After returning back to the ruined estate, I found Tanner resting on Steve’s steps, basking in the sunlight punching through a gap in the grey cloudy sky. He was plenty filthy from blood and he’d wrecked his clothes, but he hopped up and grinned when he saw Triya-

"Who’s tha-Wait. N-N-No. B-but I-..”

She looked like she had seen a ghost. Which is mildly funny because she’s probably killed a couple.

Y-You..H-how….I’m..Sorry..Oh god-Oh god I’m SORRY! I’M SO SORRY!!" Triya’s voice rose as she stumbled back in horror, hands clutching her hair, face white as a sheet. She was just a spider's hiccup away from a full mental breakdown.

Tanner carefully put his stuff down and opened his arms, smiling as he shook his head.

“It’s alright Gal, deep breaths, deep breaths..It’s okay-Agh come here ya’ silly sod-OOF” She resisted feebly but he gently embraced her trembling frame and she burst into tears, releasing huge heaving sobs. “I didn’t mean to hurt you! I didn’t mean to..I’m..So sorry..”

Guess this confirms all that weird shit I saw when I touched that knife..All this time..How so very different would things have been if she'd just pulled the knife out..

Something made me glance at Siya who caught my look and responded with a patient smile.

Tanner patted Triya’s shoulder “It’s alright, it wasn’t you that took me down anyways yeah? It was that fucker who jumped into me that shredded me up..Heh, easy there-oof you're a tad bit stronger heh-all is forgiven alright? Let’s just forget about it all..” He gave her a good few moments, muttering awkwardly about how it wasn’t a big deal and all that until she calmed down, which put a smile on my face since it actually was pretty much the biggest deal for him, and her.

He went to pull away-”ACKK”-

“They kicked me out because they thought I’d killed you! I thought I’d killed you! But I didn’t! I really didn’t!!!” She hugged and squeezed Tanner whom squeaked like a toy, acting as if she daren’t let him go lest he might disappear.

What.

“Sorry! I’m just so..sorry...After what I did to you and your family..Hopefully they will stop hating my guts now..Like, you should hate my guts! Do you actually, truly, forgive me?" She released Tanner who took a step back and rubbed his ribs wincing.

“Wait a second, what happened? Explain please? But we need to hurry up.” I narrowed my eyes.

“OH right. You probably are confused..fuck, shit..” She took a deep shaky breath. “Please don’t hate me for never telling you..but I...Back in the pumphouse, I was the one who accidentally stabbed Tan-”

“Yeah-yeah, I know what happened there-” I waved it off “But what’s all this about being kicked out?” We were extremely pressed for time but things were starting to get complicated and I needed her to explain.

She has been hiding this dark secret all this time. Why didn't she tell anyone?..Am I upset? Hmm it is kind of hard to be upset when Tanner is back alive..I can understand how it could be misinterpreted but, really?

“Eh? Oh. Um..” She paused and delicately cleaned her face with a sleeve, confused. “Well, the nobbish army lot sort of took over, you know the ones we saw before you pulled your saint hero stunt? Ha, you know you’re a bit of a legend around here now? There were even talks about putting up a little statue-”

“Triya! Please!” I pleaded for her to be concise. I just wanted to know who made that decision.

“Sorry! Right, so the army had this nobhead with them who can look at your..records? Logs? Whatever they are, this dickhead went through everyone’s and made a report on anything that involved hurting another person..and then they fucking used this report to decide who was a ‘potential risk’ to everyone or not..If it wasn’t for my little bro I’d have..ugh..I don’t even know if Syrin is still alive..fuck..” She looked down and somewhat hugged herself. “But once everyone heard that I’d hurt Tanner; possibly killed him?..Welp, that was it for me. Social credit? Zero. Friends? Zero. Place to live..” She looked away. "Zero..Basically a fucking exile..bunch of dickcaps..”

Having got the jist of it, I ushered them into Steve’s house and explained to them the short term plan, which was for Siya to fly me towards the other safe zone and then once I found them or a safe space, I’d open up a tether for them to use and come through and hopefully figure something out.

But for now we hurriedly teamed up and took off as Triya continued.

She went on to explain that admittedly this whole ‘confess all ye sins’ bullshit process did uncover one guy who had murdered his friend in cold blood, but pretty much all other reports had been closed as ‘justified’. One such case was Catara’s attacks on the scumbags at the shops, thanks to the people we had freed testifying in her defense. But in her case it was an instant banishment the second people heard Tanners name mentioned.

She had kept in contact with a few people whilst out in the wild, but she was not allowed to enter the estate, officially, or go to this other safe zone.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Triya, the young female adult she was, had been outcast from safety, forced to be away from her brother and forced to practically sleep on the monster infested streets..sometimes, othertimes she’d camp out at Sylvie’s or Steve’s.

Fuck sakes, if they look at my history I’m pretty sure they’ll give me multiple consecutive life sentences.. But it’s a miracle she’s managed to survive out here..And I bloody bet she’s been trying to find a way to get back in their good books..even going as far to hunt this guy that’s attacking them..What a shit world.

Tanner had a few choice words about it all, but his overall reaction to it all spoke volumes about his character; he was a good man and had wholeheartedly forgiven her without hesitation, and was actually more pissed off at them kicking her on the streets than the fact she had shanked him into a standby coma..It may have been because we had bigger things to worry about, such as getting to our families and figuring out a way to either fight the massive army that was heading their way or find a way to get everyone to somewhere safe.

But still. He's a bloody nice bloke.

And whilst I had considered a fair few ideas already , such as just trying to open a gate back to the cube or sanctuary and seeing if they could help, realistically I didn’t have a clue. And a swirl of dread had started to build up from the possibility that my actions or inactions could mean the death of people that I very much care about.

I NEED to be careful. If I started spawning large amounts of people without explaining things they could be confused for attackers or raiders or, something..Although I’m not sure that’s even an option.

Considering that I had not heard a single peep from Grave, Mya or Vyolyn, or even my first ‘team’: Vamp, Kate, Kjell, Viki, Sonny and Erika since I’d left, so who knew if they were even still alive; not that I had THAT much attachment to the arena gang..But Grave and Mya? Without their companionship, training and support, I would have died many times over..They would be sorely missed.

Their continued silence even after trying to contact them was still a concern.

Things have changed for them, yes. If they can handle corrupted, I’m sure they are okay .In fact I’m pretty sure they’re going to outlive everyone on this forsaken planet..Lone would probably be safest with them if circumstances ever required it..fucking fates forbid.

Awful thoughts.

Anyways..Speaking of people being silent-

Siya had been nothing short of a focused professional all this time since we had arrived, albeit rather quiet, and I was about to check in with her privately, as Tanner and Triya started to go off topic and gossip about some of the relationships and drama that had occurred whilst he was sleeping like the dead, when my hearing locked on to a sound that reminded me of those landslides or avalanches recorded on documentaries.

When we saw the source, it looked exactly just like that.

Far down below on the ground, the husk legion was packed dense and unstoppable, obliterating trees and churning up asphalt and rock as they flowed with disturbing precision and order for such numbers. It really was more akin to watching a flood or tsunami rather than tens of thousands of individual monsters.

#Siya# They are vile. Wrong. It is so foul it hurts my head.

I was at a loss for words. We passed over a familiar, rapidly moving Meat-stitch titan and I swallowed anxiously as I spotted several more similar types carving through streams all coming from forked directions. The sheer numbers were terrifying and my heart sank ever further as I realised the core stream stretched far into the distance and I could see pulses of light and columns of smoke flare up into the horizon, right where we were headed.

#Godu# They can’t have reached there before us? How the hell!! Argh! They must have already been attacking! FUCK! Let’s go quickly Siya, we need to get there before the meat-stitched do, if they aren't fucking there already!

Wordlessly, she clamped down onto my chest and yelped as she pushed herself to her limits, bursting us forward with a crack of air from her huge cloak wings. Mere seconds later we had visibility of our destination and it was an insane sight to behold..

The surrounding trees and land had been brutally carved up like someone had been playing giant golf really badly, and what once was the UK’s leading Atomic Weapons research and production facility, was now more like large rock in a river, parting a streaming flow of husks and horrors. Huge concrete slab walls had, at somepoint since all this began, been erected around the entire perimeter and inside there were various structures that looked half alien and out of place compared to the remaining grey industrial buildings, most likely of a Majik origin. The whole facility was a large parcel of land sat in between a few small towns, roughly triangular in shape and probably covered around 3km squared. There were thousands of figures fighting along the walls, outside the walls, inside the walls, with even a few smaller outposts dotted around still barely managing to hold on from being overwhelmed. The ones on the walls were unloading torrents of projectiles and there were turret-like objects spewing out bursts of purple and white that would carve into swathes of husks, melting them and yet, some seemed to be resistant to the projectiles.

Some portions of the wall had been fully destroyed, but all of the other standing panels were constantly shimmering with the same type of honeycomb lattice energy I’d seen Catara with on her shields, as thousands of nails, claws and teeth mindlessly attacked. The sight was shocking and this was compounded by the obvious fact there was an overall orchestration to the chaos. The destroyed gaps were clear favourites for the tsunami and I could see teams of people working together to defend against the flood of enemies, reminding me very much of when I saw the sanctuary and Vyolyns people.

They were holding, but barely, and when those fucking meat-stitched get here..Shitting hell.

Panic and fear rose in my throat; I had a million different options but not enough courage to pick one for horror of choosing the incorrect one.

How am I going to find her in this. Jump down? Get captured or mistaken for an attacker and get shot to shit? Sneak around? Who’s going to help me in this hurricane of fuckery? What do I do to find her?? HOW!!?-..

I closed my eyes and shook it off.

Calm. Stay calm. Just think..Look..Assess.

The defenders had all sorts of weapons, most notably railguns, which belched out very fast moving lines of destruction. There were others with swords, spears, clubs and I saw a huge guy with a massive jackhammer type weapon that shot out a thick spear on a chain, a woman with oversized gauntlets that glowed hot red and another women frantically swinging a spear that had a rotating head. They all wore bits and pieces of military looking camo gear mixed in with armour plates and other things that almost looked purely decorative but must have had some strategic value. No way people are putting fashion over function in this scenario surely-

My thoughts were cut short as cries of panic rose and I watched as a huge number of husks piled into the wall to create a ramp and a very nightmare inspiring monster sped out and up the ramp. The monster itself had a skullish long cone snout with two very large glowing yellow eyes that were wild, dead, dilated, disturbing. It had a four limbed long body that was decayed with flesh peeled back exposing ribcage and bloody bone spurs jutting out of its spine leading out to a long plated lizard like tail. It sped up in a single burst of speed, somehow piercing through the shield effortlessly and collapsing a hole for others to follow in behind..and indeed did they follow.

They burst in like a pressure washer jet. With such force did they rush in did it result in them brutally mincing up the unlucky ones on the outskirts, goring them against the sharp fractured edges of the honeycomb shield wall, which itself, was seemingly trying to close in but unable to squeeze shut due to the sheer mass holding it open.

The defenders on the wall near the breach were being drowned, smothered by the monsters and horrors with absolutely no chance of stemming the flow until a group of coordinated defenders wielding shields leapt over their allies and slammed down on top, pulverizing everything underneath and then proceeding to charge forward knocking everything in their path down and unbelievably ploughing through until they reached the hole where one of the shielders wearing a darker armour, raised their circular shield up into the breach. The shield flickered before fractal panes of the same lattice energy-barrier burst out from all sides, slicing through any invader in its path and then finally connecting with the fractured edges of the walls own shield, mercifully patching up the hole..But-

#Siya# No no! It is a trap! There’s more!-

Siya’s outcry was muted by a chorus of screeching wails, piercing the air as up and down the wall, dozens more of the long lizard like monsters charged up rapidly appearing flesh ramps and harpooned themselves through the barriers, and the invaders poured themselves in. My stomach churned at the sight of so many people drowning in claws and teeth in mere moments but my biggest battle was against the ice cold fear poisining my blood at the thought of Marri being on one of these walls.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Meanwhile the group of shielders reacted like an immune system to the infection, charging forward and over their allies, but it was too late.

The monsters poured in and started to pick apart the defenses.

“Give us a fucking break, universe! Fuck!” I grit my teeth and made up my mind; I’d need help but the best way forward was to try and help defend whilst bringing Tanner and Triya in to look for the others. Of course they’ll prioritise their own families..but my gut tells me they’ll all stick together.

It would not be a good idea to try and drag them through the current horro show, so I decided on a quiet-ish location behind what looked like a small hangar and let Siya know the details.

#Godu# Okay Siya, we’re going to go in to try and help. Let me just-

Error. Caution. Heavy EM-P interference detected. Unable to place anchor.

Fuck that noise. So the shield covers the entire base? Obviously it does..Which means once I some-fucking-how get inside, I’ll be pissing caged??

Not wanting that, I started eyeing up the gaps and holes, trying to get a good angle to successfully get an anchor inside. My only other option is going to be jumping down like a dickhead and wading through the breaches. I didn’t want to do that either as it was pretty much suicide given how much firepower was being focused at them. If the monsters don’t get me, the humans sure as shit will..

#Siya# Godu? What are we going to do?

There were monsters getting through and harassing people inside the base now, storming around the streets and attacking the seemingly less combat-abled, adding to my frantically rising stress and anxiety. I watched the chaos escalate as some individuals ran into buildings whilst some huddled together in an attempt to fend off the horrors; a pack of big dog-like cretures with short back legs, long front legs, and a large flat face that was jet black and looked like a human with no lips smiling in the dark; a human torso stripped of flesh on a snake-like tail with blades for arms; a tripedal, thing, covered in tattered cloth hanging between its stilt legs, with a bulbous head that was covered in so many eyes of different sizes, and yet the very thing I couldn’t believe was when I witnessed people shutting doors on each other. And many times I saw men and women pushing others down as they saved themselves at the expense of the other and even intentional violence against each other; even a young boy was sent tumbling as a man scrambled to get away and the tripod was now full sprinting at the boy who had absolutely no chance now.

Shit. You piece of pure, utter shit.

The sight of this and so many people brought back flashes of the arena, of the pain and fear, the suffering and torture, and the noise. My mind wrapped around itself, numbing thoughts and feelings and I just looked at the hurricane of violence and nightmares with a slight grimace, losing all semblance of focus and just letting the horrid scene wash over me like a rock sitting on the beach as the tidal waves come in, and out..

#Siya# Godu?! What is going on?? I feel so cold..broken..

Voices and thoughts echoed in the fog that suffocated my mind.

The poor boy that had been knocked down was helped back up by a woman wearing a split cloak that ended in two strips; she had just made it time before the tripod had reached him, and had shielded him with a transparent dome that flickered as the creature slammed into it but it was sent skidding off to the side, confused. Things started to slow down and my ears popped as my blood pressure drastically changed, and all I could hear was tinnitus and my pulse going beserk.

What-

The woman had some kind of bulk or bag on her front but she grabbed the boys hand and led him off at a sprint; there was something about her movement that seemed strange.

#Siya# Godu!?? Answer, please! I’m..scared!

#Godu# Sss-...

Nothing could form.

Their escape was short lived as the tripod scuttled back up and locked dead onto them as they moved in between buildings. All the monsters everywhere suddenly stopped dead in their tracks, no matter what they were doing, and looked in their direction.

The woman turned around and I saw that the bundle on her front was a baby and I finally caught sight of her face, even at this distance up in the sky.

The hood slipped down.

Return to yourself you fool, NOW.HELP HER.

It was Marri.

“MARRI!” I bellowed out. I felt Siya react immediately and plunge down towards the nearest breach; my mind evicted the shit out of all my demons and my body felt like it was vibrating from the adrenaline; all my cells screamed in unison.

#Siya# SHOW ME!! SHOW ME WHERE GODU!

I don’t even know how, or what I did but, something flickered from my head to Siya and she instantly knew where we needed to go.

#Siya# HOLD ON!

A second later and we ploughed through the gap with Siya folding her wings around us and taking the entire brunt of the force as we smashed through decayed flesh and bones.

Error. Team Connection lost.

Caged.

A small piece of my mind registered the possible short-lived cry from a person as we burst something like a balloon and tumbled out onto the wall, but it was hard to say and right now my mind wasn’t capable of giving two shits.

We had made it through far easier than expected and Siya screamed out a trill as she beat her wings down hard, flying straight back up and then in a single powerful spin she hurtled me further up like a discus, allowing me enough height to regain a line of sight. No discussion had been needed, Siya and I had fought so many battles together in so many different situations that it was second nature to us now coupled with our soulink.

It’s strange how life can pass by in moments and then you find yourself in a moment that feels like a lifetime in itself; an image that triggers your thoughts to explode like a dam, branching out into endless imaginary timelines and lives that flicker in your mind as your anterior lateral prefrontal cortex desperately tries to predict possibilities and future events based on the data available..And, in the single moment that I returned visual contact with Marri, time stood still. I saw her clutching Lone, my now much bigger, but still tiny little boy, close to her chest, and the poor young boy clutching for dear life close behind her as she fearlessly faced down a swarm of insanity closing in all around her shattering shield. There were faint swirls of purple and gold moving around the little bundle on her front and to the boy who was covered in blood from his own wounds.

Marri was covered in blood from visible wounds.

Lone was cOvErD in bloOd from visible wOUnds.

[Blood Wrath I] activated (-25% HP).

######!!!!!!!!!!!!!#####!!!!!!!!##########!!!!!

Reality was filled with a deafening rage.

Slipfold tether point de-

I simply went.

Seren practically forced her way out as I emerged, slamming into the closest nightmare before she’d even fully materialized, while I yanked back and obliterated the head of a wretch that had knocked Marri down and was rabidly trying to bite at her and then I jumped in front of a chitin-bladed arm that was going straight for Marri’s chest-

”RRRARGH!”

-the blade cut deep into my torso; I bellowed into its face.

KILL! DIE! DISSOLVE! DISAPPEAR!

Seren erupted as tendrils shot out and the construct went beserk. The creature exploded into mist and I wrenched out the remaining blade and spun around to send another husk lifeless as I punched the blade into its face before shoulder charging two more that dove in towards Marri. With precision and focus that shouldn’t have been possible with how enraged I felt, I systematically pushed back red hued targets and every so carefully expanded my slipfold area as I blocked and severed the attacking claws and rotting bone blades. Shortly just enough space was cleared, so I dropped to my knees down next to her, grabbed the boy close, and frantically pulsed my Slipfold several times on the spot, turning my surroundings into gore-slush as reality bent and collapsed around us. She screamed and took a confused, weak stab at me with a curved blade and I barely had to put much force into deflecting it down.

“STAY! THE FUCK! AWAY!!!! I WILL FUCKING DIE, BEFORE I…let you..” Her screaming was wild and primal. I watched as her ghostly white face went from a rage I’d never seen before-“MARRI! MARRI! IT’S ME! IT’S ME!”-To being utterly defeated and on the verge of dying as her last dregs of strength were used up. She acknowledged me with confusion briefly before her eyes rolled back and she started to convulse; she was running on fumes, hopes and fucking dreams; my heart was rattling around like a cat had fallen in a bathtub.

I’LL BURN YOU ALL! ASSHAT!!!! COME CLOSER!! I FUCKING DARE YOU!

Seren surgically cleared the monsters gunning for us, giving me precious moments I couldn’t waste.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! Easy! Heyhey-HEY! Stay awake! MARRI! Sta-Hey, HEY! DRINK, this!” She was slipping away as I ripped open a healing tonic and put it carfully to her lips.There was very little hesitation as I forced her to take most of it down and the effects kicked in straight away. “I’ve got you! Don’t leave me! Stay with me! It’s me! It’s me! Please!”

A few moments later she went wide eyed as she came too, snatched the bottle off me and uncovered Lone, pouring the remaining contents over the terribly deep wound on his little, silent, unmoving head; an image that nobody, especially a parent, should have to see.

A feeling that I never, ever wanted to feel again.

Another image I would never, ever be able to forget.

I choked up.

My emotions and thoughts were like a hurricane of fire and ice as hopeless dread and utter rage battled for control over my next actions.

Marri frantically looked the very still Lone over, carefully touching and checking him with hands that were violently shaking, pulses of purple and gold flowing into his skin.

Nonono! Please be okay!

I couldn’t breathe or move. Something stabbed me in the back causing me to yelp, but I still didn’t move; Seren screamed in her dark gritty synth anger as she obliterated whatever it was and I felt Majik crawl over my skin to repair the damage whilst I cursed myself and wished with all my heart that it would be him that received it instead.

Heal! Please! My boy! Please be okay!

She snapped her gaze up to look at me and gave me a wide eyed look before raising her shaking hand up to touch my face as tears streamed down cheeks that were filling back up with colour; a translucent honeycomb shield erupted from the ground and surrounded us.

She smiled a genuine smile.

Lone cried out, grasping for life and finding a strong grip. He continued to cry out, reminding me of his first cry when he was born. The scared but determined cry that called out for Marri. The vulnerable cry that called out for me. Calling out and pleading for protection and comfort. Calling out to let us know where he was so that we could keep him close and protect him from the cold and unknown world.

THAT’S MY BOY! YES!

“He’s okay. He’s okay. You’re okay. You're both okay.” I was incoherently babbling and not really knowing what to do with my hands but I wanted to hold her hand, I wanted to hold his little hand, I wanted to wrap them up and never let go! But all I managed was a very gentle back stroke for Lone and a careful stroke of Marri’s head. She smiled so beautifully and she looked like 10 years had been rewound on her; despite everything around us; despite doing everything on her own for so long; despite it all. My next words were lost in the chaos as we both tried to say something, but I just couldn't catch a single word. My lips trembled as tears flooded down my face and I carefully scuttled closer and wrapped my arms defensively around her, Lone and the boy, and tried to Slipfold us out..but it was no use, for I could not reach out to any of my anchor points.

Releasing the young boy and holding a hand up for him to stay calm and still, I tried to speak to Marri but my words were completely drowned out by the monsters and Lone's crying and screaming; then something smashed into Marri's protective shield dome, screeching and she yelped as I saw Majik flow out from her and sink into the ground, presumably to repair or reinforce it. Her face lost the short-lived, recently regained colour, and my burning rage started to return.

#Siya# She is okay??! SHE IS! Oh my hearts sing! I'm coming to you!

A victorious trill echoed above the din but I didn't respond; I was too focused on trying to communicate with my wife but having zero luck.

…

The din. It wouldn't stop.

These fucking cunts nearly took them away from me and now they won't even give me a FEW. DAMNED MOMENTS-

A bladed tentacle pierced through the shield with a crunch, causing Marri to wail terribly in pain.

It made a direct line towards Lone. My anger exploded.

Sticking my hand in front of the tentacle mere centimetres before it reached my child, I allowed it to pierce straight through both my guantlet and flesh, roaring with pain and rage and fixated on the octopus faced insectoid; I twisted my hand and snapped its muscle and tendons before deploying my claws and shredding it into paste. Marri’s dome around us fell and shattered into millions of pieces; Siya slammed down into the ground, cratering the asphalt and flattening several monsters.

#Godu# Siya!! I BEG you! Please get them somewhere safe! To the others! I can’t take them! I’ll take the boy with me!

She would do it without hesitation. She was a true friend like that.

"MARRI! GO WITH HER! SHE'S A FRIEND! YOU'LL BE SAFE!" I gestured as best I could before I had to start smashing back the horrors that were trying so very hard to get at them. Seren came in and shielded them, using her tendrils to harpoon anything within range, and although Marri was struggling to take everything in, she gave me a fearful nod and finally looked at Lone then the boy as Siya who blurred over, scooped them up and took off like a jet into the sky and towards the nearest hole. I couldn’t watch over them for long as I was rugby tackled by some humanoid that had an extra pair of eyes on the forehead; I twisted before we hit the ground and hammered it in the face out of anxiety and frustration.

#Siya# We're outside and safe. You can count on me. I will guard your family with my life!

A huge weight was lifted.

#Godu# Thank you, Siya. You're part of my family too so stay safe.

She did not reply to my slightly cringe-worthy words, but I felt a surge of warm happiness and I couldn't care less anyways, now that I knew they were safe. Siya, will protect them.

Seren had been looking out for the young boy but she was getting worn out. Somewhere around 50% of her energy remained since most of the husk monsters seemingly gave no EXP, but it felt like a black hole that was living inside me had been vaporised. My mental scars, open wounds and decaying thoughts were cauterised and it was as if my mind had hardened or solidified after overcoming everything, becoming reinforced and ready for what I needed to do next. I was ecstatic.

But..make no fucking mistake, I'm still extremely pissed. This world hurt my boy.

And to prove that point I recalled Seren with immense gratitude and deployed my shields in config:prime and crunched the bulbous head of a tripod, side kicking the falling corpse away. With a series of surge attacks and a few classic shoulder charges, I cleared out a few dozen husks and created enough space around me and the kid so that I could reach out a hand to him and felt a strange sense of pride as he looked up at me with awe. To him I had just appeared out of nowhere, kicked ass and pulled an absolute anime-hero-last-second-save.

"Hey kid, co-SHIT! MOTHER! FUCKER!" A bladed arm slashed into my shoulder and nearly chopped my arm completely off, but a swift counter from my shields severed the shitters own one, splattering my face with green blood; I grinned like a savage as the Majik repaired the damage.

Note to fucking self. No time for stupid shit!

But I was on cloud nine and the lame dad jokes and references needed to be unleashed. Especially since operation "be a father" could now officially continue, so I faced the terrified boy, and with a face covered in blood, wielding azure black and blue claws, with a pair of midnight black, wing shaped somethings hovering over each shoulder..I gave him one simple sentence.

"Come with me if you want to live."

I was only missing a flash of lightning and thunder to pierce the sky and cast its primal light on my demonic appearing form to complete the picture.

But fuck appearances..

I wasn’t too late.