ask-marcus-cally-and-ari

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Hey guys. I am deeply sorry to announce this, but this blog will be deleted relatively soon. OH has been on hiatus for awhile due to a creative shift, and to account for this shift, the blog and OH will be deleted so that we can overhaul the series and rewrite it to include all the changes we have made.

I am very sorry for you guys to have waited so long for an update only to receive this news, but that is the plan going forward.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 17: Damage Done

P*ss Cakehole was not a calm man. You could get him worked up with a mean word or a glare, so of course something like this would have him in poor state mentally. He paced back and forth, the gas outside making his powers flare. He had managed to lock himself inside HECU’s security room, and flickering camera’s surrounded him on every wall.

"Where the hell are those kids?!" he hissed through his teeth, leaning over the security dashboard. He took in a deep breath and glanced up at the cameras - then froze.

Marcus was in a fight with Brutal, but something was wrong with the kid, and Cally and Ari looked terrified.

“What the hell is going on in there…? Sh_t, they're in HECU’s containment facility. I gotta get down there!”

P*ss opened the door and ran out, ignoring the effects and focusing only on how much danger the kids were in. He'd promised the boy he'd help keep them safe, and now it was time to deli-

"And you promise not to kill them? I already have enough on my conscience."

A woman's voice caught his attention and he skidded to a halt before ducking behind a nearby wall. Glancing out from around the corner, P_ss watched as a woman with a gas mask received a bag of money from Demo Samedi.

“We won’t kill ‘em, they’re too important for that,” he replied coldly. “Now go, before the bioweapon gets through that mask.”

"Alright. I- who the hell is that?!"

P_ss frantically ducked back behind the wall, swearing under his breath as he quickly unsheathed his bonesaw from his vest. “You gotta be f_cking kidding me…”

Demo Samedi hissed. "Who's snooping around? This is none of your concern!"

“It’s none of yours, either, ya rotting body bag!” P_ss barked, leaping from his hiding place.

"P*ss Cakehole? What are you doing here? Did James finally run out of kidneys and decide to capture the rest of you?"

“Nope, still got all my kidneys. All three of ‘em. No, I’m here because of those kids. And if I saw correctly, this lady right here just ratted them out!”

"What do you want with those children?! You didn't join our- wait, three kidneys?"

“Uh...I bought the third one. Anyways, I’m helping those kids because I hate Brutal, and because they’re kids. Even I have my limits!”

Samedi sneered. "Those are sentient weapons, not kids. I'm being generous by calling them children."

P_ss bristled hard at that comment, his eyes flashing green momentarily. “They’re kids, you insufferable necromancer! They didn’t ask to have those powers placed on them!”

"Who asks for fate to run its course? It just does and you have to deal with it."

“Since when did you develop a sense of fate? Everyone knows you can change the course of your life!”

"You have to be especially ambitious. These kids are trying to stop us out of spite."

“Of course they are! YOU ATTACKED THEM OUT OF THE BLUE! What did you think was gonna happen!?”

"I told them it was a bad idea, for the record."

“Great, you’re slightly more sane than the others. But that attack still happened, and they’re on the run now!”

"Yes, it's unfortunate for them."

“Then why aren’t you helping them!? Why are you even on Odi-Tron’s side!? What the hell is he offering you that you’re willing to start the Cataclysm!?”

"A lot of people are going to die in the confusion following the Cataclysm, and I want minions."

“Of course you want more minions!” P_ss hissed.

“What? You thought I was helping for the hell of it? Who do I look like, Brutal?”

“No, but at this point I wouldn’t be surprised you were doing this for the hell of it.”

Samedi chuckled. “Fair enough. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. The Aspects are locked in with Brutal, and the boy seemed weakened.”

“Then I’ll just have to get down there myself!”

Samedi rolled his eyes. “You do that. I have to head out. The Scouts are most likely having trouble with Dr. James. She’s nowhere near as easy to pin down as interns and soldiers, you know.”

“Good luck with that; Anita’ll rip you all a new one. As for her-” P_ss pointed his bonesaw accusingly at Javier’s aunt. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Wh-”

P_ss lunged at the woman without another word, slicing his bloodstained bonesaw through the air.

Immediately she ran as fast as she could, P-ss chasing after her.

“GET BACK HERE YOU F_CKING TRAITOR! YOU RATTED THOSE KIDS OUT!”

"Sh*t sh*t sh*t-"

The woman ran through the halls of HECU, pale with terror as the red fumes of the bioweapon creeped further and further in the heart of HECU’s headquarters.

“What’s this sh*t even do?! What are they trying to put in the kids?!”

“It’s the bioweapon, you idiot!” the aunt snapped between gasps. “It turns people into Freaks!”

“Then I’m immune. Will you be?”

“As long as I don’t breathe it in, this bioweapon can’t hurt me!”

P*ss snarled, catching up to her and landing a punch that cracked the gas mask. “Then let’s fix that. I want you to feel what you were willing to sentence those kids to before you die!” Seizing the women by her shoulders, P_ss hurled her into the red fumes, watching as the crimson gas coiled around her face and corroded the broken gas mask in seconds, filling her lungs and changing her very physiology from the inside out.

“Does it hurt? Does it feel like your cells are splitting apart? THIS IS WHAT YOUR ALLIES ARE TRYING TO SUBJECT THOSE KIDS TO RIGHT NOW!” the Sniper screamed.

The woman choked, grasping her neck in an attempt to breathe as her body began to morph and change, the gas slowly transforming her into a Freak.

P*ss approached her, stone in his eyes. “I know the feeling. And if those kids were subjected to it because of you, so will every other Freak involved in this sh*t.”

The red fumes swirled around his face and started his eyes a bright scarlet as he stooped down and grabbed the woman by the collar of her shirt. “Now you’ve felt it, and now you get to burn in hell!”

---

As the scene raged above, Marcus, still asleep, traded blows with Brutal; at least, each party tried. Neither could actually hit each other, and any time a blow was able to connect, it was countered just as quickly with no real change in the battle. Each side was quick and powerful, neither could conquer the other.

“What should we call... this?” Cally asked, pointing at Marcus’s unconscious state.

“Maybe Sleeper. Like a Sleeper Cell,” Ari replied, their eyes glued to the battle.

Cally nodded, wrapping her arms around Ari. “Okay. Sleeper it is.”

“There’s gotta be a way to wake Marcus up from this!”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea right now? He’s quite literally fighting a high-tier on even grounds, and if we intervene, we could give said high-tier an opening.”

Ari gulped, holding onto Cally. “I don’t like this. Not one bit.”

“Neither do I...”

The newly-dubbed Sleeper had to readjust Marcus’s fighting style when Brutal pulled out a spear, and it did so with incredible speed for a state where Marcus wasn’t even conscious, much less capable of rational thought. The power of the Body was radiating off of Sleeper in waves, surrounding Marcus’ body in a distinct red aura as the mark of the Body glowed brightly.

“I suggest you give up,” Cally called. “As long as Marcus is like this, it doesn’t look like you can beat him.”

“SHUT UP!”

That moment of distraction was all Sleeper needed to headbutt Brutal, take the spear, and put him on the ground; the only thing stopping it from actually finishing him off was that Brutal caught the spear first, snapping the blade away from the wooden shaft.

Sleeper paused, then proceeded to jam the broken-off shaft into the Sniper’s side wordlessly- and then Marcus opened his eyes. “...what happened?”

“MARCUS!” Ari cried. “ARE YOU OK!?”

“I... seeing this *sshat hurt is always a plus, but what happened? Whose blood is this? Why does that guy have a hole in his chest?!”

Before he could ask anymore questions, Cally grabbed Marcus’ arm and pulled him away from Brutal, who was still writhing in pain. “We’ve got too little time to answer that right now, we need to go!”

“Y-yeah, okay...”

With Cally leading the way, the Trio continued down the industrial halls, running past numerous empty offices and abandoned security rooms on their way to yet another safe room.

---

P*ss pulled his saw blade out of the woman, trembling with anger. Slowing rising to his feet, he staggered away from the mangled corpse, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. With the traitor taken care of, P_ss now needed to find the Trio before Brutal did.

“H-hey, kids? Pinky? Glasses? Hothead?” he called out, running down HECU’s halls. He knew they had to be hiding in a safe room somewhere, he just had to find the right one. Process of elimination, and judging by the concentration of fumes on ground level, P_ss ruled out the Trio being anywhere on the first floor. The containment facility was his best bet.

“I hate that place,” he groaned, heading down to the lower floor. When he arrived, he had to stop momentarily. Two guards were laying in the hallway ahead of him, brutally mangled in ways that most Freaks couldn’t manage.

"...did you do this, mate?" P*ss asked Brutal, shocked. Brutal was slumped against the wall, the broken shaft of a spear lodged in his side.

“I have a f_ckin’ spear in me, of course I didn’t f_cking do this!” Brutal hissed, spitting up blood.

"Alright. Who did, and how close are they to the kids? Talk as soon as you can, eh? I'm in a… bad mood."

Brutal spat, dragging his tongue across his bloodied teeth. “The f_cking kid...Marcus did this!”

"...Marcus? The same Marcus who relies on his gun and just about got his *ss handed to him on social media? By you? He did this?"

“It was the power of the Body...I tried to knock him out with a tranquilizer dart and he just stood back up! But he was still asleep when he did it; the Body was still protecting him!”

P*ss cackled. "That's what you get!"

Brutal growled. “F_cking kid…He’s stronger like that than when he’s conscious!”

"I hope he's okay… I'm going to find him. And then I'm gonna take the kids to safety. Try to stop me and you're dead."

“Good luck with that,” Brutal grinned, producing a vial of solid red liquid from his vest.

"...the f*ck?"

Brutal removed the cap and quickly downed the liquid before rising to his feet, the wounds that dotted his body beginning to close up. He shakily grabbed ahold of the broken shaft in his side and ripped it out, and the massive gash in his side swiftly sealed up.

"...I suddenly don't feel so good." Deciding not to push his luck until he knew where the Trio was, P*ss bolted down the hall, looking for them while Brutal gave chase through the red fumes that were beginning to build up in the facility.

“Sh*t sh*t sh*t sh*t now I know how it feels-”

Sprinting through the industrial halls, P_ss eventually arrived at a series of blast protection doors lined up along the wall, one of which was already closed. Hoping that the Trio were inside, P_ss darted towards it and landed a series of frantic blows against the steel door.

“KIDS! Kids, are you in there!? It’s me, P_ss!”

The door opened, and Cally beckoned P*ss inside. “Hurry up!”

After P*ss made it inside the blast chamber, the door was sealed shut behind him.

“Kids! Are you ok!?” he managed, then noticed Marcus curled up, wide-eyed and looking at his blood-stained hands, in a corner.

“I did that... I did it in my sleep. I’m not even safe to be around in my sleep!”

“...Marcus?”

Cally winced. “...yeah, he’s... he didn’t take the news of Sleeper becoming a thing well.”

“Sleeper?”

“What we call his new... ability. To fight in his sleep.”

“Fight?! I TURNED THAT GUY’S HEART INTO PASTE AND D*MN NEAR BEHEADED THE OTHER ONE!” Marcus cried.

“Sh_t, Brutal wasn’t kidding…”

Marcus buried his head into his knees, hyperventilating as Ari put a hand on his shoulder, shedding tears.

P_ss awkwardly shifted on his feet and rubbed his neck, glancing back towards the blast doors. “...We’ll be stuck here for a while. The bioweapon is still in the air and hostile Freaks are still in the building.” Chuckling bitterly, the Sniper sighed, “Never thought I’d hear that phrase not be said about me. ‘Specially not said by me.”

“It’s not the weirdest thing we’ve heard recently,” Cally commented dryly.

“Don’t I know it,” P*ss replied, going over to Marcus. “...kid-”

“Not right now,” Ari said abruptly. “He... he needs some time to himself.”

The Sniper nodded and sighed, then sat by Cally. “So. What do you plan to do when this ends?”

Cally paused momentarily, blinking in surprise like she didn’t have an answer.

“...I don’t know…”

“HECU will probably give you a place to say. Least you deserve for going through all this to save the world.”

“But I don’t know what we’ll do then. It’s not like we can just go back to highschool after this...right?”

“Saving the world doesn’t mean you can’t still get an education,” P_ss answered. “I mean, it might be a bit awkward, but…”

“Heh. Imagine how everyone reacts to their classmates having saved the world.”

“Imagine Javier’s reaction to finding out his aunt turned out to be evil,” Marcus added, a blank look in his eyes.

“...He might have to process that over her grave,” P_ss commented.

Ari looked up. “...did you do it?”

“Yeah. Samedi was handing some money over to her when I found her.”

“She sold us out for money?” Cally scoffed, disgusted. “That b_tch!”

Ari frowned. “...she would have let that happen to her nephew! Her nephew! What the heck?! That feeling is awful! No offense, Mr. Cakehole. I got nothing against you, I just... I can feel other people’s emotions and pain, and I was there the first time the bioweapon was used.” A whimper, and the bearer of the Heart started hyperventilating. “It hurt... it hurt so much...”

A pained look crossed P_ss’ face, and he rested a hand on Ari’s shoulder. “I know. I heard the screams when I was trying to find you guys.”

Ari hugged the Sniper, crying. P_ss patted their back comfortingly, albeit with some hesitation.

“We’ll be here for a while. You guys need some rest. We’ll leave when the fumes disappear or when HECU finds us. Whichever comes first.”

“Gives us enough time to calm Marcus down,” Cally replied.

“You three rest up,” P_ss nodded, turning back towards the blast door. “I’ll be on the lookout.”

He was on lookout for hours and could see the moon from an ever-so-small ‘window’ in the shelter room when he heard whistling on the other side. “What the...” P_ss lifted his head and pressed his ear against the cold steel, listening closely to the whistling. It took him only a second to recognize the source of the sound. “Don’t you even think about it, you son of a b*tch,” he growled lowly in French, putting a hand on his saw. He was sure Brutal couldn’t get inside, but with him sitting outside the doors, the Trio couldn’t leave either.

“Don’t think about what?” came the amused reply, also in French. Of course the b*stard could speak French. He was screwing three Spies.

“You know what. You just caused Marcus to have a mental breakdown over the powers he shouldn’t have to use. What the hell do you even get from this that you’re willing to do this sh*t to a kid?”

“If everybody is a Freak, then people like you and I will be able to do whatever we please without organizations like HECU constantly breathing down our necks.”

“It would be a hell of a lot easier if you’d just left those three alone. Can’t stop something you don’t know is happening.”

“Gentle and RED have already gotten on my case for that. They already know, and that means we’ve gotta get them out of the way.” A chuckle. “Besides, all things being equal, we’d probably be doing the world a favor. Freaks are just better than humans. Look at Marcus. He had to be unconscious and get rid of whatever the hell mental block he had that kept him from hitting that hard to fight me on equal footing.”

“He’s a KID!” P_ss snarled back. “He shouldn’t have to be fighting for his life in the first place!”

“Life ain’t fair. This is just his lot in it.”

P_ss hissed. “He deserves a better lot than this! All three of them do! I don’t want them to live in a world where people like you and me run around unchecked, much as it’d mean no consequences for me! That sounds like an awful life to live every hour of every day!” Standing up to stretch, the Sniper growled, “I could care less about the rest of the world. Let it f*cking burn, for all I care. But these are three kids, and the one with pink hair is sweet. If they want to save it, I’ll throw in my lot with them, no matter what happens to me after.”

“They’re gonna kill you if you’re lucky. Or give you life in prison if you’re not.”

“Probably. I’d deserve it. Life ain’t fair, you’re right about that. But if these kids want to make it fair when all is said and done, I’ll be right there with them.”

“Heh. You always were hard to work with, Cakehole. Anyway, I’ve gotta go. My job here’s done, or at least what I can do. HECU’s been crippled, and from what I heard, they got the bioweapon in Anita. She give you the kidney back, by the way?”

P_ss responded by punching the blast doors, leaving a dent in the metal.

Cally tilted her head. “Kidney?”

P_ss inhaled sharply, turning back to Cally. “I can’t help that I’ve got three kidney’s now - wait, you understood me?”

“I had to take French. Hated it. It was a boring language.”

P_ss blinked, then swore to himself, sliding against the wall until he was sitting on the floor. “So you understood that entire conversation?”

“Just about. Ari would be flattered to know you think so highly of them.” Cally winced. “As for the other thing... I’m sure that if you helped us, we could get you off charges and stuff on some kind of good behavior or something.”

“Heh. Nice of you, kid, but HECU won’t let me off the hook that easily.”

“Is HECU still even a thing to worry about? I guess it depends on what we see when those doors open.”

“If anything, I know the officers that are Freaks themselves have to still be around. Rudra, Noir, Soldine, and a few others. Maybe Major Scout Guy will show up if we’re lucky.”

“That’s something.”

“Let’s just hope they can find us down here. And that Spyper and Intelligent are okay. Can’t stand them, but any help is better than no help.”

“Why don’t you like them?”

“Long story.”

“We might have ti-” Before Cally could finish, the doors cracked open slightly; P*ss jumped back, pulling her behind him and brandishing his saw.

A few tense moments passed as the door was pulled away from its locks - then Rudra’s head popped in, a few scratches across her face.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over HQ for you three!”

P*ss held the saw higher. “How do we know you ain’t a Spy?”

Rudra cocked an eyebrow at P_ss, then threw the door open- and behind her stood some familiar faces.

Intelligent beamed and picked up Cally in a hug. “How are ya?” he asked, ruffling her hair, then went to approach Marcus and Ari, who were sleeping in a corner- only to be stopped.

“I’m great, but you need to wake them up first. There’s been a... development.”

“Good or bad?” Spyper asked, looking over Ari and Marcus.

“...it’s complicated,” P_ss replied dryly.

“Yeah. Let’s just say that whoever tries to touch Marcus while he’s asleep, their life is in more danger than it would be if he was awake.”

“...please tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with those two dead guards we found by the elevator.”

“Marcus did that. While unconscious. I call that new... ability Sleeper. I theorize that it’s essentially what his body would be able to do at full power if his consciousness didn’t hold it back.”

Intelligent winced. “Oh... oh my.”

Rudra paused briefly, then sighed. “We’ll discuss that later. Right now we need to get you three out of here. We’ve had to evacuate HECU and the rest of HQ is holding out in an outpost stationed outside Evo City.”

"Okay. Marcus? Ari? Time to wake up."

At Cally’s words, the two began to stir, Marcus blinking to adjust to the brightness. “Cal...?”

“Hey, Marcus,” the nerdy girl replied. “We got friends here. Time to go.”

Ari raised their head and grinned. “Intelligent! Spyper!”

Spyper ruffled Ari’s hair. “Hey, kid.”

“How did you guys find us?”

“The security cameras are still working. We managed to find you guys through that,” Rudra replied.

Intelligent put a hand on Marcus’s shoulder. “...you okay, Marcus?”

Marcus looked at the Heavy Freak with haunted anger in his eyes. “...yeah. I’m fine. Now I have another reason to hate those f*ckers.”

“You’ll have time to get your anger out later. We need to get you out of here,” Rudra said, and Marcus sighed.

“I know. Let’s just go; I don’t want to be here much longer.”

“Neither do I,” Ari replied, letting Intelligent pick her up in his large hands gently as the group left HECU.

---

“Is this place supposed to be so... uh... unpleasant?” one of the Dade City High students asked Melissa as the activity bus arrived at the empty, damaged building the next morning. Red fumes still swirled around the building, pouring out from the broken windows and empty doorways.

Melissa frowned at the sight, beginning to wind her hands together anxiously. “No, it’s not supposed to look like that. Something’s wrong.”

“Should we go in? Maybe we made a wrong turn somewhere,” called another student.

“Or maybe Marcus, Cally, and Ari are in there and we need to get them medical care.”

“I don’t know. Those fumes could be toxic. Do we have any gas masks?”

“I see three,” called Javier from the back of the bus. “Who’s going?”

“I’ll go. I know HECU’s layout better than anyone,” Melissa said, taking one of the masks.

“I’ll go,” answered the student body president. “What kind of leader would I be if I didn’t?”

“That leaves one. Who else is going with us?”

“...we could have Winnie go. She’s not fazed by anything.”

The boy next to Winnie, who was listening to music, tapped her on the shoulder, held up a gas mask, and pointed at HECU. Winnie nodded and put on the gas mask, getting up.

“I really hope my aunt’s ok,” Melissa sighed into her mask, stepping out of the bus.

The student body president nodded, taking some guns from Viktor. “Same. Now take this; you never know, we may need it.”

“If there are monsters in there, I’m gonna scream.”

“I’ll probably throw up. Afterwards. Winnie, you ready?”

Winnie gave a thumbs-up, and the three opened the doors.

The lobby was barren and dark, save for a few flickering fluorescent lights in the ceiling. Desks were overturned and papers were randomly strewn across the floor.

“Oh... this is bad.”

“The hell happened here?”

"Nothing good," Melissa replied, looking in drawers at the desks. “There’s money here. HECU won’t be needing it. What do you see, Brandon?”

“There’s a broken picture frame here,” the student body president answered, picking a frame off the ground. “I recognize these two. They’re two of the commanding officers here. Rudra and Lady Noir, I think. I don’t know who this kid is, though.”

“If they’re not here, sh*t must really be bad- Winnie? Winnie, where are you going?”

Winnie had noticed something in the hall and was making a beeline for it. Brandon and Melissa hurried after her- then froze when they saw an unconscious body laying on the floor.

Melissa paled, tearing up and sinking to her knees. “Aunt Anita...” she whispered, then started shaking her aunt in the hopes of waking her up. “C’mon, get up! You gotta wake up!”

Winnie tilted her head, then put her headphones on the Engineer and played a blasting song at full volume, causing Anita to wake up with a start. “WHAT THE F*CK?!”

“AUNT ANITA!” Melissa cried, throwing her arms around her aunt. “You’re alright!”

Anita blinked, awkwardly hugging back. “You’re... you’re... Melissa. My... cousin?”

Melissa paused, then pulled back. “...No, I’m your niece.”

“...yeah. Niece. S-sorry,” Anita replied, getting up shakily. “This shirt is hot and I’m wearing a tank top under it. F*ck it, I’m taking this off.” She did, revealing arms covered in scars. “Much better. I- holy sh*t...”

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad,” Melissa said, putting a hand on her aunt’s shoulder. “And Marcus, Cally, and Ari aren’t here. Do you still think you can help us?”

Anita blinked again, staring at Melissa like she’d grown two extra heads. “Er…”

“...Marcus, Cally, and Ari? A bunch of Freaks are trying to kill them for some reason, and we all ditched life to come and help? And you promised us weaponry and tech to help? Are you okay, Aunt Anita?”

Anita rubbed her head, looking around as though she were lost. “Uh...yeah, I’ve got some tech to help. It’s just down the hall.”

Melissa took her aunt’s hand, concerned, as the group went to find the tech.

Arriving at a lab that looked to have been ransacked, Anita input something into the keypad on the wall next to the door and one of the walls in the lab opened up, revealing a secret room filled with highly advanced weapons and tech.

“Grab whatever you can carry. I’ve got more where this came from.”

“Whoa... awesome!” Brandon grinned, running to the secret room. He grabbed what looked like a sword handle and hit a button on the hilt, grinning wildly as a long strip of metal quickly snapped out of the hilt and lit up with electricity. “Haha! This is amazing!”

Melissa pulled out a small briefcase and opened it, and what looked like a very deep area- larger than the briefcase was- full of futuristic weapons greeted her. “Brandon. Winnie. Help me pack. Those f*ckers did this, and we’re gonna make them pay.”

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 16: Sleeper - Part 1

“Wait. You want us to do what?”

“Strike HECU. That’s where the Aspects are.”

“That place is the single most guarded place in all of Evo! It would be suicide to try and break into that d*mn base, especially if the Freak officers are there!” Gentle protested, taken aback by the order from the electronic voice.

“I have someone on the inside. You won’t have trouble breaking in. As for the officers, why do you think I gave you so much of the bioweapon?”

“Even if we used the bioweapon, we still have to go through Rudra and all of her lackys. I’ve seen that woman in action and she is not to be taken lightly. That bioweapon won’t do anything to stop her!”

“And I don’t want to be on Noir’s bad side again,” RED shuddered.

“You don’t have to be. You don’t have powers. And if the Aspects get affected by the bioweapon, they won’t be a problem anymore.” The voice hummed. “As for Rudra and her lackeys, what the weapon does to everyone else will keep their attention, or at the very least alter how many can come after you.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Brutal asked, crossing his arms.

“You’re smart, aren’t you? At least, a little. Think of something. Either that or get the Leech into something electronic so I can control the place’s technology.”

“We could try it on Anita’s tech,” one of the Undead Stoner Scouts suggested. “She’s got some crazy sh_t just hanging out in her lab.”

“If you could capture her, I’d appreciate it. Better to keep her tech out of the hands of our enemies.”

“Ain’t no way we’re capturing her! That lady’s crazy!”

"That's why I said if."

“That’s still asking too much,” they grumbled.

“Tell you what,” the voice groaned with a mechanical sigh, “just try, okay? I’ll add a pound to what I’m giving you if you succeed. Or get the bioweapon in her.”

"...it's a gamble, but not impossible."

“Marcus, slow down! You could choke!”

“Isn’t everything like that?”

---

“F*ck that!” Marcus replied, wolfing down a plate of rice. “I’m starving! This is the first good meal we’ve had since going on the run!”

“It has been awhile since we’ve eaten anything other than McDonalds,” Ari added through a mouthful of rice. “I’m with Marcus on this; I’m hungry!”

Cally, who had started with the chicken, sighed. “Fair enough,” she conceded. “You never mentioned the food was this good, Intelligent.”

“Didn’t seem important at the time,” he shrugged, eating a plate of meat and mushroom stir fry. “Eat as much as you want, HECU’s good about preparing plenty of food for the employees.”

“I dunno about the angel. She seems like a hardcase,” Marcus commented.

“You should talk,” Cally snickered, and Ari hid a smile.

“I think she’s the one who mandated HECU provide quality food for employees,” Spyper remarked between chews. “Her and Soldine both signed off on it a while ago.”

“Hmm... opinion slightly revised. She’s a hardcase, but not a really bad one.”

Spyper snickered. “Wait until you see her in action.”

“Heh. I like that endorsement,” Cally smiled. “But real talk, when are we gonna get access to our Aspect powers? Marcus’s body has apparently stabilized from whatever his are, but now what?”

“I overheard Rudra and Anita talking about it,” Spyper started, “Apparently, your powers will only show themselves when they’re first needed.”

“Of course they will,” Marcus grumbled. “F*ckin’ bullsh*t.”

“They’re trying to come up with a way to activate the powers sooner, but they’ve got nothing so far,” Intelligent sighed.

Ari whined. “...I didn’t like mine. All those people’s fear and pain...”

“The power of the Heart is strong, but it has a lot of drawbacks,” Intelligent admitted painfully. “You’ll need a lot of practice to control your Aspect.”

“And I just get a boosted intellect,” Cally smiled. “I really don’t see a problem with that.”

“Don’t be so sure of that,” Intelligent warned. “You never know when your powers will turn on you.”

“What do you think mine would do?”

“I’m not sure, but whatever drawback you get won’t be a fun one to have.”

Cally winced. “Oh boy... I-”

An alarm blared through HECU, interrupting the conversation and causing all three teens to jump in shock.

“What the hell is that!?” Marcus gasped, his nerves on end.

“ALERT! ALERT! THERE HAS BEEN A BREAK-IN!” a computerized voice called.

“SH*T! Alright, lunch is over, come on!” Spyper gasped, grabbing the Trio and pulling them from their seats.

Marcus grabbed his gun and racked the slide, ready to fire on the first person unlucky enough to choose him as a target.

Running out of the cafeteria, the Trio were met with a horde of HECU soldiers and officers marching down the hall, flashing red from the emergency alarms overhead. An officer broke away from the crowd and ran up to the Trio.

“Come on, we need to get you three to safety! Hostile Freaks have broken into HQ!”

Ari looked around fearfully, eyes glowing blue as they and the rest of the Trio were led down the hall and to a panic room reinforced with heavy steel and concrete.

“Just stay here, we’ll neutralize the hostiles!” a captain ordered. “Spyper, Intelligent, you stay with them in case anyone gets through-!”

An explosion rocked the building and abruptly cut the officer off and knocked the Trio to the floor. A noxious red gas then began to fill the air, rapidly filling the hall and flashing in time with the emergency lights. Spyper and Intelligent blindly grabbed the Trio and pulled them into the reinforced chamber. Intelligent fumbled with the supplies inside, and managed to find three gas masks among the food and water. Acting quickly, he and Spyper pulled the masks around the faces of the teenagers, securing them tightly.

Marcus’s eyes were wide, and his grip on his gun tightened as he was pulled to his feet.

“The masks will keep the bioweapon from hurting you. Don’t worry about me and Spyper, the fumes can’t hurt us!” Intelligent said rapidly, pulling Ari and Cally to their feet. “There’s another panic room beneath HECU; if you can make it there, you’ll be safe! We’ll hold the Freaks off as long as we can!”

Marcus nodded and led the Trio out, ready to fight the moment a hostile Freak got in his way.

Which didn’t take very long. The first person he unloaded on had charged Ari from the red fumes and gotten six rounds for his trouble. Marcus reloaded his gun, looking around as if daring someone else to start something. The red gas had filled the halls at this point, reducing visibility to effectively nothing. The fumes were so thick that Marcus couldn’t make out anything beyond them aside from the continued blinking of the alert lights, which made the red gas glow an eerie crimson. “Come on!” he snapped through the mask. “Anyone else want to start sh*t?!”

His eyes were glued to the gas, vigilantly watching for any signs of danger as he led Ari and Cally to safety. His breathing was harsh through his mask and it was becoming excessively warm, and the straps around his head were starting to scrape across his scalp, irritating his skin and making the mask increasingly uncomfortable to wear. Marcus gritted his teeth, the grating of the mask and the heat around his face aggravating him more than he expected it to. The power of the Body gave him heightened senses, but everything he felt was magnified tenfold, and so the mask went from a protective layer to keep him safe from the fumes to an antagonizing presence that only served to rile him up further.

Noticing this, Cally sped up, pulling Marcus and Ari with her. “Come on! The sooner we get out of here, the sooner you can take it off!”

“How much further do we have to go!? This thing is driving me nuts!” Marcus gasped, exasperated and starting to pull on the sides of the mask.

“Hopefully not much longer, but you can’t take it off yet! If this gas affects us, I don’t know what it might do!”

Marcus set his jaw and clenched his teeth even tighter, bracing himself against the sensory nightmare that the gas mask had become.

“Marcus? Cally? Ari? Is that you?” came a voice, and Javier’s aunt, wearing a mask, ran up to the Aspects. “What are you doing out here?!”

Marcus blinked in surprise, taken aback. “Wha - What are you doing here?”

“I was here when the hostiles got in! Here, I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“Wait! We’re supposed to go beneath HECU! There’s a safe room there!” Ari blurted.

“I don’t think Marcus is going to make it. He’s already clawing at his head.”

“Wha - It’s just the mask! It’s irritating him! That’s why we need to get to that safe room so he can take it off!”

“The exit is closer. You’re home free once you’re there.”

“But what if the hostile Freaks are waiting for us out there!?”

“Hmmm... you’re right. Alright, to the safe room we go.” Javier’s aunt grabbed Cally and Ari’s hands and raced down the hall, Marcus trailing just behind as his breathing grew hoarser and increasingly ragged.

“Hate... this... stupid... mask!”

“Just a little further, Marcus!” Ari gasped. “We’re almost there!”

Marcus stumbled forward, gasping for breath, and Cally let him steady himself on her arm.

“Marcus, what’s wrong? You look like you’re gonna be sick!”

“Can’t... breathe...”

“Marcus’s body is more sensitive than anyone else’s because that’s his aspect. Anything impeding his breathing would affect him worse than it would anyone else on Earth,” Cally commented, trying to keep Marcus on his feet. “We need to get him to the safe room! NOW!”

When the door to the downstairs area, where no gas existed, slammed shut and Marcus was able to take off the mask, he did without a second thought, gasping for breath and collapsing on his knees. “Motherf*cker...”

Cally and Ari dropped to Marcus’ side, holding on to his arms.

“Marcus, are you ok?” Ari gasped, out of breath from their wild sprint.

Marcus got up shakily. "I'd have to get better to die,” He managed, climbing back to his feet.

“What do we do now?” Cally asked, keeping Marcus steady as he stood.

A knife thrown her way answered Cally’s question, and she flinched when the large shiv embedded itself into the wall right beside her head. "OH MY SH*T!" She gasped, quickly looking over her shoulder at the knife.

“Oh no…”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the Trio,” a familiar Australian voice chuckled, and a Sniper clad in black stepped into the light, a wicked grin across his face.

Marcus's eyes widened and he racked the slide on his gun, shaky though he was, and pointed it at the Freak.

“You’re looking a little sick there, Marcus,” he grinned, stepping closer. “Did the bioweapon get to you?”

"You wish, Brit. The mask did. F*ckin' thing." Marcus glared, backing up towards the door with the other Aspects, Javier’s aunt behind them.

“Hehehe...You three have been making escape after escape, always finding elaborate ways to get away from us at the exact moment you need it.” Brutal then raised his knife, pointing at the Aspects. “This time, you’re gonna stay right where you are.”

As the last word left Brutal’s lips, the door behind the Trio was swiftly opened before being shut just as quickly, Javier’s aunt making a sudden getaway, leaving the Trio behind.

"Wh- YOU B*TCH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

“Sorry kids, but giving you to the Freaks has too much in it for me,” Javier’s aunt said coldly, locking the door and trapping the Aspects inside.

Marcus swore at her, then turned back to Brutal and unloaded on him. Swiftly dodging the bullets, Brutal pulled out his own gun and fired at Marcus, and a tranquilizer dart found its mark on Marcus’ left leg.

Marcus's eyes widened, then closed as he collapsed, unconscious.

“MARCUS!” Ari screamed, lunging for Marcus’ arm in a futile attempt to keep him on his feet.

Cally grabbed his gun, reloaded it, and pointed it forward, eyes wide in terror.

“One down, two to go,” Brutal chuckled, drawing closer to the Aspects.

"Back up! I'll shoot!"

“Go ahead, you’re a walking weapon anyways!”

“...what?”

“Don’t tell me nobody’s told you,” Brutal grinned, stepping closer and closer. “The Aspects are weapons, that’s all they are. Weapons meant to stop the Cataclysm.”

“We’re not weapons!” whined Ari. “We’re just kids!”

“That’s what you’ve been told, but you are beings of destruction, foretold to fulfil the prophecy and defeat Odi-Tron, stopping him from bringing about the age of Freaks. You’re just instruments for his downfall! You were built from birth to be just that!” Brutal flashed a sneering grin. “I’m not going after kids. I’m breaking the world’s weapons.”

Cally started to shake, her grip on the gun becoming unsteady. “We’re not weapons,” she hissed, clenching her teeth. “We’re just kids! You’re just making sh_t up!”

“Alright, nerd. How would you explain it? Why would you have these powers if not for this? They wrote their f*cking names on you, for Pete’s sake!”

“I - I don’t know! Maybe we were just given these powers because we were the best candidates! That’s how that works: You find the best people for a job!”

“And the best people for the job were a nerd who can’t stand being away from a computer, a kid who’s too nice for their own good, and a hothead from a rough neighborhood?”

“I’m the smartest person in my school, Ari’s the kindest person I know, and Marcus could bench press a tractor. I’d say we’re good candidates for the Aspects,” Cally retorted.

“If you want a better candidate for the Brain, look at Anita. She makes WMDs for fun! And Noir can shatter steel with her kicks, so she has Marcus beat. They just don’t have the right mental state.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Anita’s insane, and Noir isn’t as fight-crazed and bad-tempered as Marcus is. And you want the physical one to be willing to fight, right? Well, heh... as long as he’s awake, anyway.”

Cally and Ari continued to back up, keeping the unconscious Marcus behind them.

“Which, by the way, your friend isn’t. So you should probably just give up now.”

“No! We’ve come too far to just let you take us!” Cally snapped. “I’ll unload everything in this clip before that happens!”

Brutal rolled his eyes. “You heard her, guys. Do whatever the hell you want, but don’t kill them.”

Three mercenaries armed with various weapons stepped out of the shadows, grinning at the three. Cally swallowed hard and tightened her grip on the gun, quickly moving it between the three mercenaries.

Getting closer, one of the mercenaries reached pulled a gas mask from his duffel bag before reaching out to seize Cally by her arm, and in that briefest of moments, Marcus’s hand shot up faster than Cally or the mercenaries could perceive and grabbed ahold of the man's arm, holding his wrist in an iron grasp.

“WHAT THE F-” Marcus brought the mercenary down and drove a fist through the man’s chest, causing blood to splatter everywhere- and then he didn’t move. His head was bowed, and he seemed to have gone limp again.

The remaining Aspects and the last two mercenaries stood back in stunned silence, staring at the gorey scene like deer caught in headlights.

“What the f*ck was that? WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT?!” cried Ari, trembling in shocked terror.

Brutal stifled a gasp, then shoved another mercenary towards Marcus. “Don’t just stand there, GRAB HIM!”

“YOU DIDN’T TELL US HE COULD DO THAT!”

“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WOULD HAPPEN!?”

Cally looked down at Marcus. His hair shone red, as did the tattoo on his arm. And his eyes were still closed. “...he’s still asleep.”

“Wha - how!?” Ari gasped. “He just-!”

“If I had to guess, muscle memory. His is so good his body can run on autopilot now.” Cally paled. “...and you know how the hardest punch a human being can deliver is 44 times strong enough to break a skull? Based on what I just saw, he has no psychological block preventing him from hitting that hard.”

“So he could kill anyone in a single blow? F*ck that, I’m outta here!” the third mercenary cried, turning and running down the hall.

Cally looked expectantly at Brutal and the other mercenary.

“Nuh-uh, I’m not messing with that!” the last mercenary cried, backing away from Marcus.

“I’m not paying you to chicken out!” Brutal snarled, shoving him towards Marcus. “NOW GET HIM!”

And to the mercenary's credit, he tried. Marcus moved like lightning again, taking Brutal's shiv out of the wall and slicing the mercenary's neck with it. The mercenary let out a strangled cry before dropping to the floor, dead before he hit the ground.

“Oh for f_cks sake!” Brutal snarled, brandishing a second knife. “Why do I have to do everything myself!?”

Marcus didn't respond. Just stood there, limp and drenched in blood. He only moved when Brutal charged him, and only to dodge. When Brutal slashed at him, Marcus ducked, when Brutal leapt forward, Marcus leapt back. Every move that Brutal made was immediately countered, as though Marcus could read every movement before it even happened. Bristling with rage after another failed strike, Brutal finally dropped his weapons and spun around, his fist clenched until it turned white, poised to strike at Marcus’ head.

In an instant, his fist was stopped dead, held tight by Marcus’ open palm. Without his uttering a single word, Marcus’ hold tightened, and Brutal's fist was crushed by the power of a human hand.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

A picture for the upcoming chapter

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 15: Ride or Die

The trio had been allowed to wander while the Freaks discussed their next plan. Marcus, for his part, went looking for a cot or a bed. “I’m so f*cking tired.”

“We have a few spare beds in the medical ward,” a nearby intern piped up, looking up as Marcus passed her desk.

“Thanks.”

“My nephew talks about you a lot,” the intern added. “Jackie Ruez?”

“Our small forward. Nice guy,” Marcus smiled, sitting down. “I remember he didn’t know much English when he first started.”

“You and your friends tutored him, right?”

“That was all Cal. I just taught him basketball and Ari taught him how to paint.”

“He’s been painting a lot these days. “He went through 10 packs of watercolors in just three months.”

Marcus chuckled. “I remember swapping his acrylics with finger paint as a joke. He chased me all through school that day. I probably deserved it.”

“So that’s why he came home with paint all over his hands.”

“I had to wash my hair for an hour to get it all out.” Marcus smiled, and then sighed, a look of tiredness no teenager should have had on his face.. “...look, can you just... just tell him I’m okay?”

“Of course.”

“The last time I got in trouble, it was some kids from a nearby school who jumped me. My teammates tracked down each one, took some bats and metal pipes, and put them all in the hospital. In one night. I don’t want them doing anything like that now. They could get hurt, and on my mama, I bet those *ssholes would turn them just to f*ck with me.”

“You know, if you wanted you could ask Colonel Dyson to put them under HECU Protection. It’s like Witness Protection, just with a lot more security.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

The intern nodded and picked up the nearby phone. “Do you want to call him yourself or do you want me to put in the request?”

“I’d like you to do it. I want to call my team.”

“There’s a phone in the break room over there.” The intern gestured down the hall to Marcus’ right.

“Thanks.”

---

“Man, this sucks! Marcus is who-knows-where being hunted and we can’t do sh*t to help!”

A young teen, no more than 14, grumbled sourly to himself while kicking over a box of wood chips in an abandoned warehouse. Another kid, a few years older than him, looked up from their phone.

“I got a lead a few hours ago. From what I can gather, it looks like he was heading to HECU Headquarters. I don’t know if they’ve made it there yet, though.”

“What can we do? These are, like, supervillains! And we’re just teenagers!”

“We could track them. Cally has a bunch of brainiac friends. Get them together and have them start looking for those *ssholes,” a tall boy, likely 17, suggested.

“Maybe we should get some of Ari’s friends, too,” another kid added.

“Yeah. The more, the better.”

The kid with the phone sat up and started briskly typing away. “Guys, you’re not gonna believe this, but it looks like Marcus has some Freaks of his own. You guys know Spyper and Intelligent Heavy, right?”

“I think so. Didn’t Spyper get his head chopped off and put on someone else’s body?”

“Yeah, he got his body swapped around with Sny.”

“Hey, Wilson. Start finding more good Freaks. The more join up, the more chance Marcus has of getting through this. Have the brainiacs help.”

“I think Marcus is way ahead of us. I found some security footage of the road outside HECU Headquarters and just take a look at who’s with him.” Wilson showed the other kids the footage, where a handful of Freaks accompanied the Trio inside, including Count Jester.

“He got the clown with him?” a younger kid piped up.

“Apparently. Now all he needs is us-” 

Ring! Ring!

“Huh? My phone!”

“Who is it, Jackie?”

“Unknown Number. Should I answer it?”

“Answer it, but don’t say anything. If it’s spam, they’ll hang up if they don’t hear anything.”

Jackie did. “Hello?”

“Jackie? It’s Marcus. Are you okay?”

“Marcus!” Jackie gasped. “Are you in HECU? We’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Yeah, I’m at HECU. Your aunt says hi.”

“Aw. How long have you been at HECU?”

“Jester teleported us here about an hour ago. Apparently they were tricked into holding us for the guy who wants to kill us, but that’s been sorted out, and they gave me a pet, so we’re cool now.”

“...I’m sorry, what?” 

“Yeah, everyone trying to kill us is working for one dude.”

“Yeah that doesn’t sound bad at all,” Jackie winced.

“Tell me about it. Anyway. I’m calling to ask you not to do something stupid.”

“Whaaaat? Psh, nah, we’re not gonna do anything stupid. Right, guys?” Jackie said with a snide grin, winking at the rest of his team.

“You worry too much, Quinn. Chill.”

“Yeah. Rest easy, we’re not gonna pull some sh*t.”

“Alright. Stay safe out there. And don’t go near any emo Snipers you see.”

“Sure thing, man.”

Jackie hung up, still grinning. “So. Who’s ready to hunt an emo Sniper?’

“I’ll get the others. Viktor. Does your family still have all those weapons?”

“Yeah. Which ones do we need?”

“As many as you can get. Especially long-range. We did tell Marcus that we wouldn’t approach the f*cker, so sniping is the way to go.”

“There’s nothing quite like exploiting a loophole,” Viktor grinned, heading out of the warehouse.

The other boy nodded and dialed a number. “Hey, Olga? Gather the brainiacs. We know where Marcus, Cally, and Ari are.”

“Wait, really!?”

“Yeah. A buncha Freaks are trying to kill them.”

“WHAT!?”

“Yeah. Apparently”

“Holy sh*t... Alright, what do you need help with?”

“Hacking. We need you to track down as many Freaks as you can.”

“On it.”

“And get Ari’s friends. We need numbers.”

“Gotcha.”

Hanging up that call felt heavy, like the life-changing moment it would be for everyone involved.

“Should we have anyone over at HECU to keep an eye on Marcus?”

“No. Then they’d know what we’re doing and try to stop us. We gotta stay off the radar. Wear masks. Disguise our voices. Make sure nobody can identify us.”

“I had a feeling we’d need these!” another kid shouted from the bottom of the warehouse, pulling along a rack of all black disguises.

“Hey, you’re the theater kid, right? I knew you were useful for something.”

“Yep! I had these costumes ready for awhile but we never needed them. UNTIL NOW!”

“Awesome. Guys, get home. We’ll meet back here tonight.”

“Alright. Nobody die overnight!”

“Don’t jinx it.”

The theater kid knocked on the side of the warehouse on their way out.

---

“Thank you all for coming. As you know, a bunch of superpowered *ssholes have decided to kill our friends, and we, the students of Dade City High, cannot allow this to happen.”

As the student body president spoke, Viktor handed weapons to everyone in attendance. 

“You are being given weapons now. If you do not know how to use them, Viktor will teach you on the way.”

“What’s the current plan of attack?” A younger student piped up among the crowd.

“We go to HECU. Its location is confidential, but our hackers have found it. We also have a van we stole from a junkyard and fixed to be our ride. You know, to make it harder to track.”

“How are we all gonna fit in one van?” Another student called from the back of the crowd.

“Like sardines.” 

“Also, I have a trailer. We can use that for training and extra space,” added a rich kid.

“Couldn’t we just use an old school bus?” One of the engineering students pondered. “Wouldn’t take much to jumpstart it, and nobody would be suspicious of a school bus going through Evo City.”

“From Dade City? That’s two states away,” put in a chess club student.

“What about an activity bus? It’s not uncommon for students to go on field trips that take them across state lines,” another engineering student added.

“That works. You two go steal it. We can take both.”

The engineering students nodded and gathered up their bags before leaving for the school’s parking lot, their bags clinking with metal on the way out.

“Did everyone pack some clothes and supplies?”

“Yeah, but why not electronics?”

The rich kid spoke up again. “I got a cheap phone plan. Everyone gets a phone. This way our parents can’t track us.”

“And they can’t be tracked by anyone else, can they?” a skeptical student inqueried, looking their phone over.

“I was kinda hoping you tech whiz guys could take care of that,” the rich kid replied sheepishly.

The small group of tech students all glanced at each other before sharing a collective nod. “Give us 10 minutes.”

“Good.”

“What do we do once at HECU?”

“Find out where our friends are. By force if necessary.”

“And if any hostile Freaks show up while we’re doing that?”

“Why do you think I’m giving you weapons?” Viktor deadpanned, holding up his own gun.

“Ask a stupid question,” the class clown teased.

“I mean like, one of the really bad ones. Like Painis. I don’t even think our weapons would work against him.”

“Probably run. Or run him over.”

“Let’s pray that Freaks like Nightmare Medic or HOOVYDUNDY aren’t part of this whole thing.”

“Hmm... hey, I just remembered. I have an aunt that works at HECU.”

“Uh... who are you?” the student body president asked.

“Melissa James.”

“Oh no,” the student body gasped in unison.

“...is that bad?”

“Are... are you related to Anita James, by any chance?”

“Yeah! That’s my aunt! She taught me how to build bombs. And tasers.”

“Holy sh*t! You’re related to a mad scientist! THE mad scientist!”

“Yeah, she’s a bit... eccentric. But the point is, she could be our in. And get us better weapons when we get there.”

“Isn’t she under constant surveillance though? I heard she blew up HECU twice in the last three months. That’s not something you just leave unmonitored.”

“In the same three months, she built a weapon that can level cities, a teleportation device, an army of attack microbots, and a shield generator. We could use those against stronger Freaks.”

“Would she even let us use them?”

“She’s a mad scientist who needs her weapons tested, and I hear her boss won’t let her give them to HECU soldiers. I’m not worried.”

“Well…”

“What choice do we have, Todd? Do you want them to kill Ari? Or Marcus? Or Cally? We’re desperate, and beggars can’t be choosers.”

The student sighed. “Alright. Give her a call.”

---

RING! RING!

“Hello?”

“Hey, Aunt Anita.”

“Oh! Hi, Melissa! How are you?”

“Not good. My friends are in danger. I think you may have seen them. Marcus, Cally, and Ari?”

Anita paused, lifting her pen off her notepad. “...yes, they just came in earlier today.”

“Some friends and I are coming to help him out, and we were wondering about using your weapons to do it.”

“Hmm... Come around the back of HECU. I’ll keep the door unlocked for you.”

“Heh... thanks, Aunt Anita. Also, could you maybe not tell those three about this? We told Marcus we wouldn’t do anything crazy, and if he finds out we’re doing this, we’re gonna get our *sses kicked.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“Thanks.”

There was a nod, and Anita, the mad doctor who sent people running with a smile and a wave, hung up.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

An illustration of Chapter 13 of Only Human paid for on Fiverr 

(https://www.fiverr.com/nono_kon)

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Feel free to speculate on what's happening here 

The artist: https://www.fiverr.com/skiixwx 

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 14: Paging HECU

“He may be bruised around her abdomen, but your friend is the picture of health now,” The doctor said calmly, handing Ari off to Marcus and Cally. The bandages around their abdomen were gone and all that was left of the nasty gouge was a barely visible scar around the left side of Ari’s waist.

“It doesn’t even hurt anymore,” Ari said curiously, gingerly pressing his fingers across the scar. “That feels so much better.”

“That was fast. Do you guys have magic stitches or something?” Marcus asked in amazement, staring at the faint scar.

“I guess you could say that,” the doctor chuckled. “Just try to take it easy and get some rest.”

“This is so cool! Imagine if hospitals on Earth had whatever this place does,” Cally breathed, looking around.

“Jesterland is special in that regard. This place has an aura around it that prevents anyone from getting physically hurt. And those that are hurt can be healed quickly thanks to that same aura. My guess is that it must have something to do with Jester being a Medic in the past,” The doctor explained. “But that’s just speculation on my part.”

“Wait. The clown? With magic smoke powers that bend reality? That made the big_ss dragon? That clown used to be a Medic?”

“Yes, actually. Their real name is Cassidy Lanchester and they used to work for the BLU team as their Medic when they were younger. But a freak accident and 15 years of magic imprisonment later, they became Count Jester as you see them today.”

“Cassidy Lanchester is a weird name,” Ari said.

To which Marcus replied, “Hypocrite says what?”

Ari pouted at Marcus. “I can’t help that everyone pronounces it that way!”

Marcus chuckled and ruffled her hair.

“So, you finally got to see Jester’s weird healing magic in action,” P_ss said, suddenly appearing behind the trio.

Marcus had his gun in hand within seconds, pointing it at the Freak’s head. “THE F_CK?!”

“Hey, cool it!” P_ss shouted. “I just came up here to see what was going on!”

“Hello P_ss. Haven’t seen you in Jesterland in awhile,” the doctor remarked.

“Yeah yeah, hello to you too,” P_ss grumbled. “Kid, calm down. I ain’t gonna hurt you.”

“Sorry. Instinct.”

“Yeah, I get that. Sorry for sneaking up on you.”

“It’s all good, man. Just try not to make a habit out of it.”

“Do I look like a Spy?” P_ss sighed. “How’s Ari doing? No more big, nasty knife wound on you?”

“Yeah,” Ari smiled lightheartedly. “Just a wound from Marcus talking bad about my name.”

“Heh. Have you three eaten anything yet?” P_ss pulled a small box from his pocket. “I got this from one of the carnival stalls. It’s the best fudge I’ve ever had. You wanna try some?”

“Sure,” Ari beamed. P_ss handed them a piece of fudge with white chocolate and caramel drizzled over top, then handed the last two pieces to Cally and Marcus. When Ari took a bite, she had to pause between chews. The fudge was incredibly sweet and dense, and also surprisingly chewy. “Who made this?”

“A Partygoer called Tula,” P_ss said. “I think she’s one of the Head Partygoers around here.” As he ate his piece, he asked, “Wait. I just realized. What’s your name that Marcus is willing to talk sh*t about it?”

Marcus snickered and covered his mouth so he wouldn’t spit out his fudge by mistake. “It’s about her last name. It’s…Pretty unfortunate.”

Cally chuckled. “Yep. The teasing used to be worse.”

“Why? What’s their last name?”

Ari groaned. “Bit Chass.”

P-ss had to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. “WHAT!? No, no way. That can’t be your last name!”

“It is. I don’t know why they didn’t change it.”

“I’m convinced that your parents found it too funny to change,” Cally chuckled.

“Let’s hope none of the bad guys find out.”

“I feel like they’d be too busy laughing to do anything,” P_ss laughed.

“Oh, man, you too!”

“Well, you three better be on your way. There’s plenty more of Jesterland to see.” The doctor pointed the Trio in the direction of the nearest elevator and quickly took her leave back to her office.

Once outside the hospital, Ari gasped as a small gaggle of colorful Funna ran past. “Woah! Are those the Funna that doctor was talking about?”

“Yep. Aren’t they cute? They look like something out of a cartoon.” Cally crouched down and gently pet a critter that resembled a dog.

“They like to add that twist to their critters. Never knew why,” P_ss shrugged. “They like to give them away as pets, too. Rudra has a pink Slugaboo named Strawberry, y’know.”

“The one from HECU?” Marcus inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Yep. That one.” P_ss absently scratched at the stubble around his jaw. “Can’t say I blame her. These critters are cute as hell.”

Marcus crouched down and ran his hand across the fur of the Funna that passed him. They were impossibly soft and very cuddly, constantly nuzzling Marcus’ hand and rubbing against his legs. One in particular was a colorful mouse with a heart shaped pattern on its back, along with a pair of tiny white wings. Marcus smiled and picked up the tiny creature and held it close.

“I’m gonna call you Ears, okay, boy?”

The mouse squeaked and nuzzled against Marcus’ cheek.

“Awwwww, he likes you!” Ari squealed.

“You always did have a soft spot for mice and hamsters. I remember when you wanted a hamster for your 10th birthday,” Cally chuckled.

“Yeah. This one is nice.” Marcus cooed at the creature and gently pet it. “You think I can find a good enough habitat for him?”

“I dunno. Do they sell habitats for magical mice?” Ari quizzed.

Marcus shrugged and began walking down the marble streets of Jesterland, heading towards the Centerpiece to continue his and his friends' brief stint of relaxation.

However, something bizarre had to cut their excursion short as it always seems to do. Treading down the polished marble path, the trio passed by a carnival tent. Cheers and music blared from within, filling the air with muffled merriment. But beside the tent, Jester was tucked between it and an arcade, on the phone with someone. When Ari briefly stopped to give them his thanks, she paused and pulled Cally and Marcus over, beckoning them to listen to what they were saying.

“-Yes, Yes. They’re here. Yes, I plan on keeping them safe, just like he asked. No - What? I did exactly what was asked. Keeping them here wasn’t part of what I was asked to do.”

Cally didn’t know Marcus could move that fast. But one moment he’d been next to her and the next he had Jester by the collar. “THE F*CK?!”

“WHAT THE HELL-!?” Jester shrieked, not even having time to hang on their phone.

“Who’s that?! What’d he tell you to do?! Why were you talking about us?!”

“Wha - I was talking to someone called Right Hand Man! He just wanted me to look after you guys!” Jester squawked.

“Wh... gimme that phone,” Marcus hissed, putting it up to his ear. “Ayo b*stard. What do you want?”

“So, you must be the Body,” a sinister voice spoke in cold dismissal.

“...who is this?”

“You can call me Right Hand Man. I work for Odi-Tron. You may know him as the one you want to kill for your current situation.”

Marcus scowled. “Good to know. I’ll write that down.”

“Wait - Wha - What’s he saying? What’s going on?” Jester strained, trying to listen in to the conversation.

“As much as I want to put a bullet in his head, I also wanna know why he sent his goons after us. I was captain of my sports teams, d*mmit!”

“You’ve heard of the prophecy by now, haven’t you?”

“Bits and f*cking pieces.”

“The Body, Mind, and Heart. Those who wield these aspects of humanity will stop Odi-Tron in his quest to bring humanity to its next stage. To bring about the age of Freaks. You and your friends just so happened to wield these aspects and he wants all three of you dead. With you gone, the prophecy cannot come to fruition.”

“And now I want to stop him out of principle.”

“I admire your tenacity. But there is. No. Stopping him.”

“Then don’t bother coming after us.” Marcus then hung up the phone with a bit more force than necessary, then rounded on Jester, still seething. “You. Talk. Now.”

“Wha - What do you want me to say!? I didn’t know anything about that!”

“Oh, so evil voice talks to you about three kids and you just go like, ‘Oh, nothing suspicious about this!’”

“Well - I mean - I look after kids! That’s what I do!”

“And you didn’t stop to think how the voice knew we were there?!”

“...Not really…” Jester admitted sheepishly.

Marcus hissed. “You really are a clown.”

“Look, I didn’t know anything about any of this. All Odi-Tron told me was that he was running some kind of charity and he wanted me to look after three kids. I was never told why. I didn’t even know he was lying about the charity thing!”

“It’s called questions. Learn to ask them.”

“Hey, easy Marcus,” Ari said, resting a hand on Marcus’ shoulder. “They were duped. They didn’t know any better.”

Marcus sighed. “...I know.” Marcus let go of Jester and pulled back. “Just let us out of here, ok? We’ve still gotta get to HECU.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Jester nodded, fixing their hat. “I’m sorry about this. You’re right, I should have asked more questions instead of going with everything Odi-Tron told me,” they sighed. “I can help you get to HECU if you’d like. I’m good friends with two of the commanders there.”

“Sounds good-” Ears suddenly squeaked and climbed onto Marcus’s head, resting in his hair. Marcus seemed to calm down when it happened, and he pet it. “Hey, you mind if I keep this one?”

“A Moupuff?”

“Is that what it’s called?”

“Yeah. It’s one of my Funna. You can keep him if you like. He’s been looking for an owner for a while.”

“Really? How could anyone not want a little guy like this?” Marcus scooped the critter from his hair and gently held it in his palm.

“Most Partygoers prefer the Slugaboo’s and Oobles over the Moupuffs and the Pupella,” Jester shrugged.

“They have bad taste,” Marcus huffed, setting the mouse back on his head. “How do we get outta here?”

“Well, it’s simple, really. I just teleport you out and you’ll reappear in the chapel. But before we leave, are you guys still hungry?”

“Yeah. We- hey, can you teleport us to HECU?”

“...Actually, I can.”

Marcus frowned. “And you didn’t open with that because...?”

“...Because it didn’t occur to me?”

Marcus groaned.

“Sorry about that...Uh, you guys go ahead and get something to eat. Then I’ll get us all to HECU in no time.”

***

With their bellies full and with plenty of rest, the Trio, Spyper, Intelligent, and P_ss were all ready to leave Jesterland for HECU. With a snap of their fingers, Jester whisked them all away from the fantastical world and brought them back to reality, taking them far away from the chapel and to Evo City, winding through the densely packed streets of honking cars and shouting civilians before arriving on the doorstep of HECU Headquarters.

Marcus blinked. “I am never gonna get used to that,” he said, loading his gun.

Jester stepped up and pushed the doors open, leading the Trio and the three Freaks into a quiet lobby area. A few receptionists sat at desks that lined the walls, taking numerous phone calls in relative silence. It was a bit off-putting to suddenly go from a place as bombastic and loud as Jesterland to somewhere as quiet as HECU’s lobby.

One receptionist looked up, and his eyes widened. “Sh- you three are the ones Commander Rudra is looking for!”

“Is Rudra here?” Jester asked, coming up to the receptionist.

“Yes. She’s directed everyone to find those three. Let me just...” He picked up his phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Commander? You know those three kids you’re looking for? ...Yeah, those. They just walked in here accompanied by Count Jester, Spyper, Intelligent Heavy, and P*ss Cakehole. ...Yes, you heard that right. P*ss. Cakehole. I would have assumed he was working with the enemy, but here he is.”

A pause as the receptionist listened to Rudra’s words on the other line, then he nodded. “Alright, I’ll send them.” He set the phone down and looked back up at Jester. “She’s in her office.”

“Thanks,” Jester nodded. “Come on.” Jester led the Trio and the Freaks down a hall from the lobby and to a door with Rudra’s name and title written across it. Opening the door, they found Rudra inside, waiting at her desk while speaking to Lady Noir, Ghost, and Soldine.

“Wow...” Ari breathed, wide-eyed. “You’re pretty. Are you an angel?”

“Yes, actually,” Rudra said, then motioned for everyone to come inside. “Please, come in.”

Jester closed the door behind them and the Trio took their seats in front of the desk, awkwardly looking around at the HECU officers around them.

“Hey, it’s all right,” Rudra assured calmly, taking notice of their stiff postures. “You’re safe now.”

“How safe?” Marcus inquired.

“This place was built from the ground up to stand up to and contain hostile Freaks like Christian Brutal Sniper,” Soldine replied curtly.

“Oh, him. I got beef with that jack*ss.”

“I think we all do,” Ghost said dryly. “He and Gentlespy have been the ones chasing you around, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can see to it that we’ll all give him a piece of our minds.”

Marcus grinned. “I like you, man.”

Ghost chuckled. “Name’s Ghost. This is Soldine.”

“I’m Lady Noir. This is my wife, Rudra Seraph,” Noir added. “We’re some of the top officers at HECU.”

“I’m Marcus. This is Cally, our walking calculator, and Ari. Everyone likes Ari of they’re an *sshole.”

“Is that actually true what you said about being an angel?” Ari spoke up, leaning forward in their seat. “That’s not a joke, is it?”

“Not at all. And I can prove it.” Rudra stood up from her desk and two pearly white wings unfurled from her back.

Ari reached for them. “May I?”

Rudra extended one of her wings to Ari. “You may. Be gentle, though.”

Ari beamed and buried his face in the wing. Rudra chuckled. “Careful, there’s some static electricity in there.”

When Ari pulled her face back, their hair was sticking up in all directions.

Marcus chuckled. “Aw...” He ruffled Ari’s hair to settle down. Rudra smiled and sat back down.

“So...What now?” Ari asked after she was done giggling.

“Do you know anything about whatever those d*cks want to do?”

“I assume you’re talking about Odi-Tron,” Noir said.

“Yeah.”

“I had a team of my own do some research into him and his goals,” Rudra started, folding her hands together. “Odi-Tron is someone obsessed with ‘elevating’ humanity and he plans to turn everyone on the planet into Freaks by force. He’s gathered up a team of hostile Freaks to help him do it, too. I’m sure you’re already aware of why he wants you three out of the picture. Those who wield the powers of the Brain, Body, and Heart are the only ones who can stand in his way and stop his plans.”

“But he literally just had to make sure we couldn’t get more information,” Cally pointed out. “I probably would have lost interest.”

“Then I guess it’s on him for leaving so much information out. Now, here’s the part you’re likely unfamiliar with. Odi-Tron plans to cause a catastrophe to transform all of humanity into Freaks. One of my scouts learned about a machine he’s building deep underground, over an underground lake that contains a magic strong enough to cause a Cataclysm. If he manages to break the seal keeping that magic at bay, he’ll be able to use the machine to harness it.”

“...I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Odi-Tron will stop at nothing to cause this Cataclysm, and that machine needs to be destroyed before his plan is realized. You three are the only ones that can do that. Your combined powers can destroy the magic in the lake. He’ll have nothing to use for his plans then.”

Marcus cracked his knuckles, grinning. “Sounds good.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know the location of this machine. Only that it exists. And that’s where another group comes in. We got a call a few weeks ago from someone calling themselves ‘Archsage.’ They have information that we need. They’ll be sending someone here soon. I suggest you get some rest so you’ll be ready when their messenger arrives.”

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 13: Help and Who Gives It

The ragtag group had hidden in the next city over, taking a well-deserved rest. They rested so much that it took repeated knocks on the van door to wake them up. Marcus groaned and got up groggily. “G-Go away, Cally, I’m tryna sleep...” 

“Wha...?” Cally mumbled, sitting up. “I was asleep.” 

Marcus jerked his head up and looked around. “Wha - If that’s not you, then who’s knocking?” 

“I... I dunno. Get your handgun ready,” Cally said, slowly walking up to the door to look and see who was there. 

On the other side was a RED Sniper, dressed in strange, camo-like attire. Cally closed her eyes, looking through the information she’d seen from HECU’s database. P_ss Cakehole was the Freak who matched this one's description, and he was a very, very hostile Freak. 

“Marcus, wake up Spyper. We may need him.” 

“Who’s at the door?” 

“P*ss Cakehole. A very hostile Freak.” 

“Wha - Why is he bothering us!?” 

“I don’t know. Heck, I don’t even know why he isn’t shoving a saw through the van door.” 

“WHAT!?” 

“Yeah... please get Spyper.” 

Marcus proceeded to run to the front of the van to get the hybrid Freaks’ attention. “Spyper! Spyper, wake up! P_ss Cakehole is LITERALLY knocking on the front door!” 

“Nghhh... Wake me up when the pancakes are ready, Mommy,” Spyper mumbled drowsily. 

“SPYPER!” Marcus screamed, shaking the Freak by his shoulders. 

“EJFGHFEFHREWKEDFMV! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” 

“P_SS CAKEHOLE IS AT THE FRONT DOOR!” 

Spyper jumped in shock. “WHAT?!” 

“FRONT DOOR! NOW!” 

Spyper nodded and teleported behind P*ss, and Cally was treated to a view of two Freaks having a knock-down, drag-out fight. 

“This is not what I wanted to wake up to at 8 in the morning,” Marcus complained, watching the two Freaks go at it outside. 

It didn’t take long for P*ss to start wrestling Spyper. “I didn’t come here to hurt the little twerps, let me go!” 

“Then what are you here for!?” 

“I’m here because I wanna help!” 

“...The hell are you talking about?” 

“Let me in and I’ll tell you.” 

Spyper let Cakehole go and got to his feet, glaring at the Freak. “If this is some kind of trick…” 

“No trick, I swear.” 

Spyper walked around Cakehole and opened the van door, still glaring at him. “I’m holding you to that.” 

Marcus pointed a gun out the door, right at Cakehole’s head. “Hey. Sorry about this, but you can never be too careful.” 

“Now what do you want? You never show up ‘just to help.’” 

“Can we tie him up first?” Marcus asked. “I’d feel way more comfortable.” 

Spyper tilted his head towards Cakehole with a shrug. “Sorry, we gotta.” 

Five minutes later, P_ss was tied to a chair with a sh_t-eating grin on his face and the business end of Marcus’s gun rested against his head, Marcus himself behind the Sniper. 

“Alright, spill it.” 

“Well, the main thing is, I’m bored, and you guys are being hunted. It looks like fun.” 

“...That’s it?” 

“That’s it. I get to entertain myself, you get help.” 

“...No tricks?” 

“No tricks.” 

Spyper squinted. “Why do I not trust you?” 

“Because we don’t get along. But you need me.” 

“For what?” 

Marcus glared. "Yeah. We've been doing just fine by ourselves." 

“Boy, you got your a$$ whooped yesterday,” Cally frowned. 

"And I'm still alive." 

“Barely.”

“You got into a fight with ol’ Brutal, eh?” P_ss remarked, looking back at Marcus. 

"Yeah. And isn't he your homie? How do I know he didn't send you here to give us that work?" 

“Because I hate ‘em. Brutal and me ain’t friends by a long shot.” 

"What happened?" 

“He went after you. And I don’t get near kids when it comes to my carving collection, so I certainly don’t want anyone else doing anything similar. That’s the other reason I’m here.” 

"So this is a case of evil having standards?" 

P_ss shrugged. “I guess so.” 

Marcus crossed his arms. "Give me one good reason not to throw you out on your *ss." 

“Because I see stone in your eyes. And in her eyes,” P_ss said, tilting his head to Cally. “And I wanna hurt the guy who put it there.” 

Marcus locked eyes with P*ss. "Can you?" 

P_ss met Marcus’ steely gaze. “I’m P_ss f_cking Cakehole. Of course I can.” 

Marcus turned to Cally, who turned to Spyper. 

“He can,” Spyper nodded. “I’ve seen him put Brutal on his a$$ several times.” 

"In that case, welcome to the… whatever the f*ck we're gonna call ourselves. We'll introduce you to Ari when he wakes up. Hurt or intimidate them and you die." 

“I wouldn’t dream of it, kid.” 

~~~ 

As hours passed, Marcus began to grow tired of being on the road for so long. Or rather, sky.

“How much longer until HECU? I thought you said it wasn’t far! And Ari really needs some medical attention!”

“I know! I’m going as fast as I can without being noticed by other Freaks!”

Ari was talking to P*ss. “So how old are you?”

“44,” P*ss shrugged. “It’s hard to keep up sometimes when you don’t even have a calendar.” 

Marcus huffed. “You look the part,” he said, cleaning his gun. “How long you been a Freak? And how’d it happen?” 

“Honestly, I can’t even remember. Just that I’ve been one for awhile.” 

“So,” Ari said, “how come you and Mr. Brutal are enemies? Is it just because he wants to hurt us?” 

“Eh, me and him have never really gotten along all that well.” 

“I thought Snipers got along. Respect for the job or something.” 

“Nah. He barely counts as a Sniper with how up close he likes to fight.” 

Marcus shrugged. “He and I agree there. Always satisfying to deck an *sshole who’s been all up in your grill.” 

Cally glanced out of the van’s back window and noticed a clearing coming up on the road, a chapel standing at the end of the path. “Wait, where are we?”

“Pit stop. This is where one of our friends live,” Spyper said, hopping out of the front seat. “If you need to use the bathroom or grab something to eat, do it now.” 

“Hey, this is Christian Pure Spy’s chapel,” Cally frowned. 

Ari whimpered. “I-Isn’t he dating Mr. Brutal?” he asked, hugging Marcus’s arm. 

“He is, but he’s never home at this time of day,” Intelligent assured, stepping out of the van. “The place should be empty.” 

Marcus nodded. “I’ll keep my gun ready. Just in case.” 

The trio of Freaks and the trio of teens stepped out of the van and headed inside the chapel, which did appear to be completely vacant. The lights were switched off and the church was eerily silent. 

“Alright, this place is clear. Get everything you need to do out of the way and let’s get going.” 

Marcus nodded, heading to find some medical supplies and ammo. Entering the kitchen, Marcus rummaged around the cabinets and drawers in search of whatever he could scrounge together. Bandages, antibiotics, painkillers, anything he could use to stave off the pain and potential infection of Ari’s wound. 

A search he immediately forgot upon hearing something shift behind him. Swiftly spinning around, Marcus had his gun drawn in seconds. However, he lacked a target. All that was behind him was a thin veil of sparkling blue smoke hanging in the air. 

"I swear I saw..."  Marcus lowered his gun ever so slightly and looked back and forth in search of whatever had made the noise. What he found instead was a trail of more sparkling smoke leading out of the kitchen and back into the nave of the chapel. 

"F*CK THAT!" Marcus cried, running for the nearest window. 

“Hey, HEY! The hell are you doing!?” A voice cried out, and the sparkling smoke suddenly reached out and grabbed Marcus, pulling him back to the floor mid-leap. 

Marcus wasted no time, grabbing his gun. "BREAK YOSELF, FOOL! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME RIGHT NOW-" 

“HEY! Calm down!” The keeper of the voice yelped, and Marcus was both dumbfounded and terrified to find himself staring at what looked like a 14th century court jester, complete with the jingling hat and the frills about the neck, wrists, and ankles. 

"AW, HELL NAH, THIS SOME PENNYWISE SH_T!" Marcus screamed, promptly decking the jester in the face, which made a bizarre squeaking noise on impact before the clown hit the floor.

“OW! You know, even though that doesn’t injure me, that still hurts!” 

"Good! Get on the ground now!" 

“What the hell is going on in here!?” Spyper shouted, running into the kitchen with his kukri drawn. “Where’s the danger!?” 

Marcus glared at the figure. "Here. Who's this bozo?" 

“What the-” Spyper let out a sigh of relief and lowered his knife. “Oh, that’s just Count Jester. They’re a friend.” 

"...they are?" 

Jester nodded in response and leapt to their feet. “That I am!”

“They are,” Spyper confirmed, holstering his kukri. “Sorry if they scared you. I know not everyone is comfortable with clowns.”

“Jesters,” Jester clarified. 

"...explain, please." 

“How I’m friends with them?” Spyper asked. 

“Yeah. And just… this.” 

“Eh?” Jester tilted their head. 

“This. All this.” 

Jester looked down at themself and shrugged. “Blame the Jar for that.” 

“Jar?” 

Jester reached under their hat and produced a golden idol with a ruby heart set into it. “Long story short: I used to be a normal human, I got sealed inside this thing, and it's magic turned me into this.” 

“Uh...” Marcus stepped back. 

“That is a severely abridged version of events. We’d be here all day unpacking what went down,” Spyper clarified. 

“And we can’t risk that.” 

“No. Anyways, Count Jester here is completely harmless and wouldn’t hurt you even if they wanted to. They lack any and all offensive capabilities.”

“You can also blame the Jar for that,” Jester added. 

Marcus slowly put the gun back. “Okay then...” 

“I know, it sounds really weird, but being weird is my entire existence now.”

“What’s going on!? Who’s in danger!?” Cally shouted, running into the kitchen with a bat, Ari following close behind.

“Ah, it’s alright! Mostly,” Marcus shouted back, raising a hand to his friends. “It was just a clown.” Then he turned to Jester. "Sorry for almost blowing your head off."

“Eh, it’s alright. I can just reattach my limbs at will.”

“...Anyways,” Spyper cleared his throat. “Jester, this is Marcus, Cally, and Ari. You’ve probably seen Marcus before since a lot of people recorded his and Brutals brawl a few days ago.” 

"MOTHERFU-" 

“Easy, Marcus,” Ari said, patting him on the back. 

"Sorry. Just on edge." 

“Wait, that was you Brutal was fighting?” Jester quizzed. 

"Yeah. And I got my _ss handed to me." 

“It’s actually why we’re currently on the run. Ari got hurt in the fight,” Spyper explained, motioning to the layers of bandages wrapped around Ari’s torso. 

Ari frowned. "It's not that bad, really." 

“We ran out of bandages in the van,” Spyper deadpanned. 

"But I'm alive and I can walk…?" 

“And you’re still hurt!” Jester cried. “Poor thing, that’s a really nasty injury. You’d need a full team of doctors to get this thing treated properly.” 

"And even then, Brutal doesn't seem to take good care of his weapons. A bad enough infection from the rust could kill her in half the time a surgery could take," Cally added. 

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m here, then!” Jester grinned. “I’ve got an infirmary with the best team of doctors on the planet. Come on, I’ll take you there!” 

Marcus frowned. "Where is this place?" 

“It’s Jesterland! A pocket dimension I created!” 

“Oh, HELL nah! A pocket dimension you completely created? You could subtract us from the human population and no one would find our bodies!” 

“Now just calm down, I’ve been to Jesterland. It’s physically impossible to get hurt in there,” Spyper assured. 

“...you’re sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure. The entire dimension is basically one giant amusement park and petting zoo.” 

Marcus sighed. “...listen here. I’m trusting you on this. I find anything fishy or they do anything to us and it’s a wrap. Got it?” 

“Understood,” Spyper nodded. “Alright Jester, do your magic!”

Jester grinned and rubbed their hands together, sparkling smoke building up around their hands and arms. When the smoke had covered their arms completely, they tossed it over the Trio and the Freaks and snapped their fingers. In an instant, everyone was whisked away from the chapel and were sent tumbling through a tunnel of light that descended downwards at a breakneck pace. 

“MOTHERF*****CKEEEEEER!” 

“It’s ok, this happens all the time!” Spyper shouted. “We’re just in between dimensions right now!” 

“We’ll be in Jesterland in no time!” Jester called.

“YOU GUYS ARE FREAKS, NOT HUMAN! I’M NOT BUILT FOR FALLING!” 

Cally sighed. “This is gonna suck.” 

As they reached the end of the tunnel, a portal opened up beneath them and everyone soon found themselves falling from the skies of a giant amusement park that was enveloped in a brilliant glow. 

“Wow,” Ari beamed, so wrapped up in the sights that he didn’t even notice the bandages flying off their torso. 

Approaching the ground, Marcus frantically covered his face and braced himself for impact - which never came as a cloud of blue smoke enveloped him right before he hit the ground, and the smoke gently sat him down, completely unscathed. 

“Wh-” Marcus blinked rapidly and looked around, watching the rest of the Freaks and his friends being gently set onto the ground before Jester finally joined them, landing square on their feet. “How did you...” 

“Magic,” Jester grinned, blue sparkles flashing from their hands. 

“I... you know what? As long as you can help Ari I’m not gonna say sh*t.” 

“Great! Then let’s get going!” Jester shuffled past Marcus and headed towards a giant gateway. Clapping their hands thrice in succession, the gates creaked open and revealed the amusement park inside, which was even more brilliant and glowing than before. “Welcome to Jesterland! The greatest show not on Earth!” 

“Please don’t remind me of that. I’m compromising enough as it is.” 

“Someone’s paranoid,” P*ss sing-songed. At which point he was quickly smacked by Spyper. “Ow! What was that for?!” 

“Stop needling him.”

Heading into Jesterland proper, the Trio were met with an array of sights and sounds. Music seemed to play around every corner and the air was filled with the delicious scent of freshly baked cakes and pies. 

Marcus had his hands in his pockets, a guarded look in his eyes as he surveyed the area. 

“If you guys are hungry, help yourselves to whatever you like!” Jester said, gesturing to the many food stalls around them. “There’s plenty to go around!” 

Cally beamed. “This is so cool! Where are the brownies?” 

“The brownie and cookie stall is just to the left,” Jester said, pointing further down the street. 

“Thanks!” Cally ran off as a group of doctors gathered around Ari, leading him away. 

~~~ 

With Ari being treated, Marcus scouted out everything surrounding the Infirmary, still wary about Jester and their dimension. Jesterland looked bright and friendly, but the amusement park still gave Marcus a sense of unease even when it shouldn’t have. Even the bizarrely adorable creatures that called Jesterland home - the Funna - seemed dangerous to Marcus, even as one of them was purring and rubbing against his leg and another was asking for belly rubs. 

He touched the creature apprehensively, then pulled away like it would poison him if he touched it. But the critter simply squeaked, waving it’s nubby paws in the air playfully as it began to purr as well. Marcus tentatively reached down again, gently scratching the creature's belly.

“...this is too good to be true. It has to be.” 

“Hello again!” Jester called, floating up to Marcus with another creature in their arms. “I see you found some of my Funna.” 

“...what now?” 

“Funna,” Jester clarified, pointing to the creatures around Marcus. “My Funna. They’re all my creations.” 

“The f*ck.”

“Hey, you’re in Jesterland. This place is weird and whimsical by nature.” 

Marcus nodded apprehensively.

“Do you want to see the rest of Jesterland?” 

“...maybe.”

Jester sighed and set down the Funna in their arms. “Do you wanna talk? I know you guys haven’t had the best experiences with Freaks.” 

“Ladies and gentlemen, the understatement of the year goes to...” Marcus sharpened his knife. “You know, just two weeks ago I was the star athlete in my school. Captain of the football team, baseball team, and basketball team, and I had the highest swimming stats to boot. Now I’m practically a fugitive.”

“Yeah, I was talking to Spyper about that. I’m really sorry you and your friends had to go through all that.” 

“Heh… It sucked, I’ll tell you that.” 

“Sorry…” Jester wrung their hands together, then turned their gaze to the sky as a gale force wind suddenly slammed down over the streets. Looking up, Marcus’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground as an impossibly colossal amber dragon swooped overhead, riding on a pair of wings adorned in golden feathers. 

“What’s that? WHAT’S THAT?!” Marcus screamed, frantically reaching for his weapon.

“Wait, WAIT! Calm down, that’s just Ray! I can assure you that she’s not gonna hurt you!” 

“THAT DRAGON HAS TO BE AT LEAST FIFTY TIMES MY SIZE-” 

“Actually she’s more like, 200 times your size-” Jester paused, then remembered their situation when Marcus’s hand went instinctively for his weapon. “But that isn’t important because she’s friendly! That’s High Empress Ray. Mother of Quetzcoo’s and Crown Jewel of Jesterland. She wouldn’t dream of hurting you or anyone else.” 

“You don’t reach such a position of power as Empress by not being able to clap anyone you want,” Marcus hissed, glaring at Jester. 

Jester remained silent for a moment, their eyes darting around. “I mean…” 

“So yeah, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna get Cally and Ari and get the f_ck outta this place before Big_ss Dragon up there decides I should have an immediate board meeting with my ancestors,” Marcus said, getting up. 

“Wait, hang on! Ray is empress of this place because she’s second-in-command. And because she’s the only one here who can actually fight. But I assure you, she’s not gonna hurt you. She’s like a giant mom for everyone here.” 

“On your mama?” 

“...I don’t know if you’re being rhetorical or not because she’s literally modelled after my mom.” 

“Oh. Uh... in my neighborhood, if you put something on your mama it’s one of the highest forms of promise or assurance you can give. You essentially promise that what you’re saying is true or something bad can happen to her, and you love her enough to not lie.” 

“Oh. Well, then yeah, I swear on my mama. Quite literally.” 

Marcus nodded. “...alright. I’m trusting you.” 

Jester smiled and whistled up to Ray as she landed nearby. “Hey, Ray! Come say hello!”

Marcus paled and clenched his fists instinctively when the colossal amber dragon turned her attention to him and Jester and craned her massive head down to their level. She was so impossibly large that Marcus was barely the size of a single feather on her head. 

Marcus, being the sensible and somewhat paranoid person the previous couple weeks had turned him into, made the logical decision to deal with this turn of events. “Nope. F*ck this. I’m out.” 

“Wait. I’m not going to hurt you,” a gentle voice called out, one that was startlingly calm and quiet for such a large creature. 

“Wh-”

“I’m Ray. You must be Marcus.”

“Yes...?” 

“Sorry for startling you. Sometimes I forget about my own size.” 

Marcus took a breath. “I probably woulda been startled anyway. You know, because fugitive.”

“What a shame,” Ray churred. “A pity. You and your friends having to run from something that was forced upon you.” 

Marcus nodded. “Yeah. And now we have to go stop what seems like a good idea at the start. Well, we don’t have to, but we’re gonna do it anyway because they asked for it by attacking us.” 

“What!? That’s terrible!” 

“Yep. Because for some reason we’re the only ones who can stop the plan we would barely have noticed or pawned off to people who didn’t have the right qualifications if we’d just been left to our own devices. Cally was gonna go to the cops with what she knew initially.” 

“What you are facing is serious. I take it that your friends have been heading to HECU for help,” Ray said, tilting her head to Intelligent and Spyper. “HECU was built to handle unnatural threats, after all.” 

“Yeah. And every time we stopped at a town, our pals were there to greet us. Though I learned that I can feel people’s presence when they’re not even touching me because my sense of touch is just that good, so there’s that.” 

“That’s why it’s taking us forever to actually get there,” Spyper added, setting down a drink he’d picked up from one of the food stalls. “Brutal and his little posse keep chasing us around and I can barely keep the van on course because of it.” 

“You’d think he’d bring more heavy hitters,” Marcus said. “Hasn’t he got some friends in high- well, high in the evil motherf*cker world- places?” 

Jester huffed. “I still can’t believe Brutal is going after you. You guys are kids!” 

“Yeah. I mean, I tricked him into getting close enough with his guard down that I could put two in him, but still! I was scared, the f*ck did he want me to do?!” 

“Why is he even going after you? He’d never go after kids like this before now.” 

“He wants the plan to work. And it was a good premise; every kid’s dream. But we’re apparently too big of a risk.” 

“What even is this plan? And why is Brutal in on it?”

“Wait, Jester? You haven’t heard about any of this?” Spyper looked surprised as he turned to Jester. “It’s pretty much all we’ve been able to focus on for the past few days.” 

Intelligent nodded. “It’s been the gossip of the Freak community. I didn’t believe it until Spyper and I met those three off an edge. Cally had a nasty bump on her head.” 

“Unless you’ve had your head stuck in the parties around here, there’s no way you haven’t heard of it,” Spyper nodded.

“Well...No, I haven’t. I mean, Polite told me a few days ago that Brutal was going after a few people, and I was hoping he wasn’t going after you kids, but that’s about it.” 

Intelligent tilted his head. “You need to come to the bar more. We gather there to talk about the times and it’s a ceasefire.” 

“You guys know I don’t like gossiping,” Jester groused. “Anyways, I had no idea Brutal was in on any kind of plan. What even is the ‘plan?’” 

Intelligent opened his mouth to reply, then froze. “Wait. Where’s Marcus?” 

“He left while you were talking,” Ray said. 

“When has he ever been quiet enough to sneak off?!” 

“Marcus! MARCUS!” Spyper shouted, scanning the immediate area for any sign of the teenager. “He was just in front of us, how did he disappear so quickly!?” 

Marcus, for his part, had made record time across Jesterland to find Cally, who was in line for a ride. “Cal! You okay?” 

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. Just waiting to get on the Teacups,” She replied, motioning to the ride she was waiting to board. “You ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

“I... I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” She smiled, patting Marcus’ arm. “Hey, you can relax here for the time being. This place has got everything. We can loosen up a bit before we hit the road again.” 

“Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t help but feel something off.” 

“We’re in a giant amusement park made by a glorified clown,” Cally remarked. “It’s gonna feel a bit off just because of that. Especially since you’re afraid of clowns.” 

“IT scared the sh*t outta me, thank you very much!” 

“Like I said, scared of clowns,” Cally snickered. 

“Girl who freaked out at Child’s Play says what?” 

Cally proceeded to smack Marcus on the arm. 

“Chill with that. Better sense of touch.” 

“Right, sorry. Uh...So, have you heard from the Infirmary yet? Jester said they should be out in a few minutes.” 

“No. You don’t think Ari was poisoned or didn’t make it, do you?” 

“No, of course not. Believe me, I checked around his room before she was admitted. There’s nothing dangerous in there.” 

Marcus nodded. 

“Come on, we can go check on them just to make sure.”

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 12: Welcome to Hell

Two weeks had gone by since the hunt for three teenagers began- two weeks of being hidden by two Freaks and eating small rations to make money stretch out and last longer.

Eggs had become a luxury to Marcus, sausage a meal fit for a king. He wolfed down a plate of toast like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.

“What I wouldn’t give for some pancakes,” Ari remarked as she ate their third biscuit in a row for breakfast that week.

Cally ate her cereal, looking around. “I mean, we’ve saved enough to go to McDonald’s for lunch. Spyper, do you think it’s safe?”

Spyper briefly scanned the area, then nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I don’t see any Freaks around.”

Marcus whooped. “Meat, here I come!”

The trio and the two Freaks that accompanied them stepped out of the van and headed towards McDonalds. Intelligent and Spyper stood on either side of the teenagers, acting as a buffer between them and any Freaks in hiding.

Marcus kept his hand on his gun until he was sitting at the table, and even then, he looked around, ready to pull it out if anything moved wrong.

“Once we’re at HECU, we won’t have to worry about rationing food,” Spyper said, glancing around. “They have this huge cafeteria there and the food is really good. Last time I was there I had a philly cheese steak, potato wedges, and a chicken sandwich.”

“That’s awesome,” Ari beamed. “So how’d you meet them?”

“Me and Intelligent actually saw them in action when we met them. They were trying to contain a dead Freak called Friendly Scout. He got away, and we went up to them to see what was going on,” Spyper explained. “Granted, we haven’t had the best relationship with them since. Pure wrapped us up in this scheme to kill a demon a few years ago and HECU had me and Intelligent placed under house arrest for putting people in danger.”

“Wait, the f@ck?!” Marcus squawked. “How did you do it if it was this Pure mofo’s fault?”

“We were accomplices,” Spyper said. “That, and I kinda helped him escape from HECU when they had us cornered in an apartment…”

“And we lied to an HECU officer so they would help us,” Intelligent added, wincing.

Cally nodded. “Yeah, that would sour relationships. I remember Marcus lying to a teacher to cover for me when I was stuck at home once.”

“I still think I should have told her from the start. Your parents not letting you go to school because your room wasn’t clean isn’t even fair.”

“Yikes. Your parents sound horrible,” Spyper frowned.

“Eh, they tried,” Cally replied. “I- hey, check out that guy. Is there a cosplay convention around?”

The group followed Callys gaze and saw a guy in a Jason Vorhees costume sitting at a table nearby.

“What the hell…?” Spyper whispered, raising an eyebrow.

Marcus put his hand back on his gun. “Don’t look at him.”

“Please tell me there’s not a Freak who looks like that,” Intelligent winced, averting his gaze from the costumed patron.

“How would I know?” Spyper asked.

“There isn’t,” Cally replied.

“So either that’s someone who’s way too into cosplay, or we’ve got a Team Killer wannabe on our hands,” Spyper winced.

Ari shuddered. “Team Killer?”

“A pretty infamous Freak. He kills anyone who wears red.”

Marcus looked at his clothes, took off his red sneakers, and put them in the garbage.

“Good call,” Spyper said. “I have an extra pair of brown boots in my van if you want them.”

“Thanks. I-” Marcus froze. What was he feeling? Nothing was touching him, but there was warmth he could feel. Body heat, to be specific. Body heat and the cold, sharp blade of a… oh, no. “...Ari, sit still and close your eyes.”

“What, why?” Ari whimpered.

“Because my sense of touch is now bullsh@t levels of keen, and the world won’t let us rest,” Marcus replied- then pulled out his gun and fired.

A scream filled the restaurant and a Spy decloaked behind the Trio, collapsing to the floor in a bloody heap.

Cally gagged. “WHAT THE F-”

“SH_T WE GOTTA GO!” Spyper screamed as the entire restaurant was sent into panic. He and Intelligent Heavy grabbed the Trio and ran out the front door to the van, leaving the masked figure to follow them.

Cally slammed the door once they made it, locking it. “DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE-”

Spyper jammed the keys into the ignition and slammed on the gas, sending the car lurching forward. “Ok, who the hell was that!?”

“I don’t know!” Marcus replied. “I just felt him come closer!”

“You felt him?! The hell does that mean?!” Cally shouted.

“It’s like I could feel... like my sense of touch got way keener.”

“It’s the power of the Body,” Intelligent said, watching the restaurant from the rear-view mirror. “The Body enhances all human senses.”

“I hate this power so much,” groaned Marcus- and then something shot out Spyper’s tires. “OH, THAT’S BULLSH@T!”

“GAH! What just happened!?” Spyper screamed, jerking the wheel to stay on the road.

Cally looked out the window. “Guys, we got company!”

“Who is it!? I can’t look away from the road!” Spyper shouted, fighting against the pull of the blown tire.

“I see at least five people.” Cally squinted. “And one of them is pointing a rifle at us.”

“Oh sh_t, it’s Brutal!” Intelligent hissed. “Since when is he still good with a rifle!?”

Marcus scowled. “Do you guys have a rifle?”

“Check in the compartment under my bed! My old rifle should be under there!” Spyper grunted as another car slammed into his van.

Marcus pulled out the weapon, loaded it, and headed to the top of the van, where he opened the trapdoor and came out, aiming for the drivers of the closest car. “EAT LEAD, MOTHERF@CKER!”

He fired into the car and the front windshield shattered on impact before the car began veering off the road, its driver out of commission.

Ari whimpered in the back, and Cally went to go hold him.

“Hang on to your hats!” Spyper shouted, reaching for the clutch. “We’re about to go airborne!”

"SH@T!" Before Marcus could go back in, he found himself in a struggle for the rifle with Brutal. "Get lost, you son of a b@tch!" he snapped.

“Not until you get lost first!” Brutal hissed, trying to kick Marcus off the van.

Marcus, deciding the rifle wasn’t worth it, let it go and ducked back into the van, only for the Sniper to prevent him from closing the door.

“You’re not getting away that easy!”

Ari screamed, and Cally panicked, reaching for the nearest knife.

“Get the hell OUT!” Intelligent screamed, trying to slam the trapdoor shut to keep Brutal out.

The back door to the van opened, and a Scout with a hole in his chest, no eyes, and chains coming out of the hole hissed at the Trio, grabbing Marcus with the chains and trying to pull him out. “MOTHERF-”

Quickly slamming the trapdoor in Brutals face, Intelligent ran to the vans back door and tried to rip the chains off of Marcus’ leg. “Let him go!”

“Get off me, 2 Chainz!” Marcus squawked.

2 Chainz hissed and yanked Marcus out of the van and on to the open road where their fight continued.

“MARCUS!” Ari screamed, running to the door.

Marcus got up, holding his side, then looked at his knife. “You wanna go, weirdo?!” he asked challengingly.

2 Chainz snarled and the chains from his chest angled towards Marcus, tipped with razor sharp blades.

Marcus didn’t back down. “COME ON!” he shouted. “You want some so bad?! Come get some!”

2 Chainz lunged at Marcus, slashing at him with his claws and bladed chains.

Marcus caught one chain and tried to wrap it around 2 Chainz’s neck, ready to strangle him.

As they brawled in the road, traffic was eventually jammed and several people got out of their cars to begin recording the whole fight.

It didn’t take long for people to begin watching, including HECU.

“COMMANDER! WE GOT A LOCATION! ONE OF THE THREE KIDS IS FIGHTING A NEW FREAK!” cried an intern.

Rudra came barreling down the hallway to see the feed. “What the - Who’s recording this footage!?”

“Multiple people! I’ve got a squad on the way!”

On the screen, Marcus turned to whoever was holding the camera. “AYO! YOU ENJOYING THE SHOW?! HOW ABOUT YOU BE IN IT AND HELP ME?!” he snapped.

“What!? I can’t fight!” The bystander cried.

“YOU GOT A CAR, DON’T YOU?! GET IN IT AND RUN THIS F@CKER OVER!”

The bystander dropped their phone and ran back to their car to do exactly that. Cranking their car, they drove through the traffic and barreled straight for 2 Chainz as Marcus leapt out of the way.

As 2 Chainz found himself occupied, Marcus dropped the knife and took a breath as Spyper doubled back to pick him up.

“Marcus! Marcus, come on!” Ari shouted in fright. He was leaning out the back of the van, holding out their hands to catch Marcus.

The teenager ran to meet her, reaching for his ticket out when Brutal leapt from the top of the van and tackled him to the pavement.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

“HEY!” Marcus snapped. He rolled onto his back and kicked Brutal off before quickly leaping back to his feet. “That’s my ride!”

“Not while I’m here!” Brutal grinned, brandishing his shiv.

“You’re sooooo tough with that knife, aren’t ya? I dropped mine, now drop yours! Fight me like a man!”

“And risk you getting away? Not a chance, bloke,” Brutal hissed, charging at Marcus.

Ari gasped. “We gotta get over there!” she cried. “Marcus isn’t gonna win this fight!”

“Hang on! Road safety laws, prepare to be IGNORED!” Spyper shouted, jerking the wheel back. His van veered sharply to the left and began careening straight for Brutal, only for a Medic in a mask to appear and call up giant spikes to block the van’s path. Spyper screamed in surprise and slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding crashing into them.

“Marcus! We can’t get through!” Spyper called.

Marcus scowled. “Well, I guess I’m throwing hands,” he grumbled, cracking his knuckles.

“Soon enough, you won’t have any hands to throw!” Brutal bit back, pulling yet another blade from his vest.

“Another knife. Coward,” Marcus sneered, then charged.

Marcus quickly grabbed Brutal by his wrists and forced the Sniper back, keeping Brutal from swinging the knives. Brutal hissed and kicked Marcus in the leg and shoved him back towards the spikes. Marcus staggered, but managed to dig his heels into the road to keep his balance.

Marcus, having taken a knife, grinned. “Now it’s fair.”

“Not for long,” Brutal grinned, producing yet another blade from his vest. “I can do this all day!”

“THE F@CK?!”

Brutal chuckled and swung his blades, slowly closing the gap between him and Marcus. “You should have paid more attention to my entry in HECU’s database.”

Meanwhile, the person who’d gotten said database was running scenarios in her mind as Spyper drove, trying to avoid the new Medic Freak. “Alright, so what are these spikes made of?”

“You asking me? Cause I sure as hell don’t know!” Spyper grunted, trying to find a way through the spikes to reach Marcus.

“If I knew that or could figure out a pattern, I could figure out how to take out the spikes and this new guy. Speaking of, do you know him? Because HECU’s files don’t.”

“No, I’ve never seen this Freak before!”

“They sent new ones under the assumption that I’d know all the old ones,” Cally hissed as Ari wrapped a blanket around himself, terrified. Then an idea hit her. “Alright, let’s see. Start driving like crazy. Don’t think, just go.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Spyper grabbed the clutch and jerked it forward, causing his van to go airborne. “Hold on to your a$$es! This is gonna be a bumpy ride!”

The Medic threw spikes as the van flew, and Cally turned to Intelligent. “Your pot. I need you to drop it on his head.”

Intelligent glanced out the window and nodded, taking the pot off his head. “Got it.”

Cally called up to Spyper, “Give Intelligent a clear shot!”

“Already on it!” Spyper spun the wheel and started heading straight for the Medic before sharply pulling up. Without a moment's hesitation, Intelligent leaned out the passenger side window and dropped his pot, shouting triumphantly when it landed squarely on his target's head.

As the Medic clawed at his face, the nightmarish images filling his head, Cally grinned. “Alright. That takes care of him. Now we can get to- MARCUS!”

Marcus, though still fighting valiantly, was squarely on the other end of a beatdown, if the rips in his clothes and visible injuries were any indication. Didn’t seem like he wanted to show it, though; he picked up a broken spike and shouted, “That all you got?!”

“I could do this for eternity!” Brutal cackled, not relenting in his assault on Marcus.

“SH@T!” Cally cried. “Do you have a rope or ladder here, Spyper?”

“Under my bed, there should be a foldable ladder there!”

Cally pulled it out. “Ari, help me throw this to Marcus!”

Ari got up and ran over, grabbing one end while Cally grabbed the other. Then they tossed it to where the fight was happening. “MARCUS! COME ON!”

Marcus immediately dropped the spike and ran to grab the ladder. Leaping for it, he narrowly managed to grab on while avoiding scraping his legs on the spikes below.

Grinning down at Brutal, he held up a middle finger before climbing up and into the front seat.

Marcus smiled in relief once he was in. “Thanks!”

“You ok?” Intelligent asked, already getting out the first aid kit.

Marcus paused, then decided, “Everything hurts.”

“Alright, just hang on.” Intelligent opened the glove compartment and pulled out a small first aid kid. “Uh...I’ve got some bandages and some alcohol wipes. Any chance these will help?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Alright, where’s it hurt at?” Intelligent asked, sitting Marcus up beside him.

“I think it’d be easier to know what doesn’t h- Ari?” Marcus looked over his shoulder to the living quarters of the van. Ari was leaning against the wall and holding her side, his hand red with blood. A knife was laying on the floor nearby covered in blood.

Marcus gasped, all his injuries forgotten. “ARI!” He leapt over the front seats and grabbed Ari as they went down. “Ari, what happened!?”

“Brutal threw a knife,” Ari gulped, gripping Marcus’ arms.

Cally grabbed a first aid kit and went to work, panic written across her face. Ari sucked in breath as Cally set about cleaning the wound with alcohol and wiping away excess blood.

“That stings,” Ari winced, gritting their teeth when Cally stuffed gauze into the wound.

Marcus scowled. “Okay, now I’m p@ssed.”

“Same,” Cally said, a dark coldness in her voice. “It’s personal now.”

“Is Ari ok back there?” Spyper quizzed, flying away from the scene on the road.

“He will be. One of Brutal’s knives that he threw while on the car hit her.”

“It’s not deep, is it?” Intelligent asked worriedly.

“Kinda. They’ll need stitches, but it's not fatal,” Cally said, wrapping up the wound with a clean bandage.

“Do we know anyone who can do stitches?” Marcus asked, wrapping a bandage around his hand.

“Uh...I kinda know how, but I don’t think you want me doing that,” Spyper said, gesturing to the fact that he was still driving.

“Yeeeeah…”

Cally sighed. “I can do some. I need the practice.” Cally poked around in the first aid kit and found a needle and surgical thread inside. “Now hold still, this is probably gonna hurt…” She warned, beginning to sew the wound shut as gently and as steadily as she could.

***

That night, the group had taken up residence in an abandoned shack with just a power outlet. The kids sat watching Marcus’s miniature TV, and Intelligent sat beside Spyper, writing notes.

“Cally seems to be really good on her feet,” he mused. “She came up with that plan to take out someone we didn’t even know about in, what, half a minute?”

“You think part of that's coming from her powers?” Spyper asked, glancing over at Cally.

“Maybe. It makes me want to run tests, but I’m pretty sure Marcus would turn me into a pencil with all the lead he’d put in me if I tried.”

“I think we should leave that to HECU,” Spyper remarked, taking a sip of his drink. “Not that Marcus would let them do that either, but still.”

“He’s incredibly protective. And he looks more p@ssed now than he did when he was the one being threatened or getting the sh@t beaten out of him.”

“That’s true for anyone who’s close to their friends. I mean, if I got threatened, you’d be pretty p_ssed too.”

“Yeah,” Intelligent nodded. Spyper lit a cigarette, then noticed his phone ringing.

“Hey Intelligent, can you get that? I’m expecting a call from Madic.”

Intelligent reached over and picked up the phone, holding it awkwardly in his large hands.

It was an unknown number. Weird. Intelligent swiped to answer and held the phone to his ear. “Hello? Who is this?”

“Hello, Intelligent,” an all too familiar voice greeted in a cold tone. “Enjoying the peace and quiet?”

“Gentle. What do you want?” Intelligent hissed, pulling out a laptop and hooking it up to the phone.

“Just wanted to catch up. Give you a little grief for screwing Brutal over earlier today.”

“I didn’t do that. Marcus did. I’m proud of the kid for lasting as long as he did.”

Marcus, noticing the call, had gotten up to come over and listen. When he heard his name, he cut in. “Someone call my name?”

“It’s Gentlespy,” Intelligent replied, focusing on his computer screen. “Keep him talking, I’m trying to track his phone.”

Marcus hissed. “You motherf@cker. If you were here I’d-”

“I saw your fight with Brutal. I know exactly what you would do if I was there.”

“Then thank whatever god you pray to that you’re not. The hell are you even after?”

“Haven’t we already made this clear to you? We want you three gone.”

“You wouldn’t even have to deal with us if your stupid @sses hadn’t come after us. We knew jack sh@t about this whole thing.”

“Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20.”

“Yeah. And regret is a nasty feeling.”

“Is everything okay over there?” called Ari nervously.

“Considering who’s on the other line? Probably not,” Intelligent replied.

Ari came over, still holding their aching side. “Who is it?”

“Gentlespy.”

Ari tensed. “What does he want?” he whined. “Is the other guy with him?”

“I’m not sure. Just try to relax. You don’t want to pull any of those stitches out.”

Marcus hissed. “If your pal is with you, put him on. I got something I wanna say to him.”

“I don’t see why not. Once you and your friends are out of the way, you won’t be saying much anymore.”

Marcus grunted and cracked his knuckles. “Just put him on, I don’t want to listen to your pretentious-@ss voice anymore.”

A scoff came from the phone as it was handed off to the Sniper Freak. “What do you gotta say?” Brutal hissed.

Marcus spat on the ground. “Well, pal, listen. I’m not a hard guy to p@ss off. Really, you could throw a rock at me and I'd get mad. And I was content to just run my @ss off to avoid you f@ckers. That said, I am a hard guy to make an enemy out of. It takes you trying to kill me or the ones I love. And you did that. Like, way beyond that. When you put your disgusting hands on Ari. So now that we're enemies, I am gonna rain unholy hell down on you, your friends, and your entire plan,” he growled, eyes flashing with the blood-red power of the Body.

Intelligent looked up and silently gestured to his computer as a location popped up. “I’ve got Gentle’s location. They’re about five blocks away from here in an old warehouse,” He said quietly.

Marcus cocked his gun and hung up. “Then let’s go.”

“What are you doing? We still need to head to HECU and Ari needs to recover. We can’t go after them,” Spyper warned. “Especially not when they could have backup.”

Marcus huffed. “We can’t stay here! They’re five blocks away!” he snapped. “If they figure that out, Ari won’t have time to recover!”

“Then let's get out of here!” Spyper said, grabbing his keys and starting for the door.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 11: Panic In Evo City

Authors Note: I know I keep apologizing for the wait, but this time I’m really sorry. Three months between chapters is way too long and I’m sorry this one took us so long to complete.

The offices at HECU were in sheer chaos. Interns were running around hauling papers, tech people were working HECU’s servers to the edge of meltdown, and countless soldiers were being issued out to different parts of Evo City. Tyson had wrung himself ragged trying to keep the chaos under control, but no progress had been made.

“How are three teenagers so hard to track down?!” he shouted, staring at a huge collection of screens.

“I don’t know, sir!” A sleep deprived employee cried. “We’ve combed through every last bit of security feed available in both Big City and Evo City, but there’s no sign of them! All we’ve found are several new Freaks that just keep popping up!”

“New Fre- What do you mean, new Freaks?!”

The employee quickly pulled up security footage of an old motel, and the feed showed the disturbing sight of a group of choir students warping and transforming into twisted monsters.

“We were sent this footage by the owner of the motel last week. We were sent a similar piece of footage from Evo Subway where a crocodilian Freak was spotted running across the tracks,” The employee explained, pulling up footage from a subway. “And this is footage of a new Freak that was just spotted earlier today.” The employee showed Tyson one last piece of footage from downtown Big City, where several mechanical Freaks were rampaging down the street.

Tyson sat down, shocked. “I want soldiers everywhere you get footage from here on out. Track these new Freaks down.”

“Yes sir.” The employee quickly left their post and hurried out, several documents on hand. As the employee left, Rudra headed into the room, a phone in hand.

“Colonel Tyson, there’s someone that wants to speak with you.”

Tyson nodded. “Thank you, Commander,” he said, taking the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello Tyson,” a deep, distorted voice replied. “Things are looking a little bleak over at HECU.”

“...who is this?” Tyson asked, suddenly guarded.

“You can call me Archsage.”

“Alright, Archsage. What do you want?”

“To help, of course. HECU has been overrun with news of new Freaks, and so far you haven’t been able to track down the Trio.”

“How do you know that?” Tyson asked, then got up and left, putting her on speaker and motioning for Rudra to follow and stay quiet.

“I know quite a lot. More than you, certainly. I’ve been monitoring the Freaks for a while now. I know what they’re planning to do, and I know why so many new Freaks have been appearing as of late.”

“Care to enlighten me?” Tyson asked. “It would certainly make my job easier.”

“The Freaks are planning to bring about a worldwide catastrophe called the Cataclysm, and they’re bringing more Freaks into the world to further their goals.”

“Worldwide catastrophe? Are they attempting to destroy mankind?”

“More like they’re attempting to replace humanity entirely with Freaks.”

“WHAT?!”

“That’s why they’re after those kids. Those teenagers have powers that can stop the Cataclysm from happening.”

“Motherf@cker... How do you know this?”

“I’ve been looking into this whole ordeal for quite some time.”

“And how do you know about us?”

“I happen to know someone from HECU.”

“You have an informant?”

“In a way.”

“How can I trust you if you’ve been spying on us for so long?”

“Because I have information that you don’t. Information that you need.”

"And I assume there's a price for that information?"

“There is. If I’m going to help you, I want access to HECU’s databases.”

Tyson sighed. "It seems like I don't have much of a choice, but if you use it, you do it here. So we can ensure you're not using it against us."

“Agreed.”

Tyson sighed as he hung up. "Of course this stuff happens to me."

“If this is what we must do to stop the Freaks, then so be it,” Rudra replied. “I’ll send my troops to Big City to keep watch for any new Freaks.”

"Thank you," Tyson replied. "And try to keep this from reaching the public. Chaos in the streets would make this worse than it already is."

“It’s hard to keep something like this secret when some of these new Freaks have already been rampaging down the streets in broad daylight,” Rudra deadpanned.

"Then make up something and bribe the media to say it."

Rudra squinted at Tyson. “No, I don’t think I will.”

"I could get Anita to. She'd probably consider it a social experiment."

“You know good and well the kind of havoc she could wreak.”

"I also know how hard it would be to keep the public calm if they knew this was happening. You remember the plague two years ago."

“You can’t hide things that are already in the public eye. You tried to hide what happened with Grave Manor, and instead it’s one of the most well known horror stories to date. It even has its own music album. You tried to cover up that plague, but you can’t exactly hide something that nearly destroyed two entire cities and decimated their populations. You tried to hide Dr. Grace’s invasion, but you can’t hide the fact that a giant armada of ships came right the f_ck out of nowhere and attacked Evo City. And you certainly can’t hide a horde of monsters running through the streets of Big City in broad daylight.”

"I'm not saying hide it this time, just come up with a believable story that's less serious than the APOCALYPSE!"

“And how do you expect me to do that!? Tell people that all the new Freaks popping up everywhere isn’t a sign that things are going horribly wrong!? We have people turning into Freaks left and right, the Freaks that are already around are becoming more hostile by the day, and we have a Trio of teenagers running around that are our only chance of stopping this apocalypse!”

Tyson sighed. "Look, I just don't want the public to panic. If they do, everything will collapse into chaos and it'll be even harder to track down those kids."

“Tyson, the public is already panicking. The best we can do now is try to keep them safe.”

Tyson sighed. “...you’re right.”

Rudra nodded. “And I suggest you get on that. If things keep getting worse like they have been, you might end up having to evacuate the city very soon.”

Tyson nodded. “Alright. Start a watch and tell the people to prepare for evacuation.”

Rudra turned on her heel and quickly took her leave, calling up a group of soldiers to her side. “I hope you guys are ready for another round of disaster. We have to be prepared to evacuate Evo City ASAP.”

“Yes, ma’am,” a soldier replied.

***

Meanwhile at Christian Pure Spy’s chapel, Polite Spy and Jester were watching a movie while Isa played with her dolls nearby.

“Have you heard from Spyper and Intelligent lately?” Jester asked, tossing a handful of popcorn into their mouth.

“Not since last week. They were supposed to come over for a get-together, right?”

“Yeah, they were. But I haven’t heard from them at all.”

Polite Spy lit a cigarette. “I did hear from Sny, though. Apparently he’s out of the country on a job.”

“Spy job or Sniper job?”

“Spy job. He’s looking into an organization.” Polite leaned back. “If you don’t mind telling, who was that on the phone?”

“A guy named Odi-Tron. He wants to help humanity and he wants me to help him do that! Isn’t that great?”

Polite tilted his head. “Is he starting a charity or something?”

“He didn’t really give me much info. All he said was that I had to look out for three kids that’ll be coming by soon.”

Polite hummed, opening his laptop. “So you’re going to help without the information?”

“Well, yeah. Nothing bad’s gonna happen if I look after three kids, right?”

Something flashed in Polite’s eyes, but Jester missed it as the Freak replied, “I suppose not,” and started typing.

“I do wanna know why I have to look after these three kids specifically,” Jester mused. “I hope they’re not in any danger.”

“As do I.” Polite looked up. “I’ve heard Brutal has three people in his crosshairs as of late. What do you think they did?”

Jester looked at Polite with alarm. “You don’t think he would be going after some kids, do you?”

“I certainly hope not. On the off chance that they are, however, if they keep up the diligence that made him fail the first time, they’ve got a shot at survival.”

Jester gave a long and worried pause, then glanced back at Isa. “I really hope he’s not after these kids…”

***

In a dark base, somewhere nobody would have ever thought was habitable, much less inhabited, someone got a call. “This better be good, 9.”

“It is. I just got an email from Polite. It’s about Count Jester.”

“What about them? Aren’t they too busy eating candy or something to be cause for concern?”

“That’s what I thought. But what Polite just sent me is more than enough to worry you. Jester’s apparently been suckered in by Odi-Tron. The guy in charge of this whole mess. He managed to sucker in Jester.”

“Of course he did. Of course he’d get in someone with access to a whole other dimension... Tell Polite to stay put. Be ready to knock Jester out if need be and bring the Aspects here if we don’t get to them in time.”

“Well...Here’s the thing. Maybe we can get Jester on our side. Jester may have a few screws loose, but they’re not malicious. If someone can convince them that they were lied to by someone like Odi-Tron, they might just defect to our side. Then we’ll be the ones with the reality bender.”

“Alright... Tell Polite to try and get Jester to contact Odi-Tron again. Have them pry deeper. We didn’t work this hard to lose now. And keep an eye out for the Aspects. All our agents in the States are at your disposal for this mission.”

“Yes Archsage. I’m on it. I’ll contact you again if there’s any major developments.”

“Good. And give Polite a bonus. Tell him to buy himself some stickers or whatever he can treat himself with.”

“Understood. Until next time, Archsage.” With that, 9 hung up.

The shadowy figure sighed and leaned back. “Of all the people to run this operation, why did it have to be me?”

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 10: Downtime

Authors note: Apologies for the long delay. Schoolwork has been burying us and stress from Covid-19 has been at an all time high.

Within three days, Marcus’s mood had significantly improved. With two new allies by his side, he felt markedly more secure in his surroundings, although he still occasionally looked above him from time to time out of instinct. 

He was in the back of Spyper’s van with Ari and Cally, quietly playing a game of Uno amongst themselves. 

Looking up at Intelligent, he said, "Yo, big guy. You look like you wanna ask us something." 

“I do, actually,” Intelligent said, setting aside his book. “You three seem really close. How long have you known each other for?” 

"Six years and 348 days," Cally answered, setting down her cards. 

"Technically, longer," Marcus added, "But we officially met during the summer." 

6 Years and 348 Days Ago… 

The rec center was alive with activity during the summer. It made sense that three random 10 year olds would be here. Marcus, Cally, and Ari were all there, going about their business. Marcus was busy taking boxing classes, Ari was attending choir lessons, and Cally intently watched a lecture on computer programming. 

The classes all ended early that day, leaving the three kids not knowing where to go. So they all ended up in an empty tennis court, sitting and waiting for their parents. 

To kill time, Ari fatefully began chatting with Marcus.

“Hi. My name’s Ari,” He greeted, waving to Marcus. “What’s your name?”

“Marcus. Aren’t you that short kid who sits in the front of the class?” 

“Yeah, that’s me. You’re the kid who’s taking boxing lessons, right?” 

“The one with anger problems,” Cally chimed in from the corner, reading a book. “Yeah, that’s him.” 

Marcus threw a candy wrapper at her. 

“Hey, be nice!” Ari frowned at Cally.

“It’s true, isn’t it? No point saying anything that isn’t true for the sake of one’s feelings.” 

“You sound really mean.” 

"I heard that once you get smart enough you stop having emotions," Marcus shrugged. 

"That's a lie," Cally hissed. "I just don't see the value in being dishonest." 

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and the fact that I called you a loser that one time has nothing to do with it." 

"I just refuted your theory on my lack of emotions. I can hold a grudge." 

“How do you even know he has anger issues? Because he boxes?” Ari asked. 

"My mom is the school secretary. She has me do a lot of the paperwork so she can go out. Some of that paperwork got Marcus to see the school therapist." 

“Why does the secretary have a 10 year old doing her work? Isn’t that against the rules or something?”

"Not if the principal doesn't find out." 

“So you’re being mean to Marcus even though you’re the one breaking the rules?” 

“Look. Ari, right? If the people who fed and sheltered you and could kick you out if they felt so inclined and barely gave a crap about you told you to do something, would you do it?” 

“Isn’t it against the law to kick a kid out of the house?” 

“Probably. Wouldn’t stop my parents.” 

“You sound like you have issues. Maybe you should see the school therapist.” 

“I don’t want to get landed in foster care. Too much of a risk to my psyche.” 

“And being treated like sh_t by your parents isn’t?” Marcus asked. 

Ari and Cally stared at Marcus. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Cally asked. 

“Yes, actually.” 

Ari whined. “Isn’t cussing bad?” 

“Eh. Some people don’t like it, and my parents don’t let me swear when we’re in restaurants and things like that.” 

“Wouldn’t the community rec center count as a place you shouldn’t swear?” Cally asked dryly. 

“I guess, but there aren’t any adults around.” 

Cally deadpanned. Ari pouted. 

Leaning back, the intelligent kid pulled out some gum. “Want some?” 

“What flavor is it?” 

“Spearmint.” 

“Eh, sure.” 

“I love mint!” Ari beamed. 

“Not my favorite, but I’ll take it over 5gum,” Marcus added. 

“Ugh. 5gum.” 

“What’s wrong with 5gum?” Ari inquired, popping a piece of gum into their mouth.

“Tastes like trash,” Marcus groused. 

“It’s an insult to gum.” Cally sat. “The least horrible flavor is mint.” 

“And even then, this spearmint gum beats it by a mile,” Marcus added. “I don’t see how anyone can enjoy 5gum. It’s like eating plastic.”

“Better than nothing.” 

“I’ve never had 5gum before, but I’ll take you on your word,” Ari said. 

Present 

“So, yeah. That was fun.” 

“So you three started out arguing with each other, and now you three are basically inseparable,” Intelligent remarked, leaning back in his seat. “A lot must have happened in those six years.” 

“Yeah. For one thing, we became study partners. I had to tie Cally to a chair to keep her from doing all the work for us.” 

“I was not that bad, Marcus.” 

Ari winced. “Well...” 

3 Years Ago… 

“Cally, this is a GROUP project! That means we ALL have to work on this!” Marcus shouted, taking the papers away from Cally. 

“You guys did a lot of the research. And you know I’m a better writer than you,” Cally reasoned, reaching for the papers again. 

“Yeah, right! You were the one hogging all the research, and you’re the one who’s been doing all the writing so far! I know you’re a good writer, but you can’t just hog the entire project!” Marcus protested, holding the papers out of Cally’s reach. “Just about the only thing you haven’t tried to do yourself are the visual aids!”

"Ari can do those." 

“Exactly! That’s the only thing Ari’s been able to do with you hogging everything else!” 

“I just want us to get a good grade!” 

“And we will get a good grade! But ya gotta let us help, too!” 

Cally sighed, sitting back down. “Alright, alright.” 

“Thank you. Now let's get on with this,” Marcus said, dividing the papers equally between himself, Cally, and Ari.

Present 

"Okay, maybe I was a little too overbearing. But my grade was on the line!" 

“Cally, calm down. We got a perfect A on that assignment,” Marcus assured. 

“I know,” Cally granted. “And then you almost got suspended three months later.” 

Marcus scowled and grumbled to himself, folding his arms at the memory. 

“I still think punching that guy in the face was overkill,” whined Ari. 

“It was not!” Marcus protested.

Cally raised an eyebrow. 

2 Years and 9 Months Ago… 

“Violence was unnecessary,” Cally pointed out as she wrapped up Marcus’s hand. 

“Then that kid shouldn’t have ran off with my notebook!” Marcus snapped, wincing as Cally tightened the bandages around his hand. 

“You could have taken it back. Most everyone is scared of you anyway, given how your fight with Albert ended.” 

“That kid wouldn’t give me it back, even after I asked!” 

“And you decided to punch him in the face instead of just snatching it,” Cally added. 

“Both of those are mean,” complained Ari. 

“It was MY notebook!” 

“Still,” Cally frowned. “Your temper could get you hurt.” 

Marcus grumbled something, hissing as Cally started patching up another scratch. 

“Please stop moving.” 

“But it hurts!” 

“And?” Cally deadpanned. 

“Cally,” Ari pouted. 

“I know. Sorry, Marcus. I’m just worried, you know? I don’t want your temper getting you hurt one day.” 

“I know, I know. But I’ve got it covered, alright? I’ll be fine. I can handle it,” Marcus assured. He grunted and rolled his shoulders once Cally was done bandaging his wounds. “F_ck, I’m gonna be sore in the morning…” 

“Yeah, you are,” Cally sighed. “And try not to swear in front of Ari. You know he hates it.” 

“Sorry Ar, force of habit,” Marcus apologized. 

Ari hugged Marcus. “It’s okay.” 

Present

“And now here we are. Honestly, I wish all our problems were that I was a control freak over grades and Marcus punched people out.” 

Marcus nodded. “Preach.” 

“But they aren’t. Superbeings want to rip our guts out because we apparently can stop a world-ending event,” Cally sighed. 

Marcus folded his arms and thought for a moment. “What are we even supposed to do to stop it, anyways? Is there a superweapon we have to stop? Do we have to go to space and bring down a spaceship or something?” 

“I dunno.” 

“Hmmm...Hey, big guy! Do you know?”

“Sorry, I have no idea what the others are planning. Me and Spyper have barely heard anything about this whole situation,” Intelligent sighed.

“Well, what have you heard?” Ari asked earnestly.

Intelligent paused for a moment and closed his book. “I don’t know if it’ll help much, but I have heard that the Freaks found something they could use to turn everyone on the planet into Freaks. What that thing is, where it’s being kept, or if it can be destroyed, I don’t know.” 

"Sh@t. Anyone you know who may know something?" 

Spyper glanced to the back of his van. “We do know someone who may know. She works for HECU.” 

"I count four who fit that description," Cally said, eyes taking on a pink tint. 

Spyper paused. “Is Rudra included in that count?” 

"Yes. So is the scientist everyone is scared of for some reason." 

“Oh. Yeah, that would be Anita.” 

"What's her deal?" 

Ari shifted. “Is she evil?” 

“Well...I wouldn’t say she’s evil, but she is crazy,” Spyper shrugged. 

“How crazy?” 

“She builds weapons of mass destruction for fun.” 

“And wants to dissect us for ‘science.’” 

“Hmm… don’t like that,” Marcus winced. 

“Don’t worry, she’s not as evil as Brutal and his pals.” 

“That’s good,” Ari nodded. 

“But enough about that. We need information. And to get to safety. Spyper?” Intelligent turned to his buddy, who grinned and started his van.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

🐇

Bunny

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Do this with the Trio!

Force my Muse to Spill their Secrets

🌧- For a heavy, emotional secret

🙃- For a lighter, slightly embarrassing secret

🌟- For a secret wish or desire of theirs

🍏- For something they secretly wish didn’t exist

🍎- For something they secretly wish did exist

❤️- For a secret crush

📲- Talk about someone/something you dislike, but only pretend to like

👁‍🗨- Talk about someone/something you like, but pretend to dislike

🍻- For something bad/mischievous you did as a child or teen that your parents don’t know about

🌜- For a ‘weird’ habit or tic that no one knows about

💃- For a talent that they like to keep hidden from others

🏹- For a talent they wish they had

👻- For something that scares or disturbs them, but they refuse to tell anyone

☢️- For a controversy or scandal they have been able to keep mostly under wraps

🐇- For a secret item they keep (stuffed animal, comfort object, etc)

📒- For a secret journal/diary they keep (Bonus: Share an entry from it!)

📔- For a secret sketchbook they keep (Bonus: Share a sketch or doodle within it!)

🖤- For something they secretly wish they could do with your muse

❓- Free Space! Ask them about a specific secret!

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Hey guys. Sorry for the inactivity as of late. We are still working on Only Human, life’s just been taking up a lot of our time.

Thanks for being patient.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

A commission I was finally able to get to for the person who runs this blog!

Based off the Team Swap drawing I made with Heavy and C. Medic over on @medics-secret-shipfic-folder

(Click for better resolution)