Chapter Text
Monk had descended down the deepest point and reached the deepest depths, overcame every challenge that came their way,, was judged under the watchful eyes of the guardians and was deemed worthy. Now they swim deep. Deep below the earth. Into the deep dark black void. Among fathoms of gods stretching far beyond comprehension.
Swimming down further and further until they met. Face to face. So massive it dwarfs the young slugcat in scale.
Monk can only stare mouth agape at such a thing. Not sure whether to feel horror or awe. Monk moves slightly toward the massive creature,but before they could introduce themselves they found they had been poked. A string of some sort attached itself to them and the world around them began to swirl and roar as they were being dragged down infinitely further into the depths. Their body stretched from the sheer breakneck speed they were moving at. Monk could not open their eyes. Everything felt cold around them and the roar of nonexistent wind tore at their ears and assaulted their senses.
And as soon as it began. It stopped. Everything was calm again. They looked at the giant worm creature. It looked at them. And then it swam upwards,creating a deafening noise as it went for the last time.
Now there was only Monk,the silence, and the void. Without anything else to do they swam downwards once again.
They wondered if this was their new eternity. Swimming down until time had lost its meaning. Is this the ascension the iterators craved? Doubt swam in their mind but before fear could truly sink its teeth again… there was another.
When monk looked to their left they saw another slugcat just like them! Exactly like them! And another! Like a reflection of themselves.
They multiplied and all swam down together.toward the light. The light!
Deep down within the void there was light. Monk reached out for it. For a moment they swore they could see their sibling. Is this where they had gone?
Monk swam closer and ever closer until the moment that they reached the light. Something seemed to warp. And distort. Is this supposed to happen?
Suddenly, monk felt like they were in a cyclone. The world around them spun unfathomably fast. The world stretched and bent and somewhere near the end of it monk heard a hiss. Almost like
The last thing they remember before slipping was the feeling of wet grass.a voice. But just as quickly they fell unconscious.
Wendy,Abigail,WX 78,and Wilson strolled through the forest,backpacks heavy with supplies and new battle scars to take home with them.
Abigail bounced through the air happily between the three. Wendy watched her intently. You could see a smile form on the edge of her lips.
WX's bio scanner,Jimmy,also played along with Abigail.either that or they were just trying to scan her.
WX and Wilson looked satisfied with themselves.
“FINALLY ENOUGH FOOD TO KEEP YOU FLESHINGS FROM WHINING ALL THE TIME.”
“”You whine too. You whine a lot actually.” Wilson scratched his chin like he was trying to recount all the times they could remember WX complaining.
WX scoffed.
“I DO NOT WHINE. I SIMPLY POINT OUT THE SEEMINGLY ENDLESS FLAWS IN YOU FLESHLINGS LOGIC. ANYWAY I'M GLAD WE GATHERED SO MUCH. NOW I CAN EXTEND MY BASE.” they clasped their hands together and chuckled.
“Oh,you mean your part of the base? You sure that won't cut into Wormwood’s side?”
“WE ARE SHARING.”
“OH! Nice to hear you two getting along more!” Wilson gave the automaton a toothy grin. WX scoffed.
“DO NOT GET SO SENTIMENTAL,SCIENTIST.WORMWOOD IS SIMPLY AN ASSET TO MY GREATER SCHEMES. JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE.”
WX jabbed a finger at them to which Wilson just gave them a smug look.
“Excuse me.Mr Wilson, Mx WX… what is this?” Wendy suddenly piped up. The two stopped for a moment to look in the girls direction. Abigail was right next to her,they hadn't noticed she stopped playing.
Above the girl's head was what looked like blue fruit dangling from the branches of the pine tree above her.
“Does it look safe to eat?”
Wilson immediately walked up to it, examining it closely.
“I have never seen anything like this grow here before? I'm not sure…” He picked it from the tree with no effort and took a closer look. It was soft on the outside. Entirely opaque but it felt like there was something inside.
“EAT IT. SEE IF IT'S POISONOUS. DON'T BE A COWARD.`` The robot jeered at him.
Wilson rolled his eyes and sighed. On one hand this mission was going rather well and he didn't wanna mess it up by being poisoned. On the other hand,
For science.
After all, how much harm could just one cause?
He popped the whole thing in his mouth.
Wendy let out a tiny gasp and WX snickered.
What Wilson immediately noticed was that it was juicy but not sweet and whatever was inside squelched in his mouth.
Not exactly tasty. And certainly not a fruit.
He swallowed it and stuck his tongue out Abit.
“It's not the worst thing ever.” Certainly not a fruit.”
“YEAH COULD'VE HAD JIMMY SCAN IT TO TELL US THAT.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SEE YOU GET POISONED.”
Wilson looked unamused. Wendy jumped up to catch another one.
“Why don't you test them back at base. Maybe we can grow some more.” Wendy offered. Wilson smiled brightly.
“What a wonderful idea dear! I can't wait to study them!” Wilson bent down to talk to her . Wendy handed him the blue things
“OR WE COULD JUST SCAN THEM?”WX tapped their feet impatiently.
“Where's the fun in that?” Wilson laughed. Excited to have something new to study. Even if it was as small as this.
They continued to head home as the sun began to set.
Wormwood Walter and Maxwell were out scouting the area about two wormholes away from base. In a grassy green biome that seemed to stretch on for quite awhile.
They had found a queen bee hive along with several other hives,juicy berry bushes,briar hounds, and a clockwork bishop.
“Such a pretty place! So many pretty friends! And bee friends too!” Wormwood sang happily,skipping through the lush flower patches.
Walter and Woby followed suit in play.
“Isn't it great here Mr. Maxwell?” Walter smiled bright like the sun,assembling a flower garland.
Maxwell with arms crossed rolled his eyes.
“Sure it's wonderful! Maybe the hounds will come back to spare us some roses too.”He Spat sarcastically.
“Still mad about bad woofers?”Wormwood touched their chin, looking sympathetic.
“Maybe the bees will spare us some honey for your wounds!” Walter cheered with his undying positivity. Maxwell sighed and walked ahead of them.
He wondered why he had to be paired up with these two. They'd just gawk at the scenery all day. Although he supposed that's what they were here for. Perhaps this match up was an attempt to make Maxwell ‘lighten up’. He scoffed. Nice try.
Then suddenly something caught Maxwell's eye. A tall red plant stalk sitting in the middle of the meadow. Now he'd never seen anything like that before.
He cautiously approached.
‘What could it be?’ he thought? Perhaps some new vile species of bee would pop out and try to kill him on sight. Perhaps some sort of carnivorous plant,just baiting him to get closer,maybe it was a monster disguised as a plant and it would pop out of the ground as soon as he got close.
For all these deadly possibilities he did not know why he still approached the odd plant. Maybe for some hope that it was normal?
Not likely… but.
“Hey what's that?” Walter asked,suddenly behind Maxwell,Wormwood and Woby in tow. Maxwell jumped,startled and agitated.
“Don't startle me like that child!” He scolded. But it seemed to go over Walter's head as he approached the plant without a care.
“New plant friend? Hello!” Wormwood greeted the strange stalk with a friendly wave.
"Do you know what it is wormwood?”Walter asked. The plant was so tall Walter had to stand on his tiptoes to touch the main stalk. Wobys small self jumped up at it to try and get a better sniff.
“No,friend. But it feels like… corn.” Wormwood pet the stalk cautiously. “Tough shell. On the defense my friend?”
“Why don't we bring them home? I'm sure they’d feel right at home in our garden.” Walter offered. “Do you think they would like that?”
“Maybe help friends come out of their shell? Hmm?” Wormwood leaned into the plant offering a friendly smile of persuasion.
Maxwell was less than amused at his two teammates who were trying to convince a plant to come home with them. Ridiculous. He opened his mouth to chide them but.
Distant barking,quickly becoming not so distant. The two previously admiring the strange new flora now stood at attention prepared to draw their weapons. Listening closely for how many there were.
“Just how far will those damned hounds chase us?” Maxwell grit his teeth. He’s had enough of today.
Walter turned his ear to the noise. “Sounds like 2 maybe. I think we can take them. Unless you wanna retreat,Mr.Maxwell?”
Maxwell huffed. He knew if they kept running they’d just catch up to them again. There is only 1 way to deal with hounds.
Maxwell readied his fencing sword.
Just over the horizon, approaching fast, two briar hounds sprinted towards the trio with blood in their teeth. Likely from some unfortunate creature that caught their attention earlier.
They closed the distance quickly and one of them lunged at Maxwell. He was prepared and dodged the bite. He then quickly spun around to slash the hound across the face.
Meanwhile the second one went straight for the other two.
Walter aimed their slingshot loaded with gold ammo and fired the hound right in the nose. It paused for a moment. Looking a tad hurt. But then growled even angrier than before. It jumped at Walter who dodged just in time,unfortunately Wormwood was right behind him. He was pinned to the ground by the attack,using the spear to keep the hound from biting him.
“Wormwood! I got you!” Walter called his friend. He aimed for another round. Fingers primed to shoot but just before he could Woby jumped to Wormwood aid, tackling the hound.
Not wanting to hit Woby but still wanting to hit the hound Walter quickly shifted their aim. But moved a bit too fast and a bit too far and hit the red stalk instead.
“Oops! Sorry!”
“OH no! Corn friend!”
Suddenly the bud sprang open, startling everyone,including the hound for a second. But a second was all it took for Maxwell to end it with his sword.
The three now watched in awe as the now opened plant started. Popping.
From the bottom it popped open bright yellow kernels all they way to the top,as it's shell curled up and away to the top exposing every little bit of popped corn.
Walter approached it first with awe and curiosity. He jumped at it,grabbing some corn from the bud and ate.
“Popcorn! It's popcorn!” He cheered happily,signaling for the others to come and enjoy it with him.
“Wow! Thanks friend!” Wormwood said getting up to observe the popcorn plant.
“Popcorn from a plant. Hmm. What a unique addition.”
They all partook in the popcorn plant as the sun began to set. They picked the bud clean and started to head home to tell of their new discovery.
They totally forgot to grab the plant as they left. But they figured they could just get it another time.
With torches held high they marched back home.
However on their way back Maxwell noticed a small yellow light in the inky black. Something that carried a strange energy with it.
He let the two walk ahead for a moment and went to examine it.
It was a flower. A glowing flower with X shaped petals with a circle surrounding them, like a wheel.
The closer he got to it. The stranger the energy around him felt.
“Mr.Maxwell? Where are you?” Walter called out.
Startled, Maxwell figured there was no time left for debate and picked up the flower, tucking it into his suit pocket.
“Dont fret, I was just picking up more sticks. Lord knows we'll need them in this weather.
Something about this flower felt very important. He didn't want to lose it.