"Minty Checked Gravity"
...it still works.
Chapter 1 of 3 update
Words: 1,980(2K)
The night sky darkened, letting a full moon illuminate Sky Base. The fireworks had long ceased, and all was quiet and calm. Tucked into their beds, the Sky Army recruits were fast asleep, and the night watchmen were wide awake, patrolling along the walls and keeping a watchful eye on the ground below. However, after the party, the guards were still slightly tipsy, and therefore they weren't much help. This, however, tilted the odds in favor for a certain figure, who's invisibility had long since run out. Now, they rested in the shadows of one of the high towers, waiting for the guards to switch shifts.
The seconds seemed to tick by impossibly slow, but the figure kept still and quiet. As the wind began to pick up, the figure reached up to push their hair back into the hood. As they did, they heard foot steps approaching, and quickly side stepped, pressing themselves against the wall further. A lone guard passed, and once they were gone, the figure moved out of cover, checking the streets, before darting off after the guard. The figure followed the guard for a few moments, before changing course, and slipping into an alley. From there, they ran to the dead end, and pressed their hands around on the stone, looking for nics for their fingers to grab onto. When they found none, the figure groaned inwardly, and backed up a few paces. Then, they ran forward, quickly breaking into a sprint and running at the wall, hitting it with one of their feet. They then walked up the wall for a few milliseconds, and the world turned ninety degrees. From there, they curled their spine, back-flipping in-air, dark blue flats flashing in the full moon light. They landed gracefully on both feet, bending their knees, before pushing back up, resulting in them jumping five blocks into the air; much higher than any normal player would be able to do. After launching into the air, the figure reached for the edge of the stone wall, just barely grabbing on in time. After a few tense moments, the figure mustered enough strength to pull themselves over the edge, and practically fell onto the roof of the stone building. They laid there on their back, gazing at the stars, trying to regain their breath; they weren't used to using their new powers, strange as it sounded. No, they weren't as strong as the others of their kind, but they were determined to change that! They just needed to get rid of a certain pesky flaw...
The figure stood up on the roof, shaking away any other thoughts. They wanted to, no, needed, to become stronger. Nothing was going to stop them now, not after everything that had happened...
Slowly, slowly, the figure made their way towards the dorms. They were tall, wide buildings, made of igneous, rocky materials; Diorite and Granite were used for structural design, while any special features and/or decorations were made with the calming grey of Andesite. Glass panes were placed in neat rows and columns on all four sides; two-by-twos, then a balcony shared by two dorm rooms, then another two-by-two, five blocks, two-by-twos, balcony, two-by-two, five blocks, and on and on. Upon the balconies were iron railing, where dyed leather armor and boots dampened by condensation were set out to dry. Up on the roof, smoke from the cafeteria rose up into the night sky, blotting out the stars and their heavenly glory.
How twisted have the players become, that they let that disgusting gas float up into the air and block the stars' and moon's beautiful light from reaching them? Inexcusable...The figure's thoughts hissed.
They slid off the top of a janitorial shed silently, crouching low and watching patiently. When they saw no guards, they stood up slowly, and darted from cover to cover, letting their inky black-blue cloak disguise them in the shroud of the pale night. As they neared the dorm wall, they contemplated where to go. From what spy sources told the squids, females were usually dormed on the first few floors, males on the floors above them, and squad leaders and other important peoples on the upper-most floors. However, that changed ever since Sky Army was called back into order. Since everyone was now in pairs, that's who you were dormed with, despite partners being the opposite sex. It was reasoned that you had picked your partner knowing that you'd be stuck with them for the next year of service. (Pfft, as if!)
Ugh, the figure groaned inwardly, how am I supposed to find a suitable holder for these memories? Although...
The figure snickered inwardly, a smile creeping along their lips, T'Would be fun to mess with boy's head, giving him the memories of a girl. Yes, very, very fun indeed...
Smile widening, the figure twitched their index figure slightly, and the once dark world lit up in a fantastic flurry of blue. Underneath the figure's cloak, they could feel the dark blue particles popping out of existence at the touch of the fabric.
Ah, the joys of being a squid hybrid...night vision was only one of the few things you could do; it only cost the small price of your free will!
The figure glanced around quickly, making use of their abilities. So far, there were no guards in sight, which the figure found odd, even if there had been an awesome party just before. Oh well, it just made things easier.
Nodding to themselves, the figure cleared the rest of the distance to the dorms in a few seconds, immediately flattening themselves against the polished stone. After a moment, the figure turned around, and pressed their hands onto the wall, searching for a place to stick their hands. When they found none, they sighed angrily, and willed their extra limbs to grow out. As they did this, eight dark blue tentacles extended out from under the figure's cloak, and squirmed around, trying to find something to grab onto. The figure smiled to themselves, gliding a hand over one of their slimy tentacles. They were quite fond of their extra limbs, mainly because it didn't take much energy to hide, reveal, or control them, and when they weren't hidden and being used, they would whirl around on their own, exploring their surroundings and grabbing anything they could find. Plus they were hella cool.
After getting over how cool their tentacles were, the figure willed their tentacles to grasp the wall, and the tentacles did so. A series of popping sounds soon followed, and the figure began to climb up the wall using their tentacles. It was a slow process; the figure trusted their tentacles, yes, but they were climbing a smooth vertical surface. Vertical surfaces weren't hard to climb, but the surface itself was completely flat, and the figure was relying only on the suction cups on their tentacles to carry them up. If the figure misplaced a limb, it could be the end of them. And, there was always the problem that the constant popping sounds from pealing their tentacles off the wall and placing them back on again was loud and obnoxious. It could awaken a recruit, who'd come outside on the balcony, see them, and then-
Suddenly, one of the figure's tentacles slipped, and the figure gave a small yelp as they plummeted downwards a few feet. They squeezed their eyes shut, but were suddenly jerked back up. The figure gasped in pain as their nose hit hard rock, and icy needles of pain sprang upon their face. The figure opened their eyes, and lifted a gloved hand to feel their nose. More needles pricked their nose, and they were almost certain that a bruise was forming.
After making sure that nothing else had been hurt, the figure finally closed the distance between them and the third floor balconies. This was supposedly where squad leaders and other important players were, but...something was wrong. The balcony on which the figure stood had many odd things...for one thing, the balcony door wasn't locked, and the blinds were drawn back. There was also an over-sized marshmallow canon, and cans of soda strewn about.
Notch, aren't leaders supposed to be a little more...sanitary? Or, has Sky Army sunk this low already? The figure pondered.
Slowly, they maneuvered themselves around the mess, making as little noise as possible. As they were about to undo the balcony door, a noise from inside the dorm froze the figure where they stood. On instinct, the figure hid their tentacles, and bowed their head slightly, further covering their face. The balcony door slid open, and a faint, feminine voice floated to the figure's ears.
"Charlie, is that you, nya~?" the figure on the side of the door came forward, into the moonlight. They were indeed a female, and that signature way of speaking told the figure who it was: Minty.
Minty reached up with a bandaged hand, and rubbed her eyes, trying to get a better view of 'Charlie'. When she couldn't, she yawned tiredly, and took another step forward, trudging groggily towards the balcony rail. "It's awfully late to be stargazing, nya~."
The figure grunted.
"How many constellations have you found, nya~? I can never find any...they're so hard to remember...nya~"
The figure decided to play along, and joined Minty on the edge of the balcony. They climbed onto the rail, sitting down, and gestured for Minty to follow. Minty did so with a lopsided smile.
"Sitting on these iron bars isn't so bad, nya~" she babbled once she was situated. The figure nodded in fake agreement, and pointed up to the stars.
"Found one." the figure whispered lowly, hiding their feminine voice.
Minty's eyes followed their finger, and leaned forward slightly, trying to find the picture in the stars.
Thinking quickly, the figure swung their feet over the rail, landing back on the balcony. Before Minty had time to react, the figure shoved Minty forward, and she tumbled head over heels off the railing. Luckily, she caught the edge of the diorite balcony. A low whimper escaped her mouth as she gazed in horror up at the figure. By this time, adrenaline had woken her up, and she could now see the shadowy outline of the figure.
"Ch-Charlie, nya~? Wh-What a-are you d-doing, nya~?" She asked fearfully.
The figure shook their head, reverting back to their normal voice. "I'm not Charlie, you idiot. I'm not like you stupid humans, and I'm going to get rid of my ties with you horrid humans, once and for all!" They declared.
"Whatever, you're planning, you won't get away with it, nya~!" Minty shot back, somehow holding bravery in her shaking voice.
"Oh," cooed the figure, "I'm afraid I already have." The figure reached down, extending a hand towards Minty's forehead. In protest, Minty dared let go of the edge with one hand, lowering herself even farther.
"Defiant to the end, hm~? Oh well, you weren't suitable anyway. I wonder, how big of a splatter will you make when you hit the ground?" The figure took back their hand and rose, picking up one of their feet. The figure raised it above Minty's slipping hand, letting their tentacles slither out and wriggle around.
"Goodbye, Minty~" Just as the figure was about stomp on Minty's hand and seal her fate, and third voice came from behind.
"Minty, quit making such a racket! The walls may be sound proof, but you left the balcony door open...again."