Crazy World
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm getting tired of rewriting this story again and again but I only did so because some of my friends wanted in on the action. So I wrote it again because they kept bothering me. This is the official character list, anyone who is not added into this list are those who didn't inform me (Badgered me to relenting) and thusly won't make it here ever. This is the last time I'm rewriting Crazy World.
Cast of Characters:
Bee
Blackburn
Doki
Dusty
James
Erica
Jessica (Jessa, in most cases)
Jessie
Cyrus
Caleb
Vincent
Wendy
Isha
Nessie
Raj
RJ
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CHARACTERS WILL NOT BE SHOWN ALL AT ONCE. Some might come earlier, others much later in the story. I'm putting my foot down on it.
Also, watch out for LEWDS.
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CRAZY WORLD
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"PRAISE ME, MORTALS, FOR IT IS I, LORD CYOA, ALL-MIGHTY GOD OF ALL QUESTS AND ADVENTURES AND PATRON OF LONELY, SORRY, LIFELESS ASSES SUCH AS YOUR WORTHLESS SELVES! I HAVE COME TO YOU ON THIS FINE DAY TO BLESS YOUR INCREDIBLY BORING AND MONOTONOUS (And honestly quite pathetic) LIVES AND TAKE YOU TO A REALM OF WONDERS, ADVENTURES AND ALL AMAZING SHIT YOU ONLY GET TO SEE ON TV AND VIDEO GAMES! SO ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! CIAO, COCKSUCKERS!"
"Is what that glowing brat said to us before everything blasted into a blinding light. We found ourselves in a new land, one that's very familiar, very dangerous, and quite possibly, the very best adventure we've ever had!" -Blackburn
"Now we're separated and confused. But we've changed. That brat gave us unbelievable gifts (Or curses, however you look at it!) and maybe the companions that came with it will help us pick up the pieces and reunite with our other bestfriends." -Wendy
"Things ain't right. I thought this was supposed to be the world of League of Legends?! I don't remember zombie hoards in the lore or these Zerg-like pests falling from the skies or these other countries I haven't heard about at all! Especially that Nazi Germany-like country that gives me the creeps! That isn't even the tip of the freaking iceberg! What the hell?!" -Jessie
"Some of us landed safely in Runeterra. Others have another world to contend to before they can begin to reach out for this planet. Doki has to fight his way from Hell then Earth then Heaven! That's freaking insane! Bee hasn't even been revived yet! James and Dusty each have a world to manage. That's seriously insane. I'm worried for the old man. CYOA told me his adventure is quite laidback and enjoyable. You know the old man, he's got a retiree's dream. I don't know about the others. I hope they're doing fine. I hope they're enjoying themselves." -Dusty
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CHAPTER 1: FIRST CONTACT
PART 1
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P.S. If you want to see the CYOA I picked at Funnyjunk, just please copy the separated words of the link and search it to see it. Fanfiction keeps removing it (HERE'S A BIG F*** YOU TO FANFICTION). Or if you don't want the hassle of editing that, you can just search FUNNYJUNK CYOA "Name of CYOA". I'm going to provide the names so please read carefully.
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CHAPTER 1
FIRST CONTACT: CALEB, BEE, NESSIE and THE JESSIES (ft. MYSTERIOUS PERSON)
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I DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE CYOAs NOR DO I STAKE THEM AS MY OWN. THE FOLLOWING CYOAs IN THIS STORY ALL BELONG TO THEIR RIGHTFUL AND IMAGINATIVE OWNERS AND WAS TAKEN FROM . MAY THE POWERS THAT BE BLESS THESE IMAGINATIVE BASTARDS!
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1. JESSIE'S GIFTS:
SOULBOUND POWER:
You have the power to bring to your side a Paragon or an Artifact from the Eon Watchers universe! They'll think the world of you and be unfailingly loyal and devoted! Their strength lies in their formidable firepower and godlike capabilities! Depending on the strength and weaknesses of the said Paragon or Artifact, the cooldown of this spell varies! Gains a point of free usage on each of your immortal birthday! Paragons and Artifacts still have a corresponding amount of required points to unlock depending on their overall strength!
You have the power to bring forth an Eidolon from the Aura Kingdom universe! They'll think the world of you and be unfailingly loyal and devoted! Their strength lies in outclassing any foe they face! You can freely take or bring anything or anyone from and to the world of Azuria! In addition, on your 100th immortal birthday, you can take a Class and become a Chosen of Gaia masterfully! Depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the said Eidolon, the cooldown of this spell varies! Gains a point of free usage on each of your immortal birthday! Eidolons still have a corresponding amount of required points to unlock depending on their overall strength!
CYOA:Enigma Inc.
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LORD CYOA'S BONUS: "Hhheeeeeeeeeyyy! I read one of these a while back and I think this one's gonna go well with it. Tell you what. You can have all the things you want in this CYOA and get fourteen more things from the new one I'm giving you!" (Hands over a new CYOA "Supernatural Investigator")
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JESSIE'S CHOICE:
ENIGMA INC.
Transport- Bikes, The Enigma Machine, Ol' Ruby, HDYTTO
Stuff- Spookometer, Nets, Scuba Gear, Grappling Hook, Night Vision, Hologram Projector, Silver Stake, Assault Rifle
Gang- Willow, Dmitri Stormcrow, Jessica, Brian, Sally, Chad, Natasha, Olivia
Mascot- Stanley, Rocky, Rex, Oscar
Mysteries- The Freaky Factory, Museum of Monsters, The Lich In The Lake, Sorceror At The Sorority, The Vanishing Train, Mayor's Misery, Mothman Returns, Little Big Foot
SUPERNATURAL INVESTIGATOR
Old Mansion- +1 ally
Formal- +1 artifact
Family Business- +1 artifact
Healing Touch, True Sight, Ink As Blood, Unsettling
Djinni Rings, Hell's Clock, Volcano Cigar, Der Freischütz
Beatrice Sowards, Hiroshi Agasa, Sophia Eklund, Catharil, Gabriel García Hierro, Irene Anderson
The Reappearance of Sumiko Akiyama, Dreams In Carrion, One Last Ride, Relationship Troubles, Snake Eyes
2. JESSA'S GIFTS:
SOULBOUND POWER:
Permanently summon Mystery Inc. from the Scooby Doo universe as your bestfriends! You have the power to bring forth beings from Scooby Doo to your command! They'll think the world of you and be unfailingly loyal and devoted! Their strength lies in their great numbers and near-deathlessness! Depending on the source material of the said beings, the cooldown of this spell varies! Gains a point of free usage on each of your immortal birthday! Scooby Doo things and beings still have a corresponding amount of required points to unlock depending on their overall strength!
Take the form of a chosen Divine Anointed or Celestial Sage of your choice from the History universe! You have the power to bring forth beings from History to your command! You can freely take or bring anything or anyone from and to the world of Lore! They'll think the world of you and be unfailingly loyal and devoted! Their strength lies in their ability to help you only as entire nations can! Depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the said beings, the cooldown of this spell varies! Gains a point of free usage on each of your immortal birthday! History things and beings still have a corresponding amount of required points to unlock depending on their overall strength!
CYOA: Celt's Comfy Trailer
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LORD CYOA'S BONUS: "Nice! This looks nice! Very well-thought out and given effort to! YOSH! You can have 3 more of each: Entryway, Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, Living Room, Closet and Yard. Get 4 more Spare Rooms. Also one more Key type. It's gonna be a HUGE trailer! Here's another CYOA as well! You look like you've had a rough childhood so have at it. Pick anything you like. It's on me. I gotta say this other CYOA is disturbingly comprehensive and well-detailed though. Kinda makes me wonder what childhood its creator went through." (Hands over a new CYOA "Serene Serendipity")
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JESSA'S CHOICE:
CELT'S COMFY TRAILER
Entryways- Rec Room, Greenhouse, Café, Dog House
Kitchens- Pixie Bakery, Reaper's Bar, Mystical Kitchen, Restaurant
Master Bedrooms- Astronomical, Comf, Magical, Nostalgic
Master Bathrooms- Water Park, Spa Resort, Pool, Lantern Bath
Living Rooms- Theater, Ballroom, VR, Proper
Closets-The Journey West, Spirit Shop, HL. Taveler's Bar, The Darkest Dungeon
Yards- Park, Dreamland, Mausoleum, Beach
Spare Rooms- Guest Room, Guest Room, Guest Room, Hobby Room, Viday Cave, Library, Lab Sigma, Weapons Vault
Keys- Normal (+1 Spare Room=Recording Studio), Portal Key, Gate Key
"NO GODDAMN WAIFUS! I'M GAY, FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Jessa shrieked…*plans to get in touch with Alice anyway*
Pick mysterious box (Red)= Get Cú and the Lotto Ticket! YYYEEEAAAAAAAAAHHH! DICK AND MONEY OVER PUSSY!
SERENE SERENDIPITY
GENDER
Boy
BODY
Body- Trap
Alterations- Gentle puberty, Quick learner, Early bird, Unassuming, Bubble butt, Impressive, Catgirl/Catboy, Public speaking, Creativity, Cosplay, Allure, Safeguard
HOME
City- By the beach
House- Estate
Special rooms- Huge kitchen, Outdoor pool, Hot bath, Home gym, Music room, Huge bedroom, Live-in help (8)
Own room- Feminine, Childish, Electronics, Neat
PARENTS
Relationship status- Happily Married
Personality traits-
MOM (Strict, Supportive, Ambitious, Loving, Housewife, Wise, Crank it up!- Supportive, Crank it up!- Wise)
DAD (Protective, Lax, Outdoorsy, Sporty, Loving, Hardworking, Handyman, Wise, Crank it up!- Protective, Crank it up!- Loving, Crank it up!- Handyman, Crank it up!- Jacked, Jacked)
Bonus- Big allowance, Open-minded, Daddy's girl/boy, Momma's boy/girl
Younger siblings- Kitty, Amy, Anya, Nadia, Rin, Eleanor, Tyler, Ben, Dylan, Jake, Gil-kun, Yacob
Older siblings- Alison, Clarice, Sara, Morgan, Stella, Nathan, Arthur, Gilgamesh, Kenneth, Tony
HELPERS
Maids- Mimi, Rhea, Usagi, Hailey
Butlers- Melody, Andrew, Alfred, Sebastian
Chefs- Corey, Anna, Vincent, Ivan
Nannies- Sarah, Cecily, Nina, Harry
FRIENDS
Friends- Erika, Christopher, Hana, Thor, Teri, Lydia, Aaron, Linda, Sophia
3. BEE'S GIFTS:
SOULBOUND POWER:
Become the Avatar and have the complete mastery over all four elements! Not only are you capable of bending, you can also generate the said elements in large amounts at will! Additionally, you may summon a non-human being from the Avatar universe once a month! You may enter the Avatar state at will to drastically increase your power at the cost of mortality during that state and weakness afterwards! Once you have mastered the four elements, you can begin to harness the other elements too!
CYOA: Royal Revival
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LORD CYOA'S BONUS: "YOU'RE SO ADORABLE-LOOKING! I JUST WANNA HUG YOU TO DEATH! *makes babytalking sounds like crazy* Hey! I just got the thing for you! THIS. PERFECT. FOR. YOU. You can have up to sixteen friends from Hella Funtime and all ten of the agents from Monster Under The Bed! You can get one more free bedroom, ten more gifts and all the suitors and retainers you like! 'CUZ YOU'RE SO CUTE! C'MERE, YOU!" (Hands over new CYOAs "Hella Funtime Adventure Friends" and "You got a monster under the bed?")
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BEE'S CHOICE:
ROYAL REVIVAL
Gender- Princess
Room- Study Room, Dollhouse
Mentor- Julius
Gifts- Shield Shards, Crystal Ring, Crystal Shield, Midnight Sarcophagus, Crystal Spore, Dragon Bouquet, Clairvoyant Ribbon, Weather Ball, Starshot Parasol, Living Bomb Bag, Entropic Gel, Fairy Flower, Territory Crystal
Suitors- Simon, Victor, Zang, Nathan, Robert, Jonathan, Oliver, Dessian
Retainers- Simon, Bernard, Judith, Mercy, Marquee, Gestalt, Mercutio, Zoey, Sydney, Edwin, Dela, Charlotte, Tolfir, Peri, Kaufei, Pouf, Whimsy, Lewis, Jason, Naivety, Fendon, Reginald, Dynamo, Nana, Sheila, Darron, Jella, Suice, Pai Zai, Death
Courses- Manipulation, Spatial Magic, Force Magic, Dark Magic
Responsibility- Earth Studies
Quests- Defeat The Crystal Overlord, Join The Fight, Assassinate General Markus
HELLA FUNTIME ADVENTURE FRIENDS
Murray, Cantelo, ROLF, Boleslava, Audrey, Grimsby, RORI, No-Heart, Belz Buzz, Skizzo Bros, Jeansman, Gupi, Omeo Brain, Bastion, Lazarus, Dragunon
YOU GOT A MONSTER UNDER THE BED?
Stegosaurer, It's The Bear Bros., B.E.S.S., Spooky, Agent Snek, The Ket, Specialist Chomp, Prof. Langford, 2Pen, Tiger
3. NESSIE'S GIFTS:
SOULBOUND POWER:
You gain your own personal hivemind and the ability to create an extension body and embody through it any of the Disney Prince/Princesses or Fairies! This comes with standardized companions, helpers and magic! You can even have 8 of these extension bodies around all at once! This spell doesn't have a cooldown but your Prince/Princesses or Fairies aren't meant for prolonged or heavy combat! Designate one Prince/Princess or Fairy as your favorite, thusly doubling all their bonuses and efficacy! On each of your 100th immortal birthday, you may choose a Protagonist or Antagonist from any of Disney works and add it the roster to embody! On each of your immortal birthday, you may embody a Protagonist or Antagonist of your own design or make another body to do as you please!
You become the Ghost Master from the Ghost Master universe! You have command over all the Ghosts in the game and can deploy them freely and no longer need of Plasma to keep them in the mortal realm or use their abilities! You can continue to harvest Plasma though and with sufficient amount, you can create a Ghost of your own design!
CYOA: Customary Change of Citizenship
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LORD CYOA'S BONUS: "OOOHHH! This one's very nice! You know I've always wanted to visit other planets, other realms, other planes in the omniverse. Shame I can't do that since I'm a bound Arch-Existence, bound to an ass like you and your ass friends. Maybe I should ask that from Adriel. Hey, since you can have 8 extra bodies, that would mean you have 8 more places to settle to. Well, I guess have two more items for each of your body? That's not much of a boon. Well, I could always give you something you want. But don't you go ham and ask for something like the Death Star."
NESSIE HAS MADE HER CHOICE
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, I hope you're happy with these choices, Ness. You weirdo.
+Yokai Watch and Yokai from Yokai Watch
+The Freaks from Nights In Haunted High
+Shippo, Kirara, Jaken, A-Un and INUYASHA POWER (minor antagonist summoning) from Inuyasha
+Mr. Bean from Mr. Bean (Lord CYOA: Seriously?)
+Deathly Hallows, including magic, from Harry Potter
+Groot from Guardians of The Galaxy
+Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro
+Kiki and Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service
+Decorations, Design, Items, Home Décor from Ghost Tales
+Bat Family, Arkham Criminals, Warring States Japan from Batman Ninja
NOTE: Above gifts can be freely exchanged between bodies!
+6 more bodies= Interchangeable powers: summon Shikis via paper-charms, prehensile and controllable magical hair, create weaponized toys and living food, summon minor Yokai friends, create minor enchanted items. Power exchange is limited only to these six bodies
+2 astral projections, cannot interact with physical world other than conveying non-verbal words or meanings, invisible, indestructible but immaterial, invulnerable but intangible, able to use hyper-enhanced basic senses through them
NESSIE'S CHOICE:
CUSTOMARY CHANGE OF CITIZENSHIP
MAIN BODY-
Nessie
Savain- Witch Apprentice
Mnemosyne Social HUD, "Wish You Were Here" Postcards, Hitchhiker's Guide To Breccia, Da'Shay's Milestone
BODY #1-
Elsa (Comes with very powerful ice magic, devoted sister and her rugged boyfriend and rugged boyfriend's pet, snowmen minions and ice castle)
Kardashev- Planar Border Guard, Conjurer-Engineer
Old Wooden Mask, Hove's Mysterious Mask, "I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine
BODY #2-
Queen Clarion (FAVORITED) (Comes with own fairyland and fairy courts)
OR
Judy Hopps (Comes with many anthropomorphic non-human mammal companions, police network)
Scelus- Police Officer
A Force For Peace Trading Cards, The Conduit, The Tempus, Pocket Pocket Dimension
BODY #3-
Cinderella (Comes with home animal companions, a Fairy Godmother and an optional royal boyfriend)
OR
Snow White (Comes with a ton of forest animal companions, dwarf attendants and an optional royal boyfriend)
Nine Stupas- Mendicant
Lomavren Hound, WestTech Reanimator, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
BODY #4-
Belle (Comes with extensive book collections, enchanted living objects and an optional lycanthrope boyfriend)
OR
Jane (Comes with jungle animal companions, masters degree in zoology and an optional savage boyfriend)
A.M.B.I.T.I.O.N.- Student, Guest Lecturer
Mnemosyne Social HUD, "I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Little Witch Magic Playset
BODY #5-
Aladdin (Comes with magic carpet, monkey and parrot pets, genie and an optional royal girlfriend)
Reykr Island- Labyrinth Explorer
Mnemosyne Social HUD, Hove's Mysterious Mask, Little Witch Magic Playset, Lomavren Ghutne
BODY #6-
Tiana (Comes with culinary mastery, frog transformation, firefly companions, an alligator pet, a white voodoo practitioner grandmother and an optional royal boyfriend)
OR
Moana (Comes with ocean aspect, demigod companion, rooster and pig pets, and ancestral spirit guardians)
Vodrainne's End- Craftsman
Lomavren Hound, "I Breccia" Mug, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
BODY #7-
Alice (Comes with Wonderland beings and can move to or from Wonderland)
OR
Aurora (Comes with forest animal companions, three fairy attendants and an optional royal boyfriend)
K'Zordak- Tour Guide
Lomavren Hound, "I Breccia" Mug, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
BODY#8-
Mulan (Comes with lucky cricket, pendant of balance, apple of serenity, beads jade beads of beauty, dragon guardian and an optional general boyfriend)
Tanager- 38C Foreign Service Staffer
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Wayfinder's Ring, Pocket Pocket Dimension
NESSIE-1
Vitaem- Salon
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
NESSIE-2
Mulkin Kauna- Apprentice Puppet Maker
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
NESSIE-3
Occaecare- Producer, Gatherer
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
NESSIE-4
Ginnungagap- Housekeeping, Junior Radio Operator
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
NESSIE-5
Iron Abyss- Main Tower Service, Hauler-Scavenger
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
NESSIE-6
New Nova- Foreman, Chief Engineer
"I Breccia" Mug, Mini Hexpresso Machine, Occaecarean Seed Packets, Little Witch Magic Playset
4. CALEB'S GIFTS:
SOULBOUND POWER:
Permanently bind flying artificial continent of Uzurgia from the Skycities universe! You can freely take or bring anything or anyone from and to the world of Constellius! You can set up Warpgates leading to Constellius anywhere! You can control who and what these portals will allow passage! In addition, you can create your very own Skycity! This Power goes on cooldown depending on how combat-oriented your Skycity is!
Permanently bind The Mark of The Ten Divines and The Mark of Dogma from the Rebirth universe to you! You can freely take or bring anything or anyone from and to the world of The First! In addition, you have the power to summon any of The Bosses and can embody any of the Classes as you desire! On your 100th immortal birthday, you will gain the ability to overwrite a willing being into a Class of your choosing! Doing so marks that being as your Vassal, becoming loyal and devoted to you! You can give your Vassal items and minions from Rebirth as well! You cannot overwrite another Player! Gains a point of free usage on each of your immortal birthday! Rebirth things and beings still have a corresponding amount of required points to unlock depending on their overall strength!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: As usual, here's your daily dose of Ten Divines info. LOL. Added the updates and changes to the descriptions in Patch 147-A.
The 1st is a three-headed giant wolf. Bezeluth Morde, whose domain is war, revolution and change. Her Abode is the All-Void, a churning chaotic crevice of the past, present and future, all that could have been and all that wasn't supposed to be. Very few ever have the privilege of gazing into this abyss, fewer are those who survive but those who do become heralds of great change, for better or worse, only the Ten Divines can say. Known as The Mother of Chaos, Bezeluth Morde is responsible for the continued change in the worlds under the jurisdiction of the Ten Divines, better known as The First Cradle. It is she who decides when is the time of order and when is the time of chaos and her will is enforced in the mortal realm by the End of Worlds, a fantastical tower of light visible even from other solar systems, that is not only capable of bestowing power unto worthy mortals but also cleanse entire worlds with devastating engineered calamities.
The 2nd is a golden bird with flowing plumes of sunshine gold. Serena, whose domain is time and unchanging passages of life and death. Her Abode is the Golden City, an infinite paradise where the faithful servants of the Ten Divines go when they leave the mortal world. Here the Saints of The Ten dedicate themselves endlessly to the protection of Serena's eternal cycle from all those who sought to break it or bend it to their will. Known as The Sanctuary, Serena is responsible for the lives that enter The First Cradle as well as the ones leaving it. It is by her will that all mortals meet their fates at the appointed time. It is also she who acts as the defense of mortals wrongfully damned by Gilbranos in his courts, earning her a permanent place among the guilty and truly penitent. Of note, however, that Serena only does this for the souls who don't deserve the Verdict. Chief among her servants are The Sisters Three who spin the thread of life, measures it and cuts it.
The 3rd is a child's figure composed by countless dazzling fireflies and butterflies. Terramira, whose domain is the mysteries of love and friendship. Her Abode is the Risen Gardens, innumerable lands upon immaterial clouds where the worthy souls of the dead dwell in eternal repose and celebration. It is in this realm that Chosen Ones realize their fates, choose their causes and go into the mortal realms to usher change. Known as The First Miracle, Terramira's duty is to create Heroes and introduce them to the mortal realms wherein they will spread change and enlightenment. Among the Ten Divines, hers is the most taxing duty. Not only is she in charge of making the saviors of mortals but also ensure they leave their enduring mark in history. Her hand in the mortal realm is the Church of Kindness, responsible for spreading love, well-being and goodwill and famed for loving and being loved everywhere they go.
The 4th is a mighty sea monster: a giant fish that hosted innumerable tentacles. Sorromere, whose domain is the world of dreams, omens and magic. His Abode is the Lexicanum, a terrible place of mist and eternal night. It is in this realm that knowledge forbidden even unto the gods is stored and safeguarded for the secrets here are no easy matter. They can dictate life and death, creation and destruction, and rumors say pinpoint the exact location of the Forge of Creation and Eden. To the dedicated Theologists who study gods and deities, Sorromere's sphere is the most clouded and grim, fitting his title as The Shadowed One. His mandate is not with mortals but with those of immortality, life unending or existence eternal. It is he who is in charge of keeping the secrets of forbidden knowledge and ensure they are never introduced into the world of mortals. The repercussions of such a thing is unspeakable, failure is not a possibility. Sorromere himself walks the mortal world to enforce his own will, appearing as the All-Night, a feared event that bathes the worlds in such blackness that no light ever could shine.
The 5th is a beautiful doe with twining horns that housed planets, suns, moons, stars and the beauty of Earth Mother. Abeathea, whose domain is nature and all her works and children. Her Abode is the Womb, the beginning of all beginnings and ending of all endings, a beautiful celestial river of heavenly bodies. It is here where entire galaxies are birthed and here they will inevitably return to die. Caught in eternal creation and destruction, no mortal may look upon it and forget its beauty and all-consuming lesson of humility. She is called The Nursemaid of Life, a fitting title as her domain includes mortals only by consequence. It is she who decides which of the countless heavenly bodies can foster life, which of them can be inhabitable or otherwise, which of them would live long or short and where in the Eternal Nothingness would they reside. She safeguards living worlds with cruel fervor, ensuring it will not be abused within or without. Her will is enforced in the mortal realms by countless Typhons and Echidnas, also called the Father and Mother of Monsters respectively. By extension, all of Beastkins and Animorphs are her grandchildren.
The 6th is a black rabbit whose dug holes led straight into the heart of the underworld. Gilbranos, whose domain is the realm of the dead and the hosts of the dead. His Abode is the Courts of Judgment, a mirror of the mortal world that masks the hell it truly is, all unworthy in the eyes of Gilbranos are confined here, caught in eternal act of desecrating one another and wallowing in despair and misery. There are those who willingly confine themselves here, seeking penance and forgiveness for their sins. Few ever go out yet undying legends like Saints Joan and Mulciber claim to have come from here. Gilbranos haunts the dreams of sinners as The Verdict, his promise is damnation eternal for those who are guilty in his eyes. Gilbranos and Genesis are the busiest of the Ten Divines, managing almost every metaphysical aspect of mortal living. Where one is good and righteous, Gilbranos would send them to the Gates of Paradise, otherwise they will stand before and enter the Gates of Damnation. The Reapers answer to Gilbranos and they are his hunters to the foolish who think they can evade his Verdict.
The 7th is a giant egg bursting with potential and life. Genesis, whose domain is inspiration, artsmanship, craftsmanship, birth of beginnings and the First Step. His Abode is the Imaginary, a mysterious continent that exists within the mind of all intelligent creatures. Here in this world, the concepts, beings, perceived truths and imagination are brought to life, gathered from the dreams and wonderings of all mortals. It is a dangerous yet wonderful place. Its fathomless ugliness is matched only by its wild and uncontrolled beauty. Overtures from the dark cults constantly attempt to pierce this place, to bring its denizens to the realworld. Pray they remain unsuccessful. Known to mortals as The Reminiscent, Genesis rules alongside Gilbranos as the closest to mortals, keeping an ever-watchful eye over their countless charges. While Gilbranos rules with tyrannical wisdom and judgment, Genesis comes off as the most benevolent, a post he shares with Terramira. Indeed the Reminiscent and the First Miracle are the most well-loved. Genesis claims the entirety of the Dreamworld as his servants, sending Dreams and Nightmares into the minds of men and mer to remind them of the things that matters most. If push comes to shove, these same Dreams and Nightmares will walk the Waking World if necessary.
The 8th is a being that looks humanoid but a close inspection would reveal that the left side is female while the right side is male. Effugus, whose domain is fate and mystery. Their Abode, which they share with their younger brother Fathomnus, is the upper half of the Hellscape, is a sickening distortion of varying realities, souls branching into millions of potentials and a storm of paths and choices. It is a merciless tempest of existential musing capable of rending even gods to cowering madness. From this sphere of knowledge madmen, sages and prophets draw their inner eye, guided by an unknown hand to speak of horrifying secrets that defile mortal perception of truths and lies when the forces of Darkness outweighs the scales. Effugus and Fathomnus are the only of the Ten Divines mortals and immortals refuse to name and Effugus is referred to as The Hider and The Seeker. Only the other Divines know what Effugus' real domain is but their sphere covers many things that are best left alone by mortal minds, lest it drives them insane. Effugus is known to be the creator of the Birthsigns, the Zodiac patrons of mortals born under their mantle. It is Effugus who advises the other Divines which evil to be eliminated and which ones to be allowed to grow. Their aims are inscrutable but they always sway towards a greater good only they can see in an uncertain future.
The 9th is a giant squid whose body was comprised of the cosmos, the stars and heavenly bodies. Atenregina, whose domain is the creation of the celestial firmament. Her Abode is the Forge of Creation, the origin of all existence. It is here where Life and Death, their primordial embodiments, met and from their forbidden romance sprung the holy Forge. Many a gods have tried to stake ownership to the Forge but only Atenregina, forever lost in her daydreams, succeeded where countless failed. The Forge's powers surpass all yet none, not even its mistress, know its fullest extent. From here, Atenregina fills the omniverse with wonders and hope. Atenregina's name is known far and wide, even to the planes outside the First Cradle, for she is the Mistress of The Forge. Such a title bears so much respect and awe to those who know the inner machinations of the omniverse. While only her fellow Divines know, Atenregina fills the omniverse with things that make life interesting and exciting, from spectacular natural wonders on the earth and below to the breathtaking vistas of the skies and above. She is the creator and mother of the Giftgivers, the well-known embodiments of holidays, feasts and celebrations that wander in the First Cradle and beyond. Atenregina is known to be the most obscure of the Ten Divines, her job is a consequential one that suits younger races in farflung galaxies, those races who are only centuries old, who look up at the sky with wonder and reverence. Of all the Anunnaki, Atenregina has the smallest amount of actual followers but has the highest amount of worshippers through the make-believe star gods of the younger races.
The 10th is an owl who pored over countless books, writing secrets none should know. Fathomnus, whose domain is the knowledge of the past, present and future. His Abode, which he shares with his older siblings Effugus, is the lower half of the Hellscape, is a flood rising secrets from the past, violently forced to the surface of the ever-chaotic desert that is time. Secrets of the gods, of mortals, of ancient primordial forces, constantly clash like rocks battered by violent waters of a raging storm. Those who dare gaze upon it are filled with the secrets of things they sought all their life. From this sphere of knowledge heretics, inquisitors and cultists draw their mad inspiration, guided by an unknown hand to sow chaos and spread defilement when the forces of Light outweigh the scales. As The Grim, Fathomnus' job is to keep mortals on their toes and educating them of the dangers of the Dark Whispers. Engineering dark horrors from blacker aspects of Creation's psyches and unleashing them upon the world is his work. His lifelong mission is to remind mortals of these terrors that they may shirk away from this dark path, lest they come up with another plan to blow up their entire race's existence. Fathomnus has the most presence in the mortal planes through his Rifts. These unnatural crevasses that mar the earth birth all manners of fearsome things and it is the Holy Fear that makes mortals band together, throw aside their trivial differences, and unite to defeat a common undying foe.
CYOA: Perpetuance Protocol Pod Program
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funnyjunk
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/channel/cyoa/Perpetuance+protcol+pod+program/rqjvLed/
LORD CYOA'S BONUS: "Hhhmmm… I think I like you, kid! Good to see a man who knows what he wants and what's he's in for. Choosing only one CYOA is good. Your other friends chose two, you know, some even more than that. Your hands will be as handful as theirs though. So you wanna do this, huh? Alright, tell you what. Pick up to twelve freebies and don't be shy."
CALEB'S CHOICE:
PERPETUANCE PROTOCOL POD PROGRAM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Caleb himself designed this legible and clutter-free list. So kudos to him. LOL.
"CURE MORTALITY" 2,000 Year Program- 1,000 Years, Black Ops Enabled
CHOICE- The Voice- 300 Years, Omega Psi- 700 Years
BONUS- Metacognition, Alpha Psi, Beta Psi, Plant Empathy, Gamma Psi, Greater Demihumanity, Animal Empathy, Delta Psi, Machine Empathy, Light Speed Processing, Metaflux, Incarnate Protocol
MENTOR- Elspeth
ALLIES- Yawgmoth
RIVAL- Marco
DOMAIN- Create Your Own (Adventures, Quests, Games, RPG, The Arts)
LEGEND- The New World, The Faithful Empire, The Fallen One, The Apostate
000
JESSA
Hey, guys, this is Jessa. Well, what can I really tell you? We've had a really fun time with our new lives. I think me and Jessie are the first ones to arrive to this place. I don't know how to explain it. We just know. It's that feeling inside that keeps up connected with other members of our gang. So the thing about this place is that the Runeterra we're in now isn't the same Runeterra in League of Legends. It's the Runeterra epochs earlier than the game's current setting.
I also get the feeling that this is a combination of the Institute of War era and the retconned lore. I also get the feeling that meddling too much with this world is gonna turn out a future far different that what was stated in the official lore. Also, big news, we aren't the only ones who were given this adventure. Depending how it turns out, we may make enemies or allies with other Players. Honestly, I don't know why the Burning Hells did we get the LoL world. It would be more fun if we landed in really intense worlds like Darkest Dungeon (I technically have access to it though), Dark Souls, Diablo, you know, all the fucked up places in the games where your head gets really screwed up. Haha! I can't wait to see Doki piss over something like this.
So I'd love to tell you what happened during the last many centuries but would take a damn long time to finish and even if you can age past 200, we won't even be halfway there. Here's the gist of it. Jessie's been busy playing Constantine with all her new friends while I'm either playing VR games in my heavenly paradise of a trailer or spending quality time with my new family. VR games are so goddamn awesome, man! Full immersion like nothing else. You don't just play the game, you live it! Horror games and zombie games are fifty times better when played in VR.
So my comfy trailer's kinda the headquarters of our new gang. It's a little distance from Zaun (Or what will be called Zaun in a hundred years or so). So far it's just a rising trading hub city. My comfy trailer sits right on the estate of my new home. I love my new family. THEY'RE PERFECT! Anyhoo, I can see why profit-minded men would reshape this place into Zaun or so and others would split into a different city-state (Piltover) for another indeterminate time or so. The friends (In my case, also a family) Jessie and I picked up don't seem to age and they don't seem to notice the unnaturalness of their really, really long lives and others don't find it odd as well. In fact, it comes off as completely normal. They're completely sentient and can learn new tricks on a consistent basis but they still remain as the same sweet, loyal friends. We've come to value them as real friends. It's hard not to accept them.
Over the course of time, I've loaded out some serious forces from Scooby Doo and History myself but I've never really used them as I should. There's never really a need for me to act hostile. I don't have plans for world domination or something. I just want to relax and enjoy the finer things in life. Whenever I go out, I do it for sightseeing and other similar yet overlooked pleasures either by myself or with my family. I know Persephone explained in large details about History and some of her favorite factions there. I believe you read all about in DRAFT 2 of Crazy World. Wow. I'm really breaking the fourth wall here, aren't I? My standing army's not that strong but not so weak either.
I've completed the Courts of The World of the Tarot family, Pluto and Venus of the Planetary family. I think Persephone mentioned Pluto's minions in DRAFT 2.
Go see it if you're curious (Or confused).
In the same vein as Pluto's units, World's units are purely economy-focused just as their mistress. They can supercharge the amount of resources you receive and generate it themselves but are woefully inadequate performing outside of their roles. The more there are of them, the more economically secure you are.
Venus of the Planetary family, on the other hand, has units that focus entirely on subterfuge, stealth and control. They slip behind the enemy lines and make the enemy dance to Venus' strings. I'm commanding the Greater Nation of the Fey and the Dragons, Lesser Nations of the Lilliputians, the Gnomes, the Halflings, the Lost Children and the Yokai, the Hidden Nations of the Prodigy University, the Muses, the Charites and the Horae. Overall, I'm the kind of guy every nation would want to befriend because of the massive benefits and convenience that comes with it. While I'm not that strong a nation as a military force, I can overwhelm a stronger opposition with an endless swarm of Summons and morale-damaging spells.
On top of that, I'm a walking portal to the realms of History's the Risen Sea and the Flying Eden maps. I can, at will, make them manifest in this world to bring on my forces or spirit them back to their personal dimensions. That means I have two more personal relaxation destinations! Haha! This is just for History, mind you.
For Scooby Doo, I've got the Bosses of Scooby Doo First Frights, Scooby Doo Spooky Swamp and several from the underground (How did this even get on the official list of Summonable things?) Scooby Doo: The RPG and Scooby Doo: The RPG II working for me. All of them also came with their army of minions. I also have all the Villains of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, The Scooby Doo Show, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated and Be Cool, Scooby Doo and some Villains from the books and comics. The Villains help around in the house. We don't need to pay for gardeners or something. Funny story. My parents went berserk when I brought them home but they eventually accepted. They couldn't hold on to their resentment when the Villains are busy helping around the house and protecting us at night.
World is from the Tarot family, a ravishing airhead with the ability summon all the Landmarks in History and put them anywhere she liked. Her presence meant that your people enjoy high Morale. Though not suited for combat, when deployed in combination with any of the economy-focused nations, she can ramp up your economy so you can worry about something else. She does, however, possess some of the most powerful spells in the game, which can enchant the battlefield with various effects of her choosing.
Pluto from the Planetary family is the perfect expression of mediocrity, jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none. He is neither good nor bad. He can summon his own unique Landmarks but these Landmarks, like their master, perform just okay. He's good with everything from early game to mid game but scales down in late game when the best units become available by then. At each day, Pluto gives you gifts of Coin, Ration, Knowledge, Mana, Manpower and Morale via Events. He's good that way so when the world suddenly changes into Great Famine, you have a nice back-up.
The one above is from DRAFT 2. This is for those of you who can't be bothered to check it out (Lazy bums!). I'm not really aiming for anything, you know. I'm just drifting around and taking on life as it comes. After all, the main purpose of wanting everlasting life is to partake in the pleasures the future would bring in. I just sincerely hope that the future won't give me any reasons to go to war or anything. If I go to war, Jessie will go to war and a terrible shitstorm's gonna happen when the Jessies go to war. Just ask James and Dusty. They know what it's like to pick a fight with us. LOL.
Here are Pluto's Landmarks (What the Lexicanum collectively refers to as the Court of Pluto and taking into consideration the changes and additions by the three DLCs):
000
Senior Home
Baker Granny
Gardener Granny
Farmer Granny
Painter Granny
Petsitter Granny
Chef Granny
Tailor Granny
Fisher Grandpa
Author Grandpa
Ghostbuster Grandpa
Las Vegas Grandpa
Tour Guide Grandpa
Kung Fu Grandpa
Sculptor Grandpa
Senior Home Champion: Crazy Cat Lady
Senior Home Champion: Bad Grandmas
JESSA'S NOTES: Senior Home is the foremost of the Court of Pluto to build mainly because of their techs. Senior Homes can upgrade the passive resource production of their own units up to nine times, bringing it on equal footing with the max-upgraded Lilliputians, at only for a pittance of a price but at a much longer time compared to the Lilliputians (Lilliputians only takes four techs, Senior Home takes nine). All their units are Callers as well, meaning they can summon reinforcements. In addition, their Champion, Bad Grandmas, ups the limit of capped Court of Pluto units by 2 and reduces the damage they take from higher-tier enemies. This makes Arcade Portal, Haunted Museum, Super High, Weirdo City and Tinseltown twice as much pains in the ass. Morale-intensive races, Orcs being the foremost, enjoy the Crazy Cat Lady more. Resources spent on 200 Cats provide enough Morale bonus to stave off Civil Wars, Uprisings, Civilization In Chaos and the dreaded Orc Madness. 1,000 Cats make sure nothing can break the Green March. EVER. Cats save lives!
Haunted Museum
Medieval Exhibit
Ancient Civilization Exhibit
Prehistoric Exhibit
Famous Personages Exhibit
Cultural Exhibit
Occult Exhibit
Natural Wonders of The World Exhibit
Manmade Wonders of The World Exhibit
World Wars Exhibit
Robotics Exhibit
Art Masterpieces Exhibit
Science of The Future Exhibit
Humanity Throughout The Ages Exhibit
Haunted Museum Champion: The Curator
JESSA'S NOTES: All Haunted Museum units passively have the Deathless trait and they're decent enough to be half-baked tanks and half-baked damage-dealers. They can be used as meatshield units and tie up as many enemies as possible. Outside of that, they don't have much use. However, if you deploy The Curator, he will boost all Haunted Museum units' stats greatly, bringing them from Tier-1 units to fully-upgraded Tier-4 units. The Natural and Manmade Wonders of The World are also their only Generator units but their Summons, Tourists, is very tanky and cover a lot of ground in terms of movement.
Arcade Portal
Guns and Zombies
Vampires and Zombies
Racers and Racers
Building Sunshineville
Detective Catty: The Purr-fect Murders
Dance 'Til The World Ends
Devil
Kingdoms and Empires
Farm, Push, Clash and Pawn
Bull's Eye
Arcade Portal Champion: Pay To Play
JESSA'S NOTES: Excerpt from DRAFT 2, of note that Valor renamed the minions of some Arcade Portal units: "Guns and Zombies (Inspired by first-person light gun arcade games) spawned the undead and living nightmares and these preferred attacking from a distance. Its Summon, The Dead and The Dark, appears in pairs and split into Lesser Haunts on death. Vampires and Zombies (Inspired by action-adventure games) spawned the undead and demonic forces and these preferred closing in on the enemy. Its Summon, The Dead and The Damned, appear in trios and drain the HP of their killers for several turns. Racers and Racers (Inspired by racing arcade games) spawned race cars that chaotically drove around in menacing and unpredictable attack patterns. Its Summon, The Grand Prix, appear in pairs and can tie up multiple enemies with its strafing attacks. Building Sunshineville (Inspired by city-building games, town-building games and construction and management simulations) spawned periodically passive citizens far in the backline who provided one-time healing, buffs or special effects before disappearing. Its Summon, The Good Citizens, is passive but can be touched by an ally to trigger their battlefield-wide benefits. Detective Catty: The Purr-fect Murders (Inspired by adventure-puzzle casual games) spawned passive Mysteries (In the backline as well) that afflicted debuffs on the enemy. Its Summon, The Clues, is passive but can be touched by an ally to trigger their battlefield-wide benefits. Dance 'Til The World Ends (Inspired by music video games) spawned musical fields that provided buffs to anyone standing in its coverage. Its Summon, The Disco Inferno, appears in trios in random spaces in the battlefield and must be occupied to receive its battlefield-wide benefits." Devil is a homage to action role-playing hack-and-slash dungeon crawler video game specifically Diablo and spawned very tanky Evils. Kingdoms and Empires is a homage to RTS games specifically Age of Empires and spawned weak but numerous Warbands. Farm, Push, Clash and Pawn is a homage to MOBA games specifically DOTA and spawned few but Champion-like Battle Heroes. Bull's Eye is a homage to first-person shooter video games specifically Counter Strike and spawned few but hard-hitting and very long-ranged Sharpshooters. Their Champion, Pay To Play, is a notorious cheat character who can, at every battle, give you, depending on rank, a number of choices. You can spend these choices to summon a number of reinforcements from any Court of Pluto faction, whether their associated buildings are built or not. At legendary rank, Pay To Play lets you drop units from any Greater Nation or Lesser Nation under your command. Also note that anything summoned this way disappears after the end of the battle but, hey, free Mother Dragons and Deathwyrms!
Hamsterian Kingdom
Hamsterian Paper Plane Riders
Hamsterian Tunnel Networker
Hamsterian Entomancer
Hamsterian Puppetmaster
Hamsterian Lily Pad Fleet
Hamsterian Iceberg Ship
Hamsterian Leaf Boat Fleet
Hamsterian Kingdom Champion: The King and Queen of Wheels
JESSA'S NOTES: Hamsterian Kingdom is the cheapest as well as the paper-est units in the game. They make up for it with the insane, borderline OP, range of their ranged attackers. Well-placed, their ranged units can attack the enemy Commander from behind allied ranks, effectively sniping them. The most notable of their units is their Champion, The King and Queen of Wheels. Slow but insanely durable, they can crush anything that strays in their path. It's funnier to see Kaijus or Monsters get killed by giant costumed hamsters on wheels.
Poodle Colony
Poodle Wizards
Poodle Magicians
Poodle Knights
Poodle Dragonriders
Poodle Priests
Poodle Royal Court
Poodle Noble Court
Poodle Peasantry
Poodle Vagabonds
Poodle Rebels
Poodle Colony Champion: King Fantasticius Coolius Awesomere Furrian Poodleton XXV
JESSA'S NOTES: Notorious for their ability to warp their units in faraway distances. Poodles are commonly used as en masse assassins that slip behind enemy lines to attack the Commander directly. Though they're not tanky or particularly offense-oriented, ALL of their units have at least one stunning capability. You can just stun-lock a Commander and beat the living crap out of him until he dies. If the enemy sends reinforcements, their Champion, King Fantasticius Coolius Awesomere Furrian Poodleton XXV (Cool name, right? LOL) can warp the intruders anywhere you like just like a Homunculi Chronosphere or have him just warp in the big guns and blow the Commander to kingdom come.
Evil Carnival
Haunted House
Christmas Village
Big Top
Animal Cages
Performer Tents
Fortuneteller
House of Curiosities
House of Mirrors
Game Stands
Snack Stands
Merry-Go-Round
Ferris Wheel
Roller Coaster
Tunnel of Love
Princess Castle
Evil Carnival Champion: Freakshow
JESSA'S NOTES: On equal footing with Arcade Portal with its minion-generation abilities (Court of Pluto has the most Generators in the game), Evil Carnival are all Generators but doesn't appear as units for you army. Instead, they appear as Generator buildings that you manually warp in within your side of the battlefield and these will continually produce scores of disposable Carnival Troupes. These minions aren't particularly good but they all have the Fearmonger trait, causing Morale damage to enemies near them. What makes Evil Carnival unique is that their minions increase in number the more attractions are present. To get the best of them, you have to keep them in a safe distance before warping them to exploitable sides to break into. Their Champion, Freakshow, is a Caster with loads of AoE CC-oriented spells and has two of the dreaded Beguile-inflicting spells.
Clown Colony
Balloon Clowns
Bubble Clowns
Cutesy Clowns
Toy Clowns
Cartoon Clowns
Circus Clowns
Scary Clowns
Shadow Clowns
Prankster Clowns
Jokester Clowns
Goodness Clowns
Evil Clowns
Magic Clowns
Dream Clowns
Dark Clowns
Clown Colony Champion: Pennywise
JESSA'S NOTES: YOU BUILD THIS FOR PENNYWISE. PENNYWISE IS LOVE. PENNYWISE IS THE ONLY REASON WE LIVE. PENNYWISE IS THE ONLY GOOD REMAINING IN THE WORLD. PENNYWISE IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR. Kidding. But seriously, Pennywise is the only reason why you build this shit and tech it up as fast as possible. Pennywise grants all Court of Pluto units with the enviable Deathless trait, which means they respawn at every end of the battle regardless of the said battle's outcome. Just put her beside your Commander and she's paying off big time (Better yet just Garrison her at your capital). She doesn't need to do anything else. I'm serious. She's the only unit in the game capable of handing out so many Deathless traits. Clown Colony's units are all loaded with spells that focus inflicting Morale damage on enemies while keeping your army's spirit high. They're Callers and, like all Callers, are capable of mass-summoning their own minions that, while being so many, still borders on the useless.
Super High
Zeus and Hera
Dark Lantern
Shadowdancer
Elements Four: Firestarter, Waterbearer, Windwalker and Earthshaker
Gravedigger
The Star Girls
Dark Ninja
Overdrive
Fourth Reich
Techno-Ooze
Firefox and Chrome
Strongman
Undertow
The Gardener
Skystreakers
Angel Squad
Accusers
Super High Champion: The Justice League
JESSA'S NOTES: The only Court of Pluto units good enough to make it into your standing army from midgame to lategame. They're basically well-rounded Casters that can hold their own against tanky damage-dealers or pure damage-dealers. Each of them also has at least one spell with a huge AoE coverage or can debilitate an enemy squad entirely. All of Super High's units have a melee mode and ranged mode. They can basically adapt to any fight they are in. Additionally, all their units are considered as Champions so they benefit from all Champion boons while are susceptible to all Champion counters. Super High's Champion, The Justice League, is infuriatingly tanky thanks for the reduction of the damage they receive. They also have an aura that reduces the damage allied Generators in the same battle take.
Weirdo City
The 1st Town and Circle
The 2nd Town and Circle
The 3rd Town and Circle
The 4th Town and Circle
Dark Cemetery
Dark Asylum
Dark Laboratories
Dark Institutions
Paranoid Populace
Frightened Children
Terrified Youth
Melancholic Adults
Hopeless Elders
Miserable Hobos
Wandering Madmen
Rambling Prophets
Crows, Ravens, Bats and Black Cats
Shady Marketplace
Ancient Reliquaries
Little Hope Church
Black Cults
Places of Worship
Land of Milk and Honey
False Hope
Weirdo City Champion: The Gray Mist
JESSA'S NOTES: This is what happened when the makers of this game spent too many nights watching old horror movies, from the ancient black-and-white movies to the latest ones that want to make you puke. I thought Weirdo City was this place where all the weirdoes gathered or something but nnnoooooo… We get this gray city that looks just as depressing as you thought it would be. Weirdo City is your own personalized "superweapon". You can send out as many tragic and dark Weirdo City World Events for your opponent to suffer from. Anything from steadily damaging their resources to scaring the living shit out of their units, you can do it here. Weirdo City's units are all static things. They're better off staying as Garrison in a safe place than sending them off to battle. Like all Court of Pluto, they generate free resources but they can generate so much more at the cost of sacrificing other non-Summon units or suffering a Weirdo City World Event yourself. Its Champion, The Gray Mist, is a passive Generator that spawns Sinister Things all over the battlefield. It can spawn a mediocre amount but this number increases based on how many Weirdo City units have been built as well as its current rank. Sinister Things are noteworthy with their ability to deal more damage per consecutive attacks. Also, completing Weirdo City gets you a view of this gray and misty half-ruined city ala Silent Hill where everything looks and sounds hopeless, its people given up on any kind of salvation and embraced the cold comfort of sorrow and madness, its streets filled with foreboding, unspeakable things at dusk when the Gray Mist claims all.
Invasion of DIY
Tiny House Movement
Meals On Wheels
Woodworker's Guild
Handcrafter's Guild
Home Economics Association
Livelihood Education Association
Animal Lovers' Club
Tree Hugger's Club
Survivalist Guides
Recycler's Agency
Agriculture Masters
Committee of Morality and General Decency
Invasion of DIY Champion: Doomsday Preppers
JESSA'S NOTES: Another unique addition to the Court of Pluto, Invasion of DIY works well with any army composition and by that. I completely mean they're not meant for combat. They're all economy-focused units that generate free resources and offer mild bonuses to all your units. What makes them stand out is that their techs grant traits to all your units. Very useful traits such as Regeneration, Fleet of Foot, Wizened and Camouflage work wonders not only for a starting army comprised of Court of Pluto but also for your standing armies in the future. They also have techs that teach your Commanders, Champions and Leaders useful spells such as Charm, Invigorate, War Cry and Hounds of War. Invasion of DIY is funnily depicted as an alien invasion… Of aliens who are fanatics about teaching the younger races the knowledge and know-how of self-sustainability, self-reliance, back-to-basics and, above all, decency. They're gonna hammer you with resourcefulness if it's the last thing you do. Like the Lilliputians, Invasion of DIY is not meant for combat. They generate resources but shine the brightest with the free Global Spells they grant to you. Each unit, as long as at least one remains, grants one unique Global Spell. They can range from teleporting much-needed supplies to your army (Meals On Wheels) to building your own Resource Field (Agriculture Nuts). Their Champion, Doomsday Preppers, makes sure no amount of World Event or Pillaging or any godforsaken misfortune could put a damper to your economy.
Farmageddon
Rebellion of The Poultry
Rebellion of The Cattle
Rebellion of The Swine
Rebellion of The Livestock
Rebellion of The Forests
Rebellion of The Jungles
Rebellion of The Deserts
Rebellion of The Poles
Rebellion of The Plains
Rebellion of The Mountains
Rebellion of The Seas
Farmaggedon Champion: The First Children
JESSA'S NOTES: Farmaggedon maybe the most unique of all the Court of Pluto and perhaps every other nation in the game. Instead of being deployed as your units, Farmaggedon is deployed as both a World Event and an ally nation BASED within your own nation. Every now and then, a veritable legion of enraged animals will lay siege your enemy's territories. I mean it when I say "legion". They're that many (You need to zoom out to see how many they are). They're not much for combat but their numbers more than make up for that and they can bypass any kind of obstacle in their way. A separate AND competent A.I. ally will control them. This A.I. will invite you to the attack, request to join your attacks or provide you quests that include liberating more animals or establishing Sanctuaries. Of course, deploying Farmaggedon means that all your Farms will be replaced with Gardens, Great Farms with Great Gardens, be prompted to build Sanctuaries and all bestial resources become untouchable and must be protected. This is not for the Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Giants, Monsters, Naga and Dragons (But shines best with Fey, Elves, Dreams, Mechs and Godlings). In return, you have this ally country with infinite armies that will defend you to the death. Farmaggedon's techs improve the stats and grant spells to the critter hordes. They'll be as reliable as any unupgraded Tier-4 unit by the time you finish all the techs. You can also order the A.I. to defend, scout, attack a specific target, join your assault or occupy a Landmark for you. It's really convenient (And you'll get the confidence to conquer the Hellgate early in the game). If Building Sunshineville and/or Detective Catty: The Purr-fect Murders is in the same battle, the A.I. will take it unto itself to collect the Good Citizens and the Clues respectively for you. With their Champion, The First Children, dinosaurs and cryptids will join the hordes, boosting the legions' efficacy by a whopping 200%. The Jurassic Cavemen, whether they're your enemy or unaffiliated with you, will automatically ally with you and all their techs are instantly researched (That means upgrades are applied instantly. you still need to research it in order to get it. It doesn't mean you get all the good stuff for free).
Tinseltown
The Foodies' Network
The Gossips' Network
The Couch Potatoes' Network
The Haters' Network
The Wannabes' Network
Walk of Fame
Hollywood
Miss Blues
Miss Rockstar
Miss Heartbroken
Miss Five Minutes of Fame
Miss Spotlight Hogger
Miss Charitable
Mister Sex God
Mister Bad Boy
Mister Babyface
Mister Intense Performer
Mister Adrenaline Junkie
Misters Annoying Boyband
Sycophants /Leeches
Stalkers/Stalkerpocalypse
Paparazzi/Paparazzigeddon
The Fans/Fan Mob
The Haters/Hater Mob
Tinseltown Champion: Best Actor
Tinseltown Champion: Best Actress
Tinseltown Champion: Best Supporting Actor
Tinseltown Champion: Best Supporting Actress
JESSA'S NOTES: Ah, Tinseltown. The one you build for nearly the same reasons as Invasion of DIY: Global Spells. Well, unlike Invasion of DIY, Tinseltown's Global Spells come as bonuses as special tech upgrades are completed. Once you do complete all the associated Global Spells, you're given access to the Capital-like Tinseltown. In Tinseltown, you have the ability to overwrite a foreseen future World Event with a Tinseltown Event. Tinseltown Events are like World Events except they're always in your favor and provide minor global benefits. It's not much but it's way better compared to Great Famine or Disaster Strikes! or something of similar tragedy. You can do this once every five of your turns. Also, exclusive to them, Tinseltown's non-Miss/Mister units automatically transform into stronger versions of themselves as long as a sufficient number of them has been fielded, encouraging the player to make a lot of them for their free on-site upgrades. Also, Tinseltown's Misses and Misters are inspired by real-life celebrities (Miss Blues is definitely Adele, Miss Heartbroken is definitely Taylor Swift. Miss Five Minutes of Fame is definitely Kesha. Mister Annoying Boyband is definitely One Direction). All the Misses and Misters are Caster Champion-like units. They specialize in boosting Morale and have Charm. Yep, that means they can control your enemy's shit. Tinseltown's Champions, Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress, take Charm to another level. They can control up to three enemy units at any given time with it, not including their Dominate, Bribe and Deceive, all of which form the five unit-controlling spells in the game together with Charm and Beguile. Perfect to tandem with Poodle Colony and slip behind enemy line. You can stun-lock the enemy Commander while Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress will take control of any enemy reinforcements.
000
Anyhoo… My parents are entrepreneurs as well as public officials (Will be revealed later). They own their small shipping company, which they've given over to my oldest sister Stella to manage. My family thinks the world of me (Mainly because I designed them that way. Don't tell anyone!). So what I did to help them out was to bring over all my Senior Home units and we opened this little square in a quiet seaside a fair distance outside of the City Coalition, right next to my parent's company in fact. We secretly built a mini-town where we sell baked goods, artworks, seedlings, gardening supplies, pets, farming supplies, clothes, fishing supplies, books, fun and games, Halloween attractions, self-defense lessons and tours. It's not pulling in a ton of money but it makes a handsome penny, enough for the seniors to pretend to be able to live on when in reality, all of the things they sell were just willed to reality. The mini-town and my home is close by so the seniors drop by and relax at my comfy trailer (Which by the way, I moved across the road outside my home so my parents wouldn't think it weird old people are traipsing back and forth our place). My trailer's sitting in a spacious nest of tall green trees on a nice small cliff overlooking the beach proper which me and my siblings enjoy ourselves in every weekends.
Okay, that's it. Head on over to Jessie's side. I'm boring! I believe she's tackling the Case of The Creeping Thing, I believe. Now get out of here. I need to clear this level. Hey, Cú, lend me a hand here, will you?!
000
JESSIE
You know the stench of the sewer system isn't so bad when you're being chased by a freaking rat creature. Yep, that's me being the bait right there. In the spirit of fairness, we've taken to rock-paper-scissors in order to see who gets to be the bait.
I JUST HAD TO PICK PAPER.
Behind me, frothing and shrieking, was an abominable combination of man and rat. The Rat Creature of Middleton City is the case we're tackling today. It's me, Jessica (Not Jessa), Sally, Chad and Olivia. The others? Well, let's just say they're having the nasty case of the magical flu from last week's Maniacal Mushroom Menace case. The Soulbound Power and CYOAs I got doesn't really give me much in the way of physical strength or power. It does give me a ton of people who'll gladly lay down their lives for me though. I would do the same for them. Make no mistake about that. Hey, we've been around like a hundred years or so. We've been through a whole lot of things together. I really picked the day to leave the gifts from Supernatural Investigator on my desk. I just hope Kitsune got my message. Yep, that's the same Kitsune Persephone wrote in DRAFT 2. Here's the excerpt.
For those who don't play Eon Watchers but are familiar with the MOBA genre, Kitsune is a Mentor-type Paragon most famous for bringing a ton of secondary objectives into the game via his The Castle Beyond The Looking Glass. If you're familiar with the map objectives in Heroes of The Storm, that's how Kitsune rolls. If allies play his little games, he rewards them with global buffs for allies and debuffs for enemies or a monstrosity that will push down the lane. Of course since the enemy doesn't want to put up with that crap, they'll try to stop you from achieving that. And since Kitsune's focused on supporting allies with his long-ranged CCs and sustained damage, that makes him the perfect set-up machine in the hands of a competent composition.
Yep. So far as Paragons go, I have Kitsune as my manservant, butler, lover and boyfriend. Huehuehue… You didn't think I would pass up the opportunity to bed the hottest Paragon in Eon Watchers, right? I'm still debating which Eidolon to summon from Aura Kingdom though. The good thing about our Soulbound Power is that every time we're given a point to pick another boon, we don't have to make that choice right away. We could just save up our points for a rainy day or something. Middleton City is like the 2nd of the 5 City Coalition that would one day become Zaun and Piltover. So while it's still the City Coalition, we're buttering up to them as much as we can. We've helped them while they were still fledgling towns and we've continued to help them. The people kind of look up to us like we're gods or something similar. We're like the patron protectors of the cities. Whenever there's trouble a-brewing, we pop out of nowhere and lend a hand. We've witnessed a lot of people born and grow up from childhood to adulthood. We also get to see their funerals.
It's no wonder that the people see us the way they do. We're ageless, always youthful. It's kinda sad but, hey, what can we do but help out? I was violently reminded of the present when Stanley the parrot grabbed my hair and pulled as hard as he could. I nearly rammed into a wall with that. The parrot squawked angrily. "Sorry!" I said. I collected myself as I continued running. While my thoughts have been wandering, the rat creature continued to chase me. Whoa. Almost gotten myself killed there. Thankfully, my running speed is topnotch. Rex the turtle still clung on the rat creature's tail, nipping with all his might, not that the rat creature even noticed. "Guys! Anytime now!"I shrieked into the walkie-talkie. I got these from Jessa, who summoned it from Scooby Doo. "Just a little longer!" came Olivia's reply. "Hey, ugly, can you get any slower? Your mother was a mouse!" I yelled back at the thing. An angry roar came as a response and I dodged as a small boulder sailed past me, barely missing my head. "HAH!" I taunted. I ran to the opposite direction then stopped dead. We all stopped dead. My mouth fell. "A second rat creature?!" I yelled in surprise. Something clicked in my head. It all made sense! All these robberies couldn't have been the doing of just one rat creature! It had an accomplice! "You didn't hear what I said about your mother, right?" I said sheepishly. The second beast screeched so hard I almost lost my sense of hearing. I shrieked back, snuck between his legs, and ran for it.
"Okay, Jess! We got it! You know what to do!" came Sally's frantic voice through the walkie-talkie. I grinned grimly and ran. I memorized these tunnels before making myself bait. I knew where I'm headed. The screeching horrors behind me ran and fought to outdo the other in the chase. I made the mistake of looking behind me and saw that they were just inches behind my back. I shrieked so hard and made the biggest mistake of my life, I tripped. OF ALL THE THINGS! Before I even knew it, the rat creatures had pinned me down and were frothing inches away from my face. They looked like they were going to bite my face off.
Suddenly, the concrete above us exploded into oblivion, making a huge hole. "Whoa. This is overboard." I thought to myself. Where the hell did the guys get the explosives for this? More importantly, how did they know the exact same spot to blow it? My eyes widened as furry appendages slithered from the hole, made bright by the cascading sunlight from above. It wrapped around the rat creatures like snakes and hauled them up through the hole, shrieking and screaming in protest. They scratched as the thing holding them, biting and clawing, but it remained steadfast and didn't look remotely scratched. I know that furry thing anywhere. I had wrapped around me like a warm blanket after every steamy lovemaking. It was Kitsune's tails. Three of these lovingly caressed my face and I giggled. One tail wrapped around my waist and picked me up from the dark hole. I shielded my eyes and took my first breath of fresh air. I was greeted by a group of local constabulary, expectant victims, gaping passersby and a lot of people who had nothing to do about the case.
I caught the sight of Sally and Olivia trying to untie Jessica and Chad. Yep, those two always snipe at each other. I smiled as I saw the rat creatures suspended by a shimmering net. "You're okay!" Kitsune said cheerfully as he picked me up and twirled me around. I caught Chad looking our way enviously. I know for a fact that he has some fancy with Kitsune (As well as all of Jessa's older siblings). "So the rat creatures are finally caught!" the mayor of the City Coalition said shakily, wiping his sweaty forehead. "Yes, mayor, but they're not who they pretend to be!" Sally piped up as they ran to us. Olivia hugged me tightly. "You're okay!" she said in utter relief. "You know these two..." Sally said, rolling her eyes. I smiled brightly and waved it off. "Who are these anyway?" little mayor Whittle asked. "But, mayor, you know them yourself." I said to him. I nodded to Kitsune and the Fox God waved a hand over at the rat creatures. We watched, mesmerized, as fur fell from their bodies and their elongated limbs shrunk back to normal human proportions. When the last of the transformation wore off, their faces were visible for all to see.
"MISTER BARRY! MISTER LARRY!" everyone yelled in disbelief. No one seemed remotely disturbed these two were naked as the day they were born. "The real estate guys?" Chad asked in surprise. "I was so sure it was Hendricks." he added. He looked away when the librarian in question, who happened to be among the crowd, offered him such a cool gaze. "Yeah! Misters Barry and Larry used the real estate business as a front. Their real intention was to steal the Mayberry Gem collection!" Sally said. "That doesn't make sense! I'll be damned if Argent had a Mayberry Gem!" the mayor said, clearly flustered. He was referring to the near-deaf old alchemist at Ruby Harbor. Enigma Inc. gave the mayor a smug smile. "This is why they also robbed the various businesses around their targets, to make sure no one would really know!" Olivia said.
Jessica whooped. "I get it. If everyone knew that their target is the Mayberry Gems, their owners would probably put it in a safer place! Mister Barry and Larry visited the various owners more than five times. They knew the layout of the place! They knew how to crack open those safes!" Jessica said. "That's right but when the mayor announced that the city sewers would be renovated, they panicked. That's why they thought up the mysterious rat creatures and made sure to spread the story around. That's why even though people told us they heard the story from these two, they denied knowing about it when we asked them. The so-called attacks on alchemy stations were really just to get more ingredients for their shapeshifting potion!" Olivia said. "But where is our Mayberry?" Madame Fairfield asked, one of the owners of the legendary gems of beauty. "That's easy." Chad said. We all looked at him. "I think I finally figured it out what those so-called rat nests really are." he said proudly. Chad already spoke with Kitsune and the Fox God's tails sunk back into the hole, searching the tunnels below quicker than anyone could ever do. When the Fox God's tails retracted, they carried a dozen or more huge sacks.
Everyone gasped when we opened it. All the gold coins, jewelries, valuable collections and a case of small tear-shaped crystals the color of the rising sun. "Bingo!" Chad said. He exchanged high-fives with Kitsune and the rest of us. The owners of the Mayberry Gems rushed forward and scooped their jewels, breathing massive sighs of relief and holding their prizes close to their chest. "Well, I'll be!" the mayor said. He looked at the crooks with evident distaste. "You'll have a long time to think about your actions behind bars!" he said, wagging a finger at them. Mister Barry and Larry snarled at us. "And we would've gotten away with it too! If it weren't for you blasted kids and your dumb pests!" Barry yelled as the constables hauled them away. Jessica grabbed Rex the turtle before the enforcers hauled away Larry. Mayor Whittle looked at us with gratitude in his little eyes. Even though his term had given way to the most difficult issues faced by the City Coalition, he always had a helping hand from these meddling kids.
"Another case solved, kids! Why don't you go down the Cozy Cottage and have a snack on me?" the mayor called as he followed the constables. "THANK YOU!" we all yelled cheerfully after him. "Okay, gang! Another mystery masterfully solved!" I yelled. "First, let's get back and get a bath. We stink." Jessica said. "Good call." the rest of us said. Jessica, Chad, Sally and Olivia started off while Kitsune and I stayed behind to repair the damaged part of the sewers. "Why would I do without you!" I said as I hugged the Fox God. His laughter rumbled in his chest. He waved a hand over the damage and we watched as magic pulled the shattered parts and pieces all over again. It only took thirty seconds to fully repair it and knowing Kitsune, the City Coalition's sewer system would probably be another ecosystem of useful fungi and other such plants.
We held hands together and followed the others. Jessa would probably have a fit if he saw the state of us…
We took our bikes and rode all the way outside the city walls. It felt nice and amazing to feel the balmy sea breeze blowing through your hair. Chad and Jessica almost had another accident. They were fighting again whose fault it was why the nets tangled. Kitsune pulled them apart before they went down on it again. Jessa's place (Kindly notice that Jessica would refer to the friend we got from Enigma Inc. whilst Jessa would refer to my real-life bestfriend Jessica) was a fair bit of distance away from the city but that's okay. We get to pass by the mini-town built by the seniors along the road and say hi to many friendly faces. The mini-town was near Jessa's estate and he promised to move the trailer outside so we could access it without breaking into the grounds. No welcome awaited us when we passed by the mini-town. The grannies and grandpas told us to take a shower and pronto but not before telling us to drop by for some treats. I doubt we would drop by considering the snacks awaiting for us in Jessa's comfy trailer.
We came over to Jessa's home. It was a sprawling estate. It's like H.U.G.E! Jessa really outdid himself designing the house before introducing it to reality. There are four special bio-domes around the house that mimic a specific season to allow plants that thrive only in summer, autumn, spring or winter. There's one huge greenhouse that house the most exotic plants and seven gardens dedicated to flowers or fruit-bearing plants. Tall proud trees stood guard at the walls of the estate while a medium-sized river cut into the estate and drained into the nearby sea. This river was designed to flow into three artificial pools before flowing on. These pools were home to fishes, swans and ducks. The house itself was a literal castle. Five stories high and big in every sense of the word, it was a proud mountain of a monument that could be seen even from the sea and it offered breathtaking views of the surrounding forest and sea.
We could drop in and visit Jessa anytime we want but Jessa's parents, Momotaro and Kaguya Ryuukami, not to mention his other siblings, would get suspicious of how familiar their 10-year-old trap of a son is with people like us. That's because we were caught one time discussing a Supernatural Investigator case (Not an Enigma Inc. case) and they were surprised how sensible and smart Jessa sounded when he offered his insight. We couldn't overuse the he's-just-too-bright-for-his-age excuse now, could we? Speaking of Jessa, I watched as Chad and Kitsune fall off from their trails and tumble down the slope to the sandy expanse below. I saw Sally and Jessica blush hard and made a dash for the trailer.
And I saw why and didn't blame them for it. Olivia seemed unperturbed. Wait. She's gone stiff as a statue, my bad. Jessa came strolling down the paved road to the beachfront, wearing a girl's swimsuit, looking like there's no hope for humanity anymore. "EEEKKKKKKKKK!" I couldn't help but shriek and charge at him. Jessa looked at my direction and his eyes widened. Behind him were his younger siblings, following him like a mother duck. I scooped up Jessa, continuing to shriek as I twirled him around. I finally noticed his parents and older siblings hung back, looking a little jealous. "You stink!" Jessa, Kitty, Amy, Anya, Nadia, Rin, Eleanor, Ben, Dylan, Jake, Gil and Yacob said in unison. "Aaaaaawww! You're all so cute!" I shrieked again. Behind me, Sally, Jessica and Olivia finally took up the courage to come forward and pinch some of the little ones' cheeks. "You all stink!" Yacob said, pinching his nose.
"What's with that?" Olivia managed to ask, smothering a grin at Jessa's foreboding face. "Ask them." he said, jerking a thumb to his hiding parents and older siblings. "You look cute, onii-chama!" Anya said fervently, the others nodding as well. "Hai, hai! Let's get going." Jessa said, flashing a serene expression that knocked the wind out of anyone who looked. His gaze turned frosty when he aimed it at Enigma Inc. "Bath. Now. March." he said crisply. We all gave him a salute then ran away giggling. I ran past Mr. and Mrs. Ryuukami and flashed a massive thumbs-up. "Why do you get to hug him?" both parents hissed as I passed by. I laughed as I continued to run. Just as promised, Jessica moved the trailer to the tiny glen by the coast. Jessica's trailer is large.
Rectangular with three doors and lead to the area proper, it's a bit confusing but fun when you get used to it. The laws of space and time doesn't mean shit inside the comfy trailer anyhow, you just need to think of the room you want to go in before opening any door, provided what you thunk is connected to the room the door leads to. I thought for a second. I could go for a snack. I opened the door and found myself to the Café and found several plates of snacks and meals, their aroma filling the small place.
My stomach gave a lurch and I ran to a seat and fill up my stomach. The door opened and I saw Scooby and Shaggy coming in. I didn't see a mountain of food so I guess they were heading to either the Restaurant or the Pixie Bakery. They usually plague the Reaper's Bar when they want the most decadent cakes. The pair saw me and grinned widely. "Like, hey, Jess!" Shaggy greeted. Scooby was about to jump on me but stopped. He covered his nose and backed away. "Sorry! Ran into a rat creature!" I said apologetically. "Rat creature?!" the two shrieked and hugged each other, shaking. "Already dealt with, you chickens." I said, laughing. Scooby and Shaggy sighed. "Rhat ra relief!" Scooby said. "Like, we'll take ten of everything!" Shaggy said aloud. That's when I saw that a mountain of food appeared out of nowhere and I grinned. The two settled beside me and gorged themselves on the food. I closed my eyes and clapped my hands. I opened my eyes and I felt myself, saw myself, sparkling clean.
What's that you say? How did I do that? Heh! Take a closer look. Check out Celt's Comfy Trailer, specifically the Closet area. Jessie and I got this from The Journey West. We took the journey, faced all kinds of not-really-that-dangerous danger (Noteworthy is the amount of selfies we took) and claimed our place among the Tal'rish Pantheon. I'm the Tal'rish god of mystery, fun, adventure, sanctuary, guidance, learning and imagination while Jessa is the Tal'rish god of dreamworld, nature, family, chaos, forbidden knowledge, crossroads deals and imagination. Our powers have limited use outside Tal'ro but we can alter this plane as we wish. We just don't. We're afraid we might create a new reality where Ezreal isn't born, Lulu is Hitler, Teemo is Jesus Christ and Buddha and Soraka turned into Darkseid.
"So what did you guys do today?" I asked. "Like, the usual. Scoob and I are on nurse duty. No flu will come to our friends with us on, like, the job!" Shaggy said. "So where the heck have you two been then?" I asked, knowing these two slacked from their jobs as always. I swear Scooby and Shaggy are as annoying as they are endearing. Only the Jessies' fanatical love of the entire Scooby Doo franchise keeps us going. LOL. "Rit's rokay! Relma rought ra realing rotion!" Scooby barked happily. So Velma finally bought a healing potion, huh. She finally bowed down to the inevitable. One way or another, she must rely on magical things when needed be. Funny thing though. Velma nearly had a nervous breakdown when she came to this world of magic. It took our combined efforts to bring her to the present. She's finally accepted the existence of magic and magical beings but she stuck to science stubbornly. Daphne and Fred were a little more welcoming but not for the right reasons. Fred was enamored at the prospect of magical traps while Daphne liked the idea of wardrobe-in-one-dress. Scooby and Shaggy, having never really grown out of their childish spirit, embraced magic with open arms (Especially when it meant magic could supply a never-ending amount of Scooby Snacks and other foodstuffs).
"What made Velma buy it?" I asked, curious. Scooby and Shaggy made face. "Oh, we got, like, two new S.I. cases. Velma, like, wants all hands on deck." Shaggy said. S.I. meant Supernatural Investigator to us. E.I. or just Enigma meant cases for Enigma Inc. I smiled. Yep. The Jessies' Mystery Case Solvers Group's reputation had spread far and wide. I can't believe it's been almost three centuries since we started. It's funny how time passes by for us and our friends. We're a constant in this world, outside of space and time, and cloaked in a mysterious boon that negates any sort of suspicion or curiosity about our longevity or existence. We've made a lot of friends in this world, mortals who've gone on to their reward ages ago. I could close my eyes, recall each name perfectly and their image would come to my mind clearly. It's been a good run.
Rune Wars? Hah! Been there, done that! We've lived through it and survived. I like particularly our little stunt with a huge nomad tribe way before all that. It happened during the Forty Nights of Hunger, when a huge magical famine and pestilence swept clean the land. The tribe of Sankrhea was on the brink of extinction so Jessa and I presented ourselves as gods before them, pretending to be so-called deities answering their fervent prayers. Well, duh, we watched Ancient Aliens. We know the benefits of posing as gods to mortals. One of them being these mortals' unconditional obedience and devotion. Jessa posed as Nallis Neruvian Nox, the name of his character in Rebirth, while I, in a rare display of unoriginality, named myself Demacia (I was looking at two hunks who distinctly resembled Garen and Jarvan IV respectively in every way that mattered).
Aw, heck, we did a lot of good deeds with that tribe. We spend several hundred years making sure they don't die to their own stupidity or ignorance and we made sure they prospered. I left a lot of magical treasures with them while Jessa made a lot of benevolent magical contracts. I smiled. We were so impetuous back then. If any of the gang saw us back there, they would label us a nasty case of Chuunibyou. Hahaha. We cut contact with them after the Rune Wars and we were too lazy about picking up the lost treasures. Good thing I made that clause that those treasures can't be used without our permission. We could track where they are and who has them so no worries on our part. If someone with a good and courageous heart picks them up and uses it to make the world a better place, we'd be honored to lend them the treasures' power. My, my, it seems I've gotten sentimental in my old age. Hahaha.
I looked over to Scooby and Shaggy and wasn't surprised to see them devouring their third mountain of food. "What's the case this time?" I asked. The pair stopped eating and looked scared again. "Re're rupposed ro rinvestigate ra raunted risland!" Scooby said fearfully. Haunted island, huh? I couldn't say I'm looking forward to it. We've been to a lot of haunted islands before. They tend to mix together after some time. I sighed as I ordered an orange juice. The beverage magically appeared in front of me. "Hhhmmmmmm…" I said. "Rit's ralled the Rhadow Risles!" Scooby barked. I spat my juice and coughed. Shadow Isles?! Wait, what?! You mean THE Shadow Isles is already in this world?! The Blessed Isles has been tainted by dark magics, turned it into a horrific parody of itself that will introduce the terrors of the Harrowing into this world?! "Are you, like, okay, Jess?" Shaggy asked, the two of them peering at me in concern. "Shadow Isles?! This is an unprecedented adventure!" I yelled at the top of my voice. I was filled with excitement.
The Shadow Isles and its Harrowing is one of the greatest plagues to befall upon Runeterra, one of the most devastating threats that visits calamity upon its denizens. If we meddle enough with fate here, we could avert one of the most dangerous disasters of this planet! I shrieked as I ran out of the Café. I flung open the door and space warped before it fully opened. I found myself at the Reaper's Bar. I saw the Reaper, Brian and Jessica at the counter. She was telling them how their latest adventure turned out. "BRI!" I called out happily. The middle-aged large man spotted me and gave a holler. "You did it again, love!" he yelled. I ran to him and hugged. "And you're up and around!" I said. Brian's laughed boomed in the bar, so much that glasses shook. "That healing potion's got some punch in it." Brian said. "You're here!" Chad said as he stepped into the bar, the dark space through which he stepped out from the door rippled like shadowy waters. Behind him, Natasha and Willow waved a hand, grinning widely. "You guys are okay!" I said cheerfully as I rushed to kiss my two bestfriends. Well, they're all my bestfriends, really.
"Girl, you missed quite a row." Willow said. I raised an eyebrow. "Don't leave me in suspense." I said. "Jessa made quite the smooth talking with Velma. He convinced her to buy that healing potion. You should've been there. He had her eating out of his hands." Natasha winked. I believe them. When Jessa really puts his mind to it, he can have anyone eating out of his hands. "This calls for a celebration." the Reaper said. He's a delicate-looking pretty boy, you wouldn't know how high-level he really is with the way he acts. We cheered and gathered to the bar and watched the Reaper whip up the best alcoholic drinks we've ever tasted. "Are we going to split into two teams again?" Chad asked as he downed a Sunset Melancholy, a bittersweet drink that reminded you of love gained and lost.
"I don't think so. I heard from Scooby and Shaggy we're going to the Shadow Isles." I explained. There was a crash as the Reaper did something he never did in all the centuries we've known him. He slipped his hand and a concoction of his splattered the floor in a growing puddle. "Shadow Isles?" he asked, there was an edge in his voice that made us cringe. He snapped his fingers and the mess disappeared. We saw him move to high cupboard and remove a bottle of wine we've only drank twice in these past centuries. It was a wine that, bitter as the tears of those who've lost something they hold most dear to their hearts, imbue its drinker with the chance to cheat their demise. I could almost hear Enigma Inc. swallow in terrified anticipation. "I will say this only once. That dark place is only twenty years young but they're responsible for over a million disappearances and deaths within the same timespan. They're building their numbers, their dark lords cannot be bested by a mortal no matter how gifted or strong and the curse of the land is strong enough to banish the agents of true death who seek to collect these dark souls and send them to the afterlife." the Reaper said. He didn't pour us a glass of the wine, he gave us the whole bottle.
000
JESSA
We played happily at the beach, swimming as the gentle waves bore us. All my younger siblings and older siblings were here to enjoy this fine day. Why shouldn't they? It's summer! It's true we've been cozying up to the City Coalition since its inception but there's another place we've got an iron foothold on. That place is aptly named Earth City. It's an equal distance between my house and the City Coalition. You could say we're sitting right in the middle of the two of them, a convenient distance to reach both easily. Earth City is a concentration of a city. It's as big as New York but every nation on Earth has been crammed there. It's still spacious and you're never get bored here. It's full of activities and fun. This is where my siblings and I go to school, where my parents mostly work when they're not busy with their business and where Enigma Inc. as well as Jessie's Supernatural Investigator is hold up.
A magical contract I've made with the city itself keeps Earth City relatively peaceful, very harmonious (Not a spot of racism, discrimination, fanaticism, supremacist mentality, elitism, sexism, feminazism or other similar bullshit of humanity! THIS IS OUR ACHIEVEMENT OF A LIFETIME!) and prosperous while hidden away from the eyes of others. It's absurdly near the City Coalition and they've got no idea that such a city even existed in the first place. Earth City has its own dangers, mostly of the supernatural nature, but we've managed to keep it at a minimum thanks to our combined efforts.
So my mom, Kaguya, is the President of Earth City. That makes me and my siblings kinda important. Okay, very important. With the Jessies, Mystery Inc. and Enigma Inc. secretly at her back, Earth City has expanded underground as well as skywards and on the waters. Earth City is generally scientific in their approach of everything, a science that has accepted and embraced the idea of the eldritch, the extraterrestrial, the paranormal and the supernatural. Right now, mom is busy coordinating with the various thinktanks to implement the concept of skycities. Yay! That's the one I'm really, really excited about!
All of my family is in the dark about me and Jessie and what we really do and what we are, except for one: Clarice. She's the minor goddess of children who's taken a little vacation, like a human-lifetime-long vacation. She's my partner-in-crime, advisor and helping hand in things a perpetual ten-year-old can't do. Hey, I've been a ten-year-old for centuries now. I haven't aged a bit as well as everyone we got from our CYOAs. Though I can age if I want to. I just don't want to. I like the idea of being pampered by my family. I'm getting quite used to them. They're a handful but they made me warm inside. Isn't that's what family is supposed to be?
Ahaaaaaaaaa… And it's also because of Clarice that I'm wearing a godforsaken girl's swimsuit in the first place. Thought it was a funny prank. I'll show her funny. Aside from Clarice, there's Andrew, one of our four butlers. He knows his fair share of secrets, my secrets in fact, and he keeps it, thanks to the cash I give him every Sunday. He's already confirmed I'm more than just a child but he's hesitant to dig deeper than that. I've comforted him one too many times when his life shits on him and made a solid rapport with him. Only time will tell where his curiosity will take him. He and Clarice already met the rest of our club. He's accepted Enigma Inc. and Mystery Inc. but he's hesitant with Jessie and her other friends. He knows we're tangling ourselves with things we shouldn't, things that are best left alone and you should give a wide berth. Going back, I was floating, lazily relishing the feel of warm sunshine against my skin while the waves rolled me gently back and forth, lulling me to sleep. I noticed Clarice swim towards me.
"How d'you like your swimsuit?" she teased. I looked at her. "There's nothing you can say to break my good mood. I'm feeling at peace with the world." I said. She rolled her eyes and pushed me. "Who d'you think's the hottest today?" she asked slyly. Now there's a topic we could both pursue. If Jessie was here, she'll happily join us. "All of them. All of them should be brought to justice for their crimes against humanity for wearing that beachwear." I said. We both giggled. It's true. My older siblings looked hot and sexy while my younger brothers and sisters were capable of instantaneously shooting up the blood sugar of those who beheld them to lethal levels. "Kenneth looks good enough to eat! A deep tan really suits a hunk!" Clarice said.
"Gilgamesh is smoldering but I feel drawn to Arthur. He looks so stoic and authoritative, makes you cook up a lot of naughty things!" I added. We both giggled. "Onee-chama, onii-chama, what are you whispering over there?" came Kitty's voice. We looked as their toy boat, one big enough for all of our younger siblings to ride on, came over to us. "WE ARE THE GODS OF THE SEAS HERE TO TAKE NAUGHTY KIDS WITH US!" Clarice and I yelled as if we both rehearsed it and roared. They broke into a laugh and playful panic. We thrashed our hands like tentacles and capsized their boat. Dylan yelled something about the captain must go down with his ship and held on while the others laughed and cried for help. We're in quite deep but the water has no intention of harming them, just the opposite in fact. Hello, god of nature here.
Our oldest sister, Stella, swam towards us. "Hold on, kids, the beautiful goddess of the sea is here to save you!" she yelled. "THE OLD SEA MONSTER HAG IS COMING TO GET US!" Yacob yelled and we shrieked and swam away from her. Yacob laughed and swam away the fastest. "WHO YOU CALLING AN OLD HAG, YOU BRAT?!" Stella yelled. She caught up with Yacob. Well, she has longer limbs. Yacob yelled for help as Stella grappled him underwater. "He died an honorable death." I said solemnly to the others. "We'll remember you, Yacob!" Kitty, Amy and Anya called. It took only a minute for Yacob to break free of Stella's grip and swim away to safety. And by safety, that meant towards me. Before we suffered a head-on collision, a bloom of golden tails lifted us out of the water and high into the air. Knowing these tails only come from one person, Clarice and I scrambled to see if Kitsune wore a beachwear too. We weren't disappointed. He had his amazing torso on display and we nearly fainted. No nosebleeds, dear God, no nosebleeds! Beside him was our mother. "No horsing around in the water! It's dangerous!" Mom said sternly. "Aaaaaawww…" we all said.
Kitsune's tails settled us on the sandy beach. "Who wants some food?" Dad yelled over to us. Of course, us kids quickly got over it and rushed to him. "Get in line and one at a time." Arthur said. His tone was so stern we fell in line. There was hug bowls of fruit salad and vegetable salad and there's the barbecue Dad and Ivan are cooking. Kitsune fell on line with us too. Well, he's been freely sneaking back and forth here anyway. He's like a pet dog when around me. "Where's Jessie?" I whispered to him. He bent low and winked down at me. "Taking a look at the new cases." he said in a conspirator's tone. I looked at him in surprise. "We got another one already?! That's crazy!" I managed to say. "It's got something to do with a place called Shadow Isle, I think." Kitsune said.
"HAAAH?!" I yelled in disbelief. Everyone looked at me and I blushed. "I- I- uh- forgot- forgot something! Lemme go get it! Kitsu, help me!" I said as I rushed back to the direction of the house. Kitsune easily floated beside me, casting a longing look at the cooking feast. "Don't be long!" Melody, one of our butlers, said as I passed by her. I dragged Kitsune into the nearest garden. I was positively jumping with excitement. Kitsune looked tired in comparison to my energy. "Really, really, really? The Shadow Isles? That's so cool!" I said. "You know this Shadow Isles?" he asked me, cocking his head sideways. "Yep! YYYOOOOOOOOOSSSHHH!" I shrieked with excitement. Sebastian poked his head through the arch and looked at the two of us.
The oldest of our butlers looked at us with a cocked eyebrow. Something good must've happened if I was screeching with excitement. "Young Master, did something good happen?" he asked as he watched me run in circles around him, eyes softening at my playful mood. "Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian, BIG DAY, BIG DAY!" I shrieked, jumping around like a hyperactive rabbit. "Big day!" Kitsune said cheerfully when Sebastian sent him a questioning glance. Giggling madly, I dashed to my trailer. I opened the doors and was redirected to the currently occupied Entryway room: the Café. I saw Scooby and Shaggy going through another mountain of food. "Rello, ross!" Scooby barked when he spotted me. "Hey, boss!" Shaggy said too. "Bulk up, boys, because we're going to the most haunted place in this planet!" I said excitedly as I dashed past them. I didn't see them lose their appetites completely. I flung open the Kitchen door and was redirected to the Reaper's Bar. What I saw shocked me. I thought Jessie would be singing all the Amens and Hallelujahs up high but she sagged against the bar, evidently drunk based on the near-empty bottle in her hands. "What's the matter with her?" I asked. Enigma Inc. laughed.
"Turns out Reaper here knows quite a lot about a lot of things. Jessie lamented why he didn't speak up about it in the first place. It could've solved a lot of problems." Natasha said. "Yeah. We coulda used that information about banshees before we charged in there." Brian grunted, taking a huge swig of his beer. "You might've asked first." the Reaper said in his defense. "We were talking about sea serpents here for three days and you never spoke out." Sally pointed out. The Reaper just smiled. "Well, Jessie, this no time to be drinking away. When are we leaving and what's the stitch?" I asked. Jessie unceremoniously tossed two folders in my general direction. I raised an eyebrow as it fell on the floor. "Okay. I'll read these later. Be back when she's sober. Any of you guys wanna join our little beach party?" I asked Enigma Inc., picking the folders up. "We'll catch up." Chad piped up. "I'm sure you will, honey." I said, blowing a kiss in his direction. Chad grinned and pretended to catch the kiss, throw it on the ground and stomp on it for good measure. "Hey, I think we're gonna need them." Willow said before I jumped through the door. I flashed her a thumbs-up and dashed away. She meant we needed help from some special Arcade Portal friends. They've helped us in cases where it seemed too dangerous for Enigma Inc. Jessie and I know they're ageless but we don't know and we don't wanna know if they've permanent deaths. I exited the trailer and rushed back to the beach.
Gilgamesh had broken out the speakers and cranked the volume to a notch. Energetic tunes sprang out and sounded all over the place. Arthur was staring daggers at him. My younger siblings were jumping up and down at the music like hyperactive rabbits. Gilgamesh's music isn't really my taste. It's just as rebellious and fiery as he is but it's very infectiously energetic. "Where've you been?" Mom asked as she spotted me. "Toilet break." I said easily. The smell of barbecue filled the air and we all fell to a casual and easygoing state, even the servants. We talked lively to one another over a picnic table Kitsune had conjured. "Mom, can Enigma drop by later?" I asked, shooting my best puppy eyes. My younger siblings, who adore listening to the ghost stories Enigma Inc. so loved to tell them, filled in line and were begging her to say yes. Mom took a deep breath and finally agreed.
"You know, I'm worried that they might be bad influence on you, cupcake. All those scary stories will you a nightmare." Mom said, aiming a look at Ben and Kitty. They smiled nervously up at her. "Mom, I'm trying out if I have a future as a researcher or an investigator but you don't sound you like that." I said, adding a sulky tone in my voice. That did the trick. Mom blushed and I could see the cogs in her head turning. I smiled inwardly. Yeah! "Okay but no staying up late. You promised a storytime to your brothers and sisters." Mom said. I happily began chomping a spicy corncob. 'What's going to be the story tonight, onii-chama?" Gil asked. I smiled at him. "It's about the Vegetable Witch! Who visits kids who don't eat their veggies at night and stares at them from the foot of their bed all night long!" I said. Gil sank back on his chair. "Is it true?" Dylan asked, trying to be brave. "Hai! She comes at night on her old, web-strewn broom and talks to the plates of the kids of the house. She asks the plates who didn't eat their veggies and she goes to their room." I said in a creepy voice. "Where did you hear that story?" Melody couldn't blurting out. She blushed and apologized. I looked at her and smiled. "I woke up in the middle of the night for something to eat. Clarice-onee-sama's door was open. I saw the witch staring at her from the foot of her bed. She was sitting down though as she looked at big sis." I said.
Clarice spat out her iced tea and looked at me in horror. "Are you making this up?!" her eyes demanded. "No! I'm not making this up! If you eat your veggies, the Vegetable Witch will reward you! She looked at me and said I'm a good kid for eating my veggies and gave me this!" I said excitedly. I pulled out a 100 Earth City Dollar bill from my little purse bag and proudly showed it to my family while laughing like a lunatic. My parents looked at each other and silently demanded if the other gave it to me. My younger siblings looked at the money with sparkling eyes. "How many ice cream tubs is that?" Gil asked, his eyes wide. "Millions!" Eleanor yelled dreamily. "Jess is just tricking you to eat your vegetables. He made that up." Clarice said smugly. She felt cold as my eyes sharpened slyly. "Onee-sama, I didn't make it up! The Vegetable Witch also told me the curse she put on you!" I said triumphantly. I pointed a finger at her tummy.
"Your waistline! The Witch cursed your waistline! Even if you eat small, the Witch said your tummy would get bigger until you turn into a fatty! You'll turn into a fat cow!" I said. Clarice shrieked and ran away. I ran after her, calling her names. "What a cruel child." Stella said, grinning. "Holy hell. That was smooth." Gilgamesh said. "Onii-chama was making that up, right, Mom?" Tyler timidly asked. Kaguya looked down at them and smiled. "Eat your veggies just to be sure! If you eat lots of it, the Witch will reward you, yes?" she said. "Jess deliberately did that to make them eat their veggies, right?" Tony whispered over to Arthur and Stella. "Duh!" the two said. "Then who gave him that much money?" Tony asked. "Jessie maybe." Kenneth said. "No, I didn't." Jessie said as she and Enigma Inc. approached the picnic table. When the Ryuukami family looked at her as one, she shrugged. "She doesn't have that much money to give away to a ten-year-old." Natasha said as she helped herself to the food Ivan was grilling. "True." the Ryuukami patriarch and matriarch agreed. "Maybe he got it from the Vegetable Witch?" Chad said. Now everyone looked at him. "I thought Jess made him up!" Nathan said. "Or did he?" Chad said mysteriously. The vegetables never disappeared so fast before at the Ryuukami dining table. As Jessie and my parents fell into their own deep conversation about ideas for Earth City, Clarice and I returned all, all sweaty and breathing hard.
Overall, it was another beautiful day in paradise...
We returned home as the last of the fabulous view of the sunset disappeared over the horizon, my parents and older siblings cradling my younger brothers and sisters who fell asleep after intense playing in the water. Well, there goes storytime. They led the little tykes back to the mansion while I, Jessie, Kitsune, Mystery Inc. and Enigma Inc. stayed behind. "I need to meet up with my contacts tomorrow." Jessie said to me. "I wonder how those two are doing." I said. They all knew who I meant, of course. Check out the Supernatural Investigator CYOA. I meant about Beatrice and Irene. We just solved their cases recently, Irene's first before Beatrice's. Irene's husband and child were lost to a wraith's spectral rampage, killing them without marring their bodies.
Beatrice's brother was a closet paranormal enthusiast who has bitten more than what he could chew from the only too-real grimoires of real practitioners. We managed to save Beatrice's brother, Joshua, from the Lovecraftian horrors he managed to conjure, restored his mind and body and modified his memories. But Joshua's fate is now sealed. Though he's forgotten about the eldritch, the eldritch hasn't forgotten about him. They will undoubtedly reach out for him when he's unprotected. That's why we're teaching him mystical arts capable of shielding him from these otherworldly influences.
As for Irene, it will take some time for her to recover from the ghosts of the past. The wraith that killed her husband and child is destroyed but that only gave her the bittersweet taste of vengeance. It can't bring back the lives of the loved ones she lost. Jessie and I felt bad for leading her on but resurrection was in our department. It wouldn't take but a snap of a finger to bring them back to life. That would mean, however, we're treading on dangerous waters. Was this secret to be blown what would become of the two of us? Thankfully, Irene was stronger than we gave her credit for. She's taking steps to accept their deaths and move on with her life. Grief counseling and membership in a support group with similar cases of loss, girl's trying her best. She can't shut her eyes to the things this whole adventure revealed though. There are things in that go bump in the night and there are ways to bump back. The bad news is only a very select number of people know how.
"Irene's stronger than we thought she'd be. She'll be fine." Dmitri told us, ridiculous-looking with his trunks and cloak. "I hope she'll be." Chad muttered into his plate. "Well, it's time for the big meeting tomorrow. We better go and prepare." Jessie said. "Someone should go Cozy Cottage and order something. We deserved our snack. Besides, the mayor would badger us if we didn't. Like last time and the time before that and the time before that." Willow said, sighing as she recalled. "Good call. I'll go." Brian said, standing up. "We should buy our supplies tomorrow too. We'll be away for quite a while in that haunted place." I said. "You're coming?" Enigma Inc. and Mystery Inc. chirped in disbelief. I smiled. "We'll be splitting the team in two, darlings. One team will go and meet up with the client while the other would scout ahead. We don't know what kind of danger awaits us there so the other team would observe first. No one play the reckless hero, okay?" I said sharply, glaring at Enigma Inc. They nodded meekly. "So who's gonna be on my team?" Jessie asked. All the boys (Except Scooby and Shaggy) raised their hands. "Mine?" I asked. All the girls (Plus Shaggy) raised their hands and the mascots (Including Scooby) waddled to me as fast as they could. "Sorry, boys, we're not as suicidal as you are." Olivia said, laughing. "Wuss." Chad said, grinning.
"My team's gonna meet up with the client. See if there's more to the case than meets the eye." I said. "I'll take some of Arcade Portal." Jessie said. "I was about to say the same thing but don't go adrenaline junkie on me. Don't go in there half-cocked." I said sternly. The smile on Jessie's face told me my warning was in vain. "We'll control her." Fred promised. "Well, it's settled." Jessie said, clapping her hands in anticipation. Then she had to go drop a bomb on Kitsune. "I'll be summoning another Paragon and one or two Eidolons too while I'm at it. We're going all out for this case!" Jessie said. Enigma Inc. yelled as one energetically. We watched as Enigma Inc. rolled into Ol' Ruby and drove off towards the City Coalition's direction while Jessie and Mystery Inc. slipped into the Mystery Machine and drove for Earth City. "See you!" Mystery Inc. and Enigma Inc. yelled as they went their separate ways. Kitsune's tails sagged to the ground and he looked sulky, his ears drooping. "Aaawww, don't worry about that, Kitsu. Jessie won't be replacing you soon enough. You're still her favorite Paragon! And mine too!" I said, trying to cheer him up. He beamed and was reduced to an adoring pup in an instant. He nuzzled against me, his tails wagging energetically.
"Let's go back." I said to him. He picked me up in his arms and he floated back to the house. Later that night, where my parents sat snoring in front of the night news and the other servants retired early from a day of having fun, I met up with Andrew in front of my comfy trailer. "Here." I said as I unceremoniously dumped his weekly load of goodies to bring home. Andrew's been adopted by a poor family whose reasons were mostly around the money they would receive from the state. He's not the only orphan adopted into that family so he cares about his other siblings and his folks were pretty decent to begin with, just very impoverished. The goods I gave him were mostly from the Pixie Bakery and the Restaurant. Aside from Sebastian and me, no one ever saw Andrew outside of his butler uniform. It's kinda strange to see him in casual clothes. "Isn't this getting heavier and heavier?" he asked as he loaded it into his bike. His bike had a wagon attached to the back that he used to load his purchased goods when he bought stuff as he passed by the marketplace.
Now he seldom stops at the market, what will all the food I shove at him. "Are you complaining?" I asked. I didn't have to act like a child around him. I just let my age-old self wash over him. "No, ma'am, I mean, SIR!" he said, wagging his head fervently. "You're a good kid, Andrew. You'll go places." I said as I patted his head. Of course, I patted his head while floating off the ground. He blushed. "And here." I said as I presented him a list of the things I wanted him to buy. Everyone would question why a ten-year-old kid would want the things on that list so I made him buy it in my place. Of course, I paid for it and gave him a cash reward for the job. He looked at the list and swallowed. "Should I even ask?" he said. "Would you?" I countered. He thought for a moment then shook his head. "You know where to deliver it?" I asked. "Yeah, yeah!" he said in an annoyed tone. He knew where. It's not his first delivery to Jessie's place anyway. "See you tomorrow, kid!" I waved as I sent him off. Andrew waved back as he pedaled off. I waited until he made that turn in the woods to the main road towards Earth City and disappeared from my sight. Time for my usual job.
"Kitsu, let's go!" I said. Kitsune was at my side in an instant. We rose from the ground and high into the darkening sky. Kitsune is the Amaterasuan patron god of harvest, agriculture, seasons, forests, fertility, revelry, good fortune and birth. I have to return to Tal'ro every once in a while to recharge my divine energy but Kitsune is free to use his powers as he please. The Jessies might have greater power but he'll beat us on account of his vast divine energy reserves. I remember the days when Jessie and I tripped over ourselves to provide the Sankrhea the things they needed for their survivability. We'd open the Closet door to Tal'ro, spend all our divine essence on one godlike treasure, step back into Tal'ro, come back again, rinse and repeat. Hahaha. Those were the funny times.
Jessie made a great tree that produced wands that let you use spells ala Harry Potter, a potion that bestowed its drinker with the dominion of the planet's weather systems and elements, spiritual techniques to make an Omnyouji out of anyone and so on. I made trading systems myself: an appropriate amount of sacrifice to me and I will lend my supplicant either powerful creatures inspired by the Greater Demons of Warhammer 40k's Chaos Gods, forbidden knowledge scientific or otherwise or your standard divine intervention package, really depends on you. I believe the methods to call our aid is lost in time. We haven't had a single prayer from the Sankrhea in ages. Well, if you're curious, the global Rune Wars nearly tore apart the planet. All these World Runes and magic being misused by egoistic races, it's stupidity of an unprecedented scale. Raiyomereius, the capital city of the Sankrhea, was lost to a great catastrophe. It was swallowed by the sea. To save as many people as we can, we ordered the Sankrhea to divide. Their leaders, the seven brothers who we took under our wing as our apprentices, took their clans and escaped in their own way, taking with them what they could save of their culture.
The First Brother took his people and The Mirror Tree (That's Jessie's creation, the one that spat out Harry Potter wands) and the first part of Spiritism (This is the spiritual technique I was talking about) and used their collective magics to teleport entire towns to the relative safety of an unknown location.
The Second Brother called upon me to give them their own dimension, a place where they could thrive in their eternal quest of curiosity and free spirit. I gave them two seeds that would grow into a spiritual tree that would branch off into new realms.
The Third Brother we entrusted with the middle of the secrets of Spiritism as well as the undisclosed soul-harnessing techniques. They fled to a mythical land, one rumored to have newly risen from the sea.
The Fourth Brother fled to the Land of Nod, an ever-changing place within the Dreamworld. It was this brother who took many of our treasures, determined to honor his gods and his clan, but no word of him or his people was heard of again.
The Fifth Brother, twin sisters really, harnessed the dark knowledge I gave to them, used all ounce of cunning and resourcefulness to blend into passing reaver clans, bending their leaders' ears and assimilating among them. Last we've known, they directed the reaver hordes to lay siege to the great bastion of an ensorcelled overlord whose name evoked fear and terror and successfully claimed it for themselves.
The Sixth Brother drank the Gods of The Skies (This is Jessie's weather-controlling potion) and turned into every sky god in every culture and myth of Earth. He raised his brethren from the mortal realm and turned them into things close to celestials. Last time we heard of him, he called for our aid and helped him seal the primordial titans, creatures that embody the raw fury of nature. And we were quite put off by him because we never heard of him again. We didn't even receive any thanks.
As for the Seventh Brother, he adamantly refused to leave the lands we gave to them. He insisted he and his clan will rather die than abandon their divine birthright. To him we gave a second Mirror Tree, the last part of Spiritism, the Sunwell (We took this concept from Warcraft. LOL. It's like a bottomless Fountain of Mana), several of my own magical theories and applications and Nymphborn (A magical ritual that ascended women into caretakers of the elements and protectors). Well, we can't really complain. After that, it was all smooth sailing for us. We had time for ourselves and we could pursue the simple pleasures in life. Besides, we're still doing good to the world by solving these mysteries.
"Okay, Kitsu, you know the drill." I said. The Fox God and I held hands together and focused. Our divine essence joined together, turning into energy that gave back to the earth what she gave to us, a blessing to all life on her surface and the planet itself. We broadcasted in, flinging it far and wide, a nova of invisible light and stardust. It fell like rain unto the earth and we felt the celebration of the elements. Finally, someone who gives a damn about the environment. LOL. This usually drains both of us of our powers so Kitsune and I sped back to the ground. We reached solid ground before our powers gave up on us. One of these days, I need to make a choice about the Celestial Sage I should embody.
I just had to pick between the Starmaker, the Demigod, the Witch King, the Origin and the Green Knight. I'm leaning towards the Starmaker. She's got a bit of everything. I sighed as we landed on our feet. Kitsu still floated lazily beside me. We did this little ritual every weekend and we saw the results all around us. As if Mother Nature wanted to express her sincere thanks, everything within the vicinity of Earth City, my home and the mini-town were green, succulent, blooming and growing healthily, critters always aplenty and friendly. "Let's go to bed, Kitsu." I said, stroking the Fox God's soft hair and twiddling with his ears. He purred like a cat. He gathered me into his arms and we floated back home.
There's really no point in making sure everything's locked. It's always a lockdown in my home, thanks to the Scooby Doo Villains. They're rotating shifts to who would have the honor of protecting my glorious abode but the Villains from Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and The Scooby Doo Show are permanent here. This week is the Phantom of The High School Musical's turn. As you would expect of him, an army of school spooks patrolled the estate. Witches on flying broomsticks soared the skies and the woods nearby while haunts guarded every gate and every door. Skeletons, ghost musketeers and phantom poets patrolled the walls and the halls and searched every nook and cranny. The Phantom himself led the witches in their vigilant scouting. Not a single mosquito was allowed to bite me without going through them. At least my family's guaranteed to be safe. Don't worry about the seniors. They can take care of themselves pretty well. Anyone who messes with them won't live long enough to regret it. I plopped on my soft bed and felt Kitsune fall down beside me. I curled around Kitsune and hugged his soft head like a teddy bear and his tails wrapped around us like a warm, soft blanket. We were asleep in no time.
000
JESSIE
It's another night for Earth City but the city never really sleeps. It's almost midnight but people still fill the streets and vehicles move through the city's streets, canals and airways. Earth City is the size of New York and believe me when I say that's not enough space to cram the all our world's nationalities in. The city itself made a deal with Jessa and the fruit of that deal is the spatial anomaly within Earth City. So while Earth City in reality is just the size of New York, the spatial anomaly affords it the space of Asia. Which is good in my opinion. We can have more parks, sanctuaries and other greeneries to make the entire place more livable and vibrant. It's fortunate that President Kaguya is so keen with her son's environmentalism streak. And, yes, every Earthling in Earth City inherited the unnatural longevity and passage of time as we have. I inherited this old mansion from a good friend, Bartholomew Black, as stated in the Supernatural Investigator CYOA but it was expanded with the name and memories of this deceased friend. It's huge and would be so lonely if I lived here alone. Well, I don't live here alone. The mansion came with servants paid for life and Enigma Inc. moved in with me while they attended the nearby Golden Rose University. It's better this way. I can get ahold of Enigma Inc. whenever I need them and the teens don't need to find a place to stay (Or find a job to pay the rent).
Kitsune doesn't really stay here with me all the time. Most of the time he bounces between Jessa and me. Two-timing fox. The mansion's spacious grounds afforded me some quiet from the busy streets outside. Behind the mansion is an expanse of woods, declared a national park just three months ago. Oh, and I do have two more roommates here. The first one would be the computer prodigy Sophia Eklund who also happens to be my personal stalker and electronic attack dog slash guardian angel. The second one is probably the oddest companion we've ever had, the honest-to-God-I-swear-she's-real angel who goes by the name of Catharil. She's usually as happy as a Disney princess can be. You can count on her to talk you out of a depression but her real intentions are shrouded in mystery we've yet to uncover. I groaned as I looked at the two case files in front of me. Beatrice really did a good job organizing all the mess into an understandable format.
Two cases, both of which cost a two-digit number of lives, a considerable amount of loss of income, property damage and economic instability and they both involve the dreaded Black Mist. Of course, people don't know it yet. They haven't even named it yet. They'll come to name it as the Black Mist in ten years or so when they've suffered enough from it. Jessa and I decided to cut the weed before it has taken root. I know we're stretching so much here. If we destroy the Shadow Isles before they gain too much momentum, we don't know what kind of future will be created by our interference. Maybe we won't destroy the Isles completely. Just enough so that they won't be a threat until such time this world is advanced enough to take them head-on. Jessa offered that solution. He said something about sacrifices to the darker members of the Court of Pluto, for the good of all. I know too well the dark urges of these members he spoke of so we better get hopping. Besides, we already agreed we're going to perform some experiments on Thresh. What I didn't count on was this third case that just arrived ten minutes before we arrived home.
The butler, Woolsworth, presented this to me. You might be thinking how come Earth City is magically hidden but I still receive cases from outside it. You're right. It's magically hidden alright but Earth City is quite well-known to the rest of the world. Earth City trades with many cities all around the world, including our City Coalition neighbors. It's us who introduced the World Wide Web, electricity, electronics and appliances, advanced agricultural methods, mass production in all shapes and sizes, advanced weaponries and warfare and malls and fast food chains and convenience stores. There's never been a submarine in Runeterra until we invented it and introduced it first. Our business endeavors made sure we prospered and a huge chunk of the world market anticipates our offers and products. That, however, has given us a lot of envious enemies and other such elements who are only too glad to exploit our riches and technologies.
It's the main reason that drove Jessa to shroud the city in anonymity and shaped it into a hermit country. Earth City has little to no military force until Kaguya came into power and changed all that. The bulk of Earth City's army is comprised of Scooby Doo Villains and below that are high-tech soldiers and automatons. Earth City has embassies in key coastal cities where letters can be mailed to the esteemed Jessies' Mystery Case Solvers Group. That's how we receive requests for investigation from every corner of the globe. Of course, Runeterra is a superplanet so there's a whole lot of that out there. It'll be hard to turn down the third case. It's from the holy city of Edengrad, the heart of one of the biggest religions in Runeterra: the Holy Family.
As a religion, the Holy Family is a decent one, kind even, as all religions are in the beginning until some enterprising loser sonofabitch decides to join because it's a much easier and faster method to get his/her way, it's highly convenient and get all the things they want. To put it as nicely as possible, Edengrad is the home of the corrupt Holy Family priesthood. It's a place where the poor and the weak are exploited and downtrodden while the clergy and the corrupt live in unspeakable grandeur and debauchery. These pieces of garbage are excellent public speakers and charismatic to a fault so there's no short amount of faithful and fanatics who will rally against anyone or anything they deem heretics. If one, JUST ONE, of these whorespawns can cast a Holy Family miracle, I'll eat Scooby.
This is a huge problem. Not that it concerns me but I smell the spark of a global war if and when Edengrad denounces us as heretics. Plunging Earth City into a war with the Holy Family meant war against their associated devout nations (Of which there is a lot of it outside Valoran). This also might spurn our other enemies into moving. I'm not really that concerned with our side. It's the other party I'm worried about. If I know Jessa and I really do, he'll gladly go to war in an instant. He'll also convince the rest of the Tal'rish pantheon to join the fight, not that Jessa would even need to. I know for a fact that he'll only be too happy to unleash his Warhammer-40k-inspired Greater Demons and their fathomless demon hordes on them. This is a disaster bigger than a Rune War, this is a freaking genocide, and must be averted at all costs.
The door opened and Catharil poked her head into the room. She spotted me and gave a big bright smile that could light a dark cave. She said something and I heard a deafening ringing in my ears, like a bad band playing really out of tune or a choir of ill-prepared toddlers, and yet sounded satisfying for some odd reason. This is angelic language, Enochian to be precise, indecipherable to anyone who hears but an understanding is bridged anyway. In all our centuries, no one outside of our personal gang could understand what she says. Mystery Inc. and Enigma Inc. only learned to do so about twenty years ago. It's crazy! "Hello, Catharil!" I greeted her wearily. She won't answer to nicknames either. Catharil entered, borne afloat by her pure-white wings. She came to my desk and sat uninvited on the chair. Catharil asked me what was wrong. "The usual obnoxious political body we can't say no to." I said. She smiled and said she expected me to be already used to it for all these time. Yeah, Catharil's at a level that she can notice the unnatural passage of time and life around us. She can notice it but not uncover it completely.
"We only had ten cases of that, Catharil. This would make it the eleventh. With a little luck, this will be the last one." I said. Catharil smiled. She suggested Jessa handle it since this was right in his province. I shivered when she said that. She laughed out loud. She said the plan to split into two teams really went down the drain when this case surfaced. Yech, don't I know. Then, as always, she made a very sensible suggestion. She suggested the postponement of our Shadow Isles exploration and focus on information-gathering instead. The Shadow Isles can wait. If we wanted an idea of how dangerous the undead really is, she suggested we send some of the Court of Pluto or some other things from Jessa's collection. It had me thinking. That sounded good.
Isn't hit-and-run tactics and attrition warfare the Court of Pluto's specialty? Jessa would like something for his Nation to practice over. So far he was using the Prodigy University's Art of War to raise the ranks of his army. It'll be good if they see some combat. Besides, Jessa was always game in tearing someone apart. Catharil also said the thing about the Edengard is important, as there will be collateral damage with just one misstep. On the other hand, she added, a war livened things up wherever you go. "Give me a break, Catharil. We just survived the first Rune War. The second one isn't far off behind." I said. Catharil smiled. She mused at how humans could start a war from the littlest trivial things. Yech, don't I know. "Which is why the two of us don't have any faith in humanity. Do them a hundred good things and they'll easily forget about it with just one mistake." I said. Catharil spread her wings and rose into the air. She said not all humans are bad, it's just the bad ones that are the most noticeable. Yech, don't I know it. Before she closed the door behind her, she said she wanted to join the strike team heading for the Shadow Isles.
Well, this is gonna be bloody…
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing like hell. Again, I fell asleep at my desk, staring at the case files. "This is stupid." I muttered. Yeah, good morning to you too, sleeping beauty. I flipped my phone to see what the hell was this about. It must be important. It came from two of my contacts.
Señorita. Today. 16:00. Demoñitas Café.
This one is from Gabriel.
Good morning. I need you help again. Can you meet up with me at Pancakes lunchtime?
This is from Irene.
The bird is in the nest.
This one is from Andrew.
I assume he finished buying the things we would need for our Shadow Isles field trip. Why the hell do we need all these secrecies? It's not like we're doing something illegal here! I looked at the clock. Great. Two hours more until lunchtime. Okay, Jessie, it's showtime. Time for the Supernatural Investigator to come in. I put on my usual clothes over a black trenchcoat and fedora. Hell, I look like a real rebel in on the outside but quite formal and polite when I remove my trenchcoat. I tucked my enchanted gun, Der Freischütz, into my coat, slipped the Volcano Cigar between my lips, feeling the delight of the spirit inhabiting it, slipped the Djinni Rings into my fingers and walked outside. Showtime.
I wasn't surprised to find out that Enigma Inc. had gone ahead to school. They knew the drill already. I could sense the unease of the hired help as I passed them by. They've gotten a little used to it, not at all panicky compared to other unrelated people. Yep, the Supernatural Investigator in town. It's one of my powers. Even those of strong will can find my presence unnerving and it suits me. It makes them more cooperative and helps me avoid unwanted attention. As soon as I exited the mansion's grand gates, which was opened for me electronically by my security team, the skies darkened. I strolled through the streets, feeling the eyes of passers-by on me. In my line of work, there's little recognition. Whenever I go Supernatural Investigator, it's like I put some kind of mask on, like I'm wearing another identity. They know I'm still with that famous mystery-solving teenage sleuths but at the same time, they feel like they're seeing an unnerving side of my personality. I don't really care. This suits me when I want to be alone. Above me, the skies turned darker and the air went cold. It's going to rain. I don't know if Jessa can control the weather inside Earth City or he just leaves it to nature but the weather sure turns sour whenever I go S.I.
If it doesn't rain, it becomes misty all around. I find myself drawing a little comfort from these. I've gotten used to it by now. Surely, it took five minutes before the first drops of rain fell to the ground. The melody of raindrops against concrete, steel and leaf made a tranquil background to the bustling city. Little rays of sunshine peeked from the gray clouds above, contrasting with the serenity of it all. I let the rainfall on me. It's my element, the nourishing waters from above. I watched ordinary people run for cover as the skies wept, youth muttering darkly as the rain sabotaged their today's agenda, children running to fetch their raincoats and boots to play in the puddles and old people looking out the windows to reminisce fondly. I was an odd lone figure who stood and continued to walk in the rain, a woman in a dark trenchcoat with a lit cigar between her lips. It seemed that the coming of the rain slowed down a bit Earth City's frantic pace. I can't blame Jessa for wanting to live in rural areas. The ceaseless life in the city isn't for everyone. I looked up and saw I was near. I reached my destination.
Pancakes is one of the small shops in the middle of Queen Elizabeth II Park, overseen by the British District of the European Quarter. Its park central the location of many canvas tents of food stalls and open dining space. Pancakes is owned by a happy-go-lucky Irish-American family and exclusively sells the fare of pancakes, waffles, fish and chips and other assorted kiddie meals. I entered the park entrance and enjoyed the earthly smell of the rain and the wet ground. The park usually had more customers come dusk where lovers and families would come and enjoy spending time together. It's safe, of course, there's a Scooby Doo Villain or police personnel within respectable reach should a rare squabble occur. I walked into one of the four entrances of the Queen Elizabeth II Park Square and saw most of the extensive picnic tables empty, their huge umbrellas down.
Those that are open were occupied by families who stubbornly refused to let a little bit of rain ruin their day. I also noticed a lone figure at one of the tables. A pretty woman in her early thirties, her casual clothes bright and cheery, but her expression was intense and focused. She stared at the folders at the table, sifting them and careful to not let a drop of water on them. She must've noticed my stare because she looked up suddenly and her still lips curled into a half-smile. She nodded my way and I nodded back. I walked towards one of the stands. I bought one meal set from Mexican Delights, another one from Birds and Bees, another one from Japan's Best and kiddie meals (The one that have toys included) from Pancakes, Miss Sheeply's Wool Garden and Trump's. Well, this is the nearest park to my place and Scooby and Shaggy gave it a solid 5 of 5 in their Best Meals Criteria. Mind you, 55.7 million followers in the Internet follow Scooby's and Shaggy's food trips and reviews. Same as Velma's book and movie reviews, Daphne's fashion reviews and beauty tutorials and Fred's DIY videos. I like Trump's.
It's secretly made and owned by Jessa, an inside joke to the real-life Donald Trump. They exclusively sell kiddie meals with toys that are all walls. Last Christmas, it was a wall with cheery elves, a hugging Mrs. Claus and Santa Claus and his reindeers and gave you milk and chocolate chip cookies if you behaved good. Last Halloween, it was a line of haunted houses with illusory spooks. Last time, I heard one toy sold out in ten minutes. It was a wall with a built-in cabinet, bed, wardrobe, study area, bookcase and solar lamps with their own solar panels (Parents and practical people bought this, of no doubt). Their bestseller, undisputed even today, is a wall that opened up like pop-up book and dollhouse combination with animated dolls and toys and in interchangeable scenery like royal castle, magic kingdom, fairy forest, day at the enchanted farm etc. Many kids (And kids at heart) reputedly fainted out of pure delight when they got their hands on it. Most of the time the walls are about the size of foldable picket fences able to fold together to form a square-shaped enclosure, the tallest wall up to date is as tall as adult giraffe and is to be used like a mini-farm, its various doors opening to tiny pocket dimensions suitable for raising livestock or poultry or crops. I smiled as I carried the latest one back to Irene's table. It's a wall inspired by the Queen Elizabeth II Park Square itself and is convenient for by placing your order and money into the associated shop's door, closing the it and opening it again after a minute to find your order inside and ready to be devoured.
Irene looked back and smiled as she saw my newest toy. "I got that one last night. Really convenient, mind you." she said. She sighed and let her eyes drop for a moment. Oh, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it. I'm getting a new wave of guilt. I could bring her back her son and husband. I'm just wondering if it's the right thing. Who the hell's supposed to say if this is wrong anyway? Jessa could close himself off from that but I'm not that much good of an actor. "How ya doing?" I asked as I sat opposite of her. "Grief counseling's working wonders." she said. I nodded. I don't really know what to say to her. I hugged her several times but I think the gesture is smothering her. I decided to woman up and reached out to squeeze her hand firmly. She smiled at my gesture and took a deep breath. She gathered herself. "So what's the newest problem we got?" I asked her. Her eyes turned grim and I knew bad news was heading our way. Before I continue, you need to know something about Earth City Police. Because we're made secure by Scooby Doo Villains, there's actually little need for policemen and policewomen here so our dear President came up with the Earth City Security Blanket Initiative. We offered our police services to some trusted allied partners, particularly the ones that are geographically vulnerable. As of the present, we have three states that have been named our protectorates: Vulturae, the Little Lands and the Raven Isles.
Prepare your asses for some long, boring information…
000
Vulturae is a foundling nation. If I have to describe it, it looks exactly like the Lut Gholein from Diablo 2 (I swear if any one of you never heard or played that game before…). It's a small landmass that was naturally a desert but it's proximity to Shurima has caused several tensions regarding Vulturae's inclusion to the empire's domain. All that tension disappeared years ago when the first Rune War in Shurima expunged the natural ecosystem of Shurima (Shurima wasn't originally a desert at all. It's a jungle) and left it a barren wasteland worse than Vulturae. Turbulent waters and unpredictable weathers of the Ice Maw Sea between the two countries, a side-effect of the magical implosion, set a permanent boundary between the two nations, which suit Vulturae just fine. Vulturae is a place of great history and ancient magic. Countless tombs of priest-kings, filled with arcane knowledge and enchanted treasures, remain hidden among the shifting sands of Vulturae's deserts. Naturally inhospitable, Vulturae has only three cities, virtually no other such settlements exist.
The largest of these cities and also their capital is Atennar. Atennar was built around the biggest oasis in Vulturae and has long since expanded towards the sea to become a port-city. The other two cities, Setan and Basteton, are built around small oases but are relatively land-locked. Vulturae has a solid police force and very mobile too, owing to their flying mounts, but is sadly scattered and unorganized. This has made Vulturae a rather unsecure land, woefully inadequate to defend against a full-scale invasion. Vulturae made contact with Earth City just a scant twenty years ago and, under Caliph Aradin's reign, joined Earth City's protectorate and Vulturi have been perfectly happy under our wing. In return for their loyalty and allegiance, Vulturae asks only for a constant supply of water for their ever-thirsty lands and the added security aid as well as access to Earth City market. So far Vulturae has been happy with our services that they stayed with us.
Vulturae's lands possess its own unique but chaotic brand of magic that's passed onto its denizens. Vulturae's animals are roughly divided between the very few but cooperative megafauna, the predominant but dangerous magibeasts and the almost-extinct common animal life. Vulturi typically have their local megafauna within their reach to help with their daily lives and defense against the dangers of the sands. Magibeasts are magically-charged animals that are warped by eldritch energy, capable of subsisting purely on Mana alone. They are hostile and look like malformed animals with garish human features sticking out of their bodies, made more dangerous by their instinctual spellcasting ability. Vulturae's flora are all centered and fostered around the many oases that spring in and out of the sands. Only three oases are permanently fixed upon their locations and that is where the Vulturi built their cities. These magical oases encourage and propagate plant life at an abnormal rate, any kind of plant can be grown almost overnight, giving the Vulturi plenty of food as long as the plants have a stable water supply. These oases provide water for the Vulturi and all of theirs.
Season in Vulturae could be measured in how hot and dry the land is. Rain never falls naturally in Vulturae but could be encouraged with the use of magic. The most common dangers in Vulturae is not magibeasts but the undiscovered necropolis-tombs of past priest-kings. Wherever the mummified undead wander above the sands, it's sure be to around the proximity of an underground tomb entrance. These tombs host unspeakable dangers as well as untold riches. Many tomb raiders and archeologists have begun to try to excavate these tombs against the protests of the Vulturi. All of these intruders were dispatched most gruesomely by the undead guards. The Vulturi let them die. Vulturi are quite possessive of what is theirs, welcoming guests with warmth and open arms but carelessly and cruelly tossing aside abusers of their hospitality.
NOTABLE MEGAFAUNA:
1. Tunneler Worm Nest- These curious worms, roughly the width of a standard house as an adult, are Atennar's most prized possessions and is actually more of numerous creatures forming a cohesive singular identity. Mine Worms form into an underground nest of ever-churning mass of flesh-like appendages with maws capable of fitting entire tank battalions in it. Tunneler Worms are used as living tunnels to connect the three Vulturi cities. Vulturi also used them as their sewer system and these worms can be fed with literally anything from food to waste to dangerous substances, harmlessly digesting it. Several Tunneler Worms are dedicated as highways and tunnels while others are dedicated as sewer systems and makeshift bunkers. The Tunneler Worm Queen's saliva is a powerful fertilizer that greatly bolsters the health of plants. Of note, however, that Tunneler Worms have powerful digestive juices and Vulturi navigate them airborne with the aid of Byzean Beetles. Currently, there are twenty-one Worms, including their Queen.
2. Byzean Nest- Their Queen is a gigantic hollowed-out, six-legged flightless organic citadel and ambulatory nest. Byzean Beetles are divided into worker castes, warrior castes and maintenance castes. Worker and warrior castes are self-explanatory while the maintenance castes are a unique breed of workers that tend to the Queen's exposed organs. Workers exclusively work to tend to the Queen's outer and inner shell and repair any damages or wear in her chitin. They also forage the land for any of the remaining common animals, usually prioritizing herbivores, and bring them back to the Queen to be handed over to the maintenance caste. The maintenance caste rear and take care of these animals, training the herbivores to eat the weed-like growth on the Queen's organs while training the carnivores to eat the infected portions of an organ to be replaced with a new layer. Warriors are notorious for their acute senses, combining bioelectric pulse tracking and latent psychic capability to detect incoming threats and eliminating them with long-ranged telekinetic blasts from a faraway distance. The Vulturi befriend the workers and warriors in exchange for precious water to keep the Queen's organs from drying out from the intense heat.
3. Flying Fishes- A blanket classification for all the magical marine animal life that inhabit the skies and call the megalithic Coral Towers commonly jutting from Basteton's oasis their home. These Coral Towers are natural anomalies that look like coral reefs extending heavenward and sculpted in an almost manmade manner. They are unique for their ability to create purewater, which Vulturi transport using the Mine Worm Nest to the other two oases in the dry season. Coral Towers are always covered by several layers of purewater, its thickness a measure how healthy a Coral Tower is. These Coral Towers also breed the so-called Flying Fishes. They can either be any breed of whales, dolphins, sharks or any kind of fish for that matter, save for those found in the depths where the sunlight can't reach. Either way, they are all benevolent and docile and subsist entirely on the Coral Towers' magical waters, capable of flying for days before needing to return to the Coral Towers. Vulturi use Flying Fishes as mostly as transports for their people and warriors as well as living weapons to be unleashed on their foes. Unlike the normal assumption, Flying Fishes are sacred and must never be killed as according to Vulturi religion.
4. Gigantic Animals- Among the other megafauna found in Vulturae are the breed of supersize common animals. Whilst possessing immense durability and strength, they are not magical creatures and will succumb to sufficient damage. They are few in numbers but Vulturi tend to them with fanatical fervor. Giant elephants, snails, horses, lizards, scorpions, spiders, worms, bears, great felines, great canines, birds of prey and other such beasts inhabit the sands of Vulturae, able to survive and multiply in the deserts even if they're not common in the desert biome. These megafauna are rabid eaters but Vulturi seem to get by even with their charges' massive appetites.
NOTABLE PRODUCE:
1. Vulturae Borometz- A curious breed of Borometz only present in Vulturae. This breed of Borometz actually starts from a singular gigantic flower that blooms, its petals folding out and digging deep into the soil. When nourished with water, the petal will sprout a plains-like landscape on top from where vegetable sheep, goats, cows, chickens, ducks and pigs grow out of the grass. They're used as a meat source, their meat succulent and juicy when roasted, by Vulturi but are more actually treated as luxury foods when water in Vulturae is at an excess.
2. Spindlefruit- This juicy and slightly oversweet fruit is grown in Setan. Plump, large and spiked, Spindlefruit grows in abundance on the dry season and is a staple food source for Vulturi during that time. A ripe Spindlefruit is large enough to feed a family of four. When unripe, Spindlefruit is hard enough to be used as a projectile weapon, combining its weight and prickly exterior as a more than effective makeshift armament. In its unripe stage, Spindlefruit's spines are hard enough to pierce a tower shield.
3. Sandpearls- A fruit known for its incredible medicinal properties, Sandpearls makes up for its relatively bitter taste with its incredible healing properties. It could cure anything from a heavy migraine to a regular stomachache. If combined as a regent with a healing potion, it could be used to cure in-born genetic abnormalities or deformities. This is Vulturae's most popular export and reason why Vulturi look so youthful, energetic and age so gracefully. To make it even better, Sandpearls are hardy plants that survive even the driest, most unforgiving seasons.
4. Watermirror- these rare trees, only two of them exist all in Setan, is a monument of a plant. Fragile, delicate and water-hungry, Watermirrors are insanely magical. Watermirrors grow glass-like fruits that when crushed, shatters into glass and changes the weather according to the wisher's will in a moderate around him/her. While the magic has to fight the natural weather for it to take effect, the magic gathered from multiple fruits is more than enough to sustain it for twenty-four hours. Watermirrors are rare exports from Vulturae and for good reason. Vulturi use this to make it rain on their lands when water seem too scarce that even the supply from the Coral Towers aren't enough.
NOTABLE MAGIBEASTS:
1. Thunderbeetle- Human-faced beetles with shock-negating shells. When attacked, these beetles retaliate by spawning lightning lances aimed at their attackers. They're hard to kill from a distance and almost impossible to kill in melee. Attacking them with lightning magic is a grave mistake. It's a blessing Thunderbeetles avoid civilization and are aggressive only when trespassing on their territory. Thunderbeetle conveniently inhabit places where Shurimans would normally landfall first if they begin another invasion in Vulturae, a reason why Thunderbeetles are not stomped out.
2. Caliph's Cow- A chimera of a magibeast, these abnormal cattle have cow, human, goat, serpent, bat and crab parts. What they obscenely lack for in appearance, they make up for spirituality. The Caliph's Cows wander the great deserts in a magical procession. Anyone who comes across them are treated to a sermon of unknown tongue and an act that depends on the person's karma. If you're good, you'll be enchanted with blessings of good luck, well-being and good health. If you're evil, a gruesome fate awaits you. What is known is that the undead priest-kings tolerate them as their warriors part and let them into the necropolis-tombs. On an alarming note, Wasted Wanderers have been spotted in their procession.
3. Skyserpents- Imagine human-sized red-colored cobras and attach three pairs of human arms on its side, that's what a Skyserpent looks like. Now imagine this thing capable of weather-manipulating magics and has a near-superhuman intelligence and that's the complete picture of a Skyserpent. Many dilapidated shrines in the desert belong to them and they have a sky-worshipping religion. They live monastic lives, females and males congregating only when mating season. Vulturi tolerate their presence because Skyserpents conjure rain or rainstorms sometimes. Lightning storms, hailstorms and tornadoes are a different matter and a reason to interrupt their rituals entirely.
4. Maurok- A cross between man and birds of prey, Mauroks are spellcasting menaces, capable of hurling elemental spheres one after another. Their huge wingspans betray their apparent incapability of flight. Mauroks are all males. They need to mate with human women to continue their species and thus, are a constant danger to the cities that they habitually raid. A grand forum at Caliph Aradin's palace resulted in a stalemate of a decision. While Mauroks are menacing, they have been known to assist in Vulturi during invasions and attacks, which Vulturae has seen many. A secret order called the Sisterhood of Sacrifices has begun to collect willing volunteers to ensure Maurok cooperation. If found out, Vulturi will find itself approaching a civil war between those who want change and equality and those who want to protect their status.
5. Arphgusa- As all Maurok are males, so are all Arphgusa females. Arphgusa are magibeasts that distinctly resemble sphinxes except they're not. Arphgusa are masters of illusion magic, able to blanket entire areas with their tricks. Arphgusa may look intimidating but are actually quite helpless in physical combat. They are nevertheless not harmless. They are territorial and will not hesitate to bombard their enemies with psychic attacks designed to destroy minds. They're very dangerous when it comes mating season as they will not hesitate to turn men's minds to mush in order to mate with them. They also possess strong telekinetic abilities. They resemble elephants with their society but share a communal husband if the need is great. The famous pariah heroes, Malik and Abdeen, gave themselves to the Arphgusa to steer them off the cities. Their removal from the Hall of Heroes by the Chief Hierophant's order ignited the first signs of a civil war.
6. Gauri- Considered to be demons by Vulturi tradition, the Gauri mean "forbidden" in Vulturi tongue. Gauri is the result of the undead priest-king Meleena's efforts to save common animals, infecting them with Vulturae's magic as much as possible. What resulted from that are distinctly animals borne by many spindly human arms and legs. Gauri are accepted within the Byzean Nest as their multiple limbs make them excellent workers for tasks where Byzean Beetles find difficult and their enhanced intelligence make them highly trainable. Some Gauri grow human heads and are quite capable of speech through them, to the horror of Vulturi. They are also accomplished Invokers, able to conjure weak but plentiful allies out of thin air.
7. Vyankar- Meaning "faithful attendant" in Vulturi tongue, Vyankars pose the greatest threat of all the magibeasts. Put simply, Vyankars are reanimated remains of a priest-king's mummified pet (They took common animals to symbol their humility and temporary office and are usually cats) and then was infected by Vulturae magic in addition to the ritual-spells cast on the remains that allow them to rise when the tomb is intruded on. Since Vyankars are said to be protectors of their owner's graves, these things have been busy reanimating the unfathomable warrior legions each necropolis-tomb holds. Some seers speak of a great calamity to befall on Vulturae, others panic at the possibility of an attack, all are worried as Vyankars have been sending these mummies to the world above more recently. Strange reports of hostile chimera-like mummies leading ensorcelled corpses attacking scouts have reached the masses, more distressing is they are coming closer to Atennar.
NOTABLE DANGERS:
1. Shifting Sands- Vulturae's magic seeps from the heart of the land itself. The heart is said to be a legendary god-creature, fallen from the skies since eons past, that remains hidden in the sands and sleeping for untold ages. It is this heart that grants Vulturae its unique and chaotic brand of magic as well as the unnatural dangers of the Shifting Sands. The danger of the Shifting Sands emanate from the very heart of the land, turning the vast sands into a falling and rising motion as if the sands turned into the sea itself. Countless things rise from the Shifting Sands, unlikely shipwrecks, ruins, battlefields, landmarks, shrines, cave entrances or networks, oases and rare bodies of water, mountains, alien temples or civilizations, flesh-lands, alien landscapes, parcels of land trapped forever in one of the four seasons' cycle, ghostly reenactments of important events, the rarest and most desired tombs of the oldest priest-kings. These things last for a time above the Shifting Sands before sinking back, no one knows how long before they resurface. At the very heart of Vulturae, the Shifting Sands claim permanent domain, chugging even more spectacular vistas to the surface. Vulturae use the Shifting Sands at a measure of the seasons. At the driest season, the Shifting Sands claim all of Vulturae until it is no different from walking on semi-solid storm-tossed waters. On this time, only the three Great Oases remain above the churning ground as the cities would have magically levitated off into the air. The danger of the Shifting Sands is real. Anyone who makes the mistake of stepping into it is quickly sucked down, like quagmire but faster. Curiously, non-living things, flora and fauna, magibeasts and Wasted Wanderers are not affected by it.
2. Wasted Wanderers- Commonly referred as "Ryuk'Asin" in Vulturi tongue, meaning forsaken ones. They are taller than humans and magically powerful, these chimeric mummified undead wander the land accompanied by a procession of enchanted zombies. Though they look aimless at first, it became clear after several years that Wasted Wanderers are after all Vulturi life, ignoring flora, fauna and other undead entirely. Why they do what they do is not clear or understandable but the level of destruction a Wasted Wanderer can bring is immense. While their main ability to raise zombies right out of the sands, their zombies carry an eldritch boon or are capable of casting a singular spell endlessly. These can range from elemental blasts to ensorcelled hide to cursing to summoning other undead at its worst. Wasted Wanderers are thankfully few and come out of the Shifting Sands only at the driest season, the time when Vulturi cities would be floating in the air. This does not promise absolute safety however as sometimes the Shifting Sands would rise high enough that it's higher than city walls and Wasted Wanderers and their entourage could simply jump down.
3. Tomb Raiders- Whether they're professional treasure hunters or greedy archeologists, Vulturae seems to have the knack of attracting the filthiest of their lot. Armed with money and numerous well-armed goons, these intruders barge into the many tombs of the undead priest-kings as if they own the place with nothing but the promise of wealth and glory. They are usually killed by the undead guards but the Vulturi suffer from such intrusion as either the Vyankars of those tombs or, worse, its priest-king will exact bloody vengeance usually in the form of undead waves. There are a few tomb raiders that have been successful in getting away with the treasure they sought but they never do make it back on the surface. The Shifting Sands claim those tombs before they ever make it out.
4. Priest-Kings- In Vulturae past, these men and women were the heads of both the government and religion of Vulturi. They wielded a great command over Vulturae's magic and could command the sands to reshape as they will or give up its secrets. How these powerful beings even came to be defeated is part of Vulturae's lost history, which almost none can recall but everyone actively seeks to uncover. Many priest-kings lay dormant in their tombs, leaving their Vyankars to protect them forever. It is a fact, however, that some tombs do have its own priest-king walking its halls, still practicing the Old Ways. Most priest-kings are neutral to the living, reacting only when provoked or insulted, and can even be flattered to beneficial deeds. There are a few priest-kings that are benevolent in their own crazy way like the famous priest-kings Meleena, creator of the Gauri, and Ayaden whose tomb occasionally appears outside Basteton and sends her mummy sorcerers to perform restorative magic on the Coral Towers, Makrissin who hoards knowledge and Tephebraun who sends his undead army to assist in an invasion's defense. Only one priest-king is shown to be openly hostile to the living, priest-king Caranis, and that was because the insane Caliph Ontis killed all of her Vyankars a hundred years ago. This prompted the priest-king to rise from death out of sheer fury and begin a campaign against all Vulturi. She is most famous for her torture of Caliph Ontis for seventy days and seventy nights before damning his soul for eternity. Rumor has it she is the creator of the Wasted Wanderers, a rumor that's gained credence since they're first spotted around her tomb's general region. An even darker rumor suggests she's planning to unleash new nightmares in the near future.
The Little Lands is an anomalous place we discovered entirely by mistake. I'm proud to say that it was through the Jessies' Mystery Case Solvers Group that connection and alliance with the Little Lands became possible. The Little Lands came to be when the Fae Realm and the Dreamworld collided with each other. A shard of both these realms fell off to the mortal plane and coalesced into what would be known as the Little Lands. The Little Lands is a magical realm that is permanently affixed on Runeterra, its location a worrisome distance to what would be capital of the Noxian Empire in several years.
Thankfully, the Noxians would need to scour above the clouds first before they could even spot the magical land. The Little Lands is a collection of over two-hundred floating landmasses of varying sizes and biomes. True to its birth, the Little Lands is occupied by all manners of fantastical creatures and plant life, all of which intelligent or sentient. The Little Lands support itself by drawing power from both the Fae Realm and the Dreamworld and, as such, is a portal to both places. While fantastic, the Little Lands isn't without danger. Space and time within it is a little erratic and unpredictable and an outsider may find themselves in varying states of unnatural distress. Days in the Little Lands may take months, years even, to the world outside it. Mortals may find themselves aged forward or reverse, switched genders or combined, picked up fanciful while strange habits like rhyming with everything you say or the obsessive artistic streak for example, growing unusual features like functioning insect wings or horns.
Most of all, the Little Lands itself changes every minute. Biomes change, time of day changes, the season changes, these could all happen in every minute interval. The Little Lands itself is sentient albeit possessing the attention span and the mentality of a child. If the land likes you, you'll find the scenery beautiful and bountiful, welcoming and soothing, attractive and immersing. Gods help you if by any chance it decides it doesn't like you. Every second of your stay will be an assassination attempt. Portals to the Dreamworld and the Fae Realm open in random intervals anywhere in the Little Lands and anything from the benign and friendly to the outright murderous and psychopathic could slip out of them. Benevolent Dreams usually cannot leave the Little Lands but the same cannot be said for the Fae and the Nightmares that cross over. A silent treaty safeguards the Little Landers and their visitors but everyone unrelated is fair game.
The Little Landers is comprised of literally everyone in the Little Lands, even the land itself whose opinion matters the most. Talking magical animals and plants are the usual citizens here along with the Dreams and other small courts of Fae that decided this place was better than where they came from. The Little Lands also pose an interesting if unique danger to mortals. Nicely put, no one can stand looking at the Little Lands for a whole minute, not because they're ugly or anything, but because their systems couldn't take the senseless color. A little girl might declare the Little Lands to be the perfect "dreamland wonderland fantasyland fairyland ever!" before puking elsewhere because of the senseless, chaotic, illogical and never-seen-before colors. Did you know there are over one hundred shades of each color and their sub-colors? Not even undead or emotionless eldritch creatures can bear to stare at them for five minutes. However, when it comes to resources, the Little Lands has countless to offer. Being an independent part of the Fae Realm and the Dreamworld, the Little Lands and Little Landers can merely will things into existence (Assuming you can get them to do that in the first place).
Whatever they will into existence has a 50-50 chance of disappearing when taken outside its territories or it might have some sticking power. When we discovered this place, the Little Land took a liking to us faster than the Little Landers did. We are their first visitors after all. It took a lot of time and quests for them to warm up to us as well as sugarcoated words from the snake Jessa. I'm proud to say that the Jessies, Mystery Inc. and Enigma Inc. can last a five whole days without going sick in their realm.
As a side-note, winning the favor of the Little Lands or Little Landers grants you a faithful ally, a good friend, a steadfast protector and a constant stalker. They are all the sort of friends who will stick by you until the bitter end as long as you feel the same way. They value loyalty, honesty and friendship the most (But will sadly badger you into visiting their realm at least one week a month. Do that or just be plain abducted). They may or may not be moderately insane just like the denizens of Wonderland from Alice In Wonderland and their gifts to you may or may not blow up in your face. All Little Landers are gifted psychics thanks to their Dreamworld heritage as well as cunning tricksters thanks to their Fae side. The only Earth City Police presence in the Little Lands is that of Jessa's Scooby Doo Villains and, in return for the things they will to reality, I honestly think we just provide them semi-permanent playmates and babysitters.
The Toy Robotus and its army of weaponized toys stand guard over the Little Lands but they mostly just play games with its attention-starved citizens. It would seem that only things of mechanical and/or non-sentient origin could stand to be sane here. The Toy Robotus takes turn with the Organism and its army of zombies and infected protecting the Little Lands (But the Toy Robotus and its toys is more exciting for them since the Organism and its peepz easily bore the Little Landers with their slothful uncoordinated movements. They even claimed the Organism and its own to be creepy. Pot calling the kettle black). Here's the list of the things the Little Lands is most proud of and the most famous goods that flow to Earth City (I've taken the liberty of narrowing it down since the Little Landers handed me over a million boasts):
· Dreamdust- This sparkly multi-colored dust is an extract from the Dreamworld and is necessary to keep all Imagined Things, all the ones listed here, on this side of reality. Though it only takes a pinch to keep them functioning and prime for several months, Dreamdust takes time to be extracted from the Dreamworld. It doesn't help that there's also a high demand of Dreamdust in the market as an alternative medicine. Though it's been disclaimed because of its highly addicting tendency, Dreamdust has the power to alleviate depression, heighten mental capacity temporarily, repairs brain damage and allows for a sweet eight hours of lucid dreaming.
· Dreamcrystal- More powerful versions of the Dreamdust albeit combustible and volatile, Dreamcrystals trade the Dreamdust's sheer reliability with its explosive brand of power. They can be crushed to make Dreamdust but the process is risky and made only when Dreamdust is at a low stock. Most of the time, they're used by the Earth City Police as an alternative stun grenade. It generates enough spatial force to knock out people and big foes. Be careful not to use them on Imagined Buildings or Vehicles, things can get real ugly.
· Tree of Dreams- These things are so valuable that they're guarded day and night by the Earth City Enforcement Elite Corps. Tree of Dreams are large colorful trees that bend in whimsical and senseless shapes. They are venerable producers of Dreamdust and Dreamcrystals. There are only a few of them as most of them disappear outside the Little Lands. What few there are have weak sticking power. Every ten years, each Tree of Dreams bear five Dreamcores, magically-powerful fruits with the capability of powering and maintaining Imagined Things for several years straight. There are currently thirteen Trees of Dreams in Earth City.
· Imaginary Friends: TYPE-01- Yep, you expectations weren't in vain after all. These weird creatures make up for faithful bestfriends and babysitters for children in Earth City and other protectorates. Imaginary Friends have high sticking power and subsist entirely on their bonded child's imagination. They can interact with the physical plane in varying degrees of power, mostly striking out when their bonded child is in distress. Imaginary Friends of this type are good at teaching children etiquette, manners and the virtues of humility, responsibility and respect. When the child reaches fourteen or eighteen, they can opt for the Imaginary Friend Adoption Program, giving their Imaginary Friends a Dreamdust ration to keep them on this plane.
· Imaginary Friends: TYPE-02- They're just like Imaginary Friends but what sets them apart is that this kind of Imaginary Friend actually comes with its own dimension, tailored to their kid's fantasy and dreams, accessible via a fixed entrance. This kind of Imaginary Friends usually takes on the shape of something static and reasonably sized like a book, a trunk or a wardrobe. These Imaginary Friends have moderate sticking power but their realms have an exemplary degree of it. Also, in their realms, Imaginary Friends are literal gods but nothing inside these realms can ever be taken outside it.
· Imaginary Friends: TYPE-03- The last of Imaginary Friends are known for their ability to project things from the Dreamworld in a small area around them. By calling on whimsical Dreams from the Dreamworld, this kind of Imaginary Friend can thrill and awe a child to no end. They are great at distractions and their Dreams and constructs are semi-solid. This kind of Imaginary Friend, however, has low sticking power and this applies to the summoned Dreams and constructs as well. They enjoy high demand with people who remain kids at heart as well as senior citizens.
· Imaginary Waifu/Husbando- The most popular of the Imagined Things over all of them, Imaginary Waifus and Husbandos have strong sticking power and can be invisible and intangible at will. They're never in short demand in Earth City and sell out like crazy when new stocks hit the shelf. They are tailored to the person's taste and specifications and carry moderate superhuman qualities or features. Like TYPE-01 Imaginary Friends, they subsist entirely on their partner's imagination. You can finally have the dream harem you always wanted. Waifus and Husbandos are treated on the same level as Earthlings and abuse of them carry criminal charges on both Earth City and the Little Lands (Note that this affects ALL Imagined Things).
· Mimics- For people who get tired of robbers breaking into their houses and stealing from them. Mimics take on the shape of furniture, chests, doors and other ornaments and enjoy pretending to be one. Should anyone other than their owners or someone without their owner's permission attempt to touch them or break into them, they revert to their fleshy form of sharp teeth, lashing tongues and flying spit. They can put up a good fight against their attackers and will call nearby Mimics to assist it. They're quite popular in Earth City and one has to be registered in the Mimic Owners' Group before being able to buy one. Mimics had moderate sticking power but it becomes strong when attacking.
· Zombos- Yep, these are cartoonish zombies (Think Zombies from Plants VS. Zombies). They have moderate sticking power in reality and cannot be used in combat owing to this weakness and their relatively slow movements. They, however, make up for tireless and diligent workers, best when working in large groups so that they can coordinate seamlessly. They're used as laborers for various operations back at Earth City but their simple intelligence requires they be overseen at all times. Zombos come in many shapes and sizes as well as degrees of shocking appearances but they are all multitalented and benevolent unless provoked. Zombos are quite active when Halloween comes, their sticking power becoming exemplary.
· Electroids- These living batteries power Earth City, creating cheap and sustainable electricity for the entire place. Electroids have low sticking power, that's why they're kept safe and well-guarded in Conversion Plants. Also, they're responsible for the Wireless Electric Grid. All Earth City electronics have built-in electrowave-receivers to receive electricity remotely as well as your standard cord and plug. They also power the Wireless Internet Grid in Earth City, making ultra-speed internet possible for everyone. Electroids have low Dreamdust maintenance, making them a win-win overall. Over 3,264,000 Electroids work for Earth City, giving our protectorates and us an abundance of electrical power.
· Cheshire Cats- Straight out of Alice In Wonderland, these floating striped cats make for famous pets especially for teens, children and the elderly and have moderate sticking power. They capable of permanent levitation and can disappear and appear at will when they smile. They are both intelligent and sentient and make up for good conversation partners. They don't need to be house-trained and can follow instruction as long as it's not too elaborate. Also, Cheshire Cats have an astounding sense of direction, have minor telekinesis and mid-level animation spells. If a Cheshire Cat has grown to like its owner, it will begin to attract other wonderland creatures to visit the place, each bringing a boon of some sort of the owner. All wonderland creatures are benevolent but have some kind of quirk that can be irritating at first. Cheshire Cats usually attract up to fifty wonderland creatures. Cheshire Cats also make great caretakers of your other non-magical pets, making them sought-after in shelters and sanctuaries.
· Queens of Hearts- Another one straight out of Alice In Wonderland. These pompous fat queens in red dress come with their army of card soldiers. Thankfully, they're just the size of your average Barbie doll. Queens of Hearts sport soft hearts despite their prickly personalities. They and theirs make for great help in a household and are present in every senior home in Earth City. Their card soldiers cooperate with each other seamlessly to aid in tasks bigger than themselves. Queens of Hearts have their own brand of tough love and are known to work great with children as well. Any home they are in will be declared their dominion and whimsical wonderland creatures would gradually appear all over the place. Their eyes and the numbers of the card soldiers is enough to discourage any criminal intent. Queens of Hearts have low sticking power but their card soldiers and wonderland creatures have moderate sticking power. If a Queen of Hearts is downed, her servants similarly vanish alongside her. One Queen of Hearts usually has an army of one hundred card soldiers and fifty wonderland creatures. The wonderland creatures appear at random but each of them have their own minor benefit (Example: Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse come with their own bottomless tea party).
· Imagined Buildings- Yep, you read it right. All the Imagined Buildings deployed from the Little Lands are usually buildings like our embassies in our protectorates, roads, highways, parks, local government units and government housing units. These consume the most Dreamdust but they're really convenient. Nothing short of an atom bomb can dent these constructs, meaning they have exemplary sticking power, and they regenerate instantly when given Dreamdust. Also, they can take on the shape of what the user requires of them and violate the laws of physics to a degree such as being larger than what it looks like, giving old granny a speed boost when she's crossing the road, freezing reckless drivers in place and teleporting animals across roads for zero roadkills are some of the example. The White Tower, seat of the Earth City government, is a notable Imagined Building.
· Imagined Vehicles- Again, this is another heavy Dreamdust eater. All Imagined Vehicles are under government usage and they're really convenient because there's no need for fuel, maintenance or handling really. You can just give orders to these things and they'll accomplish it on their own. Whether it's landcraft, aircraft or watercraft, Imagined Vehicles can take the shape you fancy just like Imagined Buildings (So if you want the Cat Bus from My Neighbor Totoro, you definitely can). Unlike Imagined Buildings, they only have moderate sticking power but Dreamdust prolongs them twice than other Imagined Things would get.
· Mineral Gardens- Created by the Little Lands itself, which accounts for its exemplary sticking power, these are essentially rock gardens that when you plant a non-magical mineral on, you give it water and fertilizer like it's some kind of plant and, poof!, you'll find that mineral of yours to have grown like weeds. Can grow all of the Earth minerals, even vibranium.
· All-Publisher- Another work of the Little Lands itself that always garner praise from artists and youths in Earth City and has exemplary sticking power as usual. Have you ever have a drawing, story or poem in mind that your hands or drawing skills can't do any justice? Wish you could draw comics or mangas but don't have the time or talent? Want to make that one dream video game you always fantasized but alas always remained a fantasy? Played and replayed your own cartoon or anime series in your head that it felt so real but fate says otherwise? Well, have no fear! With the All-Publisher, you can bring all your artistic dreams to life! If you can imagine it, the All-Publisher can make it! WARNING: any works of criminal intent, inhumane or depraved nature, pornographic materials, fake news or information, plagiarism and propaganda materials will be denied and reported and the All-Publisher will be unimagined. All-Publisher is strictly for artistry and fun only and cannot be used to make money. All works made through the All-Publisher can only be posted on the Imagination Unleashed website. Also, the Little Lands will take this personally and will send you horrifying nightmares every time you fall asleep. It will stop either when you're dead or you're traumatized within an inch of your life.
· Weaver Spiders- These small arachnids usually form groups of up to thirty and have the ability create strong and super-soft webs that they could shape into anything from gowns to entire wardrobes. These things, that even the worse arachnophobics find cute and adorable, are quite the fashionistas and you can count on them to make the clothes they make to be stylish and well into your tastes. Weaver Spiders have low sticking power and eat an equal amount of leaves, fresh or wilted, in order to produce their silk. Also, they're afraid of real spiders.
· Makers- They take the shape of small old people with fairy wings and are a worker's bestfriend. They are available in seven specialties: Baker, Toymaker, Gardener, Woodworker, Brewers, Household and Sellers. These infinitely-inspired Imagined Things are capable of making an interesting and curious thing once a month. Bakers with baked goods, Toymakers with toys, Gardeners with potted plants, Woodworkers with furniture, Brewers with alcoholic beverages. The Household kind function for half of the month, doing cleaning and maintenance to the home they visit. The Seller kind show up once a month to hawk interesting things, from ceramics and collectibles to furniture and fixtures. Most Makers don't require Dreamdust as they visit only once a month, with the exception of the Household type. They can't be owned and instead must subscribe to the Curious and Curiouser Inc. to allow visitations. Comes with affordable promos to get all the Makers you need! Subscribing to all the Makers will net you a ticket for a chance to win a lifetime supply of canned goods.
· Winnies- Named after Winnie The Pooh, these large cartoony teddy bears are any gardener's bestfriend. Best when working in teams of threes or fives, Winnies can turn any home or dreary surroundings into a veritable Eden of colors and blooms. Just supply them gardening or landscaping materials and they'll do the rest of the work. They're mostly used by Earth City as public gardeners and they're pretty damn good at it. The plants they take care of seem to be imbued with extra fortitude and hardiness and are sure to bloom for anyone as long as they are well-tended. Winnies have low sticking power but are quite fast on their feet and can blink over short distances.
· Origami Animals- Essentially, these disembodied spirits inhabit enchanted papers that fold themselves up into animal shapes and move around by flying or scurrying. They're exclusively hired by the government to coordinate paperwork and file them easily. An entire department is handed over to them and you'll find them by the hundreds within the White Tower, delivering or sending information to various departments. They are also capable secretaries, able to take down notes and dictated letters clearly and concisely. Despite their fragile looks, they have exemplary sticking power and can alert authorities when someone breaks into their information vaults.
· Dustbunnies- Dustbunnies join Origami Animals as among the exclusive servants of the government. Dustbunnies are in charge of cleaning, maintenance and resupplying the White Tower. They do their business at night and have never been outside the White Tower. As such, they treat the White Tower as their second home and will not tolerate any sign of disrespect. Dustbunnies look like fluffs of dust with tiny eyes, arms and legs that float in the air. They are capable of lifting items a hundred times bigger than their size. Like the Origami Animals, they have an entire department dedicated to them. They are not entirely helpless. Dustbunnies can blow magical dust at hostiles, which can almost reduce them immediately into debilitating fits of coughing and sneezing. If the intruder is mechanical in nature, it will be gazpacho.
The Raven Isles is a union of forty-five small and medium-sized islands where the once-great Balkaran Archipelago once stood, now lost forever to the sea. The Raven Isles is the last remaining of the great Balkaran Empire. Currently, it's ruled under a Constitutional Monarchy under the joint-leadership of King Crow and Prime Minister Vlatoira. Most of the Raven Isles resources come from the sea and megalithic primitive shrines and monuments litter the seafloor around between islands. No one's really sure who built these shrines or why but their powerful magic persist even to this day. This manifests with the abnormally bountiful sea life in their waters and the strange mist that surrounds the Raven Isles should intruders enter their territory. This mist confounds intruders and they'll always find themselves back where they started no matter how many times they try to pierce through.
Of the three Earth City protectorates, The Raven Isles is the youngest, only three years old. Ravenites aren't quite used to our presence on their soil but they're proven to be cooperative. Their joining us was because of the alarming presence of pirates and underwater eldritch horrors that have steadily grown in numbers during the past, their appearances getting more and more distressing by the minute. What makes matters worse, a chink in the magical mist's protection has been detected. The glowing dark green mist that comes at every month at the dead of the night at a full moon manages to bypass this defense and brings with it horrifying monstrosities, parodies of the living and the dead. The first attack happened six months ago and though the Ravenites managed to send them back, the number of wounded and critical wounded was something their rulers didn't like. The second attack saw many Ravenite defenders dead at dawn and this was the final straw. King Crow and Prime Minister Vlatoira sent delegates to seek a legendary city whose reputation sprung far and wide, a city many believed to be existing on a different plane entirely: the Earth City.
It was through our embassy at Vulturae that contact was established and Ravenites offered to join our protectorates in return for trade and resources from their country. Of all the other protectorates, the Raven Isles has a large concentration of Earth City Police force, quite enough to be already considered a military base. The Raven Isles is only a few miles away from what was formerly the Blessed Isles, now turned the Shadow Isles. Around 500 Earth City Police personnel, the Villains: the Nurarihyon and his Hyakki Yagyō and the Gaia and her Greek mythical servants are stationed here. They have been effectively cutting down the underwater threats and the undead of the Black Mist, which must be the reason why they chose to victimize someone else. The main export of the Raven Isles is their wealth of coastal resources and, frankly, they need Earth City more than we need them. We have detected, however, large deposits of Manachyte and the King and the Council are currently debating whether to allow the harvest of these precious alchemical catalysts. Jessa's plan of making the Raven Isles a vacation spot for Earthling researchers, botanists, environmentalists and small families is gaining huge traction, that way the Raven Isles can earn money necessary to purchase things from Earth City market while being able to preserve their land's natural beauty. Water sports and scuba diving would make a great hit in the Raven Isles as most of their bounties are found on water or underwater. Ravenites are pretty much touchy about foreigners exploiting their natural richness.
I mean, the Raven Isles have unused mines of magical gems and, by our geological estimations, those same mines can replenish themselves slowly over time. And still the Ravenites refused. I'm sure they're aware about the doubtful looks Earthlings and our other protectorates have been giving them. The parcels of land the Ravenite government gave us to use as we please was indicative of that. They even gave us a major mine of Manachyte to use. Ravenites are a proud, territorial, stubborn, short-tempered, passionate and hardy folk but they're not stupid. They know they have to give in order to receive and for our alliance to stand as it is, they have to swallow some of that goddamn pride. If you're interested in why the Ravenites act like that, they're basically like the Aryans, like they really embody the entire goddamn master race myth. Ravenites are white, tall, beautiful and attractive with little effort to it, have blonde hair like molten gold, blues eyes the color of the clear sky, males and females are all well-endowed (If you know what I mean), keep fit and healthy with the barest amount of effort, have superb physical and mental faculties, are long-lived (They can live up to 500 years old), have strong regenerative capabilities, have strong magical affinity and are born with a unique magic that no other Ravenite can have while the bearer is alive. In terms of personality, they get along very well with their fellow Ravenites but lord their superiority to "aliens" and "non-whites".
And, I hear you asking, how on earth did these magnificent godforsaken specimens found themselves in such a delicate situation? Ask no more, dear friends! I have the answer! NUMBERS. By our official count, there could be no more than one thousand Ravenites in the Raven Isles. It's pretty understandable that the Raven Isles can only support so much but there is a wealth of unused space to refute that reasoning. Ravenites are real fussy about "purity" stuff and all that. They tend to selectively breed among themselves as dictated by their culture and natural predisposition to produce an even better bloodline. This seemingly cruel and backwards thinking bear some credence to it through the Ravenite Prime, a group of the most powerful Ravenites in the Raven Isles.
These Primes are taller, more built and more beautiful than your standard Ravenite and they boast powerful physiques, weapon mastery and eldritch arts (And most importantly, SPARKLE!) and have angel-like wings. The Primes are also the only ones who can tame and command the Mist-Raven murders that are common in the Raven Isles. These giant ravens are strong enough to carry three adults, intelligent enough to cooperate with its rider, smart enough to adapt to any situation, cunning enough to exploit enemy weakness, fast enough to outpace any airborne threat and magical enough to cast a sustained barrage of simple elemental spells. The Primes make up the King's honor guards. The King also happens to be a Prime himself, as is the requirement for the ruling monarch. They must be the pinnacle among the Primes. Jessa is the official ambassador to the Raven Isles (Lord Mortimer Marx quit three months ago, as did seventy-four others. You can count me, Mystery Inc. and Enigma Inc. to that list) and, frankly, maybe the only one who can tolerate the Ravenites' holier-than-thou attitude and even Jessa sometimes takes an inordinate amount of time killing zombies in the VR back at his trailer after a meeting with them. Yep, that's how insufferable Ravenites are. Well, at least, they share their sea-based resources with us. Here's the list of their unique resources:
SEA FAUNA (Both magical and common):
1. Bellfry- These small bioluminescent fishes are particularly easy to breed and catch. They grow both by eating and absorbing sunlight into their bodies and live only on shallow saltwater. At night, they glow brightly enough to illuminate the coastline. Bellfries breed every month and can multiply explosively and coupled with their six-year lifespan, there's a constant need to watch and monitor their numbers. Bellfries emit a hallucinogenic mist when threatened. This self-defense is enough to stave off most predators but anything bigger than a shark is affected by a lesser degree.
2. Galeminnows (Spiritpearl only)- These small fries are small in number, usually a hundred at any given time in the Raven Isles waters, and live in one cooperative hivemind community. Ravenites monitor Galeminnows closely and for good reason. Galeminnows, as a community, can create underwater storms. It's fantastic to see the waters become murky with storm clouds and seeing lightning or ice battering the seafloor. Galeminnows use this magical ability to bring rain to coral forests (Which is known to have some kind of growth-encouraging effect) or drive away the dangerous and unnatural horrors from the deeps. Galeminnows produce the coveted Spiritpearls (Technically these are their coalesced bodily wastes), which can be used for high-scale weather-manipulation rituals. Galeminnows' Spiritpearls are the only ones being exported as the Galeminnows themselves decay within seconds after death.
3. Flotsam and Jetsam- Imagine a large milkfish then add a cluster of tentacles on its belly, a multitude of eyes all over its body and you have these creatures. Though physically different from one another, Flotsam and Jetsam are two sides of the same coin and both are dangerous to hunt. Flotsams have the capability of creating electricity from their bodies, usually enough to discourage predators and stun prey. Jetsams have the capability of short-ranged teleportation, using the skill to close in on prey or escape from predators. Their meat has a sweet aroma and taste to it, not at all fishy-smelling, and is in high demand on Raven Isles, Earth City and other protectorates. Flotsams and Jetsams live in separate symbiotic communities close to each other.
4. Mandies- These round fishes, just about the size of a baby's fist and resembling spineless pufferfishes, border as either the inexhaustible asset or the nuisance you just can't get rid of. Mandies have thrice the explosive reproduction of Bellfries and seven times more their number. Mandies are the most common export Earth City ever receives from the Raven Isles, so much that they're sold for practically a pittance back at our markets (Vulturae usually consumes over 60% of them). Mandies are jovial creatures and have been known to rescue Ravenites drowning or under attack from a predator. Mandies, in Ravenite religion, are said to be born from the trickster goddess Mandara who, despite being the one who does things just for shits and giggles, wanted to make sure no one in the Raven Isles would ever know hunger. Jessa kinda corroborated the myth as he said that Mandies aren't a species at all but just one sentience split into countless flesh. Mandies are the staple food for all living things in the Raven Isles and they embrace it with great pride and dignity.
5. Blankara (Milk only)- This is actually a family of jellyfishes who vary in size, coloration and behavior. Most Blankara are docile and are like underwater cows. Blankara are known for their thick, rich milk that is just absolutely gorgeous. As someone who has tasted it, I can guarantee you your money back. As there are actually fifty-seven kinds of Blankara, each named after their predominant color, there are fifty-seven kinds of milk you can get from them, all nutritious and taste divine. Ravenites have underwater farms dedicated into keeping the fragile Blankara safe and healthy. Just for clarification, the Ravenites export Blankara milk, not the actual creature. Blankara have delicate constitutions and Ravenites trust no one other themselves to be fit to keep them healthy and happy.
6. Sandman- These magical gentle giants resemble dugongs (Seriously? Sea cows! JESUS!) are present only in Raven Isles waters and are caretakers to the creatures of the sea. They are the responsible for the teeming sea life in the Raven Isles, able to wield their own brand of healing and nature magic, and are escorted by an army of sea life and sea monsters at all times that will defend it to the death. Sandmen are named after the shimmering sand-like excretions they always give off when working. Sandmen have a slow reproduction but make up for it with their astounding longevity. There are currently eighteen Sandmans in the Raven Isles while two of them are working back at Earth City. Ravenites have taken to reluctantly hiring Sandmen out to us and these hired out Sandmen are guarded 24/7.
7. Sea monsters, sea monsters and sea monsters, oh, my!- Just the basic package of giant sea serpents, really giant squids, krakens, leviathans, Kaiju-esque things, megalodons and other saltwater dinosaur predators , whales with the size and temperament that would give Disney's Pinocchio's Monstro a run for his money, Zaratans, Man O' Wars and other yet uncommon or uncharted sea monsters that inhabit the Raven Isles waters. Some of them are reasonable and docile, some are plain murderous, all of them dangerous when rubbed the wrong way. Many of them can be tamed theoretically if reared from birth but the process is arduous and difficult. All sea monsters display a curious gentleness and cooperation towards Ravenites. All of these also compete with the Ravenites for food.
SEA FLORA (Both magical and common):
1. Sea Tree- Yep, you read that right. It could be any species of trees (Or any plant for that matter but they're mostly trees) that live above water but could also be seen living in the bottom of the seafloor. These unique plants usually live around the sunken megalithic landmarks at the bottom of the sea and eerily resemble orchards, farms or gardens. Ravenites dive deep to a risky quest to harvest fruits, wood or any kind of rare produce from these. Since they are limited resources that even the Ravenites know not if it can regrow, Ravenites have developed a unique druidic magic that allows them to extract wood from these trees without cutting or harming them. Entire forests of Sea Trees could be seen spanning for miles underwater and other species of plants have been sighted though this is rare. Sea Tree lumber is as strong as steel and could regenerate and be reshaped when poured with saltwater.
2. Giant Sea Lilies- At ADULT stage, these hardy plants are wide enough and strong enough to carry a large three-story mansion and have enough space for a garden or three, a golf course, a separate garage, a treehouse and playground for the kids and servant cabins. Yep, they're that huge. These plants have multipurpose usage back at the Raven Isles, one of which is five Giant Sea Lilies borne afloat the royal palace and the Council Courts. Despite popular assumption, Giant Sea Lilies are easy to care for provided you pay attention to them. Back at Earth City, they're used for floating homes or businesses and even made a trend as natural yachts for the rich and famous.
3. Coraline- In Ravenite religion, Coraline are born from the First Princess Coraline of the star-crossed Iliad of the Divided Lovers when she cast herself unto the sea when she found out about her lover's death. As her lover had been a favorite of the sea, her corpse turned into the many coral forests of the Raven Isles and would be home to the descendants of the many sea life that followed her lover until his death at the Shrikewind Last Stand. True to this tale, any sea fauna, magical or otherwise, born to the Coraline are blessed with good health and resilience as well as enhanced intelligence. Once every ten years, the Coraline gives birth to a brittle crystal-like pearl called the Coraline's Tear. Where the Coraline's Tear is broken, another Coraline with rise all around it, provided it is crushed underwater and in saltwater. The Ravenites have given us two of Coraline's Tear (Which, of course, they strongly suggested we use near or within Raven Isles. Stupid gits) and we used it to create an expansion of the coral forests towards the nearby uninhabited barrier island spotted north of Raven Isles, which we suggested to the Ravenites to occupy. I'll tell you more about this later.
4. Rankmothers- If you take the back of a Zerg Swarm Host, expand it and plaster it all over the seafloor, you'll get the sentient plant species called by the Ravenites as Rankmothers. Rankmothers are the Raven Isles second natural defense against intruding foreigners. These things are capable of birthing armies of winged tadpole-like symbiotes of teeth and fury. These are mostly cannon fodders that will take down enemies bigger than themselves through sheer numberlessness but can eat through wood and steel. In Ravenite religion, their namesakes were the generals of the Goddess of War Mirana. Rankmothers are magical flora that subsists entirely on the magical energies emitted by the sunken megaliths. Rankmothers are protected fiercely by Ravenites and would take the battle to the enemy if they come close to the location of a Rankmother. Currently there are seven Rankmothers, all placed in strategic locations that can mount up a resistance should intrusion enter anywhere in the Raven Isles.
5. The Tower- Located at the very heart of the Raven Isles, the Tower rises from the bottom of the sea and juts out of the waters into the open sky. This massive monument of shaped wood is thought to be a god-tree that was taken from a foreign land and planted here. It is from the tower where the Sea Trees and the Coraline begin to spread from all across the Raven Isles' seafloor. Legend holds it that it is the Tower that is powering the megalithic structures found at the bottom of the sea. When a new King or Queen is crowned, the coronation is always at the Tower. Legends holds it that if the Tower finds the new ruler worthy, it will shape for them a magical crown-wreath of living wood. Every twenty years, the Tower produces five Lifegems, powerful fruits that could genesis entire ecosystems when planted. When consumed, Lifegems become powerful restoratives that can cure any magical sickness as well as bring back to life a corpse no older than twenty-four hours.
000
Yep, well that's all the information you'll need for our three protectorates. I've been hearing rumors of a potential fourth one. A place called the Shattered Earths is appealing to join us. Apparently, the Shattered Earths is a very rocky place, jutting from the ground in every inch, it's a barren place that hosts lots of struggling lives. I only heard snippets from Jessa who overheard snippets from his parents. Apparently, they're another charity cause. The Shattered Earths need us and they're despondent for their survival as a race. Knowing Jessa, he's going to bend his parents' ears again to get it. Irene pushed over a folder to me and I saw the seal on the folder and knew this was a big case and it had something to do with Vulturae. I opened the folder and read the content. Let me amend that. It's two cases from Vulturae. Apparently something unprecedented happened. The Shifting Sands gave way for a sight never seen before: an ancient labyrinth that snakes all across Vulturae. Caliph Aradin requested the assistance of Earth City Police and placed all three Vulturi cities in high alert. It would seem that strange dead things that inhabit the labyrinth that are breaking into the surface through spatial breach. Strange mummified undead walk into the surface at night and while there are no casualties yet, the people are beginning to panic.
The stationed Earth City personnel reported that these undead are mindless and savage. They have the intelligence of a feral beast and attack indiscriminately. They seem to ignore one another so they're easy to pick off one by one. The case file in my hand is highlighting a drone's expedition. Not only did the labyrinth reveal ruins of temples and necropolis but also unfamiliar underground civilizations, alien primitive dwellings and foreign cave networks. The same drone made it out back and the Shifting Sands by far has made no intention of swallowing back the labyrinth. Caliph Aradin has requested us to investigate it. The priest-king Makrissin has expressed his interest (Which kinda made everyone panic. If a priest-king doesn't know about this and they're one of the oldest in Vulturae, what kind of nightmares might the labyrinth unleash?) and promised to prevent the sands from claiming the labyrinth while we're inside it. In return for that, he only asked we gather as many specimens as we could of the place. He's also willing to bless us if we take this trip and added his own reward.
My eyes were caught by a small report, a hastily inserted section. It speaks of sinewy desiccated corpses, twice as tall as a man and skinny bordering the malnourished. Their heads is said to be that of an animal skull. These were spellcasters and necromancers and wielded deathly magics and had undead attendants. Three of them have been spotted but their real numbers is uncertain. They've been terrorizing districts in Atennar. So far they've been sighted only in Atennar but they might spring up in other cities as well. Thankfully, these corpses seem to work alone. Then my eyes widened in horror as I read another section. I looked at Irene and she was grim.
The Chief Hierophant is dead, slaughtered along with his harem in his own palace-temple.
Holy shit. This is a major development. It's a miracle that this hasn't made its way to the media. The Chief Hierophant has disapproved of Earth City presence in Vulturae. He's stubbornly refused our aid and went out of his way to antagonize us. He wasn't very popular with the commonfolk, laborers, merchants, artists, spellweavers and the guilds but had solid support from the faithful militants, temple cults and nobles. If I didn't know any better, his death would actually make 80% of Vulturi quite happy while the remaining 20% would be despondent. But the power vacuum left by the Chief Hierophant would ignite something else. Perhaps the civil war Caliph Aradin has been trying to stop will actually flood like a dam breaking.
"The High Priests are blaming us but everyone knows that the Chief Hierophant never wanted to do anything with us, they don't share the same sentiment. The situation is delicate. Nobody knew about his harem. Hierophants were supposed to lead celibate lives and the issue of his personal harem is making the entire situation even worse. The religious leaders feel their hold over the faithful slipping. They'll spout many lies about this. They'll do anything at this point to save their own hides." Irene said. I nodded my head. In this time and age, religion pretty much the same as politics.
Come to think of it, in OUR time and age it's the same as well. "I'm guessing the Second and Third Hierophants are on our side?" I asked. Irene nodded. Yep, those other two are true believers and servants of the Vulturi Pantheon. "Vulturi are not stupid enough to actually go to war while their cities are under attack, right?" I asked, reading the reports again. Irene sighed and rubbed her temples. "I wish." she said weakly. She looked at me again, looking doubly tired. "Read the second report. It gets worse." she said. I almost dreaded to read the second report.
Yep, it gets worse alright. High Priest Terterion, one of the few good ones, was killed while praying for Vulturae and her people at the Floating Temple of Ven, the Vulturae god of waters. A combined force of Vulturae Protectors and Earth City Police drove off the killers but it was too late for the little old man. My eyes widened. His killers were undead from beyond the sea, riding upon a sickly-green mist. MOTHERFUCKER! That's it! We're unleashing History on the Shadow Isles. Of all the godforsaken idiots in the planet, they had to kill off one of the good guys. Terterion's death brought a dark cloud over the already panicked populace. Frantic whispers of punishment of the gods or Vulturae invaded by Shuriman death-cults, Protectors and Police are barely containing it. The undead really picked a great time to attack. I imagined how Jessa would deal with a situation like this. I nearly fainted.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?!
He and Doki are both cruel tyrants! He'll go full-blown Inquisition on them and burn heretics like it's nobody's business. "No wonder you guys need my help. I'm amazed you only asked after letting it go this far." I said in a tone that expressed my disagreement. Irene sighed. "The top brass just decided now would be a good time. So can you help us?" Irene asked. That's when I went into deep thinking, mindlessly shoving food into my mouth and chewing without thought. Well, it's safe to say that going to the Shadow Isles is a no-go. Jessa will be relieved to hear this. The problem lies with our numbers. We only have so much crew to spare.
Mystery Inc. -Go and interview the clients about the other sighting of the Black Mist. We might have them bring more Villains to help us.
Villains -Maybe some of them will be assigned to meet up with the other client instead? Mystery Inc. could go with us to the Labyrinth. President Kaguya already requested a new Villain to be sent as representative to the Scattered Earths. And, yes, she doesn't know Jessa's their real boss.
Enigma Inc. team -Go with me and investigate the Vulturae Labyrinth.
Supernatural Investigator team -Standby. Gabriel might have another case for me. Damnit. Catharil said she wants in on the Shadow Isles assault team.
Court of Pluto, History Army and Catharil -Teach the Shadow Isles a lesson.
Jessa -Edengrad case? Is this a good choice? Maybe Kitsune can handle this better. He's literally chill all the time.
As I was thinking about this, Irene interrupted me and I looked up, cocking an eyebrow at her. "There's other things here." Irene said. I gave her an annoyed look. "Oh, my God. There are more?!" I asked in disbelief. Irene nodded. "They're minor cases, really. I think this is around the meddling kids' alley." she said. Minor cases, my ass. They're not particularly dangerous or anything. But their numbers was an entirely different matter. "Holy shit!" I said. I couldn't help myself. I looked at Irene in alarm.
1. Weeping faces in Wall Street
2. All sorts of Hauntings in Londonfield Town
3. Ghostly procession in Pastly Halls
4. Zombie animals in Prairie Town
5. Ghost children in Viewpoint Castle Rocks
6. Phantom bus in Gardens Street
7. Cases of levitation in Manorwood Hotel
8. Demonic shadows at night in Main Street
9. Crawling, hollow-eyed, long-necked people in Sunflower Park
10. Sounds of battle and phantom troops in Beachrock Castle Ruins
11. Wailing women or children in Shadow Creeks Hotel
12. Ghostly mass in Towertop Church
13. Poltergeist activity in Pastly Lane
14. Ghost train in Sutherville Train Station
15. Crawling, long-haired, screaming woman in Westley Train Station
16. Ghost gardener in Prairie Park
17. Ghost children in Viewpoint Bus Station
18. Disturbing butchered-looking phantoms in Gardens High School
19. Phantom fortunetellers in Blakefield Drive
20. Ghost hitchhiker in Surrey Lane
21. Ghost ships in Beachrock Beachfront
22. Phantom prank callers in Towertop Town
23. Phantom candlelight in Wall Street Proper
24. Apparitions and paranormal activity in Manorwood Cemetery
25. Disembodied shrieks and screams in the night in Surrey Proper
My brain was mentally sorting out if these have some sort of connection. Something clicked. There definitely was something. All the sightings, they're all in the European Quarter. Sunflower. Westley. Huh. "I think I'm gonna need to look further at this." I said, holding up the folder in question. Irene shrugged. "Sure. Just don't let anyone from outside know I let you borrow this." she said. She looked at me and wondered why I was so obsessed with this one. "As soon as I read Westley and Sunflower in here, I remembered the case a long time ago." I said. She cocked her head sideways. "Right. This was way back before we met." I said. I looked at her and smiled grimly. She froze when she saw it. She knew she wouldn't like it one bit.
"The Grimswood Black Family Case." I said. Irene looked shocked. Her body went numb but her hands gripped the sides of the table in a death-grip. She heard about it alright. The gist of it? Just your ordinary high school Ghostbusters-wannabe occult club that really turned into a supernatural cult that secretly overtook the entire student body. Unlike most cults, this one is led by a boy with genius-tier brains. The result? For some goddamn reason, they managed to bring into this side creatures from the Other Side. It was these things that have been giving the students whatever material object they want, killing off their rivals or bullies or enemies and giving them supernatural power. The case was so big and disturbing that the government decided to cover it up, the first in all of Earth City's history. Even the media openly cooperated with this cover-up.
The result? The town of Grimswood is a ghost town, still a haven of disembodied things from the Other Side that wander its empty streets and rundown ruins to this day. "Is it true what they say? About its leader?" Irene asked in a whisper. I found it funny that she looked around before leaning forward and asking as if some eavesdropper might be around or something. "If you mean the leader is a handsome genius boy with great charisma, greater curiosity, erratic latent psychic abilities and sociopathic tendencies and a history of physical and sexual abuse since childhood, then yes." I replied. Irene's eyes widened and she clapped a hand to her mouth. "Yeah. It's sad." I said. If the boy's history never came to light, he would've been sentenced to death. "So what'll be our move?" Irene asked. I sighed and scanned the cases in front of me. Vulturae's situation is incredibly sensitive.
A civil war in addition to undead attacks from the Labyrinth and Wasted Wanderers, things couldn't get any worse. "I have to check on other contacts. I may have to reject some cases at my table now that I have this." I said. Irene looked worried. I looked up and saw that the rain had stopped. I stood up and stretched. My stomach's full but my heart's heavy. God, so many things to do. And I'm almost an hour late with my meeting with Gabriel. I looked at Irene. "I'll be taking both files with me. I need to rack up my brain." I said. Irene nodded and watched as I took off. She stood up and looked at the brightening sky. "There's no turning back, huh?" she said and walked off as well, with nothing but the ache of the bittersweet memories of her lost husband and child.
The so-called Demoñitas Café is a favorite haunt of vampire wannabes, emos and Goths, basically anyone who's into dark, creepy and sickeningly edgy. From the European Quarter, it's a two-hour ride (Thirty minutes if you go by air) by taxi to the Americas Quarter, just at the secret watering holes in the New York District. I stepped off the taxi right after paying him the pricey bill and giving him a respectable tip. It's always a pleasure to cruise along the winding roads of Earth City especially during the non-rush hours. It's even more beautiful when crossing between Quarters. Towers of steel and monuments of stone and metal give way to open spaces occupied solely by greenery, large bodies of water and placid animal life. You get the sense of etherealness of the beauty of the Free Areas (They call it Free Areas, the rural spaces or nature reserves between Quarters). Jessa's doing a marvelous job of whispering environmental ideas to his parents and making it sound as if they came up with that themselves. I looked up at the neon sign of the Demoñitas Café and died a little inside. It depicts an oversexualized female vampire-demon lounging on a sofa and holding the leash of a werewolf, a fallen angel and a satyr, all three being sinful and magnificent male specimens.
If someone I knew caught me entering this place, I'll never be able to live it down. I sighed and walked into the short and narrow corridor into the café. I took a card from my pockets and flashed it at the musclebound bouncers at the door. They nodded and opened a secret door to the side of the wall. I walked into the dimly-lit winding metallic staircase as it wound down. This place was for the Fallen, the VIPs of the Demoñitas Café. The stairs came to a halt at a large door, a miniaturized version of the famed Doors of Judgment. I touched the door and it swung open to receive me. Inside was a blinding collection of black and violet silks and fabrics, covering every visible inch with only the dim glow of many angel-shaped or cross-shaped candles and faint light fixtures to cast eerie shadows against the walls. The large room was separated into sixteen booths lining against the wall to form a square-shaped enclosure to the service bar, food buffet and displays at the heart of the room. I've been to this place lots of times.
I already know where Gabriel waits for me. I walked to booth #12 and parted the black curtains. While the booth might resemble an overlarge almost-circle-shaped plush bed, it can be actually rearranged to a conference for your occult club, dinner between fellow supernatural enthusiasts or a serious discussion with your monster hunter friends. But, yeah, most of the time, people just screw in here. I saw the booth had been arranged to a table for a party but in reality it would be just me and Gabriel here. I saw him half-laying on the plush cushion, shirtless and making out with a Goth girl whose hands roamed his sculpted torso. "A little busy, Gabriel?" I asked, lowering my voice to a husky loud whisper-like tone. It came with the Unsettling power and it's fun to use it on everyone.
I heard the girl shriek and jump. Yeah, that was my intended effect. She took one look at me and her eyes widened, a mixture of surprise and awe. Yep. That's how famous I am to people who are into the supernatural scene. I'm not too popular with the scientific or religious types though. It's a given in this line of work. She hastily barked out an apology before dashing away excitedly, almost bouncing when our hands accidentally bumped. Gabriel muttered a string of colorful curses in rapid Spanish. I smiled at the young man. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare away your little dessert." I said as I sat myself opposite of him. "All's fine, Señorita. Glad you could come today. I almost thought you wouldn't show up." Gabriel said. He didn't even bother putting on his shirt. It suit me just fine. I like to have an eye candy while I conduct business myself. "The city called, my dear." I said to him. He raised an eyebrow when he cast a look at my new toy. "I met with a contact earlier. Queen Elizabeth II Park. You know how I feel about the stalls there." I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. I looked at him and smiled.
I was delighted to see his Adam's Apple bob as he swallowed. "What did you run into?" I asked. Immediately, Gabriel turned grim. It was good news. This wasn't his super-grim look, which meant trouble. This meant some of your stand run-of-the-mill case. I wonder if… "Señorita. The Black Family is back." Gabriel said. WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA! I almost lost my cool there. WHAT?! I got here from Irene's case that Seth's is still in Blackwell Asylum. Gabriel watched, quietly amused at the riot of emotions over my face. "What?" I managed to ask in a strangled voice. Gabriel smiled grimly and shook his head. "You still feel responsible for that kid, Señorita?" he asked. I gave him a look. This was back on the first year Jessa and I won our godhood among the Tal'ro Pantheon. We were nothing more but kids playing with new toys. We took the case on behalf of the Grimswood Police. Enigma Inc. and we were still inexperienced back then so we turned most of the time to Mystery Inc. for guidance. In their own goofy way, they managed to give us knowledge and wisdom based off their countless cases dealing with criminals dressed as supernatural beings and what few cases they have with the real thing. We infiltrated the local Grimswood High School, posing as one of the students while we searched the school for the signs.
We shouldn't have gone any farther than the Ghostfacers Club. Seth, Ellie, Sam, Travis, Kevin, Violet and Blaine were the freaks of the school, the center of mockery and ridicule of the school. Seth, who had good looks, good grades and amazing potential, had it harder than the rest. We befriended them, of course. We're freaks ourselves back in our world. We go against the tide, rebels against the conformity of society and stand outside the bias of a world that was shaped long before we have had our say about it. Maybe we should've listened with our hearts instead of finding things with our brains or we could have slowed down a bit and reached out them more, I don't know. We were newbies back then. Well, The Grimswood Black Family Case is one of our first cases and personal failures. If we only paused long enough to notice things right under our noses, Seth and his friends would be young adults in the careers of their choice, have a family or something or travelling around Earth City. In another two years or so, Jessa would be making an even stronger contract with the city itself.
This time the spatial anomaly would be Earth-size. So many more things to see and experience. That's why the Jessies could never finish off the Grimswood Black Family. They were our first ones, the ones that got away. "Yeah. I still do. We all do." I said to him. Gabriel gave a single nod and took out a cigarette, lit it and clamped it between his lips. He drew a long breath and blew a stream of smoke towards the ceiling. "Can't say I blame you. But this time, it's different. If that kid's back with all his cronies in tow, he'll do so much more damage this time than the last one." he pointed out. He didn't need to remind me that. I know Seth would do more damage than the last.
He'll be based back where it all started, the town of Grimswood. He'll be waiting for us, the so-called friends who turned them in the first place. For every day, we won't show up, Seth will unleash nightmares upon the unsuspecting Earthlings. When we do come, he'll want to go out with a huge bang. He would want to die in a blaze of glory. No, he would rather die than be sent back to the Asylum. I placed my hands on my temples and concentrated. From across space and time, my mind reached out to Irene, Sophia and Beatrice. I asked Irene to double-check if Seth is really still in Blackwell Asylum. I asked Sophia to track down the status of the other Ghostfacers and search the Internet, Underground Net, Gray Net and Dark Web for signs of digital arcane summoning sites. I asked Beatrice if she could use her network of teenage gossip to try to find out if a weird club, game or something is recruiting out there, particularly the ones entailing some paranormal process or something.
"That's a lot on your tray, Señorita." Gabriel said, sounding amused. I glared at him. "Seth really picked a good time to show up. I have huge cases of Vulturae. GOD! I swear we need to break in more people!" I said, slumping into the table and groaning hard. Gabriel chuckled and shook his head. "Should've thought of that before you started taking on larger cases." he added. I looked at him and smiled. "Maybe I should give you one." I said. He gave a bark of laughter. "Dios mio! That will be the day!" he said, wiping a tear off. "You're not up to your old tricks again, are you, Gabriel?" I suspected. I called him Gabby once and it didn't end well. He snorted. "You sound just like my mama." he said. He took a deep breath of the cigarette again. I flinched.
Smoking was never really my thing. I smoke the Volcano Cigar because it's magic and it protects me and I'm a god. I can't sick from this. He's much too young to be willingly breathing smoke to his lungs. I remembered something I was supposed to give to him. Come to think of it, I was supposed to give these to all the Supernatural Investigator team. But, again, I totally forgot about it. I took a palm-sized bag from my trenchcoat. This tiny thing was crammed full of protective mojos and enchanted within an inch of warding spells. I handed it over to him. He cocked an eyebrow at me as he took it. "What's this?" he asked. "A protection charm. I can't have my assets finished off by things that go bump in the night." I said. "Gracias." he muttered and pocketed it. I allowed myself a small smile and looked at him in the eyes. "What else have you heard lately? Do you have more info about the Black Family?" I said. Gabriel grinned and put down his cigarette. We began to talk.
000
JESSA
Oh, hey, guys! Jessa here, reporting on the scene from the Middle School Department of Mason Fields University. The easygoing and carefree lessons of middle school keep my mind sharp and certainly keep me busy. I would be insane from boredom if I weren't going to school. Funny thing is I've been in middle school for centuries already. My classmates are all the same, my friends are all the same and my teachers are all the same. This brand of timelessness exists within everyone in Earth City, not just for everyone we know. I get the feeling why Earth City was created when we got zapped into Runeterra. Most CYOAs base their origins on Earth and because of that, there has to be some sort of facsimile of Earth in Runeterra. And, poof! That's where Earth City comes in.
I was in the middle of arts class, making papier-mâché, when a mind-message from Jessie came in. I think we need more manpower for our cases. That's what it said. I couldn't agree more. I said that to her a hundred times already. See here, if you go back up and see what our godly domains are, you'll see that Jessie and I share one same thing: Imagination. With this and with a lot of effort, we could pull things from the realm of imagination and bring it over to realspace. It takes a lot of effort on our part and the Jessies certainly can't do it just by ourselves. The Jessies and Kitsune combine powers to pull things from imagination and bring it over to our side. The realm of imagination is infinite. It is called the Imaginary (Yeah, we conformed with the Rebirth lore. Get over it!) and it is the sum-total of all the consciousness and subconciousness of every intelligent life past, present and future. And get this.
The Dreamworld is a part of the Imaginary. This is a nigh-unreachable realm with infinite potential and resources as The Little Lands proved time and time again IF YOU COULD ONLY FIND A WAY TO BRING THEM OVER TO THIS SIDE. Think about it, before anything fictional or otherwise was ever created, it existed first as a spark of a concept, an idea, in the Imaginary, growing ever solid and tangible with as effort was dedicated into it, moreso as it is being actually realized in the real world. Within that realm, we could pull almost anything. Heck, we can pull out the entire Warhammer 40k world and deposit it here (But we're not gonna do that because we're all gonna be goners if we did that. And I don't think we're strong enough to do that anyway). We did it before, the three of us. We pulled Albert Einstein, the one depicted from the Command and Conquer: Red Alert games, the genius responsible for the Allied superior technology.
Einstein is one of Earth City's leading citizens. He works closely with the Little Lands to create better imagined resources and is the head of the Peacemaker Initiative R&D Department. I was thinking of the most likely candidates we could pull from the Imaginary to assist us with the bigger amount of cases springing up from every direction. Ghostbusters (And I mean the recent all-female cast. The movie didn't live up much to its source material but I'm an obsessed Melissa McCarthy fan so anything goes) and the guys from the anime Ghost Hunt (You have heard about that, right?). Jessie doesn't know about it but I've been practicing in that department. I've been pulling Minions from Despicable Me and I've seen much success. I can pull five things at a time so the Ghostbusters is definitely a go.
Their scientific approach to the scenario is a great contrast to our hands-on, come-what-may one. And I also pulled Yuri, also from the Red Alert series, and he's now declared himself my most ardent and loyal supporter and working in an undisclosed location to further my cause. I won't say that I didn't pull out two Yuri MCV, an Allied MCV and a Soviet MCV while I was at it. I definitely didn't pull out 400 Super Hackers from Command and Conquer: Generals to fund myself. I absolutely didn't give Yuri 40 Oil Derricks to fuel his warmachine. I certainly didn't give him a pocket dimension to build his army far from prying eyes (I only gave him one of the two Yuri MCV). And I certainly didn't make a bigger pocket dimension for myself to build all the others. No, sirree! Not me! And most of all, I certainly didn't pull out Premier Alexander Romanov, also from Red Alert, and replaced the Governor of the Russian District with him.
Anyhoo, practice makes perfect and I've certainly mastered that technique already. The only thing that keeps me from pulling entire universes from there is the fact that I find alien and non-human minds extremely confusing. Also, the Imaginary has some sort of failsafe that interferes whenever extraction beyond a certain threshold is being done (And that threshold being no more than six things at a time).
The things I can't access are the ones that are already taken by Lord CYOA to give away as Soulbound Power. In a LoL perspective, it doesn't matter if the Soulbound Power gives you just one measly Health Potion, just one of that and everything from LoL becomes unavailable for extraction. Maybe I need to do some more research and find other things similar to Mystery Inc. to extract from the Imaginary. That's the catch. I'm getting good with the extraction. I think it's much easier for me to do it on my own because I lord over Dreamworld and Imagination at the same time, giving me a much easier time that I would otherwise expect. From what I know, Jessie's training her domains of Fun, Adventure, Guidance and Learning. All those cases from Enigma Inc. and Supernatural Investigator did her really good. As for me, aside from Dreamworld and Imagination, I have Nature and Family. I decided to send back a message to her. I'll pull Ghostbusters and maybe Ghost Hunt too, super-tentative on that. Dunno about Ghost Hunt. Summon Paragons and Eidolons. Give me God, Prima, Taurorazyn, Titania or Enoch. I sent her that message. "Uuummm… Jess?" a voice pierced my thoughts. I snapped out of it and looked up. The arts teacher, Mimi Yu, looked stupefied and impressed at the same time. I looked at my own work and my eyes nearly popped out. IT'S A SCOOBY DOO BONANZA!
Scooby In Paris.
Scooby By The Beach.
Sick Scooby In Bed With Chicken Soup.
Freaky Fallout With Fred.
Dollhouse Darkness With Daphne.
Victorian Vixen With Velma.
Sorcerer Showdown With Shaggy.
Supermall Shadows With Scooby.
Shopping With Scooby, Daphne and Velma.
Testing The New Trap With Scooby and Fred.
Burger Contest With Scooby and Shaggy.
Christmastime With Mystery Inc.
It's A Spooky Halloween, Scooby Doo!
Happy Easter, Scooby Doo!
Hearts and Kisses From Scooby Doo.
Scooby and The Gang In A Spooky Cemetery.
The Haunted House and Scooby.
OHMYLORDALMIGHTY! These weren't papier-mâché anymore! These were works of art! So instead of making ordinary papier-mâché, I made these pop-up things. "I think that's enough." Mimi said, prying paper from my hands. I guess I was lost in my own thoughts that my body just acted on instinct. It made Scooby Doo stuff again. "You know it wouldn't hurt if you tried something new. You've been making Scooby Doo ever since you started in my class." the teacher said with a playful tone. I smiled sheepishly. My other classmates were still doing theirs, occasionally casting looks of envy or admiration my way. Just pick one. I can't get all of them at the same time. Another message from Jessie. Gimme God or Taurorazyn. Need divine magic to make things happen. I replied to it. Got it. Her reply came. Gimme Cerberus too. The Aura Kingdom one, not the Eon Watchers one. I said back. You're pushing your luck. Jessie replied. I smiled absentmindedly. "How did you do these anyway, Jess? How did you make them stand like this?" Mimi asked. I looked at her in askance and just smiled. I went over to my bag and took out a book about origami folding and other paper arts.
"Cheater!" came the energetic voice from the classroom across the hall. "SHUT UP, THOR!" I yelled back. That was Thor, a rival-friend from Serene Serendipity. This is one of the major reasons why I like to stay as an eternal 10-year-old. The feeling of carefree easiness and timeless tranquility when you're in middle school is beautiful when you compare it to the chaos of high school or college. Yeah, you're still gonna go through puberty and all that but, hey, I literally played games throughout that phase so no worries for me. "Where did you get this? This level of dedication to paper arts is horrifying!" Mimi said while my classmates crowded around her. "It's in the library. I noticed it was collecting dust in the back collection so I took it out. Poor thing. No one borrowed it since I came along." I said, sighing.
"WHOA!" my classmates said in amazement as they watched the pictures in the book. "Now wonder." Mimi muttered under her breath. She looked at the front of the book if the author's name was there. "Ara! It's the principal!" Tio, one of my classmates, yelled when he read the name. Mimi immediately shut the book and looked like she came across something so blasphemous and sinful. She kneeled on the floor and looked at me in the eye. "Jess, return this book on recess, you hear? This book cannot be allowed to harm more people than it already did." Mimi said to me with all seriousness. "Huh?" was all I could manage to blurt. "The principal is a weirdo!" Maya, another of my classmates, said, her eyes widened at her own daring and looked around fearfully. When she saw it was safe, she began to giggle. One by one, the class followed laughing with her until we all were chuckling appreciatively. Well, there's a good reason for that. Max Lowell really is just an overgrown kid with a diploma. Well, he decorates his office with cartoons and animes, posters or figurines of them, A LOT OF THEM.
More than twice a week, he wears a cosplayer's costume into school (Many of which really hurt my eyes that I thought I would lose them). The students and faculty laugh behind his back and he doesn't get much respect from anyone at all. Thankfully, he's much too absorbed into his own world to take notice or offense of the slights. Or maybe he does notice and he uses his fantasy as a coping mechanism. Anyway, I like Max enough. I have a soft spot for freaks and weirdoes.
Five of our gang, the Jessies, Erica, Doki and Nessie are weirdoes as fuck. The only reason we aren't bullied is because everyone knows how vindictive we could be if we set our minds to it. That, and because we stick together like glue. "He's weird but he's a good man. I think Max's better than that pervert principal in the news lately." I said. The class went quiet. "You watch news?" David asked, sounding impressed and stunned at the same time. "I'm forced to hear about it in our house." I said glumly. Mimi was looking at me with a wry smile on her face. "What, sensei?" I asked. "You're much mature than any kid I've ever-" Mimi said then stopped. A commotion entered the classroom uninvited and all too suddenly. It was the man we ridiculed, Principal Max Lowell himself. GOOD GOD, DON'T ABANDON ME!
I tried so hard not to shield my eyes as blubber was squeezed into a tight Love Protector Magical Girl Ayumi-chan costume. My classmates looked nothing less of horrified, their childhoods utterly destroyed. My friends Teri, Monty, Jack and Daisy stood rooted in place like the rest of everyone else, only they looked less aghast than the others. They've seen a lot of weird things when visiting my home anyway. It helped cushion the shock. "MIMI-SENSEI, OHAYOOOOOOOOO!" Max yelled, brandishing a glowing pink plastic star-wand. Excluding me, everyone shivered as cringe of biblical proportions washed over them. "It's nearly 12:00." I said under my breath. Late as always.
Accompanying Max were his two TYPE-03 Imaginary Friends, Princess Cutesy Wutsy and Princess Adorablicious, and his TYPE-02 Imaginary Friend, Black Overlord-King Eternal God-Emperor of Moonless Starless Night, carried always around by Max in his grimoire form. "Principal, this is a little too early for this." Mimi said, sweating like crazy. Too late. Max already spotted the book she was trying to hide. "OHOOOOOO! MIMI-SENSEI, YOU LIKE ORIGAMI TOO?!" he yelled. Mimi froze like a deer in the headlights. "No, no, no, this is Jess'!" she said in alarm. Max's booming laugh deafened everyone. He glided over to me and smiled hugely when I stood my ground instead of trying to run away in terror or disgust. Yep, I corroborate what I said before. Max's fantasy is his coping mechanism. I saw his eyes brighten considerably when he came to me, seeing me stand my ground. "YOU LIKE ORIGIMA, JESSA?!" he shrieked with excitement.
"Hai!" I said to him, smiling so bright it lit the room like dawn. Before he could squeeze a word in edgewise, I did what I knew would both please him and everyone else. I gave a critique to his book. So as it happened in the next five minutes, Mimi sat at her desk trying to hold onto her laughter, my classmates were smiling with admiration and Max was busy furiously copying down notes. It was only after ten minutes that I ended my criticism of his work, not the insulting kind, mind you, that's so common in our world but the one where we really give advice and insights so that these people may better help themselves in the future. Max closed his little notebook and looked up. I remember the chubby guy, Hirano Kōta, from High School of The Dead, the gun otaku who has his own cool moments. Yep, I can clearly see it overlap his image. Max nodded to me once and walked out of the room without another word, still wearing his cool intense expression. Five minutes after he left, everyone was still gawking at the door. They swiveled their heads in my direction, eyes sparkling with awe. "Jess, I don't know what you did but it took care of him like a pro." Mimi said, sighing in massive relief. I just smiled and the bell rung. Yay, lunch break! My classmates immediately rushed out of the room, eating at the playground's picnic tables or running off to meet with friends. I get a little busy myself when it comes around this time.
While the classroom nearly emptied itself, Mimi rushing off in hopes of buying what's left of Strawberry Yogurt milkshakes in the vending machine, only Teri, Monty, Jack, Daisy and I remained in the room. But we wouldn't be by ourselves in minutes. By the way, Monty, Jack and Daisy aren't friends I picked up from Serene Serendipity. They're Earthlings I made friends with and their home is Earth City. The only friend I picked sharing classes with me is Teri. As Fate would decree, we only had several minutes when faces began peeking into the room and bodies came rushing in excitedly. Most of them were my younger brothers and sisters and then there was Erika, Christopher, Hana and Thor. We finished arranging the tables and chairs into one big table when they came barging in. This is one of the tiring things I do every day. "Hey, guys!" Teri called as everyone came in. It was a special day for everyone. I told them I'd treat them all today and I revealed the food for today. Everyone ooohhh-ed and aaahhh-ed as I dramatically presented a lot of food from Trump's. I think Jessie told you already that I own the joint? Yeah, that's why I can get as much food as I want from there and I'm not zapping these food into existence. My management buys them from Earth City, of course. We wouldn't want to break the economy or get unwanted attention.
I felt a tugging on my sleeve and looked down to see Kitty, Anya and Jake looking up at me with expectant faces. "Onii-chama, did these come with a toy?" Jake asked, barely keeping himself from jumping up and down from pure excitement. "Yep. But they're all the same." I said. "Which is good 'cuz everyone can have one!" Yacob said. Okay, maybe it's the toys that I'm zapping into reality. The latest toy is a door-shaped wall with four doors that each led to a special playground. One door led to a mini-beach, the other to a mini-winter wonderland, the other led to a mini-amusement park and the last led to a magic farm. I distributed the toys and watched as they marveled at their new toys. Of course, Teri was ecstatic about this. Her parents deprived her of anything remotely fun and she needed more color into her life. Everyone here already received a lot of toys from me (Of course, I try to hide it as some kind of lucky draw or something). Of course, I always remind Teri to hide her toys lest her parents find it and take it away from her. Luckily, I gave her a TYPE-02 Imaginary Friend, Mr. Giggles, to keep all her secrets safe.
It was also this time that I leave my body in auto-pilot while I wander somewhere else, attend to things elsewhere. You might notice that Jessie has her Enigma Inc. and Supernatural Investigator to keep her busy. I trust you assume that I have my family to keep me busy as well as secretly undergoing my own self-interest in Earth City under the noses of everyone who know better? Well, yeah, you're right. But I call those things more of a hobby than a job really. You see, I have a big secret not even Jessie knows about, a secret that only Scooby Doo Villains know but not Mystery Inc. themselves. I made a little deal with Lord CYOA back then if I could have a grimdark extra CYOA to meddle with around, something to keep me busy. He told me he could give that to me but that's not the way his powers or role works. Everything asked beyond what's supposed to be given must entail a risk and a danger and I, being an idiot and 100% Chuuni, said yes. Thus, the Faustian deal was set and I was given two CYOAs, GUARDIANS and FORCES OF DARKNESS, and this has been my personal battle ever since I discovered the downside.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's the link so you could check it out yourself. Or just Google it. If you check Forces of Darkness via Funnyjunk, there will be a link to the Guardians CYOA in the comments section below.
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Both CYOAs focus upon a great war that has existed for a thousand years, a war between the Forces of Darkness and the Guardians. Normally, the CYOA would entail that the reader is being recruited by either forces to bolster their numbers in a bid of winning the war and ensuring their side's victory. The Forces of Darkness are spilling into the world the Guardians are protecting. Both sides are stalemate for now and I have no control over the number of people being recruited to join the war. Some favor the Guardians, others embrace the Forces of Darkness. It's a slow progress but the Forces of Darkness have a clear edge if you observe the fight long enough. Many of the Guardians are either dead, aging or have nearly used up all their strengths. With the Corruptor's removal of one of their own and using the Corrupted Guardian's disciples against her former allies, the Guardians are hard-pressed in this delicate situation. This is made even worse when you discover that the Forces of Darkness have more luck recruiting people to their side compared to the Guardians. And this is where the danger comes in.
If the Guardians lose, the Forces of Darkness' next target would be Runeterra, their first landfall being on Earth City itself. Another war will erupt in Runeterra, one that will never end until one victor remains, and the Guardians must not be allowed to fall here. Earth City cannot be allowed to fall. Failure is not an option. This is the reason why I've been breaching the Dreamworld and the Imaginary as a whole, bringing things from there into the living world, doing behind Jessie's back all this time. I imagined myself appearing in the Eternal Battlefields. I gave this nameless place this name. I've appeared more than once in the battle, fighting on behalf of the Guardians, using my divine power to sunder the forces of evil. In this place, I'm weaker than I am in Runeterra. Weaker in a sense that I'm more limited here than I am in Runeterra. If I move my trailer here, Jessie would be asking where it went and she'll be wanting answers from me if she gets a hint of me hiding something from her. In this place, however, the things I pulled from the Imaginary and Dreamworld are absolute nightmares here. They're in the same vein as the Scooby Doo Villains with their relentless numbers and persistent firepower but required resources, timing and preparation.
I have my Allied, Soviet and Yuri forces safely nestled in my personal pocket dimension and I've established an entrenched base here while another bigger, more fortified one seats at the heart of the Guardians camp. It is also from the Guardians camp where Yuri built his own fortified headquarters and where he commands his forces, his base very near to mine in the highly unlikely event I would be under siege. In the future, I would need to bring competent people to be my generals, commanding their own forces while I'm away from the battlefield. Our presence has been a heavensent to the Guardians who are too proud to admit they needed more than just a little help. We revealed our presence with a huge display of firepower.
We attacked unexpectedly the Forces of Darkness. America, France, Germany, Korea and Great Britain each activated their Weather Control Devices, creating Lightning Storms among the heavy troops of the Forces of Darkness. Russia, Cuba, Libya and Iraq launched payloads from their Nuclear Missile Silos, their Nuclear Attacks decimating the backline of the swarm of relentless monstrosities. Yuri and I used each of our own Psychic Dominators to destroy their fortifications and seize the minds of all caught in the psionic blast and Genetic Mutators turned their most veteran warriors into loyal Brutes for our side. This display of unprecedented power shocked both the Guardians and the Forces of Darkness, albeit without some risk. Though we've driven back the dark hordes with our Superweapons, we've been branded as high-priority targets. You can count on the enemies to swarm all over our forces in an almost suicidal manner every time we make an appearance and spies, assassins and saboteurs prioritize us over the Legendary Commander and his disciples. With our superior firepower and technology, you would think the battle would come closer to an end or shift favor to the Guardians' side. Well, I'm wrong, you're wrong, we're all wrong. Seems there was more to the bargain than I knew about.
With my appearance, new and more competent disciples have sprung up like weeds and what's worse is that three new leaders of the Forces of Darkness have emerged. The three new Generals of Darkness would be Beelzebub who leads an endless tireless army of demons, fallen angels, hellspawns, hellbeasts and damned souls, The Fallen King who leads legions of tireless undead that rise repeatedly whenever they're struck down and The False Prophet who commands armies of obsessed fanatics, corrupt clergy, deluded faithful and possessed an array of dark miracles. If you read the FORCES OF DARKNESS, The False Prophet is on par with the End of The World with the destruction of his dark miracles but heavily relies on the right conditions. The only reprieve is that our defenses have much longer range compared to his disciples' casting range. Among the leaders, it would seem that Beelzebub is the one who is both feared and mistrusted. I mean, the Forces of Darkness give his forces a wide berth whenever they appear on the battlefield, never come to their rescue if the tides turn. For good measure, for it would seem that Beelzebub is only in it for the shits and giggles.
He doesn't care if who comes out as the victor of this war, he's merely passing the time and has brandished power so frightening that even his fellow Generals fear him, moreso the End of The World whom Beelzebub tested his power on. By the way, Beelzebub's little prank just delayed the End of The World's arrival by another thousand years and extended the war by the same amount. The Fallen King is a specter-embodiment of necromancy and undeath as a whole. He is capable of summoning all manners of undead, skeletal ones and zombie beasts being the mainstay of his forces. He's a nightmarish foe to engage but he can't fight and call undead at the same time and thus, chose to supply the Darkness' ranks of slow but near-unstoppable undead juggernauts. He's on the same league as the Mother of Monsters in their neutrality to the powermongering of the other Generals. His minions are twice more in number compared to that of the Bottomless Maw but they are mindless and needed to be overseen by the Fallen King's lieutenants and disciples to actually be effective. The False Prophet's power centers around his disciples who can wield lesser versions of his dark miracles, all his other minions are on the cannon fodder list much like the Bottomless Maw's and much weaker. Unlike the Bottomless Maw's though, dark miracles can give his minions power and other boons such as spellcasting abilities for example.
Going back, I surveyed the battlefield from above via magical vision. Yuri and I have been planning something right under our noses. Well, we thought, if the Corruptor can seize the mind of a Guardian and turned her into the Corrupted Guardian, why can't we seize the mind of a General of Darkness and have them and their minions serve us instead? The most susceptible to our control was the False Prophet and his armies since they were only human extremists armed with black miracles. We were thinking of seizing their minds and bringing them over to us. Yuri still hasn't finished adding the finishing touches to the beefed Psychic Amplifier. But when this baby would come online, The False Prophet and everything of his will serve the cause of the Guardians and the Darkness won't know what hit them. Of course, when I first proposed this to the Guardians, they felt revulsion and fear at first but when I pointed out that the means justifies the end and the end being the Guardians win and the Darkness is sent packing, they reluctantly agreed. It would seem that the scar of losing the Corrupted Guardian still lingers on their mind.
While I'm here, I handle the overall command of the Red Alert army, save for Yuri's personal army. When I'm gone, the command is handed over to ten Bosses from Scooby Doo: The RPG and Scooby Doo: The RPG II. They're the ones who gave players a real challenge in their levels and their minions were something I would really want to unleash against the Darkness as well as have them watch our allies' back.
America- The Witch of Bleakrock (Chapter 1: Witch of Bleakrock). The Witch of Bleakrock supplies us with an endless swarm of zombies, ghosts, skeletons, cursed objects, hexes, witches, superstitions made real, unnatural weather patterns, paranormal activities, animated plant life and stone gargoyles. Challenging to counter because of their numbers, undetected until they attack, and how they spam their disruptive attacks.
France- The Evil Fairy, The Seven Good Fairies (Chapter 28: Sleeping Beauty Mystery). The Evil Fairy has given us her courts of wicked spirits, witches, curses given life, mischievous fairies, creatures of thorn and barbs and fire-breathing dragons. The Seven Good Fairies has given us access enchanted commonplace objects, enchanted toys, enchanted books, fairytale princesses and princes made real, fairytale villains made real, blessings and good fortune. The Evil Fairy's minions are freaking fast and sneaky when attacking and have DoT effects or AoE damage, their debuffs are nothing to be scoffed at too. The Seven Good Fairies' minions spam their spells like crazy and are long-ranged and they usually buff each other repeatedly.
Germany- The Sky-Stone (Chapter 32: Religion of Sky-Visitors). The Sky-Stone has been generous with its hordes of malevolent alien invaders, mind-controllers, brainwashed military, a mind-controlled dictator's army, zombified animals, zombified humans, mutants, mutant plants, WMDs and UFOs. Incredibly hard to counter because of how fast they fill the place with damaging projectiles while pushing on ruthlessly.
Great Britain- The Genie (Chapter 24: Three Wishes). The Genie has been granting our wishes with a flood of several unfortunate wishers' wishes twisted and turned into tangible innumerable monsters. Denizens of a demented dreamland and wonderland, toys turned into everyone's favorite nightmare, literal monster cars, weather monsters, a storm of the century of money and jewelries, yandere superhuman girlfriends/boyfriends, bloodthirsty video game characters, high-tech opulent real estate out to get you, malls that will make you think how much a nightmare shopping is, beloved loved ones and pets brought back from the dead as zombies. How can you counter when monsters are freaking spawning all over you and you can't seem to shake them off? Also, they have combo chain-attacks.
Korea- The Fairwaters Triangle (Chapter 3: Cruise Gone Wrong). The Fairwaters Triangle have been visiting our enemies misfortune with spontaneous typhoons and bizarre weather patterns, sea fauna gone crazy, sea monsters, ghosts and relics of those claimed by Triangle itself, ghost ships, ghost aircrafts, alien spacecrafts, mermaids and sirens and rampaging sea gods. Difficult to anticipate because of how each of these can blur your senses and raise floods upon your surroundings to quickly turn the environment against you.
Russia- The Time Machine (Chapter 29: Journey Through Time, Chapter 30: Journey Through Time II). The Time Machine has been pulling countless armies from the past. Generals, soldiers, armies, legions and wartime from different times of different eras of different places, all coming together to swarm on your ass. Aside from the obvious swarming method, they can attack in so many ways that you won't even know what hit you and you won't even know how to counter, each of them has a unique attack pattern and strategic approach.
Cuba- The Cryptid (Chapter 4: Jungle Mayhem). The Cryptid's jungles have been quick to pledge us their endless numbers. Vicious beasts of many shapes and sizes, ghosts and gods of civilizations swallowed by the jungle itself, savages, crazed madmen, greedy treasure hunters, cursed objects of dark power and the wrath of Mother Nature itself ensure none go unpunished. They will throw all manners of disabling attacks at you while steadily closing the distance and they excel in ambushes.
Libya- The Haunted Carnival (Chapter 2: Haunted Carnival). The Haunted Carnival is more than eager to throw in its performers, all for a good laugh. Clowns, performers, jugglers, magicians, acrobats, knife-throwers, fire-eaters, ballerinas, toymakers, beastmasters, ringmasters, tamed beasts and the very Carnival itself rises to make the ultimate killing joke. OHMYHOLYGODALMIGHTY! SO MUCH CC COMING YOUR WAY! Also, kudos to how frightening they move and attack you, double kudos to the eerie music and sound effects.
Iraq- Dante (Chapter 26: Divine Comedy). Dante's bringing Hell into the knife fight, all hands down. The tortures of the Nine Circles of Hell, its demonic jailors and fallen angel wardens, embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins and the endless hordes of sinners coming at your enemies, hoping to earn their salvation by damning them. A literal hell of a level because of their units split into weaker ones when killed, also they explode when killed, also they rush at and stick to you when they die. They also sport a lot of unique CC, each fashioned by a Sin.
Yuri- The Guardians of The Desert Rose (Chapter 5: Legend of The Desert Rose). The 8 Guardians of The Desert Rose brings the desert into the war. Mummies of priests, sorcerers and warriors, skeleton warriors, sand wraiths, sphinxes, towers firing searing sunlight, mummified pets, beasts of the Nile and the desert, Egyptian gods, sandstorms all come to aid you. All enemy encounters include a high-powered Mini-Boss who will empower its allies while attacking with fan-patterned homing projectiles.
Basically, with the Scooby Doo Villains in charge when I'm gone, they're like super-buffed super-cheating Insane A.I., more than capable of posing a challenge to the enemy while competently defending themselves and managing their forces. In addition to that, these Bosses also deployed their scores of minions to join the attack. I gave them specific instructions to avoid friendly fire with our allies because that would be something that'll blow up in our faces when the front collapses and things make a mad rush in our direction. At the heart of my main base and Yuri's base at the Guardians camp, portals to our respective pocket dimensions stood on permanent manifestation. I've requested that a number of disciples of the Silent Sphinx be posted on permanent guard. These portals could send reinforcements through them as well as supply resources and electric power to keep our bases up and running. My pocket dimension is a lot bigger compared to the one I gave to Yuri and that gave me a lot of space. A wealth of Nuclear Reactors gave me all the power I need for both my main base and extension base while supplying power to Yuri's base as well. Anyone who is foolish enough to charge through the access points to both bases will face a tidal wave of resistance.
Grand Cannons, Prism Towers, Tesla Coils, Psychic Towers and Gattling Cannons made a huge wall over my base while soldiers and combat vehicles are ready to enter the fray. Harriers and Black Eagles soar the skies to deliver tactical strikes against enemy heavy hitters and priority targets but their main task is taking out enemies getting close to the base. Attack Dogs and Yuri Clones patrol the wall of defense buildings, ready to reveal anything trying to slip through by disguise. Terror Drones moved in packs in a farther distance, constantly circling a strategic perimeter around the base. The bulk of the army we field are all flying units. Aerial attacks were a glaring weakness of both the Guardians and the Forces of Darkness. That would mean Rocketeers, Harriers, Black Eagles, Nighthawk Transports, Kirov Airship, Siege Choppers and Floating Discs make up the brunt of my forces.
I also throw in land-based vehicles too but I mostly stick with Prism Tanks, Mirage Tanks, fully-occupied Battle Fortresses, Terror Drones, V3 Rocket Launchers, Apocalypse Tanks, Gattling Tanks and Masterminds. That being said, the weaknesses of the Red Alert army is spotted immediately. If by any chance, we're engaged in close-quarters combat, we're dead. If in the divine misfortune our base is taken out, we're dead. If we run out of allies to hide behind, we're dead. If we can't move fast enough or flee fast enough, we're dead. If we run out of money (Believe me, we burn throughout budgets like crazy), we're also dead. If our power plants or reactors are taken out or disabled, we're dead. In fact, our real strength lies with our Superweapons. We can clear entire battalions in one strike and these attacks only have a short cooldown in between uses.
Our commandos, Tanya, Boris and Yuri Prime (Yuri himself, plus one more thanks to Cloning Vats), are at the thick of the battle, taking out scores of enemies while being surrounded by protective allies. We're the only ones to join the Crumbling Colossi and his disciples when the others have retired. I closed my eyes and materialized the things I pulled from the Imaginary these last five nights. 10 Tech Hospital (Red Alert 2), 10 Tech Machine Shop (Red Alert 2) and 3 Veteran Academy (Red Alert 3).
This is a huge boon to all of us, not just the Red Alert army. All soldiers are affected by Tech Hospital while disciples of the Crumbling Colossus and the Glorious Galleon are affected by Tech Machine Shop, giving them all self-healing capabilities. 3 Veteran Academy meant all of my units arrive on the battle with full veterancy, enhancing their performance considerably. We need all these bonuses, mind you. In the end, our units are still armed men and piloted tanks. What we're facing up against are hordes of supernatural creatures that can tear a man limb from limb in seconds.
I appeared at our extension base. This base only has Barracks and War Factories as its main buildings but it was surrounded by a literal Great Wall of defenses. Grand Cannons lined the place, never stopping their long-ranged barrage at the enemies. Rocketeers and Floating Discs serve as our mainstay defenders while a huge number of Siege Choppers continually relocated and landed to bombard enemies with their cannons. Psychic Radars revealed infiltrators before they could approach and they would be instantly obliterated. Attack Dogs and Yuri Clones patrolled the perimeters just to be sure. Hhhmmm…
Terror Drones are really becoming popular, huh. The mechanical arachnids have been deployed in bigger numbers by the Scooby Doo Villains. They were quick enough to dodge ranged attacks and could tear apart even the most armored carapace of the Black Queen's insects. A blaring siren filled the battlefield, signaling to allies and enemies alike. The Nuclear Attacks from the Soviets rose as Nuclear Missile Silos once more hurled their salvos into the depths of the enemy ranks. Brilliant light claimed the horizon as the nukes fell to the land, giant mushroom clouds rose into the air and the shockwaves of the blast reached even to us. On this time, our allies take the time to catch their breaths and resupply. Beacons of light rose into the air from the heart of the Guardians camp and the skies of darkened. The Allied forces are deploying their Weather Control Device, Lightning Storms would surely wreak havoc to the enemy side again. As a God of Nature, I don't doubt that what we're doing is dangerous and damaging to the planet (It's not long-lasting since it dissipates after completing its intended effect but still) but I've taken the Seed of Life from the land beneath the Forces of Darkness.
Slowly but surely, I've been starving them, made sure the elements are harsh to them. Nothing green ever grew at their side, not even a spot of microbial life. I know beyond the lines of the Forces of Darkness is the portal they've used to breach into this world. If I could only get to it and close it, their threat is as good as dead. But as I've said before, I'm weak here, no different than an immortal with limited use of great power. In addition to the modified Psychic Amplifier being prepared to seize the False Prophet and all of his, Yuri and I have been beefing up the Psychic Dominator. It's the only Superweapon to have a small amount of usage in this war. While we can't have it control entire countries like it was capable of doing in the unaltered timeline, we could focus its dominating power to a point that we could theoretically permanently mind-control a General of Darkness. We have seen great success in isolating the psionic gene and amplifying it via selective flash-evolution and cellular reintroduction, a method Doc Einstein himself made.
Yuri Prime, Yuri Clones, Masterminds, Psychic Towers and the Psychic Dominator itself can now mind-control the monsters in the Eternal Battlefields. We've been stealing disciples and minions of the Darkness and turning them against their former masters. Particularly lucrative was stealing disciples of the Bottomless Maw, the Corruptor, the Black Queen and the End of The World, for each of them could cause chaos at the ranks of enemies. If they were taken out, it was no loss to our side. It would take many more years to achieve this fact but Yuri and I have been focusing on it. I watched as a Nighthawk landed into the field and watched as Boris, Tanya and the two Yuri Primes exited the combat helicopter. "Hey, boss!" Tanya yelled, clearly glad to be taking time off from the battlefield. Well, Yuri and Einstein are not the only ones I pulled from Red Alert 2. President Dugan, General Carville, Tanya, Boris, Lieutenant Eva and Lieutenant Zofia are among the few sentient ones in my service, the rest are concepts given form and function and space and time. They're like NPCs in a sense. Lieutenant Eva and Lieutenant Zofia coordinated the command for the Allied and the Soviets respectively and I've given them some command over their respective forces to supplement the Scooby Doo Villains. And, yes, Michael Dugan and Ben Carville are back at Earth City backing my mother up, just like Romanov does. "Hi, guys! I come bearing gifts!" I said. I snapped my fingers and food and beverages of alcoholic and non-alcoholic origin appeared.
I took these from my comfy trailer's Restaurant, Reaper's Bar, Café and Pixie Bakery appeared on top of the conjured table. "Food! Wonderful!" Boris said, rubbing his hands together. Well, it seemed the Imaginary went out of its way to give Boris more personality and expanded lifestyle. He's the only Red Alert 3 commando who's not expanded enough unlike the other two commandos. The Imaginary did a great job filling in the blanks. I watched as the commandos and logistical officers sat down at the table and begun helping themselves to the food, manners be damned. "Whoa, guys. Are you that starved?" I asked, noticing how closely they resemble Shaggy and Scooby. "Yeah! It's a big day! Didn't you hear? We're closing in on the Bottomless Maw's area!" Eva said. "With Maw out of picture, Guardians win big, yes? War will come to end much sooner." Zofia agreed. This was big news but not the news I expected. All the current psychic breakthrough we're having was centered around seizing the Bottomless Maw's mind and deploying its cannon fodder minions for the Guardians' cause.
I highly doubt the Darkness will allow us to overtake the Maw. If anything, they will dedicate twice more in their defense. My Spies at their main camp informed me of the Generals of Darkness' hiring spree for new blood. They've offered a lot of ridiculous rewards that I don't know if they're able to really give it when the time comes. I've also heard worrisome rumors that two new Generals have come forward. I don't know who they are and what they're capable of doing. Right now, my biggest concern is Beelzebub. His forces and his powers are the only ones who could dent our defense right now and halt the advantage we're giving to our allies.
What makes me even more nervous is the fact that Beelzebub seem to know where to hit us and how to hit us. His disciples wield powerful eldritch arts, are at their peak of unholy fitness and innately had access to dark magics that could conjure all the minions they could ever want, even grand-scale rituals equal to the destructive strength of our own Superweapons. His forces have the highest mortality rate but they are the ones we wouldn't really want to face head-on in the battlefield. Beelzebub's contribution to the Darkness is the most decisive. I could only count the scenes where the King of Hell's forces overturned the advantage the Guardians had and pushed us back, invigorating the Darkness into dismantling our forces piece by piece. I have a sneaking suspicion that Beelzebub is another Player. I don't know what his real purpose is other than the fact that he seems to take the entire thing as a joke.
Of course, being the Big Bad Evil God of the Netherworld, he can do whatever the fuck he wants to do. Darkness is lucky he's on their side and not siding with the Guardians. I saw one turn of event when the daughter-queens of the Black Queen became so incensed that they turned against the army of hell. It was a sight the Guardians never saw before. Never in the hundreds of years has the Forces of Darkness collapsed in on itself. The battle immediately went to the Guardians' favor as the ranks of the Forces of Darkness turned against Beelzebub's forces. They were all obliterated by the Genetic Mutator's power Yuri and I unleashed at just the right moment. That seen had been the closest thing to the Guardians actually storming into the heart of Darkness' camp. Only through the sheer sacrifice and effort mounted by the disciples of the Dragonliche and the End of The World were the Guardians repelled from their lands. If Beelzebub is indeed a Player, one can only imagine what tricks he has up his sleeves. "Our power keeps enemies at bay! Keeps allies strong and hopeful!" Boris said, watching the veritable destruction inflicted over at the enemies' side of the battlefield.
"Yes. For how long? We know more of them will come out from that portal. We need to do something about that portal." I said. We've tried launching all our Superweapons at that thing far, far behind the enemy lines but still it stands, undaunted and undamaged. Perhaps the magic keeping it in this realm is far powerful than we thought it would be. Teleporting myself over there is out of the question, of course. As if I could in the first place. I only have enough divine energy to make a long-lasting miracle plus teleporting myself back and forth here. So far the miracles I've made in this world relates only to slowly reversing the damage of time and age to the remaining Guardians. If I become powerful, I hope I might be strong enough to be able to resurrect a fallen Guardian. The Fallen Titan, the Nameless Hero and the Glorious Galleon deserve a second shot to defending this world again from those who seek to subdue it. Each time I use it, I can reverse the harm done by fifty years, woeful compared to the result I was aiming for. "Maybe I should talk to that recruiter again and put up my own offer in there." I said aloud. At that, Eva and Zofia jumped up from their seats.
"My General, we have considered that too. Please take look at the drafts we made." Zofia said. She and Eva produced folders from somewhere in their suits and rushed over to me. "Well, that was fun while it didn't last." Tanya said. "Recruits will do us good, yes. We can only do so much after all. Problem lies with how we will distribute our limited resources." Yuri contemplated as he stared into his tea. "Numbers are good." Tanya said after thinking about it. If we had disciples the same way Guardians and Generals of Darkness have, we could cover a lot more bases. Right now, our forces are holed up in the Eternal Battlefields, attacking the heart of the Darkness, but they have activities all over the planet. Maybe while going after the snake's head, it would be great if we could go after other parts of the serpent's body, deny it from one another other until all the others stands alone and vulnerable. That's when we fall over them in one fell swoop.
"I believe you have ways to make it desirable enough." Yuri said thoughtfully. Yep, we all knew what he was talking about. It's about the sudden swell of Darkness ranks as recruits came pouring in like heavy rain. I have such things to make it desirable but what I want to attract are the loyal ones. The Guardians have some way to inspire loyalty to their disciples and allies but we don't have the same guarantee. Frankly, I don't want the same advantages RA2 has to be turned against us. Superweapon attacks raining down on the Guardians' camp is the last thing we ever need.
An idea hit me. YYYEEESSS! THAT'S IT! I'VE GOT IT! "I hear them bells ringing." Tanya said teasingly over to me. "An idea!" Boris laughed, slapping a hand on the table. I nodded. I think I know what to offer them after all. Let them play a game and while they're playing, it wouldn't hurt if they turned all of that hurt to the Forces of Darkness. But maybe I should just stick to the classics. I'll try to get my grubby hands on old RTS games, see if they're still available for extraction. It seemed unlikely that they've been claimed though. I mean, would you really pick Age of Empires when you can have God of War? Would you pick Rise of Nations when you can have Diablo? Let's see…
Dawn of War- Winter Assault, Dark Crusade, Soulstorm
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3- Uprising
Command and Conquer: Generals- Zero Hour
Lord's Legacy- Court of The Damned, Silent Saints, Gods' Return
Long Live The Dead- Victoria's Vengeance, Arrival of Apocalypse
Scares: Reflection of Humanity- Witches' Sabbath
UnEnding
All-Out War
Battleborne- Attack From Below, The Conclave, Where Asia Once Stood, Uncle Sam
Universe At War: Earth Assault
Age of Wonders III- Golden Realms, Eternal Lords
Battle Realms- Winter of The Wolf
Age of Mythology- The Titans, Tale of The Dragon
Age of Empires III- The WarChiefs, The Asian Dynasties
Stronghold Legends
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty- Heart of The Swarm, Legacy of The Void, Nova Covert Ops
WarCraft III- Frozen Throne
I smiled. I don't know if it will work but I get the feeling that it will work out somehow. If I can't get my hands on these, I can get other games. Heck, there's a ton of them out there. "Are you guys interested in scouting talents for me?" I asked. The commandos and the officers looked at each other in alarm. "Who will make sure things run smoothly here?" Tanya asked, voicing everyone's main concern. "The Villains, of course. They're more than capable of keeping things fine." I said. "Give the word and we are ready." Zofia said. "Rest for a while. As soon as I'm done talking with the other Guardians, we'll go." I said. It won't be the first time they've visited Earth City. Duh, I give them day-offs, breaks and vacations too, you know. I teleported myself over to the heart of the Guardian camp. Reappearing out of thin air, I was greeted immediately by a barrage of energetic voices, mostly males.
Countless warriors moved around me as did encampments of each of the Guardians. In addition to the rank-and-file soldiers, there was the disciples of the Guardians themselves, who formed a significant core of the Guardians' fighting force. Flying galleons and laughing djinns flew in the sky above me while giants, titans, nameless soldiers, masters of magic, behemoths, commanders and sphinxes moved about. Some of them in their human form, others still in their combative form, these brave men and women form the core defense of this world. They either were taking a break, catching on their sleep, doing maintenance to their armor and weapons or sparring with each other. The Guardians' camp was huge, split into many encampments for the various disciples of the Guardians themselves.
I walked towards the largest tent, one that shared space some distance from my fortified main base. As I approached it, I saw small squads of Attack Dogs and Yuri Clones patrolling the area around it. They paid me their respects before moving on. I stood just outside the canvas of the massive tent and sighed. I waited as the sphinx outside stepped in and announced my name. "Nallis Neruvian Nox is here!" the sphinx said in a loud voice. I sighed. Why did I pick that name again? "Triple N!" came the jovial yell from inside the tent and a green cloud pulled me inside. It was the Laughing Djinn. Until I showed up, he was the newest addition to the Guardians. "Good show, old friend, bloody good show!" he yelled, smacking me on the back hard. I winced and accepted the blow. He's like this all the time. Caught in a perpetual state of mirth, the Laughing Djinn and his disciples continue to prove to be valuable allies and constant pains-the-ass. The remaining Guardians always have meetings for important developments every day. I looked around me.
This is all that remains of the Guardians. The Legendary Commander is caught up with time, his age beginning to take its toll. The Sleeping Giant is still asleep, recovering from his grievous wounds. He is represented by one of his veteran giants. The Dark One sent two representatives instead. She might be helping the Guardians now but no one really knows her real intentions. I also get the feeling that she's connected to the Obsidian Monolith, the fallen once-leader of the Forces of Darkness and fulfills the magical arms of the Forces of Darkness, the same role she does with the Guardians. The Frenzied Behemoth also sent a representative and still fights the good fight. The Crumbling Colossus and his faithful disciples, save for the oathbreakers, has never left the battlefield, not once at all, and as such had to be represented by a selected veteran disciple of the Nameless Hero. There's of course the Laughing Djinn and the Silent Sphinx.
The deceased Guardians, the Fallen Titan, the Nameless Hero and the Glorious Galleon, are represented by the best of their disciples to date. And there's also the Corvid, a creature that was once a General of Darkness, now left the fight and remains neutral to both sides. It continues to imbue its followers with its power and its disciples have been known to fight on both sides of the war. It has no place amongst the Guardians but it my opinion currying its favor and making it fight for our side entirely would be a worthy endeavor. I walked over to my place among them. Two seats. One for me and one for Jessie, should she ever know my secret in the future and would want to assist me in it. "Greetings, Triple N." the Legendary Commander said, his tone warm as it is powerfully charismatic. He looks a bit better now. I've been reversing his age. He wasn't a feeble old man when I met him but the magical facelift is great. I glared at the Laughing Djinn. Ever since he called me that, the name stuck to me. I looked around and acknowledged everyone in the room and took my place.
"What's happened? What's going on?" I asked. "A most distressing development. I trust you have been informed of the matter. Lieutenants Eva and Zofia have informed us of two new Generals of Darkness who might make their presence known on the battlefield." the Legendary Commander said grimly. I nodded, acknowledging the news. It was a blow to me. Great. Another problem to deal with. "Then I trust you all now agree that my proposal holds great weight in this matter. It will be only a matter of time before they can break through our formation and strike at my forces. My Villains and their minions have fulfilled the same role the Bottomless Maw does have with the Darkness but even as we speak, the news of the enemies crashing through our defenses and obliterating my forces is becoming commonplace now, isn't it?" I said. "Your aerial forces still remain intact." the Silent Sphinx said quietly. "It does, dear lady, but for how long?" I rejoined. "I am for the little one's plan. Seizing the mind of the False Prophet and all of his will deal significant damage to their morale." the Dark One's voice came from the bottom of a huge chalice filled with black liquid. It hissed and bubbled as the Dark One's voice came from its depths, chalice held up by two of her greater disciples. It filled the other Guardians with a sense of unease. Even the Laughing Djinn looked as though someone just told a terrible, quite unfunny joke in the middle of the room. "No. That's not all of it." I said. "Explain." said the Glorious Galleon's representative, her guard rising up. "You are aware, yes, of my Psychic Dominator?" I said.
They nodded, knowing all too well of the destructive potential of the Superweapon and thankful that it was focused on the enemies rather at them. "Well, we have been strengthening the Psychic Dominator to a point that it can permanently mind-control a General of Darkness and, by extension, its followers." I said. A gasp went up in the tent, looking horrified and tempted at the same time. "The prime candidate of this development is the Bottomless Maw. With the Maw's forces at our side and the minions of my Villains, we could send to the enemies a never-ending tide that will slowly chip away their efforts. Now we're not yet ready to this something this big. Controlling the False Prophet will come first. If it goes well after that, we could focus our efforts in dominating the Maw." I explained. "I take it that you are trying to use this "Psychic Amplifier" device to control the False Prophet and his forces but would it not be more prudent to use the Psychic Dominator on him instead?" the Glorious Galleon representative said. "You cannot be seriously considering this?!" the Crumbling Colossus representative said.
"The final stages of war is at the horizon. What will it take you to wake up? I don't give a damn if you want to lose and let this world burn but you forget that I fight for my own world. If your world falls, ours is the next. The only reason I allied with you in the first place is that I know all too well the weaknesses of my forces. Had I my full powers to wield, I will blast this Darkness aside on my own." I said heatedly. The Guardians fell into contemplation. "His words make sense, you know. What choice do we have?" the Silent Sphinx said after some time. They all looked at her. She looked at me. "If indeed your mind-controlling device works, can you guarantee us this will not fail? It will be most difficult to fight when the Bottomless Maw's minions or the False Prophet's fanatics suddenly attack us when their master's mind is its own again." she said. "That is something I can guarantee you. The only time my device will fail is when its power is cut off or when it's destroyed." I said. The Silent Sphinx nodded. "Then I cast my vote into favor." she said. I nodded in gratitude to her.
"I cast my favor as well. I love your Villain thingies. I love the way those clowns scare everyone to death!" the Laughing Djinn said before being overwhelmed by a nasty case of the giggles. Well, excuse me, the Haunted Carnival's clowns gave us players phobias. You try outwitting them in the game and let's see if they can't reduce you to a shaking mess. "That reminds me. I'll be dedicating new Villains into the battle. I would be most grateful if you extend to them the same warmth and camaraderie." I said. "Now there is something we can get behind. Rest assured if these new Villains are the same as the old ones, they will be protected to the death by all of us." the Fallen Titan representative said. I nodded again in gratitude. "Now tell me what else you know of these mysterious newcomers?" I asked, referring to the new Generals of Darkness. Our serious discussion started immediately.
Boy, it sure does pour when it rains, huh?
000
I exited the tent after seven straight hours. I gave a massive sigh. Time here is different compared to the time on Earth City. I may be gone for a year and I can come back to find out that I was missing for just three minutes. Besides, I've put my body in auto-pilot mode. I'll just pull back if something really important happens. I teleported over to my extension base to find that the commandos and the lieutenants had already packed and ready to be redeployed. "I'll stay here for a while. Take care of the rest in Earth City." I said.
Yuri, Tanya, Boris, Eva and Zofia nodded. I snapped my fingers and they disappeared in a flash of pillars of light. I still have points to spare to summon more Villains. I haven't even touched Villains from Scooby Doo: The RPG II. I looked over the distance. It's not a quiet night at all. Defensive buildings still fired whenever an enemy entered their range, their booms filling the silence. I'm sure the other side has been wondering how the hell my defenses can still pinpoint with startling accuracy under cover of near-absolute blackness. Nighttime is one of the biggest activities my forces have. During this time, the Nightlord's forces attempt to attack my base. Scooby Doo Boss minions swarmed from all over and stopped their march before they entered critical locations.
Mirage Tanks masquerading as entire forests maintain our defense by exploiting their ignorance. The night became bright as high-powered attacks from my forces seared the darkness and enemies alike. I did mean what I said in the tent before. My Scooby Doo Bosses function the same way as that of the Bottomless Maw's, providing the Guardians with limitless hordes of cannon fodder minions. The only difference is Scooby Doo Boss minions are deathless, tireless, smart, cunning, have infuriating abilities at their disposal and aren't afraid to sacrifice themselves should it mean increasing the odds of victory. While the minions' numbers is smaller compared to the Maw's, they offer quality over quantity, numbers merely a plus in their résumé. They've been protecting our allies ceaselessly, taking deathblows for them more than we could ever could. In the nighttime, Scooby Doo Boss minions and Red Alert 2 forces join the Crumbling Colossus and his disciples in holding off the incoming hordes. It is this time that we're a little indiscriminate in our attacks as we knew it would more likely hit enemies than allies.
I've been spending points like crazy these past few years. I'm not that really concerned. Jessie doesn't know about it but Scooby Doo stuff are like a great steal in terms of buying price. I bought all the Villains from Scooby Doo: First Frights for only 4,000 points. Which is heavensent when you compare it to Jessie's 200,000 point minimum for her Paragons and Artifacts. I bought the Villains from Scooby Doo, Where Are You? and The Scooby Doo Show for just 500 points. Scooby Doo: The RPG Villains cost 2,000 points each. It seemed a steal for all the minions they're tirelessly chugging out. Maybe I ought to field History forces here too.
It'll be a good way to pass the time. Yep, maybe the Court of Pluto and Venus are up to the task. No, I think it'll have to be something else. I'll just have to make up some kind of excuse to Jessie if she ever finds out. What the hell am I being nervous for anyway? I have the entire universe of History under my command. I can just send in peepz with Deathless traits and have them whack enemies to kingdom come. Best of all, it doesn't cost me a damn thing for that! Although, I will admit that I'm a little scared. Unlike the concepts I've been pulling from the Imaginary, the peepz from my Soulbound Power are actually real lives. I don't want to test if my History peepz are susceptible to the Corruptor's influence.
It's easy if a Scooby Doo Villains get infected because I can simply de-summon and re-summon them. History peepz are full-on manifestation on the other hand. I'd hate to lose something as huge as the Dragon God to the Corruptor. Speaking of Dragons, maybe I do have some peepz who I'd like to field in this battle. It wouldn't hurt if three Deathwyrms participated. It wouldn't hurt if the Dragon God sent representatives in the form of three more Deathwyrms. Those Deathwyrms would each conjure Armies of The Dead and dedicate them into the fight. Basically, any kind of Generator-type (These are units that continually produce Summons on their own as long as they're alive) and Caller-type (These are units that produce Summons through their spells) History unit would be good for this. Hhhmmmmmm… Maybe I should get my hands on as many of these unit types as soon as possible.
I think I'll be needing the Cavemen (I already have them thanks to Farmaggedon), the Greys, the Coven, the Dreams, the Old Gods, the Outlaws, the Undead, the Vampires, the Unicorns, the Gargoyles, the Hags, the Godspawns and, most of all, the Court of Mars. The Court of Mars has the strongest Summons around and they can flood the battlefield with legions conjured out of nowhere. Additionally, Mars himself will bolster all of my military activities, making it twice as fruitful and eventful. That sounds like a fine plan to me. Time to put it into action, I guess. I closed my eyes and called several of my History minions. A rush of wind blew against my face and I opened my eyes to see six massive forms bowing respectfully before me.
Three of them were kingly humanoid Dragons, bodies as dark as the starless night itself, torsos almost that of male human in its musculature and development, eyes blazing like smoking fires, great wings spread gloriously, hovering in place vertically, claws raised at each side with electricity-like flames of black and red crackling within each palm. Their heads were massive, jaws slightly open to hint rows of cruel teeth. These were the Deathwyrms, artificial dragons created by the Death Lord Abynn in a bid to contain necromantic power within a nigh-invincible draconic form and mixing his own blood into it. He succeeded in his experiment but he was the first victim of his creations. Deathwyrms, though unquestionably loyal, are pariahs among the Dragon race who see them as abominations. In the war against the Demon Gods, it's hard to imagine the outcome without the aid of the Deathwyrms and their undead hordes, thusly earning themselves a permanent seat among the Dragonflights. Deathwyrms make up one of the only two Caller units of the Dragon race, summoning their undead armies to provide cover and distraction for more precious Dragon units. Deathwyrms work very closely with Mother Dragons, their Hatchlings usually providing firepower to the undead's resilience.
The three second Dragons are none other than the aforementioned Mother Dragons. Resembling gigantic bloated sun-dried eggplants riddled with fleshy holes all over their bodies, Mother Dragons are permanently crippled Dragons, protected to the death by all other Dragons and venerated to the point of godhood. Mother Dragons are all females, living ambulatory nests and DNA banks for every known Dragon gene. It is their role to lift from extinction any endangered species of Dragons. They are capable of hosting hundreds of Dragon eggs and thousands of Hatchlings in their bodies at the same time. Their breath weapons are unique among Dragons as instead of an element, Mother Dragons breathe gaseous corrosive symbiotic offshoots of the Slime species. These dense intelligent clouds of Slime carry Mother Dragons everywhere, hunt food for it and protect it from dangers. Mother Dragons are the second Caller units of the Dragons. They are capable of fielding Slimes and Hatchlings, which supplement the weaknesses of their Deathwyrm bodyguards' undead just fine. Combining with the Deathwyrm's Army of The Dead's resilience and durability, Slime's damaging presence and resistance corrosion and Hatchling's multi-elemental breath weapons and fast movement, they'll be wearing thin any enemies stronger than themselves. But just to be sure, let's hide them behind the Scooby Doo Boss minions. And, of course, there's the Dragon God. The patron deity of all Dragonkind, he's the Big Boss Upstairs to all things draconic. He's so busy with his schedule that he just sends three of one type of Tier-10 Dragons.
That can either be 3 Deathwyrms, 3 Mother Dragons, 3 Palladiums, 3 Kronuses, 3 Jörmungandrs, 3 Shenlongs, 3 Tianlongs, 3 Tyrants, 3 Reshapers or 3 Apocalypses. And just so you know, Tiers don't really mean that higher Tiers are stronger than lower Tiers. History doesn't work like that. Tiers are just the levels of met prerequisites for your Nation, like another whole new level for your civilization. While many higher Tiers are indeed strong, there are also lower Tiers that are better than their higher counterparts. Stats don't really mean anything in History. As Persephone mentioned, History is about the gamer, not the game. Beating an army of powerful units is five times as awesome when you use weak units to beat it and that's just one of the many ways to face that army. Huge Morale damage and wasted resources will make your enemies cry in frustration. There are many ways of fighting other than hoarding a lot of strong units and steamrolling enemies (Like what you most do at RTS games). Believe me, I love it when playing PvP and you see people like these and you get all sadistic about it. Throw in insult to injury by using only Court of Pluto and watch them rage all about it after the game. Better if you field Court of Venus and turn their own forces against them. The fun never ends.
Okay, back to the present… I asked the Dragon God for Deathwyrms. What to make better than adding their own Summons to the push of Scooby Doo Boss minions. Besides, History units has more firepower compared to Scooby Doo Villains. Behind the Dragons was the rising expanse of the attractions of Evil Carnival. I've summoned them to lend their aid into the fight as well. These Generators will continually spawn Carnival Troupes who possess the Fearmonger trait. They'll be breaking enemy lines faster than we already could. They're mostly Garrisons for important cities back in History so I think they're quite happy with this new active role. Malicious hoots, shrieks and laughs rose into the air as the twisted carnival threw its lot into the fray, their cackling jumping forms rushing into battle with manic excitement. Among them, I saw the floating form of their Champion, Freakshow who is an entire gallery of misshapen or abnormal souls twisted evil by society's ridicule and disrespect, hovering above the ground and giggling sinisterly unto themselves. I know they're going to wreak havoc among the enemy lines, most safe behind the Scooby Doo Boss minions.
I wish I could put Weirdo City, Tinseltown and Farmaggedon here but they have important roles back home. Weirdo City and Tinseltown is guarding my left flank from rogue mages, pirates, necromancers, bandits, cults and Darkspawns. They're the only thing that stands between non-Nation enemies from the sea and the Lilliputian capital. Farmageddon is occupying important Landmarks so it won't get wrestled from my control and stomping out brigand camps before they grow strong enough to be a threat. I need to pull things from the Imaginary as soon as possible. I nodded to the Dragons as watched as Deathwyrms conjured their undead armies while Mother Dragons released Slimes and Hatchlings into the air.
With a mental command, the Deathwyrms and the Mother Dragons made for the Guardians camp, to the Flanks. They'll be sending their minions from there, a safe distance from any kind of heavy enemy retaliation. Evil Carnival is still within range of my defenses and within reasonable range for my allies to come and help defend it so I have little worry over there. It won't hurt to assign Mirage Tanks on permanent guard over there. Scooby Doo Boss minions are pouring from the extension base. I'm going to summon more Scooby Doo Bosses and have them join the Deathwyrms and Mother Dragons. Red Alert 2 would focus on the Battlefield and cover for our allies. Our airborne units already moved to their positions at my mental command. I teleported back to the Guardians camp, meeting the arriving Deathwyrms and Mother Dragons. I closed my eyes and conjured more Scooby Doo Bosses from Scooby Doo: The RPG.
The Mothership (Chapter 25: Space Quest)
Nibiru (Chapter 31: Another Planet)
Wonderland (Chapter 35: The Madness of Alice)
Genie of The Lamp, Genie of The Ring (Chapter 36: Aladdin's Demise)
Pied Piper (Chapter 37: The Missing Children)
Puss In Boots (Chapter 38: Goldtown Robberies)
The Beast (Chapter 39: Tragic Ending)
The Storybook (Chapter 53: Wish I May, Wish I Might)
The 20 Mysteries (Chapter 50: Horrors of High School)
Land Before Time (Chapter 33: Beneath The Ice)
The Omens, No Hope (Chapter 12: Devil's Island)
Silver Screen, The Movies (Chapter 20: Movie Mayhem)
Blue Sky (Chapter: 42 Disappearance of Maria's Tear)
Minotaur, Icarus (Chapter 46: The Labyrinth)
AUTHOR'S NOTE:Okay, I may or may not have taken the idea for the Isla Del Diablo in Unfortunate Turn of Events from Devil's Island in Scooby Doo: The RPG.
I opened my eyes. That was a huge drop of points, 36,000. Mother asked for new Villains. I have some more to spend for that. I watched as the skies and the land was clogged with the sheer numbers of new Scooby Doo Boss minions.
Several species of alien creatures, flora and fauna. Good at ambushing and harrying enemies. (The Mothership),
Higher beings from another planet. High-powered long-ranged attacks plus Mini-Boss encounters? Yes, please! (Nibiru),
Creatures and magic from various fairytales. Swarming method, swarming method, swarming method. Plus a side of spamming spellcaster Mini-Bosses. (The Storybook, Wonderland, Pied Piper, The Beast, Puss In Boots, Genie of The Lamp, Genie of The Ring),
Prehistoric fauna and flora and the very land itself. Dinosaurs come in all shapes and sizes but all durable, vicious, fast and hard-hitting. (Land Before Time),
Your school's things that go bump in the night and, boy, are they many. Annoying and disrupting paranormal activities happen long before their actual units arrive. (The 20 Mysteries),
Animated magician paraphernalia, thief assistants, magician assistants. Dodge, parries and blocks to last a lifetime, good luck landing a blow. (Blue Sky),
Movies that came to life. Very varied and diversified but they each boast unique strengths and spells. (Silver Screen, The Movies),
The fiendish traps of the Labyrinth. Static defenses and traps litter everywhere, placed in the most critical locations and in places where it will do the most damage. (Minotaur, Icarus) and
Hellish nightmares made real and a dark religion. Torment enemies with summoned underlings, disrupting spells and damaging fields while being entirely untargetable at the same time. (The Omens, No Hope).
These minions of the new Scooby Doo Bosses made their debut. Behind these agile minions were the Summons of Deathwyrms and Mother Dragons. All the Bosses here and their minions have one thing in common. They're the types to gang up on you and make your life miserable with their ability to dodge your attacks. Their spells either have a wide AoE or persistent over the course of the battle. Hhhmmm… My extension base is considered to be in the Skirmishes, I guess Evil Carnival is too. And while no enemy can pass through here, no allies could hope to walk by and expect to be unscathed by the raw firepower of my defenses.
My defenses are powerful but they're a little indiscriminate. A mighty roar rose among my allies from the unseen distance at the Front Lines and Heart of Battle. I've activated my Genetic Mutator and Yuri's too just a second ago. As huge swathes of the enemies turned into loyal Brutes for our side, their formations collapsed for the nth time and the Guardians managed to break through. Normally, only the Crumbling Colossi and his disciples are present on the battlefield at night and relief forces but more of the Guardians' soldiers and disciples have taken to fighting at night too. I'd like to think it was because of us too. With the unfair advantage of RA2, we're steadily pushing back the Darkness. I have no illusions that this will keep up.
As of this moment, the Generals of Darkness are scheming to take care of my forces. We've been a thorn to their side ever since we made our presence known. I decided to rally all the Scooby Doo Bosses to the Skirmishes, quite far from their original position in the Rear Guard. This is where they will spawn their minions, at a much closer distance to allies at the heart of the battle. With new Scooby Doo Bosses into the fray, we could cover all the Theaters of Battle. The Scooby Doo Boss minions would be fighting side-by-side RA2, covering each other's weaknesses and making sure the formation won't collapse. I've decided what to pull from the Imaginary. It's gonna be StarCraft 2. I can imagine large numbers of Swarm Hosts and Brood Lords supporting from behind. Heck, even if it's gonna be all Brood Lords, that's fine as rain. They'll be throwing wave after wave of Broodlings at the enemy side. I hope the commandos and the lieutenants find someone worthy and fast. I don't think I can control anything above my own RA2 forces, Yuri's forces and Scooby Doo Villains. The mental connection is really taxing.
Wish I had a hivemind or something. I can command my army even from another world or plane of existence but I still have my threshold. But I'm really frustrated with all this Guardian business. Their opponents are getting new Generals but no new Guardian has joined ever since me. I've been bothering them about it and they seem a little reserved about it. I've already have half a mind to recruit Jessie here and now. Maybe some of the gang will join me too. If Doki was here, I would treat him to one of my greatest "persuasion by whining" until he has no choice but to fall in. Well, I guess I'm in no place to complain. A huge factor of the Guardians' recent victories is because of Scooby Doo and RA2. Our presence here has tipped the scale by a huge margin. I sighed. Time to get my hands real dirty again.
Then a message entered my mind. It was a call from Runeterra, one of our own, one of the gang. I smiled for the first time I came here. At least something went right today.
END OF PART 1
