A few days had passed and it seemed like things were finally turning up for the group... At least a little bit, they had shelter to sleep in and stuff to help cook food, but raising their levels wasn't going too well since the monsters gave very little exp and weren't plentiful, the best they had to raise their strength was from mastering different weapon forms and even that had slowed down since they had run out of new stuff to absorb unless they were willing to destroy and absorb the few clothes and items they had that were useful
The best thing they were able to get were a few weapon forms from their own bodies after Zooble suggested absorbing some stuff like hair and blood after getting the idea from somewhere. It was neat but they didn't know what growth bonuses did but the experience increase was kind of a useful thing since the overall experience from the monster of this area was kind of pathetic. It was mostly a learning experience about their weird anatomy since Kinger bleed a sap-like substance like a tree would, Gangle just didn't bleed at all but could regenerate cut off ribbons so their mask was probably the only real organ they had, but from Gangle's own admission she still felt pain when a ribbon was cut so that lead them to the horrifying theory that those red ribbons were all just a big nervous system they could control. Zooble bleed depending on the body part they had equipped with even the color of the blood being a different color before it returned to a red tone after exiting their body, Ragatha had no blood or muscle only stuffing, Pomni and Jax seemed the same as a normal person with the exception that Pomni was stretchy
"Alright, time to change those bandages, can't leave them on for too long, it ain't healthy" Ragatha said as she looked at Jax, who just rolled his eyes and mumbled, his one form of entertainment was watching the ceiling while waiting for the weapon form he had currently equipped mastered since Ragatha in her annoying kindness made sure to bring stuff for him to absorb into his hammer so he could get stronger as well so he didn't suffer a repeat of last time, god did he hate being treated like a baby like that and specially by sweetie doll of all people
"Woah, it didn't look like this before... It's more swollen up and is that pus leaking?" Ragatha said as she evaluated the wound more carefully, brushing aside Jax's fur to see his skin was more red across the area of the wound, she knew that a wound producing pus and swelling didn't necessarily mean anything too bad but she felt like the pus leaking out in specific and the color of the exposed flesh was a bad sign
"Oh hey, why don't you comment something else about it? Maybe how much blood it leaks or how itchy it feels? That's sure to make me feel better" Jax commented as he didn't like Ragatha talking the obvious as he knew the thing looked bad and ugly, he already had to deal with how painfully annoying that thing was she didn't need to keep reminding him
"Jax... I think the wound is starting to get infected..." Ragatha said as she looked at him with a worried expression, the jackrabbit looked at her confused then concerned as he stared deep into her singular eye
"... Crap, you're not joking about this ain't it? What I am saying of course you aren't, you only make lame jokes!" Jax slapped himself in the face since it was obvious Ragatha would not joke about a serious manner like this, she was an absolute nag and goodie two shoes so there was no way she would use something like a wound infection as material for a joke
"Fuck, what do we do? We don't have medicine and those were the last of the bandages" Ragatha asked herself as she covered her mouth and began to anxiously walk in circles, thinking out loud what they could do. Her worried blabbering was not making Jax feel any better, in fact it was making him feel worse
"Christ, can you stop your yapping, I'm already in a bad mood, take your blabbering somewhere else!" Jax shouted at her angrily as the ragdoll stopped in place, he was already having his head being irritated by the fever he was having and Ragatha was just making it worse
"... Right! I have to talk with the others!" Ragatha said as she ran off the room to talk with the others to discuss what to do since she wasn't going to get anywhere close to a solution here with Jax
"Guys! Group meeting! It's important stuff!" Ragatha shouted out as the rest of the cast stopped what they were doing and came to see what Ragatha had to announce, forming a close circle around her "We ran out of supplies, we don't have bandages anymore and I think Jax's wound is getting infected"
"Shit, for real? Oh god what do we do?" Pomni said as she tapped her fingers against her chin anxiously, that was very bad news as she could assume that a infection could cause his situation to worsen and even led to death
"I'm not going to have to be the replacement bandages aren't I?" Gangle asked worriedly as she imagined that fate falling on her, not being thrilled on the prospect of having to be tied around the guy she despises the most and not to mention the disgusting factor of her cloth like body possibly absorbing any of the blood and other nasty bodily fluid leaking from the wound
"No, of course not. But we need to do something" Ragatha said as the group all began to try and think of any possible solution to this, like maybe using the wild vegetation of the forest to make some sort of healing paste to even maybe meditating to try and unlock some magical healing power from within them but those were very far fetched ideas
"We could ask for it from a nearby village? I'm sure that if we calmly explain things they would let us borrow some" Kinger suggested, optimistically speaking even if they were inhumane in their looks, they didn't look too monstrous or intimidating to warrant immediate hostility, so perhaps if they were to solve this manner in civilize fashion it could provide them with a good result, surely the inhabitants of a nearby village would be open to a discussion or deal with them if they showed that they weren't of any danger to them and since Jax was in bed rest he couldn't instigate any trouble, it could be the next step for them to move out of a chummy cave and into a social environment with people to interact with
"Yeah, not sure on that one Kinger. But he is right, the only way we are getting those types of resources is from a human settlement... We might have to steal it" Pomni said a bit hesitant but that was probably the most realistic option for them to obtain any of the resources needed to treat Jax, but that might not be easy since there might be guards patrolling at night or considering the medieval setting, most shops were also just a part of the house were the people lived in since most couldn't afford building two different establishments so they might have to deal with the owner if they make a mistake and wake them up, gosh Jax really was more work than he was worth "It's probably best to do it at night so we are harder to spot, but even then that might still be complicated"
"I don't know guys, one thing is to fight some people to save a life, another is to steal from the innocent" Ragatha expressed her problem with this approach, what they did here to save Jax already didn't sit entirely well with her since they killed a person but that could be excused as self-defense, but stealing from people that had done no harm to them was definitely bad but if they didn't do it otherwise a member of their team would die, she didn't like the approach but it was probably just something she would have to keep to herself in pro of the group's benefit
"... There might be a way we can get those supplies without stealing, Gangle you said those guys had coins?" Zooble asked the bundle of ribbons as they had discussed over the items hauled from the bandits cave with Gangle noting that the men had a bag of coins which must have been the currency of this world they were in
"Yup, a bag full of it, I was planning on using on my strengthening method, why?" Gangle asked as she was saving those up to use for her strengthening method but was making some financial brainstorm if it would be best to use it all to min-max one particular stat or branch out to apply to some others so it was more balanced the distribution of points, not to mention adding Ragatha into this since she could also use the method
"I can use that money to buy supplies, heck, might be able to seal some of the stuff we get like the monster pelts if we need more money" Zooble said as they could possibly help out Gangle if they were able to sell monster parts and stuff from the forest to help their best friend get stronger and thus maybe a bit more confident in their abilities
"... How?" Pomni asked as she was intrigued by whatever idea seemed so confident at, the amalgam froze as they realized that they had to explain what was this miraculous solution they had come up with
"I... It's a bit shameful but when I offered to take the dead body to bury it, I didn't really--"
"You absorbed it into your axe so you could unlock the ability to turn one of your parts into that of a human, am I right?" Gangle said with a very plain look in her face as the rest looked at her and then at Zooble, who was just staring at the ribbon girl surprised
"... Spot on, Gangle. I didn't want to tell you guys because I was scared of what you all might think" Zooble said as they looked to the side a bit ashamed, scratching the back of their head as the others looked surprised by the revelation
"Zooble it's... Okay, it's just a dead body, same as the others from the monsters we fought... Let's just keep it at that" Pomni said as she looked at the amalgam, though she was a bit shocked it wasn't really something she could hold against Zooble, they had been absorbing and even consuming the bodies of dead monsters they killed so it wasn't like she could say it was unethical as much as it resourceful and if Zooble could really turn into stuff they absorb into the axe then it gave them a reasonable explanation for doing that
"I'm guessing the plan is to turn your head into a human one and cover the rest of your body, using the clothes and gears from the owners of this cave" Ragatha said as Zooble nodded in agreement, they did strip down those guys just for the humiliation factor but now it would finally have its use since they had more than enough clothing and accessories to fully hide Zooble's bodily features
"Yeah, to be honest I haven't really equipped that part... I'm kind of scared to know if it will be just a carbon copy of the guy I absorbed it from or... If it will be not what I hoped for" Zooble said as in these few days after the incident they hadn't equipped any of the human body pieces even once, it was
"Do it Zooble" Pomni said to the amalgam as everyone gave a encouraging nod, Zooble looked at them and took a deep breath even though they had no mouth, as they opened a unique window of their status magic called "Body customization tap" that was part of their amalgam bonuses, as they clicked on the head piece as they scrolled through some of the options before landing on the one written "human" and selecting it, as their head glowed and changed form
The rest looked to see Zooble now had a humans head, having a Umber colored skin, their hair was a bright bubblegum pink that was cut short on the sides with long hair on the top styled to the left side, covering a bit of their eye, which was one normal with a black iris and white sclera but their other eye had a bright golden yellow sclera and a spiral instead of a iris and pupil. From the top of their head were protruding the horn decorations Zooble had equipped for the day
"So... How do I look?" Zooble asked a bit scared since everyone was just staring at them with their mouths hanging open, which was making them a bit self conscious if they looked super hideous or something
"Beautiful" that's what Gangle wanted to say but the words didn't exit her mouth, probably because if they did she would probably die on the spot from the embarrassment, she hoped her mask didn't have the capability of blushing
"... Androgynous, I'm not sure if you're a man or woman, no offense" Pomni responded as they evaluated Zooble's face, nothing about indicated its true gender, no feature looking inherited female or male, it stood in a almost perfect neutral ground between the two genders, Zooble's voice also did little to clarify which one it belonged from since it did seem female but could just as easily pass as male. Ragatha approached the amalgam and turned her shield into a mirror form so that Zooble could see themselves, passing a hand to their cheek in silent contemplation as they observed their face, it felt... Like a step in the right direction but not exactly the satisfying solution they hoped it would be, they still were a bit bothered by how unclear their physical gender was and not to mention the other small details that definitely weren't part of them originally
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have bubblegum pink hair and one of my eyes definitely wasn't yellow with a spiral for pupils back before the circus..." Zooble said as they didn't remember much of their human appearance before the circus but it definitely wasn't this, it was probably a humanized version of their digital avatar than anything, well it was a bit disappointing that they still had some of the odd quirks like the yellow eye but thankfully it shouldn't be too much of hassle to hide
With that settled, they began to dress up Zooble as they additionally equipped some pieces that would give them more stability when moving so they could move less weirdly, they also removed some of their decorations since they didn't really serve a purpose when hidden under their clothes and some actively were problematic like the shoulder wing they had on. Wrapping a piece of cloth around their yellow eye and giving them a hooded cape to help hide their weirdly shaped back to further complete their look, with the final piece of the disguise being that they transformed their axe into a more common appearance they got when they had absorbed some iron from the weapons of the thugs they had fought
"Alright, all dressed up and covered, the axe is looking like a plain woodcutting one. Money?" Zooble asked as Gangle came up to them with a brown bag that seemed filled with coins as they placed it in Zooble's palm before wrapping their hands on the amalgam's
"Here you go, good luck out there. Don't die on me" Gangle said as they looked Zooble in the eyes, the amalgam replied with a knowing look
"Please, I'll not kick the bucket before that purple fuck does" Zooble said as they gave Gangle a little fist bump, saluting her and the others goodbye as they went to the nearest village they knew of, the one where they had been attacked by guards in their first day here
"Well guess we just wait now... I'll go out do some pushups, see you guys at lunch" Ragatha said as she looked at the others and also bid them goodbye as she went to continue her pursuit of getting stronger as the rest stayed there for a moment before going off to do their own things
"I'm going to die, here in a filthy dark cave... Always thought it would be to abstraction" Jax mumbled to himself as he stared at the ceiling, his hope was to either hope that the others would find some magical bullshit to instantly heal him or crush his skull with his hammer to have a quick and painless death, considering how he saw the others as a group of barely functioning emotional freaks, he might as well take the chances and kill himself rather than live to suffer
"Jax... You're crying?" A voice called as it leaned over to the side to stare at the lilac rabbit, who turned his head startled to see it was Kinger, who somehow had sneaked up on him without he noticing it with his enhanced senses, but on Kinger"s commented he went to check and his eyes were indeed watering up but not to the point he could say he was tearing up, god how embarrassing that would be
"Where the fuck did you came from Kinger? Don't you have some bug to stare at or something" Jax commented rather rudely as he wanted to be left alone
"You... Wanna talk? You seem in a bit of a sour mood" Kinger suggested as talking things out really helped when someone was feeling down. Jax thought about it for a moment, Kinger's tendency of forgetting stuff could mean that he would be able to open up and say whatever was on his mind and the chess piece wouldn't remember it a minute after, but honestly even with that he didn't want to risk it having to express himself
"... Fuck off Kinger, I don't want to hang around crazy at the moment" Jax replied as he waved for Kinger to go away, preferring to stay alone with only the darkness of the cave and the fever he was having then to have a emotional girlie talk with a senile citizen
"Oh okay then" Kinger said as he stood there in place looking at him, idly tapping his fingers against his waist, it was when he started humming a little tune that Jax realized that the chess piece didn't get the clue
"That means I want you to leave me alone" Jax clarified, making clear what he wanted since it didn't went through the hard wood Kinger had in his head
"Ah that makes sense, well then I guess I can go" Kinger said as he went and walked out but stopping at the last moment before turning back to face Jax and give him one nugget of wisdom while his mind was in a more functional state "Oh one more thing, if you're scared and having worries, you can do that breathing exercise Ragatha taught everyone, sure helped me and Queenie a few moments when we were spooked in those more scary adventures"
"Wait, did you just talk about... I thought you didn't remember those stuff?" Jax looked at Kinger, almost starting to get up from bed before realizing that would just make the wound hurt again, but it was shocking that the chess piece remembered something like that, he thought he had gone so insane he wouldn't remember his wife again much less something as minute as that thing Ragatha taught everyone back in the early days of the circus and the guy hadn't spoken his wife's name since... Jax couldn't remember actually, which just showed why the chess piece doing it was so insane
"Remember what?" Kinger asked as he was unsure what Jax was referring to, with the jackrabbit's expression going from confused to a more neutral one
"... Forget it, just go cook me lunch" Jax commanded the old man as he simply responded with a okay and left the room, leaving Jax alone to stare at the ceiling again while awaiting for something to happen
"Hey Pomni, I think you should speak with Ragatha..." Gangle said as she came and tugged at the jester's shoulder to grab her attention as Pomni turned to stare at the ribbon girl
"Huh? Why exactly?" Pomni asked as she didn't know exactly what there was to talk about with her in particular, unless Gangle was trying to play matchmaker
"It's just that she is acting really weird about training and working out, it's kind of worrying don't you think?" Gangle asked as after they claimed the cave and she got her legs and dress fixed, Ragatha had become a different person, sure she was largely the same but now she was always going out to train and practice, asking to spare with Zooble at times to better block blows or just straight up disappearing for long stretches of the day to gain levels fighting monsters
"I guess it is a bit weird but I don't see it doing any harm" Pomni said as though it was odd it was a harmless endeavor, if Ragatha wanted to be strong then more power to her for wanting to improve herself and it technically benefitted all of them in the long run
"To us but what about Ragatha herself? She can't just keep pushing herself like she is doing" Gangle expressed as sure no harm came to them from Ragatha doing this but what this did to the ragdoll herself was of the matter, Gangle wouldn't give it much thought if she didn't know physical consequences were a thing in this world but with Jax's injury as well as their own bodies requiring food and rest unlike in the circus, that meant that Ragatha could be doing damage to her own body by forcing it too much and depriving it from rest and a adequate amount of nutrients. Pomni came to the same conclusion now that Gangle had pointed it out and now she worried if it was true
"That's... Fair, I'll go talk with her" Pomni said as she gave Gangle a thumbs up and went on her way to where Ragatha had made her "exercise zone" to check on her, see if she was doing alright and maybe put her slight worries at ease, maybe Gangle was just exaggerating, sure she had seen Ragatha punch a tree for a entire day and she had gone to train for five days straight in a row but maybe it was fine and she had nothing to worry. Finally approaching the place, she saw Ragatha doing some pushups... While having at least a dozen orange balloon monsters bitting down on her as she counted
"...54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59... 60! Shield prison!" Ragatha shouted as she lifted up a hand forward as a ball of green energy shields tied together by chains manifested in the air close to her, she nonchalantly ignored its presence as she went back to doing her pushups "61, 62, 63..."
"... Hey Ragatha?" Pomni asked half awkwardly and now fully worried as she approached the doll from the sides, it was one thing for Ragatha to decide she was a gym dude and exercise daily but to have monsters bitting down her body for whatever reason was certainly past the point where things were fine
"Oh hey Pomni, whatcha doing? Wanna join me in my daily exercise?" Ragatha asked as she turned to look at Pomni while still doing her pushups, she knew it was a bit rude not to stop but she didn't want to lose count
"Actually I just wanted to talk about it... You're doing this out of guilt?" Pomni asked as Ragatha was so shocked she stopped her pushups and slipped, falling face first to the ground but she quickly rose up to stare at Pomni
"What? Pomni why do you think that?" Ragatha asked with an awkward smile that did little to hide how she was feeling about the question, heck Pomni could swear that if Ragatha could she would be sweating but she was made of cotton so even if she was it would just be absorbed by her skin
"It is just that you have started acting like this after Jax got hurt and you've been a bit obsessed with getting stronger..." Pomni explained as it was obvious that something was wrong with Ragatha as she had been asking to spare with Zooble, going to grid levels on her own, training Gangle by offering herself as a target and her constant use of skills to level them up and this obsession with exercise using Zooble's strengthening method all came so suddenly after their rescue of Jax, clearly it was from some sense of guilt over his current predicament and her inability to do much to help both back in the fight and afterwards, so she was compensating by trying to improve herself to the extreme
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be strong to protect others Ragatha but I literally saw you spend an entire day punching a tree repeatedly, and now I see you allowing yourself to be bitten into by monsters, that makes me worried" Pomni expressed as she didn't see a problem in Ragatha wanting to improve herself but she felt like the way she was going about it was a bit problematic, if it wasn't for the fact her hands were made of cotton and cloth she would have bloodied bruises from punching that tree, and letting monsters nibble on her just to maybe increase her pain tolerance was already worrying as that was technically self harm and she didn't know what else Ragatha was doing to try and improve herself, she might have been drowning herself in a lake for all she knew
"I... It's just that this place is so much more dangerous, never did we get bleeding wounds that had to naturally heal back in the circus, and I was so useless in that fight... I just don't want a repeat of that" Ragatha explained as it was not like she could try and lie to Pomni about this now that she was being directly confronted on it, she hoped the jester would understand why she had to do this, there seemed to be no safety net here to help pick them up if they fell so to speak and Jax's current situation more than put her mind at worry of what may happen if they weren't prepared or strong enough
"Completely understandable, and I think we can all afford to get a bit better, I actually wouldn't mind doing a few exercises to stop having such string thin limbs and there's merit in us all training together but don't deprive yourself of stuff either, I haven't seen you take a rest in three days that's not good for the body and again, letting monsters munch on you" Pomni said as she had no qualms about the whole squad doing exercises together but in particularly she had seen Ragatha doing this long exercise benders for at least three days in a roll, and that's just from what she had seen, it could have been more as far as she was aware, it was impressive Ragatha had the stamina to not fall to the ground from exhaustion from forcing her body for such time without having any prior experience but perhaps it was one such feature of not being a human person anymore but rather a living object , but the self harm she was inflicting on herself was worrying
"Relax Pomni, I'm a doll, I don't need to relax, these monsters can't hurt me much since my defense is higher than their attack and cotton muscles are much more--" Ragatha flexed her arm to show it was fine, but she simply caused a seam to burst open into a small tear, stuffing poking out from it. Ragatha looked at it embarrassed as her cheeks turned red slightly as Pomni just sighed
"Nope, no excuses miss. You are taking a day off" Pomni said as she went and poked the different balloons in Ragatha's body to pop them, before grabbing the ragdoll by the hand and started to take her back to camp for her to relax, they didn't have much to do but they could at least sit on the ground and maybe ask Kinger to tell them a story to pass the time
"I-- but it's just a-- can I at least spam shield prison and air strike shield to level them up?" Ragatha tried to bargain since even if she had to give her body a rest that didn't mean she needed to stop trying to improve the shield's abilities through the claws strengthening method. Pomni just rolled her eyes, surprised by the stubbornness the ragdoll was having these days
Zooble was anxious, because why wouldn't they be when they were approaching a hornet nest? Yes the human head they had now was a sufficient disguise but what about the rest of them? The clothes they were wearing hide their strange bodily parts but if someone grabbed them by the arm they would definitely feel how it wasn't a human arm but a large spring or rectangle, not to mention the possibility of someone accidentally bumping into them too hard and causing them to fall into pieces, so they had to avoid any and all physical contact.
Then there was the problem that they looked suspicious as fuck, after all who walks in a hot sunny day fully decked out in baggy clothes, gloves, hood and a frickin piece of cloth wrapped around their eye like a eye patch while having a axe in hand? They would think they were a thug or criminal and might not provide them service. And if they bumped into the guys they stole the clothes and cave from and they recognized it? A confrontation was sure to happen which would just lead to them being found out and
"Argh! Stop being a pessimist!" Zooble slapped their faces as they looked forward to the village in front of them, they couldn't give up without even entering the place, they needed supplies for better and for worse and they were the only ones that could do it without having to risk stealing during the night time
"Just go there and buy stuff, simple!" With a determined look, Zooble took the path forwards towards the village, arriving in a few minutes as they looked around, the first thing on the list were medical supplies so that's what they should get. They asked around some people for directions to the nearest medical shop, getting a few odd looks but being pointed to the store in question
"Hi, how can I help you?" The shop owner greeted as they heard the door bell ring, seeing Zooble enter the shop, looking at them a bit oddly for how much clothing they were using in such a hot day, and having a axe on their back, Zooble walked up to the counter
"Hey, I need some medical supplies... I'm a traveller with a bad habit of getting into trouble so I would like to get some bandages, and medicine to treat wounds in case they get infected, in bulk if that's okay" Zooble said what they needed, hoping this place would have it and that they wouldn't ask any further questions about their explanation on why they needed those items
"Ah sure, it's important to have healing supplies ready when adventuring out there, the monsters have gotten quite rowdy nowadays since the waves of calamity have started" the shop owner said as she assumed Zooble was some sort of adventurer by their outfit and axe on their back, paired with the fact they didn't look like anyone she knew from the village and with the increase danger from the waves causing wild monsters to start acting up it was sure handy to keep a few healing potions or medicine around
"Waves of calamity? What's that? The sea level is rising or something?" Zooble asked innocently unsure as they didn't know what the owner was talking about, since they didn't know what did the wave levels of the sea had to do with monsters acting strange
"Oh my goodness, don't you know? The waves of calamity are upon us, you don't know about that?" The shop owner said with an amused face as they stared at Zooble, it was frankly astonishing for someone to think that the waves of calamity had anything to do with the sea level
"I'm not really well informed on this type of stuff, I learned all from my old folk and the streets and "waves of calamity" weren't exactly a topic that came on often" Zooble said as a excuse, making themselves a backstory to explain this lack of knowledge that would hopefully be enough and not make the owner press for more details
"Well, the waves of calamity are these apocalyptic events where the skies begin to bleed and monsters pour out from it to ravage the world" the shop owner explained, though they hadn't actually seen the wave, they were aware of what they supposedly look like thanks to the description provided in the bibles and church sermons, it was truly a terrifying image but Zooble didn't know if it was a exaggeration or accurate account
"But thankfully our king has apparently summoned the legendary heroes to combat it" the shop owner said, from what they heard the king had summoned the heroes to combat the waves though nobody was sure what hero and how many, some said he summoned the three and left out the shield, others said he only summoned the spear, some dare say he summoned all four and brought along that blasted devil with the shield in its arm, but those were nuances that would probably be sorted out through time
"The... Legendary heroes?" Zooble couldn't help but inquire about these alleged heroes that would save the day, wondering just how exactly would however fools that got summoned fight a little apocalypse
"Boy you're really not informed on this stuff are you? The legendary heroes are a group of individuals brought from a different world to wield the legendary weapons, magical equipment that can change forms and unlock astonishing abilities, they even say the heroes know exactly when the waves will happen" the shop owner explained and Zooble practically froze in place as the dots began to connect in their head. Magical shape shifting weapons like theirs, from a different world then this one like them, knew when the waves were going to happen possibly through the weird timer counting down that they had? It all was falling on to paint a clear picture, they were these heroes
"And these heroes... Are they only human or can the summoned heroes also be monsters? Like a rabbit man or a living doll?" Zooble asked as perhaps if the answer was yes and past heroes were summoned as monsters then maybe they had a chance to explain their situation to these people and they would be able to move out of that chummy cave and have interaction with different people. Zooble's hope was shattered after the shop owner started to laugh audibly
"Haha... What type of question is that? Of course the heroes are humans, the bastions of humanity and saviors of mankind can't be monsters, only humans" the shop owner said, they would be offended by such questions if they didn't know they was talking to some uncultured muscle head adventurer that probably never stepped on a church or opened a bible
"But if they were monsters? What then?" Zooble inquired once again as the shop owner thought about it for a moment
"Hmm... I guess they would have to be killed so a new batch of hopefully human heroes can take their place. You sir have the funniest ideas" the shop owner concluded as they heard that new heroes are only summoned once all four are dead, they left before they were able to hear Zooble's worried swallow as now not only did they know they had been summoned to a world in the middle of Armageddon to fight and prevent literally doomsday but that their and their colleagues have basically guaranteed execution on the case their identities are outted
"Here you go sir, that will be around 300 silver" the shop owner said as they placed the items in front of Zooble, as the amalgam took out the bag of coins and spilled some of its content on the counter as they began to count them
"Uhm... Does this suffice?" Zooble said as they placed the coins for the shop owner, hoping the few copper coins didn't cause any trouble
"Yes that's about it, here keep the change" the store owner said as she nodded, it was odd that this person seemed to have a bit of problem counting money as they gave her 413 silver and 30 copper but she knew that not everyone had a good handle on stuff like math due to their upbringing and this person seemed to be a foreign if their slight accent and skin tone were anything to go by, so she was going to cut them some slack
Zooble thanked the shop owner and exited the place, letting out a heavy sigh as they did. Mission accomplished and now it was time to go back to base, as they passed the streets they did want to grab some stuff like some baked goods like bread or cookies but they had to get back soon or else Jax might get worse. Passing through a nearby bar though, grabbed the attention of a onlooker
"Hey! Buddy! Where did you get that stuff?" A person approached Zooble and they tried to ignore them and continue forward but the guy kept calling them and following them, Zooble stopped for a moment to look at them, the guy's face definitely looked familiar
"I don't know what you're talking about" Zooble responded plainly as they wanted to get out of there already, but the guy was leaving with no answer
"That cloak! It's mine, I know it is, that cloak has my initials on it!" The man shouted as he pointed at the cloak Zooble was using, the amalgam looked at the guy then at the cloak, seeing the initial "A. D." Written in red, Zooble cursed in their mind, no way they could say they had somehow gotten a similar cloak with the same initials
"I just found the cloak being flown around by the wind while traveling here, I decided to take it since it looked good, got a problem with that?" Zooble said, it was a bad history but one that could be plausible and grant them some deniability, at worst they would have to give back the cloak which would show how weird their peanut shaped body looked from the back
"Of course I have, I lost that thing to those stupid ribbon thing and whatever the fuck that pile of multi colored junk was! You know how expensive the silk was?" The man said as he still remembered how he used some of the loot he and his pals "borrowed" to get the thing made
"You high or something? Ribbon creature? Multi colored junk? Did you have a few drinks too many" Zooble said in a calm but confused tone but inwards they were sweating bullets in panic, so this was truly one of the guys they beat up and stole the stuff from, that made this bad situation even worse
"Hey, listen here I know what I saw!... Actually now that I look at you, most of that gear does look familiar, pretty sure those are Bourus boots! Where did you get that from" the guy said as he began to look at the rest of the get up this person was wearing and noticing how it was definitely some of his companions gear as well, now they were really curious on how this guy got their stuff since it was taken by those monsters
"I have no time for this" Zooble said as they had to get out of here before things escalated and this guy ruined everything, if he tried pulling the hood out by force it could make them fall apart and reveal what they are, so they had to leave and fast
"Hey I'm not done with--" the man pulled on Zooble's shoulder only for Zooble to turn their head to stare at him with a fierce glare, but their body reacted instinctively, turning their head into that of a simple spider, something that wouldn't be terrifying if it was its usual size but in the size of a average human head? It was quite the visage. The man let go as he fell to his butt, Zooble looking at him for a moment before turning back and resuming their walk as their head automatically turning into the human one, the amalgam looked around and it seemed no one else had noticed, they had to get a better control of their temper if it could accidentally cause them to change parts, but first they had to get out of here before that guy recovers from the shock and calls the guards or something
[Author's Notes]
Don't know what to do exactly for the next chapter
So I started to cross post this fanfic on Archive Of Our Own (AO3) under the same name, the chapters are in order and does not feature the chapter relating to the third wave as well as the Queenie short, thinking of making a separate fic in AO3 just about the shorts since there a function to group different fics to a list