/monster/ - The Last Bastion of Romance

“You’re pretty… good.” Tabitha huffed, her arms still wrapped around Coop’s nape. He looked up and smiled, giving her thighs a squeeze before withdrawing. “You’re… not bad yourself.” He replied. The two of them leaned against the wall, catching their breath. Tabitha reached down and gently pulled him out, sighing happily. “So… what now?” She asked as they untangled themselves. She walked over to the sink and began to look for a towel. Coop wiped the water out of his eyes and grinned. “Wanna go for another round?”

Tabitha turned and stifled a laugh. Having found a towel to dry her hair with, she walked to the door. “We might get caught.” She replied, turning the door handle slowly. Click! “Gimme my gown.” Coop shrugged. “It’s all wet. Besides, it’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

“True.” She admitted, turning back. “Alright, c’mere.”

“Sam and that scrawny guy? You must be joking.” Big Alp had replied. It came as a surprise to all of them. After a brief moment Cathy cleared her throat. “Anyway… we want to put a stop to these gangs. Are you guys in? We’re gonna need your help.” Each them nodded, it was a unanimous decision: Cupid needed their wings clipped. “Good. We should meet up somewhere so we can come up with a plan.” Cathy said, pulling out her phone to text Dad. “What about the gym? My office might be a little tight though… I guess we could lock the place up for a few hours.” Big Alp suggested. Cathy finished her messaged and nodded. “Better than that run down gas station…” she grumbled. “Hopefully my dad will go along with it. If we can get enough people behind us maybe that will convince him.”

“In that case we should get to work. Say bye to Tabby for us.” They all quickly scarfed down their food and made their way out, cathy heading back to Tabitha’s room while the others headed out.

As she came to the door, she wondered how Coop and Tabitha were getting along. Maybe they were making out! Ha, that’d be priceless. As she entered she could hear the shower going. Maybe Coop had already left? “Tabby?” She called.

There was no response. Oh my God, what if she slipped and fell? Sure enough she heard a thumping noise, and a grunt coming from the bathroom. “Hold on, Tabby!” Cathy shouted, running for the bathroom door. She swung it open, the steam bursting out to escape the room. She stood there for a moment, dumbstruck by the scene before her. Tabby had bent herself over the sink, sticking her rear out for Coop, who was already halfway inside her. “JESUS CHRIST, YOU TWO!” Cathy shrieked, slamming the door. She could hear Tabitha’s laughter mixed with Coop’s confusion. “Wha- who was -.”

“Ah haha! I told ya we’d get caught! Give us five minutes, Cathy!” She hollered out to her. “Cathy? Aw, shit…” Coop whimpered. “What’s wrong? You got a nice ass, so it’s fine.” She teased.

“Alright! No! That’s enough! I’m out!” Cathy shouted, walking out of the room, her face turning redder as she went. After making her way down the halls a ways, she stopped. I’ll never get that image out of my head, she thought. Damn it, Tabby, what the hell? Sure, she was glad they were… ‘getting along,’ like she had hoped, but shit! Couldn’t they have waited until after she got out of the hospital? She was definitely gonna give her shit for this later.

“Are you okay?” She heard someone ask. When she looked up, she saw a young man with crutches standing next to her, a nurses aide beside him. “Are you sick?”

Cathy shook her head. “No, I’m fine…” she replied, trying not to think about what she saw. “Sorry, I’m in your way.” She said, trying to move aside. He put up a hand, “No no, it’s fine. I’ve been doing this for a while already, I needed a reason to catch my breath.” Cathy stopped herself and smiled. “So… what’re you in for?” She asked, nodding at his crutches. “Broke my hip, landed me here about… two weeks ago?” He answered. “How’d you do that?” Cathy asked. He laughed, shaking his head. “Sorry, it’s real embarrassing. Maybe some other time.”

“Well, then let’s change the subject, how long are you here for?” She watched as he took a deep breath and smiled. “I get to go home today, thankfully.”

“Well that’s good.” Replied Cathy. “My friend gets to go home tomorrow from what I heard.” The man nodded, thinking for a moment. “So, what’s your name?” He asked. “You from around here?”

“Yep. My name’s Cathy, what’s yours?” She responded.

His smile widened when he heard her name. “Mike. I’m Mike.” He said, holding out a hand. Cathy carefully shook it, afraid she might knock him over. His hand was rough yet he had a gentle grip. “You look like you could use a break from your friend. Care to join me?”

A. Yeah, a walk would be nice. Maybe a chat with a stranger could help get your mind off all the craziness… and what you saw earlier.

B. You can’t, you need to go run some errands today. Go make sure your dad didn’t skin Alex or Sam alive.

C. You’d like to but you have to keep your friend in check. Go make sure Tabby and Coop aren’t getting into trouble.

>>339653

>B

Haven't followed the story for a while but I just want to cockblock him

>>339653

A.

Cathy needs the potentially wholesome dicc

>>339701

<You guys know me so well, I love it.

>>339700

Alright, friend! You can put your request in spoilers here if it’s simple or on my (((tumblr))) otherwise https://monmushun.tumblr.com/post/169105541200/some-doodles or click that link at the top of the (((tumblr))) that shall be unnamed. :^)

I also like seeing my stuff getting passed around in other threads. You have no idea how much that makes my day, so thank you, anons

>>339657

<Mmm that’s some good shitpost.

“You know what, that sounds good!” Cathy replied. If Tabby and Coop want to screw around and get into trouble that’s their business. She wasn’t going to be part of that. “Need to work off my breakfast anyway.”

“Alright, we’ll do a few laps then.” Replied Mike, adjusting himself on his crutches. He started down the hallway, going at a pretty good pace for someone whose hips were broken. Cathy followed alongside the nurse aide. “Whoa, slow down there, guy!” She joked. “Sorry, I’m just tired of this place, you know? No offense.” Mike said, nodding to the nurse aide who shrugged it off with a knowing smile. “So what do you do?” Cathy asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. “Oh, I’m kind of in between jobs right now… injury kind of put me out of work.” Come to think of it, she wondered how he broke his hips in the first place. He didn’t want to talk about it, not that it was any of her business, she just met him. Still, she was curious. Ironically for being a cripple he seemed to dance around the subject. “Okay, so what DID you do?” She pressed him. “All kinds of stuff, odd jobs, stocking, delivery, sales, heavy lifting jobs. Use to work the local Monster Burger years back. I think I saw you around there once or twice.” He replied, stopping at the end of the hall to turn around. “Yeah.” Cathy giggled. “I’m sure you did.”

“What about you? You working anywhere?” Mike continued as he half walked, half hobbled. “Oh, I was- I mean I guess I still am working at the gym not too far from Monster Burger.”

“The Swole Station?” Asked Mike. “Yep!” Answered Cathy.

“Huh. Well that’s cool. I wondered what a girl like you did to get muscles like that.” He admitted. Cathy shrugged. “What can I say, I like my job.”

“And you’re not sure if you work there? What’s that about?” He teased her. “‘Maybe some other time.’” She said, doing a bad impression of him. He laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. None of my business.”

“I had another job at an office, but I hated that one. I felt like I was trapped.” Cathy continued. “Not a desk jockey?” Asked Mike. “My boss treated me badly, the people were rude and worst of all the pay wasn’t even worth it. So yeah, I guess I’d rather be lifting weights than pushing pencils.”

They turned for another lap, making their way back down the hall. Mike seemed to be thinking things over as he stopped in front of a door. “I think that’s enough for today. I need to rest. You gonna stick around long?” The question brought Cathy back to reality. As much as she enjoyed chatting up random strangers she didn’t really have time for this. She needed to get back to Dad and the others and make sure they weren’t at each other’s throats, then figure out how to take down Cupid. “No.” She answered. “I actually need to get going. I have some errands to run.”

“Oh, well, see ya around then.” He said with a smile, watching as she went.

Cathy began tapping away at her phone, writing out a message to Tabitha. I’m gonna go check up on my dad, both of you try to stay out of trouble you damn sex fiends, she said. When Cathy looked up, she saw that Valerie’s cruiser was nowhere to be found. It hasn’t been that long, right? “What the hell, Val?” She groaned. Guess I should just start walking.

As the door opened, she hesitated for a moment. With the way she was now, what if she turned to stone in the sunlight? All these changes to her body made it seem like a possibility. Would she grow more of the hard skin like what she has or would she petrify and turn into a statue? She stood behind the glass for a moment, contemplating over what she should do. If she was standing behind the glass now, maybe it wouldn’t affect her at all? No, no, it might be only direct sunlight that affects her. She didn’t feel the tingles or any other feeling like before after all…

A. Go for it, you can’t expect to beat Cupid if you’re scared of going outside. (Turn to stone? Y/N)

B. Don’t risk it, if you turn to stone you don’t know what will happen. You could suffocate! Maybe.

C. Call Dad, he’ll know what to do. Hopefully.

<One picture today, had stuff to do today but I wanted to post. Sorry guys.

>>339721

<I'm gonna be working on this one for a little bit.

It would be better to give Dad a call before doing anything reckless… right? Pulling out her phone, Cathy dialed for her dad and waited. Sure enough he picked up quickly. “Hey. What’s going on out there?” He asked in a hurry. “Nothing, Dad. I just wanted to see Tabitha before we do this.” Cathy answered, twirling her hair idly. “And? How is she?”

“She’s fine, Dad. She said she’ll be out tomorrow. How are things on your end?” She asked. It would probably be best to ease into her concerns… wouldn’t want him to freak out. “packing up and getting ready to move out.” He answered. “The oni wants me to do some recon but I need to drop your ‘friend’ off somewhere… he needs to stay low.” Cathy heard Sam yell something. “Alright. Great. Listen, I uh… this is a little embarrassing.” Cathy admitted, staring out the glass. He let out a sigh. “What is it?” She could hear the exhaustion in his voice. Just tell him, maybe it’s something or maybe it’s nothing, she thought.

“I’m uh… not sure if I want to go outside… in the sun. I mean what if I turn into stone?”

“Turn to stone? Your mother mentioned something like that. Is that what’s going on?” Dad asked.

“It’s… complicated.” Cathy answered. “But I look this way because I went out in the sun before.”

“Why on earth would you do that?” He questioned. “Hey, don’t blame me, Mom told me to!” She grumbled. “Then what’s the problem? Your mother would know more about this than me. What makes you think you’ll turn to stone?” Replied Dad.

“Just… a feeling. I can’t explain it so well but I just feel strange.” Dad remained silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I can head over there soon, if you like. I still think your mother is right, though.”

“No… It’s okay, Dad.” Cathy said. “I’m sorry, this is stupid.”

“Look, I’m coming down there whether you want me to or not. I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.” Click!

He had hung up before she could reply. Was she just being paranoid? Maybe he was right, maybe Mom had the right idea. It didn’t seem to hurt her before, she just kinda turned into… whatever this is, she thought as she examined her hands. As she mulled over it more and more she found a bench by the wall and sat, looking out the window. Soon enough she found herself thinking of her friends that had been hurt. Tabitha, Alex, Coop. All over some stupid drug? She was going to make Cupid and whoever Junko was pay.

>>339721

<First pic is for you, anon!

<Doublepost

“Hey, Cathy.” A familiar voice said. Well, that’s enough of that power fantasy, she thought.

“Hi, Tabby… wait what the hell are you doing out here?” Replied Cathy, turning to see that damn cat standing with her hands on her hips. “I left A.M.A. Don’t feel like staying here for another night, right babe?”

Cathy saw Coop walk up beside her friend. His shades were a little crooked on his face and his clothes were wrinkled but he seemed to be beaming. Whyever could that be, Cathy thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. Tabitha slapped a hand on Coop’s back and grinned. “So did you like the show?” She teased.

Cathy narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you two didn’t get kicked out? You know you’re awfully lucky I was the one who walked in on you.”

Tabitha raised her brow. “I dunno, I think you were the lucky one. Coop’s been hiding quite the bod.”

“Alright, alright you two, come on. We should get going. We got a lot of work to do.” Coop said, pulling Tabitha. “Yeah, come on, Cathy.” She said, grabbing her by the hand. “No, wait!” Cathy yelped as she was dragged out the front door by her jinko friend. As they walked outside she felt the tingling again, but only barely. ”Seriously, wait!” She shouted at Tabby.

“What, what’s wrong?” Coop said, turning around. Tabby shrugged. “What’s got you so spooked?”

“I don’t even know if I can go out in sunlight and you guys pull me out like this!” Cathy shouted indignantly.

“What are you talking about?” Tabby asked. “You look fine to me.”

“Does this look fine?!” She said pointing at her own face. Both Coop and Tabby looked at each other for a moment, then back to Cathy. “I actually like the new look.” Tabby said. The compliment had thrown off Cathy’s train of thought. “You-… I… Augh!” She groaned, grinding her teeth. The tingles were getting more intense as her frustration grew. “Whoa, relax, Cathy.” Coop said, trying to calm her down. “What’s going on?”

“I could turn to stone out in the sunlight. That’s what all this is about! Gargoyle! Remember?” She asked sarcastically. “Well you heard it the other day, a lot of gargoyles go through it, right?” Tabby noted. “Do you know any other gargoyles?” Cathy retorted.

“No…”

“Well you seem to be okay… Wouldn’t you have turned to stone by now?” Coop asked, shrugging. “I don’t know, I’ve never done it before!” Cathy cried.

“It’ll be alright, Cathy, we’re here in case something happens.” Coop said in an attempt to comfort her.

“N-no! Y-you listen t-t-to me!” Cathy stuttered, jabbing a finger onto Coop’s nose. “W-we can’t be t-taking un… unnecessary… riskssss…” Her hissing trailed off as she stopped in place.

“Cathy?” The both of them said, looking at one another. “What’s going on?” Tabby shouted, waving a hand in front of the gargoyle’s face. She was unresponsive. Her skin was slowly turning darker. Everything On her was getting darker. Coop cocked his head sideways in confusion while Tabitha poked her a few times. It was then that they realized what had happened.

“Cathy! Coop, we gotta do something!” Tabby shouted. Coop nodded, helping her grab their newly petrified friend.

A. Take her back inside the hospital, quick! Someone has to know something about this!

B. Take her to her place and look after her until you figure out what to do next. You’re fairly certain this is… normal? ‘Let it do it’s thing,’ you remember someone saying that.

C. Where the hell is Val? She was suppose to be here! Call that bitch!

D. Tell Coop to call her dad, he can help out.

Character select: (Sam, Alex, Tabby, Val Karen)

>>339719

<I will consider it. I'll have to think of how to implement them.

“Let’s get her back inside! They’ll know what to do!” Tabby said, leaning over the now solidified statue of her friend. She attempted to lift her, only to yelp in pain, grabbing her shoulder. “Careful! Don’t hurt yourself.” Coop said, helping her lift Cathy back to her feet. “We can’t just leave her here! Call her dad or something!” Tabby whimpered. She was becoming more and more afraid for Cathy the longer she looked at her stone face. Was she going to be okay? Could she breathe? This is the first time she’s seen this happen in person and Cathy seemed to be scared herself. This is all my fault, Tabby thought, her lips quivering. Coop wrapped an arm around her and held up the phone. “Looks like Bill’s already on his way.” He said, punching in his number. “Bill, I got bad news here. It’s Cathy. She’s… turned to stone. You knew?” Coop turned to Tabitha, staring at her. “When can you be here? Alright, we’ll be here.” He said, closing his phone. Tabby tried to slow her breathing, attempting to calm herself down. She couldn’t stop looking at Cathy’s angry expression wondering if she would be okay. Coop shook her back to reality. “Hey. It’s gonna be okay. Bill will be here soon and then-“ Tabitha watched fear rush across Coop’s face, his glasses sliding down his nose. When Tabby turned, the last thing she saw was a glimpse of someone very large standing over her before Coop shouted something.

WHAP!

“Are you sure this is where she lives?” Asked Sadie as she and Otto climbed the stairs to the next floor. “Of course I’m sure. Look, her room is right up here!” Karen replied, irritated with her present company. I swear, if I didn’t need them… she rounded the corner and stopped in front of the apartment door. “Alright, Sadie, get to work.” She said, pointing at the door. “What, you want me to open it?” Sadie asked, offended at the idea. “Who else? Otto?” Karen retorted. The only thing I trust him to open is your legs.” Sadie shrugged and rolled her eye, pulling out a bobby pin from her back pocket. She used one of her eyestalks to examine the lock while she bent the pin into the correct shape. “You know you should really get laid…” She muttered. After inserting the pin she turned it over and with a twist of the knob the door was open. “Check it out! First try!” She announced with a smile, proud of herself. Karen ignored her, brushing past to look inside. It seemed like what she guessed was a normal person’s apartment, well… mostly.

<Doublepost

>>340299

I like it.

There wasn’t a whole lot in here from what she saw. No TV, hardly any furniture, an unoccupied bed and a desktop left on. Whatever, she wasn’t there to critique her interior design, she needed to take her back to the Philtrum before the Boss arrived. Karen looked to Otto and pointed at the only other door in the room, must be the bathroom she thought. He nodded and slowly made his way over, turning the knob slowly. Karen and Sadie were right behind him when it opened with a creek. Inside there was nothing out of the ordinary. The gargoyle was nowhere to be seen. “Well that went well, who’s up for breakfast? I think I saw some cereal on the counter.” Sadie said with mischievous glee.

Karen groaned. “We still have to set up here. She could be back any moment.” She reminded them. Sadie seemed to ignore her, instead going back out into the kitchenette with Otto close behind. “You know, I can pretty much see everything going on, right?” She said as she reached up to one of the cabinets. As she opened it a box of cereal fell out onto her head, spilling all over the floor. “Oh! What the hell?” She yelped, brushing off the boo berries. Damn it all, just how many layers of useless are these people? A question Karen seemed to be asking herself more and more often as of late. If they kept wasting time like this… without any evidence of Cupid’s productivity her project would be out on the street and her with it! It’s either that or worse… As if on cue her phone began to ring. She looked at it for a moment before picking up. “T-this is Dr. Fetch speaking.” She answered meekly. “Tell me, Doctor, why are you not in the lab?” Karen shuddered, recognizing the voice of the Boss immediately. “I-I was just coming back. See, I- we, we’re out looking for one of my test subjects. She turned out positive and I wanted to show you the results personally-”

“Come back immediately. I will see these results when you return.” The Boss commanded. “B-but I don’t have her!” Karen replied, her voice cracking under the pressure. “I do. Now come, or do I have to send Miss Rhonda to escort you?” A shiver shot down Karen’s spine, her body going cold. “Oh, haha that won’t be necessary. We’re on the way.” She replied, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead.

“Good. I expect you within the hour. Goodbye, Doctor.”

“Yes, Ma’am. G-goodbye.” Karen sniveled before hanging up. Her arm dropped to her side and she stared straight forward. “What’s going on?” Asked Sadie, bewildered. “We’re leaving. Now.” Karen answered, heading for the door. The two followed without question, they must have realized what situation we’re in, Karen guessed. She hoped the Boss would understand the situation…

You have no choice but to go.

Character select: (Val, Big Alp, Sam, Alex, or stay Karen)

<We’re gonna jump around a little (if you guys like) as I attempt to escalate things. Remember to keep voting, suggesting and discussing!

<Posts may slow down due to job situation, still looking. May also help the quality of the art and the writing, I feel like I’ve been in a funk the last week lol.

>>340539

Child-wanting hell-wan cop

>>340671

>>inb4 it's a regular human 3dpd girl who wants to fuck with guys because she's a thot and hates the patriarchy

So a monster girl who's a monster on the inside?

The Philtrum sat docked where it had always been, silhouetted against the vast canvases of the sea and sky. Karen stared nervously at the new faces of monsters she did not recognize patrolling Cupid territory. There was definitely more security this time. They directed them to park in the nearest warehouse where they were greeted by armed guards. Not one of them was Cupid, or even human, Karen realized. All of them seemed to be orcs employed by Junko, wearing what looked to be security uniforms. “Lady Junko awaits, come with us.” One of the guards commanded, pointing her back towards the Philtrum. Karen looked at Sadie and Otto, who were shaking in their skins. They seemed just as frightened as she was. She felt as though they were on their death march as the orcs escorted them onto the ship, making their way up the steps past Karen’s own guards who were being ‘dealt with’ by the Junko monsters of all kinds. Some of them were being carried off by the monsters, probably to have their way with them, Karen guessed. It made her sick just looking at the display of these monsters acting upon their carnal desires. They behave as though they had never left the old world, she thought.

The warmth had completely left her body as they made their way down into the guts of the ship, the orcs having said nothing else until they stopped in front of a rather large looking woman. Karen recognized her immediately, it was Rhonda. She had seen her back when she was first employed by Junko. Even back then Rhonda was Junko’s top enforcer, if they wanted something done, Rhonda would do it. She was one of those ‘high orcs’ from the old world, commanding most if not all other orcs that worked for Junko. She might have given Sam a run for her money on her own, but she definitely had more sway when it came to leadership. “We brought the Doctor and her assistants.” The orc leading them announced. Rhonda stared at her for a moment before grinning. “Good. Go have some fun, girls.” She replied. The troupe of orcs all squealed with joy as they left. Most likely to join the rest in their bestial acts. “So, this is the Chemist I’ve heard so much about. So what, you actually a doctor or do you just like the sound of it?” Just as Karen was about to answer, Rhonda turned her attention to the other two. “You got a gazer with you, too? What’s a strong monster like you doing in Cupid? You could have a pretty good position among Junko.” She suggested. Sadie remained quiet, her eye looking everywhere but at Rhonda. The orc huffed, looking back at Karen. “What the hell are you still doing here? Go in!” She bellowed.

<Sorry for the wait, had some life stuff to take care of.

Karen scurried into her lab, leaving Sadie and Otto behind. Inside the lab she found only one person standing in the middle of the room with their back to her. It was definitely one of the Junko sisters, Karen observed her tail swaying behind her as she gazed at a statue that had been placed inside the sealed chamber. It only took a moment for Karen to realize it was that girl. She had completely turned to stone!

“Dr. Fetch, so good of you to join me. Mother would be here, but it seems she was preoccupied with other pressing matters. You know how that business goes.” She said, keeping her attention on the statue. “Lady Tomo.” Karen bowed her head instinctively. “I don’t understand, I spoke with her before. I was under the impression that she wanted to speak to me personally.” Tomo Junko laughed. “Turns out I do a good impression of her.”

Damned danukis and their tricks, Karen thought with a grimace. “Oh, don’t be like that. She will be here soon enough. I decided to come ahead of her so that I might save your skin. I quite like you, Doctor, so it would be a shame if anything would happen to you. But enough chat, I’m more interested in your work.” At least Tomo isn’t here to punish us… that’s quite the relief, Karen mused, finally able to catch her breath. She tried not to think too much about what Lady Junko would do if she failed to impress.

“What can I tell you, my lady?”

“From what I’ve seen here you have turned this… half breed into a fully functional gargoyle, give or take a pair of wings. I find that fascinating. Has she turned her mate into an incubus?” Asked Tomo. Karen shook her head. “She has no mate.” She answered with a sigh. “I see. We shall have to change that. Unfortunately it seems all the men here were claimed by my subordinates… a small sacrifice to keep them in line, you understand. I imagine you could find one such man in the city.” Tomo suggested. “My lady, I’m not sure she would be able to do it in her condition.” Karen pointed out. “She is still a statue and we have no way of knowing when she’ll come out of it.”

Tomo shook her head with a smug look on her face that rubbed Karen the wrong way. “Doctor, you must really get out more with your peers. If she has truly become a monster then she will come out when she picks up the scent of an unclaimed man. Now go find her one.”

Character select: (Val, Sam, Alex)

<Sorry guys, but (((they))) run Junko

<Also sorry for the wait, like I said, life stuff. I hope the little extra effort makes up for it even though it's still kind of shit lol

<As always, please keep voting, suggesting and discussing! You guys are the backbone of this story.

>>341127

>The pig tatoo

Cute

>Rhonda's design

Really cute

>>341128

>It's (((Them)))

Should've guessed.

> life stuff.

Always happens. Always comes first.

>I hope the little extra effort makes up

You're always so good with this. Thanks for being a great CYOA author-artist.

>You guys are the backbone of this story.

Y-you too OP.

Traffic had begun to pick up in Saint Monica as the sun made its way up over the city. Luckily for Valerie, she had made it home in no time at all. She slammed shut the door to her cruiser, looking up to see Ryan waiting for her on the porch. Val rushed over to him, wrapping her hands behind his ears to pull him into an aggressive kiss. He was taken aback for a moment before wrapping his arms around her waist to embrace her. When she pulled away, Ryan chuckled. “Shit, hon, what’s gotten into you?”

“I… just wanted to see you.” Val replied, her eyes shifting away to the front door. Ryan noticed the fire sputtering off her lashes and smiled, pulling her inside. “Alright, I get it.” He said, leading her by the hand through the front hall into the bedroom. Valerie bit her lip and watched as he worked her belt open and put it down on the nightstand. She sat down on the bed while he tugged her pants below her knees, kneeling in front of her. Valerie looked down at Ryan, his eyes staring back up into hers as he slowly began to tease her with his mouth.

“Ryan… we don’t have time for that.” She gasped as he pulled off her panties and licked her directly. After he had his fill of her he wiped his mouth and grinned. “Alright.” He replied, getting up meet her. He slowly began to strip himself to Val’s dismay. She couldn’t take much more of this, if he was going to keep teasing her like this then she was going to take the lead! Valerie grabbed his shorts and yanked them down, then after ripping open his boxers, she threw him down to the bed. “Aw, damn it, Val those were a good pair!”

“Shut it, or I’ll shove what’s left in yer mouth.” She sassed back. After kicking off her shoes and pants she mounted him with little effort, taking him inside her. Ryan tried to reach up to her but Val grabbed both of his hands and pushed him back down, laying her body on top of his. She slammed herself down on him again and again, relentlessly attacking him. She was losing herself in the pleasure, squeezing Ryan’s hands tighter as she neared her climax. Soon enough Ryan let out a gasp. Valerie felt him thrust, his seed spilling inside her. He had finished before her, she could tell from the feeling below and the satisfied expression on his face.

It wasn’t enough, she could feel it, she was almost there! Feeling a little frustrated she spun herself around on top of Ryan and bared her back to him, riding harder than before. “Jesus, Val, I… can’t take this!” Ryan protested, sensitive from before. Val ignored him, instead only squeezing down tighter as she reached her peak. The fire in her eyes sparked brighter and brighter until she made one final plunge down onto him and with a weak howl she felt the rush of pleasure. Valerie fell back onto Ryan’s chest, satisfied.

“What… was that…?” Ryan asked, out of breath. “You’re never… this aggressive. Have you been… holding out on me?”

Valerie sighed happily, turning to give him a peck on the lips. “I’ve been meaning to… tell you something.” She began, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach “I… I’m pregnant.” She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks as she said those words. She had never felt so happy. Ryan wrapped both arms around her, hugging her tight. “That’s… oh my God… I love you.” He answered, kissing her. He was making his way around to the side of her neck when she let out a sigh of bliss.

“I have to go.” She said, realizing that their five minutes were up about ten minutes ago.

<Doublepost! Story time! Only one pic today, so I put in some more effort!

I guess I have a thing for hellwansplease forgive me

>>341638

Fuck, sage fell off

>>341619

This is one of those choices with dire consequences isn't it? I'm going to go with [A] due to principle explained in related. Junko seems to be able to grab people at will, better to stay together.

You- you wouldn't kill a husbandu or a monstergirl with an innocent life growing inside her? Would you?

“Fine.” Valerie replied. There was no sense fighting him, she would do the same thing if she was in his shoes. Still she would prefer if he wasn’t in harm's way at all. With that, Val pulled out of the driveway. “Where are we heading?” Ryan asked. “Saint Monica Hospital. That's the last place they were at.” Val answered, sighing. “Listen. I don’t want anything to happen to you, so I want you to promise me that you won’t do anything dangerous.” She said, peering over at Ryan for a moment. He remained silent until she prompted him again. “Ryan?”

“Alright, I promise, but you better do the same.” He replied. “You know I can’t do that.”

“Then why should I?”

Valerie groaned, already getting frustrated at her husband. “Don’t be stupid. I’ll be careful but I still need to my job.”

“Then I’m gonna do mine.” He retorted. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

Alex sat in the back of the SUV with Sam, watching helplessly as Bill spat profanities at Coop. “What the fuck happened?! I asked you to do one thing, Coop, one God damned thing and you fucked it up!” Coop didn’t bother protesting, he must have known it wouldn’t help, Alex figured. The man’s daughter was just kidnapped, what are you supposed to say to that? Coop stood there silently with a welt on his head and a large bruise on his cheek. His wound had reopened, the blood trickling down his arm. “What, nothing to say to me?” Bill shouted, pulling back a fist. Just as he was about to punch Coop, Tabitha grabbed him from behind. “Stop it!” She shouted. “Don’t hurt him! It was me! It was my fault! I pulled her out into the sun, she turned to stone because of me!” She was covered in bruises as well as a several cuts. Whoever they fought with did a number on the both of them.

Bill struggled to break free from the jinko’s hold, yelling and elbowing her sides with little effect.

“We were going to bring her back inside when we got jumped!” Tabitha cried. “So you just let them take her?!” Bill roared, twisting out of her hold. He managed to trip her down to the ground before Coop put him in a sleeper hold. “Don’t touch her, Bill.” He said through bared teeth. Bill growled angrily and reached back, grabbing Coop by the groin forcing him to loosen his grip. After breaking out of Coop’s hold, he turned, decking him in the face. Coop went down, barely holding himself over the asphalt.

“Haha, wow, that was brutal.” Sam chuckled, leaning over Alex’s shoulder. “Sam, this is serious, we have to stop him!” He urged her, opening the door. “Why? The fight’s just starting to get good!” She complained, following him out. Just as Alex was about to run to them a police cruiser pulled up, chirping its siren at them. “Shit, who called the cops?” Sam griped, stopping Alex with an arm. To Alex’s relief out of the cruiser came Valerie and a man he hadn’t met before. “Bill, stop! They’re both hurt!” Val shouted.

“I don’t give a shit! These fuckers lost my daughter!” He shouted, landing a swift kick in Coop’s gut. Coop grunted, trying his best not to show pain. He managed to keep himself up, and even looked back up at Bill. “I’m sorry…”

“I’ll put you down, do you want that, Bill?! Cathy needs us, we can’t waste time like this!” Shouted Val, her handgun drawn. Bill glared at her, standing over Coop.

“Sam,we gotta do something!” Alex begged. Sam groaned and reluctantly nodded. “Alright, alright. You owe me, tough guy. Listen up sergeant shithead, I know where they took your daughter.” She announced. That seemed to get Bill’s attention. “Where?” He demanded. “Got a map?” Asked Sam.

<Doublepost

Alex found a map of Saint Monica out from the glove compartment where Bill had kept it for his

‘operations.’ He took it and ran to the back of the SUV where Val, Sam and Bill waited under the open tailgate. Tabby was helping Ryan take care of Coop, assisting with patching him up before getting herself taken care of. “I can’t feel a thing.” She lied. “He needs it more than I do.”

It was nice to have someone like Val’s husband around… it meant less of that field dressing shit, hopefully. After spreading the map out inside the trunk, Sam pointed to a spot near the bay. “Right around here. Cupid runs their operation in a ship called the Philtrum. It’s usually sitting in the shipyard but it’s always ready to go at a moment’s notice.” Sam explained.

“Where would they go?” Val asked. “Dunno, we’ve never actually done that.” Replied Sam.

Bill was still upset from what Alex could tell but he seemed to have calmed down at least a little. He wasn’t trying to kill anyone at the moment, so that was an improvement, right? Bill scratched his neck idly as he thought. “What are the chances of them picking up and leaving?” He asked, doing his best to keep his voice down. Sam shook her head. “I doubt they’d do that. As far as Cupid and Junko are concerned they own this place.”

“What’s the layout look like?” Bill continued.

Sam shrugged. “You can get lost if you don’t know where you’re going.”

“But you can lead them to the right place, right?” Alex asked. Sam shook her head. “I just got out of there. I’m not going back.”

A. I’m going, with or without you!

B. Convince her to come with you. (How should you convince her? Write it out!)

C. Ask her to at least draw them a map before you leave.

Character select: (Sam, Alex or Cathy)

<Sorry for the drop in quality/wait. I've picked up a bug or something and have been under the weather…

<I've also been trying to change my eating habits and exercise more. I hope all of this doesn't effect the quality too badly.

<Vote, suggest and discuss, etc.

>>341663

<I'm not really sure what to do about that. It seems pretty sporadic with one post getting 4 votes and this one getting 6+. The porn seemed to bring a lot of attention lmao.

>>341664

<As >>341686 said, I'm not into grimdumb for this story, but there is always a possibility for someone to die.

Alex looked up at the oni, trying to make sense of why she wouldn’t want any part of this? She didn’t seem the type to run from a fight… was she afraid of Junko? He could understand her position, but… Alex wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her aside. “Where are you two going?” Val asked. Alex breathed deeply and looked back. “Give us a minute.” He answered. After taking her out of earshot he stopped.

“Sam, come on, don’t you want to fight these guys? Think about it! We could punch in that asshole Reach Around's teeth in!” Alex said, trying his best to hype her up. He felt a little pumped up himself just thinking about it.

“Not really, I’d much rather lay low for a while and keep you out of trouble. We’re both on their shitlist when they find out I helped you escape. Besides, I doubt we’d get a chance to take a swing at him.” She replied.

“How do you figure?” Asked Alex. “Just a hunch.” She said, looking away from him. “I don’t get it, I thought you liked to fight.” The confusion in his voice was plain. Sam groaned, crossing her arms. “Why should either of us be risking our lives for her? We hardly know her!” She said, beginning to count with her fingers. “She didn’t even come to save you, not to mention it’s probably a suicide mission.” She finished. “Sam, if these Junko people are as powerful as you say they are, then running away and hiding isn’t gonna help us for shit. They’ll find us sooner or later.” Alex said matter of factually. “I mean… listen, I owe my life to you, Sam. You hardly knew me and yet you still risked everything to get me out of there. Cathy is our friend, you said it yourself. I’m going to go save her, but I need you, Sam. Don’t make me go there alone.”

Those words had made her heart skip a beat. Alex was practically begging her to go fight with him. Seeing such a will to fight those Junko bastards from someone like Alex gave her mixed feelings. She felt ashamed that she should want to back down when her scrawny man wanted to go back into the belly of the beast. At the same time that same sentiment gave her both the feeling of pride and maybe a little arousal. Pretty sure I picked the right man, after all, she thought to herself. “Why do you need me so badly?” She asked, trying to hide that she was now teasing him. He had already convinced her but she couldn’t help but want to hear what he had to say. “I want to show those assholes that they messed with the wrong town, but… I’m not strong enough. You on the other hand… if you were there I’m sure I would have the courage to do anything. And when we’re done with them we could probably settle down or something…” Alex confessed, rubbing his neck. His face was flush from what must have been an embarrassing statement. That'll do, Sam thought. She clapped both hands around his shoulders and grinned. “I’m still against this, but I know exactly what you can do to convince me.” She said in a soft voice. Alex seemed to know where she was going with this but he didn’t offer any protest.

A. What should you demand from him? (write it out!)

<Found out it’s pollen season, fuck my throat lol

<I’m sorry for the slow updates and this short post today.

<I'm gonna try to involve you guys a little more in some of the decisions. Maybe that will help the posts?

>>342287

I like this.

Thank you, anons, I feel better minus allergies.

>>342778

Time for Sam to keep the promise she made to herself back in >>330952 and

ROCK HIS WORLD

and during it have him put on the mask

“You’re going to promise me one thing, tough guy.” Said Sam, leaning down to his level. “What’s that?” He asked. She noticed he had not flinched away from her at all and gave him a toothy grin. “I’m gonna rock your little world and take that virginity of yours.” She answered. “Do I have a choice?” He half joked.

“Oh, I’ll take it by force if I have to.” Sam replied with a mischievous tone. “I’m barely holding myself back as it is, ‘darling.’” She snorted at her own joke, embarrassed at the idea of calling him something as cheesy as ‘darling.’ Alex must have caught on, because he grinned right back. “‘Darling,’ huh? So is this an oni proposal? In my studies I’ve read that oni often make the first move. Is that true?”

Sam felt her heart skip a beat at the accusation. Shit, was that a proposal? I wasn’t even thinking when I said that, she wondered, trying not to panic. It wasn’t working and she knew it. Alex was smiling up at her, taking full advantage of her surprise.

“I’ll take you up on it, if that’s what you want. So the sooner we deal with Cupid and get OUR friend back, I’ll do whatever you want.” Alex offered, staring up into her eyes. Sam raised a brow, trying her best not to let on just how much she wanted to hear that. “Alright, fine, let’s go.” She quickly replied, not wanting to linger on her verbal defeat. With that, they made their way back to the rest of the group.

“I’m coming with you.” Sam announced, rounding the back of the SUV. “You guys won’t get far without me.” It was almost a boast but she knew her way around the Philtrum. “Fine. You better have our backs.” Said Val, glaring at her. “I’ll put you down if you even think about fucking us over.” Bill threatened. Sam huffed. “I’d like to see that.” She jeered. “So are we doin’ this or what?”

Bill shook his head. “Not yet. We need to scope the place out and come up with a plan. We want to get the ship out into the bay and sink it then I’m gonna need to make some supplies.”

“What kind of supplies?” Alex asked. “The kind that will put a hole in a ship, what do you think?” Bill growled. “You’ll be helping me. Both of you.” He pointed at Sam and Alex. “Who’s gonna scout the place out?” Val asked. “Me?”

“Who else?” Bill replied. “I’ll go.” Coop interjected, walking up behind them. “You’re in no condition to do anything, look at you! You can barely stand.” Val exclaimed. Sam looked at Alex for a moment before interjecting. “I’ll go in his place. He can help you guys with the supplies. Tabitha looked up at Sam, giving her an understanding nod. “I can go with you guys.” She offered, stepping forward. Valerie groaned. “Great. You look pretty banged up, too, y’know.” Tabitha gave a huff. “Coop got it worse than me, I’m used to this. I use to be a boxer, remember?”

Bill cleared his throat. “How can I trust you won’t fuck this up, either of you?” He gave both Sam and Tabitha an accusing glare. “I’ll keep them in line. Trust me.” Valerie answered before they could respond.

“I’ve headed a few stings before… I can lay low and keep watch.”

“Good enough.” Bill grunted. “I’ll need details, what kind of numbers we’re dealing with, their equipment, everything you can think of. We only get one shot at this.” He barked. “That means you’re in charge, Hellhound.”

“What do you want me to do?” Ryan asked, Val giving him a worried look. “You can get us the supplies we need.” Answered Bill. “And we’re going to need a lot of it. Once you get back you can help us assemble everything.”

Character Select: (Val, Alex, KarenCathy

<One pic today, but I decided a group picture would be a good idea to hide my laziness

>>342832

Soon, anon, soon.

>>343112

<I started Darling and the Franxx. I really like it but I did not expect the mechs to be like that lol

<I was also pleasantly surprised to see it's a sort of soft-monster girl type anime.Thank you for the recommendation.

<Please keep voting everyone! Suggest things if you think I need to spice things up a bit or discuss any changes that could help bring in traffic. I can't do much if you don't vote! (Don't let the CYOA die here!)

>>343606

Dr. Love Spice next.

<Darling,’ huh? So is this an oni proposal?

Yes, yes, let the oni-love flow through you Alex.

>I started Darling and the Franxx. I really like it but I did not expect the mechs to be like that lol

>Thank you for the recommendation.

You're welcome. I have admit something though, I don't regularly watch anime (last time I seriously watched an anime show or move was Attack on Titan and even then it was partially ironic), but the premise of DitF was too good to pass.

>>343606

Voting late and I don't want to tie it up. Cathy if somebody votes after me (giving them the tiebreaker) otherwise I'll respect the current Karen consensus. Pic not a very serious suggestion. Shonen anime has damaged the part of my brain which differentiates "cool fight" and "good story". do think cutie Cathy deserves to get flight capable wings at some point tho

<Decided to reply since damn people thanks for the votes!

<I've decided that I will actually be doing both Cathy and Karen, however I have my own (admittedly silly) things planned for both of them.

<I just wanted to give you guys a heads up as well that posting may take a day or so extra. I felt the need to put in a lot more effort with all the responses I got this time around, I hope it's worth it. (Have a small preview)

>>343760

<I use Paint Tool Sai (like many drawfags I've seen) however there is that free program Drawpile. It's pretty useful.

>>343888

<You make everything worth it, anon.

It was a windy and chilly day typical of the winter seasons. Clouds filled up the gray sky and hid the sun away from the cold little gargoyle holding her mother’s hand. She was rubbing tears out from her eyes with her free hand, sniffling all the while. Before them was a man, her father, waving goodbye. He was wearing fatigues and had a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder, ready to go out on another tour. The little gargoyle reached out to him, she tried shouting, crying, swiping at the air, but no matter what the little girl did her father turned away from her. A car appeared like a puff of smoke and the man entered and soon vanished. The girl let out a sob and broke free of her mother’s grip, running after him. The world around her swirled and her vision blurred until everything came to a stop.

“Where am I?” She asked. She couldn’t move save for her eyes and mouth, but she was fully aware of herself and surroundings. “You were in a dream, Cathy. Or perhaps more like a memory.” A voice answered. “And you’re being awfully noisey about it.” Cathy glanced every which way until she saw a shadowy figure standing not far from her. “Who are you?” She asked, trying not to sound scared. “Oh, for goodness sake, child, has my daughter taught you nothing? The nerve of that girl.”

Cathy remained silent, not knowing what to say to that. “Well, nevermind. Are you aware of where you are now?” The figure asked. Cathy looked at her surroundings. The old house in need of repairs, the fire hydrant in their front yard that her mother always complained about. She was at her old home when she was young, that much was plain. “Not here, boulder brain, this is a dream! I mean in the real world, where are you?” The voice nagged. “You can see all of this?”

“Of course! I’m here, too, aren’t I? Now try and gather your thoughts!” Cathy wracked her brain, remembering what she could. “Last I remember I was… trying to tell my friends how dangerous it was to take me into broad daylight- omigosh am I dead? I’m dead aren’t I? Are you death? I’m so sorry for all that stuff I did online, I didn’t mean to post those nudes!” She wailed in a panic. “You’re not dead now stop groveling gravel breath and focus! Oh, and never do that again, or I really will haunt you when I die.” The voice chided her. “Alright, let’s try this: if you’re not dead then what are you?”

“So if I’m not dead then… I must have turned to stone?” She guessed. There was a single pair of hands clapping. “Well done, you’re half right. You’re encased in your own special statue. A shell you might call it. Very few gargoyles can do this nowadays. It’s a real shame. I tried to teach your mother but she wasn’t able, nor did she ever grow her wings. Now, let’s try and see where you are. Give it one more go.”

“Okay, that’s great and all, but you never answered my question: who are you? You talk as if you know us.” Cathy pointed out, still unable to move. “Of course I know you, I’m your grandmother! You were named after me, Catherine!” The voice said indignantly. Cathy could only blink. “Wha-at? No way, my grandma died like a hundred years ago.”

“I’m not dead, I’ve been a statue for- well, longer than you’ve been around, that’s for sure!” She retorted.

“Then how are you talking to me?” Cathy asked. “Huh? Gotcha there, huh?”

“We share a bloodline, you little hooligan. Gargoyles in their shells can communicate this way. Think of it like a telephone between just the two of us. I see your mother never showed you our family’s tome. It would have explained everything.”

“We have a family tome?” Asked Cathy. “That’s not important right now. You need to figure out where you are and how to move yourself, young lady!” Her grandmother urged her. “Well I can’t even see straight, how am I supposed to move?” Cathy griped, pouting. “Focus on my voice, clear out everything else.” Grandma instructed. Cathy closed her eyes and listened. “Forget about the dream. Forget everything but the sound of my voice. Good… take your time. When you’re ready, look at me.”

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a rather young gargoyle in a summer dress standing a few feet away. Well, young compared to what she thought her Grandma would look like. “Do you see me now?” She asked. Cathy smiled, excited at her success. “I do! I see you! Hey wait, aren’t you like, four hundred years old? You sure don’t look it.” Cathy inquired, unsure of what she was seeing. “Oh, for shame, young lady! I am three hundred and fifty-two years YOUNG, thank you! I have yet to even reach my twilight years!” She berated her, her pride wounded.

<Longpost incoming, it might be split a little funny! Don't forget to say hi to 'magic Grandma!'

“Okay, okay!” Cathy said, trying to calm her down. “I’m sorry! I just… Mom always said you had passed away a hundred years or so ago, so I thought…”

“Passed away? Oh, heavens no, that girl. I’ve been tending to your grandfather’s grave ever since HE passed away. Your mother stopped visiting me after you were born, she told me you were quite the handful!” That did sound likely, her mother was a full-time mom and she was pretty ‘curious’ when she was young.

“But wouldn’t that make you old enough to have seen the gates?” Cathy asked. It wasn’t every day she met someone that old after all.

Grandma groaned. “We’ll talk about that some other time. Listen, you’ve done well so far, but you still have yet to see where you are.” She badgered her once more.

“I’m… in Saint Monica still, I think. My friends might have taken me back to the hospital.” Cathy answered. “Right, right, but let’s try focusing like you did before. You may be encased in stone but you can still hear and see and feel the outside world! Listen carefully to your surroundings!” Grandma instructed. Cathy did as she was told, closing her eyes once again. It took her a moment to hear anything clearly, but soon enough she could hear the whirring sound. “I… hear a fan, I think.” She said. “Good, and what else?” Grandma asked.

The muffle sound of voices filled her ears, too difficult to make out the words.

“Someone’s talking.” Answered Cathy. “They sound like they’re coming from behind some kind of glass. I can’t quite hear what they’re saying.”

“I see, I see. Now what do you see?” See? Cathy opened her eyes and before her formed a cylindrical frame of glass encasing her. Above she could barely see what she thought might be a filtration system pumping some kind of gas in. Love Spice? “Oh boy… I don’t think I’m in the hospital…” Cathy announced. “What makes you say that?” The sarcasm in Grandma’s voice was plain.

The voices gave form to yet more shadowy figures framed in a window not far in front of her. Grandma was circling the glass prison, pondering for a moment. “Well, I see you’ve been put into some kind of… tube. They’re filling it with gas, too I see. Ruffians.” She observed, circling around once more.

“Yeah, that’s not good. What the hell am I supposed to do now?” Cathy wailed. “Language, young lady! As long as you remain in that form there’s not much they can do to you - even that gas billowing out in there won’t be able to hurt you. Goodness gracious, Cathy, what have you gotten yourself into?” Asked Grandma in a huff.

“I’ll tell you later, I need to figure a way out first!” Cathy replied, glancing back and forth. “That’s what I’m gonna help you with.” Grandma quipped. “We’re going to get you to move!”

“It could take us weeks to locate another ‘unspoiled’ specimen. Damn it, what the hell am I supposed to do?” Karen groaned. She sat at her desk hiding her face under her arms. Sadie sat on the edge next to her, poking at her ear. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. I mean if you don’t I’m sure Lady Junko will find a use for us all… y’know, besides fertilizing her gardens.”

“Damn it, Sadie, can’t you take this seriously for one second?” Karen snapped, giving her a stern look. The mock encouragement wasn’t helping. Sadie rolled her many eyes and groaned. “Fine. Move over.” She said, shoving Karen aside. She watched as the gazer typed away at the computer and entered an address into its bar.

“Blender.com? What the hell is that?” She asked, squinting up at the screen. “Check it!” Sadie said with a wave of her hand. A list of people of all kinds, men, women, monsters, all looking to hook up for a good time. At least, that’s what the banner said at the top of page. “A dating site? Really, Sadie?”

“No, no, seriously! Look, we can even narrow down our criteria.” She said, quickly entering in a search word. She typed out the keyword ‘Virgin’, and the website brought up several hits. Many if them were even local. Karen blinked a few times, adjusting her glasses. “Well. How do we know for sure that they aren’t lying?” She asked, still playing the skeptic. Sadie grinned. “This site is actually pretty legit, they demand a uh… sample for proof.”

“What, like blood?”

<This is definitely gonna be a triple post.

“Y’know, I think it would be better if you read it yourself.” Sadie suggested, pointing to the registry. Karen stared at her, irritated for a moment before she began to read quietly. ‘Bored with the same old partners? Interested in something a little more adventurous? Blender is here for you! We encourage you to reach out and meet new people, different people. Monster people! Did your ex not treat you right? Did she always seem to have a headache? Was he just too tired and couldn’t perform? Sounds like a monster problem only a monster can fix!’

Karen glanced at Sadie, confused and angry. “What am I supposed to be reading here?” Her words were dripping with disgust. “Keep going you prude!” Sadie urged her. Reluctantly she complied, starting again after finding her place. ‘Monster girls looking for men of all kinds, women who want to be like monsters to better handle their men, we can do both! We’ll get you the guy you deserve!’

Karen noticed the words ‘men of all kinds’ was actually a hotlink and quickly took the opportunity to click it. Soon enough it loaded a list of the kinds of men monsters were looking for and how they can register. She quickly zeroed in on a paragraph about virginity.

‘We encourage virgin men to join and get to Blending™! Many monsters prefer virgins and would jump at the opportunity to show you the ropes! But before you can officially start dating, Blender policies require you to send us a cup of your own special Blend to verify your claim. It’s for your own safety and ensures both parties have a good time.’

“Special blend?” Karen asked. No, they couldn’t mean…

“Yup! They want a nice, chilled and healthy cup of man spunk!” Sadie chortled, slapping Karen on the back.

“You- I- that’s disgusting! How is that even possible? You can’t determine a man’s virginity, especially not like that!” She shouted. Sadie laughed. “Come on, Karen, you of all people should know there are monsters who can do that. They probably have a whole assembly of akaname, or several squads of succubi to uh… test it.” Sadie looked away, cupping her hand over her mouth to restrain her laughter. I must look a fool for trusting this damned gazer, Karen thought, flustered at the situation. “Whatever! So we can use this to find a virgin, right? This is ridiculous…” she grumbled, nursing her head. Sadie nodded. “Yup, we just gotta register and put out an add.” She said, taking over once again. She began the process, setting up a profile for Karen. “Okay, so we go off the description for her, right? So, young single gargoyle looking for…” Sadie paused, allowing for Karen to fill in the blanks. What kind of man should we be looking for anyway, she wondered. What’s the criteria? Holy shit are we just catfishing right now? Whatever, I suppose I’ve done worse.

A. You should probably be trying to find a good specimen to turn into an incubus. It would only make sense to use the best genes for the new generation of monsters, right?

B. Any virgin will do as long as you have complete control of the situation. If you bring in some Adonis among men then you’ll probably have a situation on your hands with all the damned orcs.

C. You’re curious… but you’re not gonna let Sadie know that. (enter in the kind of guy Karen might like.)

D. This is a waste of time, just look one of them up and go kidnap them! It’s not like the cops are going to do anything about it.

<Damn, that took a while. Sorry for the wait everyone and thanks again for all the votes and suggestions!

>>344576

A

clearly the subject must have a body on par with atlas anything else would be simply unacceptable to be fit for cathy you need to be at least as fit as a greek god her dad is billy mays for fucks sake

“Let’s at least try to write something that sounds convincing…” Karen started, trying to sound like she was taking this seriously. The thought of making a dating profile was something… she had never actually considered. “Like what?” Sadie asked, awaiting instruction. “W-well, I don’t know, how about… ‘looking for someone who is loyal- ah, and kind,’ how’s that? That’s the kind of crap a- a laborer such as her Likes, right?” Karen asked, feeling antsy at the suggestion. Sadie had already typed it in, humming in agreement. “Alright, sounds good, ‘doc,’ what else?”

“And he uh… it would be good if he wasn’t fixated on beauty, I mean… look at her, she wears tank tops and spats all the time!” Karen exclaimed, pointing towards the window where the gargoyle stood like a statue in her tube. Sadie nodded. “Oka-ay. ‘No hang ups on looks.’ I mean I guess she does look pretty average. Anything else you wanna add? Otto, what do you think?” Sadie called over, looking back at the large man. “Who cares what he thinks!” Karen yelped. “H-he’s a man, after all!”

Sadie laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. You got more to add, then? How about he should be fit? She’s really into working out, right?”

Karen gulped, nodding stupidly. She didn’t honestly care if the guy was strong or not but she had to keep up the charade. She began anticipating how Sadie might react to her next list of suggestions. So far she was stumbling over her words in a sad attempted to cover up her intentions. If she was being honest this was looking pathetically desperate, not to mention stupid. If Tomo or even Lady Junko caught wind that she was wasting her time with this romantic ruse… well she’d rather not think about it. Besides, she could just say she’s trying a new method of locating specimens. That is how Tomo’s sister finds them, isn’t it? “Uh… Karen? Hello-o?” Sadie called. “Earth to Karen? You’re spacing out again.”

Karen snapped back to reality, shaking her head as she cleared her thoughts. Oh fuck it, she thought. “Sorry, sorry, I was… trying to remember some of the stuff back at her apartment. She seemed to be quite the nerd.” Karen fibbed. Sadie raised her brow. “Really? I mean I saw a decent stack of movies in her closet and she did have that computer…” She admitted. “Right? So the guy should be compatible with her, he should also be nerdy, maybe he likes science or he’s a history buff? Sam reported that she and that Alex guy were getting along really well at the start.” Karen explained, justifying her reasons for the criteria.

Sadie kept on typing wordlessly for a moment until she turned around. “I’m not saying it’s impossible but a we might be asking for too much for someone being both buff and a nerd.” Karen shook her head. “Leave it as it is, but say being buff isn’t a requirement. Once the man is incubized as books say he will become the perfect companion for her.” She retorted. “That's great and all, but this list is also getting a little too specific… I mean we could add like one more thing but we gotta leave ourselves a little open. Besides… nothing in here is really drawing for a guy. A guy needs a little incentive, something he can look forward to in a relationship.” Sadie explained, staring into Karen’s eyes. She began to rack her brain, unsure of what a man would actually want outside of blatant sex. “Uh… what if… we say we’re into all nighters… and we’re open to experimenting?” Oh shit, Karen cursed her stupidity. That was for sure a dead giveaway-

<Doublepost

>>344804

>>344811

<You both need to be bullied by your waifus

“That… actually sounds pretty good, doc. I’m impressed. Maybe our little gargirl here is into butt stuff?”

Karen gagged for a moment. “Oh… god that’s just wrong on so many levels! Sadie what the hell?” She wretched. “What? I can relate! Sometimes a girl just has a certain itch only a man can scratch.” Karen glanced back at Otto who seemed to be nodding matter of factually. Miscreants! Reprobates! They were ruining her- er… that gargoyle’s profile! Despite her disdainful attitude Karen managed to calm herself before she spilled the beans by accident. “Alright, alright, are we finished? This is exhausting.” She groaned. Sadie smiled her toothy smile, giving the profile once over. “Yeah, this looks pretty great. It’s sure to get a few takers. You’d be surprised how many guys like a nerdy girl.” She answered. “O-oh, really?” Asked Karen, her ears twitching at the thought. That was news to her, most of the men she had ever met were only interested in her looks to her own detriment. None of them had ever been interested in her work or anything but sex for that matter. She quietly chuckled at the thought, how ironic that the creator of the so called ‘Love Spice’ felt she was the only monster in history that was more interested in companionship than in sex.

“Posted! Now what, sit and watch the statue?” Sadie asked, staring out the window. “Why are we even pouring Love Spice in there?”

Karen stood up and brushed herself off, walking over to the window to compose herself. “She has to be ready for when we get the would-be incubus.”

“And then what? We just start breeding gargoyles?” Sadie proposed. “No, I believe our answer to unlocking the potential of monsterkind relies on her ability to even make an incubus. Once that happens I can extract a specimen and duplicate the results. I start making a perfected cure and begin to spread that and we get a purer bloodline once again and rectify the defects.” She must have explained it a hundred times by now, but she was feeling pretty good about how far she had come all things considered, so it didn’t bother her today.

“I get that much.” Said Sadie. “But what I really want to know is what does Junko want to do with that knowledge?” Karen shrugged. “Who cares? We get the cure and we get paid. We won’t lose our heads over it, either if we succeed.” Sadie instinctively rubbed her throat at the mere mention of it.

“Well… alright. But I don’t trust them, I’m getting that out there right now.” Sadie announced. Karen sighed and nodded. “I understand. I only trust their money towards my research myself, but that’s good enough for now.”

A. Monitor your new statue and see how she’s doing. Is the ‘Love Spice’ taking effect? Lady Tomo is still on the premises, so your work needs to take priority right now, before you’re caught slacking off.

B. You need some… time alone to think. Where did this reckless behavior of yours come from? You don’t act like this… have you been compromised with ‘Love Spice?’ If you don’t get yourself under control you might want to research into becoming a dullahan before Junko does it for you.

C. Character Select: Cathy is slowly figuring out how to move!

D. Character Select: (Val, Alex, Big Alp)

<Hey guys, I really appreciate all the votes coming in now, you’re awesome! I just wanted to remind you that if you can’t decide on what to vote on, remember that you can vote for multiple choices (if they’re not conflicting with one another) and the suggestions have been great by the way.

>>345116

>>345117

We must proceed carefully.

“Why don’t you go get some rest or whatever…” Karen suggested, faking a big yawn. Sadie shrugged and waved Otto over. “Alright, sounds good to me. Try not to fall asleep at that desk again. You might end up- HECH!” She wretched, running her finger across her neck. Karen was not amused, instead furrowing her brow in anger. “Get out of here you damned cycloptic simpleton!” She shouted as the two vacated the lab, Sadie giggling all the way. That gazer is nothing but trouble, she’s always acting a fool, never taking anything seriously… why does she even stick around? Karen thought. She looked up at the computer screen, staring at the web page they had worked so hard on together. It was a strange feeling, looking at what they had done. Even though she felt like she had snuck in her own preferences in partnership, it felt good to try for it, even if they don’t get anything.

She shook the thoughts from her head. “Karen, what the hell are you doing?” She scolded herself aloud. You have work to do, stop wasting your time on these frivolous fantasies of companionship… with a man no less! “Just what is wrong with me?” She asked herself, hoping for an answer. As she stood up and paced back and forth, a thought occurred to her. What if she had been exposed to the Love Spice? No, no, she had been careful, she was always very cautious when dealing with the substance. She had never made a foolish mistake, not like those amateurs in those gangs fancying themselves as Cupid’s ‘rivals.’ She scoffed at the idea that those second rate ‘chemists’ would even consider themselves on the same level of her expertise. She was THE Chemist, as Lady Tomo had deemed her when she first demonstrated her ability with creation of the ‘Love Spice.’ Lady Tomo took that failure and turned it into a success, she understood her skill, that was why she was here in the first place, was it not?

She is here to help save my skin from Lady Junko herself, isn’t she? I can’t let this chance slide through my fingers, not when I’m so close to achieving our goal! I must clear out these needless thoughts and focus! Karen commanded herself as she exited the computer room. Observation for now should suffice until she- er, they get a response from their Blender. Karen circled the tank, taking note of every detail. She had never seen a gargoyle up close, let alone during their lithified state. It intrigued her, she had always heard that monsters in their original state were something to be admired. Powerful, clever, strong willed, they even had some form of magic if that could be believed, although in today’s world that would be impossible. There was only so much mana in the world here and it came predominantly from mankind. She had read somewhere that for some inexplicable reason this mana was all but unobtainable for monsters even if they were born here. Something about the way humans and monsters mixed made it impossible for incubization. Perhaps these humans were hardier and their makeup didn’t allow for such drastic changes in physiology? Whatever the case, mana wise they were not compatible, and neither were their children. Neither am I, she thought as she placed a hand on the glass, looking into the face of her captive. “You’re going to make the world a better place for monsters everywhere.” She told the gargoyle staring back at her, that same angered look plastered on her face since Rhonda dragged her in. Karen knew she couldn’t answer back, but for some reason she felt that she could at least still talk to her. Perhaps like speaking to someone who is asleep.

As she turned away she heard something strange like a muffled grinding noise, slow and steady. It was certainly an unusually noise she deemed worth investigating, looking every which way to listen for it. Behind me? When Karen turned, there the gargoyle was, poised to attack the glass cage she had been put into. It left her frozen, her heart racing at sight of the statue suddenly springing to life, moving in her lithified state. Whether out of fear or intrigue, she could not help but watch as her abductee began to slam a stone covered fist into the walls of her confinement.

Wham! Wham! WHAM!

Crack!

<Big Post incoming!

When she awoke, Cathy found herself lying in a bed in a room lit with colors of all kinds, purples, yellows, greens and reds. Cathy looked around to see that the bedroom was missing half of its walls and a strange forest surrounded outside before her. “What the hell?” She exclaimed. “Language!” Grandma chided her. “Good to see you’re up again. They knocked you out but good.” She said, sounding relieved. “I thought you said they couldn’t hurt me, what happened? Where are we?” Cathy asked, looking around.

“It seems to me that the gazer has put you in some kind of illusory dream. To think there are monsters in this day and age still capable of such strong magic.” Grandma tittered. “Interesting.”

“It almost sounds like you admire her.” Cathy said, perturbed at the idea. “And magic? Like how we’re talking to one another?”

“Not quite. It takes very little mana to communicate the way we are now. Think of it like a telephone with a different power source. That gazer while she is exerting herself on you only seems to be able to control what you see, to an extent. Right now she’s forcing you to dream, but she doesn’t know I’m here to help you.” Grandma explained.

“Speaking of seeing, where are you?” Cathy asked. “Why, I’m right here.” Replied the old gargoyle, stepping out from behind her. Cathy was dumbstruck at her new look. Royal red and black clothes fit for a queen, a crown with hearts adorning it to boot? Just what the hell is going on here? “Why are you in that getup? What gives Grandma?”

She looked herself over and smiled, tipping her crown. “I think it… ‘suits’ me, don’t you?” She giggled at her own bad pun. Cathy groaned before she realized something had changed about her as well! “Wait a minute!” She yelped, running back into the half house. Sure enough she found a mirror. Great horns, a corset that barely fit, long sharp claws, WINGS?! That… was kind of awesome. But… the house, the colors, her grandma with the crown of hearts… and her own new look. “Oh my God, is this Wonderland…? Seriously?”

“Oh come off it, it was a wonderful part of our history!” Grandma said with a smile. “You must have read the book at least once! It’s a fairly accurate depiction of what it was like back then before the gate.”

“Grandma, can we FOCUS? I need to get out of this dream, pronto!” Cathy barked, annoyed with the new development. “My goodness you’ve never actually read it!” Grandma looked offended. “You should he happy I’m not the real queen of hearts, or I really would have your head.”

“GRANDMA!”

“Well that’s just it you great jabbergoyle, the only way out of wonderland is to go in, that’s how you’re going to get out.”

“I go in… to get out?”

“That’s right, come along now.” Grandma said, heading for the trees.

A. Follow Grandma, she… seems to know what’s up. You won’t get anywhere by staying here.

B. Examine yourself further… are those… wings?

C. Character Select (Val, Alex, Big Alp

<Sorry it took me so long, everyone. Lotsa stuff going on this week still job hunting

<As an apology I decided to do some color for this one. enjoy your JabberCathy

Don't expect to see this much color for some time lol

>>346010

Damn, Sadie is OP. [A] Gotta break out of this deception so Cathy can kick that one eye square in the taco. Do not be distracted by the enticing illusions! Even if the jabbergoyle is a super cute.

Cathy ran after her grandmother as best she could, her clunky new feet making it difficult to keep up. As she followed, her eyes were met with strange and wondrous sights, giant mushrooms and strange looking plants that were swaying to a tune being played on strings. When Cathy heard it, her ears perked up and she could feel her tail swaying. She heard Grandma humming along to it, finally catching up with her. She was skipping along a path that started abruptly in the middle of the forest, winding around twisted trees in all directions but straight. A post stood at the front of the trail with a sign that read ‘Thinly Thicket,’ another smaller sign hung below with the words ‘Dance! It’s the Law!” Behind it the world seemed to have a clear wall of night and day as the forest went dark.

“Come along now, Cathy. It wouldn’t do to get lost.” Grandma called, still skipping to the tune. Cathy groaned, trudging along the path. It wasn’t long before the music stopped and an arrow flew from out of the forest, sticking itself into the tree before her. She gasped, but quickly recovered, noticing a note on the arrow. ‘It’s the Law!’

“Best do what it says, Cathy!” Grandma suggested. This whole situation was really starting to get on Cathy’s nerves. She grumbled and swore under her breath, doing her best to mimic the older gargoyle.

The music began once more and Cathy felt a strange energy take over her steps like something was controlling her feet. “What’s going on, Grandma?!” She hollered, unable to stop her skipping and dancing. The old gargoyle tittered as she twirled. “That’s just how it is- er, use to be in Wonderland. Although I suppose it never really went away… just let it do it’s thing, trust me. Fighting it will only delay us.”

Cathy took a deep breath and sighed, doing as instructed. Sure enough the music quickened and so did their pace. It wasn’t long before they were near the end of the path, where a familiar face sat upon a stump, a single lamp post providing light. It was Valerie, dressed like she was some kind of minstrel strumming and plucking away at the strings of an old instrument Cathy couldn’t quite remember the name of. “Val? What are you doing here?” She asked, dancing in front of her but the hellhound played on.

“Don’t stop, it’s just part of the dream.” Grandma explained. Cathy couldn’t help but wonder, what was she playing? “Is it a harp of some kind?” She thought aloud.

Valerie stopped her song immediately to growl at her. “HARP?! I would hardly waste my time on such harpy things as a harp!” She shouted angrily. “Everyone is always harping on about the harps, it’s endless!” Wait, did I say that out loud, Cathy thought in a panic, still unable to stop her dancing. “I bet you wouldn’t even know a harp if it was lying on top of you. This is a LYRE!” She announced, holding it up for her to see. “Lyre?” Cathy parroted. “Are you calling me a liar? I play the lyre honestly, and I’ve never truly lied about being a lyrist!”

“Oh… God, just stop.” Cathy said, nursing her head. “You play your words better than you play the lyre.” She found herself saying. “I’ll never stop playing!” Val announced to the world, her hair growing out in long black strands before Cathy. She starting up again on her lyre. “Last time I stopped playing that dreadful girl stole my lute!” She cried, emphasizes her trauma with a sob. “Girl?” Cathy asked. “She took your lute?”

“Lute! Not loot! Although I suppose she did loot my lute. Be careful, or she might loot something of yours, too!” Val warned. Cathy nodded slowly before hurrying after Grandma. A girl? Who did she mean?

<Need more votes guys!

sorry for bumping lol here's a WIP for it, gonna change the flames to something different I think

>>346860

That hair… is that the Monsterburger salamander?! bueno.jpg

“I could jus’ go get mis amigos de la iglesias.” Dulce suggested. Big Alp thought about it for a moment, humming as she leaned back in her chair. “How many are there?”

“A little over a hundred, jefe.” The baphomet estimated. She seemed confident about the numbers but Big Alp wasn’t so sure. Baphomets on average weren’t like what they use to be. Dulce was probably one of the stronger ones and it was mostly in her legs. Dulce gave her a gentle shove. “Podriamos ir a verlos, jefe, they’ll show you what we're about!”

The other two seemed to be in agreement, nudging her relentlessly. “Yeah, le’s go!” Josie shouted. Jeanne nodded, picking Big Alp up by the arms. “Alright, alright! Put me down, we’ll go! We’ll go! Sheesh, we don’t even know where Cathy is yet…”

“It won’t hurt ya t’ be prepared!” Josie interjected. “Lead the way, Dulce!”

The Baphomet had taken them to a chapel not far in the downtown part of Saint Monica. It was apparent that it was one of those Sabbath type covens typical of baphomets. They’ve never really changed from what Big Alp heard, they even kept the star to symbolize the five matrons that came over from the old world to establish their presence in the new one. Dulce lead them to the double doors at the front of the chapel. “Ah’v never been to one of them Sabbaths before.” Josie commented as she passed over the threshold. Jeanne hummed in agreement. “Neither have I.” The moth said, following in after the two. Big Alp’s eyes wandered from side to side as she entered in last, taking in all the different trinkets and niknaks hanging from the walls. There were witches and baphomet dolls, moons and stars, all strung up like wind chimes under strange and twisted houses. A grandfather clock stood ticking away with crooked looking hands adorning the face. So far nothing was too out of the ordinary. As they made their way towards the back room, out came several other baphomet running out into the hall. They crowded around Dulce, only a few inches shorter than her, their horns small nubs by comparison. They must be awfully young ones, Big Alp considered. All of them began to speak at once, making a jumbled chorus of spanish as Dulce tried to keep them from getting too out of hand.

<Doublepost.

“CHICAS!” A voice bellowed from inside what Big Alp guessed was the sanctuary. They immediately stood at attention as a woman with long ears stepped out. “Madre Valentina!” Dulce said, reaching up to huge the woman dressed in black robes. A star similar to the one outside hung from a chain on her neck. “Como estas, señorita Dulce!” She greeted back. “Oh, you have brought… friends?” She asked with a heavy accent, looking over to the others. “Si, Madre, we need the iglesias' help.” Dulce explained. The woman in robes turned to greet everyone, then stopped in front of Big Alp. “You must be the ‘jefe’ Dulce is always speaking about. Come, we must talk.” She said, beckoning everyone to follow her. A dark priestess? Like old history come to life. She certainly carried herself in that manner, although more modestly dressed than the ones back then were portrayed. As they passed the sanctuary Big Alp stole a glimpse inside. Dulce wasn’t exaggerating as she saw at least a hundred little horned girls and even women dressed in similar clothing. There were the occasional witches ranging from many ages, more older than young and what she guessed were more dark priestesses like Valentina. By her guess they probably still believed in those archaic teachings of the Sabbath what with all these baphomet ‘children’ running about. “I thought this stuff was banned…” She murmured. “It is.” She turned, startled by Jeanne who was staring down at her. “J-J-Jeanne stop doing that!” She faux-yelled in a hushed tone. Jeanne shrugged. “I hear they’re constantly petitioning for the ban to be lifted since by their reasoning they technically aren’t under age.” She explained in her soft tone. Big Alp’s lips twisted downward at the thought. “Sounds like a lost cause. Why do you know so much about this anyway?”

Jeanne walked beside her, smiling. “I’ve been working on my finals and I chose them as the subject. Dulce has been helping me.”

“What, are you in law school?”

“Come on, jefe!" Dulce yelled through the hall. She was waiting by an office door with Josie and Valentina. The two of them hurried to catch back up to the group.

Dulce stood at the side of the desk while the others had huddled around Big Alp.

“So you say your friend was… keednapped?” Valentina asked from behind the desk. “Yes. I don’t know where they took her but I know who did it.” Big Alp clarified. “It was that Cupid gang.” The others nodded. "Yeah, it was them, Madre Valentina. We gotta do something about them!"

Valentina leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment, rubbing the star pendant on her necklace. “Ay Madre, this is bad. It's true, they have been getting my girls involved in all kinds of nonsense. What can I do to help?”

A. You won’t endanger these monsters, especially ones so young! What was Dulce thinking? What were you thinking? Go to Callista.

B. They want to fight Cupid as much as you do, what CAN she do to help? (write it out!)

<More art, less writing this time around.

>>346972

Maybe

>>347098

B while not violating A

Aw. Innocent little Baphs are not for violence. Their church may be a shadow of what it was in the old world but it sounds like they may at least have some information on Cupid/Junko…. and perhaps their church has a champion who can join the fight?

>>347099

Im in for the Champion Idea, since we wanna get in the action and we can't risk the little baaphs we could try to ask the people of the church and the folks of the gym to help turn Big Alp in a proper Campeón de la Justicia.

And I not just suggesting BA because I wanna see it in a lewd or cute wrestler outfit

>>347099

>Aw. Innocent little Baphs are not for violence.

I see you writing but I do not understand

B. Now obviously don't let the lolis charge into some guns, but if we can distract some guards via lolipile…

Big Alp shook her head at the idea. “I’m not sure there’s much you can do. I don’t want you to endanger your community, especially when you have so many young ones.” She said, expressing her concern. Madre Valentina hummed in agreement, pondering for a moment. “What do you mean, jefe? We can’t just do nothing!” Dulce insisted, stamping her hooves. “Cállate, Dulce.” Madre Valentina hushed her. “We have said nothing of doing nothing. Mizz Alp, there is yet another way that we can help.”

Big Alp noticed Dulce’s eyes grow wide with anticipation. “You don’t mean…”

“Si, mija, it’s time.” Valentina replied, rising from her chair. “What’s time? What are you talking about?” Big Alp asked, turning her head to follow the priestess making her way around the room. She stood and followed when Valentina and Dulce entered the hall, Jeanne and Josie right behind her. “We have a gift, a holy arteefact given to us by the five matrons of old.” Valentina explained. “It has delivered us from many evils over the time we have been in this world. It still holds power, but we dare not abuse it - so we have kept it hidden even to this day.” Valentina explained, opening the doors to the sanctuary. “I cannot believe I will get to see this in my lifetime!” Dulce whispered with glee, trying desperately to contain her excitement.

All one hundred little heads turned their attention to Valentina, clearing a path for her to reach the podium. She stood tall, beckoning Dulce to come forth. “Come on!” She said, pulling Big Alp along with her. “Hermanas, regocijate!” Valentina began. “El tiempo ha llegado! Cabra Fuerte regresara!” All the little baphomets cheered, the few witches and priestesses joining them. It was quite the uproar, Big Alp thought as Dulce pulled her up to the podium. “What’s Cabra Fuerte?” She asked the baphomet dragging her along. “Come with me and we will show you.” Valentina answered for her. “You two stay here with the others.” She instructed Jeanne and Josie. The little gator sighed. “Gettin’ left behind again.” Jeanne was already playing with the bapho girls, Big Alp noticed. Behind the podium was a set of stairs that led below the floor. Dulce and Valentina began their descent, Big Alp following close behind.

“Cabra Fuerte is a being that the five matrons conjured with what little magia they had left, jefe!” Dulce explained just before they reached the bottom. “Magic? You have a magical being here? How? Why?”

“It is as she said, las Cinco Martonas, they poured all of their magia into out sacred arteefact.” Said Valentina, rounding the steps into another room. When Big Alp entered she noticed the five busts of who she guessed were the five matrons, the stone witches and all their articles arrange in a circle around a stone plinth with a glass case on top. As she approached she saw inside the case were some purple clothes. Upon closer inspection, she could tell what they were immediately.

“Lucha…?! You can’t be serious! This is Cabra Fuerte? Who’s going to wear this?” Big Alp ridiculed. “No, jefe, you should not disrespect the Cabra Fuerte!” Dulce snapped at her. “It is alright, mija, she does not know the legend.” Valentina interjected, turning her attention to Big Alp.”I know all about you, ‘Beeg Alp,’ you may not agree, but I think you were given this body for a reason.” She said, guiding her over to the case. She opened it before Big Alp could protest, taking the mask of purple, black and silver and handing it to her. She then held out the leotard, a vibrant, shining purple with a silver stripe across the waist. “ME?!” Big Alp shrieked.

A. No fucking way. You’re not strong enough, Dulce should be the one to wear it. She’s a 100% mexican… baphomet… thing.

B. You reluctantly accepted but want to know more about this ‘Cabra Fuerte.’ Why is it so important?

C. Isn’t there something else you could do? (Write it out!)

D. Character select: (Tabitha, Alex, Karen) (optional)

<Thanks for the votes everyone! Really liked the idea >>347099. Shortpost today.

Valentina nodded confidently. “I know in my heart that it is you who must wear the mask.” Big Alp looked over to Dulce who had crossed her arms and was mimicking the priestess’ posture. “Why can’t she do it?” Big Alp asked, pointing at Dulce. “She’s strong, she’s a baphomet, she’s from your community.” She protested. Dulce shook her head fervently. “No, no, you are way stronger, jefe, FUERTE! Have some confidence!” She reassured her, trying her best to sound mature. “It is true that is has been Dulce’s dream to become Cabra Fuerte even when she was… er… a chiquitita.” Valentina admitted. Dulce’s face began to turn a vibrant red, but before she could respond, the priestess continued. “But there is only one Cabra Fuerte.”

Big Alp noticed the little goat girl had let out a sigh, disappointed or discouraged by the words if she were to guess. “Our last Cabra Fuerte fell victim to arrogance. She became overconfident in her own strength and it ultimately lead to her failure. She was outnumbered.” Valentina turned away to hide her face, walking behind a curtain in the back of the room. “As I said there has only ever been one Cabra Fuerte, and it is my belief that that is the true reason for her failure. She needed someone to fight beside her, or to hold her back. So, that is why I and the Martonas of new have made something for you.”

Big Alp looked at Dulce, who seemed just as bewildered as she was. Soon enough Valentina reappeared with a box, handing it to Dulce. She looked at it, then to Valentina and Big Alp and back, unsure of what was happening. Big Alp shrugged. “Open it.” She suggested.

Dulce slowly lifted the lid, her eyes lighting up with excitement as she revealed another lucha mask and suit with a squeal. “Oh Jesus Christ…” Big Alp groaned.

“It is not Cabra Fuerte, mija, but it is still something. We called it Cabrasita!” Valentina exclaimed, bringing a cheerful expression to Dulce’s face. Immediately Dulce went to put it on behind the curtain, a little squeak escaping her lips from the excitement.

Big Alp sighed, following after her with her new ‘gift.’ This certainly wasn’t what I had in mind… how is dressing up like a wrestler going to help us anyway? That magic stuff might as well be fairytales nowadays, she mused. Behind the curtain Dulce had already slipped into her leotard - the same purple and silver design as hers, only mirrored. She was trying to carefully pull her mask over her horns, struggling in vain as they kept catching on the strings. “Hold on, let me get that for you before you ruin it.” Big Alp offered, slinging her own suit over her shoulder. Dulce was hesitant but allowed her to guide the horns into their respective holes to better fit onto the little bapho. “Wow, look at that.” Said Big Alp, standing upright to get a better view. “You sure do look like superhero. You even have a little cape” she pointed out. Dulce smiled ear to ear while she tied up her mask in the back. “I feel like a superhero! Jefe, you need to put yours on, too! Trust me!”

There was no use arguing with her, despite this feeling like a huge waste of time. Big Alp stripped herself down to her undergarments and held up the gift in question. Well, it was elastic, so no problems there. One leg at a time, Alp. She pulled the shoulder straps up only to have them slip and snap against her body before clumping down to her feet. “OW!” She yelped, more startled than she was hurt.

“Stop messing around, jefe. Here, let me help you.” Dulce offered, taking the shoulder straps up and over her arms. A light snap and they were in place. “It feels a little tight.” Big Alp complained. “It will grow into you.” Valentina said from the other side of the curtain. “You mean I’ll grow into it?” Big Alp corrected.

“No.” The priestess retorted.

<doublepost!

“The mask, jefe, put the mask on!” Dulce bellowed.

With Dulce’s help she managed to slip her horns into the holes. Strange, could’ve sworn it was smaller when I was holding it, she noted. As soon as she finished tying up the mask, she could feel the tightness of her suit relax. It felt almost as if it was breathing alongside her. “Well… that’s new.”

“Do you feel it, jefe? That’s the old magia de los Cinco Martonas!” Cheered Dulce.

“I feel… something… riding up in back.” Big Alp grunted in response, attempting to fix the issue. “Other than a wedgie and it does feel kind of… different? I can’t explain it.”

“You will understand it soon enough. Come, Beeg Alp. We must find your friend.” The priest said, taking her by the hand.

Upstairs the congregation was waiting with bated breath. Valentina left Big Alp by the stairs and took her place at the podium once more, smiling at all the faces in the mass. “ Cabra Fuerte!” She announced and they cheered. Big Alp could hear a litany of prayers and one or two ‘ay papis,’ whatever that meant. Dulce seemed excited, nudging her to go up to the stage beside the priestess.

“ Cabra Fuerte!” They cheered as Big Alp emerged onto the stage. She found Jeanne and Josie in the crowd covered with baphos, all staring up at her in disbelief. She took a moment to compose herself, turning to see behind her was Dulce creeping up the steps. The idea struck her and she immediately called out, “ Cabrasita!”

Dulce made a face at her like she had been outed, nervously scurrying up beside her. “Ohh!” They exclaimed, admiring the new addition. Dulce fidgeted beside Big Alp, her face beet red.

“Hermanas!” Valentina announced over them. She then began speaking a language Big Alp did not recognize. They joined in with her as they began to chant the same phrase over and over. “Hey, what is that?” Big asp whispered to Dulce. “Quiet, jefe, its an incantation. It will take all of their concentration do pull this off.” She shushed her. “But what are they saying?” Big Alp persisted. The masked baphomet turned to her and replied in a hushed tone.

“Find what was lost.”

A. Character select: (Tabitha, Alex, Karen)

>>347384

<She's a Big Alp for you

>>347425

I can't/won't stop you from making them

>>347749

>Big asp whispered to Dulce.

Big Asp, very dangerous, you go first!

Time to see what Darling Alex is up to with his oni girl.

Alex wiped sweat off his forehead, trying his best to keep from shaking. After Ryan had come back with some supplies Bill had ordered, they packed everything up into the van and moved to a new location on the outskirts of town. It was Bill’s decision for the most part, but Coop agreed that it was too risky to stay in Saint Monica while they were preparing for what could only be described as domestic terrorism. Or vigilantism by their standards. Once again, Alex found himself wondering how the hell he got mixed up in all of this. The trip had taken them roughly an hour, but once they were out of the city limits it was a smooth drive minus some of the guns and equipment banging around in the back with each bump in the road. The worst part was the smell. Gunpowder, cat litter, some kind of chemicals Bill refused to talk about - Alex was certain they would probably put him on a list if he looked it up on his phone. When they arrived Alex found himself staring at a run down farmhouse boarded up or taped off with police tape. “Use to be a lab in the basement years ago. I had a look around months back. It’s been locked up since it was raided.” Coop commented, hobbling out of the van. Bill grunted, “It’ll do. Everyone grab your shit, this is where we’re staying until we hear back from the others.”

He grabbed a large bolt cutter from out of the van and followed Coop around the back.

“So… how are you holding up?” Ryan asked absently, picking up a rather large bag of munitions.

“I’m scared shitless…” Alex admitted. Ryan chuckled under his breath. “Me too.” He replied, slinging the pack over his shoulder and heading to the back of the house. Alex quickly picked up two bags of foot long metal pipes and followed after him, doing his best to keep them from dropping. “You are? You don’t act like it.” Alex pointed out. Ryan shrugged. “I’ve been in a few crazy situations like this before, believe it or not. Not to mention my wife’s a hellhound. There’s nothing scarier than that.” He joked. “But seriously, all these guns and shit, I don’t like what’s going to go down. What exactly’s got you spooked?”

“For starters, I thought for sure that Bill guy was gonna kill Coop…” Alex added. Ryan agreed with a grunt. As they rounded the corner of the house, Bill snapped a chain off the basement doors, the metal rings clinking against the metal grips on their way to the ground.

After setting up a few lanterns in the basement and clearing any leftover debris, they quickly moved everything in.

>>347955

<Thank you, anon, that helped speed things up a bit.

<Doublepost

“Alright, keep the weapons in that corner and we’ll start putting the pipe bombs together on the opposite end.” Bill instructed them. “Pipe bombs?” Alex repeated. “Hey, don’t lose your head. I’m the one who’s gonna be handling the thermite.” Coop said in an attempt to alleviate his fears. It didn’t work. Alex was shaking the whole time they gathered everything from the van up until they sat down and began to unpack everything. Bill picked up a table that had been thrown over in what Alex guessed was probably a firefight. Several holes and splinters graced its surface. Bill paid it no mind, spreading the pipes and caps out onto it and started working on them. Alex decided it would be best to follow suit, taking a pipe and screwing one end on like Bill. “Ryan, I might need your help with the thermite.” Coop called. “Oh, good, I was worried that I’d only get to blow my arms off. Now I can be on fire while I’m doing it.” He heckled. Coop smiled. “You’re definitely gonna fit in.”

Now that Ryan was over with Coop fabricating ‘thermite charges’ as he called them, Alex was very aware that Bill was staring down at him. He was twisting a cap onto a pipe rather… tightly. Alex couldn’t help but feel like it was meant to be threatening. He has to be more angry at those Cupid bastards than me, right? I mean, I never kidnapped his daughter. Alex decided instead to think about what Sam might have done in his situation, then decided… maybe dial it back a few numbers. That managed to give him courage enough to ignore Bill’s ire, just in time for the man to slam down the final pipe and walk away from the table. He was heading for the two large bags they threw in the corner - the litter and the gunpowder.

Ask him what he would like you to do, you know, since you’ve never made fucking IEDs before.

You should go help him before he ‘asks,’ it might at least get you a few points higher than none, you can just follow his example as you go.

Maybe you could try to converse with the guy before he gets all murderous on you first? Just make sure to keep working while you do it. (What would you ask him? Write it out!)

Anything else you can think of? (Suggestions!)

<remember that multiple choices are possible and even encouraged as long as they don’t conflict with one another directly! (A and B would conflict in this case)

“So what's the next step here? I’ve never… done this before.” Alex questioned, scratching his head. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? I might get yelled at but at least I won’t blow us all to shit.

Bill huffed as he hoisted the two bags and placed them on the table. He unzipped one of them and retrieved two different boxes. One was full of gunpowder while the other looked like a toolbox. Bill remained silent, holding the pipe in one hand, he reached into the toolbox and pulled out what looked to be a mix of small metal objects: nuts, ball bearings, nails, even a few small fishing weights. “Shrapnel.” Bill stated flatly. He placed a few of them in, then shoved the rest into Alex’s hand. Ow… not wanting to disappoint, Alex managed to keep the pain down and repeated the steps under the man’s watchful eye. When he was finished, Bill took the box of gunpowder and drew a funnel from the bag. He placed it in the pipe and slowly poured. “Gunpowder.” He instructed, stopping shortly after he started. “Layer it carefully.” Once again, it was Alex’s turn. He did as he was shown, sweating at the idea of spilling anything. To his relief he succeeded. Bill nodded, once again going into his ‘magic bag’ to produce two wooden dowels and another box, this one he announced as “fuses.”

“Pack everything in with this.” He said, handing Alex one of the wooden dowels. “Then add more, rinse, repeat. Get your fuse deep enough in there, don’t let it wiggle too much.” Alex nodded, doing as he was told while Bill opened the other bag and brandished a drill. Grabbing a cap, Bill quickly made a hole in it and held it out for Alex. He took it, figuring it was pretty obvious where it was going. It wasn’t long before he realized it wasn’t going to work, when Bill gave a single hoot. “Ha. Made the same mistake as her.” He muttered to himself. “Who?” Alex asked, surprised at the comment. Bill ignored him, pulling out a cable stripper from the second bag. He took hold of the fuse and carefully pulled off some of the top, allowing Alex to poke it through the hole and screw the cap on tight. Bill then retrieved some electrical tape and fastened it around the pipe where the fuse and the cap met, making sure nothing came out of it, Alex presumed.

The man then took the pipe bomb and inspected it, giving it a gentle shake. He seemed satisfied as far as Alex could tell, placing it on the table separate from the rest.

Jesus, if I make it out of this, Alex thought, wiping more sweat from his brow, I’m gonna drop everything and become a family man. Before Bill could eyeball him again Alex decided it would be best to continue on with the program. He packed the pipes while Bill drilled holes for the caps and shaved down the fuses. It seemed to go on for hours. Every now and then Alex would look over to Coop and Ryan, the two of them seemed to get along just fine. Ryan took to the task pretty well, as far as Alex could tell. Coop was smiling, but even he could tell the guy was still hurting. Every now and then he would stop his work to rub his bruises with a grimace.

“So how did you guys meet? I mean the guy acts like he'd do anything for you.” Alex asked idly as he tapped the wood on the powder and forced the wick down. He immediately regretted it, thinking he might have set Bill off. To his surprise Bill seemed to stop his work with a sigh. “Look, kid… right now isn’t a good time. I know I’m an asshole, but you gotta understand: they have my daughter.” He replied, continuing with the drilling. “I don’t know what the hell they’re planning to do to her so I can’t waste any time.”

“I do.” Alex said, getting back into the flow of work. Bill looked up at him as he worked, splitting his attention.

<Doublepost

“So… what’s it like?” Alex ventured once more. This time he made sure everyone could hear him. “What’s what like?” Asked Bill, adding the finishing touches on the pile of pipe bombs. He began to shove them into the now empty bag as Alex cleared his throat.

“Monsters, what’s it like being married to monsters?” He elaborated, helping pack the pipes away. Both Bill and Ryan laughed as of on cue. “Marrying a monster isn’t that different from marrying a woman.” Ryan answered. “But there must be something different, right?” Alex pressed. “I mean, why else would you marry one?”

“I married mine because she told me to.” Ryan chimed in, laughing at his own joke. Coop shook his head. “You and Val, right? She seems pretty capable, I think you did the right thing.”

“I know, right? Seriously, though, she acts all hard ass and tough gal, but she’s sweet on me and the best thing that ever came into my life.”

Bill snorted. “You must be newlyweds.”

Coop wagged a finger at him. “Hey now, don’t think you’re exempt from this discussion, Bill. Remember, you broke my nose for your wife.”

Ryan chuckled at the thought. “Guess you’re no different than me, old man.. Basically it’s just like any other relationship, it just depends on your girl.”

Bill shook his head. “What, you got something to add? Stage is yours, boss man!” Ryan offered, placing the last thermite charge down. “Your wife is a monster, there’s no doubt about it.” Bill began. “I hope she’s as capable as you two believe her to be. But she’s what, fourth… fifth generation hellhound? She was probably born here, right?”

“Yeah, so?” Ryan asked, unsure of where Bill was going.

“The monsters that lived in America in the past wanted to live normal lives. I’ve been halfway around the world and I’ve seen hellhounds who look ten times as… ‘vicious’ as her. For starters she keeps her damn clothes on in public and her claws are basically human. She’s got some of the features but she’s mostly human. I can tell just from the way she behaves.”

“You’ve seen first gen hellhounds…?” Asked Alex. He’d read a few stories about them and even watched a few documentaries of old war vets who had fought with and against all kinds of first gen monsters. They unanimously held them in high regards.

“He has.” Coop replied. “I have, too.”

“What about you, is your wife a ‘real monster’ then?” Ryan jeered.

“Talking about my wife and the war pretty much go hand in hand…” Bill admitted.

“You were in the demihuman war?” replied Ryan.

Bill nodded. “That was about… thirty years ago. Fought monsters and humans alike. If you look at history it’s been like that since monsters first appeared. The Greeks had a whole mythos on this shit.”

“But that was thousands of years ago.” Ryan replied. “The monsters we know only appeared some time in the seventeen hundreds, right?”

Coop shook his head. “Where do you think the stories come from? Hell, just about every civilization has a mermaid myth. A gate probably opened up back then as well. The sea folk’ve probably been here the longest given how easy it is for them to hide.”

“Point is!” Bill interjected. “I love my wife, but our marriage was complicated at first. Coop and I had been fighting a war all over the Mediterranean with the monsters for at least four or five years. I’ve seen all kinds of shit. We both have.” He nodded to Coop. He turned and walked over to take a seat against the wall. “But we were doing what we had to, we were protecting the world from a monster supremist regime. They took Italy and France, treating people like cattle. Charlotte’s mother had been some kind of resistance fighter. I guess she and many others like her were sick of it, too. She had her husband and Charlotte. Met them in France near the coast…” He sighed and smiled, probably reminiscing Alex guessed. “Charlotte’s mother was a first generation gargoyle. Her and others like her were amazing. They were like superheroes compared to us. With their help we pushed the enemy all the way out of Europe. Pretty soon after that the war had ended, Charlotte and I got married and we came back to the states.”

“Just gonna… play devil’s advocate here, so don’t shoot me.” Alex began. Bill eyed him suspiciously. “Depends on what you’re gonna say.”

<Doublepost

“What the hell, Karen?” Sadie hollered, turning on her heel to face the doppelganger. “I thought you had her under control!”

“I never predicted she would be able to move in her condition. How was I supposed to know she would put a dent in the chamber?” Karen protested. The gazer narrowed her eyes, watching as Otto, Rhonda and her orcs hoisted the gargoyle up off the floor. “Well whatever. What’s done is done and now we gotta deal with this shit.”

“I… appreciate your help.” Karen conceded. “Had you not been here, our prize would have escaped.”

“Your prize.” Sadie corrected, a hint of frustration in her voice. “Besides, the ‘dream’ I put her in is only temporary. We’re gonna need a better solution if you don’t want her to break out again.”

“Where do you want this?” Rhonda asked, pointing a thumb back at Otto and her crew, the gargoyle still petrified. Karen thought for a moment, considering what Lady Tomo had said. She didn’t have an incubus candidate… but she did have her peers. She turned to Sadie. “Would it be possible for you to force her out of lithification?” She asked, adjusting her glasses. “Lithifi-wha?”

“Stone, can you turn her back from stone?” Karen clarified.

I might be able to… why?” Replied the gazer, crossing her arms.

“I doubt she would be able to break out of here without it those powers of hers… If we take them away for now we can put her in the other cell we could contain her like any other person.” Karen theorized. It’s a sound plan, even Sadie could see that. She was considering it for a moment before Rhonda grunted. “We just gonna sit here smelling our own farts or do you know where you want this bitch of a boulder?”

Karen groaned. “Just put her in the holding cell. Come on, Sadie, at least give it a try.” She pleaded. Sadie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Alright. But you know you owe me big for this shit. It’s a lot more complicated than flipping some switches. I gotta get in her head and deal with…” Sadie shivered. “Her psyche. Yeck, I hate that shit.” She complained, making a face to show her disgust.

“What up with that?” Karen dared to ask. The gazer looked indignant, following after the orcs and their burden. “You hate talking to people, use your imagination.” She sneered. Karen gave her an unamused look. Sadie groaned again. “Alright, so have you ever read up on psychology or any of that shit?”

“Yeah… some of it. Why?” Karen replied, unsure of where she was going with this. “Well when I go into her head I have to deal with all that. You ever talk face to face with a personification of the Id, or an Ego? How about a Super-ego?” She asked. Karen shook her head on all three counts. “Yeah, it ain’t fun. Since I put her in a ‘special’ dream it’s gonna be ten times worse when I find them. The little bastards are probably all hopped up on Wonderland. You better pay me like two- no three times the usual rate.”

“Fine, can you do it?” Karen asked.

“Maybe… I’ll give it a shot. Gonna need my Otto for emotional support.” She answered with a weak smile. “Fine. Whatever, just do it.” Replied Karen, rounding the corner of the hall. There Rhonda had opened the door to the holding cell. The orcs put the living sculpture down in the corner and filed outside of the room, awaiting Rhonda’s next order. Sadie squeezed past them and found Otto unfolding chairs and a table in his usual silent demeanor. “Anything else you want? Lady Tomo’s instructed me to… assist you.” Rhonda grumbled.

A. You need an incubus ASAP. Check your Blender… or send Rhonda out on a manhunt.

B. Just give her some guard duty or something, you don’t need her snooping around in your dealings.

C. Maybe there’s something else you could do?

It had been so long since she had some time to herself. When she thought about it, she must have put in an unspeakable amount of time into this cure project and left none for herself. This… could be a much needed opportunity for her to rejuvenate herself and gain some much needed inspiration. God, when was the last time she got off the ship for pleasure? She thought once more about the possibility of finding a willing partner who shares her interests. These fleeting moments of yearning were something she had forgotten long ago. “Alright, no more time to waste.” She said to herself. After sifting through the emails she found only three suitable men. With Lady Tomo coming back later tonight she had time enough to meet up with one of the… candidates. It’s time to make a move.

A. The first message was from a man named Gregory. His profile states he was a teacher at the local university, the Saint Monica University of Technology to be more specific. He majored in astronomy and still occasionally gives lectures on the undeniable possibility of life beyond the stars, citing the appearance of monsters and the gate as proof. He likes classical humanities as well as science, from the sound of it, which is nice for intellectual discussions. He’s even a virgin to boot, so she has a good cover.

He looks a little older however. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, in fact it wouldn’t hurt to try incubizing him as the process should give him some youth back if the books are to be believed.

B. The second message is from a younger guy named Nick who for all intents and purposes fits the criteria for a test subject. He looks young and healthy enough, even has some muscle to him, but he seems more interested in science fiction than any real science. Still, he boasts of being a hard worker and loves “all nighters” as well as “experimenting.” Damn it Sadie. The sexual nature dating is to be expected and having someone who can do the heavy lifting for her in her… ‘pocket’ could be useful in many ways she didn’t care to admit. Although it was doubtful that he was a virgin, Karen still wants to pick Nick.

C. The last message worth looking at was from a man called Zachary claiming to be an engineer of sorts. He says he’s good at programing as well as handiwork. He looks a little on the chubby side. The Philtrum has one or two mechanics to keep things in order but it wouldn’t hurt to have someone who can help set up the machinery and run the experiments. He admits that he’s never been in a relationship and he’s a little… shy. You feel like the two of you would be on equal grounds, so give him a shot.

D. (Optional) After meeting up with one of the three, Rhonda calls with results of another “test subject.” (Write up the kind of person she found.)

E. (Optional) You know it’s probably useless but you should really spruce yourself up and at least attempt to look a little more presentable… change of wardrobe/hairstyle? (Suggestions)

Character Select: Continue with Karen? Tabby (1 vote roll over)

<Only one pic today. Just not feeling it lately, sorry guys. I hope the writing makes up for it today.

Gregory seems like the best choice. If what he says is true then simply conversing with him would give Karen a bit of excitement in her life. He’s not too old, either, he's only in his forties as his profile states. Besides, his age shouldn’t be a problem if he’s properly incubized… right? Well whatever the case, he seems to be interested, Karen thought as she typed up her reply. How should she word her message back to him? This wasn’t something she was used to. ‘Dear Gregory?’ No that’s too formal, right? She should be more direct and approachable. ‘I want to study under your heavy tutelage-‘ no, god that sounds terrible. Where the hell did that even come from? After a moment Karen thought of something. ‘Gregory, I would love to get some lunch with you and get to know you better.’

Short, simple, send.

To Karen’s surprise Gregory had responded not long after, suggesting a small diner in town called Swiss. Karen remembered passing by it once or twice on the road, but she had never been inside. Usually when Lady Tomo or Lady Migi were in town they would offer to take her out to celebrate their successes but she would refuse. She didn’t want people approaching her due to her condition. Not to mention the Junko sisters were probably testing her to see of she would skip out on her work. Now she had a proper excuse to fall back on.

She quickly typed up a reply. ‘Today?’

Gregory’s message came back soon after. ‘Sure, I’ll be there in an hour.’

Oh god, oh god what the hell should I do? I’ve never been on a date! Karen panicked, running away from her computer. She found herself rushing into the restroom to shower, almost as if there was another side to her pushing her to take action. I have to do something, so what if he can’t see me for me, it’s no excuse to be a slob! She quickly freshened herself up and stepped out of the shower. As she stood in the mirror something occurred to her: my hair, I should do something with it. There wasn’t much she could think of doing other than pulling it back into some kind of ponytail. By her standards it looked pretty good. Now what about her face? Makeup? She wasn’t really experienced with it all things considered. She’d probably end up putting too much on or not enough. Did she even have any makeup? Forget the makeup. He won’t see your face anyway, he thinks he’s going on a date with a gargoyle. Still… I wonder how he would react to me if he saw my true self. Whoa, hold on, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Karen. She told herself looking in the mirror. She needed something to draw attention away from her eyes, or more accurately the circles under them. Her big, thick glasses were like a magnet for attention in that case. Maybe she had an extra pair lying around somewhere. She hurried into her study, searching every shelf, pulling out every drawer until she found the spares. They were smaller, less round. The rims were a little thicker so maybe that would distract? She went into the bathroom to find herself in the mirror once more.

Well, they definitely drew even more attention to the eyes but at least the rims kinda covered them up.

It was acceptable. Now for the clothes.

What the hell was she going to wear out? All she really had was dress shirts, slacks and her white coat. Maybe Sadie had something in her living quarters. She normally lived at Otto’s but when she was ‘on duty’ she had her own room on the Philtrum.

Good idea, Karen! She congratulated herself. We’re roughly the same size, right?

She put on her usual outfit and made her way to Sadie’s quarters.

<doublepost

Thankfully she made it there with little incident since Rhonda took a lot of the orcs out on their ‘manhunt.’

As to be expected Sadie’s room was much… brighter and… cheerful compared to her own. It certainly matched Sadie’s personality, with posters from rock bands Karen didn’t recognize on one wall, horizontal stripes with wild colors on another as well as a large television and dvd collection in her bedroom. She had an elegant looking standing mirror that probably didn’t match a damn thing on this ship. Everything in here was probably stolen, Karen figured. The biggest difference was that Sadie’s room actually had a window to the outside world. Natural light flooded the bedroom, giving it a warm look overall. Karen adjusted her new glasses as she found the gazer’s wardrobe. Inside was an array of clothing that seemed to be mismatched and random. Striped t-shirts, pop culture tees, plaid button-ups, a sleeveless dress shirt with a tiny red tie. There were leggings in purples, blacks and tan. Shorts, skirts and short skirts in all sorts of colors and patterns. It all made Karen’s head spin. She didn’t know a thing about fashion, the best she knew was how to dress for business.

That gazer even had an ensemble of shoes to match or mismatch how she pleased. Sneakers, boots, dress shoes, high heels, slip ons, where the hell did she have the money for all of this?

Actually on second thought, all of this was likely stolen as well. Karen thought she saw a pair of clothing that was hanging up in that gargoyle's apartment. That gazer is a damn kleptomaniac.

Well perhaps I could come up with some kind of outfit from all this junk, Karen figured, grabbing a black dress and simple red jacket. She found a pair of slip ons that matched and posed out in front of the standing mirror.

Wow.

I’m not exactly a ten but I’m at least a… seven or eight, right? I-I wonder if… that Gregory guy will notice?

Character Select: Tabbitha You don’t get a choice:^)

“There they go.” Val noted, peering overtop a stack of boxes. “Where the hell are they off to in such a hurry?” Tabby wondered, poking her head out of the warehouse door. “Who cares, there was at least twelve of them, that means we can get closer.” Sam said. “I don’t recognize any of those girls, though.” She admitted.

“Maybe Cupid’s been recruiting to make up for their losses?” Valerie offered, pointing at Sam. “I doubt it… come on.”

They quickly made their way between the warehouses, hiding behind crates and shipping containers. Just as Val was about to get up again, Tabbitha yanked her back down. “Hold on! Look!” She said, pointing at a woman approaching the warehouse beside them. She was dressed like she was reading to go to a club, Tabitha thought. “No way…” Sam whispered.

“What?” Asked Val, propping herself back up next to Sam.

“That was Chems. She’s the one in charge of the whole Love Spice shit. She’s probably the one who ordered your girl’s capture… but… I’ve never seen her all dressed up like that.”

“Maybe she’s just taking a break?” Tabitha suggested. Sam shook her head. “That’s not like Karen. She’s worse than a workaholic. What do you want to do? If we follow her we could catch her out in the open. Might put a halt to all this shit.”

“Too risky. We need to survey the place and figure out a way in. Bill will come up with a plan and we get Cathy out.”

“Didn’t you hear me? She’s the brains of this operation!” Sam argued.

Val growled in response. “Say we caught her, or God forbid we fuck up and she gets away, then what? What happens to Cathy if they figure out what’s going on?”

“Why don’t we split up and go for both?” Tabitha suggested. “We could keep an eye on the ship and this… Karen and grab her if we get a chance. I didn’t see anybody with her.”

“Fine!” Sam agreed. “I don’t like it… but alright.” Val replied. “But you better not fuck this up!” She said, pointing at the oni. Sam rolled her eyes. “Just don’t get caught out in the open, hellhound. You stand out like a sore thumb in broad daylight.”

A. Stick to the plan, follow Val. You need to send pics and information back to Bill and get ready to rescue Cathy ASAP!

B. Go with Sam after Karen, whatever they’re planning they can’t do anything without her and you’re not very good at sneaking around.

<Had to flip a coin for votes and got Gregory. You guys tied the votes twice lol.

<Also sorry for forcing Tabby but I'm gonna get the plot ball rolling again just a tad. We can still follow Karen if you like but as Tabitha.

>>351141

B, nab Chems and make her spit out what she knows, were a Jinko in top form, all we need is a bit of our inner tiger to nab that bootleg doppel without her or anyone noticing.

“I’ll go with Val and make sure she doesn’t get herself caught.” Tabitha replied, patting the hellhound on the shoulder. Valerie yipped angrily at the sudden touch. “Oh, thanks, whatever would I do without you.” She replied sarcastically, the fire in her eyes letting off sparks.

“Alright, I’m going then. Good luck.” Sam said, slinking off behind one of the warehouses. For as large as she is she’s surprisingly quick and quiet. Explains how she managed to sneak up on you before.

“Alright, come on.” Val growled, making her way through the warehouse. “Val… Hold up.” Tabitha hissed silently. “You smell that?”

“Yeah… more orcs.” Valerie replied in a low voice. They hid themselves behind some boxes as two orcs entered the warehouse casually chatting amongst one another. Tabby managed to adjust herself so she could see the two of them through the cracks between the containers. Both were dressed in light body armor and had pistols on either of their belts. “This is bullshit. I wanted to go out tonight.” The first orc said throwing her hands up in frustration. “Half of those girls she took with her have been out twice already!”

“Hey, relax, we still got those guys from the Cupid security to fool around with.” The second orc with pigtails replied. Tabitha managed to keep from snorting at the thought of an orc with pigtails.

The first orc crossed her arms and pouted. “I didn’t get one…” She huffed. “What? Seriously?”

“The lamias got most of them.”

“Well I’m not sharing mine. I just got him and we’ve done it four times.” The second orc bragged, making her way through the warehouse to the other side. “That’s not fair! That’s… I’m getting the first one the boss lady brings back!” Said the other orc, stomping after her partner.

“Whatever you say, girlie.”

Tabitha looked to Valerie who was still laying low. After a few moments the hellhound picked herself up and glanced over the boxes. “Coast is clear. Come on.” She said, sliding over the first crate to tail the two orcs. “Are those guys Cupid?” Tabitha asked, following close behind. “Not sure. They look a lot more well equipped than the usual gang members I’ve dealt with. Maybe mafia?”

“I don’t think so… maybe they really are Cupid. Sam mentioned those Junko guys were funding them.” Tabitha guessed.

They reached the opposite end of the warehouse where the orcs had stepped outside for their patrol.

Looking around the edge of the door, Tabitha could see they were close to the ship they called the ‘Philtrum.’ There only seemed to be the one ramp to get onto the ship… maybe there was another way onboard? As she considered climbing up the anchor something caught her eye. All the thugs were heading to the front of the ship yard. “Hey, now’s our chance.” She hissed, motioning towards all the commotion. Val nodded, waiting for an opportunity to head outside. Once the coast was clear they both darted out of the warehouse and made their way behind a forklift. Once Val was sure no one saw them she signaled for Tabby to follow her. Tabitha climbed the ramp after the hellhound but stopped when she noticed something else.

“What the hell is that?” She said, pointing at the where the guards were going. “What?” Val asked, following her finger.

There were two small figures standing on a car dressed in purple. It was… definitely something. They had managed to grab the attention of most of the guards around the ship. “There’s no time for that, come on!” Val said, rushing up onto the ship’s deck.

A. Go help them out, Val can handle the rest by herself! Switch to Big Alp

B. They’re a good distraction, but you should stick with Val, there’s no telling what she’ll run into inside the ship.

C. Switch to Sadie, try to contain that gargoyle!

D. Switch to Sam, nab Karen when the chance arisesdate time

<I will allow up to two characters at one time here. (maybe more if you guys really want) Really sorry at how long it’s taking me to post lately, everyone.

<As always, suggestions and discussion is welcome!

Val was right, Tabitha figured. The two were already fighting with the guards and to Tabby’s surprise they were giving them quite a bit of trouble.

Now I’ve seen it all.

She gave them one last glance before turning away. Whoever it was down there they had given them the chance they needed, she just hoped the two would be okay on their own. Cathy takes priority, it’s my fault she’s in this situation, Tabby thought. I need to start setting things right…

She followed Valerie up onto the deck and quickly found the door that lead below, making sure not to draw too much attention as they passed through.

Once inside, Tabitha shut the door behind them. So far so good. They had cleared the hard part, by Tabitha’s guess - or so she thought.

Valerie beckoned her to come down the steps, motioning further down towards a metal security door.

“What’s this?” Tabitha asked. Val shook her head, walking down the last steps. “Looks like some pretty mean security. Not sure if there’s any way around it…” She said, tapping the door a few times with her claw. “Great. What the hell are we gonna do now?” Tabitha whispered angrily. “I’m not sure… but there seems to be some kinda ID scanner on this thing. Pretty high tech shit for a bunch of street thugs.” Replied the hellhound.

“Shit, you’re telling me. Think we can brute force it?” Asked Tabby, stretching her arms.

Before Val could answer they both looked up the steps in a panic. Footsteps, growing louder as they closed in. It was difficult to tell just how many there were, two? Three? Val looked to Tabitha pointing to a utility closet underneath the stairway. It was the best they had. Tabitha forced it open, pulling Val in behind her. They managed to close themselves in just in time for two monsters to come down the steps.

“I know I saw somebody come this way.” One of them said, stopping in front of the security door. “You’re crazy. Maybe you should dress up in purple and make those two lunatics into a trio.”

“Eat a dick. Seriously Barb, I saw something.” The first monster nagged. Tabitha could hear a sliding sound followed by the second monster scoffing at the idea of someone slipping past the locks.

A. Rush them, this is your ticket in. You and Val can take them whatever they are. You may even be able to steal a uniform or two if you’re lucky.

B. Stay where you are, you’re in the belly of the beast and you have no idea what kind of monsters are out there. Find another way in.

<Double post!

Swiss! The large sign read in bright yellow. Somehow Sam had managed to keep up with that doppelganger. Karen did always drive like an old grandma, as far as she could remember. Still, something must have happened for her to have dolled herself up and gone out on the town. Sam waited for the chemist to enter the restaurant, giving her a few moments before she entered in afterward. Don’t want her catching sight of me, Sam thought to herself. Once inside she was greeted by a rather short and plump hostess with big round ears. A large mouse? Large by her standards, more like. “Good afternoon, how many are dining?” The mouse asked with a slight accent Sam couldn’t quite place. After a quick scan of the area for Karen she quickly found her sitting at a table in the bar with an older man. “Just one. I’d like to sit at the bar, please.” Sam ‘insisted.’ The mouse smiled up at her. “Are you expecting someone, or are you on the hunt?” She asked with a devilish grin. Sam raised a brow at the idea. What the hell, go with it. “You could say I’m on the hunt.” She replied. It wasn’t technically a lie. The mouse giggled to herself as she pulled out a single menu, then with a turn she guided Sam back into the bar area. “How about this spot here in the corner, a cozy little two seat booth? It’s also accommodating to someone with your… stature.” She offered, leading the oni to the end of the booths. It gave her the perfect sight on both Karen and her mystery man, and bonus, Karen didn’t seem to notice her come in. “This will do. Thanks, mizz…”

The mouse girl displayed her name badge with a smile. “Adeline! Youngest daughter of the Suisse family!” She announced with pride. Sam nodded slowly, taking her seat. Adeline placed the menu on the table in front of her and turned tail. “Oh, right, and your server today will be Blanche.” She said with less enthusiasm. “Okay.” Sam replied, relieved to be alone for a moment.

She glanced over to Karen who seemed to be smiling for once… it was strange. Had she finally completed her little project? No, she wouldn’t be out here celebrating… she would probably be acting out some kind of part two of her master plan, or more like Junko would be. Who was that man? Some kind of new help or was he Junko, too? Listening in shouldn’t be too hard and luckily it’s not too busy seeing as lunch hour’s over.

“My goodness, that photo did not do you JUSTICE, miss Catherine.” The man complimented Karen. She blushed, shaking her head. “Oh, no, you’re just saying that.” She deflected nervously. “A-although I will say I like your beard, Dr. Gregory. It makes you look very handsome.” She managed to get out, trying her best not to be embarrassed. Sam rolled her eyes. So is this her game? Masquerading as Cathy to hook some more test dummies? How low is she going to go? Sam mused. She sat back, deciding it would be best to let this play out for a moment.

<Triple post!

“We can take them…” Tabitha whispered. Valerie looked at her sideways. “What? No, don’t you dare-” The hellhound cupped her hands over her mouth as Tabby slowly opened the closet door, making sure to be as silent as she could. She scowled, a lamia and a manticore… This may be tough, but… this was the only chance she had. They both had their backs turned to her, so surprise was her weapon. Val followed her slowly as they crept up behind the two guards fiddling with the security lock. “Damn it! It won’t read my card.” The lamia complained, throwing her arms up in anger. “Move over, dumbass.” The manticore said, shoving the lamia over to use her own ID card. With a beep the door opened and the manticore stood triumphantly. “See, Ginger? Easy shit.” She said, nudging her partner.

“Can it, Barb.” The lamia retorted. “You gonna help me look or wha- AH!”

Tabitha grabbed hold of the lamia by her tail and swung her with all her force, hurling her into the manticore’s back in one swift movement. “What the fuck?” ‘Barb’ wailed, slamming into the ground under the lamia’s dead weight, the impact knocking the snake out cold. The manticore whipped her tail back and forth in an attempt to defend herself, only for Valerie to step in front of her with the muzzle of her gun staring her down. “Don’t even think about it.” She barked at her.

Barb quickly backed down, her tail drooping in defeat. “Great, now what do we do with them?” Val asked. Tabitha had already begun stripping the lamia, dragging her back to the closet. It took some squeezing but to her surprise she managed to fit the snake into the utility closet. That’s one problem taken care of, she thought to herself, slapping the dust off her hands. What was more surprising was the lamia’s kevlar vest actually fit her. “Alright, ‘Barb,’ you’re next. Strip.” Tabby ordered. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” The manticore snarled, furious with the sudden turn of events. She slowly sat up and begrudgingly took off her vest, dropping it on the ground before them. “That’s a good start.” Tabby remarked, sizing the manticore up. “Now give me your clothes, your boots and your ID there.” She ordered, pointing a claw at the card hanging from the lanyard around her neck.

“You fucking jinko bitch!” She spat, her claws and tail poised to attack. “Hey!” Val barked, grabbing her attention once more with her handgun. “Come on, we don’t have time for this shit.” The hellhound said. “You can both go to Hell! I’m not- UGH!”

With a quick movement, Tabitha grab Barb by the scruff of her ‘mane’ and slam her head against the wall. The manticore was out cold, leaving an imprint of her head in the wall and her tail flopping to the floor. Leaving her here was only going to attract attention, they needed to put her somewhere, the jinko thought as she picked the manticore up with little effort. “Gotta get rid of the evidence, right?” She said to Val. “I guess so. She sure made enough noise, I’m surprised no one’s come to investigate…” Valerie replied. “Maybe our friends outside are giving them a hard time?” Tabby suggested. Val shrugged. “Come on, we’re running out of time here.”

Eventually they had found another utility closet. This one was larger than the last, so it made for a good spot to hide while Tabitha stripped the manticore and put on her uniform and ID badge. “How do I look?” She asked, turning from side to side. “Like a fucking criminal.” Valerie grumbled. Tabitha grinned. “Good. That’s the idea. How about you?”

“I’m gonna stay put and try to contact Bill. We were just gonna scope the place out and you had to go all gung ho and beat up two guards.” Replied Valerie. “How’s your arm by the way?”

“You know, it actually feels pretty good all things considered. I mean, I got us this far. We could get Cathy out right now!”

“Look, I’m right there with you… but if we screw up then we’re just one more problem on the plate. I’m getting Bill and everyone else in on this. Plus, someone’s gotta watch this bitch.” She said, pointing a thumb back at the manticore propped against the wall.

“Alright, I’ll find Cathy, you call Bill, we get this shit done.” Tabby said, opening the door. She hurried into the hall, looking for the room they were holding her friend in.

Character select: Stay as Tabby or switch to Cathy, Sadie, or Big Alp

<Doublepost

The costs of this little kidnapping were starting to pile up. Sam finished paying nearly twenty bucks for a damn movie ticket. Some stupid movie called Meet the Dopplers. This ought to be good, Sam thought to herself. Chems looked positively pensive for a brief moment, although whether or not it was because of her date choosing the movie or the idea of the movie itself was beyond Sam. She was probably gonna flip out, poor guy, he has no idea what he’s gotten himself into.

After waiting for them to get their snacks Sam managed to follow close enough behind them into the theater where she quickly found a seat not far above them. When the movie started Sam rolled her eyes. It’s that romcom where the guy is marrying a doppelganger and her sisters keep fucking with them by fooling the fiance with their wild disguises.

Well, she would be here for the long run… might as well settle in and keep one eye on them.

_________________

The bright colors filled Sadie’s vision as she closed her eyes, giving Otto’s hand a tight squeeze before entering Cathy’s dreams. The colors swirled in a vortex of shapes and imagery of people the gargoyle may have known flashed before her eyes. When it all stopped, Sadie saw the ‘world’ she had created in Cathy’s dream. Great mushrooms, hills and houses, people walking here and there in strange ways. All this Wonderland shit never changes. When she looked down she found herself plummeting towards a castle, wearing an outfit similar to that of the Alice monster of Wonderland. Before she could react she fell through the castle, almost like a ghost, landing on a marble floor with a thump. Yep, shit never changes. She let out a sigh as she picked herself up and quickly oriented herself. She was standing at the entrance of what looked to be some kind of medieval throne room. Black and red banners lined the walls and two large statues of the gargoyle herself stood tall beside the throne. They were sculpted to illustrate her body in peak physical form, her perfected image or perhaps what she strived for. Upon the throne sat a scrawny young woman - no, the gargoyle herself, dressed in a royal gown wielding a golden scepter. She was rather ragged for ‘royalty,’ risking her regal attire for ravaged and ravenous regalia. “Damn it.” Sadie muttered. Even her thoughts were becoming more like Wonderland! Beside this monstrously minuscule monarch stood another taller, gangly gargoyle, her ‘advisor’ most likely. “Shit. The Id and I’m guessing the Ego…” Sadie murmured. Best to avoid them and find the ‘off switch.’ The Id would have been bad news before but now with all this Wonderland shit both her and the Ego would be absolutely… irritating.

As Sadie turned she bumped into two guards - living armor with card-suits embroidered on their helms - one guard’s was shaped like a heart while the other a club. They seized her by the arms and dragged her towards the throne. “Oh, you bitches!” She shouted as they pulled her along. Around her she saw a faceless crowd of people that had gathered in the great hall surrounding the Id, hurling praises at her with shackles chaining them to one another. The Id looked unamused, leaning over the arm of her throne to stare at the taller, nerdy looking gargoyle who was droning on about something. The two guards tossed Sadie before her, forcing her to kneel. This had gotten the Id’s attention. She turned to Sadie, holding up a hand to her advisor. “I do not recognize this one. Rise. To whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?” The Id asked, sitting upright in an attempt to look more noble. Sadie grunted before standing up to give her ‘best’ curtsy. Might be better to play along, she figured. “Your majesty, I am Sadie the seeker.” She said, thinking quickly.

“Sadie the seeker, welcome to my kingdom! I am Id, Ruler over all of Catherine! What pray are you seeking?” The savage sovereign asked.

“Actually, O great and powerful Id. I have come seeking your counsel, seeing as how you are both knowledgeable and wise.” It wouldn’t hurt to butter her up if she could help it.

The Id rubbed her chin in thought, nodding her agreement with these ‘observations.’ “While it is true… I am the most knowledgeable and wisest-“

“Not to mention the most humble.” Her advisor mocked, only to receive a bludgeoning from Id’s scepter. “I am unfortunately in need of a seeker such as yourself.”

“Perhaps we could help one another?” Sadie offered, wary of the royal rod’s reach. “What ever could you want, your majesty?

“Want? I have no wants! I ONLY HAVE NEEDS!” She shrieked, her scepter whooshing over Sadie’s head, only to slam into her advisor once more, bowling her over. “Yes, of course! Forgive my ignorance!” Sadie pleaded. If she got off on the wrong foot here this little operation would be over rather quickly.

“I ‘need’ you to seek out Super Ego. She has been a nuisance to my ever expanding kingdom and has been DRIVING ME MAD!” The Id shouted, throwing her scepter in a fit of rage. She turned and glared at her lanky lackey, who reluctantly went to retrieve it. “Take Ego with you.” She ordered, pointing at the tall gargoyle. “She never gets any exercise and is constantly hounding me on what I can and cannot do. SHE DOESN’T REALIZE THAT I AM THE ONE IN CHARGE!” The Id shouted, snatching the scepter away from the Ego as soon as she returned.

“O-oh, I’m to go with this seeker?” The Ego asked. The Id looked positively irritated, posing to swing her scepter once again. The Ego flinched away, doing her best to hide herself behind Sadie.

“Shall we go then, seeker? Super Ego awaits!” The Ego said, dragging Sadie out of the throne room. Once outside the Ego let out a great sigh of relief. “Oh thank Catherine, I thought for sure I was going to suffocate in that Id’s… air of superiority.”

Great, now I have this one tagging along with me. Guess I might as well make use of her, Sadie mused. “So where do I find this Super Ego?” Sadie asked. “Oh, she’s sometimes over there - ah and, and she’s been over there!” Ego said, pointing in many directions. “But most of the time she’s over that way. Her ‘majesty’ Id thinks I’m bad, but really most of the time it’s Super Ego who’s hounding her. She always says Id could be better, that we should try to be more like so-and-so, I just tell her what’s practical and what needs to be done! I swear sometimes those two are just children-”

“Alright, ALRIGHT! Enough! ‘Practically’ speaking here, where is the Super Ego NOW?” Sadie interrupted her. “Oh well, she’s probably in the Tower of Guilt.” The Ego replied, pointing to a tower in the far distance. “Oh, just wonderful.” Sadie groaned. God damn it I hate psyches. There are at least two - maybe three ways she could go about this… play along with this girl and her fucked up psyche or try to find the ‘self’ she put in this dream… wherever she was. The last option… well, it wouldn’t be pretty.

A. Playing along with the Id, Ego and Super Ego may take a little time but at least you know where you need to go and your objective is clear. Get the Super Ego. Once all three are together you can use your little gazer mojo to find out which one is controlling that lithifiwhatsit- the stone form shit.

B. Ditch the Ego, finding that stupid gargoyle would probably be faster and you could use her as a bargaining chip with the psyche. Forcing them to loosen their control on the stone form would be easier with their very self as your hostage.

C. Gather more information on this gargirl and fuck with her psyche. Mess everything up! You’re no mindflayer, though, so there’s no telling what could happen… this should probably be your last resort all things considered.

_________________

Character switch: Karen

The movie had a few good jokes here and there, but it really wasn’t anything to write home about. Although every time one of the ‘doppler’ sisters did their thing, Karen was visibly uncomfortable.

“Gregory, let’s get out of here.” She whispered to him, tugging on his sleeve. She wanted to get out of here. All these eyes in the theater were stifling, not to mention the movie itself was like a wrecking ball of emotions for her. She knew better than to blame Gregory, how was he supposed to know she was a doppelganger? Worse yet a doppelganger who was self conscious about her inability to control her shape shifting. Gregory obliged, following her out of the theater to the halls.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. She must have been more upset than she realized, why else would he ask something like that? “No… I…” She struggled with her words.

C. Tell him you lied about who you are, that you’re not really Catherine, or even a gargoyle. Come out as the pitiful doppelganger you are.

D. You can’t tell him anything. You can’t trust him with that kind of knowledge, leave him and go back to the Philtrum! Maybe Rhonda found someone to use as cover for your failure. (Nick or Zach from Blender? Mike from the hospital? Maybe someone else?)

E. Someone knocked Greg aside and grabbed you! Damn you, karma, you’re being kidnapped!

>>352937

>wavy-haired manticore and a terminator reference in one post

“I’m such a fool…” Karen muttered, still hesitant to tell him the truth. She only just met Greg, after all, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty, like something was pushing her to be honest with him. She took a deep breath and turned to look at him.

“I’m not the person you think I am.” She said, her voice shaking as she tried to keep her composure. Gregory raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not Catherine. I’m not even a gargoyle.” She replied, taking another deep breath. “I’m a doppelganger. Only I’m not like the ones in that movie, I can’t do any of that stuff!”

Gregory looked as surprised as she expected, saying nothing for some time. She could tell he was processing everything even as he stared straight at her. It was an uncomfortable silence, making her even more nervous “Why do you still look like a gargoyle?Can’t you change form at will?” He finally asked, trying to grasp the situation. “I can’t… change how I look. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

Gregory couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Is that all?” He asked with a smile. “Is… Is that all?” Karen parroted indignantly. “This- That’s… it’s a huge issue for me!”

“Alright, calm down. Here’s what I think: who cares about the way you look? That stuff doesn’t matter. What matters is who you are and what you do with your time. You know, you should tell me your real name.” He said suddenly. Karen looked down, rubbing her hands nervously. “I… My uh, my name is Karen. Karen Fetch.”

Realization hit him when he heard the name. “You’re Dr. Karen Fetch? When you told me about your project I thought you were one of her assistants embellishing your involvement, but here you are… you’re Karen. Now it all makes sense.” He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Karen kept her eyes lowered, not daring to look up until Gregory sighed. “What happened? You had so much going for you and you up and disappeared.”

She dared to look up, distraught by his implication. “It wasn’t my choice! Everyone branded me a con artist because they didn’t want to hear what I had to say.” She lamented.

“What do you mean?” Asked Gregory.

“She’s more trouble than she’s worth!” Someone hollered from behind him. Karen backed away, her skin pale like she had seen a ghost. In an instant Gregory was shoved aside by a monster who towered over her, her large body silhouetted by the light behind her. Karen was about to scream before a big red hand covered her mouth and another pulled her in closer to this beast of a person.

Was it Junko? Had they discovered her little expedition and sent someone to ‘retrieve’ her? What was going to become of her? What horrible things were those… danuki planning for her punishment? The panic sent her mind racing for a moment before she blacked out.

Character select: Alex, Tabby, Big Alp

____

“This way, Seeker!” The Ego called to Sadie, leading her down the forest path. “The tower is this way!” The gazer followed her reluctantly, carefully stepping over any tree roots, or around bushes trying her best not to touch anything. It was bad enough to be walking around in this stupid dress, last thing she needed was more Wonderland bullshit fucking with her.

Just as she caught up with her, the Ego had stopped abruptly and held out an arm. “Wait! Do you hear that?” She asked, cupping a hand to her ear. “Hear what…?” Sadie replied.

“There’s something in the forest, hide!” She yelped, pulling Sadie behind one of the larger trees. Damn it, this woman will be the death of me! Sadie thought. She quickly eased up as she heard something as well.

“It’s not like she hurt me, grandma! She was just warning me about some girl that stole her stuff!” A voice came from around the bend. Sadie used one of her eye stalks to peek around the tree, curious to know who it was. The Ego was quivering beside her, holding her book tightly to her chest. “It’s… it’s the Jabberwock…” She murmured. “The Jabberwock? Aw shit…” She said, catching a glimpse of deep purple scales between the leaves, branches and bushes. She was walking the path by herself, rambling on as if she were talking to someone, but Sadie couldn’t hear anyone else. Was she mad? This IS Wonderland… well, sorta. As far as she could tell the Jabberwock was pretty small, but it may be best to steer clear anyway. No way she was going to deal with crazy on that level. The Ego seemed to be in full survival mode, choosing to stay as still as her shivering body would allow. “She’ll eat us, she’ll eat us both.” She muttered frantically. A few moments passed when the Jabberwock was finally out of earshot before Sadie spoke up. She grabbed the Ego by the hand and yanked her away from the tree, springing her back to ‘life,’ if these things could be called living. “Come on, we got a tower to get to.” She said, giving the Ego a sudden jolt. “You’re… you’re right, of course. This way!”

<Doublepost

The tower loomed over the two like a shadow. It was awful to look at with its cracked bricks and overgrown vegetation accompanied by an overwhelming sense of dread. The door to the tower of guilt was tall the frames decorated on either side with the grotesque visages of two gargoyles like the ones seen on old churches. They were both ugly, maybe even frightening to some, but it didn’t matter much to her, this was where that Super Ego was. “Help me get this open!” Said Sadie, trying her best to push the door. The Ego shook her head. “No, see that’s not how you open this. The only way to get in to the tower of guilt is to make an offering!”

“What kind of offering?” Asked Sadie, growing more and more impatient with this whole ordeal.

“You have to share a memory. Something you regret, whether you were embarrassed or hurt someone you love.”

Oh fuck that. “Well, you go first, then.” Sadie suggested, stepping aside. The Ego took a deep breath before stepping in front of the door. Dust fell as the two gargoyles began to come alive, their eyes lighting up as they spoke. “You must pay the price, the toll, the fee. None may enter but the guilty!” They said in unison, confronting the Ego.

“Oh, guardians of our shame, I have a confession!” She said, going to her knees. “This one time back in middle school I tried to kiss that Ricky Fisher boy and I got my fangs caught in his braces and all the other kids said I was trying to eat his face!”

Sadie was completely dumbfounded. What the fuck kind of idiot-

The two gargoyles began to move again, much to Sadie’s surprise. They reached across and pushed open the door for the Ego. “Your confession is worthy of entry.” They said in unison. “Hahaha! Go on in, Miss Ego!” The right gargoyle laughed in a much friendlier voice. “Thank you, gentleman, always a pleasure.” The Ego replied, walking through the passage. Weird shit, Sadie thought. Before she could enter they slammed the door shut in front of her. “Oh come on!” She shouted. The gargoyles’ eyes lit up. “You must pay the price, the toll, the fee. None may enter but the guilty!” They both announced. “Weren’t you listening to Miss Ego? Ya gotta share a memory with us, lady!” The left gargoyle chided her. “It’s true. No one gets in without sharing. Lay it on us.”

Sadie gritted her teeth before she kicked the door. Stupid tower, stupid Wonderland, stupid psyche! There’s only one way in it seems.

A. Share a fake secret with the gargoyles and hope they let you in.

B. Share a weird secret. Something even you’re kind of disgusted by. That’s sure to work. (Write anything you think Sadie might have done.)

C. Fuck this, you’ll find another way in, there’s a window that’s kind of high up there… but you could probably make it.

<I think it's pretty much commonplace for these posts to be slow as fuck. I'm really sorry guys, but I actually have something special planned for next part (hopefully!)

<Need more votes guys! (Don't forget the character select in the first post!)

<If you can't think of anything to write for B go ahead and vote on what's already been posted!

>>354132

B. I have lewd thoughts about my brother, even though he's an autistic paladindu

There was no getting around this, might as well just get it over with, Sadie thought. She didn’t have time to waste with this shit. “Okay, okay, so this happened a while back when I was just a young peeper, I was stupid and thought it would be a good idea to experiment with my stalks…” Sadie began to explain. The two gargoyles gave her sideways looks but remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

“So I kind of… shoved one of them up there and it hurt like a bitch. Like seriously stung. I ended up getting pink eye.”

The gargoyles hem and hawed for a moment before crossing their arms. “That’s not all is it?”

The left goyle said. “What? Isn’t that good enough?” Sadie complained, getting hot under the collar.

“We know you left something out! You must tell the full story. It’s the only way to get in.” The right goyle answered.

Sadie clenched her teeth, seething with anger. “This is ridiculous!”

“The rules are the rules.” They both replied. “You’re just making them up! Fine!”

The gazer took a deep breath before recalling the story fully. Get it over with, Sadie, you don’t have time for this bullshit, she told herself. “I had a step brother back then. I thought everything of him.”

“Oooh!” The two gargoyles exclaimed together. “So… did you get pink eye because of…”

“YES, OKAY, YES! All that shit happened and then I grew up and found out he was one of those autistic crusaders.” She explained. “Wow that’s weird.” Said the right gargoyle. The left gargoyle nodded. “Yeah, that’s kinda…”

“We weren’t related by blood!” Sadie complained. “Do you still have feelings for him?” They both asked.

“N-no. I grew up!” She answered them in a huff.

“I guess that’s true. You may pass. Go on in.” Said the right. “Yeah, go on in, little lady! Watch your step!” Echoed the left.

“You guys are dicks.” Sadie said, stepping up to the door.

Thank god that was over. What a bunch of bullshit.

Sadie felt a pressure, like a weight pushing down on her shoulders as she passed through the doorway. Everything felt… wrong. Before her was a hallway dimly lit with lanterns spaced out just enough for the darkness to remain. When she looked at the walls she saw they were covered with mirrors, cracked, scuffed and grimey. Sadie could barely see herself in them and even then they seemed to warp her perception of herself.

She looked filthy, her clothes dingy and torn. “What is this, a fucking funhouse?” She thought aloud.

SLAM! The door shut behind her, leaving her with only one way to go. “DICKS!” She shouted back at the two wallgoyles. “EGO! Where the hell are you, Ego!” Her voice carried throughout the dark hall. The only response was the silence that followed. “Alright, I’m gonna find you and when I do…” Still nothing. With a sigh she began her trek through the dark hallway. Even with her ability to see in the dark only the lanterns seemed to help anything. She felt like she was wandering aimlessly, the pressure she felt earlier building up the further she went. She could hear a low droning sound slowly building up in her head, like old fluorescent lights buzzing in her ears. The gazer quickened her pace when she felt something brush past one of her stalks. When she turned she saw several shadows behind her standing in the hall. “Oh fuck this!” She shouted, running down the hall. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for the Ego, a doorway, anything! Her heart was pounding in her chest like a drum when a junction in the hall came into view. She was about to turn down it when she bumped into something with a shriek.

“Oh, there you are, Seeker! Be careful, you can get lost in here very easily!” The Ego said, helping Sadie back to her feet. “This is the Hall of Shame. It’s full of… nasty things.” She explained. “No shit, what the fuck were those shadow things back there?” Sadie hollered after brushing herself off. “Oh. Those were the dark thoughts Catherine has had over the years. Mostly intrusive thoughts of violence. I wouldn’t worry about them. They’re fairly harmless. I mean usually.”

“Fine! Whatever! Can we get out of here already? This place is disgusting!” Replied Sadie, feeling shivers down her spine. “Well I happen to like it here! Sometimes you really gotta get your hands dirty to get things done!” The Ego retorted.

“That’s nice, can we go now?” Sadie shot back. The Ego nodded, pointing back the way she came. “This way will take us to the next level. Come on.”

<Doublepost

The next level of the tower was much better than the last, at least as far as the look and feel of it went. It was much better lit and and certainly more colorful, but there was something else bothering Sadie this time. The walls were decorated with… sexual imagery. Not to mention everything just looked… different. Much of the paintings were subtle at first, but as they proceeded down the hall it became more and more graphic. Pictures of men, women, all sorts of monsters in sexual poses acting out what could only be seen as someone’s sexual fantasies. The embarrassment on the Ego’s face was plain as day as she hurried through the hall, keeping her face buried in her book.

“Wow… so, what’s all this then, Ego?” Sadie asked with a smirk, stopping in front of a particularly large painting of a monstrously huge cheshire. A little playful poking wouldn’t hurt, considering everything she’d been through already it was like petty vengeance. “T-this is the hall of flesh. Any i-impure or intrusive thoughts Catherine has had… reside here.”

“And… what was she thinking when this happened? Was this an intrusive thought?” She asked, pointing at the cheshire playfully posing like an old fashioned pin up girl.

The Ego nodded her head from behind her book, too embarrassed to give a real answer. “Oh, well would you look at that! How about this one, Ego? Got a thing for big guys?” She shook her head this time, turning away from her. The Ego’s reactions were truly satisfying for Sadie. The gazer watched her hurry past the painting, almost tripping once or twice. The imagery depicted that gargoyle admiring a rather well endowed manhood hovering over her. Well at least this girl had some blood pumping through her veins. In the past, many people’s psyches had repressed sexuality as far as Sadie was concerned. It was refreshing to see someone who was still shy about it but was still interested. It was rare in her line of work.

“Hey, don’t worry, I get it!” She called after the Ego. “You’re just tryin’ ta figure things out!”

The Hall of Flesh seemed to go on for what felt like several hours. It was like all this tower was built for was… whatever dirty thoughts this gargoyle had had throughout her entire life. A huge majority of it was sexual in nature, which seemed to bother the Ego more than her. They passed several more pictures of people in the act of fornicating, usually it was woman on top cowgirl style, sometimes it was missionary with the man taking the lead. Here and there it would be random people, some pornstars, amateurs, Sadie even recognized that hellhound from Man’s Best Friend! Which one did this girl watch, Sadie wondered. Was it the first one or the fourth, Puppy Pound? That one was pretty good. Lotsa doggystyle if she remembered correctly. Sadie felt like she could get lost in here reliving all of this girl’s deviant memories. Although deviant might be too harsh, more like she’s got some… pretty vanilla tastes. But that didn’t matter to the Ego. She fainted upon seeing the hand holding picture, for fucks sake. “Get up, Ego, time to go!” She said, struggling to lift her up to her feet. The Ego came to in a moment, shaking her bright read head furiously.

“Wha-what happened?” She asked, picking her book up from the floor. “Oh, you know, just some tender hand holding an sparks flew from your ears.” Sadie couldn’t help but tease. “S-SEEKER, PLEASE!” The Ego wailed. “We shouldn’t be talking about such… scandalous things.”

The gazer laughed.

“Yeah, yeah. Scandalous. Careful, I think I see a painting of some cuddling in the afterglow.” She jeered, nudging the Ego mercilessly. “Enough, enough! We’re nearly there, let’s just… go.” She replied with a sigh. Finally they seemed to reach the end of this hall when before them stood a double door. “Anything special with this one?” Sadie asked sarcastically. “Oh no, heavens no. Just getting here is bad enough. I wouldn’t have made it without you.” The Ego said with no hint of awareness. She stepped up to the door and rapped on it in quick succession, then stood back with an excited look on her face.l, holding her book tightly to her chest. Great. We look like a buncha Jehovah's witnesses. She could hear movement from behind the doors. Someone was coming! They stopped on the other side of the doors and slowly fiddled with the lock and door handles. Slowly they opened, a gust of wind rushing past them to steal inside the room. With a sudden jerk, the doors were flung open and out popped a massive figure roaring with laughter. Behind her was a blinding light obscuring her features.

<Triple post

>>354516

>Hall of Flesh

Absolute disgusting, that's too much for this board. I like it. Very much so. Cute art too.

Going with option B. Teamwork will bring them down quicker and you're in a outside open space with more cover, compared to option A's warehouse with limited mobility and gang members having explored their surroundings beforehand, giving them an advantage.

>>354516

A or B. It doesn't matter so long as they use theatricality and deception. Surely even mamono criminals are cowardly and superstitious.

My compliments to the guest artist. I still like you stuff though.

>>354516

B

time to go mgs all up in this mother fucker throw a rock to get their attention then creep up behind and choke em out

“Come on out! You got nowhere to run!” The orc called Carla shouted. “Where the fuck did they go?”

“‘Ey… did you hear what they said?” One of the inari guards said, walking over to Carla. “Yeah they shouted some Mexican shit knocked the hell out of Harley, so what?”

“She said Cabra Fuerte.”

“What’s your point?” Carla asked, quickly losing her patience. “I always heard the boss tell stories about how she killed Cabra Fuerte like ten years ago. That’s how she became the boss, get it? But before she died she swore to the boss she says ‘Cabra Fuerte will rise again.’ What if-“

“No. No way, don’t be stupid. it’s just someone else runnin’ around in spandex shouting about Cabra Fuerte this and that. There’s twelve - er, eleven of us and two of them! If the boss can kill ‘em so can we. Spread out and look for them!” She ordered, pulling back the bolt on her rifle.

“Perfect.” Big Alp said, pulling Dulce along with her. “We can try picking them off one by one… shouldn’t be too hard.” She whispered to the bapho. Dulce nodded silently, following her as they found a few sturdy crates to climb onto. Big Alp went up first, stopping to help Dulce up so they could both reach the top of the container. They stalked along the tops quickly and quietly, finding their first victims soon enough.

It was a skittish looking cat, a nekomata by Big Alp’s guess and her partner a kobold with a pretty mean looking scar on her ear. They were looking all about for them, everywhere but up that is. “You take the cat and I’ll take the dog.” Whispered ‘Cabra Fuerte.’ Her partner ‘Cabrasita’ nodded.

Once the two were underneath they pounced. Big Alp managed to land on top of the kobold, bowling her over while Dulce somehow landed on the nekomata’s shoulders, the sudden impact forcing her to drop her gun. The masked Alp took advantage of the kobold’s surprise, slugging her in the face several times until she was out cold. When she looked over she saw Dulce ramming the blunt of her horns into her poor victim’s head. She went down not long after, although Big Alp didn’t want to ask if she was still alive after a beating like that.

“Let’s move, no time to hide them.” She said, pointing towards another good spot to set up their next ambush. “You got it jefe!” Dulce responded, hopping off the unconscious cat.

One after another, the two masked vigilantes picked off the guards with little difficulty. Either these guys were really weak or that Cabra Fuerte stuff was the real deal, Big Alp found herself thinking. She didn’t feel the least bit exhausted running about this shipyard beating these guys senseless.

They had just disarmed a short minotaur and pummeled her senseless behind a forklift when Big Alp spotted that orc, Carla. She was heading towards one of the warehouses along with the fox and two other guards. At the same time she could hear several vehicles pulling up on the opposite ends of the shipyard.

A. Stick to the plan, ambush those guards in the warehouse. Now is the time for fear.

B. Ditch these losers and stealthily investigate the vehicles. Might be bad news.

<Doublepost, went with B at the time of writing this.

“EGO! Hey, Sis! What’s up!” She shouted, filling the halls with her voice. “What’s my big sister doin’ here? Come to check out my movies? I just rewatched Sand crawler, it's still fuckin’ rad!”

“Su-Super Ego! Language!” Ego chastised the hulking figure. “Super Ego? This is Super Ego?” Sadie asked, shielding her eyes from the light. “Well of course, who else would I be?” The Super Ego answered, wrapping muscular arms around either of them. She pulled them inside, the doors slamming shut behind them. When Sadie’s eyes adjusted she could see her clearly. A gargoyle at least six and a half feet tall with great wings, claws and muscles to match. Sadie would have agreed she was an impressive figure worthy of the name ‘super,’ but then her eyes noticed what she was wearing. On her face was one of those old Groucho Marx glasses, the kind you buy at a party store. A t-shirt that said “book wurm” with a poorly drawn wurm eating said book was snugly fit against her admittedly titanic tits that would have put a holstaur to shame - if they were ‘real’ that is. To complete her wardrobe this gargantuan gargoyle wore some of those fucking short gym shorts, revealing her toned thighs. What, was she not showing off enough skin? “So what brings ya here, Sis? Can I get ya guys anything ta drink? Water, lemonade, I got beer!” Superego asked, leading them into what looked like an average living room. A couch, big tv with a huge library and a computer desk on the far wall surrounded by movie posters. “Oh, no no, we have some business to get to.” Sadie interjected, sitting down on the couch next to the Ego. Best not ingest anything here, might be bad news for the brain. “Oh, hey, didn’t catch your name, sweetheart.” Super Ego replied. “Oh, yes, this is the Seeker, Sadie. She’s here by the request of Id.” The Ego explained, leaning closer to her.

“Hi.” Sadie said simply. “Ya got a bathroom?” The Super Ego pointed to a hallway. “To the right.” She replied. “Id?” Superego echoed the name, her lips turning downward in a frown. “What, she couldn’t even come see me herself, she had to send some outsider to do it? She too busy to see her own damn sister? At least you came, Ego.”

Good, maybe this Super Ego is in control of the stone form shit. She probably has some kind of object for it lying around in this… apartment. Sadie looked to make sure the Super Ego wasn’t watching before opening the door on the left and entering. The Gazer quickly found herself in what looked like some kind of game room with all sorts of stupid things, from shelves of board games to another entertainment system complete with TV and some retro gaming consoles as well as a library of old games she must have grown up playing. Sadie never really understood that stuff… why would monsters even bother with games when they should be proactive with their dating? Whatever, back to searching. There was a closet, that might be a good place to start. Upon approaching the closet there came a familiar sense of dread. It was similar to the feeling Sadie got when she first entered the hall of shame. The gazer felt a pressure building upon her once more. This had to be it, this had to be the object for stone form! Before fear could overtake her she forced herself to throw open the door to the closet, the source of this irrational terror.

<Triple post.

“She is still our sister, Super Ego. She’s the oldest, too, so she’s busy ruling! Not to mention every time you two meet up you always wrestle that crown off of her and take control of Catherine for a day or so.” Said the Ego, wagging a finger at her much larger sister. “If it weren’t for her we wouldn’t have done anything stupid. When I’m in control, ol’ Cathy does nothin’ but good! Besides, not my fault the scrawny bitch can’t take me.” She proclaimed, patting her huge hand on her huge abs with a chuckle.

“L-language!” Ego repeated, her face turning a shade of bright red just as Sadie wandered back into the room. Just what the hell was that in there… the gazer wondered, chills shaking her from head to toe. If she were to guess it was probably the embodiment of all of this girl’s fears. Guess it would make sense for the Super Ego to be here to keep it in check. But why in the closet?

“Sorry.” Super Ego apologized to her ‘sister’ earnestly. “But you know I’m right.”

“Maybe. Or maybe not.” The Ego said, standing up from the couch. She moved over to the computer and pulled the chair out from the desk. “I think sometimes you make bad decisions, too, Sister.” The Ego suggested, awaiting her six foot sister to take the seat. To Sadie’s surprise the Super Ego obeyed, sitting down at the desk. She couldn’t help but watch the events unfold. “You’re supposed to be the moral compass as well as her ideal!” The Ego scolded her. “Now I know you sometimes take advice from those strangers on the internet, - ah, ah, I know Id does it, too but don’t interrupt me!” Ego stopped her ‘sister’ before continuing her spiel. “You have to understand, if you don’t ever let Id do her thing then Catherine would never get out of her comfort zone and we wouldn’t learn anything. You know what that means, right?” The Ego asked, resting her hand up on her sister’s sizable shoulders. The Super Ego grumbled before answering. “I get it. But come on! Half the time she hardly even tries to pick a good guy. The last one drugged us!”

“Yes, and you helped get us out of that one before it got worse, didn’t you?”

Super Ego sniffled a bit before smiling. “Yeah, I guess.”

Wonderful, everyone seems to have made up, maybe I can finally get this shit done and over with now, Sadie thought to herself. The object doesn’t seem to be here. Besides, if the Super Ego has it she’d probably be using it. “Look, I appreciate all this family bonding shit, but we got work to do.” She said, looking at the Ego who nodded in return. “It’s true, we were on our way here to come get you and almost ran into a jabberwock.” Suddenly the Super Ego jumped up from her chair and turned to face them both. “Which way was it going?” She asked, grabbing the Ego by the shoulders.

“Towards… Id.” She said, suddenly realizing what she had said. “Well come on! We gotta go get her! We can still beat her to the castle!”

Character Select: (Cathy, Tabby, Alex)

<Sorry it took so long to post guys! Still on the job hunt and other life shit getting in the way.

<Friend also apologizes. Last pic related.

“Well, that was a shit show.” Rhonda grumbled, stepping out of the van. She slammed the door and walked around to the side where two of her orcs opened up the side door. Inside was a man with a black bag over his head, his arms and legs linked together with handcuffs. “Why wouldn’t she picked up her damn phone.” Rhonda rhetorically asked, pulling her prize out by the legs. He struggled a little but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. She picked him up and slung him over her shoulder with a light grunt. “So boss, whadda we do with ‘im if Chems don’t need ‘im?” One orc asked with a devilish grin on her lips. Rhonda shoved her playfully with her freehand and chuckled. “Same as the rest of them. If it were up to me you’d have him all to yourself. The way you tackled him, girl, ya did good. Coulda put up more fight, though!” She said, slapping her captive’s ass. He grunted but remained still, much to Rhonda’s disappointment. He wasn’t a scrawny man, in fact he was fairly well built. He managed to fight off a few of the orcs but when he saw her he offered no resistance and was tackle. That had irked her more than she let on. If it were up to her this guy would be taken back overseas to be her chattel. She’d whip him into shape and make a man out of him, but being part of that doppelganger’s experiments would have to do. “Hey, boss, where is everyone?” One of the orcs asked. “Probably just slacking off somewhere. Idiots. You two, get on deck and have a look around. The rest of you take the van and do a sweep, make sure there’s no one trespassing. We’re gonna sort this out.” She ordered, following the two up the ramp with her prize. The rest of her underlings piled back into the van.

As they drove off there was a sudden crack in the air like a gunshot and the van spun out, slamming into a pile of crates. Another van pulled up beside it an

Rhonda turned, dropping the man into the arms of her two handpicked orcs. “Take him below deck!” She barked at the two orcs. She turned to see her two orcs facing two purple… luchadores? What the hell?

They each knocked over her two lackies, the shorter of the two catching her prize. She rolled her eyes. “Who the hell are you supposed to be?”

“We’re Cabra Fuerte!” The short one answered, sticking her tongue out.

Character Select: Tabitha, Alex

___

“Grandma, how much further do we have to go?” Cathy complained, dragging her feet heavily down the dirt road. They had been walking - well, dancing for what seemed like hours, although it was difficult to tell in this dense forest and the more Cathy thought about it this was all a dream so… time is probably all out of whack. Her grandmother turned with a smile, “We’re very close now. See there, where the trees end?” She pointed to the end of the trail, skipping off towards the daylight at the end of this tunnel of a forest. “Yeah, I do!” Cathy replied, picking up her pace. As she approached the path narrowed and the trees shrank in size forcing her to hunch over her way through. Eventually she had to get on her hands and knees just to keep from catching her horns and wings on the canopy of branches “What’s going on?” She hollered, irritated with her sudden position. “Why’s everything so small?”

“Ha! Small?” Grandma Catherine scoffed. “Come out here and see for yourself!”

Following her grandmother’s voice, Cathy forced her way through, pushing aside some of the smaller trees as she poked her head out from the thicket, her head covered with branches and leaves. Grandma couldn’t help but give a titter. “My goodness, you look like an great oak!” She teased. Cathy picked herself up off the ground, brushing the twigs and foliage away. Between her horns rest a nest with a small and perturbed looking harpy sitting atop, holding on for dear life. “HELP!” She shrieked. “Someone help! The ground is falling, the ground is falling!” The harpy yelped, looking down from her nest. Cathy looked down as well, quickly noticing that she was towering over the ground below, her grandmother only coming up to her knees. “W-what? What happened? I’m the size of a house!” She said, flabbergasted. I’m not even used to being the tallest person in a room, she thought, and here I am the height of a high rise with a haughty harpy harping on my head. “Aww great, now I’m even thinking like them!” Cathy carped.

“Cathy, be a dear and let the poor bird down!” Grandma called up to her. With a groan and careful descent, the Jabbercathy knelt down and held out her hand, catching both the squawking harpy and her nest. “HELP! The ground is rising!” The harpy screeched, flapping her wings wildly. Once she was down on ground level, she looked every which way as if she were expecting something to happen. Upon getting a better look, Cathy saw she had a plumage of bright red and a black hood over her head. After a moment she seemed to have calmed down and began scratching at the dirt with her talons. “Hello there, madam.” Grandma called to the harpy. Without looking up the Harpy huffed a response. “Yes, yes, good day, I am busy watching. No one else is likely to do it so then it falls upon me!”

“What, watching what?” Cathy asked. “The ground of course! If I don’t keep an eye on it it will fall upon me!” The harpy answered without looking up. “Madam-“ Grandma began and was immediately cut off by the harpy’s chittering. “No Miss Cardinal, I’m much too busy! No Miss Cardinal, I have to go to school! Oh I would, Miss Cardinal, but I’m blind!”

“Miss Cardinal!” Cathy shouted, desperately trying to get her attention.

“Yes, what is it?” She retorted, looking up at the towering Jabbercathy. A sudden realization washed over Miss Cardinal’s face when she stared back into Cathy’s eyes. “MONSTER!”

She cried, running back into the forest with her wings in the air. “Well, I guess that’s fair.” Cathy said with a sigh. She’d probably freak out too if she came face to face with a five-story jabberwock. “Jury’s out Grandma, I’m a monster. What now?” She asked, kneeling down to pick up her grandmother.

“My, I thought you’d be more surprised by this turn of events.” She replied, sitting on her shoulder. Cathy shook her head, “Not much different from my other dreams now that I think about it.”

“And how often do you dream about being this… big?” Grandma asked with a worried look. “Not a whole lot. Although one time I had a dream that I had two heads, so this is definitely better compared to that.” Cathy answered, her wings flexing as if to emphasize her point.

Grandma smiled. “Yes I suppose so. Although, you saw the way that Cardinal reacted. I don’t think you’ll be well received at the castle - a giant jabberwock wandering about. Ha.”

“Castle?” Cathy repeated. “We’re going to a castle?”

“Of course we are! Where else would we go to get through Wonderland?” Grandma answered as though it were common knowledge.

“Won’t that be kinda… dangerous?” Asked Cathy, giving her grandmother a worried expression.

“Oh nonsense, look at you, nothing will slow you down.” She replied confidently, patting her granddaughter’s cheek. “What about them?” Cathy responded, pointing to a row of card-like soldiers marching in a row towards them. A trumpet sounded and out from the soldiers came a familiar looking alp dressed up in bright colors and frills, a strange feathered cap upon her head. She stepped out to the front of the soldiers looking unimpressed by Cathy’s colossal figure, drawing out a scroll and unraveling it.

“By the order of the Queen Id!” She began, shouting so that they would hear her. “No jabberwocks may enter the kingdom! You must turn back! Shoo! Back to the forest with you!” She waved to them. “Okay, I know she looks like my boss but I really want to step on her.” Cathy japed to Grandma.

“It’s your dream.” She replied nonchalantly. After a moment of consideration Cathy thought better of it, clearing her throat. “Excuse me, but I’m not a jabberwock!” She corrected them. “Well then what ARE you?” Would-be Big Alp asked. “Well… I’m Cathy.” She answered. “I’m a gargoyle!”

“Gargoyle? Impossible, there’s only one gargoyle and that’s Queen Id!” The crier Alp retorted.

“Er, actually, Sir Alp, there is Ego.” The first soldier corrected Big Alp. She must have been the captain Cathy guessed, judging by her flashier attire corrected.

“Alright, there’s only TWO Gargoyles-”

“And the Super Ego, can’t forget about her, guv!” Another soldier pitched in. “THREE, There’s THREE gargoyles-”

“What about that mason who gave us them statues, she was a gargoyle weren’t she?”

“Yeah, not to mention, ain’t them statues she makes always gargoyles?”

A. You can see the castle from here, sneak past them while they argue… as a giant jabberwock.

B. Join in on the conversation, maybe they’ll accept that you’re a gargoyle and let you into the castle without a fuss.

C. Grandma is right, this is YOUR dream, time to make this shit lucid. (Write it out)

<I have no excuse for the lateness of my posts, been in a funk as of late and I am so sorry.

Thinking quickly, Cathy chimed in. “My Grandma is a gargoyle.” She said, pointing to the old queen perched on her shoulder. “Aye, she certainly is, I can tell from here!” The captain exclaimed. “Are there any other gargoyles?” Asked Cathy, hoping she could get them going again. “Well certainly, there is. We got Gabby the gargoyle. She’s the town gossip.” Answered the captain.

“Oh! There’s a gargoyle, Abby the architect! Abby built the local abbey, you know.”

“There’s them two gargoyle’s at the tower over yonder.” The soldiers added.

“I’ll bet that green worm is a gargoyle to you lot.” The Harold Alp jeered, agitated at the antics. “No, she’s just stoned, obviously.” They replied matter of factly. That was Cathy’s cue to slip away. Somehow a lofty leviathan like herself managed to get passed the troupe of troops in broad daylight. Even as she made her way towards the castle she could hear them bickering with one another about the validity of their gargoyle headcount. “Ain’t Shelly a gargoyle? Her fishin’ boats always sink when she’s in ‘em.”

“That’s ‘cause she makes them outta rocks, she’s as much a gargoyle as the gardener.”

I can’t believe that actually worked, Cathy thought to herself as she made for the castle. “Good Cathy, now you’re getting into the Wonderland spirit!” Grandma said, tugging on the Jabbercathy’s bow. “Thanks, I guess. So what happens when we get to the castle? Do I have to fight some kind of dragon and save the princess or whatever to get out of here?”

“Well… I’m not sure.” Grandma answered with a hum. “What do you mean you’re not sure?” Asked Cathy indignantly. “Well it’s been a while since I was in another gargoyle’s head, not to mention it’s different for everyone. As I said before, this is YOUR dream, not mine.” Cathy thought for a moment as they approached the castle. Grandma’s right, this might be something that gazer put in my head but this IS my dream, the younger gargoyle thought. If she was going to be stuck in here, then she was going to do thing her way. First thing’s first, Cathy thought, stopping right in front of the castle gate. She produced a pair of shades from thin air, Grandma humming excitedly as her granddaughter changed her form from jabberwock back to her gargoylie self. “You seem to be getting the hang of things!” Exclaimed Grandma. Cathy smiled, putting on the shades. “Oh, I got this.” Her body began to shrink, stopping just shy of the height she thought Tabby might be. She took Grandma into her arms giving her a nod. Several guards seemed to appear miraculously, surrounded them with spears. “Uh… maybe you should’ve kept your size?”

Ha, if you’d seen half the movies I have, Cathy thought to herself. She tossed Grandma up, drawing out an uzi and giving the group of guards a spray of bullets. It sent them all tumbling backward almost comically, like bad actors. “Alright, so where do we gotta go? Throne room? Tallest tower?” Asked Cathy, catching her grandmother before kicking open the large wooden gate.

“Uh, uh, t-try the throne room first!” She stammered, still not fully aware of what was happening. “Did you just shoot all of those people?” She asked hysterically. Cathy shrugged. “Don’t worry, they were rubber bullets.” She answered. “T-they were?”

“Probably.”

Wham! The front doors flew off their hinges, tumbling onto the stone floor. Cathy held her grandma up with her offhand and opened fire with the other, a line of trumparts falling over like a house of cards. “So, you know which way to go?” Cathy asked, putting Grandma down. Her Grandmother shook her head, still shocked by her granddaughter’s knack for violence. “What is it with this generation… you know, fighting bad guys in my day had a lot more restraint…” she muttered, brushing herself off. Cathy shrugged. “You fought bad guys?” She asked, scratching her head. An armored knight ran out of one of the halls with a claymore held high over her head, charging at Cathy with a warcry.

Brrrt!

The knight’s head rolled off, bouncing back down the hall, her body dropping the sword to stumble after it in a panic. “Well yes, of course I did. I use to be what they called a superhero!” She said with confidence. “Wow! That’s so cool! Did you have a cape? A cool name?” Cathy asked, marching down the hall. Grandma scurried after her, trying her best to keep up. Her granddaughter’s sudden take-charge attitude had caught her off guard. “Well, yes, I was Tombstone! I was quite popular back in the day. I even had a secret lair!”

Cathy peeked around a corner quickly, then turned back to Grandma. “Awesome. Did ya have a suped up car or something?” She said before turning the corner to spray down the corridor. “No, no, I didn’t need anything like that. I can fly, remember?” Answered Grandma, hurrying passed the gargoyle turned action ‘hero.’

Cathy pointed to a big doorway and grinned. “That must be the throne room. C’mon, Grandma!” She said, hustling over to the threshold. Inside she saw the two great statues that looked exactly like her on either side of the throne. The throne was occupied by a short gargoyle who was surrounded by two others. The three looked remarkably similar to one another despite being different in shape and size. One was remarkably average while the other look like she had been juicing. There was a fourth person… a gazer? She was dressed like Alice… but she also looked familiar. Was it the same one? There were several guards inside as well. Cathy looked at Grandma who looked rather worried about the situation, shaking from head to toe. “You okay?” She whispered.

Grandma took a deep breath and nodded. “I hope you’re not this reckless in the real world.”

“Haha, oh no, I only got kidnapped by a big gang, remember?”

Grandma nodded again. “Point taken. That must be the Id up there on the throne. And that musclebound one is the Super Ego.” She said, pointing at the short one with the crown, then to the bulky one. “Id, Super Ego… I didn’t learn a whole lotta psychology in high school and I ain’t about to start!” With that, Cathy burst into the room heading straight for the throne. All eyes turned to see her coming, but they were not prepared for the hail of lead. All the armored guards and trumparts flew back like bad guys in an action flick and Cathy was the hero of her own movie.

The big one - the muscle of this would-be film was the first to speak up. “Who the hell are you?” She demanded, stepping to the front of the group. Cathy desperately tried to think of a quippy one liner.

“I’m the party pooper.”

Click! Oh shit.

The muscle rushed at her, knocking aside her gun. Cathy punched at her but she blocked and held on tight, the two of them locking hands with in a test of strength. This muscle is really strong! Not to mention she had such big wings! Cathy went down on a knee, unable to match the Super Ego. “Oh shit, oh shit, she-she-she broke the illusion, oh fuck.” The gazer asserted hysterically, hiding behind one of the statues. Cathy felt her chest tightened as her body began to shiver like an energy of pure anger raged through her veins. “You! You’re the one fucking with my head!” She bellowed, breaking out of the muscle’s grapple to grab her by the waist. To the muscle’s surprise she was easily lifted and tossed aside by her opponent, landing on several guards that had shown up.

<Triple post

>>358308

A: But maybe "by yourself" is the wrong way to put it. Everything there is herself. Cathy's fears are just as much a part of her as her hopes and dreams or the manifestations of her psyche or her perception of her friends. I'll bet if Cathy focuses she can achieve unity of mind and become one with everything in her inner mental world, both the good and the bad. That would render Sadie powerless. Then it's BULLY TIME!

D: I don't want even the bad monster girls to die. Surely Cabra Fuerte will save an onii-chan in danger?

“Shit!” Shouted Coop, rolling aside. Rhonda slammed her body onto the deck, causing it to dent slightly. When she turned to Coop she knocked the shotgun free once more, sending it spinning up deck. Instinctively, Coop threw a punch, clocking Rhonda square in the jaw. To both of their surprise, she was actually knocked back, but she quickly recovered, rolling back onto her feet into a fighting stance.

“What the fuck…?” She muttered, wiping her mouth with a wince. Wow, what the hell just happened? Coop found himself wondering. Their last fight was more of a shit show, she mopped the floor with both him and Tabby and now he’s managing to keep up? Maybe it’s just the adrenaline, maybe I got lucky? Fuck it. He put up his own guard, waiting for his opponent to strike once again.

She scrunched up her nose in anger, rushing at him. She was damn fast, but Coop managed to duck under her fist and throw his weight into her side in a tackle, forcing her down. She fell on her back, gasping for air as Coop rolled off and got to his feet. I may be able to beat her but if she grabs me it’s over. Orcs like her could squeeze a man’s head off…

Just as quickly as he rolled off, she was up to her feet again. Fuck, this bitch doesn’t know when to quit.

“You… were not this strong last time. What the hell did you do?” She huffed, clutching her side.

“I ate my oats today.” Coop quipped, dropping back into his guard. She scowled at him for a moment before speaking up again. “Where’s that jinko bitch. I bet that cunt had something to do with this.” She sneered, following suit.

“Yeah, well I bet your papi left you to eat out dwarves, puta!” Dulce shouted, ramming into the orc with her horns. Rhonda was startled, but quickly grabbed hold of the lucha bapho, lifting her over her head. “Put her down!” Big Alp shouted. Rhonda found herself looking down a barrel again, the shotgun she had knocked away now in the Alp’s hands. “Shoulda killed you both when I had the chance…” She muttered, glaring at Coop. She dropped Dulce, who flopped on the ground with a yelp.

“Turn around.” Coop replied coldly, taking the shotgun from Big Alp. The high orc reluctantly complied, turning to face starboard. “Good. So you’re not just a wild beast.” He exclaimed, prodding her to move closer to the edge of the ship.

“Eat a dick you fuckin’ creep.” She spat, stopping short of the ship’s edge.

Coop look to Big Alp. “Know how to work that thing?” He asked, motioning towards the floodgate keeping the Philtrum on land. “Uh…”

“I do!” Dulce answered. “You do?” Big Alp asked, giving her an anxious look. “I mean, yeah, I probably do. I work with machines, jefe, so it can’t be that hard. Just gotta find the controls!” The baphomet said gleefully. Coop shook his head as she practically skipped down the ramp to go find the gate controls. “She gonna be okay on her own?” He asked Big Alp. She shrugged. “She’s tougher than she looks, but… just to be safe…” The masked Alp headed off after her similarly dressed counterpart.

Good enough for me, Coop thought to himself, keeping his distance with the shotgun trained on the hulking high orc in front of him. A few moments passed before Rhonda spoke up again. “Ha! You guys are so fucked right now.” She stated, raising a finger up towards the entrance of the shipyard.

“What are you talking about?” Replied Coop, his eyes following her direction. Several black vehicles were heading for them.

“Who’s that? Your Junko buddies?” He scoffed.

Rhonda laughed again. “So you know about Junko? Then you shoulda known not to fuck around with us. ”

“Well that’s nice.” Coop said, walking over to the ramp. He fired off several shots, blowing a line through the ramp enough for him to knock it off, the scrapped metal scraping loudly against the side of the ship as it plummeted down into the ship channel. “Why don’t we wait for your friends on the bridge? Sound like a plan?” He asked sarcastically, cocking the shotgun again. Rhonda growled, but she did as she was told, marching up deck to the bridge.

He looked out in the direction Big Alp and Dulce went, hoping they could find the controls for the gate in time for his improvised plan to go into action.

<Doublepost

My greatest fears…? Cathy contemplated over the last thing that dumb gazer left her with. What exactly were her greatest fears anyway? Spiders? They’re pretty nasty, but she hasn’t been ‘afraid’ of them since she was little. Death? Or the concept of death? That’s kind of vague… maybe it was an irrational fear? But nothing really had come to mind. Time dragged on and still nothing to greet her or gore her. No monstrous manifestation of her fears reared its ugly head, no disgusting creatures or perilous situations such as drowning or being buried alive. Do I have no fears? No, wait.

She turned to the throne, eyeing it for a moment before deciding she should sit on it. It was kind of stiff, the cushion hardly doing anything to… well, cushion her rump. Still nothing. She groaned, sitting rigidly in place, expecting something to happen. The only thing to accompany her was her musings. Memories slowly began to creep into her thoughts, memories of her younger self growing up playing with her family. As she thought about it more and more she realized she never really had any friends even back then. No one from school or anything.

Her precious memories - both good and bad - made themselves manifest in contrasting colors of bright lights and the dark void, her past memories appearing in the form of stars. Cathy’s thoughts jumped to her first job. She was such a klutz, knocking over all sorts of merchandise and screwing up left and right.. It wasn’t long until she had been fired job to job and then the next. Her face turned red from embarrassment, but still she dared not close her eyes. Her mind began to race, her heart pumping. Time had caught up with her as she remembered things more recently, her fight with Tabitha, Grandma… then something else came into view. Things that she did not remember… Was this it? Her fear? Things that could happen? Her friends were gone, she stood by herself. Was losing her friends her fear? To be left behind and alone? She was alone when she moved out and now she had been thrust into this horrible situation. But that lonely little goyle wasn’t who she was anymore! She worked at the gym and met her best friend there. She made several friends since she moved into Saint Monica, found a job she enjoyed and maybe a little too much action, but she was… happy, right? These memories that were to come encircled her as she sat and dwelled on them more and more…

Suddenly she thought she heard something, like an echo in a cave. It was quiet for a moment, then she heard it clearly.

“CATHY!” She jumped up in the throne, startled by the loud and sudden voice and the flash of bright colors.

Wait, that was Tabitha’s voice!

That couldn’t have been from her dream, it sounded so real! Before her she could see all of her friends, Tabby, Val, Coop, Big Alp and Dulce, the rest of her workout buddies, even Alex was there to her surprise. But they all were slowly floating backward, fading away. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” She shouted, chasing after them. “Oof! What the?” As soon as she had got up she had run into… a glass wall? What the hell? She pounded on it, watching as her friends disappeared before her. “Cathy!” Tabby shouted again, weaker this time. The glass remained, boxing her in. The gargoyle let out a roar of anger. “FUCK! THIS!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, grabbing the throne by the legs and with a short windup she slammed it into the glass wall.

CRACK! It had begun to give way to her, but she didn’t let up, winding up for another strike.

<Triplepost

<Sorry for bumping, just need a few more votes before I do anything guys.

<So far 2 votes for A

<I hope this has still been at least a little fun/interesting for everyone, we're real close to ending this part (Almost been a year since we started this!)

<Have a few images my friend and I have done as payment. They're for my next little project. Still workshopping a few things but I hope to get started on it soon.

Tabitha kept her distance, not wanting to see Cathy dashed against the asphalt outside. Maybe if she had been in stone form this wouldn’t have been an issue, but whatever those Cupid bastards did her gargoyle friend was very much squishy flesh.

“You should quit before security shows up. It’ll be easier on you!” Sadie hollered. At that, Tabitha turned back and slammed shut the door, spinning the wheel lock tight. The three could only stare on as Tabitha used all her strength to break the wheel off with a roar. “Wouldn’t want them to interrupt our fun…” She growled, tossing the wheel lock at Sadie’s feet with a clang.

When she looked, Cathy noticed there weren’t too many belts tying her up. I can’t just let them use me against Tabby! I can break out of this, I have to, she thought. If Tabby can do that I can do this! Mustering all her strength, she flexed her muscles out in an attempt to break free from her bonds. She could feel the leather straining, but would she be able to do it with that big guy holding onto her?

Your arms won’t be enough, a familiar voice whispered to her as she struggled. Was that Grandma? Well whoever it was she was right! Cathy mustered all her strength and struggled with everything she had. There was an aching feeling coming from her back, a sudden jolt of pain as she writhed around in the grasp of her captors. She let out a scream, the pain growing unbearable.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Tabitha roared, advancing on the gazer and her man. “We didn’t do shit! Back off, fucker!” Sadie shot back, Otto inching the gargoyle closer to the port hole, both he and his counterpart pushing the gargoyle’s head into the opening.

As they stuck Cathy’s head outside, threatening to toss her overboard there came a violent crack and something knocked the two criminals over. “What the-!” The gazer snapped, landing on her rear. Otto was flung backwards, slamming against the wall with a grunt. Was that stupid jinko really risking this?! Was she really that fast? No, she was standing on the opposite side of the room still. Then what the hell was-

Her thoughts were cut short by a large claw grabbing onto her leg, tossing her aside in the same direction as Otto where she landed on his gut with an Oof! She fumbled on top of him, trying to regain her footing before the Jinko was on them. Looking back, she saw the gargoyle was still in the port hole, but there were two very large arms holding her up. Two extra arms.

Cathy grit her teeth, the pain from breaking those straps was excruciating, like she had tore something in the process. Still, she managed to break free! That had to count for something, right? She had thrown a few wild fists while she was at it, but it seemed more like Tabitha had done the heavy lifting. The gargoyle pulled herself back into the ship, sliding down to sit against the wall. The pain from before seemed to have subsided. “Thanks… Tabby. You’re my hero…” She huffed, still winded from overexerting herself.

“I didn’t do anything… Cathy, uh, are you alright?” The Jinko asked, slowly approaching her friend. Cathy nodded. “Yeah… yeah, I’m okay.” She said, giving Tabby a thumbs up. Two thumbs up. Three, no four thumbs up.

Four?

Her eyes widened as she slowly came to the realization that she now had two extra, large clawed hands sprouting from behind her head. She panicked, twisting her head every which way to try and see where they were coming from, scrambling away from the walls with a shriek. They followed her, like they were hanging onto her back, whoever they belonged to.

“Whoa, w-what’s going on?!” She shouted, bumping into Tabitha.

“Cathy! Relax!” Said Tabby, shaking herself out of her shock. She grabbed hold of Cathy by the shoulders, twisting her around. “Look!” She grabbed hold of the wrists attached the the big hands and pulled them in front of the gargoyle’s face.

“Ow! Stop that!” Cathy reprimanded her, pulling the arms out of her grip. Wait. Are these…? She turned one of the hands over, watching the light play off the claws. This was very much apart of her, like a second pair of arms… or…

She managed to flex them, revealing small flaps growing out from these new shoulders of hers. They couldn’t be…

Before she could fully understand what was happening Tabby nudged her and pointed at the two Cupid culprits. Sadie was trying to get Otto to wake up when the gargoyle and jinko stood at either side of her.

“Haha… ha.” She laughed nervously. “Look, I don’t even need this job…” She said, putting her hands up defensively. Tabitha grabbed the top of her head with one of her claws while Cathy folded her arms, the new pair following suit. “Really? Well in that case, why don’t you show us where the lab is?” Said Cathy, trying to sound tough.

“The lab?” Sadie parrotted. “Yeah, the lab!” Said Tabitha, picking the gazer up with her one hand. “Ow ow ow! Alright, chill! I’ll take you to the lab just don’t pull out my hair!” The gazer cried, her stalks all glaring at her jinko captor.

Tabby stared back with leery eyes, grabbing one and bopping Sadie over the head with it.

“OW, JESUS, WHAT THE FUCK?” She shrieked, writhing in pain. She squirmed in Tabitha’s grip, a few tears running down from her big eye. “That’s in case you get any stupid ideas, you hear me?” Tabby warned, dropping her back to the floor. She sat there for a moment, nursing her wounded eyestalk, still sniffling. Cathy sighed, turning back to the only door in the room. “Uh… Tabby?” She said, pointing to the door. There came a banging noise from the other side and several muffled voices, yells that echoed through the ship’s hull, making them unintelligible. “How are we gonna get outta this?”

The gargoyle asked. “Uh… didn’t really think that far, haha.” Tabby admitted. “Got any ideas?”

“Even if we do get the door open we got company… you have any hand in it?” Cathy asked, turning to the gazer. She wiped the tears from her big eye and shrugged. “So what if I did?” She answered defiantly.

Shit. There could be tons of Cupid… or Junko, or whoever out there. You might have to fight your way out of this.

A. Combine your strength, with Tabby’s muscles and your new arms that door and whoever is on the other side don’t stand a chance! Bust it open and get ready to fight!

B. Tabby: Sit tight, Val was calling Bill and the others. They should be able to find you.

C. Cathy: Maybe you can make your own door? Break through a few walls. But which way should you go and who should keep watch of the gazer?

WHAM, WHAM! The door had finally fallen off its hinges. Behind it stood a very large monster. Cathy stared at it for a moment before realizing what it was exactly. “A wurm?” She found herself saying. She was surprised it could even fit on the ship, but it seemed to be having trouble getting through the door, much to its dismay.

“Move, Lisa!” Someone shouted from behind the big blue serpent.

“I-I can’t! You, you stay right there!” The wurm called Lisa shouted at Cathy and Tabitha, pointing one of her big claws at them.

The two looked at one another, then back to the hole behind them. A devilish grin spread across Tabitha’s face, Cathy returning it with her own. They took either arm, the wurm yelping as they pulled on her with all their might, dragging her toward the hole. She came lose, her momentum sliding her through the door and straight off the ship, squealing on her way down into the water.

“Hope she can swim.” Cathy said, turning back to the door.

In came three others, a raiju and two short mice. The mice had both pulled out handguns, shouting profanities, but Tabitha was already on them before they could fire. Cat and mouse, Cathy couldn’t help but smile dumbly at the situation. That is, until the raiju came at her, her fist charged with her electricity.

Shit, how can she even do that? The gargoyle thought, ducking under her punch. She gave her opponent a swift one, two jab in return. Well, more like a two, four. They connected, sending the raiju back on her heels, but she wasn’t done yet.

She caught her balance and came back in with a sweeping kick. It was too fast for Cathy to dodge! All she could do was block, the kick landing on her left arms.

Pop! Like a firework, the raiju’s kick burst, the discharge throwing Cathy on her back. All that energy caused her arm and wing to go numb.

Pick yourself up Cathy, you still got this! She thought, pushing off the floor. She could still move at least, but another hit like that and it was over.

The raiju came at her again, this time with a left hook.

Cathy dodged to the side, all of her arms grabbing onto the raiju. She dug her claws in, slamming the raiju down onto the floor before dragging her around in a circle.

Like an electric beanbag, Cathy tossed her out the hole. One less problem to deal with.

Tabitha was still grappling with the two mice. Well, more like bullying them. She had one under her arm in a choke hold while the other was desperately pounding on her shoulder like a child. Their guns had been snapped in half and tossed aside like cheap plastic toys. Tabby grabbed the other one with her free hand, laughing at her attempts to fight back. “Jeez, if this is the best you guys got you’re in trouble! Haha!” She easily tossed the two out of the ship, their squeeks filling the air. “Damn, we’re good!” She shouted, flexing her arms. “We’re six for six and still on top!”

Cathy shook her head. “Come on, Tabby, we gotta go. There might be more of them on the way.”

<Triplepost!