xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Pazuzu's Easel Base, 11:06 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Go and play!" Dolph exclaimed as he pointed his finger in the direction of Bernard and Marlene. Upon his instructions, the tattoo snakes begun to slither towards the pair with intent to kill as they looked at the snakes with blue faces of fear.
"Crap! Marlene, use your magic!" Bernard said as he turned his head towards her.
"What about you?!" Marlene replied back.
"I'll think of something! Just do it!" Bernard exclaimed as Marlene quickly nodded and turned invisible, escaping the snakes line of sight as they turned their attention towards Bernard, who was swallowing spit in nervousness. "Now what do I do?!" He thought, struggling with forming an idea as he looked around the room.
The brightly lit room covered in paint stains had no objects for him to defend himself as Dolph looked at Bernards nervous state with a smirk at his inability to do anything for protection. Stepping back as the snakes approached further and further, Bernard glanced over at Anatolis ball and formed an idea.
"Only thing I can think of, sorry Anatoli!" Bernard thought as he rushed towards the giant ball and picked it up. Turning back around while holding the massive ball in his hands, Bernard noticed some of the snakes jump up towards him with their mouths open to bite him. "Piss off!" He shouted as he swung Anatolis ball like a weapon, swatting the snakes that lunged at him as they hit the wall and turning into paint stains.
"Pfff! Hahaha!" Dolph laughed as he watched Bernard flail about to avoid getting hurt.
"And what's so funny?!" Bernard said angrily towards Dolph as he started to slam the ball against some of the snakes on the ground, turning them into more stains of paint.
"Can't you tell?" Dolph said as he pointed at some of the paint stains on the wall from Bernards slamming. Catching Bernards attention, Bernard noticed some of the paint from the smashed snakes were beginning to return back to Dolphs body and reforming the original tattoos that were on him.
"...What the hell...?" Bernard said with a tone of surprise and exhaustion.
"Tattoo Magic." Dolph said as Bernard looked at him as he reached his hand behind his backside and pulled out a knife made of ink. "Using magical ink I had made with my master Claudia, I am covered in tons of weapons and creatures at my disposal made from the fluid!" He said as he threw the knife in Bernards direction.
Throwing Anatolis ball up into the air to avoid it getting stabbed, Bernard ducked out of the way of the knife as it became imbedded in the wall as Bernard caught Anatolis ball as it came down. Upon looking back at the knife, Bernard dropped the ball and quickly rushed to grab the knife, grabbing it by the handle and ripping it out of the drywall.
"Not so fast..." Dolph said with an evil smirk as he snapped his fingers.
"Huh?" Bernard muttered as he held the knife until he looked down and noticed that the knife was beginning to melt. "Oh come on! That isn't what happened yesterday!" He complained as the knife in his hands turned into a sticky mess of ink.
"Did you really think I would let you hold one of my ink weapons to fight back with?" Dolph said, mocking Bernard as he quickly rushed back towards Anatolis ball.
"This isn't good... This isn't good... I got nothing to fight back with..." Bernard thought with a drop of sweat dripping off his face as he was unsure of what to do. "I've not been in a situation like this in a long time... I don't know what to do here- Oh?" He continued to think until he noticed something behind Dolph, who was still mocking Bernard.
Unbeknownst to Dolph was Marlene, who was partially invisible, behind the tattooed man as she motioned for Bernard to keep quiet as she reached into her utility belt and grabbed a vial with a dark blue liquid inside it. Upon seeing her, Bernard made an expression of seriousness as he turned his attention back to Dolph.
"Need to distract him..." Bernard thought as he looked at Dolph. "Th-that all you got!?" Bernard exclaimed in an attempt to incite Dolph.
"Oh? So you want a new plaything? I'll show you something real special then. Hehehe." Dolph said as he turned around, showing Bernard his back tattoo that looked like that of a large man-like lizard as Marlene, noticing his body shifting, quickly turned back invisible so he wouldn't notice her.
"Damn it! He almost saw me!" Marlene thought with worry as she stopped moving for a bit as Dolphs back tattoo begun to glow.
"Tattoo Magic: Lizardman!" Dolph exclaimed as the tattoo on his back started to come to life and out came a humanoid-looking creature. It sported a long gator-like head and a green colored body that had minor muscle and a pair of black ripped shorts on its lower half and a reptilian tail.
"A Lizardman?! Seriously?!" Bernard exclaimed in surprise as he hid slightly behind Anatolis ball as the tattoo Lizardman ran at him. In response to the creature approaching, Bernard picked up Anatolis ball and threw it at the Lizardman in an attempt to stop it but to no avail as the lizard man smacked the ball out of the way as it hit the wall. Changing its attention back to Bernard, Bernard started to run away to the other side of the room.
"Craaaappp!" Bernard exclaimed in fear as the Lizardman started to chase him around the painted stained room with Dolph chuckling and laughing as Bernard made a fool of himself.
"Bahahahaha! You're such a dork!" Dolph said as he continued to bully Bernard. Still unknown to him however was Marlene, who was approaching him with a vial of fluid in her hand with it raised overhead to slam it into him.
"Got you now!" Marlene thought as she prepared to slam the vial into him. As she lowered her right arm for the attack, her wrist was quickly caught by Dolph as he turned back around and noticed her presence behind him, his face forming a content smile as he noticed the chameleon-like girl, turning back to a visible state.
"Was wondering where you went." Dolph said with a cool look in his eyes as he had a tight grip on Marlenes wrist as she locked eyes with the tattooed man.
"Let go! Get off me!" Marlene screamed in a defiant tone as she tried to get out of his clutches.
"Calm down, I mean you no harm." Dolph said with a reassuring tone towards Marlene as she just looked at the tattooed wizard with disdain.
"Ahhh!" Bernard screamed as Marlene and Dolph turned their attention back to Bernard who was dodging swipes from the Lizardman tattoo as Bernard fell over onto his chest after dodging another swing. Trying to run away again, Bernards left leg was caught by the Lizardmans right left hand as it grabbed Bernard and threw him against the wall.
"Gfagh!" Bernard grunted in pain as he hit the wall, clutching his backside as he fell on the ground. Looming over, the Lizardman then proceeded to raise its leg and kick Bernard in the chest while he was down. "Blragh!" He exclaimed in more pain from the impact.
"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Marlene said as she continued to struggle in Dolphs hold on her.
"And I said calm down!" Dolph said in a slightly more agitated tone as he grabbed her by both arms and locked eyes with her. "Listen to me, I want you..." He said with a serious tone towards Marlene who was just looking at him with confusion.
"Wha-what?!" Marlene exclaimed with surprise.
"I could tell by the lonely look in your eyes yesterday that you want someone in your life. Someone who will treat you right and will give you what you really want." Dolph said in an overbearing tone.
"And just what do I really want?" Marlene said in response with a furrowed brow.
"A man to love." Dolph said with serious eyes as he looked at Marlene who made a confused and surprised expression.
"Huh?" Marlene mumbled with a blush on her face as she didn't know what to say in response.
"I wanted to talk to you yesterday because I see the true value in your beauty. I feel like there's something that could exist between us, something magical and real!" Dolph said as he gripped tighter and tighter against Marlenes arms.
"And in this little fantasy of yours, were you ever going to tell me you were a henchmen to a crazed lunatic of a painter?" Marlene said with an angry expression.
"Claudia has nothing to do with this! This just between me and you and what we could have together..." Dolph said as loomed over Marlene who was becoming more and more perplexed by what he was saying.
As they stood together, Marlene glanced over at Bernard who was now being stepped on by the tattooed Lizardman, its clawed foot pressing down on his backside.
"Shut... Up..." Bernard muttered in pain as he looked over at the pair, Dolph turning his head towards Bernard in response.
"Got something else to say?" Dolph said in an annoyed tone as he continued to clutch Marlene.
"I said shut up!" Bernard screamed while still feeling the foot applying pressure on his back. "You don't know crap about her so stop spewing your dumb fetish garbage at her, you walking paint bucket!" He shouted.
"Funny, coming from a guy whose spine is on the verge of being as bad as his heart is." Dolph said in a mocking tone.
"Double funny, coming from the lizard lover!" Bernard said with a smirk as Dolph and Marlenes eyes widened in surprise from his statement.
"What did you just say?!" Dolph said, finally showing a truly agitated state of emotion. "Do not call her a "lizard!"' He exclaimed in frustration.
"And why not? Because I have you pegged?!" Bernard said as the Lizardman tattoo lifted Bernard up and held him by his shirt against the wall, slightly above the ground.
"What does that mean?" Marlene thought as she looked at Dolph and then back to Bernard.
"The snakes, the lizardman, why you like Marlene... You have a fetish for reptiles! That's the only reason you have any interest in her!" Bernard said as he continued to be choked by the Lizardman.
"Do-don't be ridiculous! I fell for this girl for her impeccable beauty and her amazing teeth and skin and-" Dolph said as he looked at Bernard and listed off his infatuation before stopping himself as he realized what he just muttered. As he did this, Marlenes expression went from one of confusion to one of sheer anger as she realized what Dolphs reason for liking her was.
"My teeth... And skin..." Marlene said with a smirk of pure aggravation forming as Dolph turned to look at her.
"Wait, I didn't mean that, my reptilian angel- I mean, my beautiful angel! Sorry, that just slipped out!" Dolph said, stumbling over his words as Marlene, still holding the blue vial in her hand from before, lifted it up overhead like before she was grabbed by the tattooed man.
"I am not a stupid reptile!" Marlene said in a defiant and angry tone as she slammed the vial in Dolphs face.
"Gaaahhh!" Dolph screamed in pain as the blue fluid begun to burn and singe his face. Clutching at his face, he begun to feel a searing sensation that start to make him feel like his face was melting as the multitude of tattoos around his face and eyes begun to melt and smear. "What the hell!? You stupid bitch!" He exclaimed in his pain as he looked in Marlenes direction but noticed she had disappeared.
While in his state of pain, Marlene took an empty glass jar that was on her belt and smashed it over the back of his head, the glass shattering in the process into tiny shards as Dolph clutched at the back of his head in pain. Stumbling from the melting sensation on his face and the pain from the glass to the back of his skull, he stepped forward and wound up stepping on the broken shards of glass as they entered into his bare foot.
"Blaaaahhh!" Dolph exclaimed in pain as he clutched at his foot as he fell over onto his back. Looking up, Marlene stood over him with an angry expression on her face as she reached into her belt once more and pulled out a cloth and a test tube that was filled with a yellow paste. Pouring it onto the cloth, she then placed the cloth over Dolphs mouth and nose as he flailed on the ground as Marlene begun to choke him.
Struggling for air as he inhaled the scent from the paste, Dolphs consciousness begun to fade as his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. His head hitting the floor and his body going limp, the Lizardman tattoo choking Bernard begun to melt and disappear as it was dispelled, leaving behind a green ink-like substance on the ground as Bernard fell on his butt to the floor. Noticing Bernard hit the floor, Marlene quickly rushed over to him to check on him.
"Bernard, are you okay?" Marlene said as she kneeled down and checked on Bernard.
"I.. Am... Tired..." Bernard said with an exhausted tone as he clutched at his midsection.
"Hold on, let me see." Marlene said as she slightly lifted his shirt, looking at the bruises he had sustained.
"...You glad I didn't yell this time?" Bernard said as he clutched his head.
"What? Oh, yeah, it's okay. I didn't care earlier anyway." Marlene said as she quickly reached into her belt to pull out the ointment she had used on him before and begun to rub it on his wounds.
"...Hey..." Bernard said as he looked at Marlene.
"What? Now isn't the time for you to be talking, let me-" Marlene said before she was cut off by Bernard grabbing her by the wrist, stopping her from continuing.
"Are you okay?" Bernard said with a tired tone.
"...It's... Not important..." Marlene said with a disgruntled tone.
"It is to me..." Bernard said with serious eyes as Marlene noticed the seriousness of his comment before sighing.
"...The past few days I've been bothered by something..." Marlene said as Bernard listening. "Camilla has always been trying to help me find a boyfriend for the past couple of years. More often than not, me and her spend time together and go shopping or to restaurants and guys come hit on her and don't take notice of me or get put off by the way I look." She explained.
"...So that's it..." Bernard thought as he looked at the chameleon-like girls melancholic expression as she went back to tending Bernards injuries.
"You come back and you wound up becoming her boyfriend... You don't know how jealous I really am of that..." Marlene said, revealing her feelings.
"Are you jealous that Camilla has a boyfriend or jealous that I am dating her?... Or both?" Bernard questioned.
"Huh?" Marlene exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh come on, you know I was going to ask that." Bernard said as he looked at Marlene who was beginning to blush in response.
"Well... That's uhhh…" Marlene mumbled with a red face as she didn't how to answer.
"You hung around me all the time when we were kids, it's not like I had amazing charisma when I was a child unless you liked me..." Bernard said in a tired tone as Marlene locked eyes with him.
"...Okay fine, I can admit to it..." Marlene said with a sigh. "I did... kinda… sorta.. had a little bit of a crush on you when we were kids..." She said with a red face as she twiddled her fingers in embarrassment.
"...Okay..." Bernard said bluntly.
"...That's it? No comments or anything?" Marlene said with surprise.
"Camilla was a bit more secretive about it, you were always kinda obvious..." Bernard said casually as Marlene made a defeated expression and slumped her shoulders.
"...Great, my childhood crush always knew I had a thing for him... Can I just die now?" Marlene thought with embarrassment as Marlene finished applying the bandages to Bernards chest.
"But you know..." Bernard said as he sat up, getting closer to Marlene. "I always did think you were cute when we were kids." He said with an honest tone as Marlenes eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah, when I was a kid and could hide my fangs and skin blotches as a "child thing." Hehehe..." Marlene said.
"As a grown woman, I think you have your own charms to you. I mean it..." Bernard said as Marlene looked at Bernard.
"...You... You really mean that?" Marlene said in surprise.
"You're one of my best friends... Would I lie?" Bernard said with a smile.
"Yes." Marlene replied as Bernard was surprised.
"Hey!" Bernard shouted in anger as Marlene begun to chuckle.
"...Thanks... I kinda needed that..." Marlene said with some of her spirits uplifted.
"It's not a big deal... Just help me stand up, will you?" Bernard said as Marlene nodded and helped lift him up to his feet. As Bernard stood up, Marlene quickly stretched her arms out and begun to hug Bernard with a happy look on her face as Bernard, unenthusiastically reaching his arms around her to hug her back, was surprised by the gesture.
"I really hope you stay in the guild after this whole punishment thing is over." Marlene said with an honest tone.
"So I could become the guild master, I get it..." Bernard said as he rolled his eyes, expecting that to be her reason.
"No... Not like that. I want you to stay in the guild because you're my friend and I like the fact you are around." Marlene said with a smile towards Bernard. "As a bonus, it's also nice to know a guy who likes me for me is around too..." She continued.
"Oh come on, you'll find a guy one day. If not, there's always Anatoli." Bernard said as he lightly pushed off Marlene.
Suddenly, there was dead silence as Bernard realized what he just said. As they stared at eachother, the duos cheeks begun to swell up and smirks begun to form as Bernard and Marlene burst into tears laughing hysterically.
"Bahahaha! Anatoli!" Marlene exclaimed loudly as she continued to chuckle.
"Pffff! Hahaha- Ow!" Bernard continued to laugh until he clutched at his ribs from the injuries.
"Hey! Stop laughing- Hahaha! you're gonna reopen your wounds- Bahaha!" Marlene said as she tried to stop Bernard from laughing whilst still giggling herself.
"You're right, sorry. Hehehe." Bernard said as he wiped a tear from his face.
"That guy is hopeless." Marlene joked as she stopped laughing.
"How mad is he going to be that I did that to his ball?" Bernard said as he pointed at Anatolis ball, smeared with tattoo ink from all the snakes he crushed while using it as a weapon.
"Hold on, I got a wipe, lets just clean it off real quick." Marlene said as she pulled out another cloth and handed it to Bernard.
"...What about him?" Bernard said as he glanced at the unconscious Dolph.
"...Forget him, the salve I stuck in his mouth will keep him unconscious for hours, long enough for us to rescue the baby." Marlene said with folded arms as she stared at Dolph before sticking out her forked tongue at his lethargic body in a sign of disgust.
"What was that stuff made of?" Bernard asked.
"Partially toxic fungal mushrooms I found." Marlene said with a smirk.
"...How devilishly evil... Hehehe." Bernard said with a moderately impressed expression.
"I learned from the best." Marlene said as she pointed at Bernard.
"Sorry, I'm taken. Hehehe." Bernard joked back.
"My bad, hehehehe." Marlene replied with an honest smile.
"Come on, lets wipe the stupid ball off and then get out of this room." Bernard said as he pointed at the door to the painted room.
"Hope everyone else is alright..." Marlene said with a moderately worried expression.
"Come on, it's Camilla, Anatoli, Pietro and the others. How rough could they possibly have had it compared to us?" Bernard said as he walked over to Anatolis ball.
Frrriiiieeennndsss~ Dolph thought he had the upper hand with Bernard and Marlene not have any sort of individual combat skills between the two of them but the reveal of his reasons for being infatuated with Marlene ultimately became his undoing as Bernard and Marlene had defeated one of the Pazuzu's Easels top members through sheer luck and their skills; Marlenes talent for potions and salves and Bernards innate ability to shout and bark at people. But that's only one opponent down, what of the others? Find out next time on Menagerie!