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…
“One…two…three…four…”
Miss Cheshire slowly opened her eyes once again, only for the bright sky light to hit her immediately. She squinted, unused to being out of that dark, gloomy place she initially found herself in. Her chest stopped hurting, but her fingers and toes were getting colder. Same was with her face, but mostly around her mouth. Her eyes were heavy due to lack of sleep. She tried to turn her neck as much as it was allowable, only to catch a glimpse of a familiar building not far from herself.
A mayor’s residence? She thought to herself.
“One…two…ARGH!” she heard a loud, gargling scream. “GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! One…two…”
She attempted to turn once again, though sadly, her attempt proved fruitless. It was very uncomfortable, having her whole body tied down at every part of herself. She tried to pull on them again, slightly, so as to not be noticed. The restraints pulled on her harder in turn, making her stop. Her head was snapped back into its original place. This monster truly was quite annoying, she concluded.
Once again, the clown growled, before going back to counting, now more manically. Miss Cheshire concluded that it was probably the same issue as before.
“One…two…two…two…” he repeated for some time. Miss Cheshire wondered if there was any point in this exercise, considering how quickly he has given up at it by this point.
As he kept on counting, he moved over into her view. The cracks on his face have deepened. Fumes and heat were trying to escape from under his skin. Meanwhile, his tongue and teeth turned blue, or maybe he just ate some colored marker that gave that dark color. The eyes have split into three separate colors: purple, red and blue. That was only possible because his second eye had, strangely enough, split into two. He continued to stare with them at her, for an uncomfortable period of time. At some point, Miss Cheshire couldn’t help but clear her own throat.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice sounding garbled. It was as if someone else spoke, like a young boy, at the same time as she did.
“Oh, SHUT IT! Why do you always have to be so annoying!?” he shouted at her, littering her face with black goo that was his spit. They tricked down her face, which she sadly couldn’t wipe off due to her restraints. All three of his eyes burned aflame. His teeth, she noticed, have been unevenly filed. He raised one hand, on which the glove had torn to reveal jagged, purple claws. “I need to concentrate…what I want is…yes…”
He turned away mumbling and began to pace again. She couldn’t hear clearly anymore what he said, but she could make out small details from his conversation with himself. These included use of a bait, maybe her, a plan of getting rid of those brats, a phrase she heard him say at least thrice, and also getting rid of some sort of a lord. She began to wonder if she really started to miss how good her hearing was in her youth.
Feh, I bet my room would be a mess, she thought. Accursed youth!
The clown moved over to the monster that held her in place. She didn’t have much of a clue over how the monster looked like, only that it held her horizontally on a flat surface with restraints. Very uncomfortable set of restraints too. That monster was originally an officer, a young inexperienced one, but he quickly rose in the ranks due to the loss of the original chief-in-command. Then again, there wasn’t much left of the personnel in the police. Oh, what the world was coming to…
She felt herself rise a bit. The feeling was accompanied by the ease of restraints. For some reason, it seemed that she was about to be let go, very soon. She chose not to move yet though, only to listen carefully to the mumbling of the clown.
“You are going to get…Yes, you will…Oy-hohohoho, you will…I’m coming for you…”
He was repeating things over and over. It was then that Miss Cheshire began thinking about her situation, and the possibilities that entailed them. One thing clear about this whole thing, was that this young man was insane. Not only that, but considering what she witnessed first hand, he could kill her if she were not too careful. The idea that she had no possible way to get out of there except pray for a miracle scared her too much to be considered. If there was one thing she could do here, was hope she had silver enough tongue to make him leave her alone.
Which sounded too ridiculous even for her. But oh well, might as well die while trying.
“Young man, what are you trying to do, exactly?” she asked, once again her voice overlapped with that of a young boy. Clown stopped his mumbling, and presumably, looked towards her. “If you are here because you want to terrorize the populace of this small, insignificant town in the middle of nowhere, might I suggest doing it with, I am not sure, but a mayor, perhaps? If you are looking for a way to start your career as a terrorist criminal, I would frankly think that, well, using an old coot of a lady as a hostage is…well, a classic, sure, but maybe you could do with something more creative. Then again, perhaps me at my age just can’t help but think that you should aim at something higher than we did beforehand. By the way, what would be your name again?”
The clown wouldn’t respond to her. Miss Cheshire closed her eyes, and cussed a few times in her mind. Clearly, she shouldn’t have even tried with that poor attempt of negotiating with him. But she couldn’t just do nothing. Suddenly, she remembered her sister again, and then her own daughter. They had far better grasp at this than she ever did. She sighed, as the clown kept on being quiet, letting her continue with her second attempt.
“You are clearly unwell, young man,” she told him, trying to pepper in some sympathy. “I don’t know why you do this, or what made you think this was the right choice, but are you sure you want to live your life, being branded like some sort of a stain in history of this town? Let me rephrase it, being part of this town’s history, does that really strike as enticing to be a part of? Not only will you get hurt, but you might be disappointed. Not many people care about what is going on in here, most of the time.”
She waited for a response. The utter silence made it appear as if he actually disappeared, and she was talking to herself the whole time. She considered moving her head, but she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea yet.
“Are…you…” the clown finally uttered.
She tried to listen again. Then from above popped his face, presenting his giant, blue-tinted, jagged teeth via a smile.
“Are you ready for our next stop?!” he shouted at her, pelting her face with gooey spit again. She probably could’ve wiped them away this time, but she got used to it by this point, so she didn’t bother. “This will be a good one! We are going on a one-way trip! Where to? Can’t tell you yet, but let me say this, it will definitely change you life…forever…”
She watched his already big jaw stretch wider and wider. She could’ve have chosen to fight back there, funny enough. Find a way to leave him and then call for help. But something kept her from trying to at this point. This was inevitable. She wasn’t going to enjoy her experience, and she probably wasn’t going to survive this.
Those poor brats.
Please be safe.
…
“I think I see it!” Barbie informed everyone.
Flora, Barbie and Tom landed near the mayor’s building. The building was situated at the dead-center of their town, the busiest and prettiest part of the area. The building was large, wide and very old looking, with beautiful brickwork, multiple white windows, a balcony at the top, and an adorning sigil right at the top, showing a warrior lion. In front of it was a big garden, with greenest of grass, bushes that stood next to ceramic pavement towards the front door, and all surrounded by black, short, gothic fence. Flora, looking at it, thought that this building was probably built a long time ago, saying it had that “like a classical feel to it.” But according to Tom, it was built as recently as one year before she moved over here. There was a sign right next to the entrance gate, stating “With Long, Proud People’s History: Town Of Valor.” Reading it, Flora just gave a look to the others, who wordlessly agreed with her assessment.
They quickly jumped over the fences, and made their way to the building. Flora scanned it all with her vision, once again, to see if the clown was there. TO her disappointmed, he wasn’t anymore, but something else was. It was a Torque, meaning that if the clown was away, they could at least deal with it first.
“It’s weird here, isn’t it?” suddenly Barbie said.
The other two glanced at her quizzically.
“Well, because, you know…” she continued to mumble, her body turned to Tom.
“Oh? Because he is my Dad? I mean, I never cared.” Tom promptly shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay.” Flora focused on the area once more, and even switched to looking for another energy, as per Rose’s request.
<Do be mindful, that even if he were to be invisible, he may still appear regardless,> noted Rose.
Sure thing, answered Flora.
Certainly enough, she found the trace of the Torque itself, including something resembling that of Pierre. The clown, however, wasn’t anywhere near. Not that he has disappeared, just simply had already escaped. Flora sighed in relief, realizing that they can in fact find the clown. This should be easier than they expected, initially.
“So! Bad news guys, looks like the clown isn’t here,” Flora relayed to others. “But good news, is that the Torque is by himself! I know the clown is away, so we can probably just deal with the Torque and then go after him. Easy-peasy!“
“Cool!” answered Tom, smiling. Barbie nodded and gave two thumbs up.
“Okay, great.” Flora gathered everyone closer and began to move through the garden. The front yard was big, and the office was even bigger, but the monster was clearly seen, and it was moving to the closest corner for them. Once the reached the main entrance door, Flora could tell that the creature was getting nearer as well.
Flora began to formulate a plan.
“First of all Tom,” she pointed to the roof. “You jump up there and be ready to attack or yell out if anything happens.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Tom showed her a salute.
“Good. Now go!” She motioned him, making the flustered assassin warrior leap into the air. She looked at Barbie. “You and me will go at him. Remember this, Barbie, you lead the charge. I’ll be in the back, where I can cover you with my arrows, and say if anything wrong happens. If things go bad, yell at us and me and Tom will help. Does that make sense?”
Barbie pondered on the order, then quickly nodded.
“Understood, leader!” she said smiling, then summoned her spear.
<A well-done start, young tactician.> Rose chuckled.
Well, hey, I guess I am pretty natural! Flora replied A smile grew on her face without her meaning to.
Maybe she was in fact meant to be a leader.
She looked over the roof, which happened to be pretty high from where they stood. Fortunately, Tom appeared soon after, and gave thumbs up in her direction.
“Alright, Barbie, on my mark.” Flora said to Barbie, who nodded and took a readied stance, pointing her spear to the corner. Flora exhaled once, which Barbie did as well, as the two girls began approaching the corner. Flora focused on the energy again, seeing that the monster seemingly stopped in place. “He is…right around there,” she told Barbie. The latter nodded again. “Okay, then, get set, ready and…
GO!”
Barbie threw her spear into the building, creating an area encompassing BOOM sound. As per its usual properties, it passed through the building itself without leaving a scratch. She then dashed into the side, moving as fast as lightning. Flora ran right after, several arrows ready in her hand, emerging from the corner by taking an aim. She was ready to begin her attack.
However, all she saw was Barbie, appearing confused. “Where’s Torque?” Barbie asked her.
Flora furrowed her brows. She scanned the area, focusing on dark energy, but found nothing but traces.
What’s going on!? How did it disappear!?
<Pay attention, Flora,> Rose warned her, <it might try to attack you from->
“FLORA, BARBIE!”
Flora looked up to the roof. Despite clearly hearing Tom a second ago, it appeared empty.
“What is going on?” Flora uttered.
“Oh there he-!”
Flora looked behind herself. Suddenly, Barbie just disappeared. Flora tried looking around but she couldn’t see anybody nor anything. Even looking for their energy, all she saw was traces.
“WHAT DID IT DO!?”
<Flora, calm yourself! It must be cloaking or hiding somewhere.>
“Well duh, but where!? It’s not in the ground or above me! Where is it!?”
And then, a small sound came. Flora couldn’t figure out what it was, but by that point, it was too late.
The sound came from behind.
…
Fotia was in the hospital bed. Despite how clean and unremarkable the environment around him was, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. There was something about how well-kept it all looked. Like a wizard’s den, where only the necessary ingredients were kept to perform their curses without accidentally ruining them.
Throughout this whole time, in order to keep himself from that rather awful feeling, he busied himself with the phone. Or particularly, how to operate it again, and call Flora as to warn her about the Torque. It was necessary for them to know it’s unusual power and weakness.
Sadly, his fourth attempt locked him out of the phone completely. And worse, nobody else was in the room that he was in, nor were the nurses coming over to check up on him.
Fotia sighed, admitting defeat already all thanks to his frail body he was in. How fair was it, that waking up had gave him pain and fatigue? Not quite, he would say.
“I do hope they are fine,” lamented Fotia. “It wasn’t that hard to figure it out. Mayhaps they shall follow suit.”
Without meaning to, he drifted to sleep.
Oh, accursed age.
…
-----------------------------------------
…
“One…two…three…four…”
Miss Cheshire slowly opened her eyes once again, only for the bright sky light to hit her immediately. She squinted, unused to being out of that dark, gloomy place she initially found herself in. Her chest stopped hurting, but her fingers and toes were getting colder. Same was with her face, but mostly around her mouth. Her eyes were heavy due to lack of sleep. She tried to turn her neck as much as it was allowable, only to catch a glimpse of a familiar building not far from herself.
A mayor’s residence? She thought to herself.
“One…two…ARGH!” she heard a loud, gargling scream. “GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! One…two…”
She attempted to turn once again, though sadly, her attempt proved fruitless. It was very uncomfortable, having her whole body tied down at every part of herself. She tried to pull on them again, slightly, so as to not be noticed. The restraints pulled on her harder in turn, making her stop. Her head was snapped back into its original place. This monster truly was quite annoying, she concluded.
Once again, the clown growled, before going back to counting, now more manically. Miss Cheshire concluded that it was probably the same issue as before.
“One…two…two…two…” he repeated for some time. Miss Cheshire wondered if there was any point in this exercise, considering how quickly he has given up at it by this point.
As he kept on counting, he moved over into her view. The cracks on his face have deepened. Fumes and heat were trying to escape from under his skin. Meanwhile, his tongue and teeth turned blue, or maybe he just ate some colored marker that gave that dark color. The eyes have split into three separate colors: purple, red and blue. That was only possible because his second eye had, strangely enough, split into two. He continued to stare with them at her, for an uncomfortable period of time. At some point, Miss Cheshire couldn’t help but clear her own throat.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice sounding garbled. It was as if someone else spoke, like a young boy, at the same time as she did.
“Oh, SHUT IT! Why do you always have to be so annoying!?” he shouted at her, littering her face with black goo that was his spit. They tricked down her face, which she sadly couldn’t wipe off due to her restraints. All three of his eyes burned aflame. His teeth, she noticed, have been unevenly filed. He raised one hand, on which the glove had torn to reveal jagged, purple claws. “I need to concentrate…what I want is…yes…”
He turned away mumbling and began to pace again. She couldn’t hear clearly anymore what he said, but she could make out small details from his conversation with himself. These included use of a bait, maybe her, a plan of getting rid of those brats, a phrase she heard him say at least thrice, and also getting rid of some sort of a lord. She began to wonder if she really started to miss how good her hearing was in her youth.
Feh, I bet my room would be a mess, she thought. Accursed youth!
The clown moved over to the monster that held her in place. She didn’t have much of a clue over how the monster looked like, only that it held her horizontally on a flat surface with restraints. Very uncomfortable set of restraints too. That monster was originally an officer, a young inexperienced one, but he quickly rose in the ranks due to the loss of the original chief-in-command. Then again, there wasn’t much left of the personnel in the police. Oh, what the world was coming to…
She felt herself rise a bit. The feeling was accompanied by the ease of restraints. For some reason, it seemed that she was about to be let go, very soon. She chose not to move yet though, only to listen carefully to the mumbling of the clown.
“You are going to get…Yes, you will…Oy-hohohoho, you will…I’m coming for you…”
He was repeating things over and over. It was then that Miss Cheshire began thinking about her situation, and the possibilities that entailed them. One thing clear about this whole thing, was that this young man was insane. Not only that, but considering what she witnessed first hand, he could kill her if she were not too careful. The idea that she had no possible way to get out of there except pray for a miracle scared her too much to be considered. If there was one thing she could do here, was hope she had silver enough tongue to make him leave her alone.
Which sounded too ridiculous even for her. But oh well, might as well die while trying.
“Young man, what are you trying to do, exactly?” she asked, once again her voice overlapped with that of a young boy. Clown stopped his mumbling, and presumably, looked towards her. “If you are here because you want to terrorize the populace of this small, insignificant town in the middle of nowhere, might I suggest doing it with, I am not sure, but a mayor, perhaps? If you are looking for a way to start your career as a terrorist criminal, I would frankly think that, well, using an old coot of a lady as a hostage is…well, a classic, sure, but maybe you could do with something more creative. Then again, perhaps me at my age just can’t help but think that you should aim at something higher than we did beforehand. By the way, what would be your name again?”
The clown wouldn’t respond to her. Miss Cheshire closed her eyes, and cussed a few times in her mind. Clearly, she shouldn’t have even tried with that poor attempt of negotiating with him. But she couldn’t just do nothing. Suddenly, she remembered her sister again, and then her own daughter. They had far better grasp at this than she ever did. She sighed, as the clown kept on being quiet, letting her continue with her second attempt.
“You are clearly unwell, young man,” she told him, trying to pepper in some sympathy. “I don’t know why you do this, or what made you think this was the right choice, but are you sure you want to live your life, being branded like some sort of a stain in history of this town? Let me rephrase it, being part of this town’s history, does that really strike as enticing to be a part of? Not only will you get hurt, but you might be disappointed. Not many people care about what is going on in here, most of the time.”
She waited for a response. The utter silence made it appear as if he actually disappeared, and she was talking to herself the whole time. She considered moving her head, but she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea yet.
“Are…you…” the clown finally uttered.
She tried to listen again. Then from above popped his face, presenting his giant, blue-tinted, jagged teeth via a smile.
“Are you ready for our next stop?!” he shouted at her, pelting her face with gooey spit again. She probably could’ve wiped them away this time, but she got used to it by this point, so she didn’t bother. “This will be a good one! We are going on a one-way trip! Where to? Can’t tell you yet, but let me say this, it will definitely change you life…forever…”
She watched his already big jaw stretch wider and wider. She could’ve have chosen to fight back there, funny enough. Find a way to leave him and then call for help. But something kept her from trying to at this point. This was inevitable. She wasn’t going to enjoy her experience, and she probably wasn’t going to survive this.
Those poor brats.
Please be safe.
…
“I think I see it!” Barbie informed everyone.
Flora, Barbie and Tom landed near the mayor’s building. The building was situated at the dead-center of their town, the busiest and prettiest part of the area. The building was large, wide and very old looking, with beautiful brickwork, multiple white windows, a balcony at the top, and an adorning sigil right at the top, showing a warrior lion. In front of it was a big garden, with greenest of grass, bushes that stood next to ceramic pavement towards the front door, and all surrounded by black, short, gothic fence. Flora, looking at it, thought that this building was probably built a long time ago, saying it had that “like a classical feel to it.” But according to Tom, it was built as recently as one year before she moved over here. There was a sign right next to the entrance gate, stating “With Long, Proud People’s History: Town Of Valor.” Reading it, Flora just gave a look to the others, who wordlessly agreed with her assessment.
They quickly jumped over the fences, and made their way to the building. Flora scanned it all with her vision, once again, to see if the clown was there. TO her disappointmed, he wasn’t anymore, but something else was. It was a Torque, meaning that if the clown was away, they could at least deal with it first.
“It’s weird here, isn’t it?” suddenly Barbie said.
The other two glanced at her quizzically.
“Well, because, you know…” she continued to mumble, her body turned to Tom.
“Oh? Because he is my Dad? I mean, I never cared.” Tom promptly shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay.” Flora focused on the area once more, and even switched to looking for another energy, as per Rose’s request.
<Do be mindful, that even if he were to be invisible, he may still appear regardless,> noted Rose.
Sure thing, answered Flora.
Certainly enough, she found the trace of the Torque itself, including something resembling that of Pierre. The clown, however, wasn’t anywhere near. Not that he has disappeared, just simply had already escaped. Flora sighed in relief, realizing that they can in fact find the clown. This should be easier than they expected, initially.
“So! Bad news guys, looks like the clown isn’t here,” Flora relayed to others. “But good news, is that the Torque is by himself! I know the clown is away, so we can probably just deal with the Torque and then go after him. Easy-peasy!“
“Cool!” answered Tom, smiling. Barbie nodded and gave two thumbs up.
“Okay, great.” Flora gathered everyone closer and began to move through the garden. The front yard was big, and the office was even bigger, but the monster was clearly seen, and it was moving to the closest corner for them. Once the reached the main entrance door, Flora could tell that the creature was getting nearer as well.
Flora began to formulate a plan.
“First of all Tom,” she pointed to the roof. “You jump up there and be ready to attack or yell out if anything happens.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Tom showed her a salute.
“Good. Now go!” She motioned him, making the flustered assassin warrior leap into the air. She looked at Barbie. “You and me will go at him. Remember this, Barbie, you lead the charge. I’ll be in the back, where I can cover you with my arrows, and say if anything wrong happens. If things go bad, yell at us and me and Tom will help. Does that make sense?”
Barbie pondered on the order, then quickly nodded.
“Understood, leader!” she said smiling, then summoned her spear.
<A well-done start, young tactician.> Rose chuckled.
Well, hey, I guess I am pretty natural! Flora replied A smile grew on her face without her meaning to.
Maybe she was in fact meant to be a leader.
She looked over the roof, which happened to be pretty high from where they stood. Fortunately, Tom appeared soon after, and gave thumbs up in her direction.
“Alright, Barbie, on my mark.” Flora said to Barbie, who nodded and took a readied stance, pointing her spear to the corner. Flora exhaled once, which Barbie did as well, as the two girls began approaching the corner. Flora focused on the energy again, seeing that the monster seemingly stopped in place. “He is…right around there,” she told Barbie. The latter nodded again. “Okay, then, get set, ready and…
GO!”
Barbie threw her spear into the building, creating an area encompassing BOOM sound. As per its usual properties, it passed through the building itself without leaving a scratch. She then dashed into the side, moving as fast as lightning. Flora ran right after, several arrows ready in her hand, emerging from the corner by taking an aim. She was ready to begin her attack.
However, all she saw was Barbie, appearing confused. “Where’s Torque?” Barbie asked her.
Flora furrowed her brows. She scanned the area, focusing on dark energy, but found nothing but traces.
What’s going on!? How did it disappear!?
<Pay attention, Flora,> Rose warned her, <it might try to attack you from->
“FLORA, BARBIE!”
Flora looked up to the roof. Despite clearly hearing Tom a second ago, it appeared empty.
“What is going on?” Flora uttered.
“Oh there he-!”
Flora looked behind herself. Suddenly, Barbie just disappeared. Flora tried looking around but she couldn’t see anybody nor anything. Even looking for their energy, all she saw was traces.
“WHAT DID IT DO!?”
<Flora, calm yourself! It must be cloaking or hiding somewhere.>
“Well duh, but where!? It’s not in the ground or above me! Where is it!?”
And then, a small sound came. Flora couldn’t figure out what it was, but by that point, it was too late.
The sound came from behind.
…
Fotia was in the hospital bed. Despite how clean and unremarkable the environment around him was, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. There was something about how well-kept it all looked. Like a wizard’s den, where only the necessary ingredients were kept to perform their curses without accidentally ruining them.
Throughout this whole time, in order to keep himself from that rather awful feeling, he busied himself with the phone. Or particularly, how to operate it again, and call Flora as to warn her about the Torque. It was necessary for them to know it’s unusual power and weakness.
Sadly, his fourth attempt locked him out of the phone completely. And worse, nobody else was in the room that he was in, nor were the nurses coming over to check up on him.
Fotia sighed, admitting defeat already all thanks to his frail body he was in. How fair was it, that waking up had gave him pain and fatigue? Not quite, he would say.
“I do hope they are fine,” lamented Fotia. “It wasn’t that hard to figure it out. Mayhaps they shall follow suit.”
Without meaning to, he drifted to sleep.
Oh, accursed age.
…
THIS IS HALLOWEEN, THIS IS HALLOWEEN!
YOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYO!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…
“One…two…three…four…”
Miss Cheshire slowly opened her eyes once again, only for the bright sky light to hit her immediately. She squinted, unused to being out of that dark, gloomy place she initially found herself in. Her chest stopped hurting, but her fingers and toes were getting colder. Same was with her face, but mostly around her mouth. Her eyes were heavy due to lack of sleep. She tried to turn her neck as much as it was allowable, only to catch a glimpse of a familiar building not far from herself.
A mayor’s residence? She thought to herself.
“One…two…ARGH!” she heard a loud, gargling scream. “GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! One…two…”
She attempted to turn once again, though sadly, her attempt proved fruitless. It was very uncomfortable, having her whole body tied down at every part of herself. She tried to pull on them again, slightly, so as to not be noticed. The restraints pulled on her harder in turn, making her stop. Her head was snapped back into its original place. This monster truly was quite annoying, she concluded.
Once again, the clown growled, before going back to counting, now more manically. Miss Cheshire concluded that it was probably the same issue as before.
“One…two…two…two…” he repeated for some time. Miss Cheshire wondered if there was any point in this exercise, considering how quickly he has given up at it by this point.
As he kept on counting, he moved over into her view. The cracks on his face have deepened. Fumes and heat were trying to escape from under his skin. Meanwhile, his tongue and teeth turned blue, or maybe he just ate some colored marker that gave that dark color. The eyes have split into three separate colors: purple, red and blue. That was only possible because his second eye had, strangely enough, split into two. He continued to stare with them at her, for an uncomfortable period of time. At some point, Miss Cheshire couldn’t help but clear her own throat.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice sounding garbled. It was as if someone else spoke, like a young boy, at the same time as she did.
“Oh, SHUT IT! Why do you always have to be so annoying!?” he shouted at her, littering her face with black goo that was his spit. They tricked down her face, which she sadly couldn’t wipe off due to her restraints. All three of his eyes burned aflame. His teeth, she noticed, have been unevenly filed. He raised one hand, on which the glove had torn to reveal jagged, purple claws. “I need to concentrate…what I want is…yes…”
He turned away mumbling and began to pace again. She couldn’t hear clearly anymore what he said, but she could make out small details from his conversation with himself. These included use of a bait, maybe her, a plan of getting rid of those brats, a phrase she heard him say at least thrice, and also getting rid of some sort of a lord. She began to wonder if she really started to miss how good her hearing was in her youth.
Feh, I bet my room would be a mess, she thought. Accursed youth!
The clown moved over to the monster that held her in place. She didn’t have much of a clue over how the monster looked like, only that it held her horizontally on a flat surface with restraints. Very uncomfortable set of restraints too. That monster was originally an officer, a young inexperienced one, but he quickly rose in the ranks due to the loss of the original chief-in-command. Then again, there wasn’t much left of the personnel in the police. Oh, what the world was coming to…
She felt herself rise a bit. The feeling was accompanied by the ease of restraints. For some reason, it seemed that she was about to be let go, very soon. She chose not to move yet though, only to listen carefully to the mumbling of the clown.
“You are going to get…Yes, you will…Oy-hohohoho, you will…I’m coming for you…”
He was repeating things over and over. It was then that Miss Cheshire began thinking about her situation, and the possibilities that entailed them. One thing clear about this whole thing, was that this young man was insane. Not only that, but considering what she witnessed first hand, he could kill her if she were not too careful. The idea that she had no possible way to get out of there except pray for a miracle scared her too much to be considered. If there was one thing she could do here, was hope she had silver enough tongue to make him leave her alone.
Which sounded too ridiculous even for her. But oh well, might as well die while trying.
“Young man, what are you trying to do, exactly?” she asked, once again her voice overlapped with that of a young boy. Clown stopped his mumbling, and presumably, looked towards her. “If you are here because you want to terrorize the populace of this small, insignificant town in the middle of nowhere, might I suggest doing it with, I am not sure, but a mayor, perhaps? If you are looking for a way to start your career as a terrorist criminal, I would frankly think that, well, using an old coot of a lady as a hostage is…well, a classic, sure, but maybe you could do with something more creative. Then again, perhaps me at my age just can’t help but think that you should aim at something higher than we did beforehand. By the way, what would be your name again?”
The clown wouldn’t respond to her. Miss Cheshire closed her eyes, and cussed a few times in her mind. Clearly, she shouldn’t have even tried with that poor attempt of negotiating with him. But she couldn’t just do nothing. Suddenly, she remembered her sister again, and then her own daughter. They had far better grasp at this than she ever did. She sighed, as the clown kept on being quiet, letting her continue with her second attempt.
“You are clearly unwell, young man,” she told him, trying to pepper in some sympathy. “I don’t know why you do this, or what made you think this was the right choice, but are you sure you want to live your life, being branded like some sort of a stain in history of this town? Let me rephrase it, being part of this town’s history, does that really strike as enticing to be a part of? Not only will you get hurt, but you might be disappointed. Not many people care about what is going on in here, most of the time.”
She waited for a response. The utter silence made it appear as if he actually disappeared, and she was talking to herself the whole time. She considered moving her head, but she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea yet.
“Are…you…” the clown finally uttered.
She tried to listen again. Then from above popped his face, presenting his giant, blue-tinted, jagged teeth via a smile.
“Are you ready for our next stop?!” he shouted at her, pelting her face with gooey spit again. She probably could’ve wiped them away this time, but she got used to it by this point, so she didn’t bother. “This will be a good one! We are going on a one-way trip! Where to? Can’t tell you yet, but let me say this, it will definitely change you life…forever…”
She watched his already big jaw stretch wider and wider. She could’ve have chosen to fight back there, funny enough. Find a way to leave him and then call for help. But something kept her from trying to at this point. This was inevitable. She wasn’t going to enjoy her experience, and she probably wasn’t going to survive this.
Those poor brats.
Please be safe.
…
“I think I see it!” Barbie informed everyone.
Flora, Barbie and Tom landed near the mayor’s building. The building was situated at the dead-center of their town, the busiest and prettiest part of the area. The building was large, wide and very old looking, with beautiful brickwork, multiple white windows, a balcony at the top, and an adorning sigil right at the top, showing a warrior lion. In front of it was a big garden, with greenest of grass, bushes that stood next to ceramic pavement towards the front door, and all surrounded by black, short, gothic fence. Flora, looking at it, thought that this building was probably built a long time ago, saying it had that “like a classical feel to it.” But according to Tom, it was built as recently as one year before she moved over here. There was a sign right next to the entrance gate, stating “With Long, Proud People’s History: Town Of Valor.” Reading it, Flora just gave a look to the others, who wordlessly agreed with her assessment.
They quickly jumped over the fences, and made their way to the building. Flora scanned it all with her vision, once again, to see if the clown was there. TO her disappointmed, he wasn’t anymore, but something else was. It was a Torque, meaning that if the clown was away, they could at least deal with it first.
“It’s weird here, isn’t it?” suddenly Barbie said.
The other two glanced at her quizzically.
“Well, because, you know…” she continued to mumble, her body turned to Tom.
“Oh? Because he is my Dad? I mean, I never cared.” Tom promptly shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay.” Flora focused on the area once more, and even switched to looking for another energy, as per Rose’s request.
<Do be mindful, that even if he were to be invisible, he may still appear regardless,> noted Rose.
Sure thing, answered Flora.
Certainly enough, she found the trace of the Torque itself, including something resembling that of Pierre. The clown, however, wasn’t anywhere near. Not that he has disappeared, just simply had already escaped. Flora sighed in relief, realizing that they can in fact find the clown. This should be easier than they expected, initially.
“So! Bad news guys, looks like the clown isn’t here,” Flora relayed to others. “But good news, is that the Torque is by himself! I know the clown is away, so we can probably just deal with the Torque and then go after him. Easy-peasy!“
“Cool!” answered Tom, smiling. Barbie nodded and gave two thumbs up.
“Okay, great.” Flora gathered everyone closer and began to move through the garden. The front yard was big, and the office was even bigger, but the monster was clearly seen, and it was moving to the closest corner for them. Once the reached the main entrance door, Flora could tell that the creature was getting nearer as well.
Flora began to formulate a plan.
“First of all Tom,” she pointed to the roof. “You jump up there and be ready to attack or yell out if anything happens.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Tom showed her a salute.
“Good. Now go!” She motioned him, making the flustered assassin warrior leap into the air. She looked at Barbie. “You and me will go at him. Remember this, Barbie, you lead the charge. I’ll be in the back, where I can cover you with my arrows, and say if anything wrong happens. If things go bad, yell at us and me and Tom will help. Does that make sense?”
Barbie pondered on the order, then quickly nodded.
“Understood, leader!” she said smiling, then summoned her spear.
<A well-done start, young tactician.> Rose chuckled.
Well, hey, I guess I am pretty natural! Flora replied A smile grew on her face without her meaning to.
Maybe she was in fact meant to be a leader.
She looked over the roof, which happened to be pretty high from where they stood. Fortunately, Tom appeared soon after, and gave thumbs up in her direction.
“Alright, Barbie, on my mark.” Flora said to Barbie, who nodded and took a readied stance, pointing her spear to the corner. Flora exhaled once, which Barbie did as well, as the two girls began approaching the corner. Flora focused on the energy again, seeing that the monster seemingly stopped in place. “He is…right around there,” she told Barbie. The latter nodded again. “Okay, then, get set, ready and…
GO!”
Barbie threw her spear into the building, creating an area encompassing BOOM sound. As per its usual properties, it passed through the building itself without leaving a scratch. She then dashed into the side, moving as fast as lightning. Flora ran right after, several arrows ready in her hand, emerging from the corner by taking an aim. She was ready to begin her attack.
However, all she saw was Barbie, appearing confused. “Where’s Torque?” Barbie asked her.
Flora furrowed her brows. She scanned the area, focusing on dark energy, but found nothing but traces.
What’s going on!? How did it disappear!?
<Pay attention, Flora,> Rose warned her, <it might try to attack you from->
“FLORA, BARBIE!”
Flora looked up to the roof. Despite clearly hearing Tom a second ago, it appeared empty.
“What is going on?” Flora uttered.
“Oh there he-!”
Flora looked behind herself. Suddenly, Barbie just disappeared. Flora tried looking around but she couldn’t see anybody nor anything. Even looking for their energy, all she saw was traces.
“WHAT DID IT DO!?”
<Flora, calm yourself! It must be cloaking or hiding somewhere.>
“Well duh, but where!? It’s not in the ground or above me! Where is it!?”
And then, a small sound came. Flora couldn’t figure out what it was, but by that point, it was too late.
The sound came from behind.
…
Fotia was in the hospital bed. Despite how clean and unremarkable the environment around him was, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. There was something about how well-kept it all looked. Like a wizard’s den, where only the necessary ingredients were kept to perform their curses without accidentally ruining them.
Throughout this whole time, in order to keep himself from that rather awful feeling, he busied himself with the phone. Or particularly, how to operate it again, and call Flora as to warn her about the Torque. It was necessary for them to know it’s unusual power and weakness.
Sadly, his fourth attempt locked him out of the phone completely. And worse, nobody else was in the room that he was in, nor were the nurses coming over to check up on him.
Fotia sighed, admitting defeat already all thanks to his frail body he was in. How fair was it, that waking up had gave him pain and fatigue? Not quite, he would say.
“I do hope they are fine,” lamented Fotia. “It wasn’t that hard to figure it out. Mayhaps they shall follow suit.”
Without meaning to, he drifted to sleep.
Oh, accursed age.
…
YOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYO!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…
“One…two…three…four…”
Miss Cheshire slowly opened her eyes once again, only for the bright sky light to hit her immediately. She squinted, unused to being out of that dark, gloomy place she initially found herself in. Her chest stopped hurting, but her fingers and toes were getting colder. Same was with her face, but mostly around her mouth. Her eyes were heavy due to lack of sleep. She tried to turn her neck as much as it was allowable, only to catch a glimpse of a familiar building not far from herself.
A mayor’s residence? She thought to herself.
“One…two…ARGH!” she heard a loud, gargling scream. “GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! One…two…”
She attempted to turn once again, though sadly, her attempt proved fruitless. It was very uncomfortable, having her whole body tied down at every part of herself. She tried to pull on them again, slightly, so as to not be noticed. The restraints pulled on her harder in turn, making her stop. Her head was snapped back into its original place. This monster truly was quite annoying, she concluded.
Once again, the clown growled, before going back to counting, now more manically. Miss Cheshire concluded that it was probably the same issue as before.
“One…two…two…two…” he repeated for some time. Miss Cheshire wondered if there was any point in this exercise, considering how quickly he has given up at it by this point.
As he kept on counting, he moved over into her view. The cracks on his face have deepened. Fumes and heat were trying to escape from under his skin. Meanwhile, his tongue and teeth turned blue, or maybe he just ate some colored marker that gave that dark color. The eyes have split into three separate colors: purple, red and blue. That was only possible because his second eye had, strangely enough, split into two. He continued to stare with them at her, for an uncomfortable period of time. At some point, Miss Cheshire couldn’t help but clear her own throat.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice sounding garbled. It was as if someone else spoke, like a young boy, at the same time as she did.
“Oh, SHUT IT! Why do you always have to be so annoying!?” he shouted at her, littering her face with black goo that was his spit. They tricked down her face, which she sadly couldn’t wipe off due to her restraints. All three of his eyes burned aflame. His teeth, she noticed, have been unevenly filed. He raised one hand, on which the glove had torn to reveal jagged, purple claws. “I need to concentrate…what I want is…yes…”
He turned away mumbling and began to pace again. She couldn’t hear clearly anymore what he said, but she could make out small details from his conversation with himself. These included use of a bait, maybe her, a plan of getting rid of those brats, a phrase she heard him say at least thrice, and also getting rid of some sort of a lord. She began to wonder if she really started to miss how good her hearing was in her youth.
Feh, I bet my room would be a mess, she thought. Accursed youth!
The clown moved over to the monster that held her in place. She didn’t have much of a clue over how the monster looked like, only that it held her horizontally on a flat surface with restraints. Very uncomfortable set of restraints too. That monster was originally an officer, a young inexperienced one, but he quickly rose in the ranks due to the loss of the original chief-in-command. Then again, there wasn’t much left of the personnel in the police. Oh, what the world was coming to…
She felt herself rise a bit. The feeling was accompanied by the ease of restraints. For some reason, it seemed that she was about to be let go, very soon. She chose not to move yet though, only to listen carefully to the mumbling of the clown.
“You are going to get…Yes, you will…Oy-hohohoho, you will…I’m coming for you…”
He was repeating things over and over. It was then that Miss Cheshire began thinking about her situation, and the possibilities that entailed them. One thing clear about this whole thing, was that this young man was insane. Not only that, but considering what she witnessed first hand, he could kill her if she were not too careful. The idea that she had no possible way to get out of there except pray for a miracle scared her too much to be considered. If there was one thing she could do here, was hope she had silver enough tongue to make him leave her alone.
Which sounded too ridiculous even for her. But oh well, might as well die while trying.
“Young man, what are you trying to do, exactly?” she asked, once again her voice overlapped with that of a young boy. Clown stopped his mumbling, and presumably, looked towards her. “If you are here because you want to terrorize the populace of this small, insignificant town in the middle of nowhere, might I suggest doing it with, I am not sure, but a mayor, perhaps? If you are looking for a way to start your career as a terrorist criminal, I would frankly think that, well, using an old coot of a lady as a hostage is…well, a classic, sure, but maybe you could do with something more creative. Then again, perhaps me at my age just can’t help but think that you should aim at something higher than we did beforehand. By the way, what would be your name again?”
The clown wouldn’t respond to her. Miss Cheshire closed her eyes, and cussed a few times in her mind. Clearly, she shouldn’t have even tried with that poor attempt of negotiating with him. But she couldn’t just do nothing. Suddenly, she remembered her sister again, and then her own daughter. They had far better grasp at this than she ever did. She sighed, as the clown kept on being quiet, letting her continue with her second attempt.
“You are clearly unwell, young man,” she told him, trying to pepper in some sympathy. “I don’t know why you do this, or what made you think this was the right choice, but are you sure you want to live your life, being branded like some sort of a stain in history of this town? Let me rephrase it, being part of this town’s history, does that really strike as enticing to be a part of? Not only will you get hurt, but you might be disappointed. Not many people care about what is going on in here, most of the time.”
She waited for a response. The utter silence made it appear as if he actually disappeared, and she was talking to herself the whole time. She considered moving her head, but she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a good idea yet.
“Are…you…” the clown finally uttered.
She tried to listen again. Then from above popped his face, presenting his giant, blue-tinted, jagged teeth via a smile.
“Are you ready for our next stop?!” he shouted at her, pelting her face with gooey spit again. She probably could’ve wiped them away this time, but she got used to it by this point, so she didn’t bother. “This will be a good one! We are going on a one-way trip! Where to? Can’t tell you yet, but let me say this, it will definitely change you life…forever…”
She watched his already big jaw stretch wider and wider. She could’ve have chosen to fight back there, funny enough. Find a way to leave him and then call for help. But something kept her from trying to at this point. This was inevitable. She wasn’t going to enjoy her experience, and she probably wasn’t going to survive this.
Those poor brats.
Please be safe.
…
“I think I see it!” Barbie informed everyone.
Flora, Barbie and Tom landed near the mayor’s building. The building was situated at the dead-center of their town, the busiest and prettiest part of the area. The building was large, wide and very old looking, with beautiful brickwork, multiple white windows, a balcony at the top, and an adorning sigil right at the top, showing a warrior lion. In front of it was a big garden, with greenest of grass, bushes that stood next to ceramic pavement towards the front door, and all surrounded by black, short, gothic fence. Flora, looking at it, thought that this building was probably built a long time ago, saying it had that “like a classical feel to it.” But according to Tom, it was built as recently as one year before she moved over here. There was a sign right next to the entrance gate, stating “With Long, Proud People’s History: Town Of Valor.” Reading it, Flora just gave a look to the others, who wordlessly agreed with her assessment.
They quickly jumped over the fences, and made their way to the building. Flora scanned it all with her vision, once again, to see if the clown was there. TO her disappointmed, he wasn’t anymore, but something else was. It was a Torque, meaning that if the clown was away, they could at least deal with it first.
“It’s weird here, isn’t it?” suddenly Barbie said.
The other two glanced at her quizzically.
“Well, because, you know…” she continued to mumble, her body turned to Tom.
“Oh? Because he is my Dad? I mean, I never cared.” Tom promptly shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay.” Flora focused on the area once more, and even switched to looking for another energy, as per Rose’s request.
<Do be mindful, that even if he were to be invisible, he may still appear regardless,> noted Rose.
Sure thing, answered Flora.
Certainly enough, she found the trace of the Torque itself, including something resembling that of Pierre. The clown, however, wasn’t anywhere near. Not that he has disappeared, just simply had already escaped. Flora sighed in relief, realizing that they can in fact find the clown. This should be easier than they expected, initially.
“So! Bad news guys, looks like the clown isn’t here,” Flora relayed to others. “But good news, is that the Torque is by himself! I know the clown is away, so we can probably just deal with the Torque and then go after him. Easy-peasy!“
“Cool!” answered Tom, smiling. Barbie nodded and gave two thumbs up.
“Okay, great.” Flora gathered everyone closer and began to move through the garden. The front yard was big, and the office was even bigger, but the monster was clearly seen, and it was moving to the closest corner for them. Once the reached the main entrance door, Flora could tell that the creature was getting nearer as well.
Flora began to formulate a plan.
“First of all Tom,” she pointed to the roof. “You jump up there and be ready to attack or yell out if anything happens.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” Tom showed her a salute.
“Good. Now go!” She motioned him, making the flustered assassin warrior leap into the air. She looked at Barbie. “You and me will go at him. Remember this, Barbie, you lead the charge. I’ll be in the back, where I can cover you with my arrows, and say if anything wrong happens. If things go bad, yell at us and me and Tom will help. Does that make sense?”
Barbie pondered on the order, then quickly nodded.
“Understood, leader!” she said smiling, then summoned her spear.
<A well-done start, young tactician.> Rose chuckled.
Well, hey, I guess I am pretty natural! Flora replied A smile grew on her face without her meaning to.
Maybe she was in fact meant to be a leader.
She looked over the roof, which happened to be pretty high from where they stood. Fortunately, Tom appeared soon after, and gave thumbs up in her direction.
“Alright, Barbie, on my mark.” Flora said to Barbie, who nodded and took a readied stance, pointing her spear to the corner. Flora exhaled once, which Barbie did as well, as the two girls began approaching the corner. Flora focused on the energy again, seeing that the monster seemingly stopped in place. “He is…right around there,” she told Barbie. The latter nodded again. “Okay, then, get set, ready and…
GO!”
Barbie threw her spear into the building, creating an area encompassing BOOM sound. As per its usual properties, it passed through the building itself without leaving a scratch. She then dashed into the side, moving as fast as lightning. Flora ran right after, several arrows ready in her hand, emerging from the corner by taking an aim. She was ready to begin her attack.
However, all she saw was Barbie, appearing confused. “Where’s Torque?” Barbie asked her.
Flora furrowed her brows. She scanned the area, focusing on dark energy, but found nothing but traces.
What’s going on!? How did it disappear!?
<Pay attention, Flora,> Rose warned her, <it might try to attack you from->
“FLORA, BARBIE!”
Flora looked up to the roof. Despite clearly hearing Tom a second ago, it appeared empty.
“What is going on?” Flora uttered.
“Oh there he-!”
Flora looked behind herself. Suddenly, Barbie just disappeared. Flora tried looking around but she couldn’t see anybody nor anything. Even looking for their energy, all she saw was traces.
“WHAT DID IT DO!?”
<Flora, calm yourself! It must be cloaking or hiding somewhere.>
“Well duh, but where!? It’s not in the ground or above me! Where is it!?”
And then, a small sound came. Flora couldn’t figure out what it was, but by that point, it was too late.
The sound came from behind.
…
Fotia was in the hospital bed. Despite how clean and unremarkable the environment around him was, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. There was something about how well-kept it all looked. Like a wizard’s den, where only the necessary ingredients were kept to perform their curses without accidentally ruining them.
Throughout this whole time, in order to keep himself from that rather awful feeling, he busied himself with the phone. Or particularly, how to operate it again, and call Flora as to warn her about the Torque. It was necessary for them to know it’s unusual power and weakness.
Sadly, his fourth attempt locked him out of the phone completely. And worse, nobody else was in the room that he was in, nor were the nurses coming over to check up on him.
Fotia sighed, admitting defeat already all thanks to his frail body he was in. How fair was it, that waking up had gave him pain and fatigue? Not quite, he would say.
“I do hope they are fine,” lamented Fotia. “It wasn’t that hard to figure it out. Mayhaps they shall follow suit.”
Without meaning to, he drifted to sleep.
Oh, accursed age.
…
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 120 x 120px
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