http://browse.deviantart.com/?order=15&q=free+christmas+tree deviantART RSS for boost:popular max_age:744h free christmas tree en-us Copyright 2013, deviantART.com Thu, 23 May 2013 17:19:39 PDT deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://st.deviantart.net/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://lady-valentine-art.deviantart.com/art/Sparkly-Coloured-Christmas-Trees-Png-Pack-367751680 http://lady-valentine-art.deviantart.com/art/Sparkly-Coloured-Christmas-Trees-Png-Pack-367751680 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:54:28 PDT Sparkly Coloured Christmas Trees (Png Pack) nonadult resources/clipart Lady-Valentine-Art http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/l/a/lady-valentine-art.gif?4 Copyright 2013 =Lady-Valentine-Art
2)Please Link Back To Me If You Have Used My Stock So That I Can Fave Your Work.

3)My Stock Maybe Used Off Of Deviant Art But Please Let Me Know First I Do Not Bite And Usually Allow It.

4)My Stock Must NEVER be used for any Kind of Abusive/Cruelty type of Art.

5)Stamp Bases You may use them for anything really as long as it does Not offend anyone.
You may of course have them on your Deviant Art Page that includes ones I have made that you may like to put on your page.

6)All My stocks Are Free I NEVER charge anything for them just simply download and use.

7)I DO NOT Take Requests when it comes to Stock because I am after all a newbie to making and creating stock.

8)You May use my stock for Creating Journal Skins/Premade Backgrounds/Wallpapers/Stamps/CSS Gallery Covers/
Facebook Timeline Covers/Youtube Skins/Winamp Skins/Templates/Photomanipulation/Drawings/Fractals/Avatars.

9)Prints Are Allowed If you Use my stock In Your Work.

10)My Modeling Photos are NOT stock.

11)Last Of All Have Fun And Be Creative.

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Created On

Photo Collage Maker/Photo Impact X3. ]]>
2)Please Link Back To Me If You Have Used My Stock So That I Can Fave Your Work.

3)My Stock Maybe Used Off Of Deviant Art But Please Let Me Know First I Do Not Bite And Usually Allow It.

4)My Stock Must NEVER be used for any Kind of Abusive/Cruelty type of Art.

5)Stamp Bases You may use them for anything really as long as it does Not offend anyone.
You may of course have them on your Deviant Art Page that includes ones I have made that you may like to put on your page.

6)All My stocks Are Free I NEVER charge anything for them just simply download and use.

7)I DO NOT Take Requests when it comes to Stock because I am after all a newbie to making and creating stock.

8)You May use my stock for Creating Journal Skins/Premade Backgrounds/Wallpapers/Stamps/CSS Gallery Covers/
Facebook Timeline Covers/Youtube Skins/Winamp Skins/Templates/Photomanipulation/Drawings/Fractals/Avatars.

9)Prints Are Allowed If you Use my stock In Your Work.

10)My Modeling Photos are NOT stock.

11)Last Of All Have Fun And Be Creative.

**********************************************

Created On

Photo Collage Maker/Photo Impact X3.

]]> http://kitsunekage13.deviantart.com/art/Monochromatic-Evergreen-Trees-373167246 http://kitsunekage13.deviantart.com/art/Monochromatic-Evergreen-Trees-373167246 Wed, 22 May 2013 10:53:46 PDT Monochromatic Evergreen Trees nonadult traditional/drawings/landscapes KitsuneKage13 http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/k/i/kitsunekage13.jpg?7 Copyright 2013 ~KitsuneKage13 Anyway, it was an experimental piece; I wanted to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and see if I could not only create a semi-realistic landscape, but also do so without any preliminary pencil sketching or inked outlines.

Dimensions: 12"x9"

Drawn with:
- Copic Ciao Markers

P.S. If anyone is interested in purchasing the original copy, feel free to send me an offer - I'm open for negotiation in price, but hoping for at least $35.00 USD (plus shipping), however $50.00+ would be ideal: GraphicDesignsByJenelle@hotmail.com ]]> Anyway, it was an experimental piece; I wanted to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and see if I could not only create a semi-realistic landscape, but also do so without any preliminary pencil sketching or inked outlines.

Dimensions: 12"x9"

Drawn with:
- Copic Ciao Markers

P.S. If anyone is interested in purchasing the original copy, feel free to send me an offer - I'm open for negotiation in price, but hoping for at least $35.00 USD (plus shipping), however $50.00+ would be ideal: GraphicDesignsByJenelle@hotmail.com

]]> http://rhinehartd.deviantart.com/art/Jill-Rhodes-Part-2-Chapter-3-372848737 http://rhinehartd.deviantart.com/art/Jill-Rhodes-Part-2-Chapter-3-372848737 Mon, 20 May 2013 16:56:44 PDT Jill Rhodes Part 2 Chapter 3 nonadult traditional/drawings/portraits Rhinehartd http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/r/h/rhinehartd.jpg?1 Copyright 2013 ~Rhinehartd
As she massaged various varieties of facial products onto her already immaculate skin, she turned to her room to glance at the dress she was going to wear tonight. She had it neatly laid out on the small couch next to her bed, an expensive designer dress that her mother bought her on her last birthday. She didn’t quite like it. She remembered feeling like an arrogant little princess trying to show up the Americans when she wore it to last year’s prom. Then her mother threw away her cherished, simpler dresses, and now she didn’t have much of a choice. She rinsed her face and shuffled back into her room, walking outside in careful, measured steps, so as to not wake anyone up. She approached the sliding door to the balcony and slowly opened it. Her body was immediately blanketed in warmth as the sounds of distant traffic and brooms sweeping concrete floors greeted her. The balcony was small, but large enough for one person to move about comfortably.
Stepping outside, she slid the door shut and turned to her easel, which had a large cloth draped over it. Pulling the cloth off revealed a large half-finished painting of an ocean. It was simple in its content, but Kee Yoon had spent an enormous amount of time making sure that each wave and undulation in the water was perfect, with just the right amounts of color and sharpness given democratically to every inch of water. Though Kee worked with a variety of media, her mother refused to allow anything beyond her pencil work to be done inside the apartment. Kee was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of working in plain sight of everyone inside and outside the apartment, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. She gently felt the dried acrylic with the back of her hand, gazing longingly at her depiction of a seemingly endless sea, held back only by the horizon. She turned away from her painting to face the massive apartment building that sat uncomfortably close to her balcony, and sighed in resignation. She leaned over the edge, seeing someone sweeping the ground floor below. In the distance, where the building met the road, she gazed at her favorite bagel shop that her mother would sometimes bring lunch home from.

“Something wrong, babe?” Linton snapped out of the deepness of his thoughts as Tara’s gentle voice pierced the veil. He stirred slightly and remembered where he was: that nice little bagel place she loved so much. She told him last Wednesday that today would be a warm day, so it would be perfect to spend the whole day together before topping it all off with a night at Neo-So.
“Naw, I’m alright. I’m cool.”
“You suuuure?” Tara tilted her head and smiled at him, sipping her coffee at the same time.
“I told you, I’m cool, Jesus,” Linton snapped as he realized he had been sitting with the sun in his face the whole time. He quickly shifted his chair into a shaded spot.
“Sorry,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows and cursed himself inside.
“No, it’s alright babe. I was just thinking about stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Nothing important, really. Let’s just like try and enjoy the day, you know?”
Before Tara could reply, she heard the server call her name behind her.
“I got it,” Linton said as he stood up to get both of their orders. Leaning against the counter, Linton waited as the server plated their egg and ham bagels onto the tray. He turned his head to look at Tara, whose back was facing him. Her skin was a perfect light beige hue and her blonde hair seemed to practically reflect the rays of the sun. She was one of the hottest girls at school, and she was his. It almost felt like cheating, the way she fell for him so easily during their sophomore year. And the best part? She seemed to think he was Portsdown High’s Brad Pitt, and no matter what he did and who he fucked, it was as if some part in her head refused to believe or comprehend any of it. Maybe Tara really had no clue, but it wasn’t a big secret around school. Since they became an item two years ago, Linton had bagged the other hotties in school. There was Michelle, Jennifer T, Audrey, and that smoking hot Egyptian chick Talia. And he was still with Tara, who was, by the way, on track to become prom queen. There was only one girl at Portsdown High that still occupied his target list, and things were starting to get weird with her. A small part of Linton was terrified of what she might look like tonight.
As he carried the tray over to their table, Tara turned and gave Linton the sweetest smile ever. All of a sudden, a pang of guilt hit him like a train. He felt like a little pussy for feeling that way. He wished he could kill those feelings right away and man the fuck up dude, but it didn’t change the fact that that one smile made him feel like crap for everything he’d done behind her back, if only for a few seconds. Linton summoned everything inside of him to squash the emotional pest within him and sat down, placing the tray on the table.
Tara delicately lifted the top half of her bagel and evenly divided the egg and ham filling between the two halves. She then cut each half into segments and ate them one by one. Then she looked up and saw Linton chomping on his bagel like it was a donut, and burst out laughing, much to her boyfriend’s confusion. It was the small things that she loved the most with Linton. The way he seemed oblivious to his unsubtle ways. The way his inner child would creep forth from his manly exterior when faced with her pet cat, Tulip. The bigger things about him weren’t too shabby, either. He did get kind of annoying when he put on his jock face, but Tara knew that it was just him maintaining the right image in front of his football peers. Still, she wasn’t too thrilled that Adrian was tagging along for tonight for that precise reason, but at least she had all of the morning to spend with the real Linton.
They drove down to Manhattan Beach instead of the usual Santa Monica Pier, which Tara had grown bored of. As they walked down the sloping path towards the boardwalk, he bought her an ice cream cookie sandwich at the local creamery. He knew that she was cautious about her weight, but he also knew she was deeply in love with him.
The sun went down over Los Angeles, and as the hour grew late, the 405 and 110 freeways slowly lit up like Christmas trees with only red and white lights, depending on which side you were looking at them from. In the heart of that hive of scum and treachery known as Hollywood, LA’s hottest new nightclub, Neo-So, opened its steel plate doors to the masses. Hundreds of eager night clubbers, all dressed like it was the party of a lifetime, formed a line that snaked all the way down the street and round the corner. Thumping bass pulsed from within the building, clearly audible to all the unbearably excited clubbers outside.
“Oh thank God!” Jill exclaimed as she saw a car pull out of the metered parking spot in front of her. As soon as the car completely vacated the spot, she swiftly slid into it, pulling the best piece of parallel parking, saving her from the outrageous $20 parking lots that punctuated the Sunset strip. Jill stepped out of her car, and almost immediately attracted several stares from other clubbers heading for Neo-So. She felt confident and powerful, having worked her body in the gym every day since Tuesday till today. Dressed in a sexy halter top and skirt, the realization of the changes in her body really hit her as she felt herself surrounded by the sounds of the Los Angeles night life. She walked a short distance towards Neo So, and it didn’t take long for her to recognize Adrian, Tara and Linton standing on the street corner, waiting for her. She waved at them as she crossed the street.
As she got closer, she noted the distinct looks on each of their faces as they saw her approaching. Linton’s was a sort of brooding worry. Tara’s was one of total shock. Adrian’s typical confident look didn’t break. Boy was that guy a tough one to crack.
“Wow, Jill!” Tara exclaimed as her boyfriend looked on, his face seemingly unable to decide if it should looked worried or confident. Maybe it was just that her attire created optical illusions to bring out all the right qualities, but Jill seemed more muscular than when he last ran into her a few days ago. In fact, it was totally unmistakable now: she was buff. As she walked up to Tara, Linton noticed how much broader Jill shoulders were compared to his girlfriend’s. Her abs were also bold and visible in spite of the dimly lit sidewalk they stood on. And Jesus her arms and shoulders were fucking toned. It didn’t make sense. She must have been on the juice. There’s just no way.
“Hi guys! What’s up?” Jill said, her voice still as girlish and feminine as it always was. Okay, so if she wasn’t on the juice, was it really the amazing genetics? The possibilities ran through Linton’s mind so quickly that it nearly stunned him.
“Jill, I mean, wow, you look amazing,” Tara said.
“Thanks girl. Linton, lost for words?”
“Pfft, in your dreams,” he replied, smiling coyly, “Let’s get in line before it gets too long.”
The four of them joined the tail end of the line, which by this point was so far from the club that the music coming from inside was barely audible. Linton sighed, “Shit, getting here early didn’t do shit for us.”
“Say, where’s Rhonda?” Tara asked.
“Oh she had some crap at work she had to do, late night shift.”
“Aw, poor girl,” cooed Tara.
“So what’s going on, Jill?” Adrian interjected, “If you’re not on the ‘roids, there’s got to be something else to it, right? I mean-“
“Ugh, she’s genetically gifted, remember?” Tara scoffed.
“Yeah but-“
“There are a few women who can build muscle like guys, you’re looking at one of them!” Tara said, gesturing to Jill grandiosely. Jill gave a cheesy smile and flexed her bicep.
“Not even guys can build muscle the way you do, Jill. Really, what’s going on?” Adrian said, unfazed, his arms folded. Jill gave him an increasingly hostile glare. His prodding was not welcome.
“Adrian, can you just leave the interrogation for later?” Tara said. Linton, who was looking on silently, couldn’t tell if she was crossing over into being dead serious or not.
“Later? Look at the line, we’re gonna be here forever!” said Adrian.
As if on cue, a tough looking bouncer appeared before the group. He certainly looked the part, being bald, dressed in a black suit, and wearing one of those cool ear pieces with a telephone wire coming out the back.
“What’s up, what’s up you lot,” the bouncer said in a striking English twang, “Is it just the four of you?”
There was a moment of surprise, but Adrian, collected as always, replied “Yes.”
“Come on,” the bouncer said as he gestured for them to abandon the line. Tara turned to Linton and smiled excitedly.
“This is awesome!” she squealed as the four of them streamed past dozens of hapless clubbers who could only look on enviously. Jill was used to being “expressed” into clubs with her friends on the grounds of their sheer good looks; I mean you’re talking about two football hunks and two blonde girls, but this was still the shortest amount of time she’d had to wait to get inside any club, let alone the one that everyone’s been talking about for the past few weeks. Maybe the bouncer liked her muscles.
The music got louder and louder as their express lane to good times got them closer to Neo-So. The club had a minimalist post modern look, and it was clear that someone had put in a lot of money and love into building it. Inside, a complex array of lights bathed Neo-So in artistic, deliberate shades that alternated slowly between harsh primary colors and more muted ones. The whole place looked very artsy and very cyberpunk. Though DJ Tentalon wasn’t due for another hour, the DJ they had on was spinning some mean beats on his turntables, and Tara didn’t waste any time joining the dance floor while dragging Linton along with her. That left Adrian and Jill standing next to each other awkwardly.
“I can’t dance to this crap! I’m getting a drink!” Adrian shouted to Jill over the music.
“I’ll go with you!” Jill replied. The two of them headed for the bar, and as they did so Jill attracted stare after stare from both guys and girls in the club. Of course, she always did attract stares when she went clubbing, but it was obvious that these stares were a different kind. She liked the change, and it made her body feel more powerful. She loved the way her sleeveless turtleneck showed off her bigger arms and shoulders, which she spent most of the past few days working out. A wave of euphoria washed over her and she smiled to herself.
The bar was in a separate room from the dance floor, and was thus a little quieter, although Jill could still feel the pulse of the music in her chest. Adrian got a Red Bull and Vodka, Jill got a Rum and Coke. They found a booth and sat across one another.
“Looks like you’re already getting some attention,” Adrian said, glancing at a booth adjacent to them with two guys and girls, all staring at Jill.
“I quite like it, to be honest,” Jill said. In spite of the complex relationship between her and Adrian, she always did feel that she could be more upfront with him than anyone else. Perhaps it’s the way he made it seem like he already knew everything, and therefore there was no fear that he would respond in a bad way to anything.
“Is that so?” Adrian said, sipping his drink.
“Yeah,” Jill said, pausing to think. The music was helpful in filling the gap where an awkward silence would be in any other situation, “I used to think that having muscles was like a bit gross, but they’re not gross, they’re powerful.”
“Alright, so now you can tell me what your secret is. It isn’t ‘roids, that much is clear to me, otherwise your voice would be an octave lower by now and your jaw line would be getting all angular. So?” Adrian said, leaning closer to Jill. She simply sat back and smiled cunningly at him, holding her drink to her lips.
“I’m a biological miracle, Adrian.”
He laughed and leaned back. Of course she wasn’t going to tell him, “I figured you’d say something like that. Don’t worry, I’ll find out,” He took another gulp of his drink, “You know, Linton’s getting jealous of you.”
“Oh yeah?” Jill said, raising her eyebrow and smiling wryly.
“Jealous, scared shitless, I don’t know which one. He doesn’t want to admit it of course, but I can tell.”
This time it was Jill’s turn to learn towards Adrian, “How do you know? What does he say?”
Adrian took another sip, “I see him in the locker room after practice checking himself out. Admiring his biceps and shit. He never does that. Never. And the look on his face when he’s doing that, it’s like he thinks you’re using voodoo magic or something, draining the muscles from him.”
She laughed triumphantly, “I don’t know if I told you this before, but he was a pretty skinny kid back in sixth grade. But when he started getting all into like football, that’s, you know, when he started…”
“Gotcha.”
“…to build himself into, like, modern Linton.”
“Man. This whole thing sounds kinda tragic when you put it that way!” Adrian said, and they both laughed. In that moment, there was a brief moment of understanding between the two. As their laughter died down, they found themselves gazing into one another’s eyes wordlessly.
“There you guys are!” cried Tara as her and Linton approached the booth. Linton sat next to Adrian and Tara next to Jill, “Ah, I love this place. Love it. Tentalon should be in a few minutes! What’ve you guys been talking about?”
“Current affairs!” Adrian quipped as he eyed Linton.
“Dude, you sound like how my brother talks to my parents,” Linton said, laughing, “Where did you go? Out! What did you eat? Food!”
“The lights here are amazing. Jill, you gotta come dance with me. The lights are too amazing.” Tara said as she grabbed Jill’s wrist and dragged her along towards the dance floor. Jill gave Adrian an “Oh well” sort of look as they rose from their seats, and the two guys followed them out as well.
There was a loud cheer as DJ Tentalon began his set, and the music became noticeably louder and the lights flashed more dramatically, alternating between staccato strobe lights and deep colors that probed the sea of dancers like an army of searchlights standing sentinel around the dance floor. As arpeggiated sequencers looped over and over to an earth-shaking programmed drum beat and blasts of overdriven sawtooth and square synthesizers, Jill and Tara gyrated their bodies wildly in ecstasy while Linton dry humped his girlfriend and Adrian simply bobbed his head, drink in hand. Although Jill was a regular clubber, her new muscles made her feel sexier and assertive on the dance floor, as if the whole place was dancing to her, not the other way around. As the song wore on, she stopped feeling the music. She did not feel enveloped in the beat, because she felt as if every swing of her hips, every thrust of her toned, muscular arms and every bend of her knees was making the music happen. For a brief moment, Jill was certain that the music was feeling her.
The experience was cut short when Tara patted Jill on the arm, snapping her out of her trance. Jill opened her eyes and saw that her friend was sweating like a pig. Her hair had lost its shape as it cling to her face from all the sweat. She signaled that she needed to take a breather and Jill understood. Together with Linton and Adrian, they slowly made their way through the crush of the crowd back to their booth near the bar.
Concealed in one of the few unlit sections of the club, Kee Yoon watched vicariously as Jill and her friends made their way back to the bar and slowly followed them. She was careful not to bump into anyone, as if she were walking in the middle of the wrong side of a freeway. She had a drink in her hand, something she realized would help her blend in, although it was just water.
Kee found a nice, dark spot close to the bar counter and simply watched Jill sitting at the booth, talking excitedly to her friends. She took the occasional sip of her water, a paltry attempt to not appear out of place, but with the way she clutched her arm with her free hand and stood with both legs pressed together, she knew it wasn’t working.
“Need some company?” said a voice to her left. Kee Yoon let out a high pitched yelp and jumped as she turned to face the young man that was now standing next to her, “Whoa, easy there. Ha! I don’t bite,” the man said. Kee Yoon scrutinized him. He looked to be in his late twenties or thirties, and she didn’t like how his shirt was unbuttoned all the way down to his chest, “You look a little lonely there. Need some company?”
Kee Yoon quickly shook her head and smiled nervously at the man. She held up her drink at him to try and imply that she was busy enjoying her drink, but she realized a second later how that made no sense.
“Yeah, I know the drinks here are a fuckin’ rip off. Mind if I buy you one?” said the man, leaning uncomfortably close to Kee. She winced as her nose was blasted by the putrid mixture of alcohol and bad breath emanating from his mouth.
Kee took a step back and held her hand up, “Oh no no,” she said meekly.
“Come on, you’re a pretty lady. I love your dress. Lemme get you a drink and we can sit down somewhere,”
Kee Yoon kept backing away and when her back hit the wall, she realized her formerly tactical decision to watch Jill from the darkest, unseen part of the club was now a huge mistake. The man kept approaching her.
“You scared? Cute Asian girl like you, you don’t need to be scared! Come on, I’ll take good care of you.”

Jill grabbed a paper towel from inside her purse and wiped the sweat from her face. Of course, Tara was a total mess compared to her.
“Jesus, you’re like sweating puddles!” Linton remarked as he put his arm around her. Tara smiled as she toweled her face off and kissed him on the cheek.
Amidst the jovial banter, Jill took a sip of her drink and as she peered above the rim of her glass, she saw two figures in a dark corner by the bar. Instinctively, she realized that the body language of both figures wasn’t quite right. She lowered her glass and leaned forward to get a better look. Tara and Linton took note and followed her gaze.
No, it couldn’t be. Was it really that girl again? That weird Korean girl that kept following her around? Jill recognized the scene immediately as the intoxicated man was practically about to pin Kee Yoon to the wall.
“Aw shit, someone’s about to get raped!” Linton guffawed. Tara snapped around and gave her boyfriend an indignant look, “What? We’re in a crowded place, someone’s probably gonna-“
Jill got off her seat and marched towards the scene between the two figures. With her fists clenched she could hear the creepy dude’s ominous words to a petrified Kee Yoon as she got closer and closer to them.
“Look, come on, there’s no need to be scared, I just don’t want you to be lonely ya know?”
“Hey!” Jill shouted. The man turned around. Standing before him was one seriously hot chick dressed to kill. But wait a minute, this girl was fit as hell. She had her fists clenched, which made her arm muscles bulge visibly. The man stared at Jill for a moment, confused by this combination of sheer beauty and muscular strength. He looked back at Kee Yoon, who looked even more terrified of Jill than of him, then looked back at Jill, who was giving him a death stare. Maybe he shouldn’t have had so much to drink. He slowly slinked away from Kee Yoon and without saying another word, walked past Jill out of the bar room, looking confusingly into her stern eyes as he passed by her.
Kee Yoon, still backed into the wall, looked straight into Jill’s eyes for a microsecond before staring at the floor, thoroughly embarrassed. As Kee continued to stare at the floor without moving, Jill looked at her for a moment, and without exchanging words, turned around and walked back to her table.
“Nice going Jill! Awesome!” Tara said as she and Adrian clapped, “Is it just me or have I seen her at school?”
“Yeahp, she goes to school with us,” Jill said as she sat down and finished her drink.
“Well I am proud of you, girl,” Tara said, patting Jill’s bulging shoulder.
“Yeah. That was actually impressive, the way that dude fucked off like that. Looks like those muscles of yours have some practical application,” Adrian said. Jill could tell that he wasn’t being sarcastic for once.
“Pfft, ‘practical application’? Who says that, dude?” said Linton, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened. He gulped down his drink and then gestured for Tara to scoot out of the way, “I gotta hit the john.”
“Me too, actually, I need more paper towels,” Tara said, “And seriously, awesome job, Jill. You rock.”
With Jill and Adrian once again left alone, they bantered for a while before Adrian felt something in his thigh and whipped out his smart phone to check the text message he received. As he typed away, Jill sat back in her seat and smiled to herself. She looked down at her arm and admired the power that coursed within her. She clenched her fist and watched her bicep rise out of her arm, this time far more pronounced and bulging harder than it used to when she first hit the weights last week. Adrian, Linton, Tara, Kee Yoon, the club and everything else in life momentarily seemed to become a distraction as she felt another wave of euphoria wash over her. It was an amazing feeling that she wanted, needed more of. ]]>
As she massaged various varieties of facial products onto her already immaculate skin, she turned to her room to glance at the dress she was going to wear tonight. She had it neatly laid out on the small couch next to her bed, an expensive designer dress that her mother bought her on her last birthday. She didn’t quite like it. She remembered feeling like an arrogant little princess trying to show up the Americans when she wore it to last year’s prom. Then her mother threw away her cherished, simpler dresses, and now she didn’t have much of a choice. She rinsed her face and shuffled back into her room, walking outside in careful, measured steps, so as to not wake anyone up. She approached the sliding door to the balcony and slowly opened it. Her body was immediately blanketed in warmth as the sounds of distant traffic and brooms sweeping concrete floors greeted her. The balcony was small, but large enough for one person to move about comfortably.
Stepping outside, she slid the door shut and turned to her easel, which had a large cloth draped over it. Pulling the cloth off revealed a large half-finished painting of an ocean. It was simple in its content, but Kee Yoon had spent an enormous amount of time making sure that each wave and undulation in the water was perfect, with just the right amounts of color and sharpness given democratically to every inch of water. Though Kee worked with a variety of media, her mother refused to allow anything beyond her pencil work to be done inside the apartment. Kee was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of working in plain sight of everyone inside and outside the apartment, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. She gently felt the dried acrylic with the back of her hand, gazing longingly at her depiction of a seemingly endless sea, held back only by the horizon. She turned away from her painting to face the massive apartment building that sat uncomfortably close to her balcony, and sighed in resignation. She leaned over the edge, seeing someone sweeping the ground floor below. In the distance, where the building met the road, she gazed at her favorite bagel shop that her mother would sometimes bring lunch home from.

“Something wrong, babe?” Linton snapped out of the deepness of his thoughts as Tara’s gentle voice pierced the veil. He stirred slightly and remembered where he was: that nice little bagel place she loved so much. She told him last Wednesday that today would be a warm day, so it would be perfect to spend the whole day together before topping it all off with a night at Neo-So.
“Naw, I’m alright. I’m cool.”
“You suuuure?” Tara tilted her head and smiled at him, sipping her coffee at the same time.
“I told you, I’m cool, Jesus,” Linton snapped as he realized he had been sitting with the sun in his face the whole time. He quickly shifted his chair into a shaded spot.
“Sorry,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows and cursed himself inside.
“No, it’s alright babe. I was just thinking about stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Nothing important, really. Let’s just like try and enjoy the day, you know?”
Before Tara could reply, she heard the server call her name behind her.
“I got it,” Linton said as he stood up to get both of their orders. Leaning against the counter, Linton waited as the server plated their egg and ham bagels onto the tray. He turned his head to look at Tara, whose back was facing him. Her skin was a perfect light beige hue and her blonde hair seemed to practically reflect the rays of the sun. She was one of the hottest girls at school, and she was his. It almost felt like cheating, the way she fell for him so easily during their sophomore year. And the best part? She seemed to think he was Portsdown High’s Brad Pitt, and no matter what he did and who he fucked, it was as if some part in her head refused to believe or comprehend any of it. Maybe Tara really had no clue, but it wasn’t a big secret around school. Since they became an item two years ago, Linton had bagged the other hotties in school. There was Michelle, Jennifer T, Audrey, and that smoking hot Egyptian chick Talia. And he was still with Tara, who was, by the way, on track to become prom queen. There was only one girl at Portsdown High that still occupied his target list, and things were starting to get weird with her. A small part of Linton was terrified of what she might look like tonight.
As he carried the tray over to their table, Tara turned and gave Linton the sweetest smile ever. All of a sudden, a pang of guilt hit him like a train. He felt like a little pussy for feeling that way. He wished he could kill those feelings right away and man the fuck up dude, but it didn’t change the fact that that one smile made him feel like crap for everything he’d done behind her back, if only for a few seconds. Linton summoned everything inside of him to squash the emotional pest within him and sat down, placing the tray on the table.
Tara delicately lifted the top half of her bagel and evenly divided the egg and ham filling between the two halves. She then cut each half into segments and ate them one by one. Then she looked up and saw Linton chomping on his bagel like it was a donut, and burst out laughing, much to her boyfriend’s confusion. It was the small things that she loved the most with Linton. The way he seemed oblivious to his unsubtle ways. The way his inner child would creep forth from his manly exterior when faced with her pet cat, Tulip. The bigger things about him weren’t too shabby, either. He did get kind of annoying when he put on his jock face, but Tara knew that it was just him maintaining the right image in front of his football peers. Still, she wasn’t too thrilled that Adrian was tagging along for tonight for that precise reason, but at least she had all of the morning to spend with the real Linton.
They drove down to Manhattan Beach instead of the usual Santa Monica Pier, which Tara had grown bored of. As they walked down the sloping path towards the boardwalk, he bought her an ice cream cookie sandwich at the local creamery. He knew that she was cautious about her weight, but he also knew she was deeply in love with him.
The sun went down over Los Angeles, and as the hour grew late, the 405 and 110 freeways slowly lit up like Christmas trees with only red and white lights, depending on which side you were looking at them from. In the heart of that hive of scum and treachery known as Hollywood, LA’s hottest new nightclub, Neo-So, opened its steel plate doors to the masses. Hundreds of eager night clubbers, all dressed like it was the party of a lifetime, formed a line that snaked all the way down the street and round the corner. Thumping bass pulsed from within the building, clearly audible to all the unbearably excited clubbers outside.
“Oh thank God!” Jill exclaimed as she saw a car pull out of the metered parking spot in front of her. As soon as the car completely vacated the spot, she swiftly slid into it, pulling the best piece of parallel parking, saving her from the outrageous $20 parking lots that punctuated the Sunset strip. Jill stepped out of her car, and almost immediately attracted several stares from other clubbers heading for Neo-So. She felt confident and powerful, having worked her body in the gym every day since Tuesday till today. Dressed in a sexy halter top and skirt, the realization of the changes in her body really hit her as she felt herself surrounded by the sounds of the Los Angeles night life. She walked a short distance towards Neo So, and it didn’t take long for her to recognize Adrian, Tara and Linton standing on the street corner, waiting for her. She waved at them as she crossed the street.
As she got closer, she noted the distinct looks on each of their faces as they saw her approaching. Linton’s was a sort of brooding worry. Tara’s was one of total shock. Adrian’s typical confident look didn’t break. Boy was that guy a tough one to crack.
“Wow, Jill!” Tara exclaimed as her boyfriend looked on, his face seemingly unable to decide if it should looked worried or confident. Maybe it was just that her attire created optical illusions to bring out all the right qualities, but Jill seemed more muscular than when he last ran into her a few days ago. In fact, it was totally unmistakable now: she was buff. As she walked up to Tara, Linton noticed how much broader Jill shoulders were compared to his girlfriend’s. Her abs were also bold and visible in spite of the dimly lit sidewalk they stood on. And Jesus her arms and shoulders were fucking toned. It didn’t make sense. She must have been on the juice. There’s just no way.
“Hi guys! What’s up?” Jill said, her voice still as girlish and feminine as it always was. Okay, so if she wasn’t on the juice, was it really the amazing genetics? The possibilities ran through Linton’s mind so quickly that it nearly stunned him.
“Jill, I mean, wow, you look amazing,” Tara said.
“Thanks girl. Linton, lost for words?”
“Pfft, in your dreams,” he replied, smiling coyly, “Let’s get in line before it gets too long.”
The four of them joined the tail end of the line, which by this point was so far from the club that the music coming from inside was barely audible. Linton sighed, “Shit, getting here early didn’t do shit for us.”
“Say, where’s Rhonda?” Tara asked.
“Oh she had some crap at work she had to do, late night shift.”
“Aw, poor girl,” cooed Tara.
“So what’s going on, Jill?” Adrian interjected, “If you’re not on the ‘roids, there’s got to be something else to it, right? I mean-“
“Ugh, she’s genetically gifted, remember?” Tara scoffed.
“Yeah but-“
“There are a few women who can build muscle like guys, you’re looking at one of them!” Tara said, gesturing to Jill grandiosely. Jill gave a cheesy smile and flexed her bicep.
“Not even guys can build muscle the way you do, Jill. Really, what’s going on?” Adrian said, unfazed, his arms folded. Jill gave him an increasingly hostile glare. His prodding was not welcome.
“Adrian, can you just leave the interrogation for later?” Tara said. Linton, who was looking on silently, couldn’t tell if she was crossing over into being dead serious or not.
“Later? Look at the line, we’re gonna be here forever!” said Adrian.
As if on cue, a tough looking bouncer appeared before the group. He certainly looked the part, being bald, dressed in a black suit, and wearing one of those cool ear pieces with a telephone wire coming out the back.
“What’s up, what’s up you lot,” the bouncer said in a striking English twang, “Is it just the four of you?”
There was a moment of surprise, but Adrian, collected as always, replied “Yes.”
“Come on,” the bouncer said as he gestured for them to abandon the line. Tara turned to Linton and smiled excitedly.
“This is awesome!” she squealed as the four of them streamed past dozens of hapless clubbers who could only look on enviously. Jill was used to being “expressed” into clubs with her friends on the grounds of their sheer good looks; I mean you’re talking about two football hunks and two blonde girls, but this was still the shortest amount of time she’d had to wait to get inside any club, let alone the one that everyone’s been talking about for the past few weeks. Maybe the bouncer liked her muscles.
The music got louder and louder as their express lane to good times got them closer to Neo-So. The club had a minimalist post modern look, and it was clear that someone had put in a lot of money and love into building it. Inside, a complex array of lights bathed Neo-So in artistic, deliberate shades that alternated slowly between harsh primary colors and more muted ones. The whole place looked very artsy and very cyberpunk. Though DJ Tentalon wasn’t due for another hour, the DJ they had on was spinning some mean beats on his turntables, and Tara didn’t waste any time joining the dance floor while dragging Linton along with her. That left Adrian and Jill standing next to each other awkwardly.
“I can’t dance to this crap! I’m getting a drink!” Adrian shouted to Jill over the music.
“I’ll go with you!” Jill replied. The two of them headed for the bar, and as they did so Jill attracted stare after stare from both guys and girls in the club. Of course, she always did attract stares when she went clubbing, but it was obvious that these stares were a different kind. She liked the change, and it made her body feel more powerful. She loved the way her sleeveless turtleneck showed off her bigger arms and shoulders, which she spent most of the past few days working out. A wave of euphoria washed over her and she smiled to herself.
The bar was in a separate room from the dance floor, and was thus a little quieter, although Jill could still feel the pulse of the music in her chest. Adrian got a Red Bull and Vodka, Jill got a Rum and Coke. They found a booth and sat across one another.
“Looks like you’re already getting some attention,” Adrian said, glancing at a booth adjacent to them with two guys and girls, all staring at Jill.
“I quite like it, to be honest,” Jill said. In spite of the complex relationship between her and Adrian, she always did feel that she could be more upfront with him than anyone else. Perhaps it’s the way he made it seem like he already knew everything, and therefore there was no fear that he would respond in a bad way to anything.
“Is that so?” Adrian said, sipping his drink.
“Yeah,” Jill said, pausing to think. The music was helpful in filling the gap where an awkward silence would be in any other situation, “I used to think that having muscles was like a bit gross, but they’re not gross, they’re powerful.”
“Alright, so now you can tell me what your secret is. It isn’t ‘roids, that much is clear to me, otherwise your voice would be an octave lower by now and your jaw line would be getting all angular. So?” Adrian said, leaning closer to Jill. She simply sat back and smiled cunningly at him, holding her drink to her lips.
“I’m a biological miracle, Adrian.”
He laughed and leaned back. Of course she wasn’t going to tell him, “I figured you’d say something like that. Don’t worry, I’ll find out,” He took another gulp of his drink, “You know, Linton’s getting jealous of you.”
“Oh yeah?” Jill said, raising her eyebrow and smiling wryly.
“Jealous, scared shitless, I don’t know which one. He doesn’t want to admit it of course, but I can tell.”
This time it was Jill’s turn to learn towards Adrian, “How do you know? What does he say?”
Adrian took another sip, “I see him in the locker room after practice checking himself out. Admiring his biceps and shit. He never does that. Never. And the look on his face when he’s doing that, it’s like he thinks you’re using voodoo magic or something, draining the muscles from him.”
She laughed triumphantly, “I don’t know if I told you this before, but he was a pretty skinny kid back in sixth grade. But when he started getting all into like football, that’s, you know, when he started…”
“Gotcha.”
“…to build himself into, like, modern Linton.”
“Man. This whole thing sounds kinda tragic when you put it that way!” Adrian said, and they both laughed. In that moment, there was a brief moment of understanding between the two. As their laughter died down, they found themselves gazing into one another’s eyes wordlessly.
“There you guys are!” cried Tara as her and Linton approached the booth. Linton sat next to Adrian and Tara next to Jill, “Ah, I love this place. Love it. Tentalon should be in a few minutes! What’ve you guys been talking about?”
“Current affairs!” Adrian quipped as he eyed Linton.
“Dude, you sound like how my brother talks to my parents,” Linton said, laughing, “Where did you go? Out! What did you eat? Food!”
“The lights here are amazing. Jill, you gotta come dance with me. The lights are too amazing.” Tara said as she grabbed Jill’s wrist and dragged her along towards the dance floor. Jill gave Adrian an “Oh well” sort of look as they rose from their seats, and the two guys followed them out as well.
There was a loud cheer as DJ Tentalon began his set, and the music became noticeably louder and the lights flashed more dramatically, alternating between staccato strobe lights and deep colors that probed the sea of dancers like an army of searchlights standing sentinel around the dance floor. As arpeggiated sequencers looped over and over to an earth-shaking programmed drum beat and blasts of overdriven sawtooth and square synthesizers, Jill and Tara gyrated their bodies wildly in ecstasy while Linton dry humped his girlfriend and Adrian simply bobbed his head, drink in hand. Although Jill was a regular clubber, her new muscles made her feel sexier and assertive on the dance floor, as if the whole place was dancing to her, not the other way around. As the song wore on, she stopped feeling the music. She did not feel enveloped in the beat, because she felt as if every swing of her hips, every thrust of her toned, muscular arms and every bend of her knees was making the music happen. For a brief moment, Jill was certain that the music was feeling her.
The experience was cut short when Tara patted Jill on the arm, snapping her out of her trance. Jill opened her eyes and saw that her friend was sweating like a pig. Her hair had lost its shape as it cling to her face from all the sweat. She signaled that she needed to take a breather and Jill understood. Together with Linton and Adrian, they slowly made their way through the crush of the crowd back to their booth near the bar.
Concealed in one of the few unlit sections of the club, Kee Yoon watched vicariously as Jill and her friends made their way back to the bar and slowly followed them. She was careful not to bump into anyone, as if she were walking in the middle of the wrong side of a freeway. She had a drink in her hand, something she realized would help her blend in, although it was just water.
Kee found a nice, dark spot close to the bar counter and simply watched Jill sitting at the booth, talking excitedly to her friends. She took the occasional sip of her water, a paltry attempt to not appear out of place, but with the way she clutched her arm with her free hand and stood with both legs pressed together, she knew it wasn’t working.
“Need some company?” said a voice to her left. Kee Yoon let out a high pitched yelp and jumped as she turned to face the young man that was now standing next to her, “Whoa, easy there. Ha! I don’t bite,” the man said. Kee Yoon scrutinized him. He looked to be in his late twenties or thirties, and she didn’t like how his shirt was unbuttoned all the way down to his chest, “You look a little lonely there. Need some company?”
Kee Yoon quickly shook her head and smiled nervously at the man. She held up her drink at him to try and imply that she was busy enjoying her drink, but she realized a second later how that made no sense.
“Yeah, I know the drinks here are a fuckin’ rip off. Mind if I buy you one?” said the man, leaning uncomfortably close to Kee. She winced as her nose was blasted by the putrid mixture of alcohol and bad breath emanating from his mouth.
Kee took a step back and held her hand up, “Oh no no,” she said meekly.
“Come on, you’re a pretty lady. I love your dress. Lemme get you a drink and we can sit down somewhere,”
Kee Yoon kept backing away and when her back hit the wall, she realized her formerly tactical decision to watch Jill from the darkest, unseen part of the club was now a huge mistake. The man kept approaching her.
“You scared? Cute Asian girl like you, you don’t need to be scared! Come on, I’ll take good care of you.”

Jill grabbed a paper towel from inside her purse and wiped the sweat from her face. Of course, Tara was a total mess compared to her.
“Jesus, you’re like sweating puddles!” Linton remarked as he put his arm around her. Tara smiled as she toweled her face off and kissed him on the cheek.
Amidst the jovial banter, Jill took a sip of her drink and as she peered above the rim of her glass, she saw two figures in a dark corner by the bar. Instinctively, she realized that the body language of both figures wasn’t quite right. She lowered her glass and leaned forward to get a better look. Tara and Linton took note and followed her gaze.
No, it couldn’t be. Was it really that girl again? That weird Korean girl that kept following her around? Jill recognized the scene immediately as the intoxicated man was practically about to pin Kee Yoon to the wall.
“Aw shit, someone’s about to get raped!” Linton guffawed. Tara snapped around and gave her boyfriend an indignant look, “What? We’re in a crowded place, someone’s probably gonna-“
Jill got off her seat and marched towards the scene between the two figures. With her fists clenched she could hear the creepy dude’s ominous words to a petrified Kee Yoon as she got closer and closer to them.
“Look, come on, there’s no need to be scared, I just don’t want you to be lonely ya know?”
“Hey!” Jill shouted. The man turned around. Standing before him was one seriously hot chick dressed to kill. But wait a minute, this girl was fit as hell. She had her fists clenched, which made her arm muscles bulge visibly. The man stared at Jill for a moment, confused by this combination of sheer beauty and muscular strength. He looked back at Kee Yoon, who looked even more terrified of Jill than of him, then looked back at Jill, who was giving him a death stare. Maybe he shouldn’t have had so much to drink. He slowly slinked away from Kee Yoon and without saying another word, walked past Jill out of the bar room, looking confusingly into her stern eyes as he passed by her.
Kee Yoon, still backed into the wall, looked straight into Jill’s eyes for a microsecond before staring at the floor, thoroughly embarrassed. As Kee continued to stare at the floor without moving, Jill looked at her for a moment, and without exchanging words, turned around and walked back to her table.
“Nice going Jill! Awesome!” Tara said as she and Adrian clapped, “Is it just me or have I seen her at school?”
“Yeahp, she goes to school with us,” Jill said as she sat down and finished her drink.
“Well I am proud of you, girl,” Tara said, patting Jill’s bulging shoulder.
“Yeah. That was actually impressive, the way that dude fucked off like that. Looks like those muscles of yours have some practical application,” Adrian said. Jill could tell that he wasn’t being sarcastic for once.
“Pfft, ‘practical application’? Who says that, dude?” said Linton, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened. He gulped down his drink and then gestured for Tara to scoot out of the way, “I gotta hit the john.”
“Me too, actually, I need more paper towels,” Tara said, “And seriously, awesome job, Jill. You rock.”
With Jill and Adrian once again left alone, they bantered for a while before Adrian felt something in his thigh and whipped out his smart phone to check the text message he received. As he typed away, Jill sat back in her seat and smiled to herself. She looked down at her arm and admired the power that coursed within her. She clenched her fist and watched her bicep rise out of her arm, this time far more pronounced and bulging harder than it used to when she first hit the weights last week. Adrian, Linton, Tara, Kee Yoon, the club and everything else in life momentarily seemed to become a distraction as she felt another wave of euphoria wash over her. It was an amazing feeling that she wanted, needed more of.

]]> http://asylumseekerwtf.deviantart.com/art/Comic-29-The-Art-of-Bordom-372021010 http://asylumseekerwtf.deviantart.com/art/Comic-29-The-Art-of-Bordom-372021010 Thu, 16 May 2013 14:12:51 PDT Comic 29: The Art of Bordom nonadult cartoons/digital/comics/strips AsylumSeekerwtf http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/a/s/asylumseekerwtf.jpg?5 Copyright 2013 ~AsylumSeekerwtf The script for this one was written ages ago I mean months and I did re-write the last panel because I think this ending is funnier.
Although I think nearly everyone has done a joke similar to this. ]]> The script for this one was written ages ago I mean months and I did re-write the last panel because I think this ending is funnier.
Although I think nearly everyone has done a joke similar to this.

]]> http://rekalnus.deviantart.com/art/Russty-s-Flying-School-Book-6-Chapter-18-372305954 http://rekalnus.deviantart.com/art/Russty-s-Flying-School-Book-6-Chapter-18-372305954 Sat, 18 May 2013 04:06:12 PDT Russty's Flying School Book 6 - Chapter 18 nonadult digitalart/mixedmed/fantasy Rekalnus http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/r/e/rekalnus.jpg?9 Copyright 2013 *Rekalnus Also Characters Fenbriinah and Krilzeymah

Guest

Guest Also Character Shylah

Guest Also Character Xyn

Guest

Guest

Guest

Guest

Guest Also character Aria

Characters Tyxamous and Ignis belong to

----------------------------------------------------------

The Osprey lifted off then went to full speed, we would be there in just over an hour, the clock was ticking. If we were in a larger craft like a C-17, might have tried to save time by shape shifting inside the plane, but the V-22 was too small for the 2.0 Rex.

We landed back at the field with DM and Tyxamous there by arrangement from my radio call, we hadn’t a moment to waste. Terry picked up Xsyd and Eldon to join the teens for now.

Going into the lab, I asked for a moment alone inside.

There I went down on all fours, recited the calming phrase several times, concentrating...focusing...

The light appeared in my subconscious and spread. Read the ancient mesoAmerican Dragon shape casting rite then visualized the sky seeker version. Wings began to pull outwards as feet changed shape. The tail spade pulled into the tail, which stayed its size, the body began to expand to support and drive the huge wings. A pulling sensation as muscles lengthened plus expanded. The color of teal faded from the scales, replacing with dull Silver, the red markings of the extremities plus the dark gray muzzle that would help guard my eyes at the levels of the upper Stratosphere. The Shift had ended, I called for everyone to come in. DM was perplexed at the change as was Tyx, but hearing my voice began their understanding that I was still in the room with them.

The overhead door was raised, while beginning to don the suit with help from Enerin and Jero, Margh placing then plugging in the helmet, with its fittings. The engines were primed with the fuel tanks filled, Batteries taken off chargers and covers for the powerplants removed. Margh scanned the checklist, telling me to extend the pod arm outwards.

“Extended and locked” I noted.

DM hefted the converted Cruise Missile onto the rail end then clicked the end lock as Margh clicked the center catch, then connected the umbilical cable. Finally, Jero mounted the Goggles as I walked onto the lawn.

“Gentlemen, my thanks, now I need one thing, a bit of a catapulting,” while pointing to the teeter board that we had used earlier in the week teaching the little kids how to start flying. DM and Tyxamous agreed to put the weight on the problem.

“Start ONE!” called Jero as the engines were selected in the headup clicking start-1. The first engine began to spool up to speed. Too loud to speak, Jero raised two claws then circled them over his head, Engine two ignition start and warmup begins.

“Belton tower, High-dog requesting immediate liftoff” I called into the mic. Granted permission returning immediately, so stepped onto the end of the teeter board.

Both engines to max thrust , bent legs to vault position, wings flapping, now rowing up to maximum, I gave the thumbs up. Both Tyxamous with DM on his back dropped from a low 50 foot hover onto the metal plank slamming me upwards as my legs kicked further off its end.

In minutes, was slowly climbing but gaining speed each second, rising at a 70 degree angle.

As the climb continued, below- the field was shrinking into the background, the temperature was dropping. Each rasp of my heavy breathing was filling the cold lung with LO2, soon to be full. I switched on the radars and sensors to allow them to warm up. The boot screen for them showing in my head-up.

“DogHouse, Rex is away at 17:15 hours, how do you read me?”

“Doghouse, we are reading Rex at a continuous five-by-five”

I began to flatten the climb to 45 degrees.

“Doghouse, this is Rex, ready to hand over pod controls to you.”

In the data center a small team of experts are starting data gathering routines, sending them to the pod locked onto my left arm. Inside, gyros are spinning up to speed while lasers start thier mirror adjustments.

“NerdDog (the data center) we have full test and checkout of the pod, control is ours, come to course 045 and maintain speed.” to which I acknowledged.

Getting colder still, the Earth’s curve visible at the horizon, instinctively the nostrils close while closed loop breathing starts. Now mentally chant the calming phrase, sometimes transitioning respiration causes a panic attack, a suffocating or drowning feeling sometimes beginning.

To tell the staff on the data center all is ok, I text them, no talking is possible from here out, they will send voice, but I cannot. Even in this lower layer of space, noone can hear you.

Down below, it was a frenetic search as Vokun with his children were combing roads and trails for what had to be a large truck or maybe two. The civil Air patrol had planes up, could hear the dozens of call signs as I briefly checked the progress. there were Sheriffs along with volunteers cruising the back roads. We figured that such a Dragnet would limit them to some 200 miles from the starting site.

The hunch was Northeast, towards the high country past the Mongollon Rim, the so called “Sky Islands” at their edges. Very desolate, isolated country, few people, but also, few roads, the search simplifying.

Now comes a course change then turning to it, also being told to level out. Still capable of a bit more height but the ruggedness of terrain must be limiting the resolution clarity.

Down below an incredible story is unfolding and has been for hours-

Story from personal Journal - Shylah:

It all happened so fast, the drones circled us while forcing us to go lower, Arakod burned up three of them, but the rest held off then fired over our heads. We landed to keep from them killing us. Only then did we see the dozen vehicles with the net guns.

In seconds we were lying flat, fully encumbered. I hear a snarl as Arakod is approached by a human who first jabs him with a cattle prod, then a injector gun, drugging him, I feel a sting to my side as the day begins to fade away. The last thing I remember was being kicked even though I couldn’t possibly respond.

Hours later, we are awakening in a strange room, I recognize the smell plus the sound, we must be underground, it is like the shelters back at the field. There is a bridle over my face, so I cannot speak, create fire or bite. A hood is over it all, so just hearing with smell is possible. But I can smell them all, Arakod, along with the four children are here.

I also smell humans, there are several here both nearby and further off.

There are chain shackles on my feet and claws, neck and tail also bound plus wings tied together. I hear a chained form thrash now and then.

A short while later, it becomes very quiet, but I smell a human very distinctly, soon I detect a face by me so I go quiet as I hear “I’m a human, but am with you, make no noise as I free you- or we could be executed.”

Quietly my bridle is taken down and the shackles removed, soon I’m completely free as the hood is pulled back.

“My name is Arnold, we may be able to get you escaped, guard the door but be quiet as I free more of your group.” I take up a position by the door as “Arnold” sets everyone else loose.

Arnold hands to us our clothes, saying its very important to wear the flying school or DOG404 shirts.

“Why?” I whispered.

“Because, we had to put them inside steel boxes that were grounded electrically, there are a lot of locating devices sewn into each. When the door to the outside opens, every sensor within 200 miles will see you.” he said.

He opens the door to the hallway, motioning us to follow him. We have explained the need for silence to the young ones.

We reach a door as Arnold says “I cannot go with you, but here is your way out, open and exit quietly, there is an open field outside, crouch low, be ready to duck. Don’t fly until some distance away as there may be sharpshooters out there as night falls.” He hands a rifle to Arakod and offers one to me which I refuse. He nods and bids us a safe escape.

We open the door into the bright sunlight of sunset, beginning to cross the field quietly.

80,000 Feet Overhead:

Rex perspective:

I’m still circling when suddenly- a voice in the control room calls out “There!” as a few voices ask him for readouts. The mirrors in the pod turn and so do some antennas as well, the sensors are scanning a narrower area with more accuracy. A captured Dravicom or maybe a DOG404 or RFS t-shirt, something just appeared.

Really starting to get impatient, we have just moments until sundown. 404 can fight 24/7 but it would be nice to begin the assault in daylight.

I hear a lot of numbers being bantered about inside of the control room, then think, Cmon, guys lets go here, just have a feeling that something bad is happening down there.

“NerdDog to HighDog, Rex, we have their position locked.” My dravicom has the coordinates feed into it.

“This is highDog, permission to jettison pod then approach their base for attack.”

“This is Dog Lead (Firefang) , Rex- we will be there in 15 minutes, but Vokun should be in 12 or so, jettison at your discretion but be aware of our ETA. Until then you are alone.”

Just couldn’t get it out of my mind though, I was needed.

“This is HighDog, Pod Jett’ - Now!” as I powered the pod down, placed it on automatic then pulled the manual release, shooting up several hundred feet, becoming almost a ton lighter. I watched the pod fall then the wings unfolded, next the air intake opened as the tail cap fell off. A spark then turns to an orange flame from the pod tail as the small jet fires up. Soon turning clear the throttle is up full while the craft makes a right banking turn towards Tonopah. Folding the carrier arm back, a look at the fuel gauges shows almost empty.

Pulling the throttles back to 20 percent, I arch my back to begin a dive, All of Northeast Arizona dips up at me while a look over my shoulder shows the moon so large and clear, between my feet.

Next have to trim back the wing tips a bit as my descent is causing a shuddering turbulence. Further, further, camber in a bit.... now dropping smoothly and silently.

The altimeter is unwinding, while the speed is soaring, I trim upwards a bit then shut down the engines,

The sonic boom is right behind me, so when I pull up over their heads in six minutes its going to sound like someone is dropping a freight train on them. Out comes the rifle from its storage box to wrap the sling around my arm and shoulder.

I use the scope to add a bit more power to what the eye delivers, right now, can see the complex below, there is a small runway there with some covered shelters as well as a mounded earth form, looking like a bunker there, still too high to see beings.

A short gasp and cough, and back on Terrestrial air supply now. Still not seeing anyone but starting to pick up vehicles, there is a big tractor trailer there, parked.

Now some shapes appear as I pass 40,000 ft and decelerate a bit, the stratosphere beginning to give way to the troposphere, bouncing around a lot. An Airliner whizzes by on my left, as I’m plunging through the US airspace traffic control without clearance. It really doesn’t matter, the course is ballistic, just another meteor falling up here.

A look now yields figures running about the complex , the place looks like its on alert. Over in a nearby meadow, I see them! There is Arakod, Shylah and the four children trudging through snow, heading away from the place, they are making a run for it!

My heart sinks as I see that on top of the bunker is a wooden platform where there are snipers taking up spots on it, they are pointing their hands at the retreating figures of the six dragons.

I may be too late................

Looking into the reticle, the numbers are falling, in 40 seconds, should open fire with a chance of a hit. My speed is dropping rapidly and the buffeting is growing. 18,000 and dropping, Vokun is now in view barreling over the hills towards the place, some miles behind are the Ospreys, looking right there are F-22’s coming, at about my level, big sonic shock cones behind them.

Still looking below, one big (*********) is there readying a 20mm rifle on a tripod, sighting in.

20 seconds to go as he locks and loads, the rest are still setting up. I try not to think of Shylah and Arakod or the faces of the kids.

.... I may not be able to keep all six alive....

..... He hesitates, maybe the sonic booms of the F22’s are reaching the ground

.... Casts a look sideways, maybe he’s hearing the orders to fire.

.... he turns back and takes a deep breath- this is it, he’ll pull on the hold of his lungs.

Close enough!- FIRING

My magazine empties in 3 seconds, 10 shells in flight, the rifle hardly wandered.

Pushing my legs out to brake, while banking and pulling up, way too many G’s as my view is graying out.

he tenses on the trigger, a hole appears in his body armor back plate, another, Ittttt......

Oh my g..............I forgot...........

Something I’ll never be able to forget.

To die that way.....

I’m almost level now and just a few hundred feet up, The faces of the snipers row turn up as the thunderclap of my descent hits the ground. Placing the rifle sideways ahead of me to guard my face and act as a battering ram.

Feet pulled in , wings wrap up so I’m just a big scaly old Bowling Ball!

The feel of bodies colliding with me, an elbow clubs the end of my muzzle, a hard object-maybe a gun butt hits my chest and my mouth instinctively opens, the air getting knocked out.

Crashing into a snow bank, then coming to rest, the 15 mile fall is over....

Does every teacher have to do this kind of stuff?

Looking around, dazed... there are snipers all over the ground, a few move, most don’t.

Bleeding from my nose, (impact)

Ears, (buffeting)

Eyes and gums (rapid descent and g’s)

Trying to breathe in, coughing out snow, spasms.

My rifle is in 4 or 5 parts, not that it matters, just had one mag to use.

Some of them are getting up, and they are not happy, pistols being pulled, along with knives, now a shotgun too. I put up an arm, a futile gesture but it does cover the view of your last seconds.

A huge thump with a Rawr, Its Vokunkronah !....my arm goes down.

He reaches over gathering the six snipers into a group, while he goes over to a tall tree, watching him walk anthro looks painful but he gets there. In a scene reminiscent of someone decorating a Christmas tree, he picks up the snipers one at a time dropping off their weapons, then hanging them by their jacket collars on the upper tree limbs, watching his thrashing ornaments.

On the Bunker a door opens as a man with a gun comes out. Here we go again....

This time he drops the gun into the snow while he walks over, offering a hand up. Now recognized him as the man who was flying the Bell 201/ UH-1 earlier, whose son I had picked up.

Not sure why, but so much pain seemed to go and hide as he smiled at me. I let him pull me up a bit then did the rest. placing a claw over his shoulders as he walked with me to the Ospreys now landing. The man shouted “MEDIC!” as we approached.

While we watched from a spot near the tail of the first V22, our demo team found the rest of the drone fleet in those covered shelters near the short runway, a few passes with claws and some well placed fire did the rest.

The medic asked me if it might not be best to shift back, but was a bit reluctant, until remembering that Rex 2.0 would not fit aboard a V22 cabin. I performed the calming exercise while envisioning my basic form, The feelings were like the original shape shift only in reverse, plus some extra pain from my recent- acts.

As the man saw who I really was, the smile grew and a hug followed, painful as that was. At that moment, Arakod and Shylah with Danielo, Gagtron, Daniel and Storm050 came out of the woods to join us then immediately hugging the Huey pilot, it turned out that he was also the mysterious “Arnold” who had saved them earlier.

We had to bid Arnold farewell at that point, he had a lot of questions to answer as he would turn State’s - Evidence on the Arizona chapter of Omega Dawn.

It was a quiet ride back to the airport, but that came to an end as we disembarked from the tilt - rotors’ A great reunion of Chaparral and Sierra, everyone back together. Class Dismissed! ]]> Also Characters Fenbriinah and Krilzeymah

Guest

Guest Also Character Shylah

Guest Also Character Xyn

Guest

Guest

Guest

Guest

Guest Also character Aria

Characters Tyxamous and Ignis belong to

----------------------------------------------------------

The Osprey lifted off then went to full speed, we would be there in just over an hour, the clock was ticking. If we were in a larger craft like a C-17, might have tried to save time by shape shifting inside the plane, but the V-22 was too small for the 2.0 Rex.

We landed back at the field with DM and Tyxamous there by arrangement from my radio call, we hadn’t a moment to waste. Terry picked up Xsyd and Eldon to join the teens for now.

Going into the lab, I asked for a moment alone inside.

There I went down on all fours, recited the calming phrase several times, concentrating...focusing...

The light appeared in my subconscious and spread. Read the ancient mesoAmerican Dragon shape casting rite then visualized the sky seeker version. Wings began to pull outwards as feet changed shape. The tail spade pulled into the tail, which stayed its size, the body began to expand to support and drive the huge wings. A pulling sensation as muscles lengthened plus expanded. The color of teal faded from the scales, replacing with dull Silver, the red markings of the extremities plus the dark gray muzzle that would help guard my eyes at the levels of the upper Stratosphere. The Shift had ended, I called for everyone to come in. DM was perplexed at the change as was Tyx, but hearing my voice began their understanding that I was still in the room with them.

The overhead door was raised, while beginning to don the suit with help from Enerin and Jero, Margh placing then plugging in the helmet, with its fittings. The engines were primed with the fuel tanks filled, Batteries taken off chargers and covers for the powerplants removed. Margh scanned the checklist, telling me to extend the pod arm outwards.

“Extended and locked” I noted.

DM hefted the converted Cruise Missile onto the rail end then clicked the end lock as Margh clicked the center catch, then connected the umbilical cable. Finally, Jero mounted the Goggles as I walked onto the lawn.

“Gentlemen, my thanks, now I need one thing, a bit of a catapulting,” while pointing to the teeter board that we had used earlier in the week teaching the little kids how to start flying. DM and Tyxamous agreed to put the weight on the problem.

“Start ONE!” called Jero as the engines were selected in the headup clicking start-1. The first engine began to spool up to speed. Too loud to speak, Jero raised two claws then circled them over his head, Engine two ignition start and warmup begins.

“Belton tower, High-dog requesting immediate liftoff” I called into the mic. Granted permission returning immediately, so stepped onto the end of the teeter board.

Both engines to max thrust , bent legs to vault position, wings flapping, now rowing up to maximum, I gave the thumbs up. Both Tyxamous with DM on his back dropped from a low 50 foot hover onto the metal plank slamming me upwards as my legs kicked further off its end.

In minutes, was slowly climbing but gaining speed each second, rising at a 70 degree angle.

As the climb continued, below- the field was shrinking into the background, the temperature was dropping. Each rasp of my heavy breathing was filling the cold lung with LO2, soon to be full. I switched on the radars and sensors to allow them to warm up. The boot screen for them showing in my head-up.

“DogHouse, Rex is away at 17:15 hours, how do you read me?”

“Doghouse, we are reading Rex at a continuous five-by-five”

I began to flatten the climb to 45 degrees.

“Doghouse, this is Rex, ready to hand over pod controls to you.”

In the data center a small team of experts are starting data gathering routines, sending them to the pod locked onto my left arm. Inside, gyros are spinning up to speed while lasers start thier mirror adjustments.

“NerdDog (the data center) we have full test and checkout of the pod, control is ours, come to course 045 and maintain speed.” to which I acknowledged.

Getting colder still, the Earth’s curve visible at the horizon, instinctively the nostrils close while closed loop breathing starts. Now mentally chant the calming phrase, sometimes transitioning respiration causes a panic attack, a suffocating or drowning feeling sometimes beginning.

To tell the staff on the data center all is ok, I text them, no talking is possible from here out, they will send voice, but I cannot. Even in this lower layer of space, noone can hear you.

Down below, it was a frenetic search as Vokun with his children were combing roads and trails for what had to be a large truck or maybe two. The civil Air patrol had planes up, could hear the dozens of call signs as I briefly checked the progress. there were Sheriffs along with volunteers cruising the back roads. We figured that such a Dragnet would limit them to some 200 miles from the starting site.

The hunch was Northeast, towards the high country past the Mongollon Rim, the so called “Sky Islands” at their edges. Very desolate, isolated country, few people, but also, few roads, the search simplifying.

Now comes a course change then turning to it, also being told to level out. Still capable of a bit more height but the ruggedness of terrain must be limiting the resolution clarity.

Down below an incredible story is unfolding and has been for hours-

Story from personal Journal - Shylah:

It all happened so fast, the drones circled us while forcing us to go lower, Arakod burned up three of them, but the rest held off then fired over our heads. We landed to keep from them killing us. Only then did we see the dozen vehicles with the net guns.

In seconds we were lying flat, fully encumbered. I hear a snarl as Arakod is approached by a human who first jabs him with a cattle prod, then a injector gun, drugging him, I feel a sting to my side as the day begins to fade away. The last thing I remember was being kicked even though I couldn’t possibly respond.

Hours later, we are awakening in a strange room, I recognize the smell plus the sound, we must be underground, it is like the shelters back at the field. There is a bridle over my face, so I cannot speak, create fire or bite. A hood is over it all, so just hearing with smell is possible. But I can smell them all, Arakod, along with the four children are here.

I also smell humans, there are several here both nearby and further off.

There are chain shackles on my feet and claws, neck and tail also bound plus wings tied together. I hear a chained form thrash now and then.

A short while later, it becomes very quiet, but I smell a human very distinctly, soon I detect a face by me so I go quiet as I hear “I’m a human, but am with you, make no noise as I free you- or we could be executed.”

Quietly my bridle is taken down and the shackles removed, soon I’m completely free as the hood is pulled back.

“My name is Arnold, we may be able to get you escaped, guard the door but be quiet as I free more of your group.” I take up a position by the door as “Arnold” sets everyone else loose.

Arnold hands to us our clothes, saying its very important to wear the flying school or DOG404 shirts.

“Why?” I whispered.

“Because, we had to put them inside steel boxes that were grounded electrically, there are a lot of locating devices sewn into each. When the door to the outside opens, every sensor within 200 miles will see you.” he said.

He opens the door to the hallway, motioning us to follow him. We have explained the need for silence to the young ones.

We reach a door as Arnold says “I cannot go with you, but here is your way out, open and exit quietly, there is an open field outside, crouch low, be ready to duck. Don’t fly until some distance away as there may be sharpshooters out there as night falls.” He hands a rifle to Arakod and offers one to me which I refuse. He nods and bids us a safe escape.

We open the door into the bright sunlight of sunset, beginning to cross the field quietly.

80,000 Feet Overhead:

Rex perspective:

I’m still circling when suddenly- a voice in the control room calls out “There!” as a few voices ask him for readouts. The mirrors in the pod turn and so do some antennas as well, the sensors are scanning a narrower area with more accuracy. A captured Dravicom or maybe a DOG404 or RFS t-shirt, something just appeared.

Really starting to get impatient, we have just moments until sundown. 404 can fight 24/7 but it would be nice to begin the assault in daylight.

I hear a lot of numbers being bantered about inside of the control room, then think, Cmon, guys lets go here, just have a feeling that something bad is happening down there.

“NerdDog to HighDog, Rex, we have their position locked.” My dravicom has the coordinates feed into it.

“This is highDog, permission to jettison pod then approach their base for attack.”

“This is Dog Lead (Firefang) , Rex- we will be there in 15 minutes, but Vokun should be in 12 or so, jettison at your discretion but be aware of our ETA. Until then you are alone.”

Just couldn’t get it out of my mind though, I was needed.

“This is HighDog, Pod Jett’ - Now!” as I powered the pod down, placed it on automatic then pulled the manual release, shooting up several hundred feet, becoming almost a ton lighter. I watched the pod fall then the wings unfolded, next the air intake opened as the tail cap fell off. A spark then turns to an orange flame from the pod tail as the small jet fires up. Soon turning clear the throttle is up full while the craft makes a right banking turn towards Tonopah. Folding the carrier arm back, a look at the fuel gauges shows almost empty.

Pulling the throttles back to 20 percent, I arch my back to begin a dive, All of Northeast Arizona dips up at me while a look over my shoulder shows the moon so large and clear, between my feet.

Next have to trim back the wing tips a bit as my descent is causing a shuddering turbulence. Further, further, camber in a bit.... now dropping smoothly and silently.

The altimeter is unwinding, while the speed is soaring, I trim upwards a bit then shut down the engines,

The sonic boom is right behind me, so when I pull up over their heads in six minutes its going to sound like someone is dropping a freight train on them. Out comes the rifle from its storage box to wrap the sling around my arm and shoulder.

I use the scope to add a bit more power to what the eye delivers, right now, can see the complex below, there is a small runway there with some covered shelters as well as a mounded earth form, looking like a bunker there, still too high to see beings.

A short gasp and cough, and back on Terrestrial air supply now. Still not seeing anyone but starting to pick up vehicles, there is a big tractor trailer there, parked.

Now some shapes appear as I pass 40,000 ft and decelerate a bit, the stratosphere beginning to give way to the troposphere, bouncing around a lot. An Airliner whizzes by on my left, as I’m plunging through the US airspace traffic control without clearance. It really doesn’t matter, the course is ballistic, just another meteor falling up here.

A look now yields figures running about the complex , the place looks like its on alert. Over in a nearby meadow, I see them! There is Arakod, Shylah and the four children trudging through snow, heading away from the place, they are making a run for it!

My heart sinks as I see that on top of the bunker is a wooden platform where there are snipers taking up spots on it, they are pointing their hands at the retreating figures of the six dragons.

I may be too late................

Looking into the reticle, the numbers are falling, in 40 seconds, should open fire with a chance of a hit. My speed is dropping rapidly and the buffeting is growing. 18,000 and dropping, Vokun is now in view barreling over the hills towards the place, some miles behind are the Ospreys, looking right there are F-22’s coming, at about my level, big sonic shock cones behind them.

Still looking below, one big (*********) is there readying a 20mm rifle on a tripod, sighting in.

20 seconds to go as he locks and loads, the rest are still setting up. I try not to think of Shylah and Arakod or the faces of the kids.

.... I may not be able to keep all six alive....

..... He hesitates, maybe the sonic booms of the F22’s are reaching the ground

.... Casts a look sideways, maybe he’s hearing the orders to fire.

.... he turns back and takes a deep breath- this is it, he’ll pull on the hold of his lungs.

Close enough!- FIRING

My magazine empties in 3 seconds, 10 shells in flight, the rifle hardly wandered.

Pushing my legs out to brake, while banking and pulling up, way too many G’s as my view is graying out.

he tenses on the trigger, a hole appears in his body armor back plate, another, Ittttt......

Oh my g..............I forgot...........

Something I’ll never be able to forget.

To die that way.....

I’m almost level now and just a few hundred feet up, The faces of the snipers row turn up as the thunderclap of my descent hits the ground. Placing the rifle sideways ahead of me to guard my face and act as a battering ram.

Feet pulled in , wings wrap up so I’m just a big scaly old Bowling Ball!

The feel of bodies colliding with me, an elbow clubs the end of my muzzle, a hard object-maybe a gun butt hits my chest and my mouth instinctively opens, the air getting knocked out.

Crashing into a snow bank, then coming to rest, the 15 mile fall is over....

Does every teacher have to do this kind of stuff?

Looking around, dazed... there are snipers all over the ground, a few move, most don’t.

Bleeding from my nose, (impact)

Ears, (buffeting)

Eyes and gums (rapid descent and g’s)

Trying to breathe in, coughing out snow, spasms.

My rifle is in 4 or 5 parts, not that it matters, just had one mag to use.

Some of them are getting up, and they are not happy, pistols being pulled, along with knives, now a shotgun too. I put up an arm, a futile gesture but it does cover the view of your last seconds.

A huge thump with a Rawr, Its Vokunkronah !....my arm goes down.

He reaches over gathering the six snipers into a group, while he goes over to a tall tree, watching him walk anthro looks painful but he gets there. In a scene reminiscent of someone decorating a Christmas tree, he picks up the snipers one at a time dropping off their weapons, then hanging them by their jacket collars on the upper tree limbs, watching his thrashing ornaments.

On the Bunker a door opens as a man with a gun comes out. Here we go again....

This time he drops the gun into the snow while he walks over, offering a hand up. Now recognized him as the man who was flying the Bell 201/ UH-1 earlier, whose son I had picked up.

Not sure why, but so much pain seemed to go and hide as he smiled at me. I let him pull me up a bit then did the rest. placing a claw over his shoulders as he walked with me to the Ospreys now landing. The man shouted “MEDIC!” as we approached.

While we watched from a spot near the tail of the first V22, our demo team found the rest of the drone fleet in those covered shelters near the short runway, a few passes with claws and some well placed fire did the rest.

The medic asked me if it might not be best to shift back, but was a bit reluctant, until remembering that Rex 2.0 would not fit aboard a V22 cabin. I performed the calming exercise while envisioning my basic form, The feelings were like the original shape shift only in reverse, plus some extra pain from my recent- acts.

As the man saw who I really was, the smile grew and a hug followed, painful as that was. At that moment, Arakod and Shylah with Danielo, Gagtron, Daniel and Storm050 came out of the woods to join us then immediately hugging the Huey pilot, it turned out that he was also the mysterious “Arnold” who had saved them earlier.

We had to bid Arnold farewell at that point, he had a lot of questions to answer as he would turn State’s - Evidence on the Arizona chapter of Omega Dawn.

It was a quiet ride back to the airport, but that came to an end as we disembarked from the tilt - rotors’ A great reunion of Chaparral and Sierra, everyone back together. Class Dismissed!

]]> http://infinityunbound.deviantart.com/art/Rude-Awakening-370715809 http://infinityunbound.deviantart.com/art/Rude-Awakening-370715809 Thu, 09 May 2013 19:25:03 PDT Rude Awakening nonadult designs/gameart/gameconcepts/storyline infinityunbound http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/i/n/infinityunbound.png?1 Copyright 2013 ~infinityunbound

A Rude Awakening

It all began with a very fat man in a dress that the humans call a “Pulp.” A Pulp is the religious leader of any given planet’s Christian sect. After an age of dogma the last Pulp died. And though the planet’s people were desperately impoverished; the Pulp was buried in a solid gold coffin amongst a lavish festival. About a week later a new Pulp was elected by the secretive priesthood. Upon his election to power, the new Pulp took the name Ratpenis the 8th. The name itself had little to no real meaning- but… Humans have a thing about embellishment.

Ratpenis the 8th was a bloated pig of a man that preached to the masses about modesty and piety. He did so even as he stuffed his face night after night, while many of his followers starved to death outside of the gilded walls of the Holy Palace. Not satisfied with his endless wealth and power, he sought to spit at those outside of his grasp. Those whom he had no control over… And so he looked towards the dark reaches of space. –onto the free worlds and the great empires beyond. But for the longest time Pulp Ratpenis was bogged down in his duties to the Church. Child rape by priests was sharply on the rise. Consequently, the Pulp had his hands full trying to burry the cases and hide the guilty priests, in order to protect the church and it’s massive profits. But when the money issues were finally done, the Pulp once more set out to glory himself to the universe. And so on a warm sunny day it began…

The day after the first rains of spring. – A time for love, as the Solack gather for a valentines day of sorts. One filled with courting and mating… It was on this day that Pulp Ratpenis the 8th gave a rather inflammatory and outright insulting speech addressed to the Solack Empire and it’s people. In it- he rambled on about fornication and sin against the word of the imaginary human god they called Yahwee. Or sometimes –Jehnobo. –Though older human tongues called them Yahweh or Jehovah. The Solack heard the fiery words. But Being Atheists, they couldn’t care less… In short they didn’t dignify the humans of the tiny backwater planet with a response.

Fall came- At last the summers heat began to cool down, and so drew near the days of the harvest. It was at this time that the humble Catato were hard at work preparing for the Harvest Festival. All year the Catato gathered food for the cold season and the celebration of the great harvest. – A time of plenty. As is custom the tiny Catato have also been working hard crafting fine statues of their goddess known as the AllMother; the first Catato whom first birthed their entire race into existence. And- as was custom the spiritual daughter of the AllMother – known as the Great Mother would be touring the entire Catato Homeworld of Forest Vegetables that month. This was a time of great rejoice for the Catato. And as if on cue; Pulp Ratpenis the 8th gave yet another long ranting speech about idolatry and the Catato’s worship of false idols… Too bad the Catato didn’t speak human at all. No one who understood cared, and no one who cared understood… For the first time the Pulp did get a reply. But not the one he expected… All he got was a scented card reading, “Thanks you much! Happy Festive!” and a large box of assorted cookies made from dirt- as was tradition. Complete and utter Failure…
Winter came that year stellar cycle. And it was time for the biggest holiday of them all! Christmas! The great secular holiday of lights celebrated by all races. It was a time of giving gifts. A holiday for celebrating generosity and the joy of giving. A time of peace and forgiveness spent with loved ones, where even those who had nothing to give at all could give thanks for those they knew. Everyone of every race looked forward to this day. Glittering Christmas trees filled with lights and gifts adorned every home rich and poor alike. To those who had none were given gifts of love from people they often never met on planets they never even heard of.

And the grand avatar of all this holiday cheer was the patron saint of goodwill himself! The legendary often mythical human known as Santa Claus! A jolly red giant beloved by all, whom represented peace and generosity among the many races of the Core Galaxy. And on the most sacred of days- It is said that Santa Claus rides across the entire galaxy to bring gifts to all good sentient life forms. Gifts to be left under the holiday tree. And every year a converted deep space transport begins its three month long journey across the stars. Where it goes- joy follows…

But Ratpenis the 8th was having none of it! That week, he gave the mother of all angry tirades. Not against the Solack or any one particular race. But against ALL sentient life forms in the galaxy including humans. The 6 hour long hate speech was a sickening sight to behold as a gaggle of fat mystics and the obese Pulp himself endlessly ranted against the secular holiday season. The Pulp claimed that Christmas as it stood was a godless abomination. And that a human named Jesus or Josus was the so called, “reason for the season.” The Pulp claimed that Josus was a god that could walk on water, and that somehow this parlor trick equated to being a messenger from god.

No one took this seriously… But the Pulp did get a reply back from somewhere in deep space. It was addressed to the Pulp. But that wasn’t all… Whomever sent it had acquired the royal seal of the Emperor of the Solack empire himself! This was big! This package, while not from the Emperor directly -had been given royal protection and priority! But when the Pulp’s assistants opened it they found nothing but a dirty black rock. And a note-

“Naughty… –With love: Mr. C~”

On the back of the letter was the Royal and presidential seals of every leader of every major race in the Core Galaxy. Marked, “dictated but not read.” This was a kiss off. A way of saying, “enough and goodbye.” A lot of powerful people and entities took some effort to make this. And the message was clear… “We Don’t Care. Leave us alone.” Thus the Pulp was finally put in his place. This was a sudden and untied slap in the face. The Pulp had gotten his message out to the entire Galaxy. And they told him where he could stick it... The Pulp began to despair. For the first time he began to see the truth of things. He was nothing more than the religious leader of some nowhere planet with no name orbiting a lonely star no one had heard of. And while the planet boasted a rather large population- they planet was also very poor. Even the funding for his palace had to come from the greater Christian sects. In shot the Pulp was a nobody. He could rule over his slaves- but little else.

As time went on the Pulp sank into a stupor. Until the day that news came of a new race out in the neighboring Dark Galaxy. They called them the Kreis! A race of sentient metal creatures that fancied themselves to be gods. Perfect!!! The Pulp flew from his golden throne at the news. Away he ran to the communications center faster than anyone even knew he could run. –In fact no one knew he could run at all, or at least they never seen him do it. Either way, he was on the podium within minutes blasting one of his trademark hate speeches with all the fire and brimstone he could muster. The Pulp poured everything he had into his rant this time. Every insult he could think of, every condescending scripture he could quote. He slammed this new race he knew nothing about, calling them pigs and idolaters. He didn’t even know if the Kreis knew what pigs were- and he didn’t care! He let them have it! And so he sent the Kreis a message he knew they would remember.

They got the message alright. It’s been known that the Kreis can speak the dead human language of Latin. Why, is yet unclear. But they do. At first it appeared that the Kreis cared as little about the message as the Solack did. A week had pasted and nothing… The Pulp became agitated and belligerent as his mind contemplated the thought of yet another failure. Not a day would go by that the Pulp wouldn’t double check the communications roster for any sign of a response from the Kreis. But as one week became two- then three. Nothing…

Then one fine day, form out of the blue came a booming voice shot across the skies. In a garbled mechanical voice came the words, “Deus psallat tibi!” The sounds rang out across the entire planet. The omnipresent voice was so loud that it broke windows and made the Pulp fall to his knees.

This time the Pulp got his message. Everyone did. But no one understood what the broken and poorly spoken message meant. The Solack whom had overhead it quickly got in touch with the Pulp. Within the day a Solack Emissary was dispatched to advise the Pulp on his close encounter. The Emissary spoke directly to the Pulp- and he was not pleased... This was now a serious matter! The Kreis were dangerous and unpredictable at the best of times. The Emissary pleaded for the Pulp to give an apology and FAST! But the Pulp was indignant at the idea of apologizing to “a bunch of heathen tin pots” for speaking the will of his god. Helpless to convince the Pulp, the Emissary left. However- Before he did the Emissary was sure to translate the meaning of the message for the Pulp.

“They said that God will sing to you. And given the fact that it’s the Kreis that said it... It’s not a good sign.”

The Pulp sneered at the Solack and gave out a chuckle. “As if those tin cans knew anything about god! Now… BE GONE foul cloaked demon! Your kind aren’t welcome here among god people. And tell your tin can friends if you see them, that god will protect us from whatever they are planning.”

The next month the planet was a buzz with the recent events. As one month gave way to the second; the Pulp touted his spiritual triumph over heathen Kreis. He proclaimed to anyone who would listen about how god and his words silenced great voice. -That dared not speak again. –No matter how many times the Pulp went back and harassed the Kreis with more daring speeches. And as the third month came and went it appeared as if the Pulp had gained the upper hand over the Kreis. Or at least that the Kreis didn’t care enough to reply a second time. For once life seemed good for Pulp Ratpenis. Since his contact with the Kreis became news all over the galaxy; the money came rolling in. Donations piled up for the man who put the fear of god into the mighty Kreis. And as the tale spread, rumors began to grow. Soon there were tales that Pulp Ratpenis personally slew a Kreis simply by uttering the name of god. Indeed all seemed well for Pulp Ratpenis. Armies of devoted religious followers whom had made great pilgrimages from distant planets, were flooding into the capitol to pay homage to the great and mighty Pulp. Enormous golden statures of the Pulp were erected in front of the main palace, and rivers of gold and currency flowed into the capitol as never seen before. So was the new power of the Pulp whom was said to carry the word of god on his voice.

Oceans of people now bowed to the man whom supposedly had vanquished the mighty foe that had struck fear into their hearts of humans off-world. For it was in this now mighty metropolis that humans could find hope and a feeling of security that so many badly yearned for. Here they found a new faith in god. Because they believed that god himself had given the Pulp the power to intimidate even the most fearsome of horrors. And so the faithful whom followed the Pulp stood tall as parades in the Pulps honor lined the glistening silver streets. Cheers and endless baths of white rose pedals rained down onto the Pulp and his entourage. The people now felt as if they were immortal. And so did their Pulp!

But even as he basked in his new found glory; the cracks of truth were beginning to appear all around him. Some noticed that the Solack were now trying to contact the Pulp directly in secret. They had bad news- Very bad news… The fact of the matter was that the Kreis didn’t reply back again, because they never stopped replying in the first place. The Solack were trying to warn the Pulp that they had been picking up harmonics too low and obscure for human sensors to pick up. The sounds were very subtle. In fact they mimicked the sounds made by stars and galaxies. In short they were exceedingly easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention to drifts in white noise. What the Solack had discovered was disturbing. Since the first reply, the message never actually stopped. It just kept repeating softly- “God will sing to you.” Over and over again. But the Solack and their calls for caution were never answered. Pulp Ratpenis simply ignored them. And so as the forth month came everything seemly began to calm down. And by the fifth month, most people had managed to completely forget what had happened.

But on the first morning of the sixth month a massive comet passed by the nameless planet. Many people saw the brilliant white light passing through the morning sky as a sign from god. As the comet came and left; the Pulp saw it as a blessing from god and thundered to the crowds that god smiled upon them from the heavens. That night the Pulp and his people slept well and deeply. At last they were convinced that God had taken their side as they knew he would.

Then exactly at one in the morning, there came a great shock. The earth suddenly began to shake violently for but a moment than fell silent. Then came the strange sound of rushing winds. But there was no breeze to be felt. Suddenly there were screams as searchlights began to part the night sky. AND THERE IT WAS!!!

It was monstrous! Towering hundreds of feet in the air was a lone monolith that passed silently across the city streets. It seem to float effortlessly as the large cross shaped object made it’s way to the planetary capitol. As it came closer to the holy palace it stopped and let out a colossal beam of light. Everyone assumed it was going to attack the palace, yet it did not. In fact it did nothing at all even as shots rang out from all over the city. All manner of weaponry was now being lobbed at the monolith. It hit it dead on. But it didn’t even leave a scratch on it’s strange surface that was darker than the night around it.

It was waiting… But for what? Suddenly the strange city-sized being screeched shattering every window on the planet and toppling nearby buildings. The sound was so horrid that it peeling the flesh off of people in the streets who screamed and died in agony. Tanks and fighter craft exploded from the shockwave produced by the horrible sound. It knew… It knew the Pulp wasn’t in the palace at all. And so with one narrow beam of blinding white light; melted the entire palace down into a pool of white glowing metal. Truly this beast had come for the Pulp himself. And with one quick sweep of its spotlight- it found him. Like the true coward he was the Pulp had fled. He had put on some peasant rags and had disappeared into the distant streets of the capitol. But it was no use. The Kreis had found him. And it began to cut a path right to him. Because of its sheer size it didn’t have to go very far. Guns sang out as missiles and bombs went off. –Trying in vain to stop the Kreis war machine. But it was too late.

One blast. That’s all it took. A loud and sudden shriek from the Monolith. The Pulp exploded into a thin rain of blood that spattered everywhere. At last the behemoth had gotten what it had came for. And with that there was another violent quake. Every last light went out for but a moment. But when they came back on the monster was gone. A tall cloud of dark smoke was all that was left. For a moment frightened masses thought the worst was over. But as they looked around into the dusty night sky, they noticed the dark and menacing silhouette of the Kreis. It was still there! Standing silently on a tall hill overlooking the capitol.

There it stood unmoving until the searchlights hit it. Upon being spotted it hummed ominously for a moment then let loose another jarring screech. This time it was so loud that burst the eardrums of every human on the planet. Screams of pain suddenly arose in waves across the cities as the shockwave rippled throughout the planet. Only cries came afterwards. But none of the humans could hear them. They would never hear anything ever again. Eventually they would discover that those affected by the screech had damage to their brains as well as their ears.

But for now only the sounds of cannon fire filled the night. The humans had brought in their largest artillery and fired it directly at the target. This time it hit the Kreis dead center in the floating crystal like object that glistened with many colors. That time it got the attention of the Kreis. Though seemingly undamaged it appeared to be highly provoked at that action. It roared with anger and detached the metal cross on it’s back. The cross split into to twin double-sided blades that laid themselves horizontally against the city streets. The hovering blades then proceeded to whirl fiercely as they began to mow down buildings like blades of grass. The whirling blades made short work of the artillery and most of the enormous city within minutes, until only crumbling ruins remained.

As the commotion when on, it became apparent that the metal monster was not alone. Soon the daunting silhouettes of at least 8 of the dark monstrosities could be clearly seen. Panicked, many of the humans fell to their knees and began to pray to the creatures for forgiveness and mercy. Though because of their deafness, the prayers were mostly just babbling. Still- the Kreis seemed pleased by this. And so the leviathans all gathered in center of the capitol. There amid the ruins they sang a sing note. This note the humans were able to hear with what was left of their minds. With that- many of the humans bowed to these strange gods. Yet many more did not. So before the Kreis departed they sent forth one final shockwave. It harmlessly passed all those who were kneeling close to the floor. But all those that stood or sat suddenly felt a sharp pain. Every bone in their legs had been splintered. Those who stood then fell to the floor in agony. And with that, the Kreis departed that small world. It was all over in a matter of a couple hours. Too fast for any of the other human forces nearby to react.

After the events of that night, all records of the incident were stricken from the achieves for a number of reasons. The true name of the Pulp and even the name of the planet itself- were simply erased. It was made a crime just to mention what had happened among the humans. And though many races often bring it up. – The humans still deny the event ever took place. Particularly the human’s religious organizations.

As for the Kreis… they’re still out there- somewhere… Listening… For what- no one really knows.



Kreis and story © Me.
No: Sampling
Sharing
Or Copying ]]>

A Rude Awakening

It all began with a very fat man in a dress that the humans call a “Pulp.” A Pulp is the religious leader of any given planet’s Christian sect. After an age of dogma the last Pulp died. And though the planet’s people were desperately impoverished; the Pulp was buried in a solid gold coffin amongst a lavish festival. About a week later a new Pulp was elected by the secretive priesthood. Upon his election to power, the new Pulp took the name Ratpenis the 8th. The name itself had little to no real meaning- but… Humans have a thing about embellishment.

Ratpenis the 8th was a bloated pig of a man that preached to the masses about modesty and piety. He did so even as he stuffed his face night after night, while many of his followers starved to death outside of the gilded walls of the Holy Palace. Not satisfied with his endless wealth and power, he sought to spit at those outside of his grasp. Those whom he had no control over… And so he looked towards the dark reaches of space. –onto the free worlds and the great empires beyond. But for the longest time Pulp Ratpenis was bogged down in his duties to the Church. Child rape by priests was sharply on the rise. Consequently, the Pulp had his hands full trying to burry the cases and hide the guilty priests, in order to protect the church and it’s massive profits. But when the money issues were finally done, the Pulp once more set out to glory himself to the universe. And so on a warm sunny day it began…

The day after the first rains of spring. – A time for love, as the Solack gather for a valentines day of sorts. One filled with courting and mating… It was on this day that Pulp Ratpenis the 8th gave a rather inflammatory and outright insulting speech addressed to the Solack Empire and it’s people. In it- he rambled on about fornication and sin against the word of the imaginary human god they called Yahwee. Or sometimes –Jehnobo. –Though older human tongues called them Yahweh or Jehovah. The Solack heard the fiery words. But Being Atheists, they couldn’t care less… In short they didn’t dignify the humans of the tiny backwater planet with a response.

Fall came- At last the summers heat began to cool down, and so drew near the days of the harvest. It was at this time that the humble Catato were hard at work preparing for the Harvest Festival. All year the Catato gathered food for the cold season and the celebration of the great harvest. – A time of plenty. As is custom the tiny Catato have also been working hard crafting fine statues of their goddess known as the AllMother; the first Catato whom first birthed their entire race into existence. And- as was custom the spiritual daughter of the AllMother – known as the Great Mother would be touring the entire Catato Homeworld of Forest Vegetables that month. This was a time of great rejoice for the Catato. And as if on cue; Pulp Ratpenis the 8th gave yet another long ranting speech about idolatry and the Catato’s worship of false idols… Too bad the Catato didn’t speak human at all. No one who understood cared, and no one who cared understood… For the first time the Pulp did get a reply. But not the one he expected… All he got was a scented card reading, “Thanks you much! Happy Festive!” and a large box of assorted cookies made from dirt- as was tradition. Complete and utter Failure…
Winter came that year stellar cycle. And it was time for the biggest holiday of them all! Christmas! The great secular holiday of lights celebrated by all races. It was a time of giving gifts. A holiday for celebrating generosity and the joy of giving. A time of peace and forgiveness spent with loved ones, where even those who had nothing to give at all could give thanks for those they knew. Everyone of every race looked forward to this day. Glittering Christmas trees filled with lights and gifts adorned every home rich and poor alike. To those who had none were given gifts of love from people they often never met on planets they never even heard of.

And the grand avatar of all this holiday cheer was the patron saint of goodwill himself! The legendary often mythical human known as Santa Claus! A jolly red giant beloved by all, whom represented peace and generosity among the many races of the Core Galaxy. And on the most sacred of days- It is said that Santa Claus rides across the entire galaxy to bring gifts to all good sentient life forms. Gifts to be left under the holiday tree. And every year a converted deep space transport begins its three month long journey across the stars. Where it goes- joy follows…

But Ratpenis the 8th was having none of it! That week, he gave the mother of all angry tirades. Not against the Solack or any one particular race. But against ALL sentient life forms in the galaxy including humans. The 6 hour long hate speech was a sickening sight to behold as a gaggle of fat mystics and the obese Pulp himself endlessly ranted against the secular holiday season. The Pulp claimed that Christmas as it stood was a godless abomination. And that a human named Jesus or Josus was the so called, “reason for the season.” The Pulp claimed that Josus was a god that could walk on water, and that somehow this parlor trick equated to being a messenger from god.

No one took this seriously… But the Pulp did get a reply back from somewhere in deep space. It was addressed to the Pulp. But that wasn’t all… Whomever sent it had acquired the royal seal of the Emperor of the Solack empire himself! This was big! This package, while not from the Emperor directly -had been given royal protection and priority! But when the Pulp’s assistants opened it they found nothing but a dirty black rock. And a note-

“Naughty… –With love: Mr. C~”

On the back of the letter was the Royal and presidential seals of every leader of every major race in the Core Galaxy. Marked, “dictated but not read.” This was a kiss off. A way of saying, “enough and goodbye.” A lot of powerful people and entities took some effort to make this. And the message was clear… “We Don’t Care. Leave us alone.” Thus the Pulp was finally put in his place. This was a sudden and untied slap in the face. The Pulp had gotten his message out to the entire Galaxy. And they told him where he could stick it... The Pulp began to despair. For the first time he began to see the truth of things. He was nothing more than the religious leader of some nowhere planet with no name orbiting a lonely star no one had heard of. And while the planet boasted a rather large population- they planet was also very poor. Even the funding for his palace had to come from the greater Christian sects. In shot the Pulp was a nobody. He could rule over his slaves- but little else.

As time went on the Pulp sank into a stupor. Until the day that news came of a new race out in the neighboring Dark Galaxy. They called them the Kreis! A race of sentient metal creatures that fancied themselves to be gods. Perfect!!! The Pulp flew from his golden throne at the news. Away he ran to the communications center faster than anyone even knew he could run. –In fact no one knew he could run at all, or at least they never seen him do it. Either way, he was on the podium within minutes blasting one of his trademark hate speeches with all the fire and brimstone he could muster. The Pulp poured everything he had into his rant this time. Every insult he could think of, every condescending scripture he could quote. He slammed this new race he knew nothing about, calling them pigs and idolaters. He didn’t even know if the Kreis knew what pigs were- and he didn’t care! He let them have it! And so he sent the Kreis a message he knew they would remember.

They got the message alright. It’s been known that the Kreis can speak the dead human language of Latin. Why, is yet unclear. But they do. At first it appeared that the Kreis cared as little about the message as the Solack did. A week had pasted and nothing… The Pulp became agitated and belligerent as his mind contemplated the thought of yet another failure. Not a day would go by that the Pulp wouldn’t double check the communications roster for any sign of a response from the Kreis. But as one week became two- then three. Nothing…

Then one fine day, form out of the blue came a booming voice shot across the skies. In a garbled mechanical voice came the words, “Deus psallat tibi!” The sounds rang out across the entire planet. The omnipresent voice was so loud that it broke windows and made the Pulp fall to his knees.

This time the Pulp got his message. Everyone did. But no one understood what the broken and poorly spoken message meant. The Solack whom had overhead it quickly got in touch with the Pulp. Within the day a Solack Emissary was dispatched to advise the Pulp on his close encounter. The Emissary spoke directly to the Pulp- and he was not pleased... This was now a serious matter! The Kreis were dangerous and unpredictable at the best of times. The Emissary pleaded for the Pulp to give an apology and FAST! But the Pulp was indignant at the idea of apologizing to “a bunch of heathen tin pots” for speaking the will of his god. Helpless to convince the Pulp, the Emissary left. However- Before he did the Emissary was sure to translate the meaning of the message for the Pulp.

“They said that God will sing to you. And given the fact that it’s the Kreis that said it... It’s not a good sign.”

The Pulp sneered at the Solack and gave out a chuckle. “As if those tin cans knew anything about god! Now… BE GONE foul cloaked demon! Your kind aren’t welcome here among god people. And tell your tin can friends if you see them, that god will protect us from whatever they are planning.”

The next month the planet was a buzz with the recent events. As one month gave way to the second; the Pulp touted his spiritual triumph over heathen Kreis. He proclaimed to anyone who would listen about how god and his words silenced great voice. -That dared not speak again. –No matter how many times the Pulp went back and harassed the Kreis with more daring speeches. And as the third month came and went it appeared as if the Pulp had gained the upper hand over the Kreis. Or at least that the Kreis didn’t care enough to reply a second time. For once life seemed good for Pulp Ratpenis. Since his contact with the Kreis became news all over the galaxy; the money came rolling in. Donations piled up for the man who put the fear of god into the mighty Kreis. And as the tale spread, rumors began to grow. Soon there were tales that Pulp Ratpenis personally slew a Kreis simply by uttering the name of god. Indeed all seemed well for Pulp Ratpenis. Armies of devoted religious followers whom had made great pilgrimages from distant planets, were flooding into the capitol to pay homage to the great and mighty Pulp. Enormous golden statures of the Pulp were erected in front of the main palace, and rivers of gold and currency flowed into the capitol as never seen before. So was the new power of the Pulp whom was said to carry the word of god on his voice.

Oceans of people now bowed to the man whom supposedly had vanquished the mighty foe that had struck fear into their hearts of humans off-world. For it was in this now mighty metropolis that humans could find hope and a feeling of security that so many badly yearned for. Here they found a new faith in god. Because they believed that god himself had given the Pulp the power to intimidate even the most fearsome of horrors. And so the faithful whom followed the Pulp stood tall as parades in the Pulps honor lined the glistening silver streets. Cheers and endless baths of white rose pedals rained down onto the Pulp and his entourage. The people now felt as if they were immortal. And so did their Pulp!

But even as he basked in his new found glory; the cracks of truth were beginning to appear all around him. Some noticed that the Solack were now trying to contact the Pulp directly in secret. They had bad news- Very bad news… The fact of the matter was that the Kreis didn’t reply back again, because they never stopped replying in the first place. The Solack were trying to warn the Pulp that they had been picking up harmonics too low and obscure for human sensors to pick up. The sounds were very subtle. In fact they mimicked the sounds made by stars and galaxies. In short they were exceedingly easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention to drifts in white noise. What the Solack had discovered was disturbing. Since the first reply, the message never actually stopped. It just kept repeating softly- “God will sing to you.” Over and over again. But the Solack and their calls for caution were never answered. Pulp Ratpenis simply ignored them. And so as the forth month came everything seemly began to calm down. And by the fifth month, most people had managed to completely forget what had happened.

But on the first morning of the sixth month a massive comet passed by the nameless planet. Many people saw the brilliant white light passing through the morning sky as a sign from god. As the comet came and left; the Pulp saw it as a blessing from god and thundered to the crowds that god smiled upon them from the heavens. That night the Pulp and his people slept well and deeply. At last they were convinced that God had taken their side as they knew he would.

Then exactly at one in the morning, there came a great shock. The earth suddenly began to shake violently for but a moment than fell silent. Then came the strange sound of rushing winds. But there was no breeze to be felt. Suddenly there were screams as searchlights began to part the night sky. AND THERE IT WAS!!!

It was monstrous! Towering hundreds of feet in the air was a lone monolith that passed silently across the city streets. It seem to float effortlessly as the large cross shaped object made it’s way to the planetary capitol. As it came closer to the holy palace it stopped and let out a colossal beam of light. Everyone assumed it was going to attack the palace, yet it did not. In fact it did nothing at all even as shots rang out from all over the city. All manner of weaponry was now being lobbed at the monolith. It hit it dead on. But it didn’t even leave a scratch on it’s strange surface that was darker than the night around it.

It was waiting… But for what? Suddenly the strange city-sized being screeched shattering every window on the planet and toppling nearby buildings. The sound was so horrid that it peeling the flesh off of people in the streets who screamed and died in agony. Tanks and fighter craft exploded from the shockwave produced by the horrible sound. It knew… It knew the Pulp wasn’t in the palace at all. And so with one narrow beam of blinding white light; melted the entire palace down into a pool of white glowing metal. Truly this beast had come for the Pulp himself. And with one quick sweep of its spotlight- it found him. Like the true coward he was the Pulp had fled. He had put on some peasant rags and had disappeared into the distant streets of the capitol. But it was no use. The Kreis had found him. And it began to cut a path right to him. Because of its sheer size it didn’t have to go very far. Guns sang out as missiles and bombs went off. –Trying in vain to stop the Kreis war machine. But it was too late.

One blast. That’s all it took. A loud and sudden shriek from the Monolith. The Pulp exploded into a thin rain of blood that spattered everywhere. At last the behemoth had gotten what it had came for. And with that there was another violent quake. Every last light went out for but a moment. But when they came back on the monster was gone. A tall cloud of dark smoke was all that was left. For a moment frightened masses thought the worst was over. But as they looked around into the dusty night sky, they noticed the dark and menacing silhouette of the Kreis. It was still there! Standing silently on a tall hill overlooking the capitol.

There it stood unmoving until the searchlights hit it. Upon being spotted it hummed ominously for a moment then let loose another jarring screech. This time it was so loud that burst the eardrums of every human on the planet. Screams of pain suddenly arose in waves across the cities as the shockwave rippled throughout the planet. Only cries came afterwards. But none of the humans could hear them. They would never hear anything ever again. Eventually they would discover that those affected by the screech had damage to their brains as well as their ears.

But for now only the sounds of cannon fire filled the night. The humans had brought in their largest artillery and fired it directly at the target. This time it hit the Kreis dead center in the floating crystal like object that glistened with many colors. That time it got the attention of the Kreis. Though seemingly undamaged it appeared to be highly provoked at that action. It roared with anger and detached the metal cross on it’s back. The cross split into to twin double-sided blades that laid themselves horizontally against the city streets. The hovering blades then proceeded to whirl fiercely as they began to mow down buildings like blades of grass. The whirling blades made short work of the artillery and most of the enormous city within minutes, until only crumbling ruins remained.

As the commotion when on, it became apparent that the metal monster was not alone. Soon the daunting silhouettes of at least 8 of the dark monstrosities could be clearly seen. Panicked, many of the humans fell to their knees and began to pray to the creatures for forgiveness and mercy. Though because of their deafness, the prayers were mostly just babbling. Still- the Kreis seemed pleased by this. And so the leviathans all gathered in center of the capitol. There amid the ruins they sang a sing note. This note the humans were able to hear with what was left of their minds. With that- many of the humans bowed to these strange gods. Yet many more did not. So before the Kreis departed they sent forth one final shockwave. It harmlessly passed all those who were kneeling close to the floor. But all those that stood or sat suddenly felt a sharp pain. Every bone in their legs had been splintered. Those who stood then fell to the floor in agony. And with that, the Kreis departed that small world. It was all over in a matter of a couple hours. Too fast for any of the other human forces nearby to react.

After the events of that night, all records of the incident were stricken from the achieves for a number of reasons. The true name of the Pulp and even the name of the planet itself- were simply erased. It was made a crime just to mention what had happened among the humans. And though many races often bring it up. – The humans still deny the event ever took place. Particularly the human’s religious organizations.

As for the Kreis… they’re still out there- somewhere… Listening… For what- no one really knows.



Kreis and story © Me.
No: Sampling
Sharing
Or Copying

]]>