Memoirs of a RAFian

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
Not Going As Well as Hoped

"This isn't working," Broken said, as he watched a silver wolf pad its way across the room, sealed in by Cloak's energy barrier. The wolf was the overweight man just moments ago.

And before that he was just a red crayon. Then he was a bamboo panda. Then just a green solider from head to foot. Then a copper gyrfalcon. Then back to human, but bright blue all over. Then an amber leopard. Then a roughly-teenaged human with electric yellow skin and clothing. Then a granite ram.

"Keep trying," Cloak prompted.

The man was now an iron boar. Then he was a golden mouse. Then he was a slate elephant. Then he was a silver sloth bear. Then he was a coral octopus. Then he was a crystalline orangutan.

"Don't get disheartened," Yarin said, bracingly.

Then he was a golden lion. Then he was a ruby. Then he was a crystalline polar bear. Then he was a sapphire. Then he was a marble swan. Then he was an emerald. Then he was a platinum elk. Then he was a fiery red human male. Then he was a bronze eagle. Then he was a leafy green marionette. Then he was a jade cobra.

"Keep it up," Cloak prompted again.

Then the man was a diamond. Then he was an obsidian ape. Then he was a pearl. Then he was a platinum fox. Then he was disembodied heart. Then he was insubstantial, like a ghost.

"Don't stop now," Cloak said.

Then the man was a black cat. Then he was a white vixen. Then he was white lion with black flecks. Then he was a black robot boy with white flecks. Cracks appeared at the pointed top of the Nest Egg. It was working.

"We're getting there," Yarin said, optimistically.

Then the man was a vibrant blue "X". Then he was dull red "Y". Then he was an inordinately large ruby. Then he was an inordinately large sapphire. The cracks in the shell crackled as they grew.

"What if the egg shell breaks, but whatever's inside isn't destroyed?" Broken said, stopping momentarily. He was not soothed when the other two fell silent.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Cloak said. It was not reassuring in the least.

Then suddenly something happened -- the man had vanished, as if he never existed, as if it was an extension of the Nest Egg. Then the Nest Egg warped, as if reality itself was warping.

"Perhaps, not the right spell," Broken said, recoiling from the sight. Cloak couldn't blame him as Yarin did as well. The Realm Walker had to maintain the shield. He couldn't allow himself to flinch.

Then the Nest Egg pulled itself into itself, almost as if it was imploding. As if there was a hidden black hole inside that pulled at its exterior. It folded in upon itself, and vanished from existence. And its effects gone from existence as well.

"Well," Broken said, "I have no idea which spell did that."

Neither of his fellows argued him.

[DinosaurNothlit]

That was magnificent.  Out of curiosity, was there a significance to Child's forms?  I recognized a few from Pokémon.

[Cloak]

Oh. You thought that was Child. It was supposed to be a sort of holographic construct . . . but what the hell. Okay, it was Child.

New chapter might be delayed until after work tomorrow.

[DinosaurNothlit]

  I do not know why I thought that was Child.

[Cloak]

It's okay. It is Child now.

New chapter.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
Propped Up Pretense

"Who are you, stranger?" Ollie said, brightly, keeping up the pretense and staying in character. The two RAFians were not amused, understandably.

"Knock it off," Parker said, irritably. "Drop this pretentious pretense. If I want to hear some saccharine sh--"

The Whimsy-Mimsies made a theatrical gasp, "That's a naughty word!"

"Oh, for the love of --" Parker said, his mood having not been soothed. "I'm going to really take an inordinate amount of enjoyment in taking you demons down."

"I'm here, too, Parker," Gaz said, giving these Pooka demons a cold, icy glare. Well, as much as a Muppet can do something like that.

"Hey, strangers, we don't have to be so hostile with one another," Allie said, playing the sweet, little kid voice. This actually rubbed Gaz the wrong way. "We can all be friends!"

"You cannot be serious," Gaz said, glowering. "You rob children of their innocence and life force --without remorse -- putting them in a prone, catatonic state with rictus smiles plastered on their faces. And you don't care, do you?"

"Of course, they don't," Parker said, jumping to the ground, "it's like Demos said, demons like them don't have hearts. Don't know things like compassion and empathy, except as manipulation tools."

"Why are you calling us demons, friend?" Theo Krat queried with a reasonably perplexed tone.

"Drop the pretext," Parker repeated his message. "You don't fool us. There are no puppeteers controlling you, you are fully autonomous."

"Parker," Gaz said, in an aside, "they're probably keeping up the facade for the sake of the camera."

Then she glanced at the show's crew behind the scenes. Their eyes were unfocused, as they mindless went about their business, oblivious to all and any goings on that was outside their defined role. Even when it conflicted, their eyes glazed over still. Gaz found it really unnerving that a spell could do this to so many people.

Did it still work when they went home to their families? Did their families pick up on something weird about their sibling, their progeny, their spouse? Suppressing a shutter, Gaz came to the decision that she was really happier not knowing.

"Ah, right," Parker said, aiming his gun at the camera.

"Parker, what are you -- ?"

"Stranger, what do you intend to do -- ?" Ollie said, accidentally allowing his more adult intonation to filter into his voice.

Parker fired his gun at the single camera they apparently used for the show. While it superficially looked like an ordinary television-quality camera, there had to be modifications that allowed Ollie to siphon out a child's life force and innocence through it. Or perhaps he used another, unknown method.

However, when Parker fired his gun, a metallic bullet did not emerge. A blast of laser light did not form. A Nerf-grade foam dart shot forth from it, much to Parker's embarrassment.

It did not have the desired effect Parker wanted.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
Abandoning All Pretense

The Whimsy-Mimsies burst into a fit of laughter, and Parker was fortunate that he was not flesh, or else his face would be burning with embarrassment. He had intended to destroy the camera. But this would also possibly kill the cameraman that he did not see. It was a reckless move, but fortunately the Nerf dart just bounced harmlessly off.

But Parker did not like being laughed at.

"Parker!" Gaz scolded. "Control yourself!"

"Then how do you propose we stop them?" Parker shot back angrily. "Puppy dogs and rainbows?"

"Think it through!" Gaz said. "We still represent the --"

"WHAT D'YOU MEAN WE'VE STOPPED BROADCASTING?!" Ollie said, outraged, drowning out the RAFian argument. "WHAT D'YOU MEAN OUR RATINGS ARE DROPPING?!"

It was true. And it was technically Gaz and Parker's fault. While all believed this was part of the show, some believed that this was obvious RAFian bashing, and others believed that this was somehow RAFian propaganda. Either way, this movie was swiftly becoming a death knell of the show.

Granted, that was the intention of Ollie anyways, but not in this manner. But the fact that they stopped broadcasting was a mystery -- perhaps they were somehow preempted. But the fact of the matter was that now Ollie and the others completely dropped the saccharine, child-friendly act, and spoke freely.

And they swore like sailors during a hurricane.

"Wow," Parker said. "Somehow I didn't expect such an extensive expletive knowledge from them."

"It is creative cursing," Gaz admitted.

"You stupid ****s" Allie said. "We would have had it all!"

"We would have lived in luxury!" Theo shouted. "We would not have wanted for anything!"

"We would have been rich!" Nancy snarled.

"We would have been affluent!" Mitch trumpeted.

"You ****s have ruined everything!!" Ollie roared. "You both will DIE!!"

Parker unsheathed his energy sword. This had remained unchanged by the Nest Egg fortunately enough. "Get over it."

"You should have known that you would never get away with this," Gaz said. "And you should lose that egg thing soon."

"What?" Ollie said.

"Nothing," Gaz said, knowing that this would infuriate him.

"Don't worry about it, Muppet," Parker said, knowing that this too would infuriate them. He braced himself for combat, wondering how his being a puppet would alter his fighting style. "You won't live long enough to do anything about it."

[DinosaurNothlit]

Wow, I did not expect their language to turn quite that strong.

Lol'd at Mitch's "We would have been affluent!" 

[spoiler]Yep, that's Mitch McConnell, alright (and I'm glad you explained that one to me, otherwise that joke would have gone straight over my head).[/spoiler]

[Cloak]

They're demons, after all, Dino.

New chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Sending Fluff Flying

"I'll kill you myself!" Ollie roared charging forward toward Parker. Parker had to compensate for his much lighter body, but he managed to slash Ollie to bits.

"Fool," Parker said, with disdain. "I'm armed. You are not. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who would win in that conflict. It's not like you're a Kryptonian or anything."

"You underestimate us!" Allie said, attacking Gaz, seeing her as the weak link. Gaz easily ripped her in half with her vampiric strength. It was not something she was used to doing. It made her realize just how reliant she was on Laserbeak. She was actually surprised that Laserbeak allowed her to come on this mission by herself. Beaky was always overprotective, but yet not in a possessive way.

"Next?" Gaz asked.

Theo decided to cut his losses and run, but Gaz had shifted into a mist form and reformed right in front of him. Almost apologetically, she said, "Sorry, but that is not an option. You need to answer for what you did to those children."

Gaz plunged her hand into the puppets gut, but instead of gore, there was fluffy stuffing. Somehow, that made it less gory, and less disturbing. Less brutal. Huh. Odd that.

Theo, Allie, and Ollie were now dead. We're they back in Hell, demoted to another echelon of demon? Or were they still Pooka demons in Hell? Or were they just no longer in existence? No answers, no evidence to make a conclusive decision. No matter. Two more to go.

"I won't go down so easily!!" Nancy said.

Parker easily beheaded her, without another word, within seconds of this pronouncement. Parker was a bit disappointed with the ease of this, but accepted it just the same.

Gaz took on Mitch the Elephant. She didn't attack him, but easily dodged his attacks. It was almost as if she wasn't trying to attack him. Clearly, these puppets were not accustomed to fighting. Their fighting styles were amateurish -- at best. Meanwhile, the RAFians regularly went out on missions where fisticuffs were almost inevitable, not to mention the training they do in off-hours. This was completely one-sided.

Suddenly, Mitch staggered, surprised to find an energy blade in his chest, and his fluffy stuffing showing. Then, with an evidently painful lurch, the blade was pulled free of the elephant puppet. Then three slices from Parker's sword -- a diagonal slash from high left to low right, from high right to low left, and the final one bisecting him vertically -- in basically an asterisk type of formation. Mitch was undeniably dead.

"Bit overkill, Parker," Gaz said.

"That one grinded my nerves the most," Parker said, bluntly.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light and Parker and Gaz were back to their beautiful selves. And quite conspicuous on the soundstage.

"We -- we need to get out of here," Gaz whispered, grabbing Parker's wrist very, very firmly. She was determined to not let him got as they both translated into mist and blew out of the sound stage before any of the crew or administration came to their senses.

Fortunately, the two managed to escape before any damage could be done to the RAFians' reputations. But it was a closer shave than either would have liked.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
I'm Stuck in a Closet with an Andalite

When the five had arrived back at the forum, with no one outside RAF any the wiser, GH decided it was time for an impromptu concert, with Leatherhead backing him up musically. And he had somehow roped Cloak into it -- the Realm Walker had yet to figure out how he managed it.

He sang:

"Cloaky, every night I have the strangest dreams.
Cloaky, listen to me, tell me what this means!
First, I'm goin' shoppin' in my underwear.
Then, all of sudden, I'm floating in midair.
My lips fall off and everybody starts to stare.
Guitars and picks are flying everywhere!
Now, Cloaky, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet!
Next, comes the part that I won't ever forget!
Now, I'm bein' followed by these Yeerky spies.
They give me some Velcro, and an order of fries.
Suddenly, I'm bowling on the Skrit Na Enterprise.
I fall down a hole and that's when I realize --
I am stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
I'm stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
Night after night after night after night!
All right!
Cloaky, won't you tell me, am I going insane?
Was it something I ate, or something wrong with my brain?
See, I'm naked in church, when I meet Dinosaur.
Try to run, but my feet have been nailed to the floor.
Then a Gedd pushes me through a revolving door.
And I'm back in the very same place I was before!
Now I'm stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
I'm stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
Night after night after night after night!
And I can't bust out and I can't break free.
And it's gettin' just a little too stuffy here for me!
And I can't go home and I can't get loose.
And I try to escape, but it's just no use!
And I can't ever leave and I can't ever win.
And we're runnin' outta air, and the walls are closin' in.
And I can't go back and I can't get through.
But why won't that Andalite give me back that shoe I threw?
Come on, Andalite, come on!"

There was an instrumental break where Cloak tried and failed to leave. Societal convention had trapped him in a way, and GH seemed to cleverly know that.

"Cloaky, all those crazy dreams have started again.
That's right, I even wake up screaming now and then.
See, I'm coming home from work but I forgot my address.
I'm half an hour late for my algebra test!
Then some slimy alien jumps out of my ears.
And I'm falling and falling and I guess you know the rest!
I am stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
I'm stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
Night after night after night after night!
I am stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
Stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
N-n-n-night after night after night night night!
Then I'm stuck in a closet with an Andalite (ya-ya ya-ya, ya-ya, ya, ya-ya)!
I'm stuck in a closet with an Andalite!
Night after night after night after night!
I am stuck in a closet with an Andalite (ya-ya ya-ya ya-ya ya-ya)
I am stuck in a closet with an Andalite."

Cloak wanted nothing more than slink away from any sort of limelight like this. This wasn't anything like combat. Not to mention he was tired and cranky.


SOURCE SONG: https://youtube.com/watch?v=m1UgVuDX0KI

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
Winds Day

Aquilai arrived at the wind tunnel facility that the fiend had took up residence in. It was evacuated, naturally, and fortunately this fiend hadn't killed anyone. He proceeded forward, until he came across a ladder, which he scrambled up.

Upon reaching the top of that ladder, he saw another he had to take up. With a sigh, he climbed that one only to discover even more. He swore if he found out later that there was an elevator that he could have ridden instead of climbing these maintenance ladders . . .

Then he came into what appeared to be some sort of wind tunnel vents, with wind turbines powerful enough to generate wind strong enough to hold the Time Lord aloft as he reached the next ladder. Aquilai couldn't help but think that this was a design flaw -- requiring the wind turbines to life you high enough to reach the ladder.

Then he finally reached the top of the facility. He moved forward, dodging the emergency protocols that apparently didn't stop the fiend from moving to the very heart of the facility.

But, as it turns out, Aquilai's earlier assumption was incorrect, as he was forced to utilize more ladders to go upwards. He was starting to find this all rather monotonous.

Then he found a tight, enclosed place where there didn't seem to be any more ladders. The Time Lord found himself feeling sorry for the maintenance crew that worked here. They must be paramilitary or something to deal with this kind of athletics.

Aquilai moved forward, crawling when the ceiling and floor became very, very narrow. Then he came to a very large dropshaft. He had no other choice but to drop down it. The fall wasn't very far, but to his left there was yet another, with a rather steep incline to it. This was deterrent to employment at this facility, he knew it.

Anyway, he dropped down the smaller dropshaft and landed on dirt. There was no flooring in this section, and yet he wasn't outside. No matter. Must press on. Oh, yay. Another ladder.

But this ladder was different. It took Aquilai directly into the fiend's chosen lair. Aquilai was quite eager to end this.

The lithe, child-sized creature had the top of its head resemble a queue, with attached flail, and a raimen meander around his forehead and another around its waist. It had round human eyes (white sclera and black irises) framed by a deep gold faceplate around its mouth with a grated holes on it. Its round ears were purple with green interiors. It had huge wind turbines on its shoulders, which matched the deep orange of its chest, head, forearms (and attached blades), and legs. But the blades in these turbines were a royal purple. Its upper arms, hands, abdomen, crotch and thighs were white. There were silver growths on its ankles which resembled spirals used to depict wind in drawings, and its wrists were silver in color.

When the creature noticed Aquilai,  it attacked by shooting two propellers, one up and one down, each one in a similar wavy fashion. He avoided them by timing a jump over them when they cross paths.

It also tries to suck Aquilai towards him and deal contact damage. He avoided this by running to the opposite direction that he was being being sucked.

Then this creature lifted himself and tried to land over Aquilai. Aquilai dodged this by sliding below it before it even lands over him, inflating to rotund form. When the attack was completed, it deflated to its normal lithe proportions.

All Aquilai needed to do is flash his sonic screwdriver's light in the creatures eye seven times, with a rather prudent cool down time in between each flash. But he got all seven in and the creature was dead.

"Now back to those damn ladders," Aquilai sighed. Then he noticed something to his left as he was walking back to the ladder. "There was an elevator. Of course there was an elevator."

***

Demos called it a "uindosapien". Demos claimed that he created it to help with agriculture. Somehow.

***

Malice, actually, wasn't watching this time. She had abandoned her comfy chair to go enact some evil scheme that had occurred to her.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

BOOK CLVI:
LARVAL AMBUSHES
CHAPTER ONE:
Oil and Flame

Cloak had arrived at the oil refinery. He knew the fiend would be at the deep center of the facility, and so he made his way through it. And, as he made his way through it he saw deep trenches of oil on the floor. The way was it was done made Cloak sure that O.S.H.A. would not have been too happy if they had known. It couldn't possibly be safe, especially if a single spark had fallen into . . .

No matter. The task at hand was the fiend. He could report this oil refinery to O.S.H.A. later, Cloak decided as he proceed forward. Then he saw what amounted to large spikes beneath a rather shaky catwalk. Cloak had to use his Mastery over the Metal element actually stabilize it. How had this place not been slammed for this overt disregard of worker safety?

Cloak looked around as he moved on. More of those troughs of crude oil. Near a damaged electrical device that was sparking. This place was just asking for a O.S.H.A. lawsuit. Either that, or it was deliberately dilapidated so the owners could collect insurance money once it burned down. Either way, it was very shady how it was still operating.

It wasn't too much longer before he came into the heart of the facility. And, like he predicted, the fiend was there.

The creature was the size of an average ten-year-old child, with a black, sac-like head like an Eosapien. Its face was blue with human-like eyes (blue sclera and purple irises) and black ears with blue interiors. It had a purple faceplate with a white mustache. It had rounded, purple shoulders with triangular purple markings. Its shoulders faded into blue and into white on its upper arm. Its left lower arm was blue with a purple hand. It's right lower arm was basically a blue-colored flamethrower blaster with a black barrel. It has a purple chest and red abdomen, with a blue vest with black trim. It had a purple band around its waist, and its crotch and thighs were white. Its lower legs were blue with purple bands, with white feet like shoes of Arabian design.

When it saw Cloak, its torso and abdomen burst into flame, obscuring it from view. Cloak, despite his pyrophobia, wasn't really all that impressed. It attacked by shooting three slow fireballs. Cloak easily dodged it, by manipulating the fire to either side of him. This seemed to not sit well with the fiend, which, like its brethren, seemed to operate more on programmed instinct than any actual intelligence.

As if in response, it jumped high, and could land on Cloak, were he not careful enough. But it was dodged easily enough, as the jump was well telegraphed in advance enough.

It attacked by putting its flamethrower on the floor and sending flame pillars, consisting of several pillars of fire rising from the floor that block any attack. They continued to span outward from the fiend. Again, it didn't matter much to a Master of the Fire element.

And, now having seen the full arsenal it had at its disposal, Cloak acted. Cloak didn't use his Mastery over the Fire element to finish the fiend off. That would be stupid, as it is engulfed in fire. And the fact that this was an oil refinery gave Cloak a sneaking suspicion that Water wouldn't work either.

So he used air. He used seven basketball-sized cyclones to hit the fiend. And the seventh one was all that was needed to slay the fiend.

***

Demos called it a "fureimusapien". He created it to generate thermal energy as an energy source.

***

Malice still wasn't watching. She was still too busy with her . . . errand.

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER TWO:
Beastly Assault

A twelve-year-old boy named Wesley Andrews was bidding adieu to his three similarly-aged friends, Herbie Roland, Britney Shandler, and Josh Warren. It was getting late and the streetlights had just came on not more than ten seconds ago. The four harbored a secret that they didn't even tell their parents.

Each of the four had an activated metagene -- something usually quite rare in these times. Wesley had some low-levelled telekinesis, Herbie had superhuman speed (but not to the extent of a Kinecceleran, who would be able to easily out pass him), Britney had superhuman strength, but not quite Herculean, and Josh had a chameleon-like camouflage, which would have easily been discovered with Earthsight or aura. This single commonality between them, the fact that they all have a superpower (though remarkably low-levelled, by RAFian standards), is one reason why their friendship is so close. They all feared being rejected for being different. Wesley even quit the soccer team at school for fear that his ability being found out and calling his school's wins into question. Herbie didn't try out for the track team although it was something he really wanted to do. Britney was always exceedingly careful with how hard she did things, walking around as if the world were made of corrugated cardboard. Josh was, perhaps, the least affected by this, as he had not endured any sort of hardships like the others did -- but his family moved around a lot, so he was used to being the odd man out.

However, they all lived on different blocks from each other in the suburban town in which they dwelled. So, they had to split up like this every time they were done hanging out. Little did they expect just how dangerous that doing just that could be.

Wesley continued on his way home, where he lived with his parents and little sister. He never heard the creature behind him. The creature whose buzzing wings were at a pitch indiscernible to the human ear. Wesley should have sense the beast closing in on him. The beast hiding from the revealing light of the streetlights.

Wesley never knew he was being stalked. Wesley never knew he was being hunted. But not for food. At least, not yet. There was quite another reason he was being sought out as a potential victim, one more disturbing then if the beast would actually eat him, if the monster would outright devour him. No, biology had selected it to have a different purpose to seek out humans.

It didn't take long for the beast's somniferous breath to take effect. Wesley's head began to swim before just suddenly cutting to black. He never even saw his attacker -- a monstrous variation of Megarhyssa macrurus. A hairy, human-sized ichneumon wasp with insectoid wings that had evidently evolved much the same way an owl's had -- with barely a sound, and a sound that could not be heard by their victims. It was colored completely black, hair and all, with an elongated body and transparent, soft wings. It had a long ovipositor, and arms and legs like a Lepidopterran.

It quickly moved toward the now unconscious boy on the ground . . .

***

When Wesley awoke he found himself in his own bed, with his parents and sister looking quite concerned. He remembered nothing about what had happened moments before, and he had not seen his victimizer, nor was he aware that he was victimized.

Nor was he a aware of a small divet in the nape of his neck.

He was just disoriented and confused. His parent told him that they got worried when he didn't show up on time and broke his curfew. It was unlike him -- and so, they immediately found him on the ground, unconscious. They brought him back here, where they waited for him to wake up.

While Wesley tried to reassure them that he was okay, the truth was that he wasn't. Not really.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Oooh, good start.  I'm on the edge of my seat already.

[Cloak]

Oh, just wait. And sorry, in advance, Dino.

And sorry that there was no chapter yesterday. Work just really knocked it out of me.

New chapter.

CHAPTER THREE:
No More Sidelines

Wesley wasn't the only victim of this buggy beast. Each of his friends were as well, and, like him, they had no recollection of said attacks. Like them, they did not realize they had a slight divet in the nape of their necks.

These four were not the only ones who were attacked.

Sean Stone, a small-time theatrical actor, was attacked shortly after Wesley was. Sean was just coming out from closing his latest show. It wasn't really a blockbuster, but there was moderate interest. But not enough to satisfy his ambition. He really wanted to go to Broadway, but felt that he wasn't good enough. It was this insecurity that really held him back more than anything else. But as he was mulling this over, he was attacked. He awoke at home with his girlfriend, who had went looking for him when he was an hour late getting home. He had no recollection of the attack or knowledge of the new divet in the nape of his neck, either.

"Five," said a voice from the shadows.

Izzy Eugene Xavier, a scientist/technician, was attacked shortly after Herbie was. Izzy had been working many long hours, working on a laser-based projects. Today, he had encountered a frustrating problem with it that he had to spend hours sorting out. He was much too tired and unaware that it was child's play for this man-sized wasp to put him into unconsciousness. He awoke with his wife doting on him. He did not realize that he had been attacked, or the small divet in the nape of the neck.

"Six," counted the voice.

Cade Light, a musician, was attacked shortly after Britney was. He had garnered a modicum of fame with his music (which GH happened to despise, the musical connoisseur he was), but had a reputation of being horrible to work with. Despite this, he had a fair share groupies and hangers-on (something that irritated GH to no end). He was walking away from a concert after having a bit of a temper tantrum at the amount of fans in attendance did not match his expectations. That is when he was attacked, and then woke up, having been rescued by a devoted groupie.

"Seven."

Diane Goodson, a heiress, was attacked shortly after Josh was. She was completely unaccustomed to doing anything for herself. She always had everyone else doing everything for her. She allowed herself to be wild and promiscuous, on her father's dime. She had everything that she could ever want, and, because of it, she was spoiled and unkind, especially if she had been drinking. She was always so complacent about her safety, that she took needless risks. And she was in the midst of such when she was attacked, and recovered by her harried attendants.

"Eight."

Donnie Leonardson, a petty criminal, was attacked shortly after Cade was. He had just stolen someone's money. He didn't know this person, but he needed the money. He was down on his luck, and desperate. He would have never took her money if he had a better alternative. He hadn't any choice. He had to do this or else he was going to lose everything . . . he had no choice. He was left without any other option. He already worked as hard as he could, and that woman held her purse -- a Gucci purse, he guessed -- loosely on her arm. The situation had presented itself, the opportunity had been revealed. He took it. It was then that he was attacked, and awoke in a jail cell.

"Nine."

Scott Robots, a serial killer, was attacked shortly after Sean was. He was devoid of empathy and compassion, though he could emulate such things with an Oscar-level actor's acclaim. Sufficient to fool anyone without Earthsight or a lie-detecting superpower. Scott enjoyed killing other people. The paleness of their faces, the rush of snuffing out the spark of life, the reveal of who they really are . . . he loved to savor all the little emotions in the act. And he always managed to get away with it, because he always took proper precautions. But he, himself, was attacked when he was in the process of killing a black man, with the intention of making it look like a hate crime. He awoke in prison -- finally caught in the act. He held no memory of being attacked or how he got this divet in the nape of his neck.

"Ten"

Rod Murray, a misogynist, was attacked shortly after Diane was. He was just leaving a bar after having a fight with another patron over his distaste for a woman being in a position of power over a man, claiming that they "belong in the kitchen, making my supper". The other patron, a more egalitarian sort, took issue with this statement, standing up for this woman, and Roger made his immediate disdain for the man known. the argument heated up to the point, where Rod's bull**** arguments were clearly not hitting home like he intended, so he resorted to violence. Fortunately, the fight was broken up before anyone was seriously injured, and, as the instigator and obviously inebriated, Rod was thrown out. It was at this point he was attacked and woke up in a drunk tank, in police custody.

"Eleven."

Lee Anderson, a murderer, was attacked shortly after Izzy was. He was a crazed hermit, who was very overprotective of his property. He would shoot and kill any he saw as trespassers. And he saw everyone as trespassers. He grew his own food and did not leave his property for any reason. He even hid the bodies of those he fatally shot. Rumor was he dissected them for means only know to him. He was out patrolling his small patch of property when he was attacked. When he awoke, he was in the same spot he was attacked. No one rescued him, and he didn't care.

"Twelve."

Vince Greene, a megalomaniac, was attacked shortly after Donnie was. He was a very ambitious man who estranged himself from both his parents and younger brother -- his father for his lack of ambition, his mother for her flightiness, untidiness, and brutish exterior, and his brother for his own ineptitudes and ones Vince transferred from himself. Vince always pretended to be bigger and more important than what he actually was. He started as a lowly intern at a government firm, but quickly rose to powerful positions through a mixture of his own work and taking the credit of others. He had left his office, feeling smug, when he was attacked. He awoke to find that no one bothered to come to his rescue, showing just how disliked he was as a person, and how much umbridge he caused.

"That should be enough," Malice said, reigning in the still pregnant beast that she hauled over from Hyvect. It was near extinction there. "Your usefulness has ended, hominiparasitoid wasp. You're now a liability."

She killed it without a second thought, and used her Realm Walker corona to destroy it and any evidence of it -- except for the thirteen eggs it laid. . . . .

[Cloak]

New chapter.

CHAPTER FOUR:
Ignorant Incubation

All of the thirteen people playing host to the hominiparasitoid wasp went back to life as normal, enjoying the petering out summer. While they went about this, the RAFians were dealing with the whole puppet and Whimsy-Mimsy thing. They seemed to be perfectly fine.

Wesley, Britney, Herbie, and Josh continued to hang out, none noticing the divets in the napes of their necks, where the hominiparasitoid wasp had inserted its ovipositor to lay its ball bearing-sized egg into each of the four. At first, they did not seem to suffer any ill effects.

Sean was preparing to audition for a supporting role in a play that there was rumors that this play was good enough to head towards Broadway. So, it was with great trepidation and anxiety that he looked toward this audition.

Vince was angling for a new position, considering running for governor. From there, he would be able to, in his view, run for the Senate or the House. Or maybe even be a running mate in the next presidential run, or be the one having the presidential run. That would be his ultimate goal -- the highest position of power in the land. President Greene -- he liked it. He really did.

Izzy was still trying to perfect his laser array just so so that it would benefit the project. But it was being stubborn. Frustratingly so. He sighed, as he wondered if this whole project would have brought him to the brink of insanity. But, nevertheless, he had to press on. Science waited for no man, he supposed.

Lee was still protecting his land obsessively. He was immensely territorial about his homestead, and he was willing to kill to force them to leave his property. He didn't care about the law, except the one at the end of the barrel of his shotgun. He was unabashed about even slaying police officers that got onto his property without his permission. And he never gave permission.

Cade continued to play, play songs that GH found absolutely grating. Cade was working on an album -- to GH's irritation -- without any ill effects from his attack. And he was also planning a tour to promote this album after its release. He would hit all the major cities, and sang the songs with a warbling voice that made GH's ears bleed.

Rod continued his womanizing, misogynistic ways, despite this attack. Why he thought that any woman would want to be with him -- with him with him -- with such attitudes was a just a testament to the huge amount of ignorance he had toward the other gender. He continued to believe that he was god's gift to women, despite treating them as lesser beings.

Diane was busy . . . shopping. She rarely did anything else, except act like a complete and utter diva. Any friendships she struck up were either . . . tenuous, or just people who wanted to be in her entourage for the money and nothing else. She had yet to learn how fleeting this type of materialism was. And, sadly, she never would.

Scott was sitting, sipping some coffee with a needlessly complex multi-syllable name. He was scanning the crowd of mall-goers today, in a very discrete, very practiced manner of an accomplished murderer. He thought himself like a lion on the hunt (clearly not knowing that it was the lionesses that did the hunting).

Donnie was still waiting to be arraigned. He was hugging himself and shaking. He was going to get the book thrown at him, he knew it. He was screwed, he knew, as he fretted about his fate. They will send him to . . . that prison. He heard of that extrajudicial prison. The prison where the prisoners are nothing more than lab rats. Lab rats to be experimented on, as if they were less than human? It was run by an agency . . . what did they call themselves? He thought it started with a "C"? Cat musk? Nah. That's stupid. . . .

But then, all thirteen felt an odd numbness as their extremities began to twitch involuntarily. . . .