CW

Spoiler

Death

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Fox/Violet

 

“Uno.”

“Wh-what do you mean uno?!” Coyotl shouts at Violet, shaking her fist full of cards, “This is the tenth time this game you’ve had uno!”

“Skill issue.”

The poor chimera slumps forward in defeat as I lean on her side, watching the madness unfold between Violet constantly dogpiling Coyotl, Minhocão forgetting what the line under the 6 and 9 mean, and, well, Coyo stacking a quarter of the deck into their claws. Thankfully, I got out of the game fairly quickly, so I’m spared from the chaos myself.

“You know, I’d expect to have first met you doing, I dunno, something cooler than playing a card game for kids.”

My attention is brought up to a sort of new face arriving on the scene, a blue-ringed octopus looking girl with a real punchable looking face. Oh, dang it, it’s hard to remember new faces from when I was a feral fox, but I remember seeing Cat interact with this person…

“Don’t tell me, it’s on the tip of my tongue–”

“Jam. My name’s Jam.”

“JAM, that’s it!” I exclaim standing up and pointing at the cephalopod. “See, I remembered!”

She shakes her head with a smug as all hell smirk and flips her hair back, looking over our little gaming group.

“For the record,” Coyotl begins, standing up as well and looking proud, “this is a highly competitive sport of the mind! You would do well to not insult it!”

“Alright, Channel 5, whatever you say.”

Coyotl looks to me for assistance, to which I give her a pat on the back and a smile, stepping up to Jam as Violet melts back into our shadow.

“Can we help you with something, or are we entertaining you enough as-is?”

The octo chuckles and shrugs, hands never seeming to leave her pockets.

“I came for a progress report from the big C herself, but by the looks of it, I’m a tad bit early, eh?”

I nod, ears twitching as the distant sound of shattering glass tugs at my attention, only for the rumbling of the earth to pull me both ways, and before I can pose any effort to investigate, Minhocão stands up and steps forward.

“You alright, big guy?” I ask, listening to his armour clink and clatter as he looks from side to side.

“Something shifts under the earth, I can feel it. We must evacuate the area!”

As if on cue, the rumbling intensifies, the streets beginning to fault and shift just as the worm knight felt, giving me my cue to spring into action and begin gathering loose protestors in Vi’s arms. I focus on swooping in and carrying away those that stumble from the shifting and quaking, while Niamh, Bomba, and Coyotl usher groups of people away with the help of the Amazing Mirror, even using her chain whips to reach for others and pull them to safety.

I’m extra thankful for my speed, having cleared the area along with Coyotl just as the ground erupts with a violent ooze, an oily undulating geyser that rises and stretches painfully to the sky, screaming and writhing and churning with bile and gears as it uses its unhinged jaw to catch a body that had fallen from a shattered window above. By the Goddess, it’s a massive amalgam of the Subterfuge Ghosts.

“HAHAHA!! AT LAST!! MY TIME HAS COME!!” Minhocão shouts, brandishing his spear and spinning it around himself dramatically before leaping high into the air, his angelic butterfly wings carrying him high above the putrid beast and driving his spear downwards onto its top. Its wailing only intensifies, shaking and throwing the knight off its face, looking down and giving us a good look at its hideous visage.

A massive stone mask made of the subway’s concrete barely contains its pulsating features, cracks all over it allowing the murky soul goo to seep through with every shout and screech as each broken plate shifts like tectonics. A spiral of steel and rotten flesh coils around its body, twisting and constricting itself, each tightening seeming to cause the mass of formless bodies within a great deal of pain, the sludge arms and metal limbs tensing and desperately trying to claw their way out of the rest of the body. Every inch of this thing secretes hate and disgust, enough to make me want to throw up…

I’ll be taking it from here then. The least I can do is shield you from this thing’s revolting aura, but I may need some otherworldly help to push this thing back.

Beepbeepbeepbeep–K-choo!

Before I can call for help however, I notice a beeping device being shot at and attaching itself to the monster, looking to the side to see Legion with some kind of alien launcher pointed at the amalgam. They sign something to us, but we have no clue what it means, the alien shaking their head in their palm as we tilt our head. Instead, they make a motion of crushing and pushing down with their hands, which is clear enough to me. Time to break out our little friend.

Grabbing ahold of our scarf, I feel my hair growing out and glow, becoming the portal through which Azzy leaps out of before receding, grabbing onto its back and pulling myself atop it with a snarl.

“SIC ‘EM, AZZY.”

The many eyed creature lets out a deafening howl, not loud, but filled with an emptiness that consumes all other noise, leaping forward and tackling into the monstrosity. Azzy’s maw cleaves chunks of soul and metal out of it, while the worm knight above flaps his wings and rains arrows down upon it, even Legion pitching in with well aimed shots from a goddamn grenade launcher.

Despite all our efforts, however, it simply grows back all it loses, its screaming becoming more pained and horrid with each regrowth. Guess we’ll need to kick things into gear. Already we see Minhocão wrapping his wings around himself and forming a cocoon that expands and grows before exploding into a violent burst of crystal shards, revealing his giant worm form which coils around the amalgam. I won’t be outshone, though.

“Time for a walk, big guy,” I say to Azzy, feeling its excitement as I close my eyes and feel myself become one with it.

 

ENTROPY

 

CEASELESS HUNGER.

AN ALL CONSUMING VOID.

A WRITHING MASS OF DARKNESS.

CLINGING.

EATING.

SPREADING OVER THE PREY.

ENDLESS GROWTH STEMMED BY A NEVER ENDING FAMINE WITHIN.

STILLNESS.

PROTECTING THE WORM.

CHEWING.

GNAWING.

FEASTING AND WAITING.

A STAR ABOVE GLITTERING.

GROWING.

FALLING.

ANCHOR DESCENDING FROM THE HEAVENS.

CRUSHING THE COILED FEAST.

SENDING IT BACK TO HELL IN AN INSTANT.

AND WITH MY MEAL DELIVERED…

…I FADE TO NOTHING.

 

Fox/Violet

 

…Good fucking Goddess, what the hell just happened?!

What do you expect from a duet between me and fucking Azathoth?

You know what, fair.

With the amalgam having been driven back by an orbital fucking anchor drop, it’d seem our job here is done. Vi and I both give Azzy some well earned pets and belly rubs before opening a portal back home for it, Minhocão changing back as well and waving excitedly to Legion as he flies over the massive sinkhole in the middle of the street. In the meanwhile, we see Coyotl approaching, seeming to have properly escorted all the civilians away.

“Coyo! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Yet they remain silent, simply looking at the hole from which the amalgam had risen from, a grim expression flickering over their screen.

“...I am glad everyone is safe, but…by the Goddess, I had not expected the ghosts to have become so volatile so quickly…”

“So this is a time sensitive threat now?”

The chimera nods at Violet’s tail maw, still unable to take their eyes off of the mark it had left on the city, at least, until Cat finally appears from out of town hall with Liz in tow, who seems much more…serious than usual.

“Y’all, what the fuck happened?” she asks as she rushes towards us with a hurried jog. “I swear, I look away for half an hour and suddenly there’s a hell hole in the middle of Monorise.”

“Yeah about that…” I trail off, looking to Coyo.

“...It would seem we will have to reschedule our confrontation with the Ghost Train,” the chimera explains, Cat being less than thrilled by the news. “...Though, I am curious…how did your meeting with the mayor go?”

“Well…”

 

Cat

 

In an instant, a chorus of guns locking and loading rings through the room like frantic chatter and chiming, both from the guards pointing their weapons at me and Liz, and from the sniper-armed rats crawling out from under the table, a light show of blue dots signaling the rodent’s intentions on the heads of all armed in the room.

“What?!” I hiss, standing up and glaring down at the rat who doesn’t even bat an eye or grin that sinister smile of hers.

“Yous heard me, Cat Kitten,” she says, my name rolling around her mouth as if she’s trying to tie a knot in it like a cherry stem. “Kill the man.”

“Do you think I’m just going to sit here and allow this?!” the mayor shouts, standing up and pointing at Liz. “SHOOT HER–”

“And yous all gonna do dat?” the rat coos, standing up and approaching a guard to her side, taking their chin in her claw. “Yous gonna throw your life away for a dead man? Da very same whos set you here, pawns on a board of queens~?”

Though few falter, they do hold their fire, allowing the rat to turn back to me without interruption, Jeremy standing in front of his chair and shaking in his skin.

“Where were we’s? Ah, yes,” she chirps, the frivolity of her tone quickly deteriorating into a frozen rot. “Kill him, Cat Kitten.”

“What the fuck is your problem, Liz?!” I shout, eyes that would usually burn through her vanier of apathy now being met with a solid wall of ice, too cold for a flame to sunder.

“Remember da plan? Listen to what I’s say.”

“No! Fuck you, you stupid rat, what are you talking about?!”

I fail to hold back my disbelief, tail flicking back and forth agitatedly while my claws dig trenches into the table.

“We literally just concluded everything! Now we can talk out what we’re gonna do from here–”

“I’s expected yous to be less gullible than dis, Cat Kitten,” she groans, but her discontent doesn’t meet her eyes, the very same gaze I saw when I offered her Ascension still peering into me. “He ain’t plannin’ on agreein’ ta shit. He’s takin’ advantage of ya good nature. He’s runnin’ ya in circles, Cat Kitten, can’tchu see? He’ll say everythin’ just shy of what’cha wanna hear, baitin’ you to let ‘im keep his power so yous’ll never do a damn thing to him.”

“So we fucking kill him?!” my voice raises once more, looking back and forth between Liz and the mayor, “Just…I dunno, dethrone him, we don’t have to murder a guy to pull him out of power!”

“I ain’t lettin’ him slip by, Cat Kitten,” she growls, less at me and more at the argument I present. “I ain’t lettin’ a single thing get in da way of my rule. If he lives, he’s a variable, and he ain’t one I care to bother manipulatin’. Kill him.”

“What– No!! If you want him dead, why not do it yourself! Even if I stopped you here, you’d just find a way to do it while my back is turned, what’s even the point of making me do it?!”

A fire growls underneath my voice, flickering and burning up as the rat steps onto the table and looks me in the eyes.

“DA POINT IS TA STAND UP FOR YERSELF, CAT KITTEN!!” she finally shouts back, not the boisterous bile she sang to the crowd of the Sunlit Bounty, not with the venomous vitriol she spat at Janus. “I AIN’T LETTIN’ ANYTHIN’ POKE ANY HOLES IN MY PLANS, AN’ DAT INCLUDES PREVENTIN’ ANY HOLES BEIN’ POKED THROUGH YOUS!!”

It’s desperation. It rings through her shrill voice as she summons her bat and jabs it lightly towards me.

“Yous gots ta eliminate anyone dat’d take yous out without a second thought.”

“Oh, so what, have I always been a part of this grand plan of yours too? You barely knew me until a week ago!”

“WHY’S DO YOU THINK I’S TRYIN’ SO HARD TO PUT YOUS IN IT, EH?!”

The frown on her muzzle contorts into a jagged snarl, like a dog backed into a corner and yet she’s the one pushing herself onto me.

“Yous can kill me without battin’ an eye, yous a variable I’s never accounted for, and yet here I’s am, tryna fit yous in instead ‘a snuffin’ you out.”

…and suddenly it makes sense.

“I’s tryna watch out for you, teach you dat yous can’t keep livin’ a life like yours without takin’ a few of ya own.”

“For once, I can’t tell if you’re lying or if you’ve fooled yourself into believing you’re better than you know you are.”

The furious gaze of the rat widens, her teeth grinding like a saw to stone.

“I’s know exactly what I’s doin’, Cat Kitten, and if yous knows whats good fer you, you’d listen!”

“YOU LISTEN HERE, ELIZABETH!!” I roar, swatting her bat out of her claw and pressing my paw to her chest, my fury blazing. “I’M NOT SOME TOY THAT’LL BEND TO YOUR EVERY WHIM!!”

“YOU’RE NOT!! YOUS DA ONLY MOTHER FUCKER HERE I’S RESPECT!!” she cries, pushing back against my paw, her vulnerability only making her lash out further. “I’S LOST EVERYONE WHO EVA MATTERED TO ME, AND I AIN’T LOSIN’ YOU, CAT KITTEN!!”

“THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRUST ME TO THINK FOR MY DAMN SELF!!”

“YOUS DA ONLY BITCH I TRUST IN THIS SHIT HOLE FUCKIN’ WORLD, AND I AIN’T GONNA WATCH YOU ALLOW YASELF TO BE PUSHED AROUND!! KILL HIM NOW!!”

My stomps echo through the quaking room like waves of pounding heat as I step onto the table and stand over Liz.

“YOU. DON’T. CONTROL ME.”

“JUST. KILL HIM!!”

“KILL HIM YOURSELF!!”

At last, the rat is taken aback, looking at me with disbelief, mouth agape and eyes wide.

“I’s don’t take orders, Cat Kitten.”

“Then why should I take yours?”

“CUZ DA PEOPLE DAT DON’T WIND UP DEAD!!” she screeches, tears streaming down her cheeks like a storm without forecast. “MAYBE IT WON’T BE BY DIS GUY’S HANDS, BUT ONE ‘A DEEZ DAYS, SOMEONE’LL TAKE YOUS FROM ME CUZ YOU DIDN’T LISTEN!!”

“I’M NOT YOURS TO BE TAKEN FROM!!”

“THEN BE MINE!!”

Her claws rise and yank me down by my sweater, the sparks shooting out from between our close faces threatening an imminent eruption.

“I’S YOUR GODDAMN VILLAIN!! YOUR FUCKING DEVIL!! LOOK ME IN DA EYES AND KILL ME WITH A GLANCE!! DON’T DIE WITHOUT ME– LIVE HATING ME YOU BITCH!!”

Our furies meet, they clash, they fight, they embrace, through my sizzling rage, through her streaming tears, she exposes her soul in its entirety to me.

“I’s need your eyes on me. I ain’t felt a spark ‘a life for years ‘til you burnt a hole through my chest with your fire. Hate me. Threaten me. Kick me while I’s bleedin’ out on da ground, and live.”

“...If you want me to look, then shine,” I tell her, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Hate is a blinding darkness that extinguishes the flame. Kindle my fire with oil, and I will only burn brighter. So long as I live, that spark will not fade. And if you want me to live…Be the reason I won’t die.”

It all happens so fast. I pull her into my arms. Bullets sling and blood singes the room with a burning hate.

“You’re pathetic, Liz…and you’d be even worse if I let you loose to toil and fizzle out.”

“I…hate you, Cat Kitten…”

I don’t let go.

“I’s hate your burning passion.”

Her claws reach up around my back and tear into my coat.

“I’s hate your everlasting light.”

Even as the glass behind us shatters and bodies fall, I hold her still.

“I’s hate all da good you stand for…”

The torrent of violence is stemmed only by a drought of existence, the two of us standing before it, clinging to one another desperately.

“...I’s done everythin’ to be ya antithesis…So why won’t you hate me…?!”

“...Is that really what you need? For me to hate you?”

Her sobbing becomes uncontrollable, her claws coming up to my shoulders to pull me closer, at last holding me as I hold her.

“I...I’s need you, Cat Kitten…”

“...And that’s why I can’t hate you.”