MerenDinoEmilano: I enjoyed writing the last chapter, because now everyone has converged. We can start another major push into plot territory. I am assuming when you say you want better world building you mean more descriptions of cities, battlefields and other stuff. I could use some clarification on that part.
Victor John Foxfire: Tails' wish and the White Emerald chapter are going to come into play a lot for this coming… arc? Section? I don't know what it is called. When this section comes to a close, you may want to revisit "The White Emerald" chapter. Johan would scold Tails, but the first scolding would focus more on the fact that he "Wished" for Sonic to die(Assuming that is his wish), as opposed to killing Sonic directly. The lack of initiative would more upsetting to Johan, but the magic part wouldn't help Tails' case. But no knows Tails' wish, because he is too ashamed to say it.
Fiona did a marvelous job using her cunning nature to play Sonic and Sally against each other. Sonic's free nature means he likes to make his own choices and she knew how to exploit that. But Sonic's comment lies with a fact of mistrust. He is convinced she has faked everything to try to hurt the Freedom Fighters again.
Johan was not expecting to get attacked either, but once his slaves rebuilt the badnik-foundry, they saw an opportunity and took a calculated risk. Unfortunately for them, they were bad at math, and Johan was much tougher than anticipated. Ezra certainly has a future in this story, and it is all thanks to her fighting spirit and will. If she had stopped attacking and fled, she easily would have been killed.
/*-*/
Sonic had given Fiona the approval stamp with every siren in his head going off. Now he was paying for it, with Elias, Sally and Antoine all chewing him out. Sonic had a brief moment where he actually believed her. He had pushed all of his skepticism and doubt to the back of his mind. Now those doubts had actual voices.
"Are you serious? I figured you weren't the kind of guy for grudges, but this is a whole new level of forgiveness." Elias chided, snarling in the semi-empty room.
"I know, I know. She looked… real… ok?" Sonic tried to plead his case, even with Antoine's snickering. The coyote might as well have been a hyena with how much he was cackling.
"Oh… and were you of lookings? She is of very fine lookings no?" Antoine was all too happy to go back to his old accent, despite how clearly it had gone away with exposure to natural talk. He was eating this up. Sonic was pretty sure he'd messed up this time, and Antoine loved that Sonic ran in the coyote's shoes for once.
"I know she betrayed us. You don't have to remind me exactly how much she hurt us! She sounded and looked desperate. I think she wants to change." Sonic growled at Antoine. He found himself backed into a corner.
Sally held up her hands, gesturing for both her brother and Antoine to stop, and the two shut up, and sat down next to her. Sally concealed her emotions, being firm and cold. Sonic realized how much he hated her boss-stance.
"So she bat her eyes and puffed her chest, and you fell for a sob story." Sally glared down into Sonic's eyes. Sonic saw her jaw locked. She was certainly upset.
"It wasn't a sob story. She just seems like she's trying to change." Sonic tried to reason with her. It was becoming increasingly difficult to not get angry and start acting a little more aggressive. As if to laugh at his discomfort, his wound started to itch.
"I'm sure that everyone who wants to betray us will come in and be cold and harsh. I bet no one ever thought to try to seem sad or regretful to do something… like perhaps make us believe they actually wanted to rejoin us. No… that could never happen." Sally growled through her teeth. Her fist was a balled.
"Fiona felt different ok. She had remorse… she had a rough life, and I'm partially to blame. I think I've fixed everything though… I just want to help her stick with the good guys." Sonic was out of patience. His blood pressure was rising by the minute.
Elias growled, "We've all had a rough life-"
Sonic couldn't take it anymore, "Shut up you silver-spoon-fed little bitch! You never suffered, you never lost anything. Your life was so good, you had every little need taken care of so good that you ran away from home just so you could feel less bad about the world suffering. You literally had a life so good you could afford daddy-issues!"
Sonic panted feeling his head start to hurt viciously. His breath was starting to evade him. the room seemed a little stunned by his outburst, and Antoine straightened his posture.
Antoine stepped in, which made Sally look even more upset, but the Coyote continued, "I do not think someone as unreliable as Fiona-"
Sonic felt his second wind, "Oh- You want to talk unreliable. How many times did your chicken-ass run and hide while I had to save the day? You think I wanted to fight off fifty-seventy-two hundred badniks on my own? NO! You could have stepped in at any time. How about you drop the whole ,"Oh, I let you save the day" and face the actual truth: You're a wannabe. You always have been, You wanna be cool and strong but when push comes to shove-" Sonic gasped as his chest started to flair up, "You chicken out. Face it, every part of you is a wannabe. Even your species is a wannabe wolf!"
Sonic panted. He did not feel good. His body was telling him something was off. Antoine looked like he was about to cry.
Sally stood up, and snarled at Sonic, "Are you done? Have you thoroughly decided to hurt everyone in this room?"
"Oh, I'm just getting started." Sonic growled, glaring back at her. He let her speak, just so he could catch his breath.
"I'm not giving you a second chance. Calm down." Sally growled, balling her fist in an effort to toe in the line.
Sonic felt angry. Angry that he had stayed tame long enough for Sally to forget who she was talking to. Angry that Sally was being so cold. Angry the he felt so vulnerable. Angry that he was arguing with them despite agreeing with them that Fiona couldn't be trusted.
"Fiona can't get our trust back if we won't give her a second chance." Sonic muttered in a brief moment of mental clarity.
Sally growled, "I don't believe in second chances."
Sonic gazed at her, and an anger stirred in him. It must have surfaced, because Sally's hand loosed, and she seemed to be ready to retract her statement.
"BULL-SHIT! You gave Geo-Joey a second chance. You've given Antoine a….what? a thousand? A thousand chances. So you can give second chances to anyone who fauns over you like your brother?" Sonic's blood felt thick. He needed some water, and a new set of freshly minted patience. Sonic was struggling to breath, but he had so much more to say, "You got a lot of nerve. I pick you up and carry your ass to the throne, and you don't trust me for anything. You don't believe in second chances? Well what have I been giving you?"
Sonic's brain was having empty spaces take the place of coherent sentences. He knew he felt angry, and that was it.
Sally was quiet, Elias had been stopped by Sally as he had tried to step forward for one reason or another. Antoine was slumped down and defeated like the loser he was. Sonic was waiting for a response.
Then… he realized it. He had trapped Sally. For the first time in his life, Sonic had pulled Sally into a mental trap. He hadn't made the trap intentionally, heck, he was pretty sure the trap was made for him. But now, Sonic had won.
And it felt terrible. Sonic wanted Sally to say something, anything, to restore his faith in her. Something he couldn't refute to give him a justification to kick Fiona out and go back to the good old days. Instead, the words that came were, "I'm sorry. Sonic… I'm sorry for bringing this up." She sounded nervous.
Sonic felt his anger burn hotter and brighter, "Sorry? Sorry? Fu-" As he stood up, Sonic's stomach made a clear statement. He collapsed onto the ground and spewed up yellow and brown liquid. Sonic staggered to his feet.
Sally looked horrified and guilty. Sonic was so angry he was pretty sure his anger sensors overloaded and reset. Sally stepped out of her chair and stepped forward, trying to gently touch his lower belly. Sonic looked down to realize he had torn his stitches, and a little ring of blood had pooled around them. He wasn't going to be dripping, but it had still reopened.
Sonic jerked away as Sally moved in to touch the wound, soft and suddenly very caring. Sonic wasn't having any of it, "Don't touch me- d-don't-" He couldn't finish the thought. His head ached so bad.
He knew he kick his chair down. He knew he walked outside. Sonic knew he found his way into a bar. Sonic's brain seemed to be really hurting. He found his chest starting to hurt. He needed a drink.
Sonic walked up to the bar, and sat on the stool. Sonic began to tap his fingers on the counter. What was taking the bar tender so long. Why was everyone so loud? Sonic began to grit his teeth.
"Hey buddy, you don't look too good. Are you alright?" Sonic turned around and saw a fox talking to him. He actually looked kind of familiar.
"Lord Sonic?" The Fox asked, squinting, "What are you doin here?" The fox seemed to be kind of happy.
Sonic blinked a couple times.
The Fox calmed down, seeing that Sonic was not alright. It was nice to be considered by someone. "Hey… everything alright?"
Sonic smiled, "Y-yeah… Just… arguments… Not working." Sonic's brain wasn't making good sentences.
The fox slowly nodded, "Yeah… you definitely need a drink. Hey tender, hard tea please!" The fox threw his hand up.
Sonic reached into his shoe to pull out mobiums, but the Fox held up his hand, "Nah… I got it. You've given me a lot of work lately."
Sonic's brain immediately took his statement as an insult, "Sorry." He grit his teeth.
"Sorry? Nah man, my family has been eating good lately. I can even afford to move up in the world thanks to you." The fox laughed as the bartender approached. He was nervous around Sonic. Still… he actually appreciated what Sonic was doing?
Sonic felt his heart rate calm down. His head still hurt, but he was taking a few breaths.
The bartender came over with a tall glass filled with a brown liquid. He stopped however, "This for him?" The Elephant asked, gruff and squinting at Sonic.
"Yeah, this is the lord of the city, believe it or not. He's had a rough time I guess, so I'll buy him a drink."
Sonic's new fox friend was cut off, "No."
The Fox blinked, "W-what?"
The Elephant placed his hands on the counter, "No. I'm not serving him." His gruff voice was actually fitting for a bartender, Sonic would have thought it was cool if he didn't want to spin-dash the Elephant into next week.
"Why not." Sonic growled, his fist shaking.
"You're stitched up. You'll bleed all over my bar if I give you something." The Elephant growled, glaring down at Sonic.
Sonic smashed his fist on the bar, "Come on, give me something to help me calm down."
"Get out of here." The Elephant growled, turning away with the drink still in his hand.
Sonic's fox friend stepped forward, "I'll take the drink then." The fox had a mischievous grin, like he was planning something.
Sonic, for once, didn't mind a trick. He was mad, furious, blood-boiling. He couldn't think straight.
The Elephant turned back and leaned over the counter, "If you give him this drink, I'll have you both banned from my bar forever."
"Sheesh, Your word is law huh? You know he can seize your bar right?" The Fox threatened.
The Elephant growled, "Yeah, and I still won't serve him. A drink will mess up his body's healing anyway. I'm doing him a favor." The elephant asserted. A commotion rose from the end of the bar and the Elephant trudged over to the sound, leaving the two.
The Fox leaned over, "Alright, here, have a drink."
Sonic reached out, and almost touched the glass, before he stopped. He knew the Elephant was right. So he pulled back, "Nah. I won't get you in trouble… I'm heading out."
The Fox blinked and looked at Sonic, "Wha-come on man."
Sonic shook his head, and stood up. He walked out the door. He was still furious with the Freedom Fighters… right? Sonic began to feel like there was something wrong, and it wasn't necessarily their fault. He had a feeling that he wasn't quite seeing clearly.
Still, Sonic felt mad at the Freedom Fighters, so he didn't want to go back just yet. He decided to walk around. Sonic walked through the street. The Arguments playing back in his head.
Sonic was right about them. Antoine had been too high and mighty, and he deserved to be cut down a little. Sally was acting weird, and she'd pissed him off lately. Elias… well Elias had just been wrong. Sonic wasn't at fault for calling them out…right?
He passed by a large wooden post. Sonic turned to see the framework for his mansion. It didn't seem like it was going to rain that night, so Sonic decided to go in and see how it was going. He'd sleep there tonight, under the open stars.
Sonic walked through the doorway, as the door had yet to be installed. Most of the walls didn't even exist yet. All Sonic saw were wooden bars which made up the frame, and wooden floors.
Sonic walked along the frame work, seeing just how massive this mansion was going to be. He'd actually need massive parties to even get close to making full use of his house. Sonic walked down the incomplete halls, seeing how wide they were, and how the halls seemed to stretch on with such a deary skeleton.
But then, perhaps Sonic's head was actually injured, Sonic saw the completed hall. Stone walls with oak doors lined his right side. On the left, beautiful windows which arced up into points. Sonic heard distant laughing, echoing through the mysteriously finished hall. The laughter was high-pitched, like a child's.
A small blue hedgehog giggled, and ran behind a bright red curtain. Sonic could kind of see through the kid, which told him his head was playing game with him. Sonic heard counting from another room, "Four, Five, Six."
He looked around. That voice was…pretty familiar, but with a slight twist on it.
"Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten. Here I come." The voice boomed throughout the hallway. Sonic saw a blur zip into the hallway. What stopped was Sonic himself, with Uncle Chuck's beard, and a wicked grin. "I wonder where he could be?" Older Sonic chuckled to himself, looking down at the curtains which cut off at the kid's waist, leaving his lower legs exposed.
Older Sonic smiled, and pulled the curtain back, the little blue hedgehog ran, and Older Sonic gave chase. Older Sonic caught the kid, and picked him up, tickling his sides.
The Kid screamed in laughter, "Stop dad. Stop it, I love you. I love you dad, please." The kid continued to scream until older Sonic stopped, and smiled, "Alright, let's go eat some chilidogs. You know how to make your old man work up an appetite."
"Race you!" The kid shouted, and bolted.
Sudden, everything was gone. The house was nothing more than an empty, incomplete frame. Sonic however, felt different. He smiled, maybe the house wasn't so bad.
Sonic walked up to the second floor, and saw that even less had been done on that section. He laid down, and felt the reminder against his fur that winter was not exactly a good time to be camping out. Sonic didn't see any blankets, so he decided he'd tough it out. Sonic curled up in a room that was large and flat, and went to sleep.
He woke up, feeling someone touching him. Sonic jerked awake, and saw a face he hadn't actually seen in a while, "S-Sticks? What are you doing here?"
The badger frowned, "I came here to be with you. I like your company a little." The badger smiled slightly, and sighed, "Also, you seem so soft that you can't handle a little breeze like this." She gestured to the air.
Sonic realized he had a warm fur put on him, "Thanks. Why are you here so late."
Sticks smirked, "I heard you were back, but I had to get the money and goods back to the monastery. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to come."
Sonic nodded, "But I was asleep. Were you going to wake me up?" Sonic asked, in a joking manner.
Sticks shook her head, "No… I was going to wake you up in the morning. When you should get up."
"When's that?" Sonic asked blinking out of his drowsy state.
"In four hours." Stick stated proudly.
"You get up at… when?" Sonic groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"When the sun rises." Sticks grinned at Sonic.
Sonic nodded, "Wow… Yeah no thanks."
Sticks cocked her head at Sonic her ears flicking, "So… why are you out here?"
Sonic blinked a couple times, but he understood what she was asking, "My friends and I got into an argument." Sonic hoped that would be the end of the conversation.
Sticks urged Sonic on, "About?"
"They thought I did something stupid and screwed us up. I kind of did, but they didn't have be such jerks about it. They dug into me, and I got mad and blew up." Sonic blurted.
Sticks nodded, "Oh. So you aren't friends with them anymore?"
Sonic recoiled, "What? No, we're still friends I think. We just had an argument."
"Then why aren't you there demanding an apology. They won't learn unless you force them to understand and make up." Sticks stated.
Sonic frowned, "How many friends do you have?"
"I have two. That's all I need." Sticks smiled proudly, "Soon, I'll have a hubbi if everything works out."
Sonic nodded, "Well…I hope everything works out for you." He wasn't taking her advice again, but… she was right about him being at his mansion as opposed to arguing with Sally. They did need to see his point… which meant a long walk… after sleep.
Sonic yawned, "I'm going back to bed." He curled up, feeling weight next to him.
Sonic opened his eyes briefly to find Sticks laying down on a part of the fur that wasn't directly over Sonic, with her eyes closed. He didn't feel like protesting, so Sonic laid there with her.
/*-*/
Fiona would like to say that the Freedom Fighters spared no expense with their barracks. She'd like to say that everyone got their own room, and space. She'd be wrong.
Three large wooden shanties were placed on top of the headquarters bunker. These shanties were… shanty, to say the least. Fiona could see the holes in the walls, which were probably letting a breeze go through. Fiona couldn't tell, because as soon as she entered the makeshift building, She felt a blast of heat slam into her body.
The building didn't seem to let any heat or air out. She was practically smothered by the breath of what was probably two hundred mobians, all crammed in a 60 by 60 house. Fiona was also met with shouting, a fire pit with a pot over it, and a crude smell of body odor.
Fiona held her gag in as a bear came up, "Oh… new recruit right?"
Fiona crinkled her nose, "Yeah, or I guess a really old recruit depending on how you look at it." Fiona grumbled, gradually letting her body adjust.
"Well, We got a space over in the west corner, make yourself comfortable." The Bear grinned with a rough look.
Fiona walked over the corner where there seemed to be plenty of room. Fiona flopped down with her bag. She'd have to do laundry tomorrow. The reality of what had just happened seemed to set in. She was now back in the Freedom Fighters, miles away from her chaperone. Fiona had no idea how they were going to enforce anything on her now. And She loved it.
Fiona was finally free.
If you're going to shoot me, do me a favor and kill me so I don't have to deal with the "I told you so's" ". Those words echoed in Fiona's head. She tried not get so bummed out by the fact that Sonic still didn't trust her. Fiona had a right to decide what she wanted to do with her life.
It's because you tried to make the betrayal as painful as possible Fiona's mind argued with her.
She growled back, I'll apologize for it. That would make it better, right?
Her internal argument was interrupted when she felt someone sit right next to her. It was young wolf man, barely in his twenties he carried himself with a fidgety nature, "Uh-um Hi."
Fiona raised an eyebrow, "Hi? What's the matter with you?"
The Wolf licked his lips, "Ok, Um… Nothing. So… uh why are you here? I mean joining the army… You look like you could be anywhere else… uh, is that alright?"
Fiona sighed, "I have my reasons." She didn't really feel like talking to this dork.
The Wolf however nodded aggressively, "Yeah, I get it. I have a rough past too. I tried drugs once, my dad got mad at me, and told me I was going to be a baker. We argued so I ran away."
Fiona almost burst out laughing, "Alright."
"What? What's so funny." The Wolf asked nervously, very self-conscious.
"When I was little, Robotnik firebombed my house and killed most of my family. I was captured and tortured for weeks, then left for dead. I joined a gang to steal jewels until we were sold out. I then joined the Free- my friends to betray them because a boy hurt me once, and hurt everyone I ever cared about, and I might just do it again because damn it, living free is just so fun." Fiona muttered flatly, cocking her head to look at the gradually getting more horrified wolf.
"Wow…. Uh… your past is a little worse than mine." The wolf laughed nervously.
"Maybe just a little." Fiona gave a dangerous smile. The wolf stood up without anymore words, and seemed to walk off in a daze
Fiona laid back and went to sleep. She didn't dream about much.
Fiona's eyes opened as cracks in the wooden shanty let light on her face. Fiona stirred awake, and stood up, finding the rest of the new army slowly waking up. Fiona stretched herself out, and stood up. She felt greasy and her clothes felt oily.
Fiona walked over to the pot that was full of… brown mush, which had probably been cooking over night. Still, Fiona needed to eat something, so she scooped some up into a used bowl, and ate it. It was salty, and clearly dried out, but it was food. Fiona looked for some water, but didn't see any.
The door burst open, and a familiar coyote walked in, "Attention! Sally will be seeing you alls of now."
Fiona blinked a couple times before a roar of laughter came from those who were awake.
"Listen to his voice." One of the men roared.
"He sounds as scary as a pillow." Another laughed.
Antoine slumped, "I am of yours superior officers. You must of be respecting me." He stuttered nervously.
Everyone roared out, except Fiona who managed to suppress her giggled to the back of her throat. Antoine looked stunned. The good news was that everyone in the "barracks" was waking up.
Antoine walked off, slumping down in defeat. Fiona almost felt bad for him. She just had to find it between the parts of her that laughed at him and the parts of her were mocking him.
The building bustled alive as everyone scrambled to eat something.
The door opened a second time, this time with a firm, but distant princess… or former princess. She loomed in the doorway, and everyone slowed down. Fiona's eyes looked into the princess's, and saw how she seemed to lack standard focus. Sally's mind was at work, thinking of something.
"Everyone, get dressed and come outside." Sally muttered, and the building slightly sped up. No one seemed to be in any rush.
Fiona walked outside to see that the other buildings had been emptied, and everyone stood, not in formation, but in little clusters. Fiona found a cluster and sat down.
"SO…two weeks ago, we suffered several needless casualties, due to improper training and skills." Sally's voice echoed over the hill that they set up on.
The men stared.
Sally continued, "We are going to prevent this from happening again. Today, we will begin drills on firing a weapon. Any questions?"
"Yeah, Why now?" A voice shouted from a cluster in the back, "We not last week?"
Sally pursed her lip, "Because… Funding finally came in. We are going to get new, standard rifles, and uniforms."
The sound of money seemed to spark a lot of interest in the clusters, and Fiona quickly saw eyes moving to Sally.
Sally cleared her throat, "We had to cut our offensive short due to several reasons. Those reasons are going to be mitigated next time. You will all learn to shoot accurately and efficiently!"
Fiona almost felt inspired. The cold winter breeze blew past Sally. Fiona saw someone climbing up the hill. He appeared to be carrying a letter. Several carriages full of large mobians in orange outfits were lined up outside the city.
"What's going on?" Sonic's voice came over the crowd as Sally recoiled from the parrot she was talking.
Sally turned around, and looked at Sonic briefly. The two seemed to share a somehow emotionless and emotional gaze. Silent messages that Fiona couldn't intercept.
Sally finally turned, "So… His… majesty… has decided to take care of our manpower issues. He… has implemented a mass penal pardon…" Sally didn't seem to like it.
Fiona blinked. Penal squads? How many? Fiona looked down the hill, and saw large, gruff guys with tattoos all around. They certainly tried to look tough, but Fiona had a suspicion that she could handle a truck load.
Sally cleared her throat as murmurs rose, "That being said, today's schedule remains the same. Get your targets ready and start firing."
Fiona had decided to help set up targets. She had a feeling this class was going to go quickly. The new rifles were pretty similar to her practice rifle, and she quickly lined up the shots. She scored a bull's eye on the fifty- and hundred-yard target.
Everyone seemed to stay back, which Fiona saw was good from the other rifles who were practicing. They were learning all of the things that she had learned before she came, with a lot more collateral damage nearby.
"You're a pretty good shot, Fiona." A voice grumbled.
Fiona dared to look and see Tails, looking angry as possible.
"Yeah, I know. I've practiced." Fiona smirked.
"So, you can shoot us in the back?" Tails antagonized.
Fiona paused in the middle of aiming.
"I heard you got approved. Sonic is an idiot, I'm not. When you betray us, I'll make you pay." Tails growled and turned around.
Fiona had her confirmation. Tails thought she was plotting something. Fiona had a suspicion that Sonic felt the same way… Of course.
Only an idiot wouldn't be suspicious. Fiona continued to underestimate the hole she was in. She wasn't sure how, but maybe she could earn their trust eventually. Or if nothing else, she might learn something cool to give Scourge.
/*-*/
Johan saw the forge heat up, with grey metal slowly shimmering and turning orange. The metal lost its shape, and collapsed, turning from bars into a sludge within the casting pot.
His slaves opened the kiln, and used metal rods to life the large pot of liquid metal.
"What are you going to do?" Ezra asked. Clearly, metal bonding was foreign to these peoples. Of course, these peoples lacked a warrior culture like that of the Saxons. They would not understand the necessity of securing an armor's loyalty.
Johan raised his claws, and plunged them into his palm. His hide was tough, and even his palms were incredibly durable. This made him put more effort into actually getting the cut. Blood gushed out of the hole as his hide finally tore.
Johan allowed the droplets to land in the hot metal, sizzling briefly. His slaves watched in horror, some even lurching as if they were ill. Johan pulled his hand away from the pot, and tightened a fist to close the wound. His gaze wandered back to the slaves, " Return it to the fire."
They nodded and ran to grab the metal rods, putting the liquid metal back in the kiln to heat.
Ezra gulped, "Wh-why did you do that?"
"I have bonded with my armor. It will serve me faithfully, never yielding unless impossible to resist." Johan growled gloriously. His hand stung, which was annoying, but essential.
"That's not…" Ezra started.
Johan looked down at her, waiting for her to finish her though.
Ezra growled nervously, "That's not how metal works."
Johan cocked his head at her, "I've conquered several planets. I know how metal works. It bonds and serves its master, all it needs to a taste to learn its master's blood."
Ezra sighed, "If you say so."
She was not interested in debating him. That was fine by Johan's account. He turned back to his slaves, "Bring out the metal and let it be cast."
They did as he asked, and poured the metal into the diamond plate mold halves. Johan had built the molds around his body, so they would fit pleasantly.
Two inches of steel, cast around his front, back and sides. Johan was no stranger to pain, but he would be foolish to fight without some form of guard or security. The armor also had another purpose: to be bright, and to grab the attention of allies and enemies. Johan would be the beacon that would rally his allies, and inspire fear in his enemies, just as he had done in his past life.
Johan tried to think back. His memory was still vague. He remembered everything he needed to, His sagas and legacy, but the more personal areas were… empty, blurry, fuzzy.
Johan shook his head, and turned to the slave, "Pour the rest of the steel in the other mold."
They opened the second mold he had cast. Johan wanted a mask, just as he had in his previous life, but the head of a wolverine was very different than that of a Saxon. He improvised. Perhaps Johan would make a new when he had a more effective design, but this new one would have to do.
The metal poured in and filled in the groves.
Next, it was a a matter of waiting. Johan found himself growing impatient. His slave had gone back to attempting to fix the flying fortress, but still exchanged glances nervously when he walked. He would have preferred their respect, but fear would do.
Then…. As Johan passed his helmet, he saw it had turned from liquid, to bright red hot metal.
Johan grabbed the steel with his claws, avoiding the burns, and set the hot metal onto the bench. Johan used his claws to cut into the flat piece above the snout area, and carved out two eye holes, large enough for clear vision. Then he slammed his fingers through the metal, knocking out the engraved areas.
What stared back at him was a helmet with a smooth, round back, which would mold around his face, covering the sides of his snout and cheeks. His nose would be exposed, but it was a necessary weakness. His ears would also be allowed freedom to flow, from small slits in the back.
He was almost ready to greet the world once more. All it would take was more preparation.
/*-*/
So, I started my job as a teaching assistant yesterday, and I am learning to code in python.
We are starting to get into the "Johan Glorification" chapters. I'm trying to set something up, but I have a feeling a lot of people are going to roll their eyes at a lot new chapters…So fair warning, Johan is going sounding…absurd for the coming chapters.
Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter, and how I can improve. I know some of you were looking forward to Sonic's little breakdown.