Well DK, you need to wait. I must do narrative momentum, and if you come after me with you-know-who, then I won't be able to make you cooler, will I? *logic* Oh hey Samansa-chan147, nice to see you on this fanfic. I finally found a cool title image for the "We be kitties 3" story, it took me forever, so I hope you be checking that out. Well, it's almost my bedtime so I'm gonna get my rear in gear and start typing.

November 5, 2013

It's remarkable how weak humans are. They have an innate fear of the dark. And how do they handle this fear? They simply pretend that it doesn't exist. They run away from it. How could anyone say humans aren't weak? It's an inherent trait. How about we take advantage of their weakness? They certainly do make a good natural resource. Right? It's all they're good for.

-Father

Hazel's POV:

"Hey, wazzup?" We all jumped as a creature pulled itself through the bricks on our right, smiling pleasantly at DK. He grinned, giving it a thumbs up. "Great, we finally got some new recruits and hopefully Lord Death won't snatch them away, so it's a great head start." He said cheerfully, and the ghost –I think that was what it was– nodded cheerfully and faded away again. DK paused, shooing us all into the collective shadow of a streetlamp as he put on a more serious face. "Okay, listen up. The people here aren't what you're used to, think of it like…like we live in the holiday of Halloween all the time, okay? There's ghosts and ghouls and skeletons and talking plants and a whole mess of other stuff, but there are also a lot of nasty things running abroad that will seriously hurt you, but we don't consider them any more harmful then say…a very pesky fly. Ol' Grinner is one of these." He said, and for once his face was dead serious.

"What's…whats Ol' Grinner?" I asked in a whisper as the others cast furtive looks at the darkness and edged closer. DK didn't smile. "Kishin that we caught a few centuries back. They bound him in the area of the city, but he's allowed to hunt anything with a living heartbeat. That leaves the mostly defenseless citizens, like the ghosts n' talking trees alone, but he's attacked Nightstalker, weapons, witches, anybody and everybody that he can. They see it as a good way to train themselves to never be unaware or think that they're safe. Promising him he can leave if he actually manages to eat someone is also a powerful motivator, so he doesn't hunt when he's hungry; he hunts when he knows there's fresh souls around. And that would be now, so pretty please with being alive on top, stick close and stay sharp." He said, and turned as we pressed in like sardines; the image presented not being a comforting one at all.

Suddenly there was a soft sighing of wind, and DK stopped dead as I bumped into him, quickly stumbling away with a huff of annoyance as he looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Don't move" he mouthed at us, and we blinked at him as he rolled his eyes and ever-so-slightly jerked his head up. We all followed his gaze, and I swallowed hard as I saw the hulking outline perched like a crow on the nearest archway, every feature shrouded in darkness except for the wide, wet mouth with sharp, gleaming teeth. It spanned the creature's mouth from cheek to cheek, and its head was at least twice the size of a normal person, easily three times. As we watched in stupefied horror, a thin trickle of saliva dripped out of its mouth, hitting DK in the forehead. He didn't move, his eyes still unblinking and calm but with a trace of annoyance as he slowly reached up and wiped it away. My body started to tremble, and his eyes sharpened. "DON'T MOVE!" He mouthed at me frantically, and I nodded barely, my legs trembling slightly from the effort it took not to scream.

Suddenly the creature –which I would've bet a plane ride out of here was Ol' Grinner– threw its head back and gave a rattling, gurgling roar as we all screamed and tried to bolt, but terror had frozen us in place. It lowered its head, and the mouth, already stretched wide, stretched wider in what I recognized was an evil and gloating smile. It stretched out its hands to us, and I looked down, swallowing hard as I saw the sharp, tiny mouths at the tip of each finger and the palm of both hands, opening and closing rapidly as I retched deep in my throat and spun away, falling to my knees. That movement triggered the panic for the rest of the others, and they scattered with screams as Ol' Grinner whipped its head up, eyes shining red with excitement and bloodlust. It lowered it again to the prey it had already, and I screamed and managed to scramble to my feet, ducking away from the swipe of its mouthed hand and launching myself down a street, my heart nearly pounding out of my chest in terror.

Suddenly my head snapped back as I hit brick, my body bouncing off the rough surface as my palms were scraped painfully, having been too dumb with terror to notice I had run into an alley, frantically looking around for a weapon of some kind, a door maybe, a fire escape so I could climb up, but there was nothing. I tried to summon my weapon form as Ol' Grinner's silhouette darkened the outline of the alleyway, but I still was too afraid. I was near sobbing as it loomed over me, the terror of the moment suddenly capturing everything in perfect detail, how wet and sharp and gleaming his teeth were, how wide and strong his jaw was, the strong muscles in his arms as he grabbed my shoulder, the tiny mouths munching at my clothing in the most repulsing sensation I had ever felt, feeling them work at the fabric to try and get to the flesh underneath, crying now as his breath washed over my face, fetid and musty.

I'm going to die here I'm going to die here I'm going to die here I'm going to die here I'm going to die- The though kept running mindlessly around and around in my head as I involuntarily clawed at his elbows, trying to get him to drop me as the horrific mouth opened wide in a grin. "GET OFF!" I screamed, not caring that it probably wouldn't work, just trying anything to survive this as he stopped for a moment in shock, then laughed, a horrible sound like glass being broken by rusty nails, his hand grabbing the side of my face as I screamed in disgust and tried to wrench those repulsive little mouths off my skin as they scraped at the tender surface.

"Oy, dude, mitts off. That's just gross."

Ol' Grinner turned with a snarl, and I was suddenly dropped as the Kishin hissed and scuttled away, DK lowering his arm, with was currently an amphorous mass of shadows. It solidified, and I saw the dark blood staining his inhuman fingernails as he gave an icy smile of satisfaction and walked over to me, squatting and tilting his head as he looked at my face. I suddenly slapped him as hard as I could, and his head turned from the force of the blow as he gave a surprised grunt. He turned it back to face me, a red handprint marked on his cheek that was slowly fading, even as I looked at it. "And what did I do to deserve that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, and I growled at him as I waved my hand vaguely in the direction of the Kishin. "He almost ate me!" I said, and he nodded sagely. "I noticed that." He said simply, and I blinked at him. "He…the Kishin…it almost ate me." I repeated slowly, feeling a little sheepish for some weird reason, and he nodded absently, looking up and down the alleyway, checking the sky as well. "So he did. Almost eat you, I mean." He agreed, nodding at me wisely as I simply stared at him some more.

"And…and you should've done something about that." I said meekly as I pointed at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "Did I or did I not "do something about that" when I practically gutted him?" he asked pointedly, and I looked away, squirming a little. "Well…yeah…but…uh…but…" I mumbled, staring at my lap as I started to flush with embarrassment. "Don't worry much kid; you had what I call PTSD. S'alright." He said gruffly, ducking my head as I scowled and moved backward, watching as he stood. "Well? Getting up or waiting for Grinner to come back?" he asked impishly, reaching down for me, and I instantly grabbed his pale, black-nailed hand, letting him hoist me to my feet. "What's PTSD?" I asked curiously, and he grinned, showing a hint of his sharper, dangerous teeth that currently reminded me uncomfortably of Ol' Grinner. "Post-Traumatic Slap Disorder. It's when you get so freaked out that afterwards you just gotta hit something, usually me. Kage and Akuma got it a lot when they were younger, although they'll just say it was because I was, and I quote- " He made finger quotes in the air as he said the next sentence "-blindly endangering their lives just because I got a kick out of it". Which while partially true, is still rather insulting."

I stared at him for about a minute, trying to fit that into any kind of sane relationship, and gave up with a sigh as he raised an eyebrow again. "So then, you're Hazel?" I nodded. "You're a cannon weapon." I nodded a little less confidently, this time, and he grinned again. "You're a panzerfaust weapon." I shrugged, and he seemed to take that as a yes. "Well, Hazel-who-may-or-may-not-be-a-panzerfaust weapon, wanna be partners? I just got a body of my very own, and I kinda need a weapon partner or else I'm gonna have to sit on the sidelines every time Kage and her brother get themselves in another big mess." He said invitingly, reaching out for my hand again, and I stared at him for a moment. "You're the most reckless, arrogant, sarcastic, self-centered, and obnoxious prig I've ever seen in my life." I said flatly, and he shrugged. "Yeah. Pretty much." He agreed, and I stared at him for a moment more before looking down at his hand. His nails were still stained with the dark blood from Ol' Grinner, long, and deadly looking, disturbing dark against his bright hand. I looked back up to his face to see him, grinning, waiting. "Sure. Why not?" I said with a grin of my own, grabbing his oddly warm hand and giving it a firm shake as his grin widened and widened, starting to show more of his sharp teeth than was comfortable as his hand tightened suddenly around my own.

"Yeah. Why not?"

Yeah…DK now has his weapon! If only she could transform all the way…and what's this new guy, this "Ol' Grinner"? I tell you not, but be warned he shall show up again. Just saying. You have been warned… *hypnotist motion* You have been warned… *drops watch* Aw Fuzzbucket! *frantically crawls around computer for watch, then recovers it and waves it in your faces again* You have been warned… oh whatever. *chucks watch over shoulder* Well, that's all for me, its almost bedtime. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien.

8.46 PM, USA Central Time