#I tuck inside myself because my energy is so so precious and then I emerge and

[wolfiemcwolferson]

.

[elizaviento]

A Promise of Things to Come

Note:  This is for @smudgethistledraws  :)

*****

A Promise of Things to Come

(Stan Pines x Reader)

SFW -- 2650 words

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Before my knuckles could make contact with the front door of the Mystery Shack, it was flung open unceremoniously by the most adorable and energetic creature imaginable – Mabel Pines.

“You’re finally here, hurry up – come in!”

In fact, I was 10 minutes early.  But, try telling this ball of energy that.  

Before I could reply, she grabbed my hand and practically dragged me up the stairs to the attic bedroom she shared with her twin brother.  Catching only a small glimpse of Stan as he lounged on his worn chair in the living room, he tossed me a wink before disappearing from view.  Naturally, I could feel my cheeks burn as my heart skipped a beat.  And, naturally, Mabel was the first to notice.  

“Hey!  You’re here now to teach me to draw, not to fawn over Grunkle Stan,” she chided as she slammed her way through the attic door, startling Dipper who was situated on the floor with about a hundred sheets of graph paper surrounding him.

“Oh hey,” he greeted as he gathered his wits.  He had obviously been deep in thought, no doubt mapping out a new dungeon for his next game of DD&moreD.

Waving to him casually, I glanced around the room which was littered with half packed boxes and I was reminded that the summer was rapidly coming to a close.  The twins would be returning to California by the end of the week and my weekly private sessions with Mabel would be coming to an end.  Which also meant my opportunities to snag precious time with Stan would be coming to an end, as well.  He and his twin brother, Ford, would be resuming their seasonal sailing trip around the world, leaving the Mystery Shack back into Soos’ capable care.  And I – I would go back to my day job; art teacher at the local high school. 

“Dipper, where are my art supplies?” Mabel questioned her twin as she tossed items from boxes in search.  

“How should I know?” he asked, annoyance lacing his tone as he gnawed on the end of his ink pen so hard, I was afraid it would explode in his mouth.  “You’re the one who packed them away.”

“But you should have been watching me!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.  Catching a hint of color from the corner of my eye, I strolled over to a box situated next to Mabel’s bed and pulled her pallet of watercolors from inside.  “You found them!”

Snatching the pallet from my hands, she then dove into the box to retrieve the remainder of her supplies.  

“Uh, Mabel – it seems like Dipper has claimed most of the space up here today.  How about we have today’s lesson in the kitchen?”

Dipper glanced up at me, displaying an appreciative smile as Mabel agreed and yanked me back toward the stairs.

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

On our way to the kitchen, I was able to sneak one more peek at the man I’d been quietly admiring all summer before settling in at the table with Mabel and all of her supplies.  For our last lesson, I gave her free reign to create whatever her heart desired as I casually day dreamed.  In the living room, I could faintly hear Stan and Ford planning their fall adventure and I mentally inserted myself into those plans; imagined myself at Stan’s side, supporting him unconditionally.  In fact, I’d do so regardless of a fantasy trip around the world, if only given the opportunity.  

And, why hadn’t I received that opportunity?  I couldn’t quite say, to be honest.  The brief interactions I’d had with Stan thus far included his poor, but endearing, attempts at flirting and my bashful giggling.  It was nearly impossible to spend time with him alone due to one of the kids or his brother constantly milling about.  And now, with the summer coming to a close, I’d probably not see him again for the better part of a year.  

Sighing to myself, I was only brought back into the moment when the snap of Mabel’s fingers, just inches from my face, pulled me from my brooding.  

“So, what do you think?” she asked, holding up the painting she’d just completed of her and her pet pig, Waddles.  Mabel had picked up the techniques I’d taught her rather well and her own unique style emerged quite early.  In truth, she was incredibly talented.

“It’s great, dear,” I assured, taking the small canvas from her hands to inspect it closely.

“Really?!  Oh, I’m so glad because it’s a gift for you!  I want you to keep it to have something to remind you of me and Waddles.”

Peering over the canvas at the young girl’s beaming smile simultaneously warmed and clinched my heart.  I refused to accept any form payment when I’d agreed to tutor Mabel but I supposed taking this token of her affection would be fine.  And, it was quite well done as Mabel was a natural talent.  

Glancing at my watch, I was disappointed that our final session was coming to a close.  It was finally time to say goodbye.

I kept the affair as short and sweet as possible, hugging each twin in an almost vice like grip.  Dipper was utterly adorable as his round cheeks flushed crimson and he stuttered his farewell.  Mabel gave as good as she got, crushing my ribs with force I didn’t think was possible within her tiny body.

And, by the time I’d made my way to the door, the living room was deserted.  I’d missed my chance.  That is, until I somberly stepped out onto the front porch and collided with something large and solid.  

“Woah, watch where you’re goin’ there, toots,” a deep and gruff voice rumbled from the object blocking my path.  A voice that was delightfully familiar and set a rush of warm dopamine through my circulatory system.

“I – I’m so sorry!” I stammered, gathering my wits as Stan wrapped his large hands around my biceps and peeled me from his front.  “I was just on my way –”

“Say, whatcha doin’ this coming Saturday?”  

Now a foot between us, I glanced up toward his face to catch him peering down his nose at me.  But, his eyes were soft; a hit of a smile playing on the corners of his mouth as he awaited my reply.

I felt a bit silly as I admitted, “I have no plans.  Why do you ask?”

“Well, I was – uh – wonderin’ if… ya know, if you’d maybe wanna catch dinner with me?”  Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, a slight blush crept up from his neck to dust his cheeks.  It was utterly endearing.  He actually seemed anxious at the prospect of my refusal.  “The kids leave on Friday afternoon and Ford and I won’t be packing up until the following week, so I thought –”

“Of course, I’d love to,” I replied before he could somehow talk himself out of it.  “I’ll meet you here at 8:00 pm.”  Then, I stepped around him and headed to my car without another word.

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

When Saturday evening finally arrived, I spent an exorbitant amount of time fussing over my hair, makeup and outfit.  Checking the time every 15 minutes, the butterflies in my stomach seemed to be having a ticker tape parade.  Then, with half an hour to spare, I drove the path that would lead me to the disheveled shack in the middle of nowhere.

What I’d expected when I arrived was far from what I was actually presented with.  Instead of finding Stanley Pines in his normal attire, casually lounging on the ratty couch situated on the front porch, I was greeted with a dapper man in a proper suit holding a bouquet of flowers that appeared to be hand picked.  

Parking my vehicle, I was startled when Stan moved with impressive speed to make it to my door before I could open it myself.  Tucking the flowers under one arm, he fumbled with the handle until it popped open and I gawked at him in confusion.

“Hey, don’t look so shocked,” he mumbled as he offered me a hand, which I gingerly took.  “I can clean up semi-decent when the mood strikes.”  

Speechless, I took the offered bouquet and allowed him to lead me toward the shack.  But, words continued to fail me as we entered, due to the sight before me.  

Someone had taken the time to thoroughly clean.  The shack was spotless, from ceiling to floor and a pleasant aroma wafted toward me from the kitchen.  

Someone had helped him arrange this.  And, since the twins had departed the day prior, that only left one person.  However, I knew better than to give Stanley’s twin brother any credit in this matter.

“I hope you don’t mind staying in,” he hedged, shifting his eyes toward me to gauge my reaction.

“Of course not.  What smells so good?”

“Um, well –” he took the flowers from my loose grip and popped them into a drinking glass filled with water on the kitchen counter, “–chicken parmesan…?”

The uncertainty in his voice earned a giggle from me as he escorted me to the kitchen table.  Everything had already been set up and served on mismatched dishware.  There were two long stem candles placed in the middle of the display, flickering a soft glow on the meal that, indeed, resembled chicken parmesan.  Silently thanking Ford for the valiant effort, I took a seat in front of one of the placements with a smile that I was certain resembled that of a lovesick teenager.

What was all this?  Why had Stan gone through all the trouble when he could have easily taken me to Greasy’s Diner?  Why had he even asked me to dinner in the first place?  Most of our previous interactions had been brief and surface level.  An intimate setting, such as this, begged familiarity or the promise of it.  Or – or maybe I was reading far too much into a kind gesture?  

I was suddenly pulled from my inner contemplation when Stan yanked the other chair from the table and plopped down across from me.  He seemed a bit stiff and awkward and he reached for the bottle of red table wine and poured himself a tall glass before scooching the bottle toward me.  Taking his lead, I poured myself a glass as well and attempted to settle in.  

Dinner was, surprisingly, easy and carefree.  Stan proved to be an excellent conversationalist and had fantastical stories that kept me on the edge of my seat during the duration.  Soon, I found myself pouring my third glass of wine and my inhibitions were being softened around the edges as my smiles and giggles materialized with ease.  

“Ya gettin’ tipsy there, doll?”  Waggling his eyebrows, he tipped the wine bottle toward me before taking a swig directly from it.  

“I could ask you the same question,” I countered, taking a larger gulp than was necessary from my glass.  Another giggle passed my lips as Stan lowered his glasses to peer at me from above the rims.  Suddenly stunned by his beautiful eyes, I covered my mouth with the back of my hand and averted my gaze.  

“Why did you ask me to dinner?”  The words tumbled from my mouth before they'd even fully formed in my mind and the humiliation crept up from my chest to burn my cheeks.  I wanted to take them back – stuff them back down my throat and swallow them whole.  But, it was too little, too late.

Luckily, though, the wine had kicked Stan’s cockiness into high gear and he was more than willing to explain.

“You’re cute,” he stated simply, running a large hand through his hair.  “I’ve also caught you making eyes at me.  Couldn’t let that opportunity pass by, now could I?”  Then, he laughed; a booming baritone that seemed to vibrate from his body, travel across the distance between us and tingle the tips of my fingers and toes.

I had no retort.  Mostly because the wine was coursing through my veins delightfully, but the truth was undeniable.  

“Well, I’m glad you did.”

“Me too, doll.”

The conversation continued to flow, easy and effortless.  Stan encouraged me to tell a story or two of my own when his reserve had finally been tapped.  He even appeared interested as I spoke instead of the slightly annoyed demeanor he always wore.

Eventually, though, the conversation grew scarce and the wine ran dry.  It was late and I became hyper aware of the fact that the two of us were completely alone in the shack.  Briefly, I wondered where Ford could be.  But, I hadn’t seen him all evening so it was probably safe to assume that he’d taken refuge elsewhere for the evening.  

And, that realization sent a rush of adrenaline directly to the base of my spine.

“I should probably get going.  I have plans to meet a friend for breakfast tomorrow.”

It was a poor excuse, but an excuse nonetheless.  As much as I wanted to spend time with Stan, I didn’t want to move too fast and squander my opportunity for a meaningful relationship.

“Oh, of course, yeah.  I’ve – uh – got important things to do too, ya know.”

Scrambling from the table, he approached me and offered me his hand in the same manner as when he’d met me at my car.  The endearment hit me hard and actually felt tears prick my eyes as I slipped my hand into his.  Seconds later, he had me to my feet and slyly tucked and hooked my arm around his in a guise to steady me as he led me toward the front door.  Even though I wasn’t anywhere near intoxicated, I allowed him this reprieve and reveled in the warmth of his body where we touched.

Soon – too soon – we were standing on the front porch of the shack, a warm breeze caressing my cheeks and tousling the loose strands of my hair.  This one singular moment was perfect and I would have been content for it to last forever.

That is, until I felt Stan’s gaze bore into me and I was compelled to tip my face upward to lock my eyes with his.  

His expression was soft and somehow sweet – expectant.  Something seemed to crackle in the atmosphere between us, drawing us toward one another like the pull of a magnet.  I was powerless to resist it, even if I’d wanted to, so I nearly melted when Stan gently cupped the back of my neck and coaxed me toward him.

His lips were firm yet yielding as they molded around my own.  Almost chaste in their gentleness and my heart swelled with thick emotion.  I returned the kiss with as much fervor as I could muster, slightly opening my lips to encase his before swiping my tongue very lightly on his bottom lip.  It was a promise of things to come… later.

Then, just as soon as the kiss began, it was over.  The warmth and pressure now a ghost upon my lips as he pulled back and released me.  I was slightly dazed as he chucked and slung one burly arm around my shoulders.  

“Don’t lose my number while I’m gone this fall, huh?”  The uncertainty in his voice made me smirk.  Did he actually think I’d forget about him?

“Impossible,” I replied, pointing toward the bumper sticker Mabel had plastered on the back of my car with the Mystery Shack’s telephone number in large, bold font.

“Good girl.”

The End.

[bloodandpaintchips]

Eat, Pray, Love

Tagging→ Andrea Sheldon, Audra Sheldon, a dead guy named Lou Time Frame→ Late September, 2020 Location→ Brooklyn & Upstate NY General Notes→ Andy’s a mess, and finally meets her proposed dead mother, Audra. It goes well.   

Glamorous.

When Andrea got another bite on her Facebook post about her mom and the photos she posted, she didn’t open it for a while. When she finally did, just like the note, she just kept repeating certain phrases in her head. Like glamorous.

It still sat in her DMs days later:

Hey, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the lady you’re looking for. I work in Chelsea and I’ve served her and some guy a few times. Almost didn’t recognize her or say anything because the woman I see is way more glamorous. Not as grungy and artsy, just reallly nice jewelry and big tips.

Anyway, I don’t know much about her or where she’s from but I know she either lives here in the city or she comes in a lot. 

Hope this helps.

Andy knew this was supposed to be exciting, but for the first time in what had to be years, she was nervous. Did this person make a mistake or did she actually get a lead on Audra? Taking the next step felt important.

Maybe her head was also in a spin because she was so hungry. She looked up from the twin motel bed she sat perched on to look at the mirror across the room over the dresser. Just an empty spot on the bed in front of a laptop, but she didn’t need a reflection to know she no longer looked human. The hungrier she got, the more tired, the more she stayed in her true form, which she had yet to accept. Tearing her gaze away from the reflection, she looked over at the twenty-something year old guy laying face down on the bed, glassy eyes gazing at her and mouth quivering from her compulsion to stay quiet.

He looked bad. Skin overly pale, her bites covering him, some of them getting infected. It was like fasting and coming home to a TV dinner that had been left out for a week.

She groaned, shutting the laptop and reaching for a rubber band on the nightstand to put her hair up.

In moments she was out of the motel, walking to her van with No Name Dude slung over her shoulder. 

Tossing him into the back and unceremoniously shutting the doors, she got into the driver's seat, started the engine and took off to the local hospital. So far she’s been deemed in this West Virginia town as “animal attacks” but she knew she had about one more time before she had to hit the road again.

Parking far away from the emergency entrance, she put the car in park and looked back at the near dead college boy on her blankets. 

After stopping the car she crawled back there, taking a few deep breaths to hype herself up for one last feed on this guy so she could play it off long enough to find the next one. But she knew it was gonna taste gross.

Scanning his arm for an okay spot, she lifted his elbow to her lips and sank her exposed fangs a few inches above it, drinking and shutting her eyes through a few gulps. With a deep breath, she released him and wiped her mouth off with one of the blankets. Despite the stale taste, after a moment she felt slightly normal again. She could feel herself returning to normal, skin soft and eyes clear, but she had a small window of time before her hunger would begin to nag again.

She pulled the guy out of her van, throwing him back over her shoulder and taking off to the entrance to drop his body on the curb. Feeling his pulse, her eyebrows raised to find that it was pretty steady.

“Good luck,” she mumbled. After that she was gone, having sped back to the van, started it up and headed for the road.

West Virginia Tech wasn’t exactly a notorious party school, but she ate well while she was here. And if she was going to have the energy to get closer to finding her mother, she needed to be filled up one more time.

-

“Oh hi, I’m so sorry I’m just standing out here like a goober, I guess I’m debating cause I’m nervous,” Andrea said, greeting three girls walking up onto the porch of a house party.

“Oh my god! Are you new on campus?” One of the girls pressed her hand to her chest like Andrea was the most precious thing she’d ever seen.

“Do you know anyone inside? If not you can come in with us!” The tallest girl introduced herself as Kelly, the first one to speak as Chelsea and the third, who was already buzzed and shooting Andy a warm smile, as Morgan. 

“No, I just saw the public invite and wanted to put myself out there but I should have known coming alone would send me into a whirlwind of regret,” Andy replied, laughing and shaking her head.

“Come on, you’ll walk in with us and it won’t be awkward at all,” Chelsea said, earning nods from her friends.

When they entered the party, bass throbbing against wood floors and bodies everywhere, Andrea thought of a time when these kinds of events (outside of working) used to send her into an anxiety hole. She thought about her past fears a lot. Now, all she felt in the sweaty room to the soundtrack of Travis Scott was determination. 

She played up her role of awkward new girl, letting the threesome introduce her around until she found the right one. Luckily, he ended up presenting himself.

“Kelly, who’s your friend?” He asked, leaning in to be heard over the music.

“This is Rachel, our new friend!” She yelled back along with confirmations from the girls.

Andy maintained her role but almost wanted to giggle to herself at the way this boy looked at her, like he was hungry and she was a delicious snack; irony always got to her.

“Yeah, my name’s Rachel,” she repeated, reaching out to shake his hand. 

“Lou. You new to the school or just the crew?” His hand lingered on hers for a moment and the girls, watching and grinning and giggling amongst themselves, took that as a cue to let them get to know each other.

“New to the school and the crew I guess,” she answered, tucking her hair behind her ear and giving a half smile to really play up her naïveté. “I’m enjoying myself though.”

“Do you get high?”

“Yeah actually, are they smoking in here?”

“No but I’ve got some up in my room.”

She met his curious eyes with a smile, holding her hand out, telling him to lead the way. On her way up the stairs, you could hear whoops and other inappropriate commentary despite the loud ass music. She knew it was coming; the college parties all blend together after a while.

Lou sat on his bed, rolling a blunt on what looked to be a folder from one of his classes. He was asking her a lot of bullshit questions about her interests and who she was as a person so the obvious ploy to get her in the sack seemed more genuine.

“So I lied,” she said, once he’d finished rolling and was passing the second hit to her. She hit it once and pressed the burning tip onto the desk to put it out. “I don’t really smoke.”

Lou’s eyes lit up and she could tell he was holding back a pleased grin. “Oh, you just wanted to spend some time alone with me?” They were sitting on his small bed and he inched closer, putting an arm around her shoulder.

She made eye contact with him again, giving a shy smile before pressing the middle of his chest back so he was essentially tossed onto the pillow. His eyes were wide from his now laying position but they still glistened with excitement as she crawled on top of him.

“You got me,” she said, taking off her glasses and putting them on the stand. His heart was beating fast and she could hear it so loudly.

“I uh, don’t have any protection, I hope that’s cool.” 

She tried not to roll her eyes, instead leaning down to press a small kiss to his neck before flicking her tongue at the lobe of his ear. “That’s cool,” she said simply before beginning a trail of kissing and sucking down his neck, collarbone and eventually removing his shirt to continue down his torso.

He bucked his hips a little, rushing her toward the blowjob he was so sure was coming.

“Be patient,” she said, running a finger down to his happy trail.

“I’m sorry you’re just...so—”

She didn’t want to waste any more time, sinking her fangs into his hip. She would later think it funny that she ended up being the impatient one. 

Covering his mouth when he started to scream, she shushed him repeatedly, still straddling his waist.

“You’re going to be silent. And you’re going to come with me.”

——

Back at the motel, Andy laid on one of the twin beds, her hand on her stomach and a smile on her face. She felt solid again. Lou was slumped up in a sitting position on the other bed, watching tv with dazed eyes and remaining under her command not to speak.

Sitting up, she grabbed her laptop and set it in front of her, ready to finally answer that message and possibly hit the road again soon.

“Thanks for this, by the way.” The comment was directed at Lou where he sat, as she opened the internet and leaned over to grab a lighter off the table, sparking the blunt he’d rolled for them (her, now) hours earlier.

______________________________________________________________

So Lou was dead.

He was also still in the back of her van, but once she reached New York, one hunch led to another, to an acquaintance to...actually being close to her mom. She’d been led to one more person, someone who supposedly could give her an address. So, she didn’t really have time to find a hospital and dump his half dead body there. She didn’t really have time for anything but feeding and fixating.

She was also not doing too hot again. Thumping her head against the driver’s seat of the van, she sighed heavily before aggressively slapping herself in the face.

“Come on Andrea,” she mumbled through gritted teeth. She knew she had to get better at feeding -- more efficient or something because she got to this point much too often. A voice in her head told her it was her own fault, feeding on singular targets until they get rotten, leaving them alive because of some pathetic desire she had in her heart to be good. Ironically, she didn’t care as much about that as a human. Maybe because she had a soul then and didn’t spend all the time lamenting about her lack of one.

She was the lamest fucking immortal on the planet, that much she knew had to be true.

Her eyes weren’t hazel anymore, her veins protruding to show she hadn’t properly fed in days. Maybe a week. Time was blurring together even more the closer she got to Audra. But she had to get out of the van and go across the street to the club. Her executive functioning also seemed to grow the closer she got. Scared but determined to find her mother; it was an annoying line to toe.

The nightclub was called BACCHUS and it was somewhere in Brooklyn. It would be the first creature friendly drinking hole she’d encounter since TARTARUS. Looking at the neon sign would have made her a little nostalgic if she wasn’t so focused on the turning of her stomach, skin and head. Her hunger made her feel like she had the flu, and that was only in early stages. If this place was for humans, they might have called her a meth-head and dismissed her at the door.

“Oh, honey.” The bodyguard at the entrance addressed her with concerned yellow eyes when she was at the front of the line. “Come on in.”

She simply gave him a grateful smile before going in, scanning the big city club for a bartender with fire red hair, as he’d been described to her by multiple humans and vampires who had encountered Audra. Supposedly he did more than encounter her before she “settled down” wherever she was. Fighting off a couple twitches, she continued to study the bar until she found him.

 “Don’t even, sweetheart,” he said, holding a hand up when she found a stool in front of him. She was confused until he set a tumbler of thick red liquid on the bar in front of her. Everyone could tell she was out of it. She downed it, no questions asked.

As soon as she’d set it down, he was refilling it again from a glass jar with snake engravings on it.

“That’s cool,” she said, pointing at the jar before gladly taking her glass and finishing it off again.

“I’ve had it forever. But let’s talk about who you are and why you don’t like feeding.” His eyes flashed a pretty violet and she found herself studying the vampire, thinking of her mother and the vast difference between this bartender and Frank Sheldon.

“Um, I’m Andrea. I got turned against my will when I was 24 and I guess I’m still struggling.” He was studying her too.

“So you need to loosen up,” he replied, ignoring the other bar patrons waving at him for service, to the irritation of his coworkers. “I have just the thing.”

He reached under the bar and pulled out a similar jar, only this one was matte black, covered in silver snakes.

“Why the new jar?” She asked, eyeing the new stream of blood being served into her glass. He shrugged.

“My good stuff. Consider it to be top shelf,” he said with a pleased grin. She was already feeling better, knowing the skin on her face was smooth again and her eyes back to their unassuming shade. As a result she relaxed the more she spoke to him, but she was getting away from the point. Downing the new glass and not tasting anything strange, she slid it back to him with a gracious nod.

“So, I’m not just here looking for free snacks and conversation with a new person,” she began. He liked that, leaning forward on the bar and cocking his head slightly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I...someone I met recently said you may be able to point me in the direction of Audra Sheldon.”

That gave him pause and he straightened his back, expression flopping between surprise and confusion.

“Sheldon?”

“Uh, she may have gone by Audra Miller when you knew her.” The confusion left his face and he folded his arms, eyeing her curiously.

“Wow. You’re the daughter.”

“Did she talk about me?” she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. Her expression dropped a bit when he shook his head.

“No. She was pretty withholding about her past. Especially with me. When I’m with someone I can briefly see their memories. You look like the little girl I saw, now that I get a real look at you.”

Andrea wondered if Audra never spoke of them to protect them. It would make sense. It just seems odd to brush a little girl’s hair every day and sing to her and read her comics only to never bring her up again.

“What would I see if I saw your memories?” he asked, bringing her out of the thought trail. She trailed the rim of her glass and laughed a little, feeling a strange buzz in her head that felt unfamiliar. Probably the top shelf blood or whatever.

“Not much,” she shrugged. “You’d see a lot of movie nights with a human dad, my glorious years as a busboy and a few romps, some that stay with me, some I really wish I could forget. Typical sad immortal girl shit I guess.” The way he gazed at her made her add on another point. “I dont necessarily believe in the whole ‘when you sleep with someone you’re sleeping with everyone they’ve slept with’ bit, but I would definitely pass on having a sex partner in common with my mother.”

He laughed loudly, earning an eye roll from the other bartender who pushed behind him to serve an impatient demon. “Maybe you have a little gift for mind reading.”

“I don’t think so. I could just be good at reading people. Or it could be you blatantly looking...everywhere…” she said, trailing off a bit as his gaze drifted back up from her arms, neck and chest.

“I’m sorry, I tend to be a little greedy sometimes,” he said, trying his best at a well-meaning smile.

“I just need the address.” She knew he had it, he knew she wanted it, and she was grateful for the blood but tired of being leered at.

“Why do you wanna find your mom anyway? She certainly didn’t go looking for you.” Despite his discouraging words, he was ripping off a piece of paper from a pad by the register behind him. He scribbled a few words onto it with a sharpie and slid it to her.

“Well, I guess if that’s the case I have a twenty plus year curiosity to quell. Thanks,” she said, sliding off the stool.

“Good luck,” he paused and put his hand on hers that held the paper, smirking. “And have a good trip okay?”

She stood there, squinting at him after the weird sendoff and gently pulled her hand away. He said “trip” with a wink and she didn’t have time to decipher it. However the buzzing in her head had grown quite a bit and the further away she got from the bar, the more she thought his “top shelf” blood might have had a strange kick to it.

___________

Lou was well past the rigor mortis stage, but Andrea couldn’t be bothered with that. She only just realized she’d been dosed with a psychedelic and now that she had an address, stopping now seemed silly. He would just have to stay there for the time being. She had no idea how long the drugs would last or what they would do to her so she just needed to get where she was going.

The first wave was alright, maybe she even liked it. The lights of the city danced and when she got to the interstate along rows of trees, they danced for her too. Their arms reached over the road ahead of her, twisting and furling. As long as she did what the GPS said, she felt she would be fine. And she really believed that, until she started to peak and the hallucinations took form.

The van skidded to a stop off the side of the road when she felt someone there with her. She swore she felt someone sitting in the passenger seat but whenever she looked, they were gone. She had to stop. Get herself together.

When no one materialized, she cursed at herself and put the car back in drive, bouncing back onto the paved road.

“Oh, we could have been so happy Andrea. I swear you just didn’t see it.”

She heard those words, clear as day. But she wouldn’t stop again, could only grip the wheel until she could feel it indenting under her skin. She knew it was August’s voice, the sound of it sending a shiver up her scar. It was unmistakable.

“He’s not here Andy. That’s impossible. He’s not here.” She finally stole a glance over to the passenger seat and gasped, snapping her eyes back to the road and shaking her head. 

August was there, pale and dapper in one of those suits, holding his decapitated head in his arms, the blood pooling in his lap and dripping from the open wound that was his neck. The head was doing the talking while his arms kept him securely in his lap.

“You have so much potential, Andrea and you’re just wasting it!” 

“No. No no no no no…” she muttered to herself, taking deep empty breaths and trying her best to keep her eyes on the road. She knew the veins in her face were pulsing, unsure if she was turning against her will because of the drugs or if she was hungry again. She was so unsure and fucking August was still talking.

“You thought a bartender or a bouncer or a pizza clerk could give you what you wanted but I offered you everything you could need on a silver platter. Every single thing you wanted--”

“EXCEPT FOR YOU. I NEVER. WANTED YOU. YOU TOOK ME,” her bellowed words filled the van as it screeched to another stop and she looked at the headless man, red veiny eyes swelling.

After a glance back at the road, he was gone. But she swore she could still see the blood puddle stain from where he sat. Starting back onto the road, she was now very aware that she hated this. She was so on edge she knew her driving wheel would now be the shape of her clenched fingers when she pulled them away.

Her phone said she had another two hours before reaching her destination. With no one else on the road in the middle of the night, she sped.

The radio was blasting now because she needed a distraction. Needed something other than the silence and whoever else would try to invade it. A couple swerves on the road where attributed to her glancing in the rearview mirror and seeing her father, looking back at her as himself only with her glowing, veiny, black rimmed eyes. She continued to mutter “no” to herself, following the road to the best of her ability.

An hour had passed, and as long as she avoided the mirrors and thus Frank, she truly felt she could get to the upstate address mostly unscathed.

She felt what had to be genuine fear. That was something she couldn’t really remember feeling as deeply as she did as a human. What fucked up memory would replay itself next? Who from her past would appear to make her feel helpless?

The few glasses of blood, as she knew, were getting weaker and weaker at their job of keeping her sustained. She saw the road and her dashboard through a dark vignette, banging her head against the seat in some feeble attempt to keep herself more present.

Soon she felt something cold and wet sliding onto her hand through her fingers and down her wrist. “No…” was the best she could do this time, coming out in almost a whimper as the familiar black mass wrapped around the steering wheel and continued to slip down her arms until the area was covered in slimy black.

She could only hear whispers upon whispers until they were incoherent. Some words that slipped through, she recognized from phrases it used to chant to her while using her body. Her body was always being used, it seemed.

The whispers grew until she felt like they were literally crawling out of her ears to join the growing mass over her arms and torso. Her eyes burned with tears and her foot pressed harder on the gas, speeding up until it filled her vision.

“It’s not real Andy,” she spoke, finally caving to the disorientation she felt. Had she stopped the car? Did she crash? Would she? She honestly didn’t know.

_

Andrea hadn’t woken up in a bed this soft since she spent the night at Johnny’s. Due to the fact that she wasn’t in Johnny’s home, confusion hit pretty quickly. She opened her eyes to a bedroom with high ceilings and tall windows, sunlight pouring in somehow and...not burning her skin off. That was even more confusing.

“Did you sleep well?” She barely had time to collect her thoughts before a short suited man stood in the doorway.

“I...sure,” she replied, sitting up from under the comforters and wiping her eyes. “Um, where am I?”

“Apologies, you’ve been in a state since you’ve gotten here. I’m Alan, I work for Audra Langman. This is her home,” he explained, smiling and waving a hand towards the end of the large bed. “If you don’t mind getting dressed in some clean clothes, you can meet me downstairs for more to eat.”

More?

She looked at the clothes on the bed, a sweatshirt with a faded college logo on it and a pair of leggings.

“Oh, and miss?” She looked up when Alan paused in the door, smiling still with a knowing look twinkling in his eyes. “We disposed of the body for you.”

_______________

Andy had a moment upstairs trying to figure out how she made it here, why she was in a mansion, why she was inexplicably fed and why Audra had a new last name. But she figured she wouldn’t get the answers to those questions if she stayed upstairs just staring at everything.

In her new clean clothes, she entered the kitchen to find a glass of dark red liquid on the counter. Walking up to it, she realized it was still warm once she picked it up. She was real tired of taking blood from strangers without knowing their origin but it smelled so good, like it was fresh. Hunger always won.

As she finished off the glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, Alan was in her line of view again.

“You’re kind of sneaky,” she said, licking her lips.

“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you, miss. Now that you’re fed, Audra is going to meet you in the sunroom. You can follow me,” he said, waving and walking out of the room with her on his coattails.

She couldn’t believe she was here, after everything. She found her and she wasn’t dead and they were in a fancy house with a butler, and the sun that shone through the windows didn’t burn her. As she followed him, she couldn’t help but look at every surface. It had truly been so long since she’d seen sunlight, she forgot she missed it.

“Right in here,” Alan said, holding a hand out. She walked past him into the plant filled sunroom. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, almost too distracted by the brightness of the colors -- straight sun hitting the veiny colorful leaves of all her plants. It was beautiful and for the first time in forever, she really wanted to paint.

“It’s nice isn’t it?”

Andy froze at the sound of her voice, something she only knew from fuzzy childhood memories now directly in earshot. She’d only spoken four words and Andrea knew. That velvety, deep, slightly raspy tone was her mom. She finally looked up from the plant she was fixated on and made eye contact with the woman. Audra continued speaking before she could muster a response.

“The sun, I mean. That enchantment was a hard one,” she said, laughing and going to sit on a wicker couch in the middle of it all. There was another one directly across from it beyond a coffee table and Andrea followed her, choosing that one as a seat. She was unsure how close they should be.

“It’s...I didn’t know it was possible,” she managed, looking around at the windows and rays more. “The whole place is uh, pretty magical.” She knew she had so much to say, and Audra was examining her intensely. 

“So, you probably have a lot to say,” her mother expressed, basically parroting her thoughts. She crossed her toned legs under the black slip she wore under a black silk robe. Andrea wondered if she stayed in her pajamas all the time. If she lived in a house like this she probably would too.

“Yeah. I just don’t know where to start I guess.” She looked down and fiddled with the bottom of the old sweatshirt. “I made this decision to come find you and it felt so dead-ended and hopeless for years that now that I’m like, here I almost don’t know what I wanted anymore.”

“I get that.” Audra stayed silent for a few moments to let her get her thoughts in line. Finally, Andrea went on.

“Well I guess I can start by asking why you have a different last name and why I kind of just woke up here? I don’t remember a lot.”

“Okay,” Audra began. “I married Martin Langman about 3 years ago. He’s a piece of shit, but this house is his, he does what I ask of him and I come and go as I please. You woke up here because my gardener saw your van skidded off the side of the road. Looked like you got here, almost, and then passed out. You were practically shaking and you’d scratched yourself up a bit. We fed you so you could stabilize and got you into a bed. Got rid of the trash in your van, too. How long have you been like this?” She leaned back on the couch, legs still crossed.

“Uh, I guess roughly five years or so. Time started to blur a little after a while,” Andy replied, maintaining eye contact and trying her best to read her.

“You don’t like it.”

“It’s...taken some getting used to.”

“Nah, you’re still not used to it. Or you wouldn’t be carrying bodies and searching for Long Lost Mommy,” the woman said, leaning forward to pick up the mug of tea that had been waiting for her on the coffee table. Andrea steeled her spine a bit, tensing at her words.

“Maybe not. Guess we all couldn’t slip into it effortlessly,” Andrea replied, barely holding back the resentment in her tone.

“Of course I didn’t slip into it effortlessly. No one does,” Audra said with a small eye roll. “But I will say perhaps it was easier for me because I didn’t spend my time obsessing over my human life and what I had to leave behind.”

“That’s not easy for everyone like it was for you. That’s all I’m saying. Some of us have regrets about leaving people behind.” Andrea clenched her fists a little bit, trying to keep herself even, but everything Audra said, every look she gave -- it didn’t feel familial between them. There wasn’t even a fondness. A lot of questions she had were already being answered by the way the woman acted. When Audra laughed, Andy had to clench a little more.

“You resent me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I guess that’s fair. Comes with the territory. And I get it. It wasn’t exactly my plan to have a daughter. I never wanted the responsibility but there you were. And I tried the mothering role, I really did. I tried reading to you, singing to you, hoping to feel that connection other moms never shut up about.” She scoffed a little and set her tea down, settling back into the couch. “So I get why you’d grow up, human and vulnerable, wondering what happened to me and if we had all these lovely things in common or if I was missing you. That has a big effect on a child. I get it.”

It was Andrea’s turn to laugh. “I don’t think you get it.”

“I really do apologize, Andrea. Maybe I don’t get it emotionally, but it makes sense that you’d hate me. Unfortunately it’s a risk I was willing to take in the back of an alley with a traveler while your father waited for me at home. It sounds ugly, but sweetheart,” she ran a hand through her thick dark hair, messy and just like Andrea’s. “I will always put myself first. As a human, as a witch, as a vampire. Family is the center of some people’s world, but that’s just never been me.”

“How nice that must’ve been for you to be able to make the conscious human decision to fuck off despite having a husband and daughter.”

“Frank!” Audra exclaimed, clearly unfazed by Andrea’s words and going into a soft expression and a smile that was almost pitying. “Frank Sheldon. I really do think about him occasionally.”

“Occasionally.”

“Yeah. He was a nice guy and it’s ultimately why we didn’t work. Typical college white boy in a band who was dying for some girl to sweep him off his feet and distract him from how boring his life had been up until that point. And he was cute. I liked him for a while, then I got pregnant.”

Andrea let out a dry laugh. Every expectation she had was shattered by this little convo. It’s not like she didn’t think about the possibility of being disappointed, but Andy just didn’t expect her to be...such a bitch?

“So you liked him until you got pregnant.” Maybe repeating her own words would make her realize they were shitty? She wasn’t sure why she kept doing it.

“Yep.” No change in expression. She just looked so casual, like Andy was just an old girlfriend who showed up on her doorstep. “He got so domestic. All we did was fuck and play music and ride around but as soon as we were in that doctor’s office, all he wanted to do was settle down after that. He got that place from his grandmother and started talking about fate, how everything was lining up and we would be just as in love if we settled down. I was barely in love with him before that. After I had you I realized I was basically committing to all this stuff I didn’t want. I didn’t stumble upon an out, I was actively searching for one.”

“So why not let me die out there in the van?” Andy asked, crossing her own legs.

“Doesn’t look cute in front of a mansion,” Audra said simply. “Okay, that was a joke.” She added that when Andrea scooted forward like she was going to get up.

“Was it, though?” 

“Half. It really would look bad, and maybe it’s because my blood runs through you and you actually found me and the ancestors pushed me to do something about the state you were in. At the very least it’s embarrassing. Also, I knew you were coming.”

Andrea furrowed her brows. “How?”

“The cards. Of course it wasn’t spelled out for me, but the entire reading surrounded the Daughter of Wands. That’s not me, and it’s not anyone in my life currently. Everything else said travel, transformation, subsequent Nine of Swords…I just knew the reading wasn’t about me. You were coming.”

“And here I am,” Andy replied, sighing and sinking a little into the couch.

“Here you are. And I’m sorry, Andrea.”

“Why do I just feel like you’re not? You don’t really seem like the type to say sorry.”

“No, I am. I’m not sorry in the sense that I apologize, but I’m sorry you’ve been starving yourself for years and trying to find me. If I could, I would have told you to save yourself the trip. I’m sorry you spent your newborn years looking for me instead of spending them discovering yourself. That’s what I did. It’s what most new vampires do. Not you.”

“Discovering myself,” Andy said, laughing. “It’s not Eat, Pray, Love.”

“You can joke all you want to, but look at yourself, Andrea. Maybe you didn’t want to be a vampire. Maybe you didn’t choose it. But here you are. You resent me because I didn’t cling to my humanity, but you’re clinging so hard, you don’t even know who you are. That Andy is gone. Accept that.” 

Andrea’s eyes flashed red and finally, she stood.

“You don’t get to call me that. Boring Frank calls me that.”

Audra put her hands up in defense and stood as well. “Didn’t mean to step on toes.” 

“I’m gonna go. Don’t wanna take up too much more of your time,” Andrea said, patting down the pockets of her pants out of habit. She guessed all her stuff was in her car. As if on cue, Alan appeared in the sunroom with her keys extended.

“Your van is in the garage, miss. We took the liberty of cleaning it. You can follow me to get there.”

“Thanks, mister,” she mumbled, taking the keys and turning to look at her mother once more. Audra was still giving her this pitying yet curious look that Andrea realized she hated. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

She didn’t wait for a response, following Alan to the garage so she could leave this place. 

Not only was her van clean and the body gone, it seemed like they cleaned the blankets too, the errant blood stains she’d grown used to being either faded or completely gone. “Thanks again,” she said, closing the back doors and looking across the garage at Alan.

“Do you think it’s time to go home?” he asked. She wondered if he listened to their conversation. She wouldn’t have blamed him.

“Yeah, Alan,” she called back, flipping the keys in her palm and biting her lip. “I think it’s probably time to do that.”

[mk4-16]

#8: Walking, take your time.

Out of activities that require too much energy to even get up from bed, I strangely have an affection to walking.

I love to walk alone, sometimes with reasons, sometimes without any at all. There are many times that I need an emergency parachutes to escape from pressures I have to endure, and my anger-o-meter is as easy to break as a thin pane of glass (and it’ll hurt if you are within the unsafe distance, don’t get near). I instinctively get out of my house and start wandering to nowhere as I am analyzing the situation and wether I should be pissed off or not. After a short walk and a long time defusing the bomb inside my head, I return with a clearer mind and hopefully not to have another walk.

But there are times I walk to relax my mind (without any interference of anger) and give myself a chance to observe the world around me. This usually happens in late evenings, because of personal preference. At times like this, I try to pick the routes that I’m unfamiliar with, giving myself a chance to learn about them. The Embassy of Japan (if you are in Vietnam) is an interesting area to visit, especially in the dark of the night. Like what you can see in alleyways of mini restaurants and izakayas in places such as Shinjuku, Shibuya or anywhere you are thinking right now, they do have an essence of their tradition in Vietnam as well. Small restaurants in the area are tucked within the alleyways. As I’m slowly walking across them, my eyes can gaze through the bright lights of neon signs under the contrast of the night in awe. The slow walk is what made my experiences to be so vividly amazing and memorable. It gives me some precious time for my camera lenses of nature to capture and memorize them, details by details. I would never get the same experience of observing the places I’ve wandered through as I was riding any vehicle. With cars, with motorcycles or with bicycles, they will all be too fast for the eyes to capture a memorable moment. By this, I dare to say that walking doesn’t just give us some health benefits we all heard about. But also, walking brings us many, many artistic beauties that the hustle life of ours passes by every second.

Enjoy a picture I edited myself (I didn’t capture this though) :)

[dzmoot]

Smoke was everywhere. Shellhard tried to distinguish the figures through the haze and was nervous to the point of anemia. 

Did it work? 

The smoke began to fade and the five figures walked towards him. He thought for sure they would still be mingled, maybe this time more than ever before. And this time, the Tuuns would do him in. All that would be left of Shellhard would be half his shell. He quickly tucked himself in his shell as they got closer. As he curled up inside and put his head under his hands, he felt gentle tapping on his shell. It was Igginsworth.

Come on out Shellhard. Turtle soup isn’t on the menu today! 

As Shellhard popped his head out ever so slowly, he saw that Igginsworth looked surprisingly normal. He then popped out fully to see all the Tuuns were back to normal albeit a few wardrobe changes. However, Kruonch was ever glad to get rid of his monocle but didn’t say it out loud because he didn’t want to piss off Hampire who was now stuck with it. Siobhan ran up to Shellhard and kissed him on his scaly head. 

I love you Mr. Terrapin! We’re all fixed! 

Then everybody hugged Shellhard at once. They squeezed him so hard, he thought he would go flying out of his shell and soaring through the cosmos like a comet. Just then, Rella, Opilio and Keet emerged from the underground base. Rella formed a great grin on his face made of cheese, not only because the Tuuns were back to normal but because he had something in his possession that would aid them in defeating the empire. 

We have a breakthrough! 

Everybody made their way inside to an area which was dubbed the Meeting Room. There, Opilio pulled out a small disc and gave it to Rella, who placed it inside a slot on the floor. After pressing a few buttons, he activated a view screen and a holographic diagram of Maaze’s castle surfaced on the screen. Zappy thought the day couldn’t get any better.

Where the hell did you get a layout of the Confectoon palace?

Opilio had one of his laughing sprees as he explained. 

Keet and I snuck into the palace, stole a blueprint from the archive. 

Siobhan was puzzled.

How did you sneak into the castle? 

Opilio nudged Keet to talk and when he didn’t, Opilio continued.

Keet disguised himself as a fried turkey. I was a king crab. I took a bath in a tub of butter to get the full effect! 

Rella then stepped forward, extending one of his many arms to the screen.

There’s an underground tunnel beneath the structure. If we make our way through the dungeon and up to the atrium, we could potentially take out Maaze in his throne room.

Zappy laughed in an annoyed way.

What? Does that bag of kernels think he’s a god or something?

Then Igginsworth stepped into the room. He knew that Maaze was the string puller of the entire operation and if they took him out, the empire would crumble shortly therefore. 

We can stop him, Zappy! And I know exactly how to free those Ethereals. I’m going back into cryosleep. 

All the Tuuns gasped at the same time. After a brief bit of silence, Kruonch approached Igginsworth and put his hand on his shoulder.

Igginsworth my boy, having a moon full of cartoon ghosts can’t be so bad. We’re going to get you back to that snow globe world you miss so much. 

Igginsworth tapped Kruonch’s hand with one of his claws. 

No Kruonch! The Tuuns will go extinct. I’m the one who can prevent all that. I must go back to sleep. It’s my destin....

And Fry Spy, who had been spying on the entire conversation bursted through the doorway, several other Confectoons following in wake. With his greasy, garbled deep fried breathing, the spy went for Igginsworth but before he could get him, Rella stepped forward and hurled a plethora of spells upon the starchy menace. 

Go back to the grease pan from whence you came! 

Fry Spy laid a slab of acidic ketchup down on Rella, but his long green arms prevented it from burning him. With the help of his fateful Wads (creatures created from wads of Siobhan’s gum), Rella was able to seal Fry Spy to the floor as he delivered a crippling spell to his chest, rendering him unconscious.

He looked more like mashed potatoes when Rella was through with him. As Rella looked around, he saw the other Tuuns fighting off Confectoons of their own. 

Hampire used everything Rella taught him to defend everyone from Taco Wacko’s hypnotic stare but his eyes slowly succumbed to the endless whirls and twirls of the taco’s eyes and his new monocle broke into shards. Hampire made his way over to Rella, who was assisting the others and as he turned to face his prized pupil, he felt a blast of energy penetrate his torso. Hampire drove the energy further and further into Rella’s body until his pizza head melted slowly and slimily from his torso. Rella’s lifeless body collapsed to the floor as the hypnotized Hampire gazed on the remaining Tuuns, ready to deliver a similar fate to each of them. As Hampire prepared to kill Zappy, Igginsworth changed the trajectory of Swig’s optic blast and it zapped Taco Wacko into a pile of nacho crumbs. Hampire was freed from his trance, but came to realize what had happened and broke down on the floor beside his fallen master. As he was joined by the other Inlaws, the other Tuuns finished off the remaining Confectoons and the Wads trapped them on the floor. They then joined the others in mourning Rella and comforted Hampire, assuring him it wasn't him who killed his master, he didn’t know what he was doing. Still, a grieving Hampire transformed into a bat and flew away. They didn’t know where he was headed but Kruonch assured them that he needed some time.

Give him a while. I think we all need a while. 

And he too began to break down as Siobhan hugged her father ever so tightly. Before they could scoop up Rella’s corpse and give it a proper burial, they turned around to see yet another Confectoon standing in the entryway. His devilish eyes closed in on all of them and as they ran to attack, he hurled his kernels at them, the kernels bursting and sending them flying to all corners of the room. Maaze, the Popcorn Menace had arrived. 

He just kept charging forward and swatting them all away like flies, freeing his comrades from the Wads’ sticky grasp. When he came to Rella’s corpse, he turned to face all of them as they got to their knees. He laughed to add salt to the wound. 

I’ve tried to get him to join me for years. 

He then kicked Rella’s remains to the side. 

Oh well! I’ve got plenty of companions. I didn’t want it to come to this point but what else was I left to do. 

Zappy walked forward. Now his anger was at it’s peak. 

You’re a dirty rotten bastard, Maaze! Why do you take pride in making others suffer!

Maaze walked towards Zappy ever so slowly. 

Because they made us suffer. Those Gobblers eating my kind! I want all Tuuns to be at the same level, eat the same food, live in harmony as much as the next Tuun. But when they eat my people, it’s cannibalism and we’ve dealt with it for too long! 

Siobhan stood beside Zappy.

So you enslaved them! 

Maaze sighed as he sat down upon a large rock. 

To teach them a lesson. When they realize that Tuuns were destined to eat moon rocks and not each other, they’re free to go. But some still need that hard hand. 

Kruonch then stood beside his friends. 

Then why are you rounding up the regular Tuuns. Why is there hardly any regular Tuuns in Inkwell Village anymore? 

Maaze continued as he plucked kernels off his hand and threw them into his top. 

Better safe than sorry. I believe when the empire reaches it’s full glory, the Confectoons will be more prominent on this moon than any other Tuuns. I believe it’s the only true way to maintain the harmony we all desire. 

Then it was Igginsworth’s turn to talk to Maaze, for the very first time in fact. There were many things he wished to say but just a few words sprung to mind. 

It’s true then. You want only the Confectoons to thrive, don't you?

Maaze stood up again and walked towards Igginsworth. For some odd reason, he seemed the most fixated on the Zarrian. It’s almost like he knew he wasn’t actually a Tuun, but the one responsible for their creation. After a brief pause, Maaze stared down on Igginsworth. 

Who’s the new guy? 

He waited for an answer from the others, but he didn’t get it. 

Oh well, it doesn’t matter. You’re all going to suffer the same fate anyway. 

And Maaze had his companions seal the Tuuns to the ground just as they were sealed. As Igginsworth, Zappy, Kruonch, Siobhan, Shellhard, Keet, and Opilio rustled to get free from the Wads who trapped them in what seemed like a roll of cement, Maaze launched a large kernel from his top and placed it alongside of them. They then made their way towards the exit as Maaze left one final remark. 

There’s a couple of minutes until that thing explodes. We think we’ll gather some of the Tuuns your precious Master Rella helped escape my factory. After that, I’ll absorb all those ghosts into myself and become a Tuun Titan. I think once the moon is in my grasp, maybe I’ll see what it’s like to conquer that blue planet too. It might be fun for the Confectoons to overcome those humans. Anyway, enjoy the afterlife kids!

And as Maaze and the others gathered up the escapees, they all returned to the surface, but could feel the tremor of the explosion beneath their toes. The Tuuns didn’t even try to escape. They all just stood there, trying to hold hands through the gum and excepted what was to come. When it came, they all closed their eyes.....