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Chapter Text

The year is 2080, a golden age for gaming technology. Virtual reality had long since evolved beyond bulky headsets and awkward motion controls. Now, players could fully immerse themselves in their favorite games, transferring their consciousness directly into their avatars. It was a breakthrough that redefined entertainment

For the players of GMod, or Garry's Mod, the new tech was a dream come true. A sandbox world where the only limit was imagination (or sometimes the game physics engine), GMod had remained a cult classic. With the VR integration, it was now even more enjoyable and immersive. 

In one particular 128 player server...

"Alright, nerds" boomed the voice of an Admin, the omnipotent overseer of the server. His avatar, a glowing golden figure with an oversized crown, floated ominously above the players joining. "Server's live. No crashing the game this time, okay?"

"You crashed the server last week!" shouted one of the players.

"Can't blame a guy for trying to recreate a celestial body" Admin shot back "Plus, I didn't know it'd actually crash it"

"That's what you said when you crashed the server a week ago!" 

"Well, I mean... it was funny" Admin said with a shrug, earning a groan from the group.

Nearby, a girl was already getting into character. Draped in wizard robes, she raised his staff high. "Silence, peasants! The sovereign ruler has graced us with his presence. Bow before the Admin!"

"We just started. Stop-" One of the player said flatly.

"NEVER!" the roleplayer bellowed.

"Okay, enough chatter. Go nuts, people" Admin announced. "I'll be... uh... busy for a bit. Just try not to break the server while I'm AFK, alright?" His avatar flickered and vanished before anyone could argue.

"Dude... did he just leave us all unsupervised?"

At that moment, most of the server already moved and went all over the map, claiming parts of it as their spot or territory. One was even already attaching a bathtub with jet thrusters on the sides.

"Oh no" 

"Oh yes!"

As soon as Admin disappeared, chaos broke loose. Props rained from the sky, impromptu PvP battles broke out, and the roleplayer was loudly narrating a "quest" no one had agreed to join.

"BEHOLD!" she shouted, striking a dramatic pose on top of a poorly constructed tower made of office chairs and crates. "The Tower of Eternity rises once more!"

"It's literally falling apart, Specter. Why didn't you just use the weld tool like everyone instead of using ropes?" One of the players pointed out as the tower wobbled.

"Art is subjective!" the roleplayer, named Specter_404, countered. Rather poorly, at that.

"That doesn't answer my question"

In the middle of the chaotic server, amidst flying bathtubs, unstable prop towers, and someone spawning an army of penguins for no discernible reason, a crowd began to form near the center of the map.

Two players stood at the heart of it, locked in a heated argument.

"Listen to me, Dandellion!" shouted the player. His avatar, a man in a full suit of cardboard armor, paced back and forth as if he were debating a matter of life and death. "It's perfectly fine to put one Bag of Holding into another Bag of Holding!"

"Are you out of your mind?!" retorted Dandellion, her avatar being a woman wearing a kimono with cat ears on her head. She jabbed a finger at player with the Bag of Holdings. "That's literally how you open a black hole back at SS13! Or worse, crash the server. Again! Have you learned nothing from last week?!"

"I've read the patch notes!" the player holding two Bags of Holding shot back. "If we don't fill the first bag to max capacity, it won't overload the system!"

"That's not how it works!"

The crowd of players watching grew larger by the minute, as the spectacle of two grown adults arguing over server-breaking antics was far more entertaining than whatever nonsense they'd been up to.

"Yo, someone stream this" murmured a player wearing a maid dress from the back of the group "I'm recording, but I want other angles."

Specter pushed her way to the front "I, for one, think this is an excellent idea!" she declared, raising her staff dramatically. "Let chaos reign!"

"Specter, shut up!" several voices chorused from the crowd.

A player wearing a construction helmet spoke up "Okay, here's the thing. The code might allow for a Bag of Holding to go inside another Bag of Holding, but you'll only get one chance before everything goes to hell. IShouldntHave, you really willing to risk it?"

"I am absolutely willing!" IShouldntHave said, crossing his arms. "It's science, dude"

"Do it!" shouted someone from the crowd. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Uh, the entire server collapses, and Admin bans us all" Dandellion said.

"Worth it" Specter muttered under her breath, clearly enjoying the unfolding drama.

IShouldntHave ignored everyone and placed the two Bags of Holding on the ground. The first bag was open, its mysterious, swirling void shimmering ominously. He picked up the second bag, hands trembling slightly from either excitement or fear.

"Wait, wait!" Dandellion exclaimed, holding up a hand. "At least let me-"

Too late. IShouldntHave jammed the second bag into the first.

Everyone's game froze for a second, before continuing like nothing ever happened. 

"Uh..."

Then the screen flashed bright white, and a massive BOOM echoed across the server. The bags vanished, replaced by a swirling vortex of polygons and code fragments tearing through the ground. Objects were flung into the air as gravity itself seemed to unravel.

"YOU IDIOT!" Dandellion screamed as her was blown away, his avatar spinning like a pinwheel.

"WORTH IT!" IShouldntHave yelled triumphantly as he also got blown away.

"BEHOLD THE WRATH OF THE VOID!" Specter shouted gleefully as her prop tower collapsed on top of her "Ow!"

Somehow, the server didn't crash. When the chaos finally subsided, the players who survived found a swirling portal to where the two bags were. Props floated in midair, random sound effects played for no reason, and the textures of the world were... a little off.

"Well," Dandellion said, brushing pixelated debris off her kimono. "I think we broke reality. Again."

IShouldntHave stood up, dusting himself off with a satisfied smirk. "Totally worth it."

"Admin is going to kill us" the catgirl muttered.

Chapter Text

A few hours later, with Admin still AFK, the chaotic GMod server had settled into what could only be described as "organized anarchy."

Near the portal that had appeared in the aftermath of the Bag of Holding debacle, a group of curious players had gathered. The swirling vortex emitted a faint hum, occasionally spitting out harmless particles of light and glitchy code fragments.

"Alright," Dandellion said, arms crossed as she stared at the portal, her cat ears twitching nervously. "What is this thing?"

"It's obviously a portal!" Specter declared confidently, her wizard staff glowing faintly. She sat atop a pile of crates that was once her 'Tower of Eternity.'

"We're in a sandbox game. it's probably just a visual glitch" chimed in Baller_xx3, still wearing his construction helmet "Though... it is persistent, and I've never seen this texture before."

"I vote we go in," IShouldntHave said, already walking toward the portal.

"Of course you do," Dandellion groaned, grabbing him by the back of his cardboard armor before he could step through. "Do you have any idea what's on the other side? Could be another server. Could be instant death. Could be... I don't know... a C4 factory!"

"That would be awesome" IShouldntHave said, grinning "I'm gonna blow it up if it does!"

"How about we send a prop through first?" Baller suggested, spawning a random traffic cone.

The players all stepped back as Baller gently nudged the cone into the portal with the physics gun. It disappeared instantly, the portal rippling slightly in response.

"Okay..." Specter muttered, peering at the vortex. "Where did it go?"

The answer came a moment later when a distorted version of the cone came flying back out, spinning wildly through the air before embedding itself into the ground upside down.

Everyone stared at the vibrating cone in silence for a moment.

"Well, that's mildly concerning" Dandellion said.

"Mildly?" Baller replied as he raised his brow at the catgirl, while pointing at the cone as it started to hum ominously. Baller continued examining the swirling portal "The textures on that portal definitely don't look like they're from this game. Maybe someone added in a addon that we weren't aware about?"

"There's only one way to find out," IShouldntHave said, stepping toward the portal again.

"That is a terrible idea," Dandellion said, her cat ears twitching. "You don't even know what's on the other side!"

"That's the point!" IShouldntHave shot back, grinning. "It's like a mystery lootbox. Could be dragons. Could be cake. Could be dragons made of cake."

Specter, still perched on the pile of crates, waved her staff. "Go forth, brave pioneer! If you die, name your firstborn after me!"

"You don't have kids," Baller muttered.

With that, IShouldntHave sprinted forward and dove into the portal. The swirling vortex rippled violently, and for a moment, his avatar glitched out of existence.

"...He's dead" Baller said flatly.

ISH, or IShouldntHave, groaned, pushing himself up and shaking his head. "Okay... That hurt." He looked around, taking in his surroundings. "Huh. This doesn't look like a C4 factory. The map's way too detailed..."

The structures of Chernobog loomed above him, their architecture cracked and worn. Signs of battle littered the area, burnt-out vehicles, bolt-ridden walls, and the occasional body left in the pavement.

"This is some high-effort custom map" he muttered, adjusting his cardboard armor as he looked around "Is this Detroit?"

A sudden shout snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Halt! Identify yourself!"

ISH turned his head just in time to see a squad of masked Reunion soldiers aiming their weapons at him. Some carried crossbows while other carried blades.

"I won't ask again, who are you?!" 

"Huh, that's the first time an NPC initiated the dialogue..." Behind his cardboard helmet, ISH raised a brow "Names IShouldntHave! You guys are..?" 

The Reunion soldiers looked at each other, before turning back to the cardboard clad man. 

"Code name of some sorts..." 

"Which group are you from?" 

ISH tilted his head at the question "Group? Well, I'm a honorary member of the Science Team back at Flatgrass. What's up with the questions?"

The Reunion soldiers tensed at his response, clearly not recognizing the faction he mentioned. One of them, a taller man, stepped forward, gripping his crossbow tighter.

"Science Team of Flatgrass? I've never heard of that group before."

ISH crossed his arms. "The name of the server is actually Playground 24/7, but yeah, it's a pretty exclusive place. You need a decent ping to get in. I guess that doesn't matter to you since you guys aren't Players in the first place..."

The soldiers exchanged confused glances. The shorter one with a blade narrowed his eyes. "You're not Rhodes Island, and you're not with Ursus. But that armor—" He motioned to ISH's cardboard getup. "You look ridiculous."

ISH gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. "Wow, okay, rude. You guys are out here looking like... Like... Okay I got nothing, your outfits actually look good"

"Enough!" The lead soldier growled, raising his weapon. "I don't know what kind of joke you're trying to pull, but you're coming with us. If you resist, we'll put you down."

ISH blinked. Then a grin slowly formed beneath his helmet. "Oh, we're doing this the hard way, huh?"

The Reunion squad barely had time to react before ISH whipped out his gravity gun. With a flick of his wrist, he locked onto a nearby metal signpost and flung it forward.

WHAM!

The lead soldier took the full force of the sign to the chest and was launched off his feet, landing several feet away in a heap. The rest of the squad hesitated, stunned at the sheer absurdity of what just happened.

"Okay, your turn." ISH lunged forward, switching to his fists.

One soldier swung a blade at him. ISH ducked and grabbed the guy's arm, then spun him around before hurling him straight into his buddy. The two went down like ragdolls.

Another soldier pulled out a crossbow and fired, but ISH sidestepped effortlessly. He grabbed a discarded crate with his gravity gun and yeeted it. The crate shattered on impact, sending the attacker sprawling.

The last remaining Reunion fighter backed up, dropping his weapon. "W-WHAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGY IS THAT?!"

"Physics"

The soldier took another step back, his hands shaking. "You- you're not normal! What are you?!"

ISH tilted his head, rubbing his chin in exaggerated thought. "Well, my mom and the doctors IRL says I'm special. Does that count?" He shrugged. "Eh, whatever, I think I made my point. I'll be on my way now."

Without sparing another glance at the scattered, groaning Reunion troops, ISH turned and strolled off, hands behind his head.

The lone conscious soldier hesitated, looking between his fallen comrades and the bizarre man in cardboard armor walking away like he hadn't just folded half a squad in seconds. Deciding he wanted nothing to do with this madness, he grabbed one of the wounded and started dragging him to safety.

ISH, meanwhile, wandered through the ruined streets, casually kicking debris and occasionally picking up small objects with the gravity gun just to see how they reacted. The environment was strangely realistic. The lighting, the texture work—it was too high effort for a normal GMod map. He had seen some custom maps get crazy detailed before, but this was on another level.

"Man, whoever made this went all in on the aesthetic," he muttered, stepping over a shattered streetlight. "I gotta find the name of this map"

As he turned a corner, he spotted a large propaganda poster peeling off a nearby wall. It depicted Ursus soldiers standing proudly with weapons at hand. ISH squinted at it.

"...Okay, either someone's really dedicated to roleplay, or I've actually glitched into another game." He turned his head left and right before quietly adding, "That'd be kinda cool, actually."

He continued his leisurely stroll until he saw a familiar, swirling distortion up ahead- the portal.

"There you are, you funky little hole in reality!" ISH grinned, jogging toward it. "I gotta tell the others about this- oh man, Dandellion's gonna freak."

Without hesitation, he stepped through, vanishing in an instant. 

Perched atop of a crumbling building, a lone figure adjusted the binoculars, his breath steady as she observed the strange newcomer.

His white and black uniform bore the insignia of Rhodes Island, though he blended seamlessly with the ruined environment. The scout had been monitoring movements in this sector to guide the when the commotion caught his attention

What he hadn't expected was that.

He had seen the entire fight. The way the unknown combatant had effortlessly dismantled a Reunion squad with bizarre, almost physics-defying abilities. The strange glowing device he wielded. The way he casually tossed trained fighters around like ragdolls.

Then again, Arts existed. 

"I need to tell Captain Dobermann..." 

A group of operatives, clad in Rhodes Island's signature gear, moved swiftly through the ruins.

Their formation was tight, disciplined. Ace took point, his massive shield at the ready, while Guard flanked him, scanning the shadows for any sign of danger. Behind them, Amiya, the Doctor, and the team's medic stayed close, protected by the unnamed operatives covering their rear.

They had been moving for what felt like hours, constantly shifting routes to avoid Reunion patrols. Though their goal was simple- escort the Doctor to safety- the situation was growing worse by the minute, with the catastrophe looming above Chernobog.

"We're nearing your position" Ace muttered into his comms. "Scout, what's our status?"

A crackle came through the radio before the scout's voice answered, slightly out of breath.

"I spotted an unknown combatant near the sector you just passed through," the scout reported. "Not Reunion. He took out an entire squad on his own."

That made Ace stop. "What? One person?"

"Yes, sir" the scout confirmed. "And I mean took out- as in, it wasn't even a fight. He had some kind of device, something that let him throw objects like they were weightless. He barely used a weapon, just... moved things."

The team exchanged glances. Even for an elite fighter, taking down a squad of Reunion troops single-handedly was no small feat.

Dobermann frowned. "Are you certain it wasn't Arts?"

The scout hesitated. "...I don't know. If it was, it wasn't like anything I've seen before. No casting, no visual indicators. Just objects flying at high speeds.'"

Amiya's ears twitched as she absorbed the information. "That doesn't sound like any tech I've heard about..."

"Whatever it was, he wasn't allied with them," the scout continued. "He didn't kill them, just knocked them out and walked away. He seemed... casual about the whole thing, like none of it mattered."

Ace let out a low sigh, considering the implications.

"If he's not with Reunion or Ursus," Guard spoke up, "then who is he?"

The question hung in the air.

Dobermann exhaled sharply. "For now, it doesn't change our mission. We focus on getting the Doctor to safety. Scout, keep an eye out- if this combatant shows up again, we need to know if he's friend or foe."

"Understood," the scout acknowledged.

Ace took the lead once more, motioning the team forward. "Move out. We don't have time to waste."

And with that, Rhodes Island pressed onward through the burning city, unaware that the strange fighter in cardboard armor had already left Chernobog- if only for now.

Chapter Text

[Sometime, an Hour After ISH's Arrival]

Rhodes Island's squad carefully advanced through the park. The area was eerily quiet, with only the distant sounds of chaos echoing through the city. 

Amiya kept close to the Doctor, her eyes darting between the others and their surroundings.

"-The riots across the city are gradually being quelled thanks to the swift response of the trusted Ursus Guards..." 

"You've got to hand it to them. Coming up with a fake news like that..." 

Ace muttered as he turned off a small, crackling radio, his brow furrowed. He'd been listening to a broadcast for news, but the information sounded too calm, almost scripted.

The words seemed almost designed to calm anyone listening, to mask the true extent of the riots consuming the streets of Chernobog.

"Hard to believe the Ursus Guards would get pushed into a corner, though" replied Dobermann. 

The squad moved deeper into the park. The air smelled of burnt rubble, the ground littered with debris. They were getting closer to the rendezvous point now, the place where they would meet up with Scout and Nearl and finalize their plan to get the Doctor out of the city.

As they rounded a corner, they paused for a moment, taking stock of their surroundings. The space opened up into a larger clearing, where trees had been uprooted, their twisted roots jutting out from the cracked pavement. It was almost tranquil, but the stillness was unsettling.

"Stay sharp" Dobermann ordered, her voice low. "We're almost there."

As they moved further, the group slowed, taking in the eerie silence. Something wasn't right.

Ace was the first to raise his weapon. "Something's up. I can feel it."

Then they heard it.

A strange clanking noise echoed from the other side of the clearing, followed by the sound of... humming?

Dobermann raised a fist, signaling the squad to stop. She narrowed her eyes, scanning in front of her for any movement.

From behind a crumbling park bench, a bizarre figure stumbled into view. A man wearing... cardboard? His 'armor' consisted of duct-taped plates of the material, scrawled with marker-drawn patterns meant to resemble actual protection. On his head sat a crude, hand-cut cardboard helmet with eye holes punched through.

He was dragging a metal stop sign behind him, the edge of it slightly dented.

Ace stared. "...What the hell?"

The Rhodes Island squad stood frozen, processing the absurd sight before them. The cardboard-clad man, still wheezing with laughter, finally seemed to notice them. He straightened up, lifting the battered stop sign like a makeshift weapon.

"Oh hey, new NPCs!" he said, sounding almost delighted. "I was starting to think this map was empty outside of the angry guys."

A couple of the unnamed operatives glanced at each other, one even asked what an NPC was, but all he received was a shrug.

Dobermann narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

The man straightened up and dramatically pointed at himself. "I am IShouldntHave! Honorary member of the Playground 24/7 Science Team, holder of the official 'Likely to Die First' award, and-" He paused "-Right, I shouldn't hog the introductions. You guys are?"

Amiya and the others just stared.

Ace was the first to break the silence. "...What?"

"Look, long story short, I just had a ruin-in with some psycho child along with some dudes in masks. They weren't great at it, though," ISH continued. "I'm doing a no heal run to see how hard this map is. It's so-so so far"

Rhodes Island's squad remained still, trying to process what they were looking at. IShouldntHave, in his glorious cardboard armor, stood there confidently.

Amiya blinked. "Um... you fought Reunion?"

"So that's what they're called..." ISH gave a proud nod. "Yeah, I did! They were real confused, too. Especially after I started chucking crates at them. Physics! They never saw it coming."

"Right. And you're... not with Reunion?" Ace asked, cautiously lowering his weapon but keeping it ready.

ISH scoffed. "Nah. I got no idea what their deal is, but they weren't exactly friendly. Didn't even respond to my 'hello there'." He crossed his arms. "Poor etiquette, honestly."

Before Dobermann could respond, the sound of footsteps echoed from further down the park path. Unlike the heavy boots of Reunion or the cautious approach of Rhodes Island, these steps were... theatrical. Each step sounded deliberate, like someone wanted to be heard.

Then came the voice.

"Finally caught up to you IShouldntHave!" the robed player said, then she noticed the group "Ah, fellow wanderers! Fear not, for you are graced by the presence of Specter_404 the Grrrrrrand Magus!"

ISH groaned. "Specter, we talked about the voice."

"Silence! The All-Knowing requires gravitas!"

Ace let out a long sigh. "Oh great. Another one."

"Behold!" Specter_404 flourished her staff, and began to do dramatic poses. "I am the All-Knowing! Master of the Arcane, Weaver of-"

Dobermann exhaled. "Enough of the nonsense. What are you two actually doing here?"

ISH and Specter_404 exchanged glances.

"Well" ISH started, "we were exploring the map when some really angry NPCs tried to stab me. I figured, 'Hey, that's kinda rude,' so I hit them with a stop sign."

Specter_404 nodded. "And I have come seeking those in need of my divine protection!" She struck a heroic pose, the plastic orb on her staff flickering slightly.

Amiya, still trying to remain professional, asked, "So... you're not with Ursus or Reunion?"

ISH scratched his head. "I mean, I guess not? We just kinda exist here right now."

"Yeah," Specter_404 added. "We've taken on the noble quest of ensuring the safety of the realm's innocent townsfolk!"

Ace raised a brow. "Townsfolk?"

"I think she means the civilians..." Guard spoke up.

Amiya's ears perked up. "You've been helping the citizens?"

"Well, not me. Specter does. I'm just here exploring" ISH pointed at Specter_404 with his thumb "She just tagged along"

Specter_404 planted her staff into the ground dramatically. "Indeed! As a Grrrrrrrrand Magus, I have taken it upon myself to safeguard the innocent!"

Amiya was about to press further when her earpiece crackled to life.

"This is Scout. We're approaching the rendezvous point. Status?"

Dobermann immediately responded. "We've encountered... potential allies. Still evaluating. It's the man wearing cardboard you mentioned and a friend of his, I presume"

"...Be careful. If they seem suspicious, don't take risks."

Amiya frowned, glancing between ISH and Specter_404. They were odd, sure- no, beyond odd. But if they'd truly helped civilians escape, then they weren't enemies.

Amiya hesitated for a moment, then turned back to ISH and Specter_404. "So, you've been helping the civilians escape. Where exactly did you take them?"

Specter_404 puffed out her chest "Ah, the details of my heroism! I led them to safety, away from the conflict. A place of sanctuary!" She twirled her staff dramatically, causing the orb at the top to flicker again. "Where none may harm them, and no foe can reach us!"

Ace looked unconvinced, glancing at Dobermann. "A place of sanctuary, huh? Can you be more specific?"

ISH scratched his head. "Yeah, you know. We took over the nearest house to that building over there" ISH pointed at the building at the far distance. 

The operatives glanced at the building ISH was pointing at. 

"The Chernobog Command Tower?" Dobermann muttered.

"We were planning to take over that tower too after this whole event blows away. We also met up some guys with riot gears. They weren't too happy at first, but we cleared things up real quick. Now they're cool with us." He waved his hand dismissively, clearly uninterested in the details. "They got a perimeter set up and everything."

"You met some Ursus Guards?" 

Specter_404 nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely! And they're not the angry white ones like Reunion. They were much more- what's the word?- Organized. I trust them with the civilians' safety."

Ace frowned, crossing his arms. "If you're both here, then who's actually guarding the safe zone? The Ursus Guards are good, but they did get pushed back by Reunion"

ISH waved a hand. "Relax, relax. There were five of us total. Three of 'em stayed behind to keep the place locked down. I figured I'd go exploring, while Specter_404 here wants to find more civilians to save for her good karma." He shrugged. "Gotta see what this map has to offer, y'know?"

"Three?" Dobermann asked skeptically. "Who exactly are they?"

ISH started counting on his fingers. "Well, there's Shigishigashiga, she's the one actually organizing things. Real serious girl. Then there's Baller, who's mostly just there because he likes setting up barricades and seeing if NPCs can pathfind around them. And finally, Dandellion. She does... Dandellion things."

Ace sighed. "That doesn't tell us much."

ISH shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? They're doing their job."

Amiya exhaled. They still didn't have the full picture, but if these three were keeping civilians safe, it was better than nothing. "Alright. You mentioned a perimeter- how strong is it? If Reunion comes in force, can they hold out?"

Specter_404 planted her staff in the ground. "Fear not! For the defenses we have set shall withstand any siege!"

ISH nodded. "Yeah, Baller kinda went overboard. We found a construction site nearby, so we borrowed some materials we couldn't find in our spawner. Walls, barriers, even some traps. Shigi's got the locals in check, and Dandellion... Well she did mention she was going to make a 'tentacle pit', and I don't wanna ask questions."

Amiya decided it was better not to. "If they're keeping the civilians safe, that's good, but we have another objective." She turned to ISH and Specter_404. "We need to meet up with our other teams. Can you guide us through the area?"

Dobermann whispered to Amiya "Are you sure we can trust them?"

Amiya hesitated for a moment before answering. The two in front of her were undeniably strange- more than strange- but so far, they hadn't shown any signs of hostility. If anything, they seemed... harmless? No, that wasn't the right word. Unpredictable was more accurate.

She whispered back, "I don't know, but if they're really helping civilians, we can't just ignore them. And right now, we need to reach Scout and Nearl."

Dobermann's expression was unreadable, but she gave a slight nod. "Then we stay cautious. If anything seems off, we cut them loose."

Amiya turned back to ISH and Specter_404. "Can you guide us?"

ISH grinned. "Yeah, sure. I mean, I only got stabbed twice coming here, so it's probably fine."

The medic in the team perked up "Do you need some help?" 

ISH waved her off "Nah, it's fine. I'll walk it off" 

The medic stepped forward, already reaching for her medical kit, her expression filled with concern. "I just need to check if your wounds are properly treated. You said you got stabbed twice"

ISH took a dramatic step back, holding up his hands. "No need! It's all part of the experience. Gotta keep things authentic, y'know?"

The medic frowned. "Authentic?"

Specter_404 nodded sagely. "Indeed! A true warrior embraces hardship and perseveres! Besides, his health bar hasn't hit red yet."

"Healthbar?" The Doctor turned to Amiya, who shook her head as she didn't know what that is.

The medic wasn't having any of it, though. "Even if you're still standing, untreated wounds can get infected. Just let me check-"

ISH took another step back. "Nope! I'm all good, promise. Besides, worst case scenario, I just ragdoll and respawn!"

Amiya, Dobermann, and the rest of the squad exchanged glances. They didn't quite understand what the goof in cardboard was talking about, but didn't question it.

The medic sighed, clearly frustrated but unwilling to force the issue. "Fine. But if you start collapsing, don't expect me to just let you walk it off."

ISH gave a thumbs-up. "Deal!"

Dobermann shook her head. "We don't have time for this"

"Alrighty!" ISH turned around, cracking his knuckles. "Follow me!"

As he started leading the way, Specter_404 walked beside him, waving her staff like a conductor leading an orchestra.

Ace leaned toward Guard and muttered, "I still have a bad feeling about this."

Guard sighed. "At least they're not shooting at us."

"For now

ISH led the way, casually swinging his stop sign over his shoulder, while Specter_404 hummed an off-key tune, occasionally pausing to dramatically wave her staff at nothing in particular.

Despite their eccentricities, they knew the park's layout surprisingly well.

Amiya found herself torn between relief and lingering unease. These two acted like fools, but they clearly knew things. They had fought Reunion and survived. They had set up a safe zone. And somehow, they acted like this was all just... a game.

Dobermann, walking beside her, kept her eyes locked on the two in front. "They're too calm," she whispered. "Even veterans get tense in situations like this."

"I know," Amiya murmured back. "But for now, they're helping us."

Suddenly the two GMod players and the Doctor stopped in their tracks.

"What's wrong?" Amiya asked. 

"My bad, this mist is making my game lag. 10 FPS, goddamn..." replied ISH.

"Lag?"

Specter_404 waved a hand in front of her, watching as the thickening mist swirled unnaturally. "Ah, yes, the ominous fog of doom. Classic atmosphere-building technique." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "But this feels extra ominous."

"The mist is getting thicker." The Doctor noted.

Dobermann nodded, raising her weapon. "Enemy Arts..?"

"Form a circle" Ace ordered "All combatants form up around the stretcher"

"Roger" the operatives did as they were told.

The doctor looked at the device at his (her?) hands, as a robotic voice spoke through it.

"No hostile target in sight- status updated. Enemy drone in sight"

"Got vidya in your phone?" ISH said as he suddenly appeared right beside the Doctor. Surprisingly, the Doctor wasn't startled. 

Up above, the two R.I drones were destroyed.

"All friendly scout drones have been hit and expired"

ISH squinted his eyes at the sky, just to see a drone attached with a gun were heading towards them.

"All units, under the trees! Quick!" Dobermann barked her orders, the operatives quickly scrambled into their feet and got into cover. The two GMod players were now the only ones standing at the open "What are you two doing?!" 

"We go this, no worries!" Specter_404 said, ISH dropped the street sign and equipped his PhysGun. 

Up above, the drone began to shoot at them. ISH barely reacted to the incoming fire. Instead, he casually aimed his PhysGun at the drone, its signature blue beam latching onto the flying machine mid-air.

The bullets stopped.

The drone jerked unnaturally, frozen in place.

"Easy peasy" ISH said as he began pulling the drone down with the PhysGun. 

"Lies! I can tell you had a hard time aiming!" Specter_404 replied.

"Yeah, cuz I'm at 10 FPS, doofus" 

ISH turned around to face Dobermann and the rest, only to see nothing. The mist was thicker than before.

"Hmm... Would be a lot more scarier if the mist was red..." 

"Red Mist?! Red Mist mentioned!" 

"Goddamn it"

Chapter Text

As ISH and Specter_404 bickered, the mist thickened to the point that visibility dropped to nearly nothing. The sounds of gunfire and hurried movement faded into eerie silence.

ISH sighed, rubbing his temple. "Okay, yeah, no, I'm not dealing with this fog. Specter, you got anything?"

Specter_404 dramatically swung her staff in a circle before planting it into the ground. "Fear not! For I, the Grand Magus, shall purge this vile sorcery!"

ISH turned to her. "Okay, but actually, do you got anything?"

Specter_404 shrugged. "Eh, maybe. Let's try brute force first."

ISH lifted his PhysGun and began wildly clicking at the mist, as if trying to grab onto it. The blue beam flickered, scanning the air with no effect.

"Hmm. Can't grab it. Lame."

Specter_404, on the other hand, switched to her Tool Gun, scrolled through her options, and then suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh! I got it!"

Before ISH could ask what she was planning, Specter_404 pointed her Tool Gun at the mist and fired.

Click!

A notification briefly flickered in front of them.

[Specter_404] has deleted an object (Crownslayer's Mist)

The thick, choking fog instantly dissipated, vanishing as if it had never existed. The area was clear once more.

ISH whistled. "Nice."

Crownslayer, standing over the Doctor just moments before, froze as the mist vanished in an instant. Her masked eyes widened. What... what just happened?

This mist was her Arts. It was supposed to conceal her presence, obscure vision, and disorient her foes. Yet, it was just... gone.

She spun around, scanning for an explanation, and found two figures standing casually in the clearing. One wore a crude cardboard helmet and held a glowing blue weapon, while the other was draped in robes, holding some kind of strange staff.

Both of them looked far too relaxed.

ISH gave her a small wave. "Yo. Nice weather today, huh?"

Specter_404 pointed her staff at Crownslayer. "Villain! Release thine captive at once, lest you face the wrath of-"

ISH nudged her. "Hey, we already deleted her smokescreen, let's not give her a chance to run."

"Oh, right. Uh..." Specter_404 took a step forward and raised her hand. "Surrender, fiend!"

Crownslayer tensed. These people weren't Reunion. They weren't Rhodes Island either, as far as she knew. But they had just erased her mist like it was nothing.

She had no idea what kind of powers they possessed... and she wasn't about to find out.

With a sharp movement, Crownslayer vanished in a blur of motion, retreating before anyone could react.

ISH blinked. "Huh. She's fast."

Specter_404 huffed. "Bah! Coward!"

With the mist gone, Rhodes Island operatives quickly re-emerged, weapons raised, scanning the area.

"Amiya! Doctor!" Dobermann called out. "Report!"

The Doctor, still sitting where Crownslayer had left them, slowly got up and dusted themselves off. "...A Reunion member tried to interrogate me, but I was saved thanks to ISH and Specter."

"Interrogate?" Ace repeated, eyes narrowing. "Then Reunion really is targeting the Doctor. Or at least, one of their officer is."

Dobermann kept scanning the area, tense. "We must move immediately. If she was here, that means-"

A slow clap echoed through the ruined streets.

"My, my. That was quite the performance" a sickly sweet voice called out.

Rhodes Island turned to see a figure stepping out from the shadows, flanked by a squad of Reunion soldiers in tattered gear. White hair, a pristine uniform, his unsettling smile never wavered.

Amiya's expression darkened. "Mephisto..."

"Oh? So formal!" Mephisto chuckled, spreading his arms. "And here I thought we were becoming old friends! After all, we keep running into each other."

He tilted his head, gaze flicking to the two strangers standing beside the Doctor. "And who might you be? More of Rhodes Island's precious little heroes?"

ISH scratched his head. "Who's this clown?"

Specter_404 gasped. "Oh! I know this one! It's the generic sadistic anime villain with a fragile ego! Lemme guess, he's gonna monologue about how weak we are before sending his minions at us?"

Mephisto's eye twitched. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, oh! And then he'll get all smug, but the moment things go wrong, he'll throw a tantrum and start screaming about how we dare to oppose him!" Specter_404 continued.

Ace and Dobermann just stared at them, clearly unamused.

Amiya, meanwhile, was watching Mephisto carefully. His smile was still there, but the tension in his posture was unmistakable.

"...How annoying." Mephisto said, his tone colder now.

"Thank you!" Specter_404 beamed.

Mephisto's expression darkened, and with a single motion of his hand, Reunion soldiers raised their weapons.

"Tch. Kill them."

With that command, the battlefield erupted into chaos.

The Reunion soldiers rushed forward, only for one of them to suddenly go flying backward as a metal pipe smashed against him.

"I should've bought my soundboard!" ISH said, as he switched to a crowbar and charged at the forces. 

With a metallic clang, he slammed the crowbar into another Reunion soldier's helmet, sending them staggering backward.

Specter_404 on the other hand, stayed at the back. She lifted her staff in the air and began waving it around. 

"With this magic... I summon thee!" She switched to her tool gun and began spawning a couple of Combine soldiers "Go forth, my minions!"

"Ȑ̸͓̝̜͎̤͒̉̚ő̵̫͖̿g̸̥͚̻̫͂͜ę̶̭̗̏͗͜r̴̳̩̄̆ ̵̱̰͔͗r̵̨̫̠̀̒̍͠͠o̷̫̝̞̿̍g̷͇͙͇̼͉̈́͆͆͌̆ȅ̷̬͉͕̀͆̏r̷͕͈̫͖̽̌!̸͕̻̤̬̟̈́̓͠"

Dobermann had seen a lot in her time, but this was something else entirely.

"...Are those men appearing out of thin air? Using guns, too." she muttered, watching in stunned disbelief as Specter_404 casually summoned a squad of  uniformed soldiers armed with sleek rifles.

Amiya blinked. "W-what kind of Arts is that?!"

Ace, more pragmatic than curious, watched as the newly spawned soldiers opened fire. "Doesn't matter. If they're shooting at Reunion, they're on our side."

Reunion forces hesitated for a brief moment as the mysterious armed troops suddenly took position, raising their weapons in unison.

Then came the gunfire.

Tat-tat-tat!

Bullets ripped through the battlefield as Specter_404's summoned forces engaged, moving with unnerving coordination. Bullets tore through Reunion forces as they barely had any time to react.

Some attempted to fire back, only to realize too late that these new enemies had flawless reaction times and eerily synchronized movements.

One Reunion fighter scrambled behind a fallen car for cover, only for ISH to yank the entire vehicle into the air with his PhysGun.

"NO NO NO NO-"

ISH launched the car like a makeshift projectile, sending the unfortunate soldier flying with it.

CRASH!

Dobermann, still locked in disbelief, turned to the Doctor. "You're seeing this too, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded, expression unreadable. "...Yes."

Amiya, usually the one keeping a level head, found herself struggling to process what she was witnessing. "This... This isn't normal. What kind of abilities are those?"

Specter_404 cackled as her Combine forces advanced, their rifle fire suppressing the remaining Reunion fighters. "Magic, my dear Amiya!"

Ace ducked behind cover as arrows whizzed past. "If that's magic, then I'm a damn Lungmenite" he muttered. He peeked over the cover, watching as one of Specter_404's 'soldiers' effortlessly headshotted a fleeing Reunion member without missing a beat. "Those guys are way too precise."

Mephisto twitched slightly. His fingers curled, his eyes rolling upward as he tried to process what just happened.

This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

He was supposed to be the one overwhelming the enemy, laughing as they flailed in desperation.

And yet...

Another one of his men got sent flying as ISH spawned in a bathtub midair, letting gravity do the rest.

A group of Reunion soldiers attempted to regroup, only for Specter_404 to suddenly switch to an RPG and shot it towards the gathered Reunion soldiers. 

"Explosion!" Specter_404 said. 

Specter_404's RPG blast rocked the air, a thunderous explosion erupting where a cluster of Reunion fighters had huddled. Debris and sparks filled the clearing, and a shocked silence briefly fell over the battlefield.

Amiya's ears twitched, her brain stuttering as she watched one of Specter_404's minions, those soldiers in blue, take a crossbow bolt to the face, not even flinch, and continue shooting with machine-like precision.

"Ḯ̷̱͓s̸̳͆ ̴̪̓i̷̛̛̲̱̣̲͋͋ṯ̴̈ ̵̢͍̳͈̏̆j̵͉͙̈́̈̚͝u̴̧̯̩̒͜s̶͕̄̊t̶̘̥̒̅̕͘ ̶̜̰̔́̄̂ṃ̴̤̼̹̏̀̐e̸̖̭̙̟̊̏̈͘ ̶͇̕o̸̻͕̫̔͋͜r̶̢̟̱̒ ̷̮͊͝a̸͍͓̾r̷͎̐̾ȅ̷̺̂̀͗ ̸̪̦̗̍̓̏̄t̵͍̜̣̿̅ḩ̷̍̄̈e̵͕̱̿̓̔͒y̸̨͍̠͂͋͌͠ ̵̬͒͒̊͝j̷͎̤̙̬́͑̏ū̴͍̰̣͋́s̶̡̺͐̋t̴̜̝͊̇ ̷̞͇͗p̴̼̣͕͗̔i̸͉͓͒͑s̷̢͔̙͗͝s̶̹͒͆̓͛ ̵̢͗è̵̲̬̣̘̚̚a̴͇͖̎̍s̵͎̮͕̀̈́̀́͜y̶͔̘̼̅͝?̵̲̗̻̟̊̓̽" one combine soldier said, taking cover as he reloaded.

"N̶̮͒̎͑ȍ̷͉̞͎̫̊̕ ̵̲̹̼͙͌̆c̴̻̅͘ͅh̷̥̑̋i̵̮̾͑͊̚t̸̲̎-̶̬̔̎̑̈c̷̮͔̓̽h̷͎̤̀̾̽̕a̴̢̙͕̰̓̐͒t̶̟̩͖͛̕͠,̶̛̯̫̈̈́͜ ̷̦͇́́u̶̬̰̚ņ̵͙̠͋̓̾l̸̝̇͛e̸̠̗͗ṣ̵̢̌s̶̈́͜ ̵̗̈́̀y̷̢͖̞͎̽̏̋ớ̷̝̣̞͂̈ū̴͎̓ ̵͕̲̮̀̃w̶̯͗̽̽̋a̵͕̺͇̕n̵̼̗̅̈́t̶͚͓͖̭͗̃̔́ ̶̻̫͎̓̀b̴̗̺̄̈́o̶̺͑s̸̢͖̄̈͝s̶̠͂̇̎ ̵̤͍̈́̐l̶̛̪͊͗a̴̪̘̼̤͗̔d̷̹̮̹̒̔̍̓y̵̜̯͎̏̀̓͜ ̷̢̃͆͝t̶̙̋́̌́o̷͚̎̃͜ ̴̛̪̪̐̒p̵̖̖̬͍͋ĕ̸̡͈̻͎̀̈ğ̷̟̺ ̸̠̜͋͒̾̈y̶̗͎͘ō̶͕͗͘u̴͚̠͋͜͝͝ ̷̰̂͂̋l̵̟͎̥̽͝ą̶͔͚͋ţ̷̗̪̓̑͜ē̶̟͖̖̈̔r̵͙̦̖̬͂͑"

"Ŗ̷̭̼͌͛͂͠ỏ̸̧͚̟g̵̙̰̑͑ͅe̴̡͈͊̔̄̀r̶̢̟͇̤͒̿͑ ̶͍̥̓͑̈́̒r̴̛͉̯̈́ọ̵̜̖̔̑͜͝g̴͖̣̈́̐͊e̵̿ͅŗ̸̦̬̑"

At this point, all that's left of Mephisto's units were a small handful of footsoldiers, and casters and crossbowmen that were at the back, who also lost some people during the initial spawning of Specter_404's minions.

Then, all of a sudden, a crossbow bolt with a purple trail hit a Combine soldier at the chest, killing him. The rest of the squad got into cover, and looked around to find where that shot came from.

ISH saw the sniper with the help of his camera zoom. Perched at the tree branches, thinking he still wasn't found, he began to load another bolt. 

"Yo. Remove that direction" ISH pointed at the direction of the sniper.

Faust remained hidden. His role was not to stand among them but to strike from the shadows. One shot. Another shot. Each bolt found its mark, whittling down the enemy with practiced efficiency.

Then, a flicker of movement.

His gut twisted. They've spotted me.

He heard a voice "Yo, remove that direction"

His grip tightened on the crossbow. Someone- or something -had pinpointed his location. A Combine soldier turned, lifting his weapon toward his perch.

Time to go.

Faust moved without hesitation, pushing off the branch and landing in a crouch. He sprinted through the treetops, bolts still loaded in his weapon but no longer fired. Staying risk of death. He wasn't going to be a martyr.

Mephisto would understand.

All he needs to do is find another place to snipe...

A Reunion caster, one of the few left standing, turned to Mephisto with desperation in his voice. "Sir, we need to retreat! We can't fight this- whatever this is!"

Mephisto didn't respond immediately. His gaze locked onto one of Specter_404's 'soldiers' as it methodically lined up another shot, its movements unnervingly mechanical. The crossbow bolt it had taken to the face earlier still jutted from its helmet, completely ignored.

"Tch." Mephisto clenched his jaw, forcing himself to swallow his rage. He hated this. Hated the feeling of being outmatched, of being made to run. But even he wasn't foolish enough to fight a losing battle.

 With a sharp breath, he forced his lips into a smirk, masking the humiliation clawing at his insides. He turned sharply, his fingers glowing faintly with Arts energy. "All remaining units, fall back! Move towards the next sector!"

The remaining Reunion members wasted no time scrambling away, some throwing down their weapons to flee faster. Specter_404's minions made no move to chase them. They simply stood there, silent and motionless, their glowing visors watching as the battered remnants of Mephisto's unit disappeared into the ruined streets.

Ace let out a breath, lowering his shield slightly as he watched Reunion retreat. "Damn," he muttered. "That was... something else."

"...Ace," Amiya started carefully, "Have you ever seen soldiers like this before?"

Ace shook his head, running a hand over his helmet. "Can't say I have. Not even in Lungmen. They're too precise, too coordinated. And those weapons, they're nothing like what I've seen anywhere on Terra."

Specter_404, meanwhile, seemed entirely unconcerned by their reactions. She was whistling to herself, casually slinging her RPG back over her shoulder as if she hadn't just caused utter devastation with it.

"So," she said, turning to the Rhodes Island operators with an easy grin. "What's the plan, boss? We pushing forward, or are we gonna stand around gawking at my boys all day?"

Amiya exhaled, forcing herself to refocus. Now wasn't the time for hesitation.

"...We push forward," she said firmly. "But Specter_404, ISH, we need to talk after this."

Specter_404 chuckled. "Sure, sure. We'll have a nice little chat later."

"Alright. I've got a lot of free time, so..." ISH trailed off. 

The silence that followed was broken by the crackling of a nearby radio. One of Specter_404's soldiers turned its head slightly, static hissing from its helmet's speakers before a garbled voice came through.

"B̴̡̰͇̽͝õ̸̪̋͛͒s̶̡̥͔̅̋̌͘͜s̸̙̙͊͊̑͘,̴̞̘͚̃ ̷̳̞͠͝w̴̡͍͈̐̋̽e̶̹̬̠̻̓ ̷̧͎̙̓͜h̵͉̓̊a̶̖̠̟̠͝v̶̗̼̖͔̍̈e̵͚̤̐̓ ̴̤̻̯̈͗ͅi̵̩͐̏͐̈́ṇ̶͔̀c̶͓̩̽͆͜͝͝ȯ̶̲̅̕m̶̨̦̞̠̒̾͘ǐ̵̮̟̗͈̈́n̷̦̣̼̾̆g̶̜̾͛.̶̰̺̔̊ ̵͖̑̽T̸͎̍̎ḧ̴͇̈́e̷͍͒̄ȳ̴̨̥̜̱͆ ̵͙͒ḍ̶̭̑̈́õ̸̙̤̦͖͗́͑ ̴̦̠̩͗͂̅̚ǹ̴͉̩̖̝ȏ̴̠̓t̴̛̜̣̜͆ ̶̜͛l̵̖̖̰̫̿͝o̴͈̖̮̪͐̋̒̂o̶̼̞̪̅̐̽̓k̵̺̗͈̗̈́̓̔ ̵̝̻̍̇̂ḷ̵͓̋̃͆͠į̴̹̲̜̌k̴̙̆e̵͚͔͖͛̓̓̾ ̸̛̗t̸͕̞̯̒̔̋h̵͉̗̝̜̏̊̈́͘e̶͚͆̚ͅ ̴̠̹̇ȏ̶̭́̊n̷̟̘͕͗̇e̷̢̩͎̣̒͝s̴̫̼̘̍͋͜ ̸̦̩̝̂̇́w̵̛̗̭͖̑͐̂e̵̞͖̹͎̐ ̶̞̠͊ǰ̵̘̝͊̍ṳ̷̯̝̏͑̒͝s̸̖̹͕̀ţ̷̻̩͙̄͊ ̸̛͉͔͗f̷̙̗͈̽̃͠o̴̟̦̿̒̌ͅư̸̪͌͜͝g̵͔̀͋͊̈ḣ̷̝̫͙͔̑̌͠t̶̢̺̫̔́͘"

Specter_404's grin widened. "Oh? More guests?"

"What is it?" Dobermann asked. "What did he say?"

Specter_404 tilted her head, looking entirely too pleased with the news. "He says we've got company. And they're not Reunion."

Amiya's ears perked up, and she instinctively reached for her earpiece. "Rhodes Island to all nearby operators, does anyone have a visual on the incoming group?"

Before anyone could answer, movement from their side caught their attention. Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed against the cracked pavement. Emerging from the haze of dust and smoke were two figures. One clad in bright white and black, the other in dark tactical gear.

Amiya's breath hitched. "That's..."

Nearl strode forward, her imposing presence unmistakable. Even battered from the battle, the knight still carried herself with unwavering strength. Beside her, Scout moved with calculated precision, his rifle at the ready, eyes scanning the scene for threats.

The moment Nearl spotted the group, her expression softened just a fraction. "Amiya," she called, relief evident in her voice. "You're safe."

Amiya nodded, but her focus quickly shifted to Scout. His attention wasn't on her. It was on Specter_404, and more specifically ISH and the unmoving soldiers behind her.

"...What the hell am I looking at?" Scout muttered, his grip tightening around his weapon.

Nearl followed his gaze, her brow furrowing. "Who are they?"

Specter_404 beamed. "Oh, them? Just my minions."

Neither Nearl nor Scout looked convinced.

Nearl dropped it though "We'll talk about it later. For now, let's get to safety"

"You got a place in mind?" Amiya asked.

Nearl nodded. "There's a safehouse not far from here. It was set up to shelter civilians caught in the fighting. We can rest there."

At the mention of a safehouse, ISH perked up. "Oh? Who set it up?"

"Outsiders of unknown faction. They showed up during the chaos and took it upon themselves to help. They barricaded the place and is guarded by them and a few Ursus Guards" Nearl glanced at him, slightly thrown off by his sudden interest. "We happened to came across them on our way here."

ISH and Specter_404 exchanged glances.

"Does the master of the safest of houses happen to have a tape on her mouth? Does she have a companion with cat ears?" Specter_404 asked.

"Yes. Do you know them?" 

"Know her? Hell yeah!" ISH turned to Amiya and Dobermann "They're the guys I told you about. Shigi and Dandellion. Shigi is the muted shorty with an attitude, and Dandellion is the serious one. By the way, from the way you said that, you haven't met Baller? You know, guy with the hardhat?" 

"I'm afraid not" Nearl frowned "Though, what you said about the other two lines up."

With that, the group pressed forward, staying alert as they navigated the ruined streets of Chernobog.

Inside the fortified building, the atmosphere was tense but orderly. Ursus civilians huddled in groups, whispering amongst themselves, while a handful of Ursus Guards stood at their posts, weapons at the ready. Makeshift barricades made from scavenged debris, furniture, and things spawned from the GModders blocked the entrances. 

 At the center of it all stood Shigishigashiga, known simply as Shigi to those who knew her. Dressed in a Adidas tracksuit and pants, her mouth was completely covered with heavy-duty tape. 

 Beside her, Dandellion looked at the crude barricades with a raised brow. "I'm pretty sure this won't hold if we don't weld them." She said.

 Shigi's eyes narrowed at the suggestion. Although she couldn't speak, her glare was sharper than any curse. She rolled her eyes dramatically and snorted, her attitude screaming defiance despite the tape muffling every word.

 One of the civilians shifted uncomfortably. "Is there a reason she's taped up like that?" 

 "Uh, yes. She can't stop saying certain gamer words, so..." Dandellion trailed off. 

 The Ursus Guard who had been standing nearby grunted. "It can't be that bad." 

Shigi's eyes gleamed with malicious intent. She raised both hands and made rapid, deliberate gestures. The kind that felt less like sign language and more like an interpretive dance of absolute depravity. 

 The guard frowned. "What is she-"

Dandellion sighed. "She's signing insults. Really bad ones."

The Ursus Guard squinted. "I don't know sign language, but I feel like I'm being threatened."

A nervous civilian edged closer. "Um, excuse me... What did she say?"

"I'd rather not translate it"

A young guard, still wary, shifted his stance. "I... I don't understand these... outsiders," he mumbled, eyeing the duo. "Are you... friendly?"

Dandellion shrugged. "I don't know about Shigi, but me and Baller are definitely friendly."

"Baller... That guy with the hardhat? Where did he go?" one of the Ursus Guards asked.

"Most likely going around Chernburg ogling at the architecture. Don't worry, he can handle himself." Dandellion answered. 

"It's pronounced Chernobog..." a civilian muttered under her breath. 

Dandellion waved dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, Cherno-borg, Cherno-burg, Cherno-whatever. I'm not some nerd like IShouldntHave."

Meanwhile, Shigi, having been momentarily ignored, dramatically sat onto one of the crates that was blocking the entrance. She tapped her fingers against the crate in boredom before lazily pointing at one of the civilians.

The poor man froze. "...What?"

Shigi slowly, deliberately, pointed at his jacket.

The civilian blinked, looking down at his old, tattered Ursus-issued coat. "Uh... what about it?"

Dandellion glanced over. "Oh. She wants to know if that's military surplus or if you just found it."

The man hesitated. "...Military."

Shigi nodded. Then she pointed at another person's boots.

"Also military."

Shigi nodded again.

Then she pointed at the Ursus Guard's weapon.

"...Military."

Shigi gave a thumbs-up, then dramatically gestured at all of them and shrugged.

Dandellion sighed. "She's asking why y'all look like a damn roleplay server."

A stunned silence filled the room.

The civilians and guards exchanged glances, unsure if they had just been mocked.

One of the younger guards bristled. "We are soldiers of Ursus! We're not- whatever it is you just said!"

"Shigi. Maybe the developer of this map just really like military. Don't think too much about it" Dandellion said. She sat down on the floor 

"What are you even talking about?!"

Ignoring the young man, Dandellion continued. "Well, I guess we'll just wait here and let things blow over, or if something happens"

A moment later, the sound of deliberate knocking echoed through the safehouse doorway. The sound was punctuated by a faint, off-key hum that seemed to mix with the clatter of metal and static.

"Hey, tis' I! Open up! I have bought allies!" came a voice.

Dandellion sighed "Shigi go open the door. I just sat down, and I really don't feel standing up right now"

Shigi flipped off Dandellion.

Chapter Text

The room was dimly lit, illuminated only by the pale glow of lanterns and the occasional flicker of outside fires. Rhodes Island's operators had set up a temporary command post inside a secure building, its interior lined with maps, makeshift supply caches, and the tense presence of armed personnel.

Nearl stood at the head of the group, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. Beside her, Scout and Dobermann analyzed a rough sketch of the city's streets, marking known safe zones and contested areas.

Amiya sat quietly, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the table as she processed everything they had learned.

Scout leaned forward, arms crossed over the rough wooden surface. "So let's go over this again." His voice was even, but there was a clear edge of skepticism. "These people, who originated from a place called Playground Twenty-Four-Seven, appeared in the middle of a violent Reunion riot. They fortified a safehouse, helped civilians, and showed no direct hostility toward us or Ursus civilians and personnel."

Nearl nodded. "That much is certain. Their methods are unconventional, but their actions so far indicate no ill intent. At least, for the time being."

"Has anyone heard about Playground Twenty-Four-Seven?" The amnesiac Doctor asked "It's a strange name for a place, much less a faction"

Dobermann shook her head. "No. I have not heard of any group, faction, or city by that name."

Scout tapped his fingers against the table as he exhaled sharply. "Then we're dealing with an unknown element."

Amiya glanced toward Nearl. "What about the civilians? What do they say?"

Nearl crossed her arms. "From what I've gathered, most of the Ursus civilians and guards don't know what to make of it. They claim to be helping, but their behavior is erratic. Disorganized at times, unpredictable."

Dobermann frowned. "That is concerning. Even mercenaries follow some form of structure. These people don't fit into any known model."

Scout sighed. "Which means we don't know if we can rely on them."

Amiya looked at the Doctor. "What do you think, Doctor?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment before responding. "They haven't attacked anyone. They protected civilians when they didn't have to. That counts for something." They glanced at Nearl. "You said their methods were unconventional. Can you elaborate?"

Nearl nodded. "They built their fortifications seemingly out of nowhere. No supply lines, no known stockpiles. Yet, within hours, they had constructed barricades sturdy enough to withstand attacks."

Scout's frown deepened. "And you're sure there's no explanation for that?"

Dobermann shook her head. "Not one that makes sense. The closest thing that does, is that they used highly advanced tools or they have some sort of Arts."

The Doctor thought about the tool- or was it a weapon? -that ISH used. It was strong enough to lift a whole vehicle. The way it effortlessly lifted and manipulated objects, as if weight and inertia were mere suggestions rather than physical laws, was unsettling.

Nearl's brow furrowed. "If it is Arts, it's unlike any I've ever seen. Even casters with advanced manipulation abilities still have limitations. What they're doing seems... limitless."

Amiya shifted uneasily. "We don't have the time to fully understand them right now. Our priority is getting out of Chernobog before the situation escalates any further."

Scout nodded. "Agreed. We've already delayed too long. If we don't leave soon, we'll be caught between Reunion forces and..." he stared out of the little gap between the boarded up window. The sky above were grey, as if a storm was about to approach "...The incoming catastrophe"

Dobermann folded her arms. "We still need to determine a new exit strategy. The usual routes are compromised. Roads are blocked, and Reunion controls key checkpoints."

There was a knock on the door. The room fell silent.

"Room-keeping!" the voice of Specter_404 echoed through.

Dobermann exhaled through her nose, pinching the bridge of it. "Specter."

"Yes?" came the chipper reply.

"Just come in already."

The door creaked open, revealing Specter_404 standing there with a grin. "Just checking up on the esteemed guests of the grand safest of houses. What kind of a Grrrrrrand Magus am I if I were not to?"

The Doctor gave Specter_404 a tired look. "A sane one?"

Specter_404 gasped, clutching her chest as if deeply wounded. "Guy whose name I don't know, please. You wound me so."

Dobermann, having enough of the nonsense, cut in "What do you want, Specter?"

Specter_404 spread her arms wide with a theatrical flourish. "I merely wish to inquire about the state of our venture, dear colleagues. The Grrrrandest of all Maguses must know if the fate of our allies hangs precariously before us."

Amiya exchanged a weary glance with the Doctor before turning her attention back to Specter_404. "We need to focus on our exit strategy. Chernobog is closing in around us. The usual routes are in ruins, and Reunion has taken control of key checkpoints. Will you help us again?"

Specter_404's grin widened. "Ah, so you seek the assistance of the Grrrrandest Magus once more?"

Dobermann's eye twitched. "Specter."

"Yes, yes, I heard you" Specter_404 said, waving dismissively. "You're ruining the moment. But anyway- ahem -I will assist as a good Samaritan! Though, I shall gather my friends and discuss this issue to see if they are willing to help as well!"

Specter_404 turned on her heel, marching out of the room with exaggerated steps. The Doctor, Amiya, Nearl, and Dobermann exchanged glances before following her.

The group followed Specter_404 into the adjacent room, a dimly lit space cluttered with repurposed furniture, half-finished barricades, and the scattered remains of materials.

Makeshift tables held scraps of paper, maps, and strangely several crude drawings of what appeared to be a man holding an explosive barrel while running. The atmosphere was oddly casual despite the underlying tension of their predicament.

The safehouse itself was in relatively good condition compared to the ruins outside. Sturdy barricades reinforced the walls, and makeshift furniture had been haphazardly arranged to create a semblance of organization. The civilians and Ursus guards inside, however, were still tense. The presence of Rhodes Island was reassuring, but the unknown factor of these so-called "Playground Twenty-Four-Seven" people kept them on edge.

When the door opened, the first thing they saw was Dandellion sitting cross-legged on the floor, absentmindedly tossing a small object in the air and catching it. Shigi, still perched atop a crate, tapped her fingers against the surface in a slow rhythm, her narrowed eyes flicking toward the newcomers before rolling away dismissively.

ISH was nowhere to be seen, and so does Baller.

Dandellion barely glanced up as Specter_404 entered, followed by the Rhodes Island operators. She caught the small object she had been tossing- what looked suspiciously like a spent bullet casing -before setting it down beside her.

Shigi, meanwhile, flicked her eyes over the newcomers with mild disinterest. She made no effort to acknowledge them further.

Dobermann scanned the room, noting the absence of two of the supposed 'Playground Twenty-Four-Seven' members.

"Where's ISH and... The person named Baller?" she asked.

Dandellion sighed. "No clue. ISH wandered off muttering something about exploring the rest of the map. Baller... well, I haven't seen him in a while, which is concerning."

Dobermann narrowed her eyes. "And you didn't think to stop them?"

Dandellion gave her a flat look. "Would you stop a man in cardboard armor from doing whatever nonsense he's about to do? Because I've tried. Multiple times. And it never works."

Specter_404 clapped her hands together. "Well! That makes this discussion all the more urgent. A Grand Council must be formed to decide our course of action!"

Amiya sighed. "Excuse me. I'm sorry, but we don't have time for theatrics."

"Alright, fine." Specter_404 groaned "Party poopers"

The Doctor crossed their arms. "We need to know if you'll help us getting out of Chernobog. This city isn't going to hold for much longer."

Shigi scoffed, though the sound was muffled behind the tape on her mouth. She tapped her fingers against the crate more rapidly, giving Dandellion a sideways glance.

Dandellion leaned back. "We're not against helping, but we're not exactly a well-oiled machine. Our group... operates on a very loose system of cooperation."

Dobermann frowned. "Meaning?"

Dandellion gestured vaguely. "We do whatever we feel like."

There was a brief silence.

Scout pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fantastic."

Nearl took a breath, clearly trying to keep the conversation on track. "If you are willing to help, we need to know what you're capable of. Your... abilities aren't normal."

Specter_404 beamed. "Ah, you wish to gaze into the abyss of our boundless potential!"

Shigi rolled her eyes.

Ace frowned. "We're serious. The way you construct things, the way you handle objects, it's beyond anything from what we've seen"

"Alright, let's just get this over with. It's gonna be a pain explaining anyway." Dandellion sighed. She motioned to Specter_404. "Go ahead, oh Grand Magus. Or whatever."

Specter_404 straightened her back and held out a tool. It looked like a revolver, but it was heavily modified with wires of different colors connected to a small screen on the gun.

"This" she declared "is an instrument of unparalleled creation! With it, I can bring forth structures from the void itself!"

She flicked her wrist and fired at the ground.

Fwoop!

A wooden pallet materialized instantly.

The moment the wooden pallet materialized out of thin air, every Rhodes Island operative in the room reacted in varying degrees of alarm.

Amiya's ears stood straight up. Nearl's hand instinctively drifted toward her weapon. Ace audibly inhaled through his teeth. Dobermann, ever the disciplined, stiffened but kept her composure.

Scout just looked at the pallet, then at Specter_404, then back at the pallet. His eye twitched.

Specter_404, completely oblivious to the tension, beamed with pride. "Marvel at my divine craftsmanship!"

Dobermann took a slow step forward. "You just... made that?"

Specter_404 nodded, twirling her strange tool. "Made is a strong word, but yes! With a flick of my wrist and the might of my will, reality bends to my command!"

Amiya swallowed hard. "But that's... that's not how anything works."

Nearl cautiously nudged the pallet with her boot, as if expecting it to suddenly explode. When it didn't, she exhaled, then turned to Specter_404 with the same wary expression one might give an unhinged demolitions expert.

"Is it stable?" she asked.

"Of course!" Specter_404 puffed out her chest. "My constructions are as sturdy as my will!"

Dobermann's brows furrowed. "How does it work?"

Specter_404 froze. "Uh."

Rhodes Island collectively narrowed their eyes.

"Magic?" she offered weakly.

Shigi, still perched on her crate, let out a muffled snort and tapped the tape on her mouth.

Dandellion sighed. "She's saying that's complete nonsense."

Amiya looked between them. "So even you don't know how it works?"

Dandellion shrugged. "We don't ask questions. It works, so we roll with it."

Ace pressed his fingers against his temple. "You don't ask questions when someone starts pulling objects out of literal thin air?"

"Eh, not the weirdest thing we've seen." Dandellion shrugged "Plus, we had these since... What, a couple decades ago? Lord Gaben didn't really explained how it would logically work"

Dobermann raised a brow. "Is that the name of your leader?"

Specter_404 nodded sagely. "Indeed! The Great One! The Benevolent! The Keeper of Winter and Summer Discounts! Lord Gaben, who blesses us with the power of commerce and the hope for Half-Life 3!"

Scout leaned into Amiya, and whispered "Oh great, they're religious lunatics too"

Dandellion's cat ears wiggled "I heard that. No, we're not."

Dobermann shot Scout a look before turning back to Dandellion. "Then explain what this 'Lord Gaben' is if he isn't some kind of cult figure."

Dandellion lazily stretched her arms over her head. "He's not a god, he's not a leader, and we don't worship him. He's just... a guy."

Ace stared. "A guy."

"Yeah, just a simple chill guy. Most of us worshipped him as some sort of religious entity as a joke"

Dobermann pinched the bridge of her nose. "As a joke."

"Yeah," Dandellion nodded, completely unfazed by the disbelief radiating from the room. "Like, y'know, 'praise be upon him,' 'may his sales be bountiful,' that kinda thing."

Specter_404 threw her arms in the air. "May his discounts be ever generous!"

Scout muttered, "This is the dumbest conversation I've ever had."

Nearl cleared her throat, trying to drag the conversation back to reality. "Right. That's... fascinating. But can we please return to the actual issue at hand?"

Dobermann nodded sharply. "Are you going to help with the evacuation or not?"

Dandellion lazily swayed her tail, taking a moment before responding. "Like I said earlier, we're not against it. But we don't exactly take orders. If we help, it's because we want to"

Ace crossed his arms. "So what'll it take to make you want to help?"

"Hmm. Specter would definitely say yes" Dandellion said.

The Doctor nodded "She did"

"Well, that's expected. I guess I can help you guys if..." Dandellion thought about it for a bit "If you guys give me something interesting to do"

Amiya blinked. "Something interesting?"

"Yeah. I don't wanna just run around babysitting, I've already done that enough with ISH."

Dobermann stared at her, completely unamused. "This isn't a game."

"To me, it is." Dandellion's ears twitched as she muttered. "Are the NPCs getting more aware?"

Shigi, still perched on her crate, made an exaggerated shrugging motion, as if to say What did you expect?

Amiya exhaled slowly, clearly trying to stay patient. "Doctor's life, our lives, are at stake. This isn't about entertainment."

Dandellion yawned. "And yet, I am offering to help. The least you can do is make it interesting for me."

Ace ran a hand down his face. "Okay, fine. What counts as 'interesting' to you?"

Dandellion's tail flicked as she considered. "Hmm. A scouting mission, maybe? Maybe even a little sabotage? Like making some Reunion folks trip over their own shoelaces. Whatever works."

"...Alright." Amiya said "You can come with us. But please, no nonsense."

"Oh please, don't lump me with my mentally challenged friends." Dandellion said.

Shigi flipped her off, while Specter_404 stared at her with a exaggerated gasp.

"Gasp! We're not mentally challenged, we just know how to have fun!"

Ignoring Specter_404, Dandellion turned to Shigi and asked "What about you?"

Shigi nodded as she slid her thumb across her neck.

"I guess that's a yes" Dandellion said.

"Good. We'll move out soon." Amiya said, as she went to the door. Before she left, she turned around to face the GMod players "Thank you for deciding to help. I'll make sure Rhodes Island will compensate "

As the Rhodes Island operators left the room, Specter_404 leaned toward Dandellion with a grin. "Mentally challenged, huh?"

Dandellion smirked. "You prove my point every day."

Shigi gave a thumbs-up in agreement.

Specter_404 gasped dramatically again. "Betrayed! Stabbed in the back! My own allies, turning against me!"

The Playground 24/7 GMod server was as chaotic as ever. Explosions echoed in the distance, props flew through the air at mach speed, and someone was using the physics gun to launch a couch into orbit.

In the middle of gm_flatgrass, a small group of players had gathered near the portal, watching as Baller waved his arms frantically.

"Guys. Guys. You will not believe what's on the other side of this thing."

A player wearing a low poly Master Chief model, appropriately named Xx_Chief420_xX, stopped welding a car to a player-built house and turned around. "Ayo, what?"

Baller pointed at the swirling portal. "That thing leads to a city, dude. There's people, there's a war going on, and everything looks like some post-apocalyptic fantasy crap. What's even crazier is that the NPC AI is so advanced, it reacts to what everything you do!"

"Like?"

"Well, there's this one time I put a bucket on a guy's head. He got mad and he tried to punch me"

Another player, wearing an oversized Mikudayo costume, tilted their head. "Wait, wait. You're telling me we've been playing sandbox in Flatgrass while there's a whole-ass warzone on the other side of this portal?"

Baller nodded furiously. "Yes! And it's not just a map mod or anything! The NPCs have, like, real emotions. I called one of them an NPC and she got pissed."

A heavyset player with a Metrocop wearing an addidas jacket model scratched his head. "So, what, it's like Half-Life 2 RP but on steroids?"

Baller groaned. "Dude, no! This isn't some janky DarkRP server where cops fly around in cars they stole from the admin. It's a real place."

Xx_Chief420_xX crossed his arms. "Alright, prove it."

Baller opened his spawn menu, scrolled for a second, and then...

FOOMP!

A crude, barely-functioning recreation of an armored vehicle appeared in front of them, with an Ursus military insignia still hastily painted on the side.

There was a brief silence.

Mikudayo let out a whistle. "Okay. That's kinda sick."

The Metrocop poked the vehicle. "Is it drivable?"

Baller grinned. "Not only is it drivable..." He jumped inside and slammed the horn, which, unfortunately, had been swapped out for an ear-splitting bass-boosted airhorn.

The entire server chat flooded with complaints.

[V.I.P] Moe_Lester: WHO THE HELL IS BLASTING AIRHORNS IN FLATGRASS

Baller shut it off immediately. "Uh. Anyway. We should totally go back there."

Xx_Chief420_xX rubbed his chin. "Hmm... Potential for stupid amounts of trolling..."

A slow grin formed under his poorly-textured helmet.

"I'm in."

A rustling noise came from a nearby prop pile, and suddenly, a vending machine violently uncoiled itself into a man wearing a trench coat and a fedora.

"Did someone say 'Advanced NPCs'?" The Prop Hunt player adjusted his hat. "Do they react to props moving on their own?"

Baller blinked. "Uh... probably?"

Nearby, a group of DarkRP players, dressed in various mismatched outfits ranging from SWAT uniforms to anime girl models, had been eavesdropping.

One of them, a guy in a banana suit with the name GoonLord69, approached with the swagger of someone who had spent way too much time enforcing imaginary laws in Downtown RP.

"A functioning city, you say?" GoonLord69 adjusted his fake police badge. "You know what that means, boys?"

The other DarkRP players nodded solemnly.

"Taxes."

A collective shiver ran through the group.

Another DarkRP player, wearing a business suit and sunglasses, chimed in. "I smell a new economy forming. If this place is really as immersive as you claim, then we need to establish a government."

Baller pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh god, not the bureaucrats..."

A Prop Hunt player, still disguised as a traffic cone, hopped in place excitedly. "Screw your economy, I wanna see if they react to inanimate objects moving!"

The man in the fedora nodded sagely. "You and I, cone brother. We will haunt this new world."

Meanwhile, Xx_Chief420_xX finished welding together a monstrosity of a vehicle, a go-kart with way too many thrusters strapped to it. "Enough talk. Let's mob this place."

The air filled with excitement as more players started gathering around the portal, some spawning props, others discussing tactics. The GMod chaos engine was revving up.

Chapter Text

The ruined streets of Chernobog stretched endlessly before them, a maze of collapsed buildings, abandoned vehicles, and the occasional flickering streetlight struggling to stay alive. The air was thick with smoke and dust.

Scout led the scouting group (Wow, who would've known?), as he moved carefully between the wreckage. Behind him, Dandellion followed, while Shigi trailed slightly to the side, idly twirling a knife between her fingers.

Their mission was simple, scout ahead and ensure a safe path for Rhodes Island's retreat.

Scout sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay, let's make this simple. Stick to cover, avoid fights, and don't do anything stupid."

Dandellion scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. I know how to be sneaky."

Shigi gave her a deadpan stare

Dandellion crossed her arms. "What? Just because those idiots back at the server act like lunatics doesn't mean I don't have common sense."

Scout side-eyed her. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Before Dandellion could retort, Scout suddenly stopped, holding up a hand. The other two instinctively ducked into cover behind a burnt-out vehicle. Scout peered around the corner, his expression shifting from casual annoyance to focused wariness.

Down the road, past the rubble, a group of Ursus soldiers had gathered in an alleyway. At first, it seemed like a typical unit trying to fight off Reunion on whatever is left of Chernobog, until Scout noticed what they were holding.

Scout tensed. "Wait. Those aren't normal Ursus weapons."

The Ursus soldiers weren't wielding their usual weapons, they had modern firearms. Weapons that looked completely foreign to Terra, with sleek black metal and streamlined designs. There were no Originium circuits, no visible catalysts for Arts.

Scout's brows furrowed. "Those look like guns from what Specter's men were using... Though the design seems to be different"

Shigi tilted her head, pointing toward a small huddled group near the Ursus troops, civilians. They looked desperate, clutching onto their new weapons like lifelines.

The tension between the two groups was obvious. The Ursus Guards seem to be arguing with the civilians, with even one of the Guards trying to take the guns from the civilians

Scout adjusted his position, trying to listen in. The conversation was muffled by the distance, but the body language spoke volumes.

One of the civilians, a ragged man with a bandaged arm, pulled his gun closer to his chest as an Ursus Guard reached for it.

The Guard's voice was sharp. "These weapons belong with the military. Do not try to play soldier"

The civilian flinched but didn't let go. "You weren't protecting us before. We had to buy these to defend ourselves!"

The lead Ursus Guard crossed her arms. "You think waving these weapons around makes you warriors? That you're suddenly soldiers?" the voice was icy.

A second civilian, younger but equally desperate, stepped forward, his grip tight on his rifle. "We just want to protect our families."

An Ursus Guard snorted. "Then leave the fighting to us. Civilians don't need firearms."

"You just want the guns!" one of the civilians accused.

The standoff between the Ursus Guards and the armed civilians teetered on the edge of violence. The air was thick with tension, both sides gripping their weapons like a single wrong move would set everything off.

Scout, crouched behind the rubble, let out a slow breath. "Dandellion, Shigi... This is going sideways fast."

Dandellion muttered under her breath. "No kidding."

The lead Ursus Guard ignored the accusation and stepped forward, voice heavy with command. "These weapons are property of the Ursus military. Hand them over, and we will forget this conversation ever happened."

The young civilian, clutching his overpriced, modded rifle, refused to back down. His knuckles were white. "We paid for these. They're ours."

"Well, this is getting interesting" Dandellion whispered "What's the plan? 'Cause I got a real bad feeling about this."

Scout didn't get a chance to answer.

[Somewhere near]

On a nearby rooftop, two DarkRP players watched the standoff unfold like it was a TV drama.

"Okay." GoonLord pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, uh, this is a small problem."

"Not our problem," Chief420 replied.

"It's a huge problem! We sold them those guns!"

"Yeah, and? We got paid. Sounds like a W for us."

GoonLord wheezed. "Bro. Our business wouldn't look good if we sold our guns to unstable customers! The government of this place would crack down on us in no time!"

Chief shrugged. "We'll just sell them guns, too. Easy"

"You think they'll pay us instead of just arresting us?"

"...Yes?"

GoonLord buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"Look, man, you're thinking about this all wrong. We're businessmen. We see a demand, we provide the supply. If the Ursus guys don't like that, we just gotta convince them we're their best option." Chief420 stared at GoonLord for a long moment before casually popping a piece of gum. "Besides, if it doesn't work out, we can just kill them"

GoonLord groaned. "We are literally war profiteering."

Chief grinned. "Nah, we're roleplaying as arms dealers."

"I don't think businessmen or arms dealers kill people, dude. That's against the rules" GoonLord replied.

"Yeah? So is war profiteering."

"...Shit. We're actually the bad guys."

Chief shrugged. "Ehh. We're entrepreneurs."

GoonLord ran a hand through his hair, his voice low. "Entrepreneurs or not, if the this country's military catches wind that we're distributing these firearms, they'll crack down hard."

Chief420's eyes flicked to the distant sounds of shouting and the clamor of conflict echoing through Chernobog's ruined streets. "True, but look at it this way, if we can position ourselves as the only reliable source for these weapons, we'll control the market. We can promise the Guards that our supply is the only way to secure their interests. We play it smart, build a reputation, maybe even offer incentives. Think of it as... corporate diplomacy."

GoonLord exhaled sharply. "Corporate diplomacy? In this piece of crap of a city? You know, sometimes I wonder if we're even in the same game anymore."

Chief420 chuckled, flicking another piece of gum. "Maybe not, but rules are rules. We sell guns at a premium, and if the police start squabbling with civilians over them, that's our ticket to becoming indispensable. We're not here to start wars, we're here to profit from them."

GoonLord sighed. "Alright then. Let's make sure we can pull this off without getting ourselves arrested- or worse, banned or blacklisted."

Back to the Ursus Guards and Civilians, the argument between the them had only grown more heated. The bandaged civilian- his knuckles white from gripping his rifle -stood his ground.

"You just want the guns!" he accused, voice tense with frustration. "You let these infected freaks run rampant through our homes, left us to fend for ourselves, and now that we actually have a way to fight back, you want to take it away?!"

The lead Guard scowled, stepping forward. "Do you even know how to use those weapons? Do you even understand what a battlefield is like? Holding a gun does not make you a soldier, it makes you a target."

Some of the civilians wavered, gripping their rifles uncertainly. The words hit close to home. They weren't soldiers. They were just ordinary people who had been thrown into a nightmare, desperately clinging to whatever power they could grasp.

Another Guard, a young woman, spoke up with a sigh. "Look, we don't want to strip you of protection, but these weapons... they don't belong here." She narrowed her eyes. "Where did you even get them?"

The bandaged man hesitated.

The 'Arms Dealers' had warned them not to say anything. Something about 'business integrity' and 'customer privacy', as if that mattered in a warzone.

One of the younger civilians, shifting nervously, mumbled, "We... we bought them."

The lead Guard narrowed his eyes. "From who?"

The civilians looked at each other, suddenly unsure. Giving up their 'suppliers' might mean losing their only source of protection.

The silence stretched, heavy and uncomfortable.

The Guard's patience was running thin. She reached out, this time with far less restraint, and yanked the rifle from the bandaged man's hands.

"Hey!" he shouted, stepping back.

"This is military property now," she said coldly.

The younger civilian instinctively raised his own rifle. A tense second passed as the Guards tensed, hands hovering over their own weapons.

"Lower it."

The young man hesitated. His breath was ragged, heart pounding in his chest. He could see it—if he didn't back down, if he so much as twitched the wrong way, he was dead.

He swallowed hard and lowered his gun.

The lead Guard exhaled sharply. "Good choice."

Behind the cover, Dandellion turned to Scout. 

"So, what's the plan? I can blow them to bits, if you want" Dandellion suggested. 

Scout gave Dandellion a long, tired stare. "No" he said flatly. "No blowing anything to bits."

Shigi, who had been watching the entire exchange in silence, simply tilted her head. She pointed at the civilians and then made a sharp gesture across her throat.

"No" Scout repeated, this time to her. "No killing anyone either."

Shigi shrugged.

Scout sighed, running a hand down his face. "We are not getting involved in this mess. Our top priority is to get the Doctor to safety and get out of Chernobog."

Dandellion crossed her arms, her tail flicking. "Alright, fine. But what if this turns into an actual fight? The Ursus guys are one bad decision away from opening fire."

Scout exhaled through his nose. "Then we avoid it. We're here to scout, not pick sides." He gestured for them to move. "Come on, we need to find a clear route for Rhodes Island."

Shigi rolled her eyes but followed, twirling her knife between her fingers.

The three of them slipped through the ruins, leaving the tense standoff behind. As they moved deeper into the city, the distant sounds of conflict grew louder. Gunfire, shouting, and the occasional explosion. Chernobog was still burning, and the chaos wasn't stopping anytime soon.

Dandellion glanced back toward the civilians and the Guards. "You think those guys are gonna be okay?"

Scout didn't answer immediately. "Dunno" he admitted. "Let's go back to the main group, and tell them what's ahead." 

The three of them moved quickly through the ruined streets, keeping low and using the wreckage for cover. Smoke still hung heavy in the air, making the already-dim cityscape feel even more claustrophobic.

As they weaved through the debris, Dandellion's ears twitched. "I don't like this" she muttered.

Scout glanced at her. "What, us not helping the citizens back there? Yeah, me neither."

"No, not that." Dandellion's eyes flicked toward a collapsed building up ahead. "It's too quiet all of a sudden."

Shigi stopped twirling her knife and tilted her head. She listened.

The distant sounds of battle were still there- sporadic gunfire, yelling -but their immediate surroundings were unnervingly silent. No shifting rubble. No distant footsteps.

Scout frowned. "Damn it." He motioned for the others to take cover. "Something's not right."

The three of them ducked behind a wrecked transport vehicle, pressing themselves against the cold metal.

Then, they heard it.

A slow, deliberate crunch of boots on debris.

From the shadows of a ruined storefront, multiple figures emerged out in the open. Reunion. 

The Reunion fighters moved with purpose, their weapons at the ready. Unlike the usual disorganized mobs, this squad was disciplined.

Scout stayed still, barely daring to breathe as the group passed by.

Then, one of the Reunion fighters spoke up.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't Ursus" he muttered, his voice laced with frustration.

Another, a woman with a crude Reunion armband tied around her arm, scoffed. "Then who was it? You're saying some other group just so happened to show up in the middle of all this chaos?"

The first Reunion soldier gritted his teeth. "I know what I saw. They weren't using Arts, but they were making things appear out of thin air. I saw one of them pull out a toolbox and started hitting it with a wrench, and the next thing I knew, it turned into a damn automated sentry."

Scout's brow furrowed.

Dandellion's ears twitched. GMod players.

The woman snorted. "That sounds like Ursus and Rhine Labs experiments."

"It wasn't Ursus!" the man snapped. "They dressed like lunatics. One guy was running around in a cardboard suit, shouting nonsense. Another one had some sort of explosive weapon and wasn't even aiming- just firing into the air and laughing!"

Dandellion put a hand over her face, groaning quietly.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Even if that's true, what do we care? If they're running around causing trouble, we let them. More chaos means more chances for Reunion to take control."

Another soldier grunted. "Tell that to the ones who got caught in their mess. I heard a whole squad got wiped out 'cause some maniac ran them over with a car."

The woman waved him off. "Whatever. Orders are the same, keep pushing forward, take what we can, kill who we have to. If we run into these 'unknowns,' we report back."

With that, the squad continued down the ruined street, their voices fading into the distance.

Once the coast was clear, Dandellion let out a long sigh. "Great. More of our people making a mess."

Scout shook his head. "At least Reunion doesn't know what to do with them either."

Shigi, who had been silent, made a small motion, tapping her head, then pointing toward the direction Reunion had gone.

Dandellion nodded. "Yeah, yeah. If Reunion's taking them seriously, then we might have bigger problems."

Scout glanced between the two of them. "Alright, which one of you is the fastest?"

Dandellion pointed at Shigi without hesitation. "Her."

Shigi blinked and then slowly tilted her head toward Scout, waiting.

"Good. I need you to head back to the main group. Tell them Reunion forces are slowly moving in this area. They're not charging blindly, but they're advancing. After that, lead them back here." Scout said.

Shigi stared at him for a moment before nodding once. She pulled out a different knife, a Karambit, this one had a unique paint. At the handle, there's a tag with the words 'Karambit Case Hardened Blue Gem' on it. 

Shigi stood up and began hopping in place, trying her best being quiet while doing so. 

"What are you doing?" Scout whispered.

"Don't worry. She's just warming up" Dandellion answered.

"Warming up?"

Shigi, still silent as ever, continued to bounce on the balls of her feet. Then, without warning, she took off.

She wasn't running.

She was hopping.

Her movements were bizarre- fluid yet unnatural, as if she was gliding rather than stepping. She hit the ground at precise angles, launching herself forward without losing momentum, zigzagging through the rubble with inhuman efficiency.

Scout and Dandellion just stared.

"She's getting faster" Scout muttered.

Dandellion sighed. "Yeah, I noticed. She's-"

Shigi suddenly leapt onto a piece of debris, used it to gain height, and air strafed off it, landing cleanly on a collapsed bus before disappearing over the horizon.

"-a speed demon" Dandellion finished.

A long pause.

Then Scout clapped his hands together. "Alright. We'll standby here for now."

"Right. Wanna do two lies, one truth-" Dandellion stopped as she realized something "...You do know you just sent a mute to warn them, right?"

"..."

"..."

Scout lightly banged his head on the ruined car.

Rhodes Island had set up a temporary position in the ruins of an old office building. The walls were cracked, the windows shattered, and the ceiling looked like it might collapse at any moment, but it provided decent cover.

Amiya was reviewing a map with a few Operators when a blur shot through the entrance.

Shigi.

She skidded to a stop, dust and debris trailing behind her as she bounced slightly in place, adjusting to her sudden stop.

"Shigi?" Amiya blinked, startled. "Where's Scout and Dandellion?"

Shigi pointed outside, then made a slow, deliberate walking motion with her fingers.

Amiya tilted her head. "...Uh?"

Shigi then pointed to herself, crouched low, and pretended to sneak forward.

Dobermann frowned. "Are you trying to say something is sneaking toward us?"

Shigi shook her head violently.

Then she pointed outside again, raised her hands in claw-like shapes, and mimed marching in place.

Silence.

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Okay, uh... is it a parade?"

Shigi facepalmed.

Dobermann glanced at Ace "Why would there be a parade during this time with all the things happening?"

Shigi grabbed a piece of rubble and dramatically placed it on the ground. Then she made her fingers 'walk' toward it before miming an explosion with her hands.

Silence.

Guard squinted. "Are... are you telling us that rocks are attacking?"

Shigi inhaled deeply through her nose. She pulled out her knife, spun it in her fingers, and then stabbed the ground dramatically.

That got some reactions.

"Okay, she's definitely warning us about something" Ace said.

Amiya's ears twitched. "Shigi, is it Reunion?"

Shigi nodded rapidly, giving a thumbs-up.

The Doctor frowned. "Are they advancing toward us?"

Another nod.

Dobermann crossed her arms. "Numbers?"

Shigi shrugged. 

Just then, the entrance door swung open. Specter_404 entered the building, with a few Combine soldiers trailing behind her. 

"I hath returned! Perimeter is safe from all evil-!" 

"Quiet down" Dobermann glared at Specter_404.

"Alright" Specter_404 immediately shut up, but not before throwing in a dramatic bow. The Combine soldiers behind her stood at attention, their glowing visors sweeping across the room.

Shigi, still mid-explanation, turned and gave Specter_404 a deadpan stare before sighing and refocusing on Amiya.

"She's warning us about an incoming Reunion force," Amiya explained, turning to Specter_404. "Did you see anything while patrolling?"

Specter_404 rubbed her chin. "Nay, mine eyes did not witness the forces of evil approaching. But I did hear explosions in the distance."

Ace hummed in thought. "If Reunion is advancing in this direction, we need to decide."

Dobermann looked at Amiya. "Your call, Amiya. We don't have enough information on their numbers, but we do know they're coming."

Amiya's ears twitched as she considered their options. "If we run, we risk exposing ourselves in the open. If we stay, we might have to fight a force we're not ready for." She turned to Shigi. "Did Scout or Dandellion say anything about how fast they're moving?"

Shigi thought for a moment, then raised her hand and made a slow, creeping motion with her fingers.

"Slow advance" The Doctor noted. "That means they're being cautious. If they're not rushing, they probably don't know our exact position yet."

Nearl, who had remained silent until now, nodded. "Then we still have time to decide. We should use it wisely."

Dobermann crossed her arms, her expression unreadable. "We have two options: relocate before they get too close, or prepare an ambush."

Shigi mimed a dramatic explosion again, clearly voting for ambush.

Ace sighed. "I don't think taking a fight is a good idea. We don't know how many of them are out there, and we're still escorting the Doctor. An open battle could put them at risk."

Amiya frowned in thought. "If we move carefully, we might be able to slip past them before they get too close."

"Would be easier if we had more intel" Dobermann muttered.

Specter_404 grinned. "Then let us cause distraction and bring enough time for you to run away!" 

"Are you sure? You might die" 

"I live for this! To save the innocent and the good hearted is to fulfill my sacred duty as the Grrrrrand Magus!" Specter_404 declared, dramatically placing a hand on her chest.

Dobermann pinched the bridge of her nose. "That's not what I meant. If you get caught, we won't be able to get you back."

Specter_404 scoffed. "Hah! They shall never catch me! I am but a shadow, a whisper upon the wind, a-"

"Quiet down!" Dobermann snapped.

Specter_404 froze mid-sentence, her dramatic pose still held.

Dobermann exhaled sharply. "I need you to take this seriously for once."

Specter_404 slowly lowered her arms, though her grin didn't fade. "Alright, alright. But we can be a distraction. Let me and Shigi draw them away while the rest of you escape."

The Doctor hesitated. "That's risky. If you fail, you'll be surrounded."

Specter_404 twirled her staff. "Eh, we'll get out of it. Somehow. Even if we can't, we'll just kill our- Nevermind, I'm not risking saying it in case the word is banned."

Shigi tilted her head, considering the plan. Then, with a small nod, she drew one of her knives.

Ace frowned. "Hold on. We're actually going with this?"

Amiya was silent for a moment. Then, finally, she nodded. "Fine. But you two don't engage directly. Your job is to distract, not fight. Get their attention and lead them away, then regroup with us. I don't want you two to die."

Specter_404 grinned. "Understood!"

Shigi gave a lazy salute.

Amiya still looked uneasy, but she knew they didn't have many options. "Alright. The rest of us will move out immediately. Be careful."

Specter_404 clapped Shigi on the shoulder. "Come, silent warrior! Our mission begins!"

Shigi rolled her eyes but followed as the two of them slipped away into the ruins.

Dobermann turned to the rest of the group. "Move fast, stay low. Let's go."

With that, they started their escape, leaving the two GMod players and a couple of Combine to execute their distraction.

They stood there in silence, watching the backs of Rhodes Island operators and staff as they disappeared into the shadows. 

"Well, we both know we're not going to avoid a good fight" Specter_404 asked. She slowly grinned as she pulled out a some sort of canister with a pin "Wanna kill them with mustard gas?" 

Chapter Text

The Reunion squad under Mephisto's command had set up a temporary outpost in the ruins of a collapsed building. While most of the unit was focused on monitoring the battlefield, a growing sense of unease had settled over them.

A soldier shivered. "Why is it so damn quiet all of a sudden?"

Another leaned against the rubble, gripping his weapon tighter. "You're just being paranoid."

And then, a chair moved.

It didn't fall over. It didn't get kicked. It just... slid a few inches across the ground.

The soldier nearest to it blinked. "...Did anyone else see that?"

Before anyone could answer, a metal can clattered from above, landing right in the middle of the group. Instinctively, weapons were raised, but there was nothing there- just an empty can, rolling lazily across the floor.

A third soldier clicked his tongue. "It's just the wind. Focus-"

A door slammed shut.

In an abandoned building.

With no wind.

Silence fell over the Reunion squad.

Then, from behind a nearby crate, something moved.

The crate twitched.

The nearest soldier froze, eyes wide as the crate suddenly jumped.

"WHAT THE HELL-?!"

Yells and screams erupted as the entire squad opened fire on the possessed box, riddling it with bolts. 

One caster shot it with something akin to a fireball, exploding. But as the dust settled...

There was nothing there.

Nothing at all.

The unnatural silence returned.

One soldier backed away, sweat rolling down his forehead. "Nope. Nope. I don't know what the hell this is, but I'm not dealing with it."

Another Reunion member, face pale, pointed to something else. "L-look!"

A single chair sat in the middle of the ruins, its back facing them.

It hadn't been there before.

And then, in one slow, deliberate motion...

The chair spun around on its own.

Someone girlishly screamed.

"Hahaha! This shit's hilarious!"

Mephisto stood a fair distance away from the mess, hands clasped behind his back, watching as his unit slowly fell apart to unseen horrors.

He sighed deeply.

"Honestly... I expected Rhodes Island to put up a fight. But this? Using cheap tricks?" He turned to the hooded figure next to him. "Faust, tell me you see something logical happening here."

Faust remained silent, his posture stiff. "...No. This isn't Arts."

Mephisto raised an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

"No clue"

A nearby soldier tripped over something, a mug that hadn't been there a second ago. Another Reunion fighter turned to run, only to see the words "RUN" hastily written in red on a nearby wall.

Mephisto tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Fascinating."

Another loud crash echoed through the ruins. Soldiers shouted in fear as an entire fridge launched itself from an upper floor, slamming into the ground with enough force to make the dirt tremble.

Mephisto's eye twitched. "...Less fascinating."

Faust's grip tightened on his crossbow. "Orders?"

Mephisto exhaled through his nose. "Find the source of this nonsense. And tell the men to stop shooting at furniture."

But before Faust could move, a voice, unfamiliar, but filled with way too much enthusiasm, rang out from the rooftops.

"BWAHAHAHAHA! YOU FOOLS! YOU TRESPASS UPON HAUNTED GROUND!"

The Reunion soldiers whipped their heads around, scanning the rooftops in panic. Their grips tightened on their weapons, knuckles white.

"Who the hell said that?!" one of them barked.

A sudden, eerie creaking filled the air.

The ground beneath them shifted.

A lone barrel rolled into the open street, stopping right in front of them.

Silence.

One of the Reunion fighters narrowed his eyes. "...It's just a-"

The barrel hopped.

A soldier screamed.

The barrel shot forward, chasing the nearest Reunion grunt, who scrambled back with a strangled yell, firing wildly. His bolt passed straight through it, because the moment they hit, the barrel turned into a chair and skittered away, as if taunting him.

Another Reunion fighter took a step back, heart pounding. "What the hell is this?! I-is it Arts?!"

"Arts my ass, I've never seen an Arts user make a damn milk crate come to life!"

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"

A Reunion soldier sprinted past, arms flailing as a stop sign chased after him.

The street descended into absolute chaos.

A broomstick launched itself into the air, slapping someone across the face. A garbage can lid flew like a saw blade, smacking a soldier on the back of the head. A table flipped over on its own, tripping a squad of panicked fighters.

Mephisto stared at the madness unfolding before him, his smile twitching. "You... have got to be kidding me."

Faust stood motionless beside him, his posture rigid. "...This is stupid."

A Reunion soldier tripped over a mug that hadn't been there a second ago. "I CAN'T DO THIS, MAN!" He ran- only to crash straight into an entire bookshelf that materialized in front of him.

From the rooftops, Specter_404 cackled. "YES! YES! THE CURSE OF THE LAND CLAIMS YOU ALL!"

Shigi just crouched beside her, silently watching the disaster unfold.

One of the Prop Hunters, currently disguised as a streetlamp, suddenly spoke.

"Leave this place... or suffer our wrath..."

The streetlamp twitched.

That was it for Reunion.

"SCREW THIS, I'M OUT!" one of the fighters shrieked, throwing his weapon down and bolting.

One by one, the rest of the unit broke and ran.

Mephisto's eye twitched dangerously as he watched his forces collapse into a full-blown retreat. Running, screaming, some even throwing their weapons aside as they fled from the absolute nonsense before them.

He inhaled slowly. Exhaled through his nose.

Then, in a soft, completely deadpan voice, he said.

"...Faust."

"Yes?"

"We are not telling the others about this."

A single empty soda can rolled by his feet.

Faust kicked it.

"We need to find whatever's causing this" said Faust

"I just said that!" Mephisto yelled "You bastards! Show yourselves!" 

Nothing moved. Faust and Mephisto were back to back, slowly scanning their surroundings. 

The ruins around them were still. No movement, no shifting shadows. Just the eerie silence of an abandoned city.

Faust's grip on his crossbow remained firm as he whispered, "I don't like this."

Mephisto scowled. "Oh, you don't like this? Really? You mean you're not having the time of your life right now?"

Faust ignored him, scanning the rooftops and debris-strewn streets. "It's too quiet."

And then...

A voice.

Soft.

Distant.

Yet everywhere.

"H̀͜͞e̵̛͟l̴̢̛l͘͝ǫ̶̷̕."

Mephisto froze.

Faust slowly turned his head. "Did you hear that?"

"W̡̕h͘͠a̕t̨̡͘ ̧͜ą̷r̕͢e̡̡ y͏̢o̷͜u͘͡ d̀͞o͏̀͜į͠ņg̴͢͜ i̡͡ǹ̀ ̕͏m̴͝y͢͝ t̛̀o̴͝w̕͜n̸?̶̷"

It echoed, bouncing off the ruined buildings, as if the city itself was speaking.

Mephisto's fingers twitched.

Then something moved.

A chair twitched on its own.

Faust snapped to it, crossbow raised, only for the chair to suddenly launch itself toward him.

He dodged, barely avoiding it as it crashed into the wall behind him.

Mephisto gritted his teeth. "Enough of this! I don't care what tricks you're pulling" he seethed, glaring at the seemingly haunted objects around him. "I refuse to be driven away by parlor tricks and cheap illusions."

Faust, standing tense beside him, adjusted his grip on his crossbow. "If they were real ghosts, they wouldn't need to throw chairs" he muttered. "They're playing with us."

The shadows flickered. The wardrobe from before suddenly lurched forward, its doors slamming open and shut violently.

CREEEEEEAK. SLAM! CREEEEEEAK. SLAM!

A voice boomed from the wardrobe.

"YOUR SOULS BELONG TO MEEEEEE!"

Mephisto exhaled sharply through his nose. Then, he stepped toward the wardrobe.

Before Faust could stop him, Mephisto kicked the damn thing over. It hit the ground with an anticlimactic thud.

Silence.

"Ow"

Mephisto glared at it. "Thought so."

The ominous atmosphere hung in the air for a few more moments, until it didn't. The flickering shadows stopped. The air settled. And a distinct huff of frustration echoed from the rooftops.

A soda can rolled across the pavement.

Faust tilted his head slightly. "They stopped."

Mephisto smiled, sickly sweet. "That's because they know I don't play games." He turned to the ruins around them, voice sharp. "Come out. Now."

For a moment, there was nothing.

A man-sized wooden barrel at the edge of the street let out a very human groan.

Mephisto blinked.

Faust slowly aimed his crossbow.

The barrel shuffled awkwardly for a second before it fell over, rolling on its side. The moment it hit the ground, a man in tattered clothes popped into existence, flailing his arms.

"Alright, alright! You got us!" the Propper groaned, dusting himself off. "Man, you guys are no fun."

A lampshade nearby let out an exaggerated sigh before it suddenly morphed into another human. "Yeah, yeah, I told you this wouldn't work."

"It almost worked. For some reason these two ain't pussies"

One by one, various pieces of 'furniture' transformed back into people. Prop Players, all dressed in odd, ragged outfits, each one looking equally annoyed that their fun was ruined.

And then-

BOOM.

A smoke grenade exploded in the middle of the street, sending up a thick white cloud.

From the mist, a voice rang out.

"Verily, I hath deemed thee worthy of direct combat!"

Specter_404 leaped from the rooftop, striking a ridiculous pose midair before landing with a dramatic clank.

Behind her, Shigi emerged from the smoke, flipping her karambit in one hand, expression unreadable as always.

"Thank you for the great assist, fellas!" Specter_404 said to the Prop Players.

One of the Proppers waved "No problemo. It gave us some funny clips to upload on YouTube, we should be the ones that you both a favor."

Mephisto stared at the bizarre gathering before him.

Faust, still aiming his crossbow, muttered, "They don't seem like Rhodes Island."

Mephisto exhaled sharply, his gaze boring deeply to Specter_404. "No. No, they do not. But I think I've seen that woman before"

He turned his gaze back to Specter_404, Shigi, and the Prop Hunters.

A man had just turned from a chair into a fully armed human right in front of him. Another had quite literally been a lampshade moments ago.

And now they were talking about something called YouTube.

Mephisto pinched the bridge of his nose. "You imbeciles."

One of the Prop Hunters grinned "Ooo, big words."

Another added "Yeah, we get that a lot."

Shigi, ever silent, simply shrugged and twirled her karambit, casually walking forward.

Specter_404, on the other hand, dramatically pointed a finger at Mephisto.

"Villainous scoundrel! Thou hast entered the domain of the unseen!"

A pause.

"...That is to say, you are trespassing, and I, the great Specter_404, shall deliver swift justice upon thee!"

Mephisto stared.

Faust blinked. "Are they... Mentally challenged?"

Mephisto slowly turned his head to look at him.

Faust sighed. "Right. Stupid question."

Shigi had now fully closed the distance between them. She raised a hand, extended a single finger and, flicked Mephisto's forehead.

The sound was deafening in the silence.

The Prop Hunters snorted. Specter_404 gasped. Shigi looked smug.

Mephisto froze.

Slowly, his eye twitched.

"You... wretched little-"

Faust immediately grabbed Mephisto by the collar and pulled him back. Faust shot Shigi point blank.

In a blur, she sidestepped the shot. The crossbow bolt whizzed past her, embedding itself into a ruined wall with a dull thunk.

She twirled her karambit whilst shaking her head, and giving Faust a slow, exaggerated shrug. 

Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, she pulled out a spray can, stepped to the side, and sprayed a smug-looking Wojak meme on the nearby wall.

The Prop Hunters lost it.

"Yo, no way!" one of them howled, practically wheezing. "She actually sprayed on him mid-fight!"

"More clips for me!"

Specter_404 looked impressed. "Verily, thou art truly a menace."

Faust didn't react. He simply reloaded.

Mephisto, however, looked seconds away from an aneurysm.

"You insufferable-"

Before he could finish, Shigi crouched twice and then started bhopping in circles around Faust, spamming crouch mid-air.

At this point, it was less of a fight and more of a public humiliation.

Mephisto's eye twitched violently.

Faust calmly aimed at where she was going to land and fired again.

Shigi air-strafed mid-jump, completely dodging it.

Then, just to rub it in, Shigi pulled out her spray can again mid-air and sprayed another image on the ground.

This time, it was the skull emoji.

"Bro, she's DISRESPECTING HIM!"

"She's playing with him like he's an NPC!"

"...He literally is"

Faust, ever composed, reloaded again. Mephisto, on the other hand, had enough.

"STOP TOYING WITH US AND JUST DIE, YOU FREAK!"

Shigi paused mid-bhop, turned toward Mephisto, and- without missing a beat -double flipped him off. 

That's right. Double middle fingers.

"Shigishigashiga back at it again with her toxicness!" 

"Cllip farm! Clip farm!"

Faust exhaled. Then he vanished.

Shigi's smugness faltered for just a second. Her head snapped to the left. Nothing.

To the right. Nothing.

The Prop Hunters shut up immediately.

"Uh... where'd he go?"

Shigi's eyes narrowed.

Then, by her gamer instinct, she ducked. Just as a crossbow bolt whizzed through the air where her head had been.

Faust reappeared from the shadows, crossbow already reloaded.

Shigi immediately bhopped backwards, dodging his next shot by pixels.

For once, she wasn't taunting.

"Finally" Mephisto sneered, his anger shifting into amusement. "Let's see how cocky you are when you're dead!"

Shigi spun her karambit once before lunging forward. Faust fired another shot, she dodged mid-air with an air strafe, landing at an angle that made it impossible for him to line up another shot immediately.

She was fast.

Faust, however, was precise.

He pivoted, adjusting his aim with inhuman speed, but before he could fire, a metal barrel suddenly rolled into him from seemingly nowhere, throwing him off balance.

"The ghosts are attacking again-!" one of the Reunion soldiers, that just came back to see if things calmed down, screamed before getting absolutely decked by a flying filing cabinet.

Mephisto's sneer vanished. "Oh, for the love of- again!?"

From the shadows of the ruined cityscape, the Prop Players struck again, emerging from their hiding places in the most absurd ways possible. A traffic cone lunged at a Reunion fighter. A desk literally tripped one. And from somewhere, a grandfather clock sprinted across the street and tackled a confused soldier.

Shigi used the moment of distraction to close in on Faust again, but the sniper was already disengaging, blending back into the shadows.

Mephisto barely had time to react before a rogue shopping cart slammed into his side, sending him stumbling.

"Ow! What the-?!"

He whirled around, only to see... Nothing.

Then a chair wobbled threateningly nearby.

Another Reunion soldier screamed as a lamp post body-slammed him.

Mephisto's eye twitched violently. "STOP DYING TO FURNITURE, YOU IDIOTS!"

His frustration only grew when the chair he had been glaring at suddenly leapt at him, forcing him to swat it aside.

Meanwhile, Shigi had Faust on the ropes. She wasn't landing hits, but she didn't need to- she was forcing him to react, keeping him from lining up a proper shot.

Faust attempted to retreat once more, but this time, he wasn't fast enough.

One of the Prop Players- disguised as a literal bush -suddenly sprang to life and tackled him from behind.

Faust staggered forward. Shigi capitalized instantly, grabbing a discarded pipe from the ground and shoving it into his crossbow mechanism.

Click. Nothing.

Faust's head barely tilted before he was suddenly dogpiled by a filing cabinet, a traffic cone, and a rogue mop bucket.

Meanwhile, Mephisto tried to use his Arts.

And then a literal toaster bounced off his head.

"OW! YOU BASTARD-"

A second toaster followed.

A third.

Then a fourth.

A dozen toasters rained down upon Mephisto, bonking him repeatedly. He flailed wildly, trying to dodge, but the relentless assault of kitchen appliances did not stop.

Mephisto, battered and fuming, screeched as he attempted to regain some semblance of control. "You miserable-!" 

CLANG Another toaster nailed him right in the forehead. He stumbled, barely catching himself on a ruined wall, before two flying irons struck him in the gut.

Meanwhile, Faust was struggling under the sheer absurdity of his situation. Even as he tried to move, the dogpile of random objects pressed down harder. A traffic cone somehow wrapped around his head, muffling his voice. A filing cabinet pinned his arms. And to add insult to injury, a rogue mop smacked him in the face repeatedly.

Shigi stood over Faust, spinning her karambit smugly. Specter_404 landed beside her, cracking her knuckles.

"Aha! We are victorious!" Specter_404 declared.

Shigi crossed her arms and raised a brow, as if to say 'You didn't even do anything'.

Mephisto was still getting pelted. "I SWEAR , IF ONE MORE- OW!"

A microwave hit him square in the chest, knocking him flat on his back. 

"Aight bois! Wrap em up, we've got prisoners!" 

The GMod player got to work, gathering the unconscious Reunion soldiers, and seperating them from Faust and Mephisto. They spawned two cages and put them there. 

One of the Prop Players hopped over and surveyed the scene. "Okay, but what about the other guys?" He gestured vaguely at the groaning Reunion soldiers who were still reeling from the absolute nonsense they had just endured.

Another player finally untransformed and cracked his knuckles. "Hmm... these two look important. I mean, just look at 'em. Everyone knows that if someone is important, they don't wear anything that covers up their faces."

"So what about the rest?"

A sinister chuckle came from the group.

"Well, we could see if friendly fire works between these guys" one suggested.

Another tapped their chin. "Or find out if this game has, uh... enhanced interrogation mechanics."

"Battle royale"

Specter_404 gasped dramatically. "Nay! Such heinous deeds must only be reserved for true villains!"

The Prop Players exchanged glances.

"Soooo that's a maybe?"

Before Specter_404 could reply, a sharp whistle cut through the air.

The Prop Players paused.

Shigi turned her head.

Specter_404 dramatically placed a hand over her forehead and squinted into the distance. "More foes doth approach!"

The Prop Hunters turned just in time to see a new group of Reunion soldiers emerging from the ruins- these ones clearly more disciplined, their armor more reinforced, and their weapons ready.

Among them were familiar faces. FrostNova and Crownslayer. 

"...Okay, uh, yeah," one muttered. "These guys definitely look strong."

Another player leaned toward Specter_404. "So, what's the strat?"

Shigi wordlessly looked at the group of high-ranking Reunion officers. Then she turned around, flipped her karambit back into its sheath, and just started walking away.

The Prop Players blinked.

Specter_404 gasped. "Cowardice?! In the face of battle?!"

Shigi casually raised both middle fingers without even looking back.

The Prop Players looked at each other.

"...Sooo, yeah. I vote we run."

"Yeah, hard pass on fighting these guys. I only agreed earlier because I get to punch this kid's punchable face" a player said, nudging a bound Mephisto.

"Guys! We respawn, we lose nothing if we die"

"..."

"..."

"Leeeeeeeroooooy! Jeeeeennkinns!" 

"Did he just rush in?!" 

The Prop Players collectively watched as one of their own rolled straight at FrostNova at full speed.

There was a moment of silence.

Then FrostNova raised a hand. Ice surged.

CRACK.

The office chair instantly froze solid mid-motion and shattered into a thousand pieces.

The rest of the GMod players winced.

"...Well. He ain't respawning here" one muttered.

"Yeah, uh, I'm definitely not fighting that."

Another player nodded rapidly. "This ain't DarkRP. We can just noclip outta here."

"Sorry to break it to you, but only Admin can do that"

FrostNova's gaze turned toward them, cold and unreadable. She took a slow step forward, ice creeping across the ground beneath her feet.

The Prop Players collectively took a slow step backward.

Crownslayer glared at Specter_404. "I remember you. You all have five seconds to run before I gut you."

Specter_404 raised a hand. "Nay, good lady! We are but humble travelers, seeking only-"

A throwing knife embedded itself right where her hand had been a second ago.

She yanked her hand back.

"...Verily, I see thou art uninterested in negotiations."

"Yeah, okay, nope!"

The Prop Players instantly scattered.

One transformed into a trash can and started rolling away. Another turned into a literal stop sign and just tipped over before awkwardly waddling away.

Shigi was already gone, because of course she was.

Specter_404 turned to run, only for a sudden gust of frost to explode in front of her, cutting off her escape.

"Not so fast" FrostNova said, raising a hand.

Specter_404 gulped.

"Gulp"

A moment of tense silence.

Then, out of nowhere...

BONK.

A frying pan smacked Crownslayer in the back of the head.

The assassin stumbled forward, eyes wide. "What the-"

A second frying pan followed.

Then a full-blown kitchen sink fell from the sky and flattened a Reunion soldier.

The Prop Players had returned, this time from the rooftops, hurling every random object they could find down on the officers below.

FrostNova shielded herself with ice. Crownslayer cursed and flipped backward, avoiding a particularly aggressive filing cabinet.

Specter_404 did not waste the opportunity.

"With this magic, I- Ah screw it. Roleplaying is harrrrrd" Specter_404 took out her toolgun and began spawning Overwatch Combine soldiers (the ones with a singular red eye)

With a loud pop pop pop, several Combine soldiers materialized out of thin air, their singular red eyes glowing ominously in the misty ruins.

The newly spawned Overwatch units wasted no time.

"P̵̝̤̟͌̆͠R̵̜͎̯̺̥͊́̽̋̓O̵̬̽̿͘͝Ş̷̯̲͕̻̕Ë̵͍̱̜͔̃͑̓C̷̝͍̻̗̍̏͝Ǔ̷͙̠̐̕̚T̵̡͎̲̃̑̓E̸͕͕͘.̶͈̹̆͗͝ͅ ̷̗̗̥̔͘̕T̷͇̼̋͠Ê̶̺͉̹̓̐R̴̰̤̂͌̄M̷̗̿̓̿͆̉ͅI̶̭̲͉͗N̷͕̦̻̙̊̃͊̀͝Â̶̗̫̫̝̭T̴͖̝̖̽̚E̷̻̐.̷͇̩̱͚̪̑͒̈́̇"

Gunfire erupted as the Combine opened fire on the Reunion forces, their SMGs rattling in the cold air. The sudden reinforcements caught FrostNova and Crownslayer off guard, forcing them to dodge behind cover as bullets zipped past.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Crownslayer snarled.

"New hostiles" FrostNova muttered, already forming ice in her palm. "I don't know what they are, but they bleed like everything else."

A Combine soldier stepped forward, only for a wave of ice to rush over its legs, freezing it in place. FrostNova clenched her fist. The frozen Combine shattered.

The other soldiers didn't even react.

They simply turned toward FrostNova and opened fire.

"Okay, okay" one of the players whispered, ducking behind a chunk of rubble as bullets, ice, and sheer chaos filled the air. "I think we might've underestimated these guys."

"You think?!" Another player screeched as a frozen piece of a shattered Combine soldier whizzed past his head. "I didn't think they'd be able to use magic shit!" 

Specter_404, still laughing like a madwoman, spawned more Combine soldiers. Pop pop pop.

"MORE MINIONS! MORE POWER!" Specter_404 cackled.

"Someone stun-lock her!"

"With what?! A fridge?!"

"YES."

The Prop players grabbed a nearby fridge and threw it towards FrostNova.

With a wave of her hand, she froze the entire thing mid-drop and launched it back.

It directly hit the player who suggested to 'stun-lock' her. 

[Elsewhere]

Amidst the chaos, another group was making their escape.

Amiya sprinted forward, her breathing heavy but determined.

"Keep moving! We're almost out of Chernobog!"

Behind her, the Rhodes Island team was moving as fast as they could.

Dobermann was keeping the operators in formation, barking orders. Scout, Guard, and Ace were at the rear, covering their escape. Nearl shielded a medic as falling debris rained down.

It was absolute chaos.

"Just a little more...!" Amiya clenched her fists.

"Keep moving!" Dobermann barked, barely slowing her pace. "We can't afford to get caught here!"

At the rear, Scout and Ace exchanged a glance. They could still hear movement behind them-Reunion soldiers, scrambling through the wreckage in pursuit. But their formation was scattered, their coordination falling apart. The battle raging deeper in the city had thrown everything into disarray.

"We're almost at the extraction point!" Nearl called out, keeping pace with the group. "Just a little further!"

Amiya didn't dare look back. She could hear the distant shouting, and the eerie echoes of battle behind them. The chaos in Chernobog worked in their favor- the more disorganized Reunion was, the easier it was to slip away.

"Hostiles incoming!" Guard shouted.

From the alleys and side streets, scattered Reunion stragglers emerged, blocking their path. Some looked exhausted, barely able to lift their weapons. Others were still determined, gripping their weapons tightly.

Dobermann wasted no time. "Engage! Keep pushing forward!"

Nearl surged ahead, her hammer flashing in the dim light. She slammed into the first line of Reunion fighters, sending them sprawling. Scout and Guard followed, taking down anyone who tried to reform their ranks.

Ace turned, firing at the pursuing Reunion soldiers. "We don't have long!"

Amiya took a deep breath, focusing her Arts. Sparks crackled around her as she reached out, then, with a sharp exhale, she unleashed a surge of energy that sent several Reunion soldiers reeling.

The path ahead was clearing.

"We're close!" Dobermann shouted.

As if on cue, the outline of a Rhodes Island aircraft came into view through the dust and smoke. The pilot had done well, maneuvering through the ruined city to pick them up.

Amiya felt relief flood her chest. "Go! Get on board!"

One by one, the operators rushed up the boarding ramp, covering each other as they moved. Ace was last in line, taking a final glance back at the ruins of Chernobog. 

Dandellion stayed behind.

Amiya furrowed her brows. "Dandellion?" She took a step forward, hesitating. "Why aren't you coming with us?"

The cat-eared girl stood at the edge of the boarding ramp, her kimono barely fluttering in the wind. She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "You guys are safe now. Mission accomplished."

"That doesn't answer my question." Amiya's voice was firm.

Dandellion rolled her eyes. "Look, I appreciate you inviting me and the others to Rhodes Island earlier, but I already have a job IRL, I don't wanna work 9 to 5 in a video game too."

Dobermann narrowed her eyes. "We understood none of that"

She sighed, rubbing her temples. "What I meant was... I already have responsibilities. I can't just drop everything to join you guys."

Amiya studied Dandellion for a long moment before exhaling. She had a feeling that arguing further wouldn't change anything.

"...Alright" she finally said, her ears drooping slightly. "If that's your decision, then we won't force you. At the very least, take this as a standing offer. If you change your mind, Rhodes Island will take you in."

"Yeah, yeah" Dandellion waved them off. "I'll keep it in mind."

Nearl stepped forward. "That offer extends to the others as well."

Dandellion raised a brow. "Even ISH?"

"...To most of the others."

Amiya smiled slightly. "Stay safe, Dandellion."

Dandellion gave a lazy salute before stepping away from the boarding ramp, watching as the last of the Rhodes Island operators climbed aboard. The engines roared to life, and slowly, the transport began to rise into the air.

She watched them go until the ship was just a speck in the sky.

Then, she sighed and muttered to herself.

"Guess I should make sure the idiots haven't blown themselves up yet."

With that, she turned and walked back deeper into Chernobog.

Chapter Text

A loud clunk echoed as a ragdoll flopped onto the ground. The Playground 24/7 server felt quiet despite it still having quite a couple players, with the majority moving to Terra.

On the screen, the feed flashed:

Entity [FrostNova] has killed player [FemboiLover] with [Ice]

A second later, another notification popped up.

Player [GoonLord] was beaten to death by entity [Ursus Guard #2213] with a [Baton]

GoonLord: corporate diplomacy my ass dude. these ursus npcs are dumb

GoonLord: btw gotta go got some dishes to do

Player [GoonLord] disconnected.

In the middle of prop riddled map, a few players stood around a small makeshift 'HQ', built with a random collection of props, shipping containers, and haphazardly placed vending machines.

A player in a Half-Life 2 citizen model reappeared, shaking his head. "Dude. What the actual hell was that?"

Nearby, another player- wearing a Kleiner model -threw his hands up. "Man, I thought we were griefing some mid-tier NPC faction"

A third player, sitting on a floating office chair, scoffed. "I TOLD you guys, we should've just kidnapped the forehead kid and booked it."

The Kleiner-model player groaned. "Yeah, well, now we got our asses handed to us by ice queen back there."

Another notification popped up on the screen.

Player [CombineElite69] was turned into an ice sculpture by entity [FrostNova].

CombineElite69: ok yeah shes broken af im out

Player [CombineElite69] disconnected.

The Half-Life 2 citizen model player rubbed his temples. "So let's just summarize. We went in, expected some generic NPC fight, and then got absolutely folded because this 'game' apparently has cracked AI that plays like esports champions?"

"Basically" the Kleiner model muttered, crossing his arms.

The player on the floating office chair leaned back lazily. "We underestimated them. They ain't NPCs- well, they are -but, like, not normal ones."

"Yeah, no kidding" the Citizen-model grumbled. "The unmasked guys move too fast, they react to everything, and worst of all, they learn."

The Kleiner model threw his hands up. "And don't even get me started on that red-head assassin! She doesn't even show up on the minimap addon I installed!"

"Maybe 'cause they're not AI."

The three turned to see another player- this one sporting a Techpriest model -leaning against a vending machine.

The Citizen model asked "What, you think they're real people?"

"Dunno" Techpriest shrugged. "But I checked the console logs. This server ain't hosting that world. There's a lot of gamemods running over there like Prop hunt, Trouble in Terrorist Town, and Sledbuild, just to name a few. No AI scripts, no nothing. The only thing I got from the map data was the name of the map. Gm-terra_chernobog"

The players stared at him.

"Nerd"

"Nerd"

"Neeeeeeerd" 

The Techpriest deeply sighed "Man, screw you guys"

The Kleiner model player cackled. "Bro really just said 'map data' like we're in some sci-fi movie."

The Citizen model smirked. "Next thing you know, he's gonna tell us he's decoding the deep lore."

Techpriest rolled his eyes. "I am decoding the deep lore, actually. And guess what? We're all idiots for not taking this more seriously."

The floating office chair player tilted his head. "Go on."

Techpriest pulled up his console. "The portal's still stable, which means we still have access. But, more importantly..." He tapped a few keys. "I found a player list."

The others perked up.

"A player list?" Citizen asked. "Like a scoreboard?"

"Yeah, except half of the names don't match up with any Steam profiles." Techpriest scrolled through the list, pointing out different entries. "Amiya, Kal'sit, Yelena, Lyudmilla, Wis'adel... These are names of some of the NPCs"

"So, what, they're bots with weird names?" Kleiner asked.

Before Techpriest could answer, a loud explosion rocked the area.

BOOM!

All four players flinched as a charred ragdoll came flying in from offscreen, bouncing across the ground like a rubber ball before landing face-down in front of them.

The chat instantly lit up.

Player [FishstickJoe] has been blown to pieces by prop [Red Barrel]

A long silence followed.

Then, from off in the distance, a faint voice screamed "WHO PUT A FREAKING TNT BARREL NEXT TO THE PORTAL?!"

Player [FishstickJoe] disconnected

"...Huh" The floating office chair player blinked. "Anyway, what were we talking about again?"

Player [FishstickJoe] reconnected

"Oh shit the squeaker's back"

The moment FishstickJoe's model loaded in, he immediately started running toward them, his character visibly jittering from pure rage. "WHICH ONE OF YOU FREAKERS LEFT THE TNT RIGHT NEXT TO THE PORTAL?"

The group just stared at him.

Then, in perfect synchronization.

"Not it."

"I'M GONNA CALL MY DAD. HE WORKS AT MICROSOFT AND HE'LL BAN YOUR-"

"Shut up kid"

Gunfire. Explosions. Ice. Chaos.

The battle between the GMod players and Reunion had escalated into a full-blown warzone.

Specter_404 cackled wildly as another wave of Combine soldiers materialized behind her, their glowing red eyes scanning for targets before opening fire. The air was filled with the sharp rattling of SMGs, bullets peppering the already-crumbling ruins of Chernobog.

FrostNova conjured another wave of ice, freezing several of the approaching soldiers in place before shattering them with a flick of her wrist.

Crownslayer darted between cover, hurling a knife into one of the Combine's visors. "This is insane! Who even are these people?!"

A nearby Reunion soldier- who had been in the faction for months -shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, they just spawned out of nowhere!"

Before Crownslayer could reply, a new voice cut through the chaos.

"Enough."

The temperature in the air seemed to change. Not from FrostNova's ice, but from something else, something much hotter.

A burst of flame erupted nearby, sending burning debris flying. From the fire and smoke, a figure emerged.

Talulah.

Her sword burned with an unnatural glow, flames licking the edges of the blade as she calmly surveyed the battlefield. Her gaze locked onto the Combine soldiers, then onto the chaotic mess of GMod players.

She exhaled sharply.

"I don't know what madness this is..." Her grip on her sword tightened. "...But it ends here."

The GMod players stopped fighting. For a brief moment, there was silence.

Then one of them muttered.

"...Dude, she has handlebars on her head"

A player beside him stared at him with a weirded out expression "...Why are you like this?"

Before the argument could escalate, a fireball from a Reunion caster roared toward them.

"OH SHI-"

BOOM.

The explosion sent players flying, ragdolling hilariously across the battlefield. The Prop Players, already struggling against FrostNova, completely lost their nerve.

"Alright, screw this, I'm out!"

"Yeah, we're getting griefed, man. Autoborts, rollback!"

They scattered, using whatever props they had to make a quick getaway. One turned into a stop sign and tried to roll away unnoticed. Another became a traffic cone and sat perfectly still.

Talulah immediately incinerated them both.

As the Prop Players made their retreat, another force arrived.

A new wave of GMod players.

And this time, they weren't roleplaying.

They were here to win.

Four players in Space Marine models were in the front of the new wave of players, bolters and chainswords in hand.

As the battlefield descended into absolute chaos, the Space Marines at the front raised their weapons high.

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" they bellowed in unison, charging forward like an unstoppable force.

Their bolters roared to life, spitting explosive rounds that tore through the already-panicking Reunion soldiers. Chainswords revved as they cleaved through the enemy ranks.

Talulah narrowed her eyes, gripping her sword tighter. "More of these madmen...?"

Before she could react, a new voice cut through the chaos, one that absolutely did not belong.

"FOR DEMOCRACY!"

The Space Marines froze mid-charge.

Everyone, including Reunion, turned their heads in confusion.

Standing among the towering Space Marines was a single Helldiver model, his armor scratched and dirtied from 'previous campaigns.' He held a Liberator rifle in one hand and a Democracy-issued ↑→↓↓↓ in the other.

The nearest Space Marine turned his helmeted head toward him.

"...What in the Holy Terra did you just say?"

The Helldiver primed his grenade.

"I SAID FOR DEMOCRACY!"

BOOM.

The entire frontline of Reunion got blown to hell.

The Space Marines stood in shocked silence.

A moment later, the Helldiver casually reloaded his rifle.

"Also, I dropped a 500kg bomb somewhere. So, uh, might wanna clear out in five minutes."

The Space Marines stared at him.

Then, one of them screamed in rage.

"HERESY!!!"

"My bad fellas" 

And just like that, the battle got even more chaotic.

FrostNova, crouched behind cover, stared in utter disbelief. Just moments ago, she had been battling what she assumed were well-equipped, yet disorganized, enemies. Now? Now there were superhuman giants in power armor screaming about emperors and democracy, backed by endless waves of maniacs with weaponry they haven't seen before.

To her left, Mephisto ducked behind a broken wall. "Talulah!" he yelled over the madness. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

Talulah gritted her teeth, parrying a chainsword-wielding giant. Sparks flew as she forced the weapon back, her flames clashing against its revving teeth. "I don't know!" she barked.

Talulah unleashed another wave of flames, incinerating three unlucky players that were just minding their own business. By that, I mean just goofing around.

Crownslayer dropped down from a rooftop, breathing heavily. "They're endless" she growled. "Every time we kill one, more appear."

At first, it had just been these insane men with a unique Arts that turn them into objects, with the one in a witch costume using her Arts (from FrostNova's speculation) to summon these weird men in white armor with a singular red eye. 

They were strange, faceless soldiers that never screamed, never hesitated, never stopped. They fought more like machines, relentless and coordinated.

From Crownslayer's vantage point, she saw hulking, armored behemoths charging across the battlefield, wielding oversized guns and massive, revving chainswords. They were laughing as they tore through Reunion forces.

Then there was that one guy in black armor with yellow accents, shouting something about democracy and just... blowing people up.

Crownslayer looked to her side. W crouched next to her, arms crossed, looking more amused than concerned.

"...Well" W snorted "This keeps getting interesting"

"How are you laughing right now?!" Crownslayer snapped.

W grinned. "Because this is hilarious." She gestured at the battlefield. "We've been fighting normal Ursus goons. Now we got angry tin cans, faceless death squads, and a democracy enthusiast with explosives. You can't tell me that's not the funniest thing you've ever seen."

"It's not when our lives are on the line!"

Before the argument could continue, multiple voices of GMod players bellowed across the battlefield.

"DEATH TO THE ENEMIES OF THE EMPEROR!"

"AND DEATH TO TYRANNY!"

"Guys! Don't kill the baddie with the handlebars please!" 

"Shut your horny ass up, Jesus Christ!" 

FrostNova squeezed her eyes shut and took a slow breath through her nose.

No. She refused to believe this was real.

She peeked again over the rubble-

-Only to see a man in a bright red suit doing backflips in the middle of the battlefield, dodging bullets like it was a joke. Every time he landed, he dramatically pointed at Reunion soldiers and made gun noises with his mouth.

"Pew pew! Bang! Oh, you're DEAD now! Haha, gotcha!"

One Reunion soldier genuinely hesitated, looking at the red-suited man's wounds in confusion before W shot him at the head and blew it all off.

FrostNova had her mouth agape from the sheer stupidity that was happening. "That one isn't even USING a weapon!"

"Would you prefer if he was?!" Crownslayer snapped.

More chaos followed.

Talulah gritted her teeth as she deflected another chainsword swing, her flames roaring to life around her. Every second, the battlefield became more of a complete farce, and yet, her forces were still getting slaughtered.

"Where is Patriot and Mudrock?!" she snarled, her frustration boiling over.

[Meanwhile]

Patriot was not fighting.

He was not slashing apart bizarre, chaotic enemies.

Instead, he was sitting cross-legged- albeit a little bit uncomfortable -inside a dimly lit room, with his Reunion units accompanying him. 

Across from him, a group of strangely dressed men in suits, trench coats, and fedoras were arranging stacks of green money he doesn't recognize on the ground.

"Alright" one of the players- a man in a mafia suit -said, tapping his fingers against the floor. "So, here's the deal. We got a stable economy running in our district, but we need more supplies. You got anything good for trade?"

Patriot exhaled deeply, his massive frame barely fitting inside the small room.

"I have. Medical supplies. And Weapons" he rumbled. "What do. You offer?"

Another player, this one in a police uniform with a giant 'Polishe' tag on his uniform, leaned forward. "We got money. But most importantly-" He motioned to a crate being dragged in.

Inside were dozens of printers.

Money printers.

"You help us set up a base here, we cut you in on the profits" the 'Mayor' said confidently. "Fifty-fifty."

Patriot slowly looked between the players, then at the glowing, suspiciously illegal-looking printers.

"...How does this. Help Reunion? That money. You have. Is unusable"

"Bro, don't worry about it" the mafia-suited man said with a grin. "We just gotta control the market."

A beat of silence.

Patriot rubbed his temple.

"Foolish" he muttered under his breath.

Then he leaned forward slightly.

"But... go on."

FrostNova was too busy to respond. W, still watching the chaos like it was the best show she'd ever seen, merely shrugged.

"Dunno. Maybe they're taking a vacation in an inconvenient time?"

Talulah couldn't think of a reply.

She turned, barely dodging as an entire green and yellow bus crashed onto the battlefield, flattening several Reunion fighters. A player wearing a bright red jacket and an owl mask jumped off the top of it, doing a backflip mid-air before landing and T-posing aggressively at her.

BANG!

Her instincts screamed, and she used her Arts in time to block a bullet.

She spun, only to see a single man in a trench coat and a fedora standing alone, aiming a pistol at her.

The fedora-wearing man twirled his pistol and fired again. Talulah deflected it with a burst of flame, but before she could retaliate-

"HAHAHAHAHA! NO HIT DETECTED!"

The man did a victory dance in place before getting blown up by a stray rocket.

"Sorry! I misclicked!" said a distant voice. 

Talulah had no idea what a 'misclick' was, but she was rapidly reaching the limits of her patience. Seeing how her forces were being decimated and losing, despite the fact that the GMod players were killing their own units more than hers, made one thing clear.

This fight is unwinnable. 

"Fall back to sector C-4!" she roared.

Her troops didn't need to be told twice. They were already disengaging, scrambling to retreat before more of these insane warriors arrived.

The battlefield remained chaotic.

The owl-masked player was now breakdancing in the middle of the battlefield while dodging bolts, somehow.

A massive player-controlled tank had rolled in from somewhere, its cannon swiveling wildly as its user screamed "HOW DO I FIRE?!?!"

Above them, a VTOL jet, completely out of place in this medieval-industrial city, began tilting uncontrollably. A panicked voice blared from its speakers:

"Uh, guys? Guys, I don't know how to land this thing-"

Talulah barely dodged another explosion as the jet crashed into a ruined building, taking out an entire block in the process.

And, just to add more to the chaotic mess of a battle, the 500kg strategem that the Helldiver had thrown earlier had finally landed

With a deafening BOOM, the 500kg ordnance hit the battlefield like divine punishment, sending a shockwave that launched players, props, and Reunion fighters alike into the air.

Talulah, bracing herself against the blast, barely avoided getting flattened by a flying fridge.

FrostNova wasn't so lucky. A rogue vending machine clipped her in the side, sending her sprawling with an undignified grunt.

Crownslayer ducked under a tumbling bathtub as she sprinted for cover.

W was flipping through the air, with the shockwave of the blast sending her away. 

Mephisto, for some godforsaken reason, got hit on the head with a toaster and knocking him out. Faust caught him at the right time and turned invisible, leaving the fight.

Another massive prop explosion rocked the battlefield.

And then, as if on cue, the players turned on each other.

"TRAITOR!" One screamed, unloading an SMG at his friend.

"IT WAS A MISCLICK, I SWEAR!"

"LIAR! YOU KILLED THE VANOSS COSPLAYER!"

"I THOUGHT HE WAS AN NPC!"

"DID YOU NOT SEE THE TEABAGGING?!"

The GMod players- who had spent the entire battle absolutely obliterating Reunion forces -were now fully distracted with killing each other.

"HERETICS WITHIN OUR FORCES?! UNACCEPTABLE!"

"Hawk tuah"

Talulah didn't hesitate.

"GO! WHILE THEY'RE FIGHTING THEMSELVES!" Talulah yelled.

Reunion ran.

Even W had to scramble to her feet, half-laughing, half-panicked, as she bolted after them.

FrostNova, still dazed, was dragged by Crownslayer.

And behind them, the battlefield descended into even worse chaos. Some idiot had spawned a helicopter, but it was upside-down.

Another random bus had arrived, running over both friend and foe.

A lone GMod player stood on top of the wreckage, screaming.

"WE WIN THESE! WOOOOO!"

Talulah didn't look back. She didn't need to.

She had no idea what they had just fought.

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

Talulah's boots pounded against the cracked pavement as she led the retreating forces deeper into Chernobog's ruins. Smoke choked the air. Distant, nonsensical screams echoed from the battlefield behind them, accompanied by the occasional explosion, honk, or unholy, guttural mic-spam.

She didn't dare stop.

FrostNova, still groggy from getting hit by a vending machine, stumbled alongside Crownslayer. "...That wasn't normal."

"No shit" Crownslayer gritted out, still dragging her forward.

Talulah looked over her shoulder. The GMod players were still fighting each other. They hadn't even started pursuing Reunion. Instead, a Space Marine was currently wrestling a Helldiver, a floating couch was zooming through the air with a screaming player on top, and someone had somehow built an entire McDonald's in the middle of the battlefield. Somehow

She turned back around. This must be a fever dream.

Talulah's hands clenched into fists. She took a long breath, composing herself.

"Where's Patriot?" she asked again.

The others slowed slightly.

Crownslayer blinked. "...That's a good question."

FrostNova looked around. "He was supposed to be finishing off the stragglers with us."

Silence fell between them.

They had all seen the battlefield devolve into a warped nightmare of absurdity and violence. If Patriot was still there, he should have been at the forefront.

But he wasn't.

Talulah's expression darkened.

"...Find him."

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

The fires were still burning. The streets were still filled with rubble. But for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the citizens of Chernobog weren't hiding in fear.

They were out in the open, cautiously stepping past broken concrete and charred remains, staring at the bizarre warriors who had fought off the infected invaders.

The strangely dressed, insane, and utterly incomprehensible warriors.

A small crowd had gathered in the center of a ruined square, surrounding a group of GMod players who were too busy messing around with spawned props and copying the stuff from Chernobog (their buildings and vehicles) to notice the growing attention.

One elderly Ursus man, covered in dust, hesitantly stepped forward. "T-Thank you, brave saviors... You saved us."

A murmur of agreement passed through the crowd. Some of the citizens even started clapping. A woman was crying tears of relief. A young boy, holding his mother's hand, looked up at the GMod players like they were mythical heroes.

The GMod players finally stopped whatever nonsense they were doing.

"...Oh" a player said. "Uh. You're welcome, I guess?"

The old man gave a deep, respectful bow. "Chernobog and Ursus owes you its gratitude."

Another person, a woman clutching a ragged shawl, stepped forward. "You've fended off those infected freaks! You saved our homes! Our families!"

The players exchanged glances.

"IN THE EMPEROR'S NAME" one of the surviving Space Marines boomed "WE PURGE THE WICKED."

A beat of silence.

Then, a different GMod player, wearing a Postal Dude model, nudged the Space Marine. "Dude. Chill."

The Space Marine cleared his throat. "I mean... yes. You are safe."

The murmurs in the crowd grew. The people of Chernobog, still shaken by the battle, now found themselves staring at a new problem.

The GMod players.

They weren't a proper military force. They weren't a government. They weren't even a rebellion. They were just there.

And that was terrifying.

A bolder citizen, an older woman with streaks of gray in her hair, stepped forward. "We thank you for what you've done. But what now? Chernobog belongs to Ursus. If they return and see outsiders in their city, they will not be merciful."

A Space Marine tilted his head. "Ursus? Some weakling xenos faction?"

"They're an empire" the woman clarified.

"Oh." The Space Marine paused. "Then we shall burn them too."

"OH MY GOD, CHILL" a player snapped, shoving him.

A man in a torn military uniform- the remnants of a Chernobog city guard -pushed to the front. "You don't understand. If Ursus finds out you're here, they'll send their army to take the city back. They won't care that you saved us. They will see you as invaders. And they will crush you."

A moment of silence.

Then, one of the GMod players casually leaned on a floating physics prop, crossing his arms. "Cool story, bro. We're still staying here."

The crowd erupted.

"You can't just do that!"

"This is still Ursus territory!"

"They will execute us all if we let you stay!"

Specter_404 climbed onto a nearby wrecked car, hands on her hips. "EXACTLY! Which is why we gotta be in charge! Y'know, 'cause we're chill and all that."

Some of the GMod players began excitedly chatting.

"We should totally do a mayor election."

"Dibs on being the sheriff."

"We need a crime system."

"No, we need an economy first."

"We should enforce taxes."

"I shall be the Grrrrrrand Magus!"

"Guys, I literally have infinite money. We could just-"

"No, no, we have to roleplay it."

A group of DarkRP players had already started whispering among themselves. These were the types who spent way too much time in GMod servers enforcing imaginary taxes, running virtual mafias, and causing ungodly levels of corruption.

One of them, wearing a cheap suit model, stepped forward. "Listen here, my fine citizens! We can bring order to Chernobog. A government for the people, by the people."

Someone in the crowd crossed their arms. "Oh? And who would be in charge?"

The suited player smirked. "Me, of course."

"NO" said half the GMod players in unison.

The Helldiver suddenly raised a hand. "I say we install a democracy."

A different player, wearing a trench coat and a fedora, shook his head. "No no, that's stupid. We should go full monarchy. I shall be king."

The Techpriest player scoffed. "You are all fools. Clearly, a theocratic order is best. The Omnissiah wills it."

Chaos erupted again.

The citizens of Chernobog, who had just survived one disaster, now watched in horror as their supposed 'saviors' immediately descended into infighting over who got to rule.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the crowd, a single Ursus officer- bloodied and bruised -stared at the scene, utterly dumbfounded.

"This... this is who saved us?"

A Chernobog survivor next to him sighed. "Yeah. We're so screwed."

The Space Marine, still standing tall, raised his fist. "FOR THE EMPEROR!"

The Helldiver immediately countered. "FOR DEMOCRACY!"

Specter_404 struck a dramatic pose. "FOR MY GOOD KARMA!"

A DarkRP player in a mayor model rubbed his hands together. "For tax benefits."

And just like that, Chernobog fell to the most disorganized, chaotic, and least qualified rulers in history.

Dandellion stared at the scene from afar.

"Man, what did I just miss?"

Chapter Text

[A Day After The Reunion Riot]

The Catastrophe struck soon after the players fought off Reunion.

It had turned Chernobog into a crumbling ruined city, and it should have left it uninhabitable. The collapse of infrastructure, the destruction of the lower districts, the spread of Originium, and the risk of further destabilization should have made it impossible for the people to stay.

But somehow, it was still standing.

The GMod players had taken over, and in the span of a few days, they had somehow made things work.

Sort of.

One of the biggest problems Chernobog faced after the catastrophe was structural collapse.

Entire districts had been on the verge of falling apart. Foundations were cracking, buildings were leaning at dangerous angles, and large chunks of debris threatened to crush anyone who got too close.

For the people of Terra, this was an engineering disaster that would take years to fix.

For the GMod players?

It was just Tuesday.

At the center of the city, a group of players was hard at work. A skyscraper had been tilting dangerously, groaning under its own weight. Any rational engineer would have declared it unsalvageable.

Instead, one of the players- a guy named Baller -pointed a welding tool at the base of the building.

"Alright, I'll just weld this here... and here..."

With a few clicks, bright blue weld points appeared out of thin air. The building stopped tilting.

A nearby Ursus engineer, who had spent his life studying architecture, just stared in horror.

"H-How-?! That doesn't make any sense! There's no support! You didn't reinforce anything!"

Baller nodded sagely. "Yup."

"Then- then how-?!"

Baller gave him a thumbs-up. "Weld tool."

Besides the infrastructure collapse, and other minor problems, Originium was everywhere.

Toxic crystals jutted out of roads and buildings. Normally, clearing it would take months, even years. But not when you had players who could just 'Delete' it.

A group of players stood around an Originium-infested street.

One of them, using the tool-gun, simply aimed the tool that is a gun over a massive Originium cluster.

With a single click, it vanished.

"...Well, that was easy" he muttered. "This street looks way better without those weird rocks" 

[A Week After Player Takeover]

The Rhodes Island Landship hummed softly as it moved, its vast structure a mobile sanctuary for the Infected. But today, the atmosphere within its briefing room was anything but peaceful.

Four figures sat around a large conference table, a large holographic map of Chernobog floating above it. A big, bold warning label was plastered across it.

Chernobog: Now under unidentified control (name unknown)

Kal'tsit stood at the front, arms crossed, her face as unreadable as ever. Amiya, sitting beside her, looked deeply troubled. Also included in this meeting was Doctor, and Closure.

Closure, brows furrowed, tapped the table. "So you're telling me that Chernobog... isn't under Ursus control anymore?"

Silence.

"Correct." Kal'tsit's tone was crisp. "The ones who took control are the same unknown group of individuals who assisted the Doctor's escape, though from what Dobermann had reported, it was only four of them."

Silence again.

"...What?" Closure leaned back in her chair "I thought they were just a bunch of weirdos from what the reports said. They're actually taking over?"

Kal'tsit exhaled slowly. "Yes. And that's not all." She clicked something on her tablet. 

The hologram shifted, now showing an image of a massive, neon-lit billboard hanging over a Chernobog street, with poorly photoshopped images of the GMod players posing dramatically.

At the bottom, in bright bold letters, it read: 

WELCOME TO NEW SHERNOBURG. NOW UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

TAXES: SUBJECT TO AGREEMENT 

"They spelt Chernobog wrong..."  Amiya stared at the photo of the billboard. Still processing the information, she slowly shook her head. "But... What do they even want with Chernobog?"

"That's one of the things that we do not know" Kal'sit then continued, staying composed. "They've taken control of the city's administration. The remaining Ursus authorities have either been forced out or... assimilated."

The Doctor shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. From the short time we had interacted with them, they had no political ambitions. Why would they want to rule?"

"Once again, we do not know"

Silence settled over the room as everyone absorbed the absurdity of the situation.

"...I don't know what's worse" Closure finally spoke, rubbing her temples. "The fact that a bunch of unknown weirdos took over a major Ursus city, or the fact that they misspelt it as Shernoburg."

Kal'sit glanced at Amiya. "Do we have any intelligence on their policies? What are they actually doing in Chernobog?"

Amiya clicked through a few more images on her tablet. "Reports indicate they've opened up the city to anyone willing to work under their rule. They've scrapped all existing Ursus governance and have implemented... something resembling a system. However, it lacks consistency. Some districts have strict curfews enforced by unknown armed personnel, while others appear to be completely lawless."

"Wait" Closure raised a hand. "Are you saying we have areas of strict control and total anarchy in the same city?"

Kal'tsit nodded. "Correct. Some of them are enforcing stability, while others are treating their territory as their personal kingdom. There are also... reports of trade permits, property disputes, and even public bounties. Their administration, if we can call it that, is fragmented."

"So they aren't a united front?"

Kal'tsit's expression darkened. "No. There is no single ruler. It seems like anyone with enough power or influence among them can lay claim to authority."

The Doctor let out a slow breath. "That sounds less like a government... and more like a group of opportunists carving up the city."

"I... I don't even know what to think," Amiya admitted.

The Kal'sit shuffled through her notes. "It gets worse."

Amiya groaned. "Of course it does."

"Reunion is still in the city."

That got everyone's attention.

Amiya narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"They're hiding in the lower sectors. Talulah and the others retreated there after the battle. Right now, these... Individuals, don't really care about them. At least, not yet" Kal'tsit clarified. "Reunion has not been their priority, but that may change depending on how their so-called government stabilizes."

Amiya frowned. "We need more information. Do we have any way of contacting them?"

Kal'tsit looked to the Doctor. "That is the question I was going to ask you. You were the one to interact with them first. Do you know anyone among them that we can reach out to?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment, thinking back to the escape from Chernobog. Four of them had assisted in their survival- ISH, Specter_404, Shigi, and Dandellion -but out of them, only one had shown any semblance of reason.

"Dandellion" the Doctor finally said.

Kal'tsit tilted her head slightly. "Explain."

"She seemed... different from the others," the Doctor replied. "More level-headed. The rest were unpredictable, but she was the one trying to make sense of things. If we have any chance of getting a reasonable response from these people, it would be through her."

Amiya looked hopeful. "If that's true, then maybe we can negotiate with them."

Kal'tsit remained unreadable. "Assuming she has any real authority among them."

The Doctor sighed. "We won't know until we try."

Silence.

Kal'tsit eventually nodded. "Then we will attempt contact." She turned to Closure. "See if we can establish a line of communication. We need to know what we're dealing with before we make any decisions."

"Got it" Closure replied. "I'll do what I can, but I'm not sure if these guys even use normal communication channels."

"We will adapt if necessary" Kal'tsit said. Then, with a final glance around the room, she concluded "We need answers. And we need them soon."

[New Shernoburg]

The streets of Chernobog- or rather New Shernoburg, as the GMod players misspelled it -were bustling with activity. The city's citizens, though wary and still mourning, were adjusting to their new overlords. Trade was resuming, supplies were being distributed (haphazardly, but still), and life was beginning to settle into some strange, chaotic routine.

And then, of course, there were the incidents.

A merchant from Columbia sighed as he wiped sweat from his brow. His stall was small, stocked with what little food and materials he could scavenge after the Reunion riot and the Catastrophe striking Chernobog last week. It wasn't much, but it was his.

And then it happened.

A barrel rolled closer.

At first, it seemed harmless. Just a simple, wooden barrel, sitting in the middle of the road. Nothing suspicious or out of place. But then it moved.

The merchant froze.

The barrel shuffled forward.

He took a step back.

The barrel rotated slightly. Then a whisper came from the barrel. "Psst. Hey. You wanna buy a grenade?"

The merchant groaned.

"NO, I DO NOT WANT A GRENADE."

The barrel was silent for a moment. Then: "Okay. What about two grenades?"

The merchant kicked the barrel, but it just rolled back into position, undeterred.

"Ow. That was rude."

Before the merchant could respond, there was a sudden gunshot that rang out, and the barrel exploded into a several pieces of wood.

Standing atop a nearby rooftop, a figure wearing a long trench coat, a NCR Ranger helmet, and wielding a shotgun lowered their weapon. The newcomer hopped down, landing gracefully in front of the merchant, then dramatically dusted off their coat. 

"You're safe now, citizen" the trench-coated figure declared. "That prop won't bother you anymore."

The merchant blinked. "I-... what?"

The figure slung their shotgun over their shoulder and held up a hastily scribbled sign.

PROP HUNTERS CO.
Got a suspicious chair? A barrel that wasn't there? Don't just stare, call us there and we'll make it disappear!

Before he could even process what was happening, another barrel shuffled up from the alleyway.

"...Hey" the new barrel whispered.

Without hesitation, the Prop Hunter fired again. The barrel exploded into more shattered wood.

A muffled scream came from the distance. "DAMMIT, MAN! I JUST SPAWNED BACK IN!"

The merchant's eye twitched. "There are more of them?!"

The Prop Hunter adjusted his stance, as if preparing for battle. "You have no idea. These things are everywhere. Watching. Waiting. Any object around you could be one of them."

The merchant took a slow step away from his own stall. "Even my wares?"

The Prop Hunter gave a grave nod. "Especially your wares."

The merchant, now on edge, looked around wildly. "How do I know what's real anymore?!"

The Prop Hunter placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Simple."

He took out a crowbar.

"Hit everything."

The merchant shakily reached for a broom and, with growing paranoia, started whacking random objects around his stall. Just in case.

The Prop Hunter nodded in approval. "You'll do fine, kid"

Then, without another word, he vanished into the shadows, only to immediately trip over a rolling chair and crash into a fruit stand, with the stand owner yelling profanities at the Prop Hunter.

The merchant just stared at the mess.

A lone potted plant next to him twitched.

"Hey" it whispered.

The merchant screamed.

After a few incidents of property disputes (mostly involving players stealing furniture by picking it up with their physics guns), a law enforcement system was established.

Sort of.

The court took place at a makeshift 'courthouse', which was really just a ruined library they had rebuilt, and with a spray-painted sign reading 'Shernoburg Supreme Court'.

A former Ursus citizen and a player stood before the 'judges.'

One was furious, the other looking incredibly nervous.

"This man" the first citizen hissed "stole my house."

One of the judges, wearing a Judge Dredd helmet, nodded. "And what evidence do you have?"

The citizen presented a couple of photos.

The player was literally standing inside the stolen house, which was now floating slightly off the ground because the physics were broken.

The 'judges' whispered amongst themselves.

After a moment, the second judge, wearing a comically oversized police hat, cleared his throat.

"We have reviewed the case... and we find the defendant..."

The courtroom was silent.

The judge spun a giant wheel labeled 'Guilty' and 'Not Guilty'.

It landed on 'Guilty.'

The player paled "Wait- I can explain!"

Two players wearing Stormtrooper models immediately grabbed him.

"GUILTY! TAKE HIM TO JAIL!"

"THERE IS NO JAIL!" someone in the crowd yelled, most likely a player.

The first officer nodded. "Oh. We will be throwing him off the nearest building then."

The defendant screamed as he was carried away. The defendant nodded in satisfaction. Justice had been served.

As the people filed out, another group entered the courtroom. 

"Your honors, League of Legends" the plaintiff pointed at the defendant.

"Death" the judges judged. 

Meanwhile, a former Ursus official, once a high-ranking bureaucrat, now found himself in unfamiliar territory. 

Applying for a job.

He stood nervously in front of a large, imposing building with a spray-painted sign. 

'CITY ADMINISTRATION NOW HIRING!'

Steeling his nerves, he stepped inside. The interior was... questionable. Wires hung from the ceiling, players in various outfits scurried about, and the reception desk was manned by a player with a cardboard box on his head.

"I can't believe this is going to be my life after college..." the cardboard-headed man said "Boring ass job, ever."

The bureaucrat cleared his throat. "Ahem, good afternoon. I am here to inquire about the available positions."

The cardboard-headed receptionist nodded. "Of course. What are your qualifications?"

"I was an Ursus district manager. I oversaw logistics and governance for over a decade."

The receptionist pulled out a clipboard. "Alright. So, do you know how to make bacon eggs?"

"Excuse me?"

"Do you know how to make grilled cheese?"

The bureaucrat hesitated. "No...?"

I'm not applying a job to a restaurant am I? is what the former official thought.

The receptionist clicked his tongue. "That's gonna be a problem. Okay, how about prop spawning? Can you generate objects at will?"

"That is... not possible. I can't use Arts..."

"Dunno what that is, but whatever. Okay, one last thing. If someone was RDM-ing in front of you, would you A) Try to stop them? B) Call an admin? C) Join them or D) yell 'RDM! RDM! RDM!' as loud as you can?"

"None of those options sound reasonable."

The receptionist sighed and marked something on his clipboard. "Yeah, I don't think you're gonna fit in here, man. But! We do need someone to keep track of how much random crap people are throwing into the economy. You like paperwork, right?"

The bureaucrat hesitated before slowly nodding. "I do, actually."

"Cool. You're hired. Go upstairs, third room on the left, Chief420 would tell you what to do next. If you see a floating bathtub, ignore it."

New Shernoburg was far from stable. Inconsistent, chaotic, and unpredictable, the city was unlike anything that had come before it. And yet, somehow, life went on.

The former citizens of Chernobog, whether they liked it or not, were adapting. To some, this new rule was anarchy. To others, it was opportunity.

And to a select few, it was just another day of madness and goofing off with online friends.

Chapter Text

Rhodes Island had been monitoring the situation in New Shernoburg for a while now. Reports from the outside painted a picture of pure anarchy, but the reality was... complicated.

While the city was no longer under Ursus control, it hadn't collapsed into total lawlessness either. There were trade permits, strange yet functioning court systems, and even patrolling enforcers- though they varied wildly in their methods.

Amiya wasn't sure what to expect.

"Final checks" Dobermann's voice came over the comms. "Everyone ready?"

A small team had been assembled for the mission. Rhodes Island was sending a diplomatic group, not a combat squad. 

The group included the Doctor, Amiya, Dobermann, Fang, Hibiscus, Kroos, and Jessica.

"Are we sure this place is even safe?" Fang muttered, adjusting her grip on her weapon. "From what we've heard, it's anarchy."

"Safe is... relative," the Doctor said, adjusting his coat. "But it's stable enough that we won't get shot on sight."

The Doctor pointed to something behind them. They turned to see a massive hand-painted sign was nailed to a building

NO KOS (Kill on Sight) ZONE. UNLESS FUNNY.

"I hope they don't find killing us funny..." Fang muttered.

Amiya sighed. "Let's not assume the worst. We're here to talk, not fight."

Dobermann remained skeptical, but she motioned for the group to move forward.

Ahead, the city stretched out in a bizarre, chaotic mix of destruction and rebuilding. Entire Ursus-style buildings stood next to hastily constructed wooden forts, spray-painted with names like "Fort Kickass" and "Big Iron Tower."

The streets were busy with activity. People- both former Ursus civilians and players -went about their business, trading, repairing, or just existing in whatever passed for normal here.

Jessica stuck close to Hibiscus, her tail twitching nervously. "I-I don't like this... Everything feels unstable."

As they walked, they passed a bounty board. Several wanted posters were nailed to it.

-(Kill) FishstickJoe (Crime: Being annoying). Reward - 10k [whatever currency you use] (Issued by: Specter_404)

-(Jail) The Reunion girl with the horns (Crime: ruined my barrel tower last week). Reward - hugs from me (Issued by: LordofFlies)

-(Kill) Steve221 (Crime: existing). Reward - 2 favors from IShouldntHave (Issued by: Specter_404)

-(Capture) The bunny girl called FrostNova (Big guy needs the girl unharmed). Reward - a handshake from Patriot (Issued by: Mayor Mafioso Mayor)

Fang frowned. "Some of these are ridiculous..."

Jessica hesitated, her ears twitching. "B-But look at this one."

She pointed at the bottom of the board, where a very familiar name stood out.

A tense silence settled over the group.

"...Patriot?" Dobermann said, her expression darkening.

Amiya's ears twitched. "He's here?"

"I thought he's at the lower sectors of Cherno- New Shurnoberg" Kroos murmured.

The Doctor leaned in, inspecting the bounty more closely. "It says here he wants FrostNova unharmed."

Jessica gulped. "What... w-what do we do? He's supposed to be hiding with Reunion but he's openly..." she trailed off.

Dobermann narrowed her eyes. "If he's openly issuing a bounty, that means he's either confident no one will challenge him, or he's allied with whoever's running this place. Well, this part of the city"

Amiya's fingers clenched around the hem of her jacket. "That's what worries me."

The implications were massive. If Patriot had thrown in his lot with New Shernoburg, then Reunion's strongest warrior had effectively abandoned their cause, or worse, the rulers of New Shernoburg allying themselves with Reunion. Impossible as it may be, there is still a chance of it happening.

Fang crossed her arms. "So, what's the call? Do we keep moving, or turn back?"

The Doctor exhaled. "We keep going. This doesn't change our goal. If anything, it makes our visit even more important."

The team continued deeper into the chaotic city, their eyes darting around at the sheer absurdity of New Shernoburg.

Amiya glanced at the Doctor. "How are we even supposed to find Dandellion in all this?"

The Doctor rubbed his temples. "We'll ask around. Someone here has to know where she is."

The problem was... asking around in New Shernoburg came with risks.

Their first stop was a half-collapsed building with a large, spray-painted sign that read:

'OFFICIAL NEW SHERNOBURG TOURIST INFO. (PROBABLY ACCURATE, MAYBE NOT)'

Inside, a shirtless player wearing a cardboard box as a hat sat behind a desk. A crayon-drawn "MAP OF NEW SHERNOBURG" was pinned to the wall behind him. It looked more like a child's scribble than an actual map.

Amiya cleared her throat. "Excuse me, we're looking for someone named Dandellion."

The 'Tourist Guide' nodded sagely. "Aha. And why do you seek the cat girl?"

"...She's a friend" Amiya said cautiously.

The guide stroked his imaginary beard. "Mmmm. I see, I see. And how much are you willing to pay for this knowledge?"

Dobermann crossed her arms. "We're not paying."

The guide leaned back, then dramatically pointed at a wheel labeled 'PAYMENT OPTIONS.'

It had categories like:

-Moneyz

-Funny joke

-Dance routine

-Strip naked (Use default skin for the rest of the day) (Players only)

(If you want to spin again, come back tomorrow)

Jessica paled. "W-What kind of payment system is this?"

Before anyone could object, the Doctor walked up and spun the wheel.

It landed on 'Funny joke.'

The guide slammed his hands on the desk. "ALRIGHT! Tell me a joke"

"Alright..." he said. He thought about it deeply for a second, before nodding to himself and began telling the joke. "Why did the Originium slug refuse to move?"

The guide leaned forward, intrigued. "Why?"

The Doctor paused for dramatic effect.

"Because it was stuck in a tough situation."

Silence.

Jessica looked like she wanted to die from secondhand embarrassment. Fang groaned. Dobermann pinched the bridge of her nose.

Then, the guide burst out laughing. He slammed his hands on the desk, his cardboard box hat nearly falling off.

"OH, THAT'S SO TERRIBLE IT'S HILARIOUS! I LOVE IT!" he cackled. "A deal's a deal, my guy! You're looking for Dandellion, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

He dramatically pointed at a crudely drawn map on the wall, the words 'Totally Accurate Layout of Shernoburg' scribbled in the corner.

It was an utter mess. Entire sections were labeled things like 'Mafioso's Territory' 'Absolutely No Laws Here' and 'Fort Kickass.' There was also an area simply marked '??? DO NOT ENTER ???.'

"Your cat girl friend? She's been seen around Sinkhole. That's one of the, uh... 'nicer' parts of the city."

"Nicer?" Amiya asked skeptically.

The guide shrugged. "Less 'murder for funsies,' and more 'murder because I don't like you.' You'll be fine, though. We have an unspoken rule not to kill peaceful NPCs, since we can't really copy and spawn you guys. Though, I'm sure they can break those rules anytime."

"...Reassuring" Hibiscus muttered.

None of them know what an 'NPC' is, but they have to find Dandellion first before asking what those Jargons mean.

"Plus, that's one of the parts Fly doesn't really go to, so you're totally safe." the guide continued.

"Fly? Should we be worried about this person?" Dobermann asked.

The guide scratched his head, his cardboard box hat wobbling. "Ehhhh. Yes and no? Depends on how much you don't like getting randomly shot at."

Jessica made a strangled noise. "T-That's a yes, then?!"

The guide grinned. "Relax, relax! Fly's just a bit... intense, and a bit of a PVP-junkie. One of the more trigger-happy players around. Got a whole gang of snipers who camp rooftops for fun. They don't kill everyone, though! Just people they think are 'fair game.'"

Dobermann's eyes narrowed. "And what exactly qualifies as 'fair game'?"

"Uh..." The guide tapped his chin. "People carrying explosives. People sneaking around. People who look at Fly funny. People who don't look at Fly at all. Oh, and, uh... people who exist."

Jessica visibly paled. "W-We exist!"

"Oh. Yeah. That's rough, buddy."

Amiya sighed. "Let's just get moving before we hear more reasons to leave."

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you for the information."

"Anytime! And hey, if you ever need more help, come back with another joke! I live for those."

As the team stepped back onto the chaotic streets of New Shernoburg, they pushed forward, navigating the madness with the help of the so-called 'map.' If nothing else, it at least helped them avoid zones with names like 'The Lag Pit' and 'The Killbox (You Know What You Did).'

The streets of New Shernoburg didn't get any more normal the deeper they went.

At one point, a man in a bright orange hazard suit sprinted past them, screaming, "UH OH! UH OH! UH OH! BWAAAAAA-" before getting launched into the sky by an explosion.

"Should... should we help him?" Jessica stammered.

Moments later, a squad of players in tuxedos and fedoras marched past, dragging a man tied to a wooden chair. The man was struggling, yelling, "I JUST WANTED TO CLIMB THE BUILDING, I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS YOUR ROOF!"

The lead tuxedo player turned to the Doctor and asked "You saw nothin'."

The Doctor nodded. "We saw nothing."

The players walked off, whistling a jaunty tune.

"...This city is insane" Fang muttered.

They pressed on, but their journey wasn't finished with them yet.

As they passed through a particularly narrow street, a loud clanking sound echoed from an alleyway.

"Hold" Dobermann said, raising a hand.

The group peeked around the corner, just in time to see a small, boxy machine wheel itself into the open.

A turret.

It wasn't like the standard Ursus defense turrets. This one was clearly cobbled together, built from a mix of metal scraps, pipes, and what looked like a desk lamp for a targeting sensor.

It beeped, rotating toward them.

Kroos blinked. "Uh... does anyone else feel like we're about to have a problem?"

A voice crackled through a hidden speaker on the turret.

"ATTENTION, UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL. YOU HAVE ENTERED A RESTRICTED ZONE. STATE YOUR BUSINESS OR BE TERMINATED. BLEP BLOOP"

The team tensed. Amiya stepped forward. "We're just passing through. We're looking for someone."

The turret went silent for a moment. Then, the voice returned.

"SCANNING... SCANNING..."

Kroos whispered "Wait, who the hell is even talking?"

The Doctor observed a turret for a second, before seeing something attached to the turret "There's a small speaker bolted to the side. I think it's someone pretending to be an AI" 

Jessica, still sweating from everything so far, just whispered, "I wanna go home."

Finally, the turret beeped again.

"QUERY, DO YOU HAVE THE SECRET PASSWORD?"

The Doctor sighed. "We don't know the password."

The turret whirred. "INCORRECT. PLEASE STATE THE PASSWORD. BOOP BEEP"

Amiya hesitated. "But... we just said we don't know it."

"INCORRECT. PLEASE STATE THE PASSWORD. BOOP BLEP"

Before things could escalate, a window from above slammed open.

"HEY!"

A man in a bathrobe leaned out, holding a half-eaten sandwich. "You guys are blocking my turret's view!"

Amiya shouted back, "It's trying to kill us!"

The man blinked. "Oh, huh. Yeah, that happens sometimes." He turned to the turret. "Oi! They're fine, shut up."

The turret beeped, then suddenly 'powered down'. In reality, the man speaking through the speaker just made some noises.

"BEEP BOOP. UNDERSTOOD. HAVE A NICE DAY."

The bathrobe man waved. "Anyway, have fun in the death city!" He slammed the window shut.

The team stood in silence.

"...Let's just go," Dobermann said flatly.

After a few more distractions (including, but not limited to, a player trying to sell them a '100% real' golden AK-47 and a group of moving furniture harassing them), they finally reached the outskirts of Sinkhole.

Despite the name Sinkhole, it was a surprisingly well-kept district compared to the rest of New Shernoburg.

The streets weren't just haphazardly thrown together with random debris; they were reinforced, deliberately structured to funnel movement in predictable ways. Buildings were intact, some even repaired with clear intent rather than the usual 'just slap a prop on it and call it a day' philosophy of the rest of the city.

Most noticeably, the anarchy of New Shernoburg was missing here. No random gunfights between players, and no one is getting jumped by moving objects. Instead, armed individuals patrolled the streets.

Unlike the barely-organized factions scattered throughout the city, Sinkhole somewhat had a system.

And standing right in the middle of it, arguing with a very smug-looking GMod player, was Dandellion.

She had her arms crossed, her tail flicking behind her as she scowled at the player in front of her, a guy in a medieval knight's helmet with a black and white smiley face drawn on the visor.

"For the last time" Dandellion growled, "You can't just tax people for 'existing in your line of sight.' That's not how laws work."

The knight scoffed. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. And who are you to say what laws are? Hm? Do you have the rulebook?"

"Yes!" Dandellion snapped. She lifted a worn-out notebook and waved it in his face. "I wrote it myself!"

The knight gasped dramatically. "Oh, so you're the government now? Power corrupts, Dandellion! This is tyranny!"

"It's literally basic governance!"

"Yeah?! Well, we're the only ones here following that rulebook of yours!"

As the knight made exaggerated booing noises, Amiya stepped forward. "Dandellion!"

Dandellion's ears perked up. She turned, eyes widening in surprise. "The guys I saved last week? What are you doing here?!"

Before they could answer, the knight quickly threw an arm around the Doctor's shoulder. The operators around the Doctor almost drew their weapons, before the Doctor made a gesture that stopped them from escalating the situation.

"Oho! More officials? Is this the shadow council?" the smiley knight said.

The Doctor sighed, gently prying himself free. "We're just here for Dandellion"

Dandellion's tail flicked as she crossed her arms. "That so? Well, you found me. What's up?"

Amiya took a step forward, her expression serious. "We need your help. We need to get a meeting with the major... uh, leaders of this city."

Dandellion blinked. "All of them?"

"Yes" the Doctor confirmed. "We're going to be negotiating with them. Trades, pacts, information, and the like."

Dandellion let out a slow breath, rubbing the back of her head. "Oof. That's gonna be a whole thing."

Dobermann frowned. "Is it that difficult?"

Dandellion gave her a flat look. "You're asking me to gather every egomaniacs, warlords, and meme-loving lunatics in one place and expect them to actually listen. Though, some of the leaders are a bit, eh, peaceful."

Jessica, still shaken from earlier, paled even further. "T-That sounds like a death trap."

"Yep," Dandellion said, popping the 'p.' "But! It's not impossible. Most of the factions like to pretend they have real governance, and that means they have egos. If I pitch this right, they'll all want to come just to flex."

The Doctor nodded. "Good. Can you do it?"

Dandellion smirked. "Of course I can. But we need to set up a neutral location, or else we're gonna get a repeat of The Great Deathbattle of Fort Kickass."

Fang whispered, "The what?"

The knight scoffed. "Bah! That was a tragic day for all! Such betrayal, such treachery! Who knew GoonLord was actually bald IRL?"

Dandellion ignored him. "We'll need to use somewhere no one's claimed. If we hold it in someone's turf, the others will feel like they're walking into an ambush."

Amiya hesitated. "Does a place like that even exist in this city?"

Dandellion grinned. "Oh, it exists. We just gotta convince everyone to go there."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And where is this place?"

"The Do Not Enter Zone." she said.

Dandellion and the smiley knight collectively winced.

Dobermann narrowed her eyes. With a name like that, something must be wrong in that place. "Why?"

"Because nobody owns it, and nobody wants to go near it."

Kroos sighed. "Dare I ask why?"

The knight shuddered. "The whispers..."

Dandellion waved a hand. "It's fine. It's probably fine."

The Doctor sighed. "Probably?"

Dandellion clapped her hands together. "Welp! Time to go invite the worst people in the city to a meeting! Wish me luck!"

She then turned and marched off with terrifying enthusiasm.

The Rhodes Island team watched her go before Amiya turned to the Doctor. "This is going to be a disaster, isn't it?"

The Doctor nodded. "Almost definitely."

The low hum of money printers filled the dimly lit room. Stacks of freshly printed, utterly worthless bills (for now) sat in uneven piles, some toppled over as the 'Mayor' and his associates continued their business.

Patriot sat as still as a statue, his hulking form making the cramped space feel even smaller. His Shieldguard Guerillas that followed him stood behind him, ever-watchful, but for now, there was no need for combat. Only words.

The 'Mayor' casually flipped through a notebook filled with scribbles, half-baked economic theories, and a bunch of doodles of a male genitalia and a stick figure holding a Tommy gun.

"So, big guy" he said, tapping his pen against the paper "this whole thing's workin' out pretty well, yeah? You get supplies, we get firepower. It's all about mutual business opportunities."

Patriot gave a slow nod. "Yes. Trade benefits both. Your system... is flawed. Yet stable."

The 'Mayor' grinned. "You're gettin' it."

Patriot exhaled, his voice carrying a weight beyond the walls of the room. "There is. Another matter."

The mafia players exchanged glances.

Patriot continued. "I have. Someone" He closed his eyes for a brief moment. "She is. My daughter. Adopted"

The room tensed slightly. The mafia-suited man narrowed his eyes. "A high-profile one, I take it?"

Patriot nodded. "She is known. Feared. Respected." He looked toward the players. "Would you. Accept her?"

There was a pause.

The trench coat-wearing player whistled. "Oof. I dunno, pal."

The 'Mayor' leaned back, balancing his chair on two legs. "Let me get this straight. You wanna drop some Reunion legend into our turf and hope it doesn't cause problems?"

Patriot's gaze was firm. "I want her. To seek a... Different path. One that does not. End in death."

One of the mafia players scoffed. "Yeah, but does she know that?"

Patriot closed his eyes. "She will."

The 'Mayor' let out a slow breath. "Man, you really like your mini-you, huh?"

"FrostNova," Patriot said, voice unwavering. "That is her name."

Silence.

One of the mafia players- previously lounging against a crate -sat up straight. "Wait. That FrostNova? The ice chick?"

Patriot nodded.

The room erupted into quiet murmurs. Even among the chaos of New Shernoburg, names carried weight.

The 'Mayor' eventually spoke again, rubbing his chin. "Alright, look. We ain't against new recruits. But this? This is next-level stuff. She kicked my lil' bro's ass a couple times last week"

The player in the police uniform- 'Polishe' -crossed his arms. "If we do this, she's gotta follow The Code. No RDM, no breaking NLR, and for god's sake, no KOS without a reason other than being funny. I don't want this lil' group to get destroyed."

Patriot remained still. "She will. Learn."

The 'Mayor' exhaled. "You're puttin' a lot of faith in her."

Patriot's voice softened, just barely. "She has been given. No other choice."

A long pause. Then, the 'Mayor' smirked.

"Alright. Let's give the ice queen a chance. If she joins us we're gonna be top game."

The mafia-suited man extended a hand. "You vouch for her, big guy?"

Patriot clasped his massive hand around the much smaller one. "I do."

Chapter Text

The dimly lit room was a rare pocket of quiet in the chaos of New Shernoburg. The city outside was always alive with some form of madness. Gunfire, arguments over who owned what, and at least one explosion per hour. But here, in the backroom of a repurposed bar, the noise was muffled.

Amiya sat at a rough wooden table, fingers interlocked as she stared at Dandellion. Across from her, the cat-eared girl leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, tail flicking lazily. Her expression was unreadable.

The Doctor stood beside Amiya, arms also crossed. Nearl and Dobermann flanked them, silent but attentive.

"So" Amiya began, voice carefully measured. "How many?"

Dandellion exhaled, rubbing her temples. "Four."

A beat of silence.

"Four?" Fang leaned forward. "How many of these leaders are there?"

"Out of ten"

"Huh..."

"Yep." Dandellion popped the 'p,' looking both satisfied and exhausted. "Four so-called 'leaders' of this city have agreed to sit in a room together and not immediately kill each other. Probably."

Fang, who had been leaning against the wall, scoffed. "That's a lot of lunatics in one place."

Amiya frowned slightly. "Who did you get?"

Dandellion held up a hand. "Nope. Not yet. Not telling you. You'll see when you see."

"That's not reassuring." Dobermann narrowed her eyes. "Did the other 'leaders' say why they wouldn't come?"

"Hmm..."

[Earlier]

"You want us both to go?" the sheriff-type player asked, resting a boot on a crate of ammunition. He wore a cowboy hat and looked like he took his role way too seriously.

"Obviously" Dandellion said. "You both run parts of the city."

The outlaw next to him scoffed, spinning a revolver on his finger. "Yeah, that ain't happening."

"Why?"

The sheriff and the outlaw glared at each other.

"Because if he goes, I go after him" the sheriff said.

"And if he goes, I go before him" the outlaw added.

Dandellion stared. "That's... that's the same thing."

"EXACTLY" they both said at the same time.

Dandellion groaned. Lost cause.

/

Dandellion stood in a ruined lobby of what was once a hotel, now filled with overturned furniture and random junk. She knocked on what looked like a suspiciously out-of-place wooden crate.

It shook.

A voice came from inside. "No one's here."

Dandellion sighed. "I can see you breathing through the slats, dude."

The crate was silent for a moment before it shifted, revealing a man in ragged clothes with a panicked expression. He immediately darted behind a nearby chair.

"We do not meddle in the affairs of the living after what happened last week" a different voice said from an unassuming lamp.

Dandellion resisted the urge to rub her temples. "It's just a meeting."

"The world outside is dangerous. We are but humble objects" said a suspiciously well-placed potted plant.

Dandellion opened her mouth, closed it, then took a deep breath. "You guys literally went outside yesterday to steal a car"

"We became the car" the crate-man corrected. "Different."

Dandellion gave them a flat look before turning on her heel. "Fine. Stay hidden. Losers."

"We are but whispers in the wind" the lamp murmured.

/

Dandellion approached a large, half-built structure that looked like a mix between a skyscraper and a spaghetti mess of scaffolding. Players in mismatched skins moved around, wearing yellow vests, carrying props and placing them down with precision.

A foreman with a hard hat greeted her. "What's up?"

"Baller, we need your builders for some meeting."

Baller his head. "No can do. We're on a tight deadline."

Dandellion raised an eyebrow. "A deadline for what?"

He gestured to the absolutely nonsensical structure behind him. "We're trying to rebuild some districts destroyed by that weird storm last week, but with optimal pathing and efficiency."

Dandellion squinted. "You put a ramp into a brick wall."

"It's an artistic choice."

She turned and walked away.

/

Dandellion peeked around the corner of a ruined building, looking at a group of players lying on their stomachs, sniper rifles aimed down at the streets. Their leader, Fly, was polishing the barrel of his own rifle when he suddenly turned to face her.

Dandellion began to explain "There's a meeting-"

"No" Fly said simply.

Dandellion frowned. "You didn't even let me explain."

"Don't need to. Meetings are boring."

"Okay, but this one's important."

"Still boring."

"Alright"

Fly casually raised a thumb before turning back to his rifle.

[Back at present day]

"Nope!"

The Rhodes Island team collectively blinked at her.

The Doctor sighed. "Nope?"

Dandellion nodded. "Nope."

A beat of silence.

"Are you going to elaborate?" Dobermann pressed.

Dandellion shrugged. "Oh, you know, variety of reasons. Some of them didn't want to leave their hideouts. Some thought it was a trap. Some thought I was the trap. One of them made me fill out a 32-page form, and I wasn't about to deal with that. And at least one of them challenged me to a duel, which I refused, because, y'know, sensible person and all that."

Nearl tilted her head. "And?"

Dandellion exhaled through her nose. "He took it personally."

Exusiai, leaning against the van, chuckled. "You made enemies already?"

"I'm enemies with half of the server" Dandellion said with faux pride. "It's a talent."

Amiya rubbed her temples. "So... you only convinced four groups?"

Dandellion held up the corresponding number of fingers. "Yep. Four."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "And you're sure they won't kill each other immediately?"

"No promises"

Dobermann pinched the bridge of her nose. "Great."

"Look" Dandellion clapped her hands together. "It's the best we're gonna get. Could I have tried harder? Absolutely. Would I have kept my sanity? Nope. Especially Doctor's"

Amiya sighed. "I suppose it's better than nothing."

"That's the spirit!" Dandellion grinned. "Oh, forgot to mention, they want to postpone the meeting for two days"

"Two days?" Dobermann repeated, her voice filled with suspicion. "Why?"

Dandellion held up a hand and started counting on her fingers again. "One guy wants to 'set the mood' in the meeting place. Don't ask. Another is apparently in the middle of a war over who gets to control the local taco stand. The third had a 'scheduling conflict,' whatever that means, and the fourth just said 'seeing what these weird rocks do'"

Amiya frowned. "That sounds ominous."

"Yep," Dandellion said, popping the 'p.'

The Doctor sighed, rubbing his temples. "And we can't convince them to meet sooner?"

Dandellion shrugged. "Not unless you wanna go tell them yourself, and believe me, you don't want that."

Dobermann crossed her arms. "This means we'll be stuck here for two days."

"Yeah, but look on the bright side!" Dandellion smirked.

Silence.

"What bright side?" Fang deadpanned.

Dandellion grinned. "You guys get to enjoy all the luxuries New Shernoburg has to offer!" She motioned dramatically to the surrounding environment, which consisted of half-collapsed buildings, graffiti-covered walls, and at least one burning trash can with a man roasting a shoe over it.

Dobermann exhaled sharply. "Great."

Amiya hesitated. "We could use the time to prepare. Learn more about these groups. Get a sense of what we're dealing with."

Dobermann nodded. "That would be wise."

The Doctor sighed. "Fine. But if anyone asks us to fill out a 32-page form, we're leaving."

Dandellion stretched her arms behind her head. "Welp, I've done my part. Now it's your problem."

Amiya furrowed her brows. "Wait, where are you going?"

Dandellion grinned. "Somewhere that isn't here. Got things to do, mostly checking on Specter to see if she hasn't done anything that warrants her getting banned." She pointed down the street. "There's a couple of 'hotels', if you can even call them that, down that way. Some are actually decent. Try not to die in your sleep."

Before anyone could respond, she turned on her heel and strolled off, hands in her pockets, humming a tune as she disappeared into the chaotic streets of New Shernoburg.

The Rhodes Island group watched her go, the silence stretching out before Kroos spoke.

"Well, that's great. We have two days in a city run by lunatics."

Jessica fidgeted. "D-Do we really have to stay here that long?"

Dobermann sighed. "We don't have a choice. If we want this meeting to happen, we need to wait."

Amiya nodded, arms crossed. "That's right. But we shouldn't just sit around doing nothing."

The Doctor tilted their head. "Agreed. So what's our plan?"

Fang frowned. "I doubt we can do anything about the city's lawlessness. But we can learn more about it. We've only seen bits and pieces, but I think there's more to this than what meets the eye."

Hibiscus raised a hand. "I'd also like to check if there are any proper medical facilities. I don't trust this place, and if we get injured, we need to know where to go."

Jessica swallowed hard. "O-Or where not to go."

Kroos yawned. "I vote we figure out which 'hotels' aren't full of people waiting to rob us in our sleep."

Dobermann crossed her arms. "We should also find out more about these 'factions' running the city. The more we know, the better we can handle them in the meeting."

Amiya nodded, taking everything in. "Alright. We have two days. Let's use them wisely."

The Doctor adjusted their gloves. "Then let's get to work."

Kroos and Jessica found themselves standing in front of what was supposedly a hotel.

Jessica glanced at Kroos nervously. "Are... we sure about this?"

Kroos gave her a relaxed grin. "Only one way to find out."

They stepped inside and were immediately greeted by a man wearing a paper crown and a red bathrobe. He was standing behind a desk made entirely out of floating chairs.

"Welcome, travelers! I am Glorp, ruler of this fine establishment!" he declared, throwing his arms wide.

Jessica whispered "T-This was a mistake."

Kroos elbowed her playfully. "Nah, this is perfect." She leaned forward. "So, uh, Glorp, what's the deal with this place?"

Glort stroked his imaginary beard. "No crime here, no nonsense. Just peace, comfort, and entirely legitimate service!"

A loud crashing noise echoed from upstairs, followed by someone screaming, "YOU CAN'T KICK ME OUT, THIS IS MY ROOM!"

Jessica and Kroos shared a look.

"...So, uh, what's the second-best hotel around here?" Kroos asked.

Amiya and Dobermann found a small gathering of former Chernobog citizens near a makeshift market. They spoke with a merchant, an infected middle-aged man selling clothes and supplies.

"So, you just... live here now?" Amiya asked.

The man shrugged. "Moving is expensive, and dangerous. The old government's gone, and these new rulers? They're weird, but they're not cruel. Just... unpredictable."

Dobermann narrowed her eyes. "And you're fine with that?"

"Doesn't matter if I'm fine with it. It's reality." He adjusted a pile of shirts. "They don't tax us- well, some of the rulers of different territories. They don't arrest us. They don't even pretend to care about us. As long as you don't mess with them, they don't mess with you."

Amiya frowned. "That's not governance. That's neglect."

He laughed. "Yeah. But neglect is better than oppression and discrimination. The uninfected people here pretty much get punished if they were to treat us horribly. They say 'No racism!', though I think the word they were looking for is discrimination"

Dobermann folded her arms. "And the factions? How do they interact?"

The merchant smirked. "That's the fun part. Some act like kings, some act like warlords, and some just want to build the weirdest things they can. It's a mess, but it's better than the Ursus Empire ruling this place."

Amiya's expression turned pensive. "So... you prefer this? Even with all the chaos?"

The merchant let out a small chuckle. "Oh, don't get me wrong. It's a mess. Half the time, I don't know who's actually in charge of the district I'm in. Sometimes I have to pay in money, sometimes in favors, sometimes in random junk some 'Warlord' thinks is valuable." He sighed. "But, at the end of the day? Nobody's rounding up the Infected and dragging them away. Nobody's burning down buildings just because we live in them. So yeah, I prefer this."

Dobermann's eyes flicked over to Amiya, watching the tension in her shoulders. This wasn't a real government. It was anarchy- controlled in some areas, completely unhinged in others. But for the infected citizens who had lived under Ursus rule, that might have been preferable.

"Is there anyone actually trying to run things properly?" Amiya asked.

The merchant hummed. "Define 'properly.' Some of the factions actually set up rules and laws, enforce them with their own people. Some even have actual economies. Currency, trade, and all that. But most? Most just carved out their own little fiefdoms and run them however they want."

Dobermann exhaled sharply. "And what about people trying to leave? If someone wanted to move away from all this, could they?"

The man hesitated before shaking his head. "Not really. The Ursus Empire sure as hell doesn't want us, and the rest of Terra? Who's gonna take in a bunch of refugees from a city that technically doesn't exist anymore?"

Amiya tightened her fists.

The merchant noticed and gave a small shrug. "Don't get too worked up, kid. We survive. We adapt. That's all we've ever done."

Dobermann glanced at Amiya, then at the merchant. "We'll keep that in mind."

The two of them turned to leave, but just as they were walking away, the merchant called out.

"Oh! One more thing, if you're planning to tour around here more, don't go outside at 3:13AM until 4:43AM."

Amiya stopped in her tracks. "Why?"

The merchant sighed. "Yeah, it's, uh... You could think of it as a curfew that we made of sorts. During that time, the new rulers would do whatever. Kill each other and all that. Apparently they go wild during the aforementioned time, so if you get caught up, that's your fault."

Dobermann turned on her heel, brows furrowed. "They what?"

The merchant lifted his hands defensively. "Look, I don't make the rules. I just avoid being awake for it. Most of us do. Everyone just kinda... shuts their doors, draws their curtains, and pretends nothing's happening."

Amiya stared at him, stunned. "And no one tries to stop it?"

He gave a short, bitter laugh. "Stop them? Lady, I saw a man drive a tank that popped out of thin air because he lost an argument over canned peaches. You think we're stopping that?"

Dobermann gritted her teeth. "And the authorities? The factions that are supposedly in charge?"

"They are the ones going wild," he said flatly. "It's like... some kind of agreed-upon time window. A purge-lite, if you will, and one guy in a traffic cone hat screaming about 'deposing the tyrant king.' Don't ask me who the king is in this district. Changes randomly from time to time"

Amiya's ears twitched, her eyes narrowing. "That's... not normal. None of this is normal."

"Yeah" the merchant said simply. "We just pray that their fighting don't move to our area. Had a neighbor wake up last week with his house crashed with a car. Didn't even ask questions. Just moved two blocks down."

Dobermann was already writing things down in a small notebook. "So from 3:13AM to 4:43AM... Any other time-specific curfews we should know about?"

"Eh" he scratched his cheek. "Fridays at 6PM are usually dangerous in the western block. That's when the racing league does their 'Deathmatch Grand Prix.' You'll hear it. Sounds like a hornet's nest full of gunfire, engines, and dubstep."

Amiya blinked slowly. "That's a sentence I wish I didn't understand."

"Welcome to New Shernoburg."

Hibiscus carefully stepped through the creaky double doors of a building that had a faded spray-painted sign reading "HEALZ & DEALZ" above it. The 'hospital' looked more like a repurposed supermarket, with aisle signs still hanging from the ceiling and fluorescent lights flickering above. A large red cross had been painted on the floor with what looked like suspiciously non-washable marker ink.

At the 'front desk' an old vending machine stacked on top of a filing cabinet, a man in a white trench coat and aviators leaned back in a squeaky office chair, flipping through a Surgeon Simulator Addon tutorial pamphlet.

He noticed Hibiscus and perked up immediately. "Whoa, cute skin. NPC or Player?"

"Huh?" 

"NPC then..." the white trench coat man wrote something down "You a new patient or some new hire?"

Hibiscus blinked. "Uh... I'm a medic. From Rhodes Island. Just looking around."

The man grinned. "Cool, cool. Well, welcome to... uh... whatever this part of the city is called, finest trauma facility. Got all the essentials, bandages, painkillers, morphine, and defibrillators."

She glanced around.

There was a literal gurney made out of a shopping cart, a 'surgery room' partitioned off with shower curtains, and a nearby sign that said 'Organ Donation Bin – No Refunds.'

"...You do surgeries here?" she asked slowly.

"Oh, totally" he said proudly. "You need a lung? We got, like, three. They're kinda shared lungs, though. Community property."

Hibiscus stared, unsure if she was supposed to be horrified or impressed. "How many trained professionals work here?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Define 'trained.'"

"...In medicine."

"Oh. Two, technically. One guy watched a documentary once, and the other one lost his medical license IRL."

As if on cue, a man wearing long coat and a small reading glasses zoomed past in a rolling chair, yelling, "Ve need mountain zew! Schnell!" before vanishing behind the curtain.

Hibiscus took a deep breath.

"Well" she said, trying to stay optimistic. "At least people are getting some form of care."

"Oh yeah" the trench coat man said with a nod. "We do our best. Honestly, no one here expects miracles. Just, like, survivable injuries and a cool sticker after."

He reached into a box and handed her a bright green sticker that said:
'I Survived Medbay 4 (Barely).'

Hibiscus took it with an awkward smile. "...Thanks."

"You ever wanna help out, we do volunteer days. Every day. Because no one gets paid."

She laughed a little despite herself. "I'll keep that in mind."

As she turned to leave, the plague doctor guy peeked out from the curtain, covered in red splatters of unknown origin. "Dummkopf! Does anybody remember which side the spleen goes on?"

The trench coat guy yelled back "Just put it near the stomach!"

Hibiscus quietly walked out the door and into the street, the sticker still in her hand.

"That place had no sanitation" she mumbled, shaking her head. "I think one of the IVs was just taped to a broomstick..."

A gust of wind pushed dust down the broken streets as the Doctor and Fang walked side-by-side through what used to be a government plaza. Cracked statues of Ursus officials lay toppled and graffitied, with makeshift vendor stalls built into the rubble. The smell of grilled meat and oil lingered in the air.

"Still hard to believe this place used to be a battlefield," Fang murmured, eyes scanning the blend of citizens and GMod players.

The Doctor didn't respond immediately. He paused at a stall where someone had nailed a sign that read:

'Buy 1 AK47, get 1 Doritos for free!'

The merchant in a battered ushanka grinned. The man had a tag attached to his clothes that read: Dennis "Heya, bossman! You lookin' for firepower or flavor?"

Fang squinted. "What kind of store is this?"

Dennis leaned in. "Survival Boutique. Fully licensed under the New Shernoburg Trade Union of Mostly Legal Goods." he then whispered "It's not a real union. Don't ask too many questions."

The Doctor gave Dennis a long, silent look before replying in the flattest voice possible. "I'll take one AK and the Doritos."

Dennis beamed. "Attaboy! See, now this is a man of culture."

He reached under the counter and slapped down a rusted, lightly-scorched AK-47, along with a pristine, unopened bag of nacho cheese Doritos. The Doctor gave Dennis some LMD.

Fang looked at the gun, then at the chips, then back at the Doctor. "You're actually buying this?"

The Doctor nodded. "Closure's been curious about the items here, from what she had seen in the footages. She said, and I quote, 'Grab the weirdest thing you can find.'"

"And the Doritos?"

"Kal'tsit."

Fang gave him a skeptical glance.

"...Don't ask."

Dennis was still grinning as he wiped off a suspicious red stain from the countertop with the sleeve of his coat. "You folks ain't from around here, huh?"

The Doctor gave him a sidelong glance. "Is it that obvious?"

Dennis shrugged. "You've got that 'still trying to make sense of the insanity' look. Classic outsider face. You'd be surprised how many people are walking around with it."

Fang crossed her arms. "What is this place? Seriously. Everyone acts like it's normal that half the city's divided by lunatics with explosives and the other half just goes to work like nothing's wrong."

Dennis whistled, leaned his elbows on the counter. "That's just how it is when you're living under the Players."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed slightly. "The what?"

Dennis leaned in, glancing left and right before lowering his voice like he was about to spill a state secret. "The Players. That's what the new rulers call themselves."

Dennis tapped the side of his nose, his voice still hushed. "They say it with this weird sort of pride, like it explains everything. 'Oh, I'm a Player,' they say. And then proceed to jump off rooftops, explode a building, or duel each other using dildos as weapons. You name it."

Fang raised an eyebrow. "Y-You're not exaggerating?"

"Lady, I wish I was." Dennis opened a drawer under his counter and pulled out a grainy, badly framed photo. "Look at this. That's a guy with an entire car for a head. Drove straight through city hall. On foot."

As Fang squinted at the picture, the heavy clomp clomp clomp of armored boots echoed down the street. They turned to look just in time to see three massive figures stomping past, a trio of towering Space Marines in full power armor, painted in mismatched colors with player-made decals slapped sloppily across their pauldrons.

Following behind them was a Helldiver.

"EMPEROR!"

"DEMOCRACY!"

"EMPEROR!"

"DEMOCRACY!"

"Who are... They?" Fang asked, eyeing up the armor of the four figures that passed by. 

"Them? They're just one of those 'Players'." Dennis explained. Dennis waved lazily after the chanting quartet, as if they were just another passing cart vendor. "You'll see all sorts. Those ones? They're not part of any of the big ruling factions here in the city, just a bunch of neutrals. Still Players, though."

"Right" the Doctor said, glancing at Dennis. "You said that's what they call themselves. What does that mean? Players of what?"

Dennis scratched the back of his head. "No clue. They just showed up from a weird portal at the center of the city- gear, power, weird powers, reality-breaking stuff -and started doing their own thing. They kept saying stuff like 'Microsoft' or 'Leeroy Jenkins' and no one understood a damn thing. But they call themselves 'Players,' like... like they're playing a game. Or a role, I guess."

The Doctor's brow furrowed beneath his hood. "Leeroy... Jenkins?"

Dennis raised both eyebrows and shrugged. "I don't know, man. One of them shouted it right before launching himself off a rooftop using a chair strapped to fireworks. I think it's a battle cry? Or maybe a curse? They say it like it means something, but no one really gets it."

Fang blinked. "...Are they all like that?"

Dennis leaned back, resting his arms on his makeshift stall. "Not all, but enough. Some of them are quiet, weirdly serious. Others? Absolute maniacs."

The Doctor tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly. "You mentioned a portal. Is it still there?"

Dennis frowned at that. "I think so. No ones really gotten close or seen the thing, since only the Players themselves are allowed to go near it. That whole district's locked down tighter than a snub-nosed crossbow. No one goes in unless you're one of them"

Before the Doctor could ask another question, the ground beneath them gave a sudden, dull thump, followed a second later by a series of faint tremors.

Fang instinctively reached for her weapon. "...What was that?"

Before Dennis could explain, a plume of black smoke erupted into the sky behind a row of low buildings. A screeching metallic sound followed, like steel grinding against steel, paired with the sound of a clown horn being mashed repeatedly and angrily.

Then it came barreling around the corner.

A massive bipedal contraption made entirely of rusted dumpsters, scrap, and shopping carts stormed down the street on piston legs. Duct-taped signs reading 'DOOM TRUCK V3' and 'Property of 4455Ompf, Do Not Touch' flapped in the wind. One arm was a flamethrower made from what looked like a broken oven. The other was a shipping crate, crudely fashioned into a fist.

In the open cockpit sat a GMod player, screaming, "MY LEGACY SHALL BE ONE OF FIRE AND TRASH!"

Locals scattered immediately, ducking into alleys and behind cover with the well-practiced timing of people who had done this many times before.

Dennis didn't even move. He casually reached under the counter and pulled out a reinforced umbrella, popping it open over his head just as a stray, flaming hotdog cart flew through the air and smashed onto the pavement nearby.

Fang ducked instinctively. "Is this normal?!"

"Eh, about once a week," Dennis said, sipping from a can of something suspiciously labeled.

The Doctor didn't flinch, but he did step slightly in front of Fang, eyes narrowed at the mechanical monstrosity now doing donuts in the intersection, spewing smoke and belting distorted dubstep.

"We should stop him before civilians get injured!" Fang said, tensing up.

Dennis snorted. "Feel free to do so."

The Doctor exhaled slowly, already reaching into his coat to pull out his communicator. "Fang. Stall it. Buy us a few minutes. I'll call the others."

Fang's eyes widened. "Alone?"

"You're fast. It's loud. Don't let it hit anyone. I'll bring backup."

She hesitated for half a second, then nodded sharply. "Got it."

Without another word, she sprinted into the chaos, weaving between panicked pedestrians and overturned fruit carts. The dumpster mech swerved to meet her, its head swiveling in her direction.

"Who dares?!" the mech spun in place and flinging an empty office chair straight into a building window.

"Hey!" Fang shouted, jabbing her spear at the mech's chassis. "Pick on someone your own size!"

The dumpster mech skidded to a dramatic halt, its clunky metal limbs locking up for a second as if genuinely offended.

"What?! I'm bigger than you!" the player shouted, smoke hissing from vents along its sides. "You think you can just come in here and trash-talk me?! I'm the apex predator, baby!"

Fang didn't flinch. "You're a pile of bins on rollerblades."

The mech trembled for a second- whether from rage or instability was unclear -then it let out an airhorn blast that echoed throughout the district.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT DOOM TRUCK V3!" the player screamed, slamming both arms downward. The oven-flamethrower roared to life, belching a plume of fire directly into the air while the shipping crate fist crashed into a streetlamp, reducing it to scrap.

Fang darted to the side as the machine lunged, the heavy crate-arm slamming into the spot she'd just vacated. Pavement shattered. Glass rained down. Somewhere, a car alarm went off and kept going despite having no car nearby.

"Doctor," she said through clenched teeth, dancing just out of the mech's reach "any time now would be great..."

[Meanwhile]

ISH strolled down the cracked, dusty road, hands tucked behind his head as he gazed at the horizon. The cardboard armor he always wore crinkled slightly as he moved, his helmet bobbing with every step.

The wind kicked up a small swirl of dust, and he squinted at the vast landscape ahead. Towering mountains loomed in the distance, their peaks shrouded in mist, while rolling plains stretched endlessly in all directions. The road itself was barely maintained, patches of uneven dirt breaking through the pavement.

After a long silence, he finally muttered to himself "Woah. The map is bigger than I expected."

He turned in a slow circle, looking back at where he came from. New Shernoburg was nowhere to be seen, as he had been walking for a couple of days now. If he were to get lost, he'd just follow the road back anyway.

ISH sighed. "Alright, so, fast travel's off. That's great. I love walking. Love it so much."

He continued on, occasionally stopping to kick a rock down the road. Every so often, he'd glance at the terrain, brow furrowing.

"How the hell can my setup handle this?" he muttered, tapping the side of his helmet as if checking for lag. "I've got, like, a potato setup. This should be running at five frames per second at best. Could it be..."

ISH paused for a long time. 

"...Lord Gaben has blessed me?!" 

The sound of an approaching engine rumbled through the otherwise quiet landscape. ISH perked up, turning his head toward the road behind him. A vehicle was speeding toward him, kicking up dust in its wake.

His eyes widened behind his helmet. "Wait... a working car? Perfect."

Without hesitation, he stepped right into the middle of the road, raising both hands.

The vehicle with a Penguin Logistics emblem painted on the side, swerved slightly before screeching to a halt mere inches from him. The dust cloud it dragged along rushed past, engulfing ISH for a moment.

Inside the vehicle, the people were surprised at the sudden stop.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Texas growled, her grip on the wheel tightening.

"Whoa, did we just hit someone?" Croissant blurted out, leaning forward.

"Negative!" Exusiai said, already rolling down the window with an easy grin. "Who just stands in the middle of the road like that?"

The dust cleared, revealing ISH standing perfectly still, arms still raised.

A moment of silence.

Exusiai leaned out the window. "Hey, buddy, you do realize this is a road, right? We drive on it. As in, you were almost very, very dead."

ISH lowered his arms. "Yeah, but you stopped. So, it worked."

Croissant raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, but if Texas was in a worse mood, you'd be flattened right now."

ISH simply nodded. "Acceptable risk."

Texas rubbed her temples. "Okay, whatever. Who are you, and why did you jump in front of our car?"

ISH pointed at the van. "I need a ride."

Exusiai blinked. "Just like that? No explanation? You just need a ride?"

ISH nodded then replied "Yep."

Inside the van, Texas closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a prayer for patience.

Croissant, on the other hand, leaned forward over the passenger seat, grinning. "Well, shoot, you got guts, I'll give you that. But why should we let you in?"

ISH shrugged. "Because I asked?"

Exusiai snorted. "Not how this works, buddy."

Texas drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. "Where are you even trying to go?"

ISH shrugged. "Wherever. As long as it's a city."

Texas narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Reasons"

Croissant looked amused. "And if we say no?"

ISH tilted his head. "Then I keep walking." He made a vague gesture at the road ahead. "And let me tell you, it's really far. I already walked so much, I almost started appreciating nature." He shuddered. "Almost."

Texas rubbed her temples again. She looked at the others. "What do you think?"

Croissant shrugged. "Ain't like we got a full van."

Exusiai grinned. "I say we take him. Worst case? He is some kind of psycho, and we throw him out at high speed."

ISH gave a thumbs-up. "Acceptable risk."

Texas sighed again. "Fine. Get in before I change my mind."

ISH hopped into the back. "Sweet."

Texas started driving again, already regretting her decision.