Nari’s Log Cycle 13: Sterling Fist of Nonsense

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Nari’s Log was a ambitious unfinished sci-fi novella created by Natalie Neumann. Natalie does not recommend that you try to read the original work due to its low quality, structural issues, and grammatical errors. Instead, she encourages you to read the summary included in Volume 06: Nari’s Logof The Saga of Vincent Dawn and Volume 02: Nari’s Log of Natalie Rambles About The Saga of Vincent Dawn to better understand the content of this novella.


My eyes were greeted by the morning sun, as I found myself on a pile of hay and feathers. I was in a small room made up of yellowish stone. With the only major features being two buckets, the makeshift bed, a wooden door, and a large window that let in the light. However, there was no Maxxi, no Y’vonne, and not even that little water baby Raiyne. I was just in a place, along, with no visible sign of any of them.

I let out a groan, as I checked out my Host’s body. It was another male, and one who could probably throw my normal body with a one armed toss, seeing how large his mildly tanned biceps were. Let alone the solid torso. I was donned in tight black trousers, a sleeveless and open leather jacket, gauntlets complete with brass knuckles embedded in, and boots that could stamp somebody’s face it. Along with hair that was only about half an inch long, but naturally spiked up.

I exited through the door, and entered a hallway of the same material, and presumably connecting rooms just like the one I woke up in. I stood there for a bit, looking like I was lost, only to have someone dashed up to me. It was a large man with a thick brown beard connected to a fairly long mane of hair, and a light complexion. He was wearing a suit of red armor that seemed a bit too big to be practical in combat, let alone rush towards someone.

As if by instinct, I entered a stance as the man approached me, but then I looked into his eyes. They were magenta. I lowered my guard, and asked, “Y’vonne?” Taking note of how deep my voice was, while still sounding like it came from a reasonable mind. The man shot a smirk at me, as he jetted his hand out. “Finally you get it!” she said, sounding far jollier than the face would imply. “Yes Nari, or should I say Rogue K? I’ve been placed in the body of a “Battle Knight”. Not sure why, seeing as how you’re the one who’ll need to do most of the work. ”

Right as I opened my mouth to ask what she meant, she kept on going on. “In short, you’re in a tournament, and need to make it to the top. You’re in the top four already, but Jetter thought you’d be able to do this by yourself.” “I assume you mean a fighting tournament, but I don’t know how to fight, so how would I really be better than this, “Rogue K”?” I asked, rubbing my Host’s chiseled chin.

“I hate to say it, but we need to cheat, and it is not a good idea to work with people who aren’t Shifters or Constants. So we just needed someone to do the punching, and your gauntlets should not have any problem if you can land a punch.” I looked around a bit, still a bit confused about my actual goal, before Y’vonne responded to me. “You pretty much need to just punch two people in the face a couple of times. We’ll take care of the rest. I can manipulate the rules a for you, and Maxxi should be a great distraction.”

I nodded my head, bringing up the notion of me practicing my fighting powers before competing. I was directed to a room with hundred of hay filled punching bags, and wooden dummies that I was told to punch and kick to my heart’s content. I spent a good hour doing that, as I was pretty amazed by everything I was able to do. To put it simply, I could punch things to pieces within a minute. I have no clue what the properties of this world were, but I literally punched down a wall, without breaking a sweat. I even managed to punch hay until it burst into flames that I stomped out until there was a foot deep hole in the stone floor.

All before getting to the insane endurance I apparently had. Y’vonne tossed rocks at my head, as they felt like volleyballs. And wooden clubs were like a stick that broke off upon contact. I could even leap twice my height, and sprint without using much energy at all. I was pretty much ten men in one, except I could burst someone’s torso just by rapidly hitting it.

I was on fire, to the point where I leapt at the opportunity of a tournament beginning, I could barely even speak, I was so enthralled with my newfound testosterone. With a look of regret, Y’vonne directed me towards, hardly able to keep up as I dashed at a good 35 kilometers per hour, as she seemed to just zoom across the floor, with her feet planted on the ground. I leapt through a door that let in sunlight, into something not unlike a Roman colosseum.

Its radius was at least 400 meters, with the outer 300 being occupied by thousands of individuals donned in clothing one would expect from a colloseum in a time period before the year 0. Although, one large portion near the center was occupied by a separate platform. It contained a man in a throne, with jesters, women, and guards as if the inevitable battle wouldn’t be stimulating enough.

Speaking of which, the center was a mess of sand and stones that looked to be from a worn temple. But I was not alone in there, a figure stood a good 100 meters away from me. It was too far away for either of us to see each other, but our attention was diverted away as an amazingly loud voice came from the throne. It sounded like the best example of scum from the southern London, and obese as well.

“Oi! Shut yer traps!” he blurted out, silencing thousands of murmurs. “The fighters are ready for the final day of the tournament! Now, are you little shits ready for some real fighting?” The crowd responded with cheer. “Then shut yer fucking gobs, so I can listen to it! You stupid cows!” he said, as a horn was blown and the crowd ceased slightly.

I was caught off guard for a minute as the figure burst towards me, already covering half the distance between us in a second. I followed suit, hoping that I could just punch them in the face, but it was not that simple. As I rushed over to the figure, I noticed it looked familiar, a well endowed woman of a darker complexion, with skimpy clothing on. She wore a large pink cowboy hat that had bits of hair poking out, along with a pink bandana to cover her face. With her body being covered up by a mix of haphazardly placed belts, and a brown trench coat. Her legs coated by modified cowboy boots to boast a hell of about three inches. While in her hands, she had a black whip, and a pistol.

She attempted to both shoot her pistol to get an easy shot, and slash me with her whip. But not having expected weapons, I got hit by the whip, across my exposed chest, as the bullet whizzed past my ear. I leapt to a stone for a brief moment of cover so I could think of a strategy to get this woman, one where I could avoid the whip and the gun. And the best idea I had was to throw rocks at her. I scanned for a boulder to throw, and set into motion my oh so brilliant plan. Using slightly more energy than I expected, I lifted up the boulder, and threw it in the direction I expected her to be running in based on the sand she was kicking up. After a clash between the boulder and a wall, I heard a chuckle from the man on the throne, briefly distracting me as the woman’s whip came towards me. Thankfully, I was quick enough to grab the whip in my hand, causing the woman to flinch, as I gave her a proper gut punch.

She bursted back as the audience gasped in joy. I followed suit, still holding onto the whip as it was wrapped in my hand. As I felt something hit my shoulder. It took a second to register, but it was a bullet, enough to make me stagger a bit as the woman jumped back to steal her whip once more. She backflipped out of the way, keeping her pistol aimed at me as I was dashing around her, attempting to lure her into a wall as I held by injured shoulder. It worked for a few moments, but then she fired once more, releasing three shots. Two of which I avoided with little difficulty, while one was too close for me to not get hit by. And for whatever reason, I decided to punch the bullet, which produced a clink, a shout, and an increase in the volume of the crowd. Amplified even further by the loud man in a throne showing, “Yea! That’s how you sodding do it!”

The woman was lying on the floor, clutching her leg as blood seeped out of it. She looked up at me, and pointed her pistol at me again. Her hand shaky as a bullet shot out, barely coming within a foot of my position. Her eyes went vacant, and she was brimming with fear, as the audience cried for me to, “Finish her”. I walked over to her as she tried to crawl away on her bad leg, a thick trail of blood following suit. She flicked her whip at me, but I stepped on it, and pulled it out of her hands. I didn’t want to do this, but as the loudest man kept on shouting for her head to be concave, I had little choice.

I was placed in a pit where one would come out, and the other would be cleaned up a few minutes later. As she awaited my punch, she muttered something I could barely hear over the cries for blood. But the tone was enough of an indication, the voice was the same one I heard back at the nightclub, Kass I believe her name was. And she cemented that fact as she uttered, “You a sonuvabitch! You think dat I can be killed like dat? Chinese Crackah, please!” It made things slightly easier as I closed my eyes and tried to end this with one punch. Her head popped like a fruit being slammed by a hammer, as blood squirted out, and the body fell limp, and devoid of a face. I was coated in her blood, but at the time, I felt no remorse. Now? I can’t even believe it was me who did such a thing.

The crowd went wild, as the man spoke up once more. “‘Ow the fuck was that for a battle? Little shit got what was coming’ to ‘er! Just another example as to why you don’t fuck with the system. K, getcha arse to the baths, I’ll see you there, after semi-finals, round fucking two!” I meekly walked back to door I enter from, not looking back at the body, but the crowd seemed to love that fact as they kept chanting “K”.

Y’vonne met me as I entered again, placing a metal coated hand on my back. “Nari… I know the first blood is always the hardest, but…” I appreciated her compassion, but I wanted to be alone. I emotionlessly asked where I could wash the blood off while wiping it off of my face. Y’vonne placed a hand on my back and guided me through the torchlit dungeons.

I was eventually taken into an extravagant looking ivory clad room laced with steam. Filled with scantily clad women wearing nothing but underwear with loose cloth attached. Flooded with fruits, meats, and a small bakery’s worth of breads and sweets. All around a large pool with two women gesturing for me to come in. Y’vonne gave me a nudge as I wandered in, trying to not look like a massive dork. Two women other women rushed up to me, rubbing against me aa they took off my clothes, leaving my gauntlets untouched. More guided me into the baths as they made facial notes of my Host’s genetailia, and I felt they were positive based on how it waddled around, growing larger and defying gravity more than it had been.

After being fitted into a spot in the small pool, I personally did next to nothing, as the women, of whom I counted about twelve, decided to pamper me in ways I appreciated, and ways I did not. Thankfully, I heard a door slam open, as the same voice that dominated the arena interrupted the women as they were preparing to “congratulate” me. “Oi! Rogue! Git your arse to the side! We’ll share us the concubines.” The man was hardly a man at all.

The best starting point would be that he was a fat man, but even the most obese people were not as large as he was. Standing at seven feet tall, with skin bronzed with oils of all sort, and a stomach radius of a child. WIth arms as long as a man’s height, and just as wide. With four elephant-like feet that clopped down in their leather harnesses. He was bald as a baby, but had a mangy black beard that could hide a puppy. All wrapped up in a silk toga, originally violet, but stained by grease, wine, urine, blood, and perhaps vomit. I can safely call him disgusting, even if he didn’t smell like he had cheese up a bum exhuming dhahirah.

He waddled over, making the water flicker upwards as he got closer, and splash out of the rim as he entered. He let out a sigh. “Ah, that cools off me balls. Now bring me a pie, you tarts! Filled with meat! With the finest pastries from that Louis fellow!” Seven of the twelve women swarmed over him, pressing their bodies into his rolls of fat, which were thick enough to fully consume arms as they rubbed their hands down to below his waist. I only desired a glance, but I could not look away from his exposed crotch. It was as beautiful as much as it was grotesque, as I saw seven twenty centimeter long wangs drift up in the water as he made a face of satisfaction on his baby-like head. What in god’s name was this thing.

“K, ya showman you!” The blob-person uttered out as he was shoving pie chunks into his mouth, with hairy hands far larger than his face. “I axed ya for five minutes, but ya made it a good show, one of ya best! Now in an hour or the fuck it is, you better send that Davey shit back to his fuckin’ Mama in whore chunks!” I kept a straight face, trying to hide how uncomfortable I was as a woman was trying to give me falatio, and three were colsing in on his multiple penises. “Now, I remember seeing your Eastern arse, and thinking it’s been a good hole for a cock. But you clenched that, and made it the arse of a man who places his in others!”

“I lost one fuckhole thanks to betting you as my next one, but nay. Ya were too much the badass to lose, and become one of me whores. Now, ya got a fucking wish on your platter. Speaking of which, get me the cheeses, you lazy dames!” He continued to stuff his face as the women gave me a message and rubbed some gel on my bullet wound, which made it vanish. I diverted my attention to them, seeing as I could actually sorta talk to them, even if one was using her mouth to remove some of my Host’s cum.

“The hell he’s talking about?” I asked a darker skinned woman, donned in purple silk that was mostly semi-transparent. She replied, having a very notable accent that was not even close to the blob-man’s. “You know Master K. You came from the far lands of Japeuro to enter in the great tournament. We all were once like you, strong men trying to prove themselves against 63 others. But, we didn’t make it, so… this was our fate. Nothing more than a life as a slut. Needing to master the art in order to ever get a chance to fight once more, needing to get into the top eight to avoid such a dreadful fate.” She said, looking miserable as her eyes darted over everyone, their eyes looking hollow, and words seeming all the more insincere. “Sorry Master K, how may I please you, a fine ham shall be ready within minutes.”

The conversation ended as a metal tray was tossed along the marble walls of the room. Followed by the blob-man’s shouts. “You fucking call that goat shite cheese? Guards! Take this wench and make her into a cow, she’d at least then be able to make me some fucking cheese! K! Eat some shit! I feel a trifle bit husky next to any man worth a shit not partaking in some boar and mead.” Two women then brought a bottle of crude smelling liquid and a plate of juice filled meat, their faced showing joy, but their eyes praying for salvation as I looked into them.

I began to scoff down the food and drink, not noticing just how hungry my Host was. Granted, I was not letting half of the food stain the once clear water, unlike the blob-man, but I was acting like someone who hadn’t eaten in a good while, and had the appetite of a bear. I was mostly going on autopilot while eating, more or less wanting to just talk to Y’vonne once more as I had the woman spend a good ten minutes sucking on my willie, before she came off of it, and I felt very awkward relief.

As the blob-man was spouting orders as people in chainmail came in to take away women, I really wanted to punch the fat sack of crap until he was ground beef. At least until Y’vonne came in, and thankfully gave me a reason to leave. After having my boots and trousers place on, Y’vonne’s borrowed hairy face looked at me right in the eye, her magenta to my cyan, and injected me with something. Nice to see our relationship is not far from the starting point.

However, she came with another explanation. “Nari, that man, Cornelius is his name as far as I know, wants you to win the final battle, and appointed me to give you some sort of… enhancer.” “So, steroids?” I coughed up, still a bit alarmed by the needle. “Sorry, Nari. I am not fully aware of what those are. Must be a slang term from your universe.” I sighed. “So, I just need to do what I did before, but against someone else?” Y’vonne nodded, as she gestured me to come with her.

After a few minutes of walking, I was taken to the door I used to enter the arena. Y’vonne said that she had, “This and that to do.” Apologizing as she drifted away without using her feet, leaving me along with my thoughts for a few minutes. I was tempted to say that something about this setup felt off, but I think I just wanted to know where the hell Maxxi was. But as I was pondering my current status in life, the door opened, and my ears were assaulted by even louder cheers then I heard prior.

It was hardly different from what it was half an hour ago, with minor alterations to the stone structures, but it was mostly the same pit. The biggest difference was a scrawny guy with a lot of spiked up black hair, tight black armor, and a sword that weighed about as much as he did. I exhibited caution, knowing this to be a final battle, so this guy was probably stronger than Kass. I took a stance that I mostly assumed to be decent, as he did the same.

The blob-man, Cornelius, broke the shouting once more. “Okay! We get your bliss, kindly shut your traps, ya twats! This is it, the final battle. Rogue K of Japeuro, and David the Bastard Mercenary. One of these men shall get fame and fortune. The other will be lucky to keep his balls. On the horn, try to make a bloody good mess, we only get this once a sodding season!”

With that, the horn blew, and David rushed towards me, as I did the same, needing to punch as he swung something the size of a coffin lid. However, he eagerly showed me how he could swing it like paper mache, while carelessly cutting through stone like it was butter. My strategy was obvious, avoid him and try to hit him in the neck. I studied his slashing pattern for a minute, having him hopefully burn off some steam as he stared at me with angry brown eyes, grunting like it gave him his super strength.

My opportunity came with a stabbing motion, where I leaped up above his sword to his back, and then gave him a roundhouse kick to his exposed neck. He fell down as I went to disarm him of his weapon, only to suffer a great shock as I touched it, paralyzing me just long enough for him to stand up, and bring his sword down towards me. My reaction time was thankfully good enough to grab the blade, but it was a struggle to hold it. He had the blade to my chest, and gravity was his right hand man.

It was a struggle that got the crowd and Cornelius chanting in joy. All while David grunted at the notion of seeing my blood spill. he was not wearing a smile, as much as his face was made into a permanent scowl. Than is when the “enhancements” kicked in. Suddenly, I was able to grab the blade up, and stand with it, as his face went gastly with fear. I made one final push up with the sword, and went to punch his leather clad guts as much as I could. My fists were invisible to the naked eye, as I could see the bruises form ontop of others that were still forming, and the blood spill from his mouth as vomit followed.

After a mere three seconds of this, I stopped. He was clutching his stomach as blood continued to burst out in chunks. David tried his hardest to ignore it, leaping back up with his blade, as I stuck out an arm to stop it from moving, barely denting my gauntlet, or at least I thought, because he managed to foresee this move, and countered it, but slicing my left arm clean off.

The audience roared with bliss, lead by Cornelius, who alone would coat my screech of pain. David had a smug look of satisfaction on his face, and for a moment, I wanted to remove that look even if it killed me. As my blood was still gushing out, my visions barely growing hazy, I gathered up all my energy into my right hand, delivering more punches than anyone could ever hope to mentally process. It was a good five seconds before I stopped, with his expression being anything but joy, as I managed to punch his leather fast enough to set it ablaze.

He was desperately patting it out, trying to run around, but the fire was only growing more agitated. The crowd burst with laughter, with the same ring leader. I stood there feeling satisfaction. Then my morals kicked in, and I remembered something. The fire. It was vague, like a dream, but imagining the sensation of the flames amplified to someone else, for even a fraction of the time, made me feel simply dreadful.

I could at least deal the man a quick death, so I rushed forward, and grabbed his neck. Only when I looked into his eyes, did I notice how childlike his face was. He was still a child, one with power, but they were not the eyes of a man, and a child should not need to suffer from being burnt alive. After mouthing out an apology, as he offered puppy dog eyes, I clenched my fist around his neck, and hear a crack as the audience stayed silent, until I did what I did last time, walk away as someone who I beat lies dead on the floor.

Cornelius shouted praises for me through the cheers over the bloodshed, as I focused on my lost arm. The exit was not open, so I merely stayed there, grabbed my Host’s cut-off arm, and felt like an even more horrible person. Out of nowhere, two women, one with a bowl full of a glowing goo ran up to me. And one with a lot of white bandages, both came up to me. As scantily clad as those found in the bathhouse. The took my arm, placed gel on both sides, and tried to stick it back on as blood was still dripping, and I was struggling to stay up.

They sealed it up pretty quickly, like they had done this a few dozen times, and scampered off, as Cornelius was right in front of me, on a throne that was large enough for him, and connected on wheels that were pushed by two men in chainmail. He took a bite out of a drumstick as he began to talk to me. “Bloody marvelous show there! Coulda used a bit more length, but the structure was good enough. Men, I can walk from ‘ere. And all you twits in the audience, git outta here, or you’ll get on me plums! And ya don’t wanna be on me plums!”

With that, Cornelius placed his elongated across my good shoulder, as I was holding my bad one, feeling it gradually gain feeling. As we walked through an opened door, and heard the audience feel from the stadium. We walked for a few minutes, due to how much waddling Cornelius did with every step, and having his armpit open was like opening up a sewage drain. But I muscled through, a bit amazed how I did not barf.

After shouting out antics of how much of a badass my Host was, and how great the other “champions” were, Cornelius brought me to the “prize room”. The prize room was just a large circular room with several women in cages, and treasure chests littered about. Enough wealth for an entire kingdom and then some, and I could probably snap his neck if I could find it beneath the fat. An awful lot of fate for a guy who I never saw climb a stair. “Alright! I’ll give ya four chests, five women, three men, and two horses, and a fine house for you, and all that shite. And I can squeeze in a wagon, seeing as how I ‘eard ya like to travel.. Never my forte, but the fuck I gotta travel for? Nothing K, nothing.”

I was more or less lost at this point. I was being offered people as a prize? But it was as I looked upon the room, particularly the women who were locked in cages, that I grew concerned. There were only about a dozen. With a familiar face shown by a feral looking blonde with orange eyes. But she was not the only one, when I saw an older looking woman, but with a pretty tip top body beneath the skin. Protecting a younger woman with long hair that went from green to blue as I looked at her.

I looked between the three of them, murmuring to them, “Wolfe, Akarin, and Flare? It’s me, Nari.” All of their eyes shot open, displaying an array of shock, disbelief, and bliss. Getting back into character, I said that I’d definitely take these three, to which Cornelius laughed, “Oh, so you’re into the misfits? Go ahead and snork the kid, and the bag as well. Keep that feral one away from your knob, she bit one of mine off, the curr.”

“What’s next? Ya want the tossers ya smashed to go with you?” I turned my head at him. “You’re into some weird crap, just thought your were more passive ‘fore, but I’ve got the two ya fought already to bring with if ya want as your mates.” I looked down with regret over how I killed them, a bit shocked at the notion of them being alive. I guess if they have healing jelly, a broken head can be recovered from. I shot a smile, asking if I could do that. Even though, I regretted that immediately afterwards.

As I blinked my eyes closed while looking at the three caged humans I recognized, another figure entered my eyes. Dark hair and blue eyes, in a red tie suit. It was Jetter, brandishing a pistol. “Ah bugger!” Cornelius blurted. “How the bloody ‘ell didja find us?” Jetter did not answer, he just pointed at his face, and pulled the trigger, causing Cornelius’ head to pop like a tomato.

“Jetter?” I questioned. “What the hell are you doing here?” “I could ask you the same thing.” he tossed back in his monotone. “I’ve been looking for you while conducting business. It is to be expected that they would have a role.” “They?” I asked, before something grabbed my face and brought it to the ground. My vision was not clear, but I could certainly tell that Cornelius did not just go down from a headshot, as he was ramming into Jetter, overcoming him due to sheer mass.

I managed to get a look at the one who was holding me down. It was Y’vonne, but something was not right beyond the devilish smirk on her face. Her eyes were jet black. Just as I was trying to make sense and talk to her, as she was reaching for her sheathed blade, I heard a bang. Y’vonne looked behind herself, to reveal a muscular shirtless man in white trousers. His skin was mild, and coated in blonde hairs, including a beard the size of a fist. All of which seemed moot when I saw a shotgun in his hand, and heard a loud buzzing.

The man grabbed me up off of the ground, as he rushed off, leaving behind an explosion. “Who are you?” I asked in mid dash. “Been five days, and you already forgot about me, eh Nari?” He said in a sudden and ill fitting southern drawl. “Apologies ‘bout that whole rocket spear shindig. Turns out a cute face can feed more cowpats than a burly one. We never properly introduced ourselves, have we? Name’s Storm, sorry for trying to blow you up and calling you something you’re not.”

“What are you doing here?” I said, taking a defensive stance. “Lookie here, I’ve got ‘bout a dozen of these shots of white phosphorus left. You best not try to mess with me.” “An explosive spear launcher and a phosphorus shotgun? How did you get that-” “Jettah. I’ve got a pretty good eye for weapons, and he can provide. Don’t ask questions, but this was a freebie for savin’ your sorry carcass.”

“So, why did you shoot Y’vonne with it?” I asked, as I kept on running behind him through the labyrinth like underground of this arena. “You dense or somthin? The eyes pinpoint a Shifter, and they were black eyes. Quinlan’s eyes.” The name sounded familiar, but like I heard it while half eavesdropping in a conversation.

However, before I could ask, we ran into two others along a corner. After Storm and I knocked them over, we saw two rag wearing women, Flare and Akarin. Storm took no time before he started to ask questions. “How’d you two break free? Wait, it was Jetter and his toys, weren’t it?” Flare looked up at him, as she stood up thanks to a wall. “Yes, it was Jetter. A little more sympathy would be nice after the whole katana incident!” Flare rebutted. “It’s bad enough to bleed out next to your your niece, but to have to be with Cornelius? I wish I had the teeth to bite off that cow’s teats! Yet that Wolfe girl seemed to manage. Guess it’s because she really was a wolf.”

I heard moaning from the path the two of us took. It sounded like a beached whale for a bit, but then devolved into a coarse, “Nyeh!” It was enough for me to gather that Jetter did not hold him off for long, and he was going to wobble towards us, unless he could become a ball. “The doodie man?” questioned Akarin. “Yes dearie, and baron von feces has some friends with swords. We need to get out, fast. Storm, what’s the plan?”

“I dunno!” Storm spouted. “I was told the raptor is in the center, but I don’t see how a stinkin’ dino is gonna help us.” Flares eyes seemingly sparked, as her legs were engulfed in flame, as she began to levitate, grabbing the three of us in her arms, as she zipped through the corridors, leaving behind a very clear smoke trial with scorch marks. Both her and Akarin laughed as I screamed, the fire coating Flare even more. Only for me to notice how she was not on fire in the traditional sense, namely that the fire did not affect me by burning me, just by making me warm.

Before I knew it, we were outside once more, where Xandy was sitting in Cornelius’ throne, smoking a pipe. As he flicked his toes in the direction of knights who looked like Y’vonne, or rather Quinlan, causing them to fall unconscious to the ground. His eyes opened as we arrived. “Ah, marvellous. All of you made it here three seconds before expected. Good show. My pars make The Doctor’s look like a preschool.”

“Whadda we gotta do to the dino? I’m not usta the talking kind!” grumbled Storm. “Well, we’re certainly not going to shoot him!” Flare responded. “Hiya Mistah Xandy! How are you?” Akarin giggled. “Salutations, my friends, and the oh so deadly Storm!” Xandy responded as he sat up, flicking his cane as the guards kept coming and falling around him. “This is quite a pickle you got yourself in Nari. I was unaware the Syndicate had anything to do with you. Not that it matters, they went after my child a mere week after I met them. Tis but inevitable.”

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked. “Are you going to use your pocket watch to open up a portal, or..” “It takes a while to charge up for one, two, three, four, five people.” Xandy continued. “Give me a handful of minutes, and we should be leaving. Until then, stay by me, and the knights shall fall like the flymen I once ate!” The five of us then clamoured together, as Xandy patted Akarin on her color altering hair, which then wrapped itself around the dinosaur, and gave him a hug.

It was not long before a roar pierced out banter, it called out for me, and was unmistakably Cornelius. “Any chance you could get us out faster?” I asked. “We have two paths, one where things go proper-like, and one where things go dastardly!” Xandy responded with a huff. The colosseum began to rumble, as Cornelius’ shouts got closer and closer. It was not long before I started to get a look at him through the entrance way, or at least what he became.

Instead of seeing a large four legged man waddling in through the doorway I entered through, there was a swarm of centipedes about the size of a ruler. All with a very unj-centipede-like head, which looked like Cornelius’, but with huge insect eyes, and no teeth either, just two yellowish slabs of bone in their mouths as the kept on going, “Nyeh!” at the five of us.

Xandy began to tap dance as he wiggled his fingers, causing the centipedes to pop as they got near. But as I looked around, there were hundreds, then thousands, then the centipedes covered the entire center area of the colosseum. Xandy could dance like a maniac, but the radius of protection he provided was growing smaller and smaller.

“I must say, this situation is rather rubbish.” Xandy blurted as Akarin was sobbing into Flare’s chest, as she snapped with a free hand. Igniting the centipedes about a tenth as quickly as Xandy was popping them. While Storm threw grenades, which he presumably kept in his pockets, at the entrance ways, causing them to crumble. Not that it stopped them much, because they found more than a few cracks in both entrances.

I personally couldn’t do crap, I was just good a punching, as everyone was trying to protect me. Xandy let out a sigh as he looked at me with sad eyes, or at least I think they were suppose to be. “Nari, I hate to leave you so soon, but we are most likely to suffer death from centipedes at this rate. Tell you what. I can hold them off as the four of you take my pocket watch and warp to another world. But it may also be space. Still a finer death than whatever the Syndicate desires to do.”

He spoke with zero concern for himself, and as I tried to mutter something back, I was tossed his pocket watch. “Press the button at the top, and the four of you shall be free. I can fend for my own hide, thank you very much.” My natural kindness got the better of me, as I attempted to convince him otherwise, but Storm took the watch out of my hand, and pressed the button. Producing a flash before the numbness of unconsciousness came in. With my final thoughts being: “Don’t tell me that Xandy was all part of this after Jetter failed to help me.” But I’m about to find out whether or not I am boned, right about now.

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