What Happened in Portland

[soyperson]

As far as Jude remembered, they only almost crashed twice.

The first was when they were still trying to make their way out of the city. Some jerk in a tan Corolla with rusted hubcaps pulled out in front of them and nearly killed them with his irresponsible driving.

The second was when they turned off of Dawson Street and onto I-40, toward Apex. A traffic jam.

Apparently, he and Chris weren’t the only ones who knew about… whatever it was that had happened downtown.

 

Jude sat in the passenger’s seat, head in his hands. They inched along the crowded interstate. Drawing a shaky breath, Jude looked up. He lifted his hand, and placed it on Chris’ on the gear shift.

 

“We’re gonna be okay,” Jude said, with all the certainty he could muster. “I promise.”

 

~

 

Jude awoke in a cold sweat.

“Ch-Chris?” He called out. No, he thought. Just a dream.

 

It was dark. How long had he been sitting there? Hours, days? He couldn’t be sure. The watch he wore hadn’t ticked in so long.

Watch batteries are hard to come by when civilization has collapsed around you, he thought with a chuckle. Then, pain. Laughing hurt when you hadn’t eaten in… an indefinite amount of time.

 

He stood in the autumn night air, and slid on his old jacket. It was still cold out, but he felt better nonetheless.

Jude sat back down, and fell into a deep, but unrestful sleep.

[soyperson]

Jude dreamt.

Jude dreamt terrible fever dreams, nightmares of ships crashing to shores. He had bad dreams more often than he had good.

Chris had always said that he enjoyed the bad dreams more than the good ones, because when you wake up from good dreams, you're disappointed by the world that is not as good as the world in your dreams.

Bad dreams, though, Jude thought, echoing something his better half had said ages ago, make you grateful when you awake.

Bad dreams.

~

He didn’t remember much from his time on the road. The drives with Chris, heading anywhere away from Raleigh.

They stopped anywhere they could get a night’s rest. Sometimes they stayed a few days. But never more than a week.

“We have to keep moving,” Chris would say. “We have to find somewhere safe.”

~

Jude awoke abruptly, shivering in the chilly wind.

“That’s plenty of that.” He said firmly to no one in particular.

Standing, Jude dusted off his coat and began walking, as he had so many times before. A pilgrim, in search of fulfillment.

Steeling himself, he wandered along the road, until he heard a small mewling from under an old junker.

Jude perked up.

“Kitty?”

More mewling.

Jude crouched down and peeked under the broken-down car, and found a very small white kitten wearing an appropriately-sized taupe cowboy hat.

“Sparks,” Jude said aloud, “aren’t you cute?” Half-puzzled and half-enthused, he chided himself. That was a silly Newcago expletive, and to anyone else would be completely idiosyncratic.

Then again, he thought, when was the last time I saw anyone else? When, in the past year of my life, has idiosyncrasy been a problem?

 

Jude did the rational thing and he placed the cat in his coat pocket.

“I shall call you… Bear Trap.” He said, but he didn’t know why.

And so, kitten in possession, he followed the signs that lead him to Portland.

[ShadowLord_Lith]

 

Quiara was jogging past the zoo, when she heard the roar. It ripped through her mind, instilling a primal fear she hadn't felt in years, and it was so loud it left her ears ringing. Her entire body vibrated from its volume and she gasped in shock. In the next instant she was sprinting back the way she'd come, praying that yet another fight wasn't actually happening. Not so close to her bar.

She passed a few blocks before turning left into an alleyway that led to the side of her bar. Dashing into the building, she took everything in at once. All was as she'd left it, perfectly okay. For now. 

A girl walked in from the back, her apron already coated in flour dust. "Hey Quiara! What happened too the run? Was it an epic?" Her tone was jovial, light. "No, C.C.," Quiara replied, shaking her head and pushing some loose strands of hair back into place, "it's just that... well, I think a fight broke out in Chimeras place." Quiara looked C.C. in the eye and sighed. She'd had to be the one who told her. 

"You mean..." C.C paused, her expression confused for a moment. Then she paled, "Heaven above... are the kids okay?!?" Quiara tensed, remembering the kids below her feet. "I really, really hope so; there's nothing we can do about them yet." 

A few years ago, she'd tried hiding during an epic fight by climbing down into the old sewer system. She'd spent a few hours down there and had found an old, rusty door. Inside, She'd found a concrete room about the size of a small house and, shortly after, helped hide C.C.'s little sisters down there to try and protect them. Now Quiara was beginning to strongly regret that decision. 

As she started to ask about the empty room, a wave of depression and all consuming terror came out of nowhere, bringing with it memories from her past. Mother stabbing Father again and again with a steak-knife, convinced he was an epic who'd killed their daughter; the fear she'd felt when Portland fell to the epics; those three days of starving, right after her parents died and right before Johnny-the former owner of the bar-had taken her in; the absolutely crushing guilt and raging sorrow after learning that Johnny had died during her day off. 

Every terrible moment, all of her deepest fears, they all came crushing down on her. It was so much; too much, far too much, to be anything human. Only an epic could do something like this. She collapsed to the ground, her heart aching as she started to curl up and sob. Then she noticed her friend.

C.C. was trying to stand up, but couldn't even stay up on her own arms. Quiara stopped crying, wiping tears from her eyes. She couldn't afford to be weak now, she had friends to help and a business to run.

So she went numb. She pushed herself to her feet, shutting off her emotions. After being raised in a world like this for so long, she'd found a way to cope with her grief. She walked over to C.C. and yanked her to her feet. Then she marched them both into the kitchen.

 "Get cooking," Quiara's voice was a dead monotone, " start getting the regulars ready, and don't just collapse again. The fight probably won't last long." She walked out of the kitchen and moved to the front door. Then she flipped the sign to open. 

[Voidus]

Neverthere smiled humorlessly as her erstwhile friend was forced to act like a trained pet. She wasn't show was supposed to be for her amusement, to scare her, or as a warning. Then again, it hardly mattered which it was supposed to be, her reaction would be the same for any of them.

She continued smiling down at C4, making sure not to break their eye contact.

You wanted to stand up to the big High Epics, this is what you get.

"A fine dog indeed." She agreed. "But she was never the most loyal of creatures before. I'm sure with such a fine master she'll learn though."

Shifting her gaze from the crawling Epic to the other two who were still standing she bent her head to Lucentia slightly. Not her proudest moment but meeting the diamond queen physically did not encourage her to reckless action.

She considered briefly trying to add some mist-like effects by projecting an image on top of her but Lucentia was probably already aware of what had happened, had probably helped it happen if she was here.

Doing her best to steel her nerves she maintained her focus on Nighthound instead, he seemed easier, more comfortable to be around, even physically.

[Edgedancer]

One would think that after all the trouble Lucentia went through to allow these two their escapes she’d deserve some thanks but did she get the ‘Thank you Lucentia, we little powerless worms couldn’t do anything without you’ she deserved? Of course not.

No, the best she got was some polite gestures and mandatory bow that didn’t even qualify as genuflection from Neverthere. Ungrateful lot.

Generous as she was, Lucentia at least waited until her brother was finished with whatever humiliation play he was amusing himself with. Still they simply returned to making pretty eyes at each other. That was about all the tolerance Lucentia would give them.

“Well then brother, I see you got away safely, however did you manage to do that?” Lucentia asked.

Her brother seemed to fall into himself for a bit now that he couldn’t just ignore her anymore. “I imagine that would be because we had someone very capable watching our backs. How did you fare, by the way?”

Lucentia clicked her tongue, “No actual challenge but that little worm just wouldn’t stay dead, so he got away when you called for me. I hope the waste of my time was at least worth it.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Nighthound said while hugging Neverthere. “I know the typical saying is that absence makes the heart grow fonder but in this case I am quite happy to have her right with me.”

Lucentia rolled her eyes. Then she fixated Neverthere, “If I have to accept you in my company, I might as well give you some advice so you last longer. My brother likes his women with a bit of fire, so if you have enough brain left that’s not consumed with making pretty eyes at him, try amusing him every now and then. Just make sure you don’t turn your tongue against me.”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

She couldn't stay there. 

It was white, all white, so white white white. White wasn't a good color, because it wasn't a color at all. It was the absence of color, the absence of beauty. It was the color of nothing. The color of snow. 

Funtimes teleported out of Blueberry's bathroom, giving minimal thought to where she went. When she opened her eyes, she was outside. Blueberry's house was behind her; the crumbling remains of the neighborhood Blueberry had claimed were in front of her. Overgrown yards, untrimmed trees with piles of rotting leaves underneath. Broken windows and doors gaping open. Reminded her of—no, no, she couldn't think about that now. They were gaping open like power sockets. That's what they looked like. Power sockets always looked like they had their mouths and eyes wide open, like they'd stepped on a joy buzzer. 

She giggled. She felt better already. 

Funtimes moved along the cracked asphalt, pausing to bat a few weeds like a cat batting yarn. This was fun. This was nice. Much nicer than what she'd been thinking about. Like what she'd been thinking about last night when—

—no, no no no no. No thinking about that. No thinking. 

No think. 

She cast about desperately for a distraction and—Noodly One be blessed—saw one over the horizon. Something colorful. Something sparkly. 

Something shiny. 

[Edgedancer]

Once she threw on a new set of clothes and made some other preparations, Shiny Sparkle teleported away to start her journey to search for love and passion in not recently charted territory and returning some fancy sunglasses, assuming she didn’t get distracted by true love on the way.

Shiny found herself in the sky over Portland, that was now filled with wonderful sparkles… also a giant flying building. That’s new and actually somewhat unexpected, even if not quite as much as the flying pigs dropping squirrel bombs.

Still she landed back on the ground to take a moment and consider this flying building. Was that a good place to start her journey? Well was Backtrack likely to be there? Probably not, thinking of heights like that were likely enough to turn him into a sobbing mess. Then his tsundere sweetheart would give him some spice before eventually grabbing the lucky Slontz’s hand to totally not reassure him but just make sure his shaking didn’t make him fall of the edge or something like that. Couples that openly flirted without letting others join in were the worst.

Next and more important point on the list, were cuties likely to hang out in a giant flying building? Well… it did have certain flair to it, so someone with good taste might be up there and if good taste translates into…

Her cutie sense was tingling. There was someone edging closer towards the sparkles. No on closer inspection it wasn’t just someone, it was a beautiful goddess of color, still holding distance as if judging if she was worthy. The sight made Shiny sparkle with the light of love.

This seemed to get the approval of her new goddess and she merrily skipped towards Shiny, “Oh great Noodly One, you’re so shiny. And there are sparkles everywhere. That’s so amazingly amazing! How do you do that?”

Shiny Sparkle pulled off her glasses and covered the last distance between them. Touching as much color on her dress as possible, Shiny laid an arm around the goddess and made her shine as well. Sparks, this close she could see that there was even glitter in her hair. There was nothing in this world that could have stopped Shiny from running her hand through this beautiful hair and making the glitter sparkle as well. It was like a halo of color engulfing the cutie and the entire world was drowned out by the inner beauty and love Shiny gave a means to come forth.

“I am Shiny Sparkle,” she said after locking eyes with her. “I can bring forth the shininess of everything I touch. I am also the eternal ally to all that is cute and colorful, just like you. Now then, who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Shiny Sparkle. 

That was her name. The name of this person, this Epic, who made shinies. 

No—she didn't just make shinies. She was a shiny. 

There were shinies around her and in her eyes and on her clothes and when she laid an arm on Funtimes' shoulder, shinies came out of her dress, too. More shinies than were there already. More shinies than Funtimes could put there without running electrical wires all through her dress to make it light up like her socks. Her dress—already a completely fantabulous array of colors and glitter—was now a giant, colorful shiny. She felt like she was wearing an actual rainbow. 

"I can bring forth the shininess of everything I touch." 

I know! Funtimes wanted to squeal. I know I know I know! 

"I am also the eternal ally to all that is cute and colorful, just like you." 

A small Eeeeeee! escaped Funtimes' lips. 

"Now then, who do I have the pleasure of meeting?" 

Funtimes threw her arms around Shiny Sparkle's shoulders. "I'm Doctor Funtimes! Some people call me Doctor or just Funtimes or just Doctor Funtimes, which isn't really short for anything but it's long for Doctor or Funtimes and I love shinies and you are a shiny just like your name and that's so amazetastic that—eeeeeee!" She jumped up and down, still hugging the most amazingly shiny person she'd ever seen, until a sudden thought made her let go and look into Shiny's eyes. Looking into those eyes was like looking into a kaleidoscope made of glitter. "Do you like pancakes? With chocolate and sprinkles and whipped cream and lots and lots of cherries on top? Or maybe just one cherry since the kind of cherries you put on ice cream really taste like cherries and those cherries might make it so you can't taste any of the pancakes or chocolate or whipped cream or sprinkles and that'd be sad but not too sad because those cherries are really really good and Great Noodly One you're so shiny!" 

She hugged Shiny again. She couldn't help it. So much shininess was just begging to be hugged. 

[Edgedancer]

Shiny Sparkle soaked in all the love she got from her new girl. All the excitement, squees and jumping. All of the passion. There wasn’t a more beautiful person that Shiny had ever meet and they were just perfect for each other, sparks her darling was even speaking of love already.

 

So when Funtimes hugged her again, Shiny returned the hug in full force. Such a wonderful and soft body to go along with her inner beauty. All of the snuggling that could be had was given within the radiance of shinies. They would have so many fun times together, just follow the flow for now Shiny. But Calamity did she ever want to just teleport them back to her room.

 

Lovingly, Shiny nuzzled Funtimes before speaking, “I do like pancakes actually. Sweet ones especially. And I downright love to eat them in the company of sweeties like you. So Doctor, how about we go share some pancakes and have a fun time with each other? I don't think I could have more fun with anyone buy you. But first let me hug you again. You’re just so adorable and beautiful and energetic and wonderful! I just want to keep hugging you and tell you how much I love you as I shower you in sparkles.”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Funtimes leaned into the hug. She loved hugs, and she loved shinies, but she love love loved hugs from shinies. Hugs from shinies—she hadn't even known that was possible, but she was here and Shiny was here and it was happening to her because of Shiny. 

She squealed again, and Shiny nuzzled her.  

“I do like pancakes actually. Sweet ones especially. And I downright love to eat them in the company of sweeties like you. So Doctor, how about we go share some pancakes and have a fun time with each other? I don't think I could have more fun with anyone buy you. But first let me hug you again. You’re just so adorable and beautiful and energetic and wonderful! I just want to keep hugging you and tell you how much I love you as I shower you in sparkles.”

Funtimes let out a long gasp, her hands flying to her cheeks. 

"Yes! We should have pancakes! Chocolate chip and sprinkles and jellybean and blueberry and—" She gasped again. "Blueberry! And Nathan and Sammy and Revvie and Remington! They love pancakes, not as much as I do but they love them because who doesn't love pancakes and I make really really good pancakes—see, look look look!" 

She waved a hand toward a cluster of dead leaves hanging from a branch, and pancakes rained from the trees. As she promised, some were chocolate, some had sprinkles, and some were flecked with jellybeans. Funtimes caught one and presented it to Shiny with an enormous grin. 

"See? Pancakes! I can make it rain pancakes and now it's a pancake-raining party!" 

[Edgedancer]

 

Seeing the lovely woman in her arms squee with joy because of her made Shiny tingle with pride. She was shortly confused by all the names rattling out of Funtimes adorable and kiss enticing lips but that quickly changed when Funtimes started to work her wonders. Leaves turn into pancakes wasn’t something even Shiny had seen before.

 

Thankfully, Shiny rolled up the pancake, so she could hold it with one hand and with the other hugged Funtimes around the waist to pull her closer. Funtimes enormous grin was just irresistibly cute, so Shiny couldn’t help herself but press a kiss on her cheek. “You’re just getting more wonderful by the second.” Kiss. “Thank you for the pancake, now to see if it’s as sweet as you are.” Kiss.

Shiny took a bite out of the pancake and found it to be not only wonderfully sweet but also fluffy, as if Funtimes had taken an ideal pancake right out of her mind and made it real. “You’re right, these pancakes are great.” Kiss. “I love them almost as much as I do you.” Kiss. “Are these other pancake lovers you mentioned, as good at making pancakes as you are?” Kiss. “Or as colorful?” Kiss. “Or as fun?” Kiss. “Or as cuddly?” Kiss. “Or as welcoming.” Kiss. “Or as beautiful?” Kiss. “Or as nice?” Kiss. “Or as energetic?” Kiss. “Or as sweet?” Kiss. “Or as cute?” Kiss. “Because I love all of those things about you.” Kiss. “Just look at what kind of frenzy you worked me into.” Kiss. “I love you with every sparkle of my being.” Kiss. “And if anyone is good enough to be your friend, I’d love to meet them as well.” Kiss. “Even if they couldn’t hold a candle to how much I love you.” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.

[soyperson]

Jude wasn't sure what he saw there, floating in the sky. He had just found his way to the inner-city area of Portland, with its horrible ruined pavements, brightly painted brick facades, and blood-soaked streets strewn with bits of... reptile flesh? The large, columned building floated stationary in the air above a large pit, occasionally firing off very excited-looking beams of color and sparkle. Shaking his head, he walked on, and instinctively reached in his duffel. 

Oh. Right.

The cat had scampered off a mile or so back. Jude had searched and searched, to no avail. Shame. He quite liked that cat. Hope he's alright, Jude thought to himself, and walked on towards the giant, floating structure. 

Edited February 20, 2017 by bleeder

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Shiny liked her pancakes. She was shiny and sparkling just like her name and great Noodly One she was so colorful and she liked Funtimes' pancakes. Funtimes could see it in her eyes, the way they lit up as much as sparkling shiny eyeballs could. 

Shiny Sparkle—such an amazing name such an amazingly amazing name!—wrapped an an arm around Funtimes' waist, which was unexpected but not bad—and then kissed her on the cheek. 

Very not expected. 

"You're just getting more wonderful by the second." Another kiss, this one a little more expected than the first. "Thank you for the pancake, now to see if it's as sweet as you are." How many kisses was Shiny willing to give out, anyway? 

Funtimes lost count after eight. She hadn't heard of anyone who repaid pancakes with kisses, but now that she knew it was an accepted form of paying for things, she wondered if she could do it too. Because it was nice. 

Unexpectedly nice. 

But still, there was more to do than just kissing. More important questions to ask. Granted, do you like pancakes was a very, very important question with an even more important answer, but there were other answers. So as much as she regretted ending the kissing, Funtimes put a finger to Shiny's lips and leveled her most serious gaze. 

"Tell me, Shiny," she said in a serious voice, "how fast can you eat a whole roll of cookie dough, and what would you do if somebody tried to take it?" 

[Edgedancer]

Shiny could see her lovely color of passion getting accustomed to the kissing, going from surprised to enjoying it. Oh, she was still a bit shy and innocent. How adorable. Shiny would have a good time introducing her to the sparkly side of passion. A really Funtimes with or without sheets.

 

Then Funtimes denied her more kisses by blocking her lips with her finger. She felt like a disappointed pug puppy denied its hugs. The only thing that kept her from letting it bleed into her eyes was the serious look in Funtimes eyes, so Shiny distracted herself by kissing her darling’s finger while listening. Cookie dough, huh. Shiny had to give a respectable answer here, skinship stood on the line.

“The only thing that I would eat up faster than some nice dough is your lovely affection and you saw how fast I was kissing you right now. As for giving it away, well, if somebody asked me nicely I’d likely give them something, everyone deserves some sweet sweet bliss,” plus it was a good opening for flirting. Thinking about that, “and if it’s someone like you that’s even sweeter than any cookie I’d might just give them all of it. However, if it’s anyone trying to just take it all away from me, then they don’t get any, because bad people give up their right to sweetness.”

Shiny could see the approval glow in the most beautiful eyes on this planet. Satisfied with herself Shiny gave a soft purr. “So what do you think? Does that answer earn me some more kisses with you, my colorful darling?”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Shiny made some very good points. Mainly the ones about bad people giving up their right to sweetness. Funtimes very much agreed with that. 

She was so….

So…..

So….shiny. 

“So what do you think? Does that answer earn me some more kisses with you, my colorful darling?”

Funtimes giggled. So shiny. Like her name. Her name was shiny too, when she pictured it in her head. Shiny Sparkle. She wasn't thinking much about what Shiny was saying. She couldn't. There was shininess to blame. It was in the air and on Shiny's clothes and in her eyes and Funtimes couldn't do more than stare. 

She giggled again. "Everything should be shiny." Then, something clicked in her mind. Kisses. Shiny. 

And Funtimes had an urgent question. 

"Can you make kisses shiny?" 

[Edgedancer]

"Can you make kisses shiny?"

 

Jackpot!

 

“Trust me, there is nothing more shiny than a passionate kiss, just let me handle it.”

 

The next moment they were up in the sky. There was a short moment of weightlessness before gravity started to pull on them. Then Shiny went in for the big kiss. It was the most joyous experience she could think of. The pure delight send her sparkles into overdrive. The light enveloping was like a second sun in the sky, just more colorful and shiny.

 

Sadly they were eventually going to hit the ground and even if it was ‘till death do you part, there was no reason to let their love story end with an early climax. Only one thing could act as a cushion for a fall from blissful paradise, so Shiny teleported them on top of her bed.

 

Lovingly, she cuddled herself against Funtimes. “So, was that shiny enough for you?”

 

Edited March 12, 2017 by Edgedancer

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

“Trust me, there is nothing more shiny than a passionate kiss, just let me handle it.”

Before Funtimes could think what to say to that, they weren't on the ground anymore. They were up in the air, hovering like Steelheart except without being boring stupid meaniefaces—and then they were falling. Falling, falling, like flying except only going down instead of up. She almost shrieked in joy—

—but then Shiny's lips were on hers, and Shiny was sparkling and sparkling and Funtimes really wanted to sheik with joy but they were still in the middle of a kiss and still falling—

—until they weren't. They were somewhere different, in a bedroom. Shiny's bedroom, or one she'd decided was hers. So she could teleport too. 

Shiny cuddled up close. "So, was that shiny enough for you?" 

Now Funtimes could let out that squeal she'd been holding in. "Shiny! That was so shiny and you can teleport and we were almost flying and—" She stopped, sucking in a long breath as realization dawned. "It's my turn! We need cookies and we need them right now!" 

She shot up from the bed, took Shiny's hand, and steered her out the door and down the hall and….right into the bathroom. She stopped, looked around, and gave Shiny a sheepish smile. "Where's the kitchen?" 

[Edgedancer]

Shiny let out a slight giggle at the sight of the pure joy coursing through Funtimes. It’s a wonder how just being with a person could be so wonderful. She let her fingers run to Funtimes beautiful glittering hair as she listened to her sweet voice.

 

When Funtimes grabbed her hand, Shiny let herself get pulled along by her love. Leaving the comfortable confine of her bed was a bit of a shame but getting to see how her eagerly search her way down the hall was worth it. There was no hurry after all, this was going to be a big thing.

 

A wrong turn later they were in the bath and Funtimes asked for direction with slight embarrassment. Her smile though, it was just irresistible. She pulled on Funtimes’ hand and caught her in an embrace. Before her lover had a chance to react, Shiny planted a kiss on that cute smile, on her alluring lips, on her beautiful face. All of time could pass during this moment and not a single second wasted.

 

However, time was still moving and Shiny pulled her lips back. “I love you and somehow you just keep making me fall for you all over again, just with how cute you are. Come, I’ll show you the kitchen.”

Shiny continued holding Funtimes’ hand as she guided the way. Because of her lifestyle causing her to be away from home for long stretches of time every now and then, she didn’t stock much perishable food but it was more than well stocked enough to make cookies… assuming Funtimes wasn’t about to make them with her powers.

“It’s all yours,” Shiny said and cuddled herself against Funtimes back. “Do you want an apron?” Another kiss, this time on her lovely neck. “I think you'd look wonderful in an apron.”

[Voidus]

  “If I have to accept you in my company, I might as well give you some advice so you last longer. My brother likes his women with a bit of fire, so if you have enough brain left that’s not consumed with making pretty eyes at him, try amusing him every now and then. Just make sure you don’t turn your tongue against me.” 
Lucentia informed Neverthere haughtily.

Because what makes the most sense in this situation is to listen to the Epic who continuously expressed disdain for my existence. Neverthere retorted mentally.

"I appreciate the advice." She replied aloud, smiling slightly.

It seemed that Lucentia would tolerate her presence for as long as Nighthound wanted her to stay alive, not that she needed any further reasons to keep him happy with her. The example of C4 was close at hand to demonstrate what could happen if he was less pleased.

"So." She said, turning towards Nighthound. "We were treating the doggy to a reward?"

Given his obvious interest in dominating others, there might be something to Lucentias advice actually. It'll need to be handled carefully though, I don't plan on becoming just another pet. Carefully guide him to fill his more violent urges with others but still pose enough of a challenge to keep him interested.

She laid out her plans carefully, keeping her face still apart from some small squeamish expressions when she recalled that she was outside physically again.

But she could adjust to that, she would master all her emotions and manipulate those of others, she would show those idiots from the minor Epics group the real way to fight High Epics was not through confronting them head on. It was to lead while pretending to serve, to gain control while pretending to surrender. And when they think they have found you, to vanish as though you were never there.

[Edgedancer]

Nighthound noted that for now his sister and Neverthere seemed to have come to an agreement. Not a friendship of course but that wasn’t something he could hope for with his sister in the first place. As long as she ended up doing what he wanted, they could all deal with a little bit of younger sibling whining.

 

There wasn’t any point in getting hang up on his sister’s mood, so he laid an arm around Neverthere when she turned back to him. “That is exactly what we’re going to do, my dear.” Nighthound wondered how much longer until she stopped to flinch from physical contact. It wouldn't ruin her for him but her effort was cute nonetheless.

 

Their group headed headed to a suitable tailor. The one Lucentia got her dress from specifically. Given that Lightwards had already murdered  the owner, they might as well use it before people got brave enough to loot it. Nighthound turned his attention to C4. "Now you get to stand up," he told her.

 

His dog was still hesitant, so he crouched in front of her and took her hand. He was gentle but the touch made her flinch all the same. "Now, now, no reason to be afraid," Nighthound reassured her in a soothing voice. "We're here to reward you after all, so you're allowed to act like a slave instead of a dog just as long as we're here."

 

Doubt was shaking all over C4's body as she slowly stood up. Afraid to raise any faster than Nighthound was pulling her hand up. Standing before him was a woman with a mind as tattered as her clothes and fear showing through like her bare skin through rip and holes in her dress. He'd miss the poetic side to it.

 

However, if he wanted to keep her in any usable state, he would have to train her properly, instead of just fraying her mind apart. Even a minor Epic was too valuable a possession to just break within a matter of days. Especially one that was a feast for the eyes as well. If that meant dressing her up in something less revealing, so be it. A bit of fabric wouldn't stop him from enjoying his pet.

 

Nighthound laid a hand on her cheek, ever so slightly caressing it. C4 didn't so much lean her head into the touch, as she let it drop into it like a puppet with cut strings.

"Good. Anything you want to say to me now?" Nighthound asked.

"Thank you, Master. Treating me like this is very... very generous of you," C4 manage to say while barely keeping her voice from breaking.

"I can be a loving owner. Just do what you can to please me and you'll get a better life step by step. Who knows, maybe I'll let you act like a human outside this shop as well, if you're a good enough girl."

"That would be too kind."

"What do you think? Do you deserve any of that?"

C4 was hesitant as she started to speak, scared of saying anything worthy of punishment. "Only if you think so, Master."

Nighthound removed his hand from her cheek and tapped it back against her face. It was a firm and sharp motion but by no means held enough force to be considered a slap. That only made the effect more satisfying.

 

She started visibly shaking and lowered her head like the beaten dog she was. To keep in line, a part of her defaulted to imitating dog noises in between her broken whimpering. He half expected her legs to give in but she barely managed to keep standing. Once Nighthound was satisfied with the sight of her misery, he lifted her head to force her to look at him.

“I thought you better than that, didn’t it? Do we need to repeat your first lesson?”

“No! Nonononono! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Are you? Than what is the proper answer?”
“I don’t deserve anything. I lost all of that when I tried to attack you. Everything you give me is more than I deserve and even after you decide to give it to me all of that is just your generosity, because I will never actually deserve it. Even that you haven’t… haven’t-”

C4’s rambling became faster and faster until she started tripping over her own words. Though, she had already said enough, so Nighthound sealed her mouth with his. He remained like that for a moment until she had at least calmed a little bit. When he separated their lips, she had a look on her face reminding him if a deer staring into headlights.
“That was exactly right. You did good to remember your lesson. Now let’s get your reward.”

Finally, Nighthound turned to Neverthere, “Say, do you want to help me pick a dress for her or do you want to use the chance to introduce yourself to the other girls? As a fair warning, you probably want my sister to make sure that Ray doesn’t bite you.”

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Shiny was a big fan of kisses. 

So was Funtimes. But people had to have priorities, and most of the time, cookies were more important than kisses. 

Most of the time. 

She said yes to the apron, but for someone named after two of the most amazingly amazable things in the world, her aprons weren't very shiny or sparkly. So Funtimes took care of that with a wave of her hand, turning it a pretty shade of blue and adding a few small decorations, like a kitty playing with a ball of yarn and a smiley face made out of rhinestones. That meant shortening the apron a bit, but it was worth it. 

"Okie dokie loki," she said, skipping over to the pantry. Like some pantries, it was filled with food. More food than most pantries she'd seen in those days she didn't think about, which was nice. But not enough sprinkles. 

Oh well. She could change that. 

Funtimes scooped up a bag full of flour and skipped back to the counter. She could make cookies the usual way, yes. Pour flour and mix it with baking soda and salt and a bunch of other things and pop what remained after she ate her fill of dough into the oven. That might be fun—but not as much fun as showing off. 

She giggled as she set the bag on the counter, and giggled again as she poured out a pile. A little bigger than what she'd wanted, but you could never have too many cookies. Well, unless those cookies were filled with yucky metal spikes, but she could take care of that. 

"What kind of cookies do you like? I like all kinds. Chocolate chip, and chocolate, and sugar, and sprinkles, and—" The thought of so many delicious cookies made her stand on tiptoe and clap her hands, then wave them over the pile of flour. She just couldn't wait anymore. She wanted cookies, chocolate cookies, sprinkle cookies. 

And in a moment she had them. There were a few of each kind—two, to be precise—two chocolate chip, two chocolate, two sugar with sprinkles, two sugar with more sprinkles. Eight delicious cookies, just waiting to be eaten and enjoyed with someone who liked shinies and liked kisses and liked shiny kisses. Funtimes' usual giggle turned to a full laugh, and she gave a quick jump of joy. "Cookies! So many cookies! Come on, Shiny—oh! I need to make them shiny—hold on!" 

She waved her hand over the chocolate and the sprinkle ones, adding a few edible shinies, and held one of them up for approval. "See? See what I did? Now they're shiny like you!" 

[Edgedancer]

Funtimes had picked on of Shiny's ordinary entry level aprons, which may have been for the best. Otherwise, Shiny wouldn't have seen how she enhanced the piece of cloth by adding her colorful craftsmanship. Even with the already colorful dress underneath it, the apron looked absolutely perfect on her.

 

Seeing the mix of glee and seriousness at the task of creating cookies on Funtimes beautiful face, Shiny resisted inspecting just how form fitting the measurements were after Funtimes shortened it. Instead she sat down on a nearby chair and watched her work. Not a bad way to spend her time either, not at all. It'd be hard to decide what was more enjoyable, the cheerful sound of Funtimes giggling filling the room like a song of pure joy, getting to see Funtimes display her power again so soon, the enthusiasm that drove her on to create the cookies, without even waiting for her to respond, infecting Shiny until she was full with anticipation to share tasty food with her, the pleasure of watching a stunning woman work her way through her kitchen like a long time spouse or just plain watching her beloved as much as she could.

 

In the end it didn't matter. All of those aspects made the experience as wonderful as it was. Only a goddess of sparkly love could concentrate this much happiness into the simple task of making cookies. All of it came to a climax, with Funtimes laughing and jumping for joy.

 

Just when Shiny was about to join her again, Funtimes added one last touch to the cookies. She made them shiny, like a coating of pure love. There seemed to be so much anticipation coiling up in Funtimes, as she held one of them out to Shiny, like an innocent maiden holding out her heart when confessing. As if she'd ever get anything from Shiny that wasn’t pure love.

 

With a big smile on her face, Shiny took the cookie and ate it. Chocolate sweetness filled with each satisfying bite. Along with an audible purr, the satisfaction of good food made Shiny glow slightly. "They're wonderful," Shiny said as pulled a giggling Funtimes into her arms. She lovingly nuzzled herself against Funtimes neck, every now and then kissing it to draw more excitement from her love. With her free hand, Shiny started tracing the ornaments Funtimes had added to the apron. "You're a honest to Calamity genius with how you make everything you touch better, my love. You turn an ordinary apron into a work of beauty. You don't just make the tastiest cookies but you're also so considerate that you add shinies just for me and I loved the cookies all the more for it. Most of all, every second I spend with you has improved my life with so much joy." One long kiss. "But I know, the cookies are waiting, aren't they? I'll still have plenty of reason to shower you in affection, when... well always, because you're just that wonderful. How about we go out for a picnic?"

 

The excitement in Funtimes seemed to intensify and started jumping in place again. "Ooh! Ooh! I love picnics! Let's go!"

 

"Perfect," Shiny said. As much as it hurt her, she shortly let go of Funtimes to scoop up the cookies on a plate. Figuring that Funtimes could likely turn the ground into a better blanket than any she had on hand anyway, that should be all the preparations they needed. As for the location... it might best to first see what her preferences were.

 

"Okay Funtimes, once we're back in Portland, I want you to run wild with your imagination, all right?" Shiny asked.

Funtimes opened her mouth to answer but Shiny didn't wait that long. She simply leaned in for a kiss a teleported them back to Portland.

[soyperson]

Shaking the last drops of syrup off his boot, Jude sat down in the shade of a crumbling brick wall and shook his head. 

First he had spent the better part of a day making his way towards the floating structure, then when he got there he saw, for the briefest of moments, what looked like a person falling towards the ground. Maybe two. He couldn't quite tell. Then the person/people were gone, in a flash of light, color, and blueberry waffles. That last part was particularly jarring.

He closed his eyes and tried to rest for a moment, until a particularly loud squeal erupted near him. 

Jude narrowed his eyes. It sounded almost like a person, though not a squeal of desperation or of needing help. It was more a squeal of joy. 

"What?" He asked aloud, turning a corner. "What?"

There he saw, in all their shiny glory, two young women sharing a particularly... enthusiastic kiss.

Cocking an eyebrow, Jude stood. For a good minute and a half, he stood there, until they broke the embrace and one of them turned to look at him, the one in the apron with the wild hair. Well, he wasn't exactly one to judge on the state of one's hair, as his hadn't seen a brush in... months? He didn't know. 

He mustered up a smile. God, he hadn't smiled in so long. He had almost forgotten how. 

"Uh... Hi there." 

Edited April 27, 2017 by bleeder

[Kobold King]

     

 

Once upon a time, Backtrack had been an ordinary man.

Steven Lawrence was his name. Steve, everyone called him. If they bothered to talk to him. He'd been a nobody, not noticed or wanted by anyone who passed him by. Heck, his mother rolled his eyes at him on the best of days.

Steven Lawrence was terrified of Epics. He watched some of the first of them on the news. He saw the clip on YouTube when Judge Regalia manifested her powers. He like the rest of the world had been scared silly of what these new beings might do to him.

Being an Epic was supposed to change that. And that first day, his Rending, made him feel that way.

...but, realistically, his 'Rending' was really more of a vigorous jog around the neighborhood looking at dinosaurs. When an Epic strolled by, he ducked his head and hid like any vanilla.

Listening to Adelmo speak, with his firm but somehow soothing voice, he didn't feel like Backtrack. Somehow, he felt like Steve Lawrence again, just listening to a fellow non-powered schmuck. 

"It’s kind of like a fighting video game, with all the cool Epics we have on our side,” the solider mentioned, smiling. “You probably played those before Calamity, huh?”

Mentioning an Epic's life before Calamity was supposed to be a taboo. Logically, Backtrack should probably be very offended.

But Steve Lawrence only nodded, and Adelmo went on, describing how safe from the Epics they could be.

“So...” Adelmo finished, “What do you think? I've got some vegetables too. We could always start with breakfast.”

It seemed like a long time that Steve, or Backtrack, or whoever was listening to the soldier's offer, simply stood there in silence. It was a sort of defense mechanism, maybe. His brain just sort of shut down, confronted with an offer that sounded good but could also end in really bloody death and possible zombification, and these were outcomes that neither Backtrack nor Steve Lawrence were particularly interested in.

...but getting away from this hell hole of a city was something that interested the both of them.

"...breakfast sounds good," he offered timidly. "Uh... you wanna go inside, or find somewhere, or... I dunno. I always sucked at making meal plans. Uh..."

He swallowed, glancing nervously around as though expecting a velociraptor to come careening out of an alleyway any minute. He half was.

"...wherever. You and MV decide. But I... do want to talk about this."

[the winter system]

 

Cutcloud watched as the museum descended from the roof of their hotel. Lightbulb opened the door and quietly walked behind her. Quietly was relative when applied to him. Burnheart could probably hear him from wherever that jerk was sulking. It wasn't like he even cared about Chess. Just because he'd murdered his brother on the day he'd became an Epic didn't mean that she felt the same way. 

 

"Hey, Veronica," Lightbulb called out. Cutcloud spun around to face him at the sound of her old name.

 

"That's not my name, Finn," Cutcloud replied both evenly and aggressively. Cutcloud sighed and ran her fingers across the rail. In a less hostile tone, she asked, "What do you want?"  Cutcloud's eyes were dry now, but the area beneath them was red and puffy. 

 

"I just wanted to say, uh," Lightbulb looked from Cutcloud's feet to her face. "I really don't wanna be all getting between you two, but... well." Lightbulb looked really awkward, and by the mention of 'you two,' Cutcloud was guessing Burnheart had something to do with it. Lightbulb had never expressed any sort of interest in dating-- good thing too. It would've been too weird. Vine nonstop hitting on Chess- oh Calamity, Chess-- had been strange enough. 

 

"Spit it out," Cutcloud said, turning her entire body away from the museum's descent. "I know you think the rest of us are stupid for getting involved that way, but we can't all be cool guys." That retort was meaner than Cutcloud meant it to come out but she didn't take in back.

 

"Brah, I'm sorry for what I said that made you think I'm some sorta... wait, you I'm a cool guy?" The look on Lightbulb's face almost made Cutcloud want to laugh. Except she was too busy trying not to cry. 

 

"Just tell Burnheart that unless he's bringing me the corpse of Funtimes, I'm not talking to him." Lightbulb whistled and gave her a half sarcastic salute. She was about to give him a bitter laugh and as he turned to leave, she almost did, until she felt it. 

 

Despair. Dark, crushing despair. It was like Cutcloud had been pushed off a cliff and she was plummeting towards the earth, completely, utterly, powerless. She grabbed her shirt as she dropped to the floor of the roof. 

 

He's dead, dead, dead, part of her mind sung in a teasing melody. Cutcloud gasped for breath, the glass in the windows cracking in response. It was like her entire world was gray and dead. She would never be happy again. 

 

Cutcloud was alone. She would always be alone. Lightbulb might be there, but he'd never get how it felt. Burnheart was a hot loser, jerk, and she hated the way he made her feel. She wanted to punch him in the face, she wanted to--

 

She thought Lightbulb might come comfort her, but no. He was just staring into space, emptiness in his eyes. Cutcloud felt all the energy for crying she had leave her. She was just numb. For a moment, she wasn't Cutcloud, an Epic out for vengeance. She was just Veronica Mint, a girl who'd lost her brother to the whims of some sick High Epic named Funtimes.

 

She wondered if the name was intended to be ironic, because at that moment, she was most definitely not having a fun time.

Edited July 19, 2017 by winter devotion