Sam's second morning since being kidnapped was a lot comfier than the first.
She woke up early to the feel of bright sunlight on her eyelids, and the feeling of a heavy but very warm weight pressing into her leg. It wasn't a bad way to wake up. After the long day she'd had yesterday, in fact, nothing seemed more appealing than to just lay here with her new pug, pretending to be asleep until Funtimes came along to whisk her away somewhere...
With a groan, she stretched and began wiggling out of bed, doing her best not to awake the snoozing Suki.
Best try to get some breakfast or something before some Epic comes and trashes the place again, she decided groggily.
The cottage was quiet, and from what little Sam could tell Funtimes had repaired the damages done by Lucentia the previous day. She found Revolution combing her hair in a bathrobe, humming a merry tune to herself as she sat in front of the cottage's only mirror.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Revolution said cheerily, not turning from the mirror. "I thought you'd sleep till noon."
"G'morning," Sam replied with a yawn. "And I would have, if I thought I could get away with it. Is anyone else up?"
"Nathan's in the kitchen, I believe. I don't' know if Funtimes' awake yet, though she's probably not. I saw Remington briefly when I first got up, but I haven't seen the Darth Vader on a unicycle since yesterday."
"He's probably busy blowing up the Enterprise," Sam quipped groggily.
That was enough to finally make Revolution turn around in her chair, raising a skeptical eyebrow at the younger girl. "You've never actually seen Star Wars, have you?"
"Nope. Obliteration melted our DVD player," Sam retorted. "Have you seen a bathroom in this place?"
Revolution sighed. "Down the hall, past the yellow duck painting. There's a shower in there--there's already water heated for you."
"Real subtle of you, Rev."
"Just looking out for you," Revolution grinned, turning back to her mirror. "Make sure to get behind your ears."
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Living in occupied Portland was like a re-run of the Dark Ages. Food was scarce, and there was never a varied menu. In most parts of the city, electricity and running water were just a fondly-remembered dream.
With that in mind, Sam didn't feel very guilty about taking her time in the shower, enjoying the steaming water and making full use of a whole shampoo bottle. She tried not to dwell on any of her current problems, letting them instead wash away down the drain along with the warm water.
There was nothing she could do to protect her mother save to avoid ticking off Lightwards, so there was no sense in worry about it. Pamela certainly wouldn't benefit from any worrying--best to put the tragedies behind her and move to the next day with what enthusiasm she could muster.
So Sam finished her shower, slapped an astonishingly pink fluffy towel around herself, and located a closet to see what clothes Funtimes had stocked.
She immediately regretted opening the wardrobe door.
"Calamity's cupcake," she breathed, jaw dropping--and not in the good way. "It looks like a unicorn coughed up a hairball."
If you had showed primitive man the abomination within the wardrobe, he would have decided that running naked across the savannah was a pretty good deal after all. It was more lace than it was fabric; more frills than it had visible arm or head holes. Even if Sam hadn't witness its maker's insanity firsthand, she'd have concluded that this piece of clothing had been designed by a disturbed and broken mind, and that it should probably be burned with the supervision of a Catholic priest.
Pursing her lips and tightening her towel, Sam took off down the halls of the cottage. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, or who--all she knew was that she'd wear one of Funtimes' window curtains before she let that travesty of a dress touch her skin.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to find Nathan, already dressed in his stylish trenchcoat and staring appraisingly at a jug of milk and carton of eggs.
Sam tiptoed into the room, determined that Funtimes was not visibly present, and leaned towards Nathan over the counter.
"We have a problem," she said seriously, ignoring the water she was dripping on the floor. Nathan's eyes at once filled with concern.
"The problem," Sam continued, "is that I can't reach the drapes on my own, and if I wore the dress Funtimes made for me I'd probably have to kill myself for defiling my body."
"Why did you give gold to the cat?" Lightwards asked severely, gun locked, loaded, and pointed at Backtrack's forehead.
"I, I don't know!" Backtrack stammered. "Honest!"
Though Lightwards was upset, Neko the kitty seemed pretty content. She was sitting on the desk cleaning herself, her paws rubbing at her face and then polishing the shiny gold medal hanging around her neck. She hopped to the hard floor and began purring loudly, rubbing against Backtrack's ankles.
"Cats don't need gold," Reader said snottily from his bar stool. "Steven's screwing up again..."
"It wasn't my fault!" Backtrack protested again, almost yelling. Prehistoric fish swam past him, though he didn't recall activating his power. Ignoring this, he locked eyes with Reader, who was shirtless in a loincloth with a feathered headdress perched upon his head.
"Everything's your fault, Steven," Reader replied, amused. "Your past is littered with mistakes. Don't you see them?"
Now his powers came on, and the past flared up around him. Everywhere he turned he saw himself, bullied, scared, crying, grinning like a slontze...
He was a slontze.
Everywhere, everytime.
Backtrack fell to his knees, trying to hold back tears. "You... you don't get it," he managed to sputter out. "Those are just mistakes! Were just mistakes, I mean! They don't matter! I don't have to remember them!"
"But we will," a pair of voices sang in unison. Backtrack looked up in horror, to see MV and Impact giggling at him from above.
"He's kind of cute when he cries," MV teased.
"Yeah, but not guy cute," Impact added. "More like a sad puppy."
Backtrack moved his mouth, but words wouldn't come out no matter how hard he tried. The girls continued laughing, pointing out all the sobbing and slontzey Backtracks whose past-shadows were everywhere on the street.
Then Neko the kitty walked up to his face, but instead of purring, she was grinning with a mouth full of human teeth. And then she stood up in her hind legs, and before his horrified face she grew to ten feet tall, growing blonde hair and a pale face. Her fur became a billowing purple cloak, and the golden medal around her neck moved to her head and became a thin circlet.
"Look at the Backtrack," crooned Koschei the Deathless. "A failure in all things. Look at him. He has more mistakes in him than he has brains."
MV and Impact giggled, and suddenly they were hugging Koschei from both sides.
"You're way cuter than he is, Koschei the Deathless," MV said adoringly.
"He doesn't even compare," Impact snickered.
Koschei pulled MV close and kissed her passionately on the lips, then broke off and smirked. "Let's laugh at Backtrack," he decreed, voice booming with laughter, and the twins followed the order, laughing themselves, and then Reader with his headdress joined in, and then Lightwards started laughing too, and they were all laughing and pointing at him and all his pathetic past-shadows...
"Stop it!" He shrieked. "Those aren't me! They're just mistakes! That's all they are! I don't have to remember them! I don't have to remember them!"
Silverfish scurried around his feet, Koschei gave another raucous laugh, and the world exploded.
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Backtrack woke with a start, a high-pitched whine escaping his lips.
He wasn't on the street. There were no silverfish. There was no evil kitty-Koschei laughing at him.
He was in a car, within the ruins of an old parking garage they'd decided to spend the night in.
MV was in the seat beside him, still fast asleep.
Backtrack let out a relieved sigh, then put his head back against the seat. He could see bright sunlight streaming in from the other end of the parking garage, but he felt little motivation to get out of the truck and began his tasks.
Why should I rush? I'm just gonna get pushed around and threatened when I do get back to Lightwards.
Deciding that he could probably afford to stay still for a little while longer, or at least until MV woke up, he closed his eyes and elected to ignore the morning sunlight.
It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?
They have the same basic body plan as a velociraptor--two legs, a long tail used for counterbalance when running, arms that are held out in front of them when they walk, etc. Their arms, legs, and tail are dominated by fins, and they also have two fin-like wings attached to their backs. The wings/fins serve the dual purpose of steering them while jumping in the thick atmosphere of their homeworld, and changing color as a means of communication. Haven't entirely decided on what their size will be, but they'll definitely be taller than six feet, and may be as long as twenty feet from head to tail. I'm flattered you seem to find them interesting, by the way.