “What made you decide that I was the one?” He asked as he kissed her, “My god-like physique? My charm and wit? My ease with pleasure?” He asked teasingly
Corali had zoned out, and was looking at her hands as she slowly rubbed her forefinger against her thumb. Her fingers were starting to look discolored, some parts starting to look white and others starting to look black.
Alice nodded.
(Yup, fade to black.)
Afterwards, Alice sighed. "You're...not bad, you know."
******
Delegata nodded. "Indeed they were-" she tilted her head, "-but I'm guessing that is not why you came so quickly, is it?"
******
Witta was a bit taken aback by the kiss. "Uh, yeah, I will. But I shall be fine for now. I know these mountains well, don't worry."
******
"Well, I am fine with people wearing whatever they want - why should I care? I do agree with the avoiding of alcohol, though. Alcohol blurs the senses, blurs judgement - it isn't something that a population should be using. As for other rules, I suppose which rules are odd depends on your point of view. Same-sex couples are not allowed as they are seen to reduce the number of opposite-sex couples, which has an obvious population-related argument, but no other actual reasoning. Abortion is viewed as murder, again because Tyramon's leaders seek to increase the population. Drugs in general are not allowed for basically the same reasons as alcohol. The general population is not allowed access to firearms so as to avoid the possibility of a rebellion." Vara shrugged. "That's all that comes to mind."
No bullets flied. The soldiers merely tried to run before they were cut down. Some tried to plead for their lives promising to leave and never return before they were slain.
After this had transpired, they saw another face, frightful, emerge from the tents to see them. It was another soldier, about as young as eighteen or nineteen. He locked eyes with Mi-Kal and immediately stood up into a run only to trip over a piece of wreckage from a troop carrier. He landed awkwardly, his ankle twisting in a gruesome manner causing him to scream.
He then curled onto his back and began crawling away, awkwardly at that. As he did so, Mi-Kal heard footsteps behind him, and heard a heart beat.
"He's running...well...crawling towards the other checkpoints." Ian said, blowing a plume of smoke out of his mouth to mingle with that rising off of the woman, and adding tobacco smoke to the scent of charred flesh. "You going to let him go?"
Without waiting for an answer, he began to pat down the body of the woman, and found his way to a wallet. "I'll be taking this...might have some beer money." He murmured.
New Franco
Clara smiled, and kissed him. "Because you're nice to me, treat me good, and I feel like I can trust you."
"Well...who want's to stay out here with Blue? I think it'd be helpful if Kiki was here with us." Nathan murmured.
"I'm happy to volunteer," Tsarina said, "I mean...I got to learn how to do it because of...people...but ah...yeah, might as well get started."
******
Eastrid nodded. "Ok...but...he is hunter and worker, I tend the house, yes? raise children?"
"Not...necessarily, you can get a job as well."
"But who tends the house?"
"Both of you."
Eastrid frowned. "This is...un...understandable a bit...but why? are men and women equal?"
Elanor grimaced. "Yeah...well...I never wanted this..." She murmured, "I just...I had a normal life, I never wanted this."
******
Lithalia paused, then nodded. "Yes...I...you said you could give me more children?"
She rubbed her belly once more. "it is such a beautiful...beautifully painful thing...the..." she let out a slight shiver of delight, "the pain...it's unlike i've ever felt...so complete...so...delectible...and the child? so beautiful...so wonderful...so sweet."
******
Nelly nodded. "Stay safe, Witta, and remember, I'll always try to help you."
A gust of wind carried long dead leaves with it. They whipped around Nelly, before she too formed into leaves, and was scattered to the wind.
******
Harmony nodded slowly. "Sounds like a mess of a place...then again, if everyones dying from radiation and war you do need population."
He sighed. "Lovely stuff..." She said sarcastically, obviously negatively viewing these orders. "I presume you had to put up with that while you lived there? also, what were you there? A nobles daughter? some sort of...maid or something?"