Enough to catch up on like ten chapters or something idk how far behind you were
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Chapter 22
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There was a long and bitter sigh.
“Renner?” Cordax asked, genuine concern plastered on his face as he squeezed out from under stupid Diero and his stupid hat. “You okay?”
“No, it’s just- ugh.” He kicked at the much nicer vehicle parked in front of him. “It’s custom-fitted, too. This shaping doesn’t come on the newer model, unless they’ve released an even newer one under my nose. I never had the cash to afford it.”
“…What did you just call me?” He turned about suddenly and locked eyes with Cordax.
“Um, your name?” Cordax shrugged. “Sheesh, I don’t know how it’s so unfamiliar to- wait. Oops. I wasn’t supposed to call you that.”
Renner vaulted across and grabbed Cordax by the throat. “WHO TOLD YOU?? DOES MONOPOLY KNOW?? HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN THIS??”
“Please stop choking me I don’t like it” Cordax gasped, struggling for a breath. “It was T-Tott - he-”
“TOTT?!” Renner whirled about, throwing Cordax aside. “WHO TOLD YOU?! HOW DID YOU KNOW??”
“You did, you anodize airhead.” I said, picking up my slightly spent cigarette only to find it had extinguished. “Finally got to say that again. I overheard you talking to your associate Jethryn while Diero went on a tirade about touching his stupid hat. You’re really bad at whispering, in case nobody’s told you before.”
Renner stopped in disbelief for a moment or two and then turned towards Diero with a scowl.
“Eh.” Diero shrugged, still collapsed on the ground. “Way I see it you should’ve just used an alias from the getgo if it matters that much to you.” He slowly stood up and brushed himself off. “Say, uh, should we be worried about whoever drove this here?”
“Don’t change the subject.” Renner growled. “You were under strict orders to-”
“Hush!” I whispered, motioning with one finger over my mouth and using my buster arm to point - only thing it was good for nowadays - towards the roof of the building. “I think that’s him.”
There was a thin silhouette of a figure standing triumphantly atop what could be referred to as the roof of the large dome structure. He was surveying the landscape, but it was impossible to tell if he was looking towards me or away from me. No, I’m not saying ‘us’, just in case you thought I would be doing that again.
“Do we stop him, or-?” Diero asked, one hand on his revolver.
Renner squinted. “He’s looking the other way. Diero, get up there and see if you can get us- no wait, hold on.” He took out a note and began scribbling something down, stuffing the piece in Diero’s mouth as if he was feeding a toddler and also as if this wasn’t totally weird. “Okay you two, hop on.”
“Should I stay here?” Sonus asked, still sitting on the vehicle I arrived on. “I don’t want to cause any trouble. And how are you making your voices so quiet?”
“Fine, stay here then!” Renner hissed back. “And if you can’t whisper then stop talking!”
“What’s a whisp-”
“SHHHH!!” Renner hissed out again.
“Why exactly are you bringing us with you, again?” Cordax asked as Diero began to ascend the wall like some kind of spider-based superhero of nondescript appearance.
“Because I don’t trust either of you and I’ve forced you to come along with me thus far?” Renner responded, one eyebrow raised.
“Right, sorry.” Cordax grumbled. “Forgot you were a total jerk.”
Diero made extremely quick process, hopping along and nearly throwing us off as he climbed. It seemed he was too enthralled in completing his task during his ascent that he was paying little attention to the forces of, y’know… Physics, especially on the neck.
Oh for the love of song, I did it again! How many times do I have to reiterate to myself it’s not WE, or US, or OUR, or any kind of pronoun grammatically referring to multiple individuals - it’s JUST ME. ME. ALONE. NOBODY ELSE. I am NOT associated with these MORONS and I NEVER WILL BE.
Get the wrong idea at your own peril. I’m watching you.
Anyway, we ascended- AUGH. I’m not even kidding, that just ran out from my fingertips like it was my full intent. I’m not even sure if I started this as a bit or not, but it’s grown into a legitimate problem. People might mistake it for comradery or something. Focus, focus… I’m just going to jump ahead if that’s okay.
W- I HAD ARRIVED THERE. ME and the MORONS. And… Yes. Let’s continue.
The figure standing alone had some kind of black jacket with a large wing embroidered on the back. The whole thing looked like cheap, artificial leather, which is surprising since such a character could clearly afford the bike. Maybe that was the intended look. Anyway, Diero shook me off and Renner cautiously removed Cordax, allowing the cadaverous cowboy to sneak up on his tiptoes like a cartoon character and prepare to club the stranger over the head.
I was thinking at the moment of how, despite the dome being spherical in nature, it was still large enough for me to have a flat surface to be collapsed into a pile on, when a memory suddenly stirred in the back of my mind - and I must confess, I once again did something decidedly un-calculated.
“WAIT!”
The figure jolted and turned about - long enough for him to look at everyone present, including the deadsperado, who had paused in mid-strike. There were a few tense seconds of silence before Diero awkwardly finished the motion and knocked him flat on the ground.
“Ow!” The stranger ow’d. “What was that for? Who are you?”
“You alone around here?” Renner asked, walking forward and leaning in to produce some effect that I don’t even care anymore why does he keep doing these things.
“Uh, yea- I mean no! I’ve got friends and they’re totally gonna come kick your head off don’t hurt me!” The stranger yelped, reaching around his pocket for a weapon he clearly didn’t have. Diero smiled and waved the fancy-looking black sidearm he had swiped from him during the seconds of silence, drawing it out of reach when the stranger swiped for it.
“Winger.” I stood up and threw my functioning hand in my pocket. “Your name’s Winger. The jacket is stupid.”
“You-!” Winger gasped and looked from be to Diero and back again. “How did you know? I thought this helmet-”
Oh right, I forgot to cover the helmet. It was like that one from the french robot music group, I forget the name. Well, it covered his entire face, but it left the scalp open and tapered towards the chin. A tuft of black hair stuck out the top, clearly trying to be a mohawk of some kind without actually being a mohawk. His uniform was almost entirely dark, muted colors - mostly just black - with a vibrant highlight here and there. I personally think it looks tacky.
“You’re the only person I’ve ever known of going around with a jacket of a single wing.” I remarked. “Sane people have two. What, did you think branding yourself entirely around your name was going to keep your identity hidden?”
“You- your mask-” Winger continued, completely ignoring the conversation.
“I’m from the dark wall.” I responded, pointing at the wooden mask. “It’s not a real mask, it’s made of wood. It’s just a fake, calm down.”
“YOU’RE a fake.” Diero responded.
“Can we not do this?” Renner rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Look, Winger, we’re kind of on an important mission looking for a wanted criminal. Calls himself Monopoly - you haven’t heard of or seen him, have you?”
There was an odd cracking sound, which echoed across the entire dome.
“Uh.” Diero said. “You know, I don’t think this dome was meant to be stood on. Standed on. Y’know.”
“We might want to run.” Cordax said.
I, however, had different plans. “Oh, you’re all just scared.” I responded. “It’s probably just old and creaky from the weight. See?” I stomped a couple times and the splintering sound got significantly worse.
“Tott, don’t-!” Renner almost screamed, but it was too late. I threw my full weight upon the dome and a shrieking crack sounded out, the top of the dome falling completely inward. Down we went - all falling, spiraling downwards towards what appeared-
No, it didn’t appear to be. It very much was a gigantic pit filled with stone-grey bodies.
Dreamers.
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4 Likes
welp I guess the characters are dead
oh winger’s here too
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well, I mean you’re technically not wrong
you’re technically not wrong
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nah something’s gonna happen at the last second
Also this chapter seems to prove the theory that Ghid uses the nuclear reactor to make Dreamers
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Chapter 23
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Down we fell. Further and further downward. Boy… This was incredibly boring. I had thought we’d reach the bottom by n-
I used ‘WE’ again.
I and EVERYONE ELSE PRESENT fell. And it was a really long ways.
Diero was keeping himself busy angling his descent to catch some of the others. Cordax was trying to slow himself down on his own, which wasn’t really working, and Winger was having a panic attack - one of the fake ones, I mean. Renner was spending the entire time glaring death at me, clearly wanting nothing better than to keep kicking me in the face until there was no face left.
However, I had more important things to do that worry about some silver stooge’s midlife crisis. In the center of the large pit there was a tall tower with a black pillar of some kind in the middle, and a singular rail leading from it to the edge of the dome, where a large platform had been built into the side of the structure. I couldn’t see it too well, but there was something vividly yellow standing on the platform - someone.
That someone stood - too difficult to tell, but it seemed like he was watching us fall - and then he moved to snap his fingers.
Suddenly, I was on the platform. If that wasn’t surprising enough, so was everyone else, and significantly more alarmed than I was. All the force of the impact had been taken out- wait, hold on… Diero wasn’t here.
Diero rocketed past the platform shouting out some garbled message to his cohorts, falling until the extremely satisfying crunch from the inevitable impact sounded out. I chuckled in satisfaction at the thought of that stupid hat tasting the impact of a hundred stone skeletons, all grinning upwards in lifeless enthusiasm.
“Something-” Renner spoke, looking about nervously as he attempted to stand. “The air… We-”
“The air is incredibly radioactive.” The figure spoke, now quite clearly identifiable as being obscured by a yellow hazmat suit. “I am afraid that you have all been exposed to such a degree that physical recovery it virtually impossible. You have shattered the explosion dome and released the contents of this chamber to the outside air. This will kill or endanger a vast majority of people directly northwest of this location.”
“All of this seems extremely irrational.” The figure walked to an extremely large steel door and reached behind it, pulling out a bucket of paint. “I would have you all arrested if not for my presence here being technically illegal.”
“Who are you?” Winger said, beginning to quiver. What, was the thought of dying from horrible radiation that would likely rip you apart in the process too much for you? I thought you were better than that.
“Fifty.” The figure replied. “I was sent here by Ghid to fulfill a very important mission which, I hope you understand, cannot be hindered by your activity.” The figure lifted the paint bucket and tipped the contents over the edge.
There was an oddly close splattering noise, and the angry and now covered in white paint eye sockets of Diero peered over it, the brim of his hat crumpled from the impact. “Listen, banana-lookin’ bungler, give me two reasons why I don’t kill you for that and for all of them, too.”
“Diero, what’s-?” Renner seemed to be recovering from the shock that he would die in what was likely a matter of days.
In response to the extremely improper question, Diero hauled some large, grey object over the side. It was a Dreamer half-covered in white paint, which enhanced the identity of such an object. It was a physical duplicate of the one found at the old observatory, the one that resembled-
“GHID?!” Renner blurted out.
“If adding an S to that is the appropriate plural, then I would correct you.” Diero said, dropping the Ghid-shaped Dreamer back down into the hole. “Hey, Filthy! Gonna have to disrupt your plans with the whole painting thing. And you got paint on my hat.” He scowled more than I had thought possible. “So you’re totally gonna die.”
“I fear you misunderstand my purpose in being here.” Fifty spoke. “I can command any object, person, or what have you to any location anywhere. I have been extremely preoccupied over the last few months bringing all of these creatures to this location in order to be baked in the nuclear blast. That man Monopoly did it for me, although he also broke my window.”
Cordax shared a grimace with me. I definitely didn’t ask him to.
“No catch?” Diero said, seeing that Renner was writing something down and knew he had to buy time.
“It only works 50% of the time.” Fifty responded. “Hence the codename. I only snap my fingers and the results occur… Or they do not. It is impossible to determine the result until after the attempt has been made.”
As he spoke, he snapped his fingers once. Nobody thought anything of it at first, but the silence that followed made Diero concerned. “Was that a demonstration, or were you- what? What are you looking at?”
“The paint’s gone.” Cordax replied.
Diero ran his fingers across his hat and then his face. “Well now! Guess I misjudged you, stranger. Maybe you’re not completely irredeemable after all. Say, uh. would you mind getting all the radiation around here and in my pals to go to the moon, or something? They aren’t like me, they kinda… Die from it. And stuff.”
“I will certainly try.” he figure snapped his fingers, then again, then… Again, then again. “I’m not sure that it’s working. Perhaps it cannot be done?”
“Well keep trying.” Diero folded his arms impatiently. “Do it before something really bad happens to them from the poisoning or whatever.” He seemed completely oblivious that during this process, paint had been applied to all the dreamers, and now they had assembled a complete wardrobe identical to the one Ghid had worn.
“Diero.” Renner gasped.
“Look, I’m trying, okay?” Diero complained at his loving boss. “It’s just that this thing is situational and it may not work for a number of tries there’s something behind me you’re gesturing behind me I royally messed this up didn’t I?”
Turning about, Diero was face-to-face with Ghid. In fact, all of Ghid. There were hundreds… Thousands of him. The one in front had no eyes, only smoking black pits where his eyes should have been. Or more specifically, used to be…
“Boss?”
“DREAM WILD CARD!!” Renner bellowed, jumping up and grabbing at Cordax and Winger. “Tott, MOVE!!”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I was up, pushing myself to go as fast as I could, the party ahead of me squeezing through the metal doors, while Diero shot some more of the Ghids in the eyes. Then, with a snap from Fifty, Diero was gone.
“We have to run. We have to run!” Renner gasped, terrified. He set Winger down and pointed towards the hall ahead of them. “I don’t care how you manage- but run! Run and don’t stop!”
I pushed myself to catch up to Renner and tapped him on the side. “This is suicide! Fifty can just recall us back here at any moment. We have nowhere to run to.”
“Think again.” Renner said as Diero popped back into existence, blue flames flying off his body as he broke into a sprint after us. “But we need to find some way to deal with all these Ghids here and now before they escape. This is all some part of an elaborate plan to get free from the dark wall, what a stupid name that is.”
“Preach.” I said, raising my hand for a fistbump. It was not returned, possibly because I tripped over some kind of washing machine or something. We were now faced with a blank wall; did we take a wrong turn?
Diero snapped his fingers. “Do what you did before, again. And this time give me permission to kill that stupid Fifty or he’ll undo it!”
“Dream: WILD CARD.” Renner said, watching nervously as Diero’s eyes spewed forth blue flame. “Look lively, here he comes. ALL of him…”
The massive pile of Ghid lurched forwards, their eyes glowing in the darkness and letting out hissing noises of amusement. Given how tightly packed they were they had either taken their time in getting over here or they all got stuck in the door somehow. Hopefully the former, because otherwise that would just be sad.
Diero stood, confidently facing down the Ghid storm. He threw the wild card straight and true. The ensuing Ghids were caught in blue flame and disappeared, leaving a very alone Fifty standing in the hallway, completely flabbergasted.
“I know where you sent him.” He hissed. “I know how to get him back. I’ve never fail-”
He snapped once, and nothing happened. Then again. And a third time. He was staring down the barrel of a revolver before he got to try a fourth time.
“Just my luck.”
There has never been a more satisfying KraKOW in my entire life. Watching the pieces of that buffoon splatter across the room was so… Enjoyable. I felt so alive during it, like all the pain and inconvenience I had suffered up until then was worth it. It wasn’t, but a man can dream.
Here, let’s do it again but bigger.
Kra-KOW
Aww, man. That’s good.
“Are you alright?” Winger said, huffing as he approached. “Cordax kept on running, but I figured I should turn back and check. You… you actually got rid of them all! Way to go team, woo… Eugh… Man, I’m tired.”
“You CAN’T be here! You CAN"T!!”
“Again,” Renner complained, running off down the hall much to the dismay of Winger, who groaned in retort. Diero and I kept close at Renner’s heels, although half way down this hall we really should have turned on the last time he scooped me up and cradled me like a baby so he could run faster.
I’m insulted and humiliated by this moron on a regular basis and it’s a problem.
We rounded two more extremely tight corners and saw the glow of Cordax’s eyes lighting up the scene. Tears were streaming down his face as he kicked at the figure holding him by the arm - the knife had been rammed in his forehead, his grey rotted skin emphasizing the sinister grin plastered across his face.
No, not His. Her…
Two green eyes turned towards us. There was a deep chuckle. I tightened into a ball involuntarily at the noise, knowing what it heralded.
“LEAVE EILRACH ALONE.”
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6 Likes
I really have to be working on some big mocs and some other smaller ones I’m committed to completing… For some reason, I’ve been getting Moccer’s block to an absurd degree, and when it happens I get inspired to write more trash like this. Hopefully two chapters in one day will get it out of my system.
He did it.
He made a BoD theory that was right all along.
Get this man a cake and an award; he got one of them right.
Yes… Very special Dreamers…
Oh, and this definitely isn’t the last we’ll be seeing Ghid. That guy tends to have a number of nasty plans up his sleeve.
@NOTaHFfan how do like that backlog now nerd? GET THEORZING
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Since when is Winger in New York Times bestseller Book of Dreams by Ghideon Ghidson?
I really have to catch up; these chapters seem fun, from what I’ve skimmed through
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Wait, so is Cordax’s knife in his own forehead, or the other figure’s?
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edited for ease of comprehension.
not my fault you aren’t all big-brained like me
Did you read BoR?
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so that leaves our count of users not mentioned yet at 8?
Unless Oranui is fifty, but i think he wasn’t born in the right year for that.
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Yes
Kinda
A little
I know there’s a bus and a yellow mysterio and a wee little cordax with a knife
and a nuke
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That’s right I crossed the line. And I’ll do it again. Nerd.
PS look at this gif isn’t it cool?
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SO:
- Ghid wasn’t using the cider factory to create zombie things
- Racie’s corpse is trying to kill me
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Why thank you.
Ooh interesting
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and this is different from real life how?
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wait no i’m not caught up wait no please noooooo…
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