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Post by Vapovile on Jul 9, 2017 22:42:57 GMT
Yamiko was almost oblivious to Dan as she celebrated her victory, not noticing the pink beam shot through her spine as the sadistic idol collapsed to the ground. Aria looked down at Yamiko and loaded a small healing round into her right pistol, shooting it at the idol. Yamiko's spine slowly began to heal as Aria turned to Dan, being more attentive than Yamiko and simply moving her hand out of the way. This was it...Dan was nearly defeated. "Dan Drake, you are under arrest. Rest assured; you will be given a fair trial in Hidden World court. If you can't afford an attorney..." Aria opened her right pistol's chamber and let the spent healing round fall out, putting in 6 tranquilizer round in its place. "...one will be provided for you." And with that, Aria aimed her pistol at Dan's neck...but then saw a large network of vines begin to surround Dan's body.
A small tower of vines stood nearby, Cadence sitting at the top with a pipe in her mouth. She was now without her thick coat, but didn't need too bothered by the change. "...I'm back..." She simply stated. The vines tightly wrapped themselves around Dan's limbs, weaving themselves around the Avatar's fingers to prevent him from firing another laser. The vine network burrowed into the ground further to add more weight pulling down on Dan's body to restrain him better. "Thank you for the assistance." Aria said as she gave a small nod toward Cadence, pointing her pistol at the back of Dan's neck and firing off 3 concentrated blasts of tranquilizer at the location. Hopefully he'll be subdued enough by these bullets that she can finally approach with a pair of power-canceling cuffs.
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Post by Obscuris on Jul 12, 2017 0:10:16 GMT
She couldn’t hear anything. She didn’t react. Not even when Yamiko’s blade sank into the earth inches away from her head, piercing through her tattered crimson mane and cutting a lock. Aria’s word were muffled under the painful ringing in her ears, the wound on the back of her head throbbing with pain. Only a glimpse of the red-ish glow of the construct reached her eyes as she crawled closer and closer to the already extinct flames that were once Sun, now replaced by the elongated from of a Tarot Card. Her broken fingers, slowly healing, closed around the cold and dull material as Arlana brought her friend to her chest. She cradled it there, close to her heart. The once ancient and worn card, now awoken, was revealed on its glory. A glimmering golden rectangle framed and exquisite image, the soaring silhouette of a golden sparrow circling a bright Sun.
She laid there, dozing in and out of consciousness, as the healing warmth of Aria’s bullets cured her battered body.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jul 12, 2017 6:03:07 GMT
The child peeped insistently and grabbed Matt's arm. He tugged with all his might, a pathetic attempt. Matt might be budged only if he didn't attempt to resist the pull at all. The child let loose a long peep, a hopeless noise. The newborn abominations began to raise their heavy heads, looking at Matt with hunger, and more were being born every second. Some began crawling, still unable to even stand on two legs. Their jaws seemed to still work just fine, snapping and chewing at the air as they closed in. Some clambered up the wall, moving to flank their prey.
"Not... what I wanted you to say." Dan hissed, pulling himself across the ground with his sole working arm. He stopped abrupt when vines burst from the ground and wrapped him into immobility. He writhed and the vines strained, some snapping and tearing under the enormous force he could still muster. Aria's darts found his neck, but still he didn't slow until the sound of flapping wings drowned out all else. Dan twisted his head up to see the thing that sounded like a hurricane coming down. Everybody's hair rippled in the breeze, leaves and dust whipped up into a frenzy. When it came to a stop, a being rested atop the vines.
It gripped them in birdlike talons, but above the feet it was bizarrely humanoid, blue skinned with a thin coating of red feathers sticking out just like leaves on a tree. This humanoid form continued to the shoulders, where wings like nothing on earth stuck straight out, great red fans of flesh that hypnotically undulated. A human face topped the beast's body, inhumanly perfect in shape but marked with purple veins crossing everywhere under its marble white skin. "He can't even move and you still can't take him down. I can't believe my sister is threatened by you. You know, I'm a born killer. When I look at people, I see their weak points. Physical and mental. Let me display my craft for you." Huntsman smiled at Aria, locking eyes like a bird of prey's with hers. "You... it can't be." Dan made a sudden thrash and the vines tore away from the ground to let him roll over.
Huntsman hopped up away from the burst of movement and landed at Dan's side. "It can. Do you want proof?" Huntsman's body began to change as he took a deep breath. "I found the building you were guarding easily enough. I smelled Avatar. Oh, don't worry, I would have found it anyway, you just made it easier. Crappy little place. Not many cults do their work in the back rooms of restaurants you know. I decided on full frontal assault. Of course you know that. Remember how I entered? The big guy guarding the door. Do you know what a heart splattering on your fist feels like? It's really quite an interesting feeling." Huntsman's body was compacting, changing to something more like a furry crab mixed with a chimpanzee.
"You... you were the one..." Dan's eyes opened, wide with a mix of emotions, rising to the surface stronger than ever. Hatred, terror, grief. The monster was right in front of him! Why couldn't he move!? "Yes, Dan. Who was next? Right, that's when you got to me. I just threw you into the shelves first. Did the same to the second fastest in the room. He had some nice long legs. Too bad a runner's body isn't as durable as yours. Tell me, did you enjoy the noise when his body hit the wall next to you? How long did his eyes blink? Did you wait to count before you tried to jump me from behind and I used these on you?" Two limbs had sprung from Huntsman's back, slender whips that looked like goose neck barnacles tipped with knives.
Dan fired off a beam, but Huntsman easily evaded. Dan fired off more wildly, but none struck home, his aim too obvious and increasingly inaccurate. "I didn't think some little cuts were enough you should retreat, but apparently you disagreed and backed off so I could crush the head of the guy with a gun." Huntsman clacked jaws like a nutcracker, almost ridiculous human teeth set in an utterly crustacean torso. "His eyes felt nice sliding down my throat. That's where I learned to swallow them whole you know. Before I would pop them. Of course, I had to test the difference right away. But no, I was right. The guy with a knife gave his eyes up for the cause of my gourmet lifestyle. Oh, don't look at me like that. I decapitated him before plucking them out. I'm not a monster." The jaws clacked again, this time sounding like hideous laughter.
"Did you get a good view when that little woman came at me with the lighter fluid? She was the last, yes? I was actually impressed. It was the first good move anybody made." Tears soaked the ground beneath Dan's face. "Don't you dare! After what you did... pulling her apart! Drawing her into yourself!" He screamed, weakly grabbing at Huntsman's chitinous leg. Cracks began running up the tough armor, gaps giving a glimpse of something softer within. "It wasn't just eating her, you know. It was absorption. All her memories became mine. Rong Jie is forever a part of me."
The armor fell apart and a short Chinese woman emerged. Her deep blue hair fell long over her pink gi, so similar to Dan's. She had the same mocking smile, same gesture of her hands on her hip. "Oh... and she loved you too." She whispered to Dan. His scream would have toppled every tree in the sinkhole had he been in top condition. Instead, it didn't so much as ruffle Huntsman's hair. Everything seemed to grow very bright, then suddenly dim again, like a filter was taken away and their eyes needed a moment to adjust. The sky was blue and clear, while the pink of the everything around them seemed to have dulled.
Deep in the cave, the abominations screamed and dropped, writhing as their bodies annihilated. It was like a video game glitch, parts of the body vanishing to leave others hanging in their place until the whole thing popped out of existence. The birthing women let out long groans and collapsed, flaring off pink energy. Unlike the infants, they didn't vanish. Instead, their bodies flared and twisted back into something near-human, more like Abijah's disguise, coated in fur and with extended canines and claws, but otherwise human. They gasped and twitched, minds overcoming the pain of being twisted back into human shape and the trauma of returning to full sentience so suddenly.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Jul 14, 2017 2:04:38 GMT
Empty. The state he is always aware of. That he always experiences, yet he couldn't even remember the last time since the feeling has been so severe. The man has truly become soulless. His remaining self barely holding on to sustain his very existence. His outer layer reflects his inner. Shallow and pale. Weak and ancient. Hopeless and dead. What remains of his identity is barely attach to this corpse, which is clinging desperately to the world of the living. For there is no white light waiting to embrace him with warmth and acceptance. All he could see is the endless abyss. How many years ago? Decades ago? Perhaps even centuries ago? Did he last see this emotionless darkness pull him ever so slightly deeper and deeper. He couldn't even produce a single thought as his mind could only fixate on the shadows dragging him. But to the curious observer they may wonder what it feels like? And he would tell them it is undesirable. Where will they take him? Luckily he wasn't going to find out today.
A pinkish light soon envelopes his body, and soon what follows is a company of souls, which swiftly pour into him. One after the other they force the darkness and emptiness back to the endless frontier that is always waiting to expand into the territory of his individualism. As he regains his strength, his minds quickly recovers. At first his is overwhelm with shock. He didn't expect the sudden wave of fresh spirits to be unleash. Maybe this is a sign that his fortune isn't so rotten after all. His body quickly regains its previous constitution. The color of his flesh no longer appears ghastly, as well as the reappearance of his disintegrated muscles. His blond hair also returns to cover his head. A few moments later his eyes open wide and he takes a deep breath. Once again, he has escape death's embrace.
He proceeds to sit upright and examine his surrounding as he continues to breath heavily. The first thing he immediately notices is the difference in location. "Where-" he begins to mutter as he searches for somebody to answer his question, only to cut himself off as he sees Marceline's lifeless body, causing his heart to sink. He extends his trembling fingers, but before he could reach her face, he stops himself. Realizing that he didn't deserve to touch her. "Marcy..." he whispered weakly, "...I'm so sorry." At first he is too scared to check, but eventually he examines her with his spiritual senses. A sigh of relieve expels from his body as he could sense her soul is still inside. He no longer care about Dan anymore. Right now he needed to get Marceline someone who can hep her. From what he can remember, the girl with the bird seem to be some type of healer. He quickly examines the area, and within moments finds her location. However, he could tell that Arlana is in no shape to help anyone right now.
Due to his lack of knowledge on Aria, he doesn't realize that she could just repair the doll with one of her healing bullets. Unsure of what to do, Chase begins to brainstorm ideas until something he never consider before pops into his head. Looking at his own body, he never really stopped to fully comprehend how his own healing ability works. And he sure as hell never once thought until now if he could use the same spirit technique that he uses to fix his own body to help someone else out. "Please work," he utter to himself before he places his hand over Marceline's body and begins to transfer spirit energy towards her in a similar fashion to how he would use spirit energy to heal his own body. As he starts to rejuvenate her body back to normal, he realizes at once that using this technique to heal someone else takes a far greater amount of spirit energy then it would to heal his own body. Still, he didn't bother questioning the reasons for this, as he simply stays focus on his current task. By the time her body resembles its usual self, he had nearly used up all the spirit energy he had just gain from the souls of Dan's children.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jul 17, 2017 18:34:31 GMT
The kid was pitifully weak. Matt had no time for this. He pulled his arm out of the kid's grasp. There had to be something he could do to help here. But first he would have to deal with the monsters climbing up to him. His digivice shone green for a second, then the light flickered out. "What?" He tried again, but the result was the same. And again. And again. Now, matt panicked. He took a step back the creatures approached. He couldn't transform. Why? That last punch he though he was saved from in the nick of time... Oh no... Matt couldn't fight them now...
He took another step back... He couldn't do anything to help now. His only option was the run. He could he outrun them though? He wasn't sure anymore. But before he did anything, a chorus of screams filled the cave. The creatures disappeared and the women transformed. "What?" He asked again. He couldn't even fathom what was going on. He quickly looked around for Dan's semi-normal kid. Perhaps he had an idea of what went on, assuming he didn't disappear as well.
Many, many minutes later
Matt went back to where they fought Dan before. He didn't expect to find anyone there. Heck, he kinda hoped he wouldn't. If he was wrong about the reason for the event in the cave, Dan could kill him instantly. He couldn't tansform anymore. He was completely sure of it now. He tried and tried many times, yet the result stayed the same. Only after his numerous attempts did he finally start his trek which took a really long time without flight or super speed or even super jumps. "Why was the cave so high up," Matt grudgingly asked no one in particular.
He was lucky. The battlefield was completely deserted now. Perhaps battlefield wasn't the right word anymore. Whatever organization came and cleaned the place up, they did a good job. It was just a devastated piece of land now that could easily have been the result of a particularly harsh storm. Well, since everyone already left by the time he finally got back here, Matt was left without a way back. Sweden was quite far away and Matt didn't bring enough money to buy a plane ticket anyway. Heck, he probably couldn't even find an airport before a very dark night arrived.
He looked at his phone. The signal here was weak, but it was there. He called Arthur and explained his situation. Arthur would be there in a few hours. Matt sat down in the center of the clearing so Arthur could find him more easily. Nothing he could now but wait. Wait and think about what he was going to do now. He doesn't have his powers anymore. He wasn't a hero anymore. Well, he still had his eye. If he couldn't be a superhero anymore, being a doctor was still a great choice. He told himself that, over and over. His life would be calmer now. Safer. It was better this way. But was it really?
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Post by Vapovile on Jul 19, 2017 0:58:32 GMT
Huntsman's sudden entrance made Aria reach for her incendiary rounds...but relaxed when it seemed like he was only here to gloat about how he wasn't helping them fight this monster. She listened as Huntsman mocked Dan and basically gave a confession to murdering old acquaintances of Dan's, as well as someone who appeared to be a possible girlfriend of his. She took out her phone and made a small message to investigate Huntsman's connection to a pink gang massacre in her phone, sending it over to the Intelligence division. Cadence watched in silence at the display in front of her, nodding her head when the area around them returned to normal. Yamiko was slowly getting off the ground now that the healing bullet had healed her enough, giving Dan a menacing glare. "Pahahahahaha! Your friends died from Flubber over here? I would love to stay and chat...but I am out of power. Until next time~" And with that, Yamiko exploded into a small aura of light and left normal Haruko where she stood, laying unconscious on the ground. Aria walks over to her fallen sister and picks her up with a small vine coming out of the ground.
"Not sure if a thanks is in order. Dan Drake, you care under arrest. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." As Aria did her speech, she took out a pair of golden handcuffs from her pocket and slapped them on Dan's wrists. He would instantly feel his Hidden World powers drain away as the cuffs worked to block any ki, magical or genetic powers he may have. Cadence walked up to the HWIC president and looked upward at the tall woman. "...so is our deal complete...?" She asked. Aria nodded her head and produced a small piece of paper that she gives to the plant doll. "Call that number when you're ready, we'll set up a time." With Cadence out of the way, Aria picks up her phone and dials Smith's number. "Smith, are you alright? I need you to call in an extraction unit for mr. Drake. Can you do that?" Finally...this mission was over.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Aug 1, 2017 21:20:50 GMT
"I've been working on this since we handled that business with Dan, but it is still going to take a few more months before its up and running. Listen, I got to go. We can talk later." Smith ends his communication link and steps out of a glass elevator and into one of his private laboratories. As he enters he quickly makes his way towards what appears to be a massive vault door all the way in the back. When he reaches the door he begins to press a few hologram buttons hovering nearby. The hologram turns bright green for a moment before the vault door starts to shift. Once it fully opens Smith steps forward. Inside, he is surrounded by rows of massive white crystals throughout the room. For the most part they are as pale as milk, yet a couple shine slightly blue. He examines the room for a moment before he pulls out a small, and rectangular device. He places the device over the crystals and begins to run a few tests. "It looks like the connection will still need some work, but at least I was finally able to replicate the shards." After a while he steps out of the vault and closes it. As the billionaire walks away, initials can be seen glowing right above the door: H.C.
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Post by Obscuris on Aug 15, 2017 1:59:45 GMT
Her mind descended in a nightmarish spiral through the black unconsciousness. A comfortable numbness enveloped her bruised and broken body as it healed at a rapid pace, leaving her mind free to wonder. A chaotic parade of images marched through her head in a dizzying display. Her old home. Sun indolently gliding over Canada’s white snow. Her father, staring gently at the portrait of her late over the fireplace. Flames crippling, searing through wood and stone. The burnt and tearful face of his father suddenly replaced by the Avatar’s twisted grimace, ripped flesh over bone. Golden flames enveloping them, scorching the monster into ash and her own skin. A darkened silhouette, black hood concealing its features. Endless tunnels of deep darkness swallowed her, dantesque parodies of Marceline’s skeletal body and Chase’s hulking form clawed at her around every corner. Sun’s warm feathers beneath her forehead and between her fingers as they fused in one…
As the battle diminished, the Avatar finally defeated and the revelations that followed the appearance of a monstrous individual, Arlana laid over the scorched earth, her fingers clutching the dim warmness of Sun’s card, seeking confront in the familiar sensation. With all eyes on the Avatar, the figure that stared down at the Tarot Seeker would probably go unnoticed.
As Hunstman unleashed an emotional onslaught over the despaired Avatar, the air besides Arlana shifted as if it were alive and gave form to a spectral humanoid silhouette, dim shimmers of a light bluish light painted in brushstrokes the delicate and soft edges of a woman’s body. A crown like garment over her head clouded her features as it kneeled next to the girl. With a soft and caring gesture, the entity laid its hand on Arlana’s messy and dirty cloud of crimson hair which seemed to ease the girl’s suffering. Apparently satisfied, the figure nodded and silently vanished into tiny specks of blue light. They floated down towards Arlana, gently but with purpose, and faintly glowed as they absorbed each other over the burnt ground. When the last one joined the rest, the soft energy shifted like molten metal in a mold and drew the silhouette of an elongated rectangle, which unsuspiciously slipped inside her pocket.
Suddenly, the Avatar’s piercing screaming shattered the air and Arlana jumped. Dizzy and disoriented, the young girl opened her eyes and raised her head, fighting the sudden urge to throw up. Something had changed, as if the air itself was lighter and less oppressive. The fight was over. Oblivious to extra weight on her pocket, the girl (not with an excessive effort) managed to stand up. She was absolutely drained by the events of that crazy couple of hours, both physical and emotionally, but Aria’s healing bullet was taking care of one of those, at least.
Limping her way towards Aria, Candence, Hunstman and the Avatar, the girl kept holding Sun’s card close to her chest. “I-I-s it over?” she asked shyly, her voice hoarse. She didn’t feel like someone who had just fought a monster and even helped bringing it down. In truth, she felt like lost child who just wanted to get back to her stinky flat and her boring job as a barista. “D-did we win?” She knew they had, that everything was over. But she needed someone else to tell her, to confirm that it wasn’t all just a weird dream. Something to make it real.
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Post by HungryHunter on Oct 1, 2018 3:12:47 GMT
The room seemed to reflect the state of the sky. The walls were painted grey, the carpets the same. It was only broken up by the earthy brown wood of the table. A dozen people tapped notes into the keys of their laptop and checked databases. A slender young man whose mouth seemed to hang loose on his face was reporting off his computer to the woman at the head of the table. “43 women were taken captive at the scene. They all seemed to be willing members of the cult, and they knew what the goal was. A preliminary psychological exam shows that the majority are mentally healthy, besides some guilt or trauma related to events that happened while they were already part of the cult. We don’t know how to try them or what for, if we try them at all. We also have found no cure for their condition. We contacted Huntsman and he claims there are means. He then described how we should kill them in extensive detail.” The woman at the head of the table stared down at the other end, her elbows on the table with hands locked in front of her face. She took in the report carefully, nodding as the employee told of the mental state these women were in. “Try them on all possible charges. Conspiracy to commit mass destruction, harboring a fugitive, human trafficking...everything. While they are in prison…” Aria looked to her right, where a small girl was sitting on top of a nearby cabinet, swinging her legs back and forth. “...Iris, we need you to research a cure. I can’t let these people out as they are. Can you do that?” Aria asked. Iris gave a small nod in response. “Of course...I’ve already taken many samples of their flesh and blood. Shouldn’t take too long at all...maybe.” The scientist said with a strange uncertainty. We did a full check of the inhabited caves. It was mostly personal artifacts. Clothing, books. We have a full list, but it’s all mundane. Other than that, we found a vault. It seemed to contain the cult’s funds. There were over 3 million dollars in cash. It seems it was mostly what was brought in by the members when they joined. The bizarre entities reported by Matthew Anderson were no longer present.” “Three million dollars…” Aria said to herself. She had witnessed the cave Matt had mentioned, but like the report stated, there was nothing in there akin to what he had reported. “Has there been any developments on the strange woman we discussed last time?” Aria asked. The agent shook his head. “No personal artifacts belonging to her were found, and she was apparently there before anybody else, so there are no reports on her entering the cult. We can assume she was the ringleader and not a human, but beyond that there’s just no information. She doesn’t match any race in our database from the descriptions that were given. We again approached Huntsman for comment, but he again declined cooperation.” The agent’s report was what Aria expected; failed to shed new light on the situation. “She was certainly a strong fighter, only surpassed by Dan himself. From the information Cadence gave us...it seems like there is somehow a portal inside her body. Put out a search warrant for her arrest, and a bounty of $12,000 for her. Preferably alive.” “Will do, mam. Next is cleanup. The pink flora seems to be retreating on its own, and the fauna we have found has all been dead or dying. We have had flame squads burning some of it, but mostly we’re just keeping surveillance on it. Which brings us to the avatar and his remaining child. The child is currently of greater concern. He has shown no signs of being a threat so far, but he has raised the question of where to keep him. He has requested to be with his father, but we have of course been forced to decline this.” “Put the kid in the HWIC orphanage in South Dakota until the charges against his father have been seen by a judge. He’ll be far enough away from civilization, and perhaps will become more socialized with the other children.” Aria ordered. “Now...what is the status of Mr. Drake?” ”Since his arrest, he has been docile. He has displayed significant regret for his actions, especially his attack on the people who helped apprehend him, even asking after the condition of Halwende Chase and Marceline, who he believed he had killed. He seemed relieved when he was told they were alive and well. He claims he was acting under the influence of another entity. We’re still planning interviews with people who know him, but there are unfortunately very few, all knowing him for less than three years. He seems to have been reclusive before and after coming to the USA, with few friends or relatives. It seems most people he knew were killed as you described, and we haven’t located his father. However, Huntsman actually cooperated with our requests this time. He told us that Dan is in fact the vessel for a demon god named the Primal Roar, apparently the cause of the strange effects in Siberia. However, we don’t know how much to trust his testimony. We have plenty of evidence that he is knowledgeable on the topic, but we have our doubts about how trustworthy he is in dispensing his knowledge.” Aria let out a small sigh as she heard how Huntsman was continuing to be difficult with the investigation. “Call Wild Hunt and negotiate the information through their leader, Eve. She’s slightly more tolerable to speak with.” Truthfully, Aria was slightly annoyed at how Wild Hunt as an organization was operating under a legal grey zone. Their barely legal activities were a nightmare to try and monitor, as everyone at that organization seemed to be operating with flagrant disregard for authority. The HWIC president stood up from her chair and turned to the door. “Confirm mr. Drake’s date with the court and I’ll testify personally as a witness. With any luck, Eve can wretch this information out of Huntsman and Dan could have the possibility of getting out of prison eventually. Thank you for the report.” And with that, Aria exited the conference room, headed for her office to deal with yet another stack of reports.
Dan sat in a dim cell. His grey uniform nearly made him blend in with the bland walls. It itched on his regenerating skin, but the blinking camera overhead made him keep it tightly on. Haruko had been here with Crow earlier. They said that his son (both of them still couldn’t wrap their heads around that) was fine and kept asking for him in his own odd silent way. He couldn’t tell if their words of encouragement were mere obligation of signs they actually cared. It only made him feel worse that he couldn’t tell. He was about to go back to his cell when Crow pulled him close, whispering in his ear. “Wilde knows” was all he said before Dan was pulled away. Dan heard Haruko asking what that was all about and Crow laughing it off. He still didn’t know what it meant now. Oscar Wilde? That couldn’t be it. We went to sleep annoyed with his friend. Didn't he have enough problems?
Three months later. Dan stepped out of the unmarked car. It was as average as cars went, silver and vaguely sleek in that shapeless regular-car way. “Alright, Mister Drake. You meet with me every two weeks. You will have some leeway in the schedule, but if you miss a session, you will be arrested and your child taken into our custody.” The HWIC parole officer leaned out the window and handed him a stack of paperwork. “I… thank you.” Dan mumbled, barely giving it a glance. His eyes were on his son. He looked so small in his oversized sweater, but a smile was lighting up his face for the first time Dan could remember.
“This is my house… our house.” Dan gestured to his home, the first time Qiang had ever seen it. It was a one-story, two bedroom dump, bought for cheap off a family desperate to move in preparation of having their third child but unable to sell their run down home for the price they wanted. Dan liked the worn-out look personally. The flaking paint that had scared off other buyers delighted him, the climbing ivy and weeds just adding to the charm. It had its negative quirks (who the hell puts a window in the shower!?), but nothing that Dan felt dangerous. Qiang seemed equally enthralled with the house as they approached. “Things are going to be rough for a while, Qiang, but I promise it’s all uphill from here. Never as bad as it was in the cave.” Dan felt a twinge of anxiety even promising this. Qiang believed him of course. But that’s why it scared him.
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