#about a family who are also scientists that study cryptids. this fic is done with SO MUCH respect to the original series that it's almost

[rustedleopard]

Behold, the Father of All Monsters, Retainer of the Primordial Sea, Master of All Beings that Walk, Swim, or Flap, Keeper of the Netherworld, Scourge of Humankind, Ultimate Danger Noodle, the Great and Venerable It: Kur!

Fan art for @rhythmantics fic, It Will Not Obey You, which is absolutely amazing and fabulous and owns my whole soul! If you are familiar with The Secret Saturdays, please go read it.

[gosecretscribbles]

MonthofMaybel2019 Week 4: Mabel’s Guide to Cryptid Families!

So I’ve never done this before, but I wrote it out like a transcript for an actual TV show.  Was kind of a fun experience?  (although formatting this thing was a nightmare and I couldn’t even copy over most of the formatting here @,@) Anyway I hope you like it!

Also these fics for the month of maybel are linked; it would help to read the one for week 2 about Anansi, but long story short, he’s a spider-person who wants to weave from a society where everybody’s a warrior.  He was an outcast, but helping his people win a series of contests against the Mantises meant that he’s not completely shunned anymore. 

Okay.  *Now* enjoy! INT. DIPPER AND MABEL'S ROOM – DAY

MABEL WEARS A HAND-KNITTED PINK SWEATER WITH FOUR HEARTS ON THE FRONT, EACH WITHIN ANOTHER.  MABEL STANDS IN FRONT OF A WALL PAPERED WITH BOY BANDZ POSTERS, PIG PICTURES, AND POSTERS FROM ANTARCTICA.  THE CORNER OF A MESSY DRESSER IS ON HER RIGHT, THE EDGE OF A WINDOW ON HER LEFT. 

MABEL Families come in many shapes and sizes, sometimes as small as Nana and Liro in Liro and Pugface, sometimes so big you have second-cousins you didn't even know about until you got your inheritance! 

Today we're going to take a closer look at some particularly unusual families – CRYPTIDS!!!

SWISH PAN – WINDOW ON MABEL'S LEFT

ANANSI STANDS ON THE WINDOWSILL FACING THE CAMERA.  THE BACKYARD IS VISIBLE THROUGH THE WINDOW.   A TERMITE MOUND STRUCTURE RISES IN THE FAR CORNER OF THE YARD, TEEMING WITH SPIDER-PEOPLE.

MABEL Please welcome our first guest, a seriously cute member of the Spider-People living in our backyard!  And ladies, he's single!

ANANSI (looking nervously at camera) Are you sure that's not an insect?  It has a very large black eye.

MABEL So, Anansi!  Tell us about your brother!

ANANSI (brightening) Oh! He's one of my people's finest warriors.  He can lift over a hundred times his own weight, run for hours without getting tired, and adjust his strategy in the middle of a battle.  Even after his legs were injured in the Challenge, many young warriors were seeking him out as a trainer – I could see him teaching them from here. 

MABEL What did you guys like to do together?

ANANSI Sparring, mostly!  Not that I was ever any good, but he was very patient and kept encouraging me to try again no matter how many times I fell down.  And I fell down a lot.  He always said that every warrior mattered.  But, well...I'm clearly never going to be a warrior now, with the Weaving, so I don't know, but he might be – oh!

SWISH PAN – WINDOW ON WALL TO RIGHT

A SLIGHTLY LARGER SPIDER-PERSON IS CLIMBING OVER THE SILL OF THE WINDOW.  HALFWAY UP HIS BODY TENSES THE MOMENT HE NOTICES THE CAMERA.

BROTHER An enemy insect!  Hya!

BROTHER HURLS A SLIM OBJECT STRAIGHT AT THE CAMERA LENS.  THE BEGINNING OF MABEL'S SHRIEK IS HEARD AS WHAT IS CLEARLY A SPEAR STRIKES THE LENS.

STATIC

CUT TO FIRST WINDOW

ANANSI AND BROTHER STAND ON THE FIRST WINDOW SILL, MOUND STILL IN THE BACKGROUND.  ANANSI IS ON THE LEFT AND BROTHER IS ON THE RIGHT.  THEY STAND SEVERAL INCHES APART, BOTH SQUARELY FACING THE CAMERA.  THERE IS A SLIGHT CRACK IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER OF THE LENS.  ANANSI'S ARMS ARE PULLED IN AND HE FIDGETS SLIGHTLY, CLEARLY NERVOUS.  HIS EYES MEET THE CAMERA BUT KEEP FLICKERING AWAY.  BROTHER'S ARMS ARE RELAXED, YET HIS POSTURE CONVEYS PREDATORY STRENGTH AND GRACE.  HIS GAZE IS STEADY.

BROTHER Are you sure that is not an insect?

MABEL Anansi was just telling us about how you two spent time together!  Do you have any embarrassing spiderbro stories to share with us?

BROTHER (stoically) My brother is not an embarrassment.  His Weaving allowed us to win back a large portion of our land from the conniving Mantises.  Word of his deed has already been sent out to the rest of our people.  He will teach a new generation of Weavers and spearhead our victory in reclaiming our ancestral lands. I believe he is a greatly valued and talented Weaver.

MABEL (squeals) AWWWWWW! Anansi is there anything you want to say?!

ANANSI (mumbling) Th-thank you.

BROTHER (grunts)

ANANSI'S FACE IS BRIGHT RED AND HE STARES DOWN AND TO THE SIDE, EQUALLY STUNNED, EMBARRASSED, AND TOUCHED.  BROTHER IS STOIC, STILL SQUARELY FACING THE CAMERA.  THE TWO STAND SILENTLY FOR SEVERAL SECONDS. SLOWLY BROTHER'S RIGHT ARM STARTS TO RISE.  A SPEAR COMES INTO VIEW.

MABEL Wai–

STATIC

EXT. ROOF OF SHACK – DAY

SOOS'S FACE FILLS THE SCREEN, SMILING HAPPILY AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF REDWOOD TREETOPS AND BRIGHT BLUE SKY.  SOOS'S FACE IS TOO CLOSE AND HIS ARMS ARE EXTENDED; HE IS HOLDING THE CAMERA.  STRANGE CHIRPING NOISES COME FROM OFF SCREEN ON THE LEFT.  

MABEL Our second guest comes to us from a certain roof in Gravity Falls, Oregon.  Please welcome – Soos!

SOOS Hi, Mr. Pineses!  Can I give shoutouts?  Is that allowed?  

MABEL Absolutely! Can you tell us about the new addition to your family?

SOOS Oh, sure!

CAMERA SWINGS ERRATICALLY AND STOPS ON A MASSIVE NEST SITTING ON THE ROOF. IN THE CENTER OF THE NEST IS A YOUNG PTERODACTYL THE SIZE OF A SEMI TRUCK, CURLED UP AND FAST ASLEEP.

SOOS Tada! We named him Kitten because he chases that little red laser around just like a quarter-ton kitten.  Aw, look –

ZOOM IN, FOCUS BLURS, THEN CLEARS ON A CLOSE-UP OF KITTEN'S FACE.  ITS FRONT CLAWS SCRABBLE LIGHTLY AGAINST THE NEST.  ITS UPPER LIP IS TWITCHING, REVEALING SHARP WHITE TEETH GLISTENING WITH SALIVA, AND ITS EYELIDS OPEN SLIGHTLY TO REVEAL GROTESQUELY ROLLING EYES.   

SOOS (Abnormally Loud Stage Whisper) He's dreaming!

MABEL (Abnormally Loud Stage Whisper) How did he end up on the roof?

SOOSOh –

SWISH PAN ERRATICALLY BACK TO CLOSE-UP OF SOOS

SOOS So we think he was learning to fly and crash-landed on the lawn.  I got him to hold still long enough to fix his wing, and then we bonded over a housewarming barbeque, and by the time his mom showed up we were basically like brothers!  So he sleeps here during the day while his mom hunts and then they go home to the dino mines at night.  At least until his wing heals up.

MELODY (Off Screen) Soos! Don't forget to wake up Kitten for his three o' clock snack.  And no more gingerbread men!  We don't want him getting ideas about the tourists!

SOOS You got it, honey!

LOUD SCREECHING FROM OFF SCREEN

SOOS(grinning)Uh-oh! Sounds like someone heard the word 'snack'!  He's so smart.

PAN TO KITTEN, WHO IS CRAWLING AWKWARDLY BUT RAPIDLY OUT OF HIS NEST.

KITTEN SCREECHES AND BITS OFF THE TOP HALF OF THE CHIMNEY.

SOOS Whoops! Those can't be good for his teeth.  Put it down, Kitten, go on...

KITTEN (Chirps without letting go of chimney)

MABEL He's like a puppy!  ...A really scaly one.

SOOS Doooown...

KITTEN PAUSES.

KITTEN DROPS CHIMNEY.

CHIMNEY CRASHES THROUGH ROOF.

SOOS Good boy, Kitten!

CAMERA ANGLES DOWN TO A MASSIVE PILE OF TURKEY LEGS AT SOOS'S FEET.  HIS ARM ENTERS THE SCREEN'S FIELD OF VISION.  HE GRABS A CHICKEN LEG AND THROWS IT AT KITTEN WITH A GRUNT.  KITTEN'S HEAD SHOOTS OUT TEN FEET AND HE SNAPS IT UP IN ON GULP.  KITTEN CHIRPS FOR MORE, THEN SNEEZES SO HARD IT BLOWS THE REST OF THE CHIMNEY AWAY.

ABUELITA (Distant, rapid Spanish)

MELODY Soos!

SOOS I can fix it!

CUT TO INT. DIPPER AND MABEL'S BEDROOM – DAY MABEL IS NOW SITTING ON A ROLLING CHAIR AT A DESK.  A CORKBOARD OVER THE DESK IS COVERED IN NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, MORE POSTCARDS, POST-IT NOTES, AND STRINGS OF RED YARN.  

MABEL (Squeezing her cheeks) Aw, that was adorable!  Guess I can't say Dipper sneezes like a 'Kitten' anymore!  HEY-OOOO!  

MABEL STANDS AND MOVES SLIGHTLY TO HER RIGHT, THE CAMERA FOLLOWING HER MOVEMENT.

MABEL And now for the final portion of the episode, please welcome Grunkle Ford, and his extensive knowledge of all things ocean and occult!

A LAPTOP RESTS ON THE DESK.  THE SCREEN IS FILLED WITH GREAT-UNCLE FORD'S FACE.  THE SLIVERS OF BACKGROUND ON EITHER SIDE SHOW BOAT RAILINGS AGAINST AN AZURE SEA AND SLIGHTLY CLOUDY SKY.  A SMALL DARK THREAD OF LAND TRACES THE HORIZON.  FORD IS WEARING A LIFE JACKET OVER A RED TURTLENECK AND LOOKS SLIGHTLY SUNBURNED, SMILING DIRECTLY AT THE CAMERA.

FORD Greetings, future scientists!

MABEL Grunkle Ford, what can you tell us about the supernatural families you've found in the Arctic Circle? 

FORD Actually most of the cryptids we've discovered on the ocean are solitary by virtue of their size alone.  A giant squid, for example, typically requires a hunting ground of one to two thousand square miles of open ocean just to sate its voracious appetite.  It's quite rare for them to engage in anything we might call “socializing.”

STAN (Off Screen) Oi!

STAN ENTERS FROM THE LEFT, BENDING OVER TO SQUINT AT THE SCREEN.  FORD LEANS BACK SLIGHTLY, ANNOYED.

STAN Did I hear that right?  Is my irredeemable nerdbro actually talking about socializing?

FORD It's science, Stanley!

STAN Whatever, this I gotta see.

MABEL We're doing a segment on cryptid families!  Got anything to add?

STAN You tell 'em about the ghosts yet?

FORD (Looking uncomfortable) Not yet, but –

MABEL (excitedly) I wanna hear!  GHOST, GHOST, GHOST, GHOST –

LOUD BANGING SOUNDS FROM OFF SCREEN.  AFTER A CRASH, AN ELBOW AND A PARTIAL VIEW OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE APPEARS ON THE SCREEN.

DIPPER I'm here where's the ghost?!

FORD(annoyed)Stan claims to have seen two of them on our visit to Vik i Myrdal.

DIPPER (confused) Huh? Vik what?

FORD A beach on the coast of Iceland, famous for its basaltic sand.  We were visiting primarily to study the petrified troll bodies just off the shore –

STAN Yeah yeah with the weird rocks, Ford was doing his science doodles or whatever, but that wasn't the important part.  See, there was this massive cave in the cliffs that looked exactly like the place a pirate would hide his treasure –

FORD Not at high tide!

DIPPER What happened?

STAN Uh, turns out the waves around there get really bad.

FORD As in twenty feet high. I turned around, there was no Stan in sight, and cave was already half-flooded with water.  Luckily one of us followed the rule about wearing our scuba gear under our clothes.  I immediately dropped my equipment and dove in after him. I found him pinned under a pile of rocks several dozen meters into the cave.

MABEL Whoa, are you okay?

STAN (smirking) Fine, I'm not the one who got knocked out.

FORD You shoved me!

STAN The water shoved you!  Accidentally!  To keep falling rocks from hitting you!

DIPPER But what about the ghosts?

STAN So we're stuck in the cave, right, and I'm trying to hold my breath, swim, and drag Sixer with me all at the same time, and the water's smashing us around so much Ford's underwater flashlight cracks and I'm thinking the next light I'm gonna see is the pearly gates.  And then I do see a light, and I swim toward it thinking it's gotta be daylight, but it's not getting any closer and all this fat was not helping me float.  And then a second light shows up and takes Sixer's other arm and practically drags us outta there, and next thing you know we were back on the beach, and I look back just in time to see an outline of this guy and his wife watching us from the middle of the air next to the cave.  

MABEL Wow, they stuck together and not even death could part them.  That is so romantic!  

STAN Sure. Woulda grabbed a photo but there was a little matter of Sixer not breathin' at the time.

FORD You should have taken the picture!  Thanks to the rocks falling, the end of the tunnel was completely blocked, and I was almost sure I saw fossilized cryptid bones inside.  Now we don't have anything at all to prove supernatural activity occurred in the cave!

STAN The words you want are 'Thank you, Stanley, you're the best brother ever.'

FORD Of course you are, that's not the point!

STAN What? Wait –

DIPPER Why were there ghosts there in the first place?

FORD I didn't know enough of the local language to inquire, but I suspect it may have something to do with the cryptid bones I glimpsed.  I suspect the couple's death was somehow caused by the cryptid, but Stan's account suggests that they're poltergeists, and poltergeists generally don't die violent deaths.

DIPPER What if the couple was keeping it as a pet?  Or maybe they could turn into the cryptid, like selkies?  The ghosts Stan saw might just have been their human versions!

FORD Brilliant hypothesis, Dipper!  Perhaps I was merely asking the wrong questions! Stan, quick, turn the boat around!

STAN No way, no, you literally died in that cave –

FORD Not permanently!  Besides, you'd have my back!

STAN That is so below the belt!

DIPPER Stan, are you crying?

STAN I got sea salt in my eye!

CAMERA PANS TO A CLOSE-UP OF MABEL, WHO IS LOOKING TO THE SIDE, BACK TOWARD THE COMPUTER SCREEN.  THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES IN THE BACKGROUND.  

MABEL We'll leave them to their nerdery.   (Looks directly at camera.)   Families don't have to be related, and they don't even have to be the same species.  What's important is that you show how much you care for each other, and spend time doing the same things, like getting thrown in a county jail or treating flamingopher bites.

BOTH STANS (Off Screen) That was ONE TIME!

MABELYour family might include close friends, dogs, pet rocks, or that one crow who brings you shiny pennies and half-eaten lollipops.  Whatever your family, take a minute today to let them know how much they matter. Thanks for watching Mabel's Guide to Cryptid Families.  See you next time! A/N: To my friends on Deep Woods, and a good friend on tumblr...thank you ^u^

[inkweaver22-blr]

Okay so I had an idea for a Mystery Skulls Animated fic. It has been on my mind for some time and I wanted to share it with you all. But when I went to write it… It wasn’t a pretty sight. It wasn’t BAD, but it wasn’t all that great either as I’m severely out of practice.

Plus my motivation for it died faster than the hype for No Man’s Sky.

So I’m just going to post a detailed summary of what the story was going to be like and let someone else try their hand at it. I’m also going to tag my favorite writers/drabblers/idea farmers/AU crafters from this fandom so they see this in case they want to adopt it. Let me do that now.

@phantoms-lair @ectoimp @providentially-demonic @squigglydigglydoo

I’ll leave it under the cut so people can be spoiler free in case someone does come along to write this out. Feel free to ask questions if something doesn’t make sense! Here we go, a detailed, yet slightly silly, summary of my almost fic: ‘Under Your Skin’.

So firstly, yes. This IS a ‘Arthur becomes something other than human’ fic. And yes, I think the creature I picked has been done before. HOWEVER! I’m hoping the way it happens and my original variation on said creature will be different enough to be interesting.

To begin with, some background. This takes place about a year after the hypothetical reunion of the gang and Lewis no longer wants to kill Arthur. They’ve all been through some therapy both individually and as a group (Mystery knows a guy/elf who does this) so the majority of their issues/insecurities have been worked out. Their bonds of friendship and/or love haven’t been better.

But instead of focusing on the romance between Lewis and Vivi (and MAYBE Arthur), I wanted this story to focus on the friendship between Mystery and Arthur. Like how that he’s now able to talk freely to them and so they get along. My main example was Mystery actually preferring Arthur’s choices in music over Vivi’s and Lewis’.

Anywhos, onto the plot! The gang receives a call for a job on the coast to help retrieve a stolen magical item. The client, a woman, refuses to give many details until they meet in person. Vivi, being curious, insists that they go. So they load up the van and head for the coastal Texan city/town of BLANK. The opening of my original draft was towards the end of this trip with Arthur and Mystery up front enjoying some music while Lewis was in the back with Vivi as she napped.

And that was as far as I got. The rest is what I had planned out in my head. If you do plan on picking this fic up you can go into as much or as little detail as you want based off my ramblings. No names or physical descriptions were ever chosen for the OC’s so go wild. Onwards!

They reach The Town of Ongoing Events late at night/early in the morning and sleep at a hotel for several hours. (Maybe have Mystery curl up against Arthur’s side because Lewis and Vivi are cuddling?) They then head out to the address provided by their mystery client.

Mrs. Plot Catalyst lets them in and they exchange some pleasantries. She then explains that the item that had been stolen was her Seal Cloak, exposing her as a selkie. Vivi begins to go on a rant about selfish men being jerkwads and demands to know who her husband is because in all selkie lore that’s who would steal her cloak. Seal Lady, a bit bemused, calls her husband in from the garage and after a brief misunderstanding (read: Vivi threatening the man with the painful things her pet Kitsune or Wraith boyfriend could do to him) they find out it WASN’T her husband who stole the cloak. Mr. Nice Guy actually accepts her for who she is and didn’t mind her leaving for months at a time.

What happened was a friend of Seal Husband stumbled across them when she was returning from one of her trips and asked to borrow the cloak. Friend of Seal Husband was Very Rich™ and said that he wanted to study the cloak for the benefit of all magical/supernatural beings. As the couple knew this guy well and believed him trustworthy, they agreed. That was several months ago and they hadn’t heard from him since. They had tried to contact him but all attempts failed for one reason or another.

So the MS gang and Seal Couple sit down for a plan of action. They decide that Vivi and Arthur are to go Mr. Wealthy’s office building to try and talk to him. Mystery and Lewis can’t come as this guy is super into the magical and has wards that would alert him when a magical being enters the premises. They get all upset at first but Vivi calms Lewis while Arthur reassures Mystery.

The Blue Temper Problem and Yellow String Bean head to I’m So Rich I Can Buy An Impoverished Country’s office and give the secretary some tripe about magical being conservation which immediately gains them an audience with him. They meet with Rolling In Money and he greets them kindly. The duo explain that they heard through the magical grapevine that he was doing something to help out mystical creatures. With a wide smile Mr. Potentially The Antagonist But It’s Not Clear Yet begins to explain.

It started with his Tragic Backstory™ when he was a boy. In the woods near his home town lived a family of (unspecified sentient magical creatures) that he befriended and knew for years. As they didn’t possess the ability to disguise themselves as humans or animals they stayed away from humans except for Child Version Of Mr. Rich. One day, he heard a loud commotion from his friends’ home and hid in some nearby bushes to see what was going on. A group of humans dressed in strange clothes/armor had his friends tied up. They spouted some BS about human superiority and purity and then executed the family.

Mr. Depressing Past grew up with the incident weighing on his mind and vowed to try and help magical creatures from then on. He tried to find the mysterious group as well but had no luck. He used his fortune to help protect creatures by financing relocation's and national parks where magical creatures could live semi-peacefully. But he felt like it wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t until he stumbled across the wife of his Very Good And Close Friend™ (at this point Arthur and Vivi are like ????????) shedding her seal skin to look human that he got an idea. What if he can find a way to copy the selkies’ ability to shed their skin like a cloak for other species that couldn’t disguise themselves? Then they could hide in plain sight!

So Mr. Good Intentions asks to borrow the cloak to study its magic and see if it could be copied. They agree and he begins his research. It takes several months and he has a process but he needs some further help from a specific book found only at Shangri-La. So he goes there and seeks council from the monk mystics and yeti that live there.

He learns that while he can’t make it so living creatures can shed their skin, nor can he give them human skins to hide in (ewww), there is another way. He can take the remains of a creature (fur, scales, bones, claws, teeth, ect.), turn it into a wearable item, and magically bond it to a human. The human then gains the ability to take the form of that creature by simply donning or shedding that skin like a selkie. BUT!!!! It will only work properly if he gets permission from the departed spirit of the dead creature(which he does through a ritual). If they don’t get permission they properly dispose of the remains according to the spirit's’ wishes. Also some spirits will be super picky about who bonds with their wearable item so the process won’t work with some random person they must be C H O S E N . And while many creatures have natural defenses, he decides to add minor elemental abilities to the bonding spell so they can better protect themselves. The best part is that this is hereditary so any offspring will also have this ability so in a couple generations most of that species will be able to do so.

Mr. Rich asks if they want a demonstration. Vivi is like HECK YES because despite being wary of this guy this is a major breakthrough in magic that could change a lot. So he takes the white fur scarf he was wearing this entire time and sticks his hands into the hidden pockets on each end. He seems to blur for a second before appearing as a seven and a half foot yeti from that one Mummy movie. He then makes a little crystal of ice in his paws to demonstrate the elemental add on(only $9.99 extra if you pre-order now).

Mr. Yeti Man returns to normal by simply imagining removing his hands from the pockets and offers to give the two a tour of his home the next day where he converts the remains into Cloaks™. They agree and skadoodle back to Seal Base Alpha and tell the others what they’ve learned. Mystery is unsure how to feel as this IS a good thing and Mr. Ice Ice Baby even went so far to receive permission from departed spirits so not to disrespect them. BUT he seems to have also stolen from his friends AND giving humans these kinds of powers can lead to all kinds of problems. So they decide to allow Vivi and Arthur to go alone again BUT!!! Lewis and Mystery will be hanging out at the edge of the property in case something goes wrong. Mystery gives a token of some kind to them both that they just have to press in case they need help and he’ll know.

The next day Arthur and Vivi head out and arrive at a Very Nice Estate™ that has a mansion and huge lawn and fountain and everything. Mr. Corporate Cryptid invites them in a guides them to his underground labs/workshops. There are scientists/magicians and security guards going about their stuff as they receive the tour. They meet some important people to the process like his second in command, tailor/taxidermist, and head spell-caster. At one point they are passing glass cases of Cloaks™ and Arthur just STOPS in front of one. It seems to be an actual cloak/cape unlike some of the other wearable items(Vivi scoffs at a pair of Jackalope fur Bunny Slippers). The upper half is black and gold feathers while the lower half is beige fur. He STARES at it for a minute, as if it’s calling to him, until Vivi snaps him out of it.

After a bit, Vivi feigns curiosity and asks what happened to the original cloak he based his research off. The Abominable CEO Man happily states he returned it to its owner and even gave them some monetary compensation. Vivi then just GOES OFF at that and says ‘Uh, yeah, no you didn’t’ but not as polite. Mr. Rich is both confused and slightly horrified as he hears this and brings them to confront his second in command as he was the one he put in charge of that.

After trying to play innocent at Mr. Rich’s and Vivi’s interrogation, SURPRISE! He betrays his boss and magically binds them. The security force begins to non-lethally subdue the workers that weren’t in on this as The Actual Villain begins his Evil Monologue™  He used to be part of the evil group that Mr. Rich mentions in his Tragic Backstory™ but ‘They didn’t think big enough’ for him. So he left them, infiltrated this project, and converted others to his cause. His goal? To make an army of human/mystical creature hybrids using the Cloaks™ and TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!!1!!ONE!!

Jerkwad McGee takes the magical alarm tokens from Arthur and Vivi and locks them up with Mr. Rich and the workers that weren’t part of his evil posse. He then begins to try and force the bonding with the Cloaks™ on his followers as none of them were ever chosen due to their evil intentions. Hours pass and the sun starts to set. The trapped people are trying to come up with a plan to escape while Lewis and Mystery get antsy.

Alrighty gang, this is where we enter the territory that I haven’t finalized yet. Most of it will be kind of vague so get a bit creative if you decide to write this out.

Mystery loses patients and he and Lewis barge in. They fight off the guards but somehow give Bad Guy the means to finish the forced bonding process. Meanwhile the prisoners somehow escape. The workers all leave the property, the grunts are all unconscious, and Mr. Rich in his Yeti form and the MS gang confront Antagonist out on the lawn. Bad Guy then pulls out a Cloak™(in the form of a helmet) he’s been hiding made from the remains of a REALLY REALLY BAD CREATURE™ and forces the bond onto himself. He transforms into the beast and goes berserk.

I was originally going to have him be the Red Bull from the Last Unicorn, but that’s a fire elemental and wouldn’t work with what I have planned. So make him some sort of really powerful and feared monster that’s resistant to fire and ice but weak to electricity.

Mystery is like ‘OH SHIZNIZZLLE!!!’ and hops to the top of the mansion and creates a barrier/illusion surrounding the entire estate so the beast won’t escape and authorities won’t come to investigate. Lewis and Yeti Guy fight the Beast on the lawn while Arthur and Vivi hang back towards the house.

It doesn’t go well.

When things start to look even worse than they already are, Arthur feels a pull leading into the mansion. Vivi doesn’t notice him leave as he follows it. He comes to the glass cases room to find it trashed from Lewis and Mystery’s fight earlier. The calling gets stronger and it leads him to the Cloak™ he spaced out in front of earlier. He hesitantly picks it up and wonders what to do when he gets a strong sense of ‘This is RIGHT’ and ‘You can help stop this’ coming from it. With the sounds of battle in the background Arthur takes a shaky breath.

He puts on the cloak.

Back at the brawl, Yeti Guy and Lewis are injured while Mystery is straining to keep the barrier intact when a fierce cry rings out. From the mansion flies a griffon that has a metal forelimb and golden feathers puffed up in a strange fashion on its head. Electricity forms around it and it fires a HUGE lightning bolt at the beast, harming it. Yeti Guy immediately recognizes the color scheme from an unclaimed Cloak™ but is like ‘The Elemental Add Ons aren’t THAT strong wth???’ and Mystery is like ‘A Royal Griffon?? But it’s aura…? ARTHUR?!?!’.

Pausing the plot for a second to explain! Royal Griffons are something I made up. In this universe of MSA, griffons come in many subspecies. The most common being eagle/lion, there are others like hawk/lynx or raven/siberian cat. Basically any bird/feline combo of almost equal proportionate size. But then there are ones that have the body parts of OTHER mythical creatures. These are Royal Griffons. Some examples are a phoenix and house cat, or a condor and nemean lion. Arthur here happens to be a Thunderbird (think an oversized golden eagle with lightning powers) and mountain lion mix.

So Griffon!Arthur joins the battle and with the beast’s weakness to electricity they manage to defeat it, remove the Cloak™ from Bad Dude, and save the world! Mystery drops the barrier and rushes up to Arthur and begins to checking him over to make sure he’s okay. Arthur insists he is and ‘I was just running on instincts I guess’ so Mystery slaps him upside the head and begins lecturing him on being such an idiot and ‘WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN HURT!’ and ‘DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO YOURSELF THIS IS PERMANENT!’ and ‘THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CAVE ALL OVER AND I COULDN’T STOP IT THIS IS MY FAULT AGAIN!’

And Arthur is all ‘HECK NAH this was MY CHOICE and it FEELS right for some reason and what about Lewis he could have been hurt and I’m not panicking so you need to stop panicking or else I’m going to start panicking and OHMYGOSH I WAS FLYING SO HIGH IN THE AIR I HATE HEIGHTS THAT WAS TERRIFYING!’.

Vivi then grabs them by the ear/feathers and gets them to chill. Yeti Guy helps Arthur through the process of taking off the Cloak™ (he just has to imagine his human self doing so). They go back inside, retrieve Seal Lady’s cloak and all return to Seal Base Alpha to explain all that happened. Yeti Guy invites them back in the morning so he put some final protections on Arthur’s new cloak so they head back to the hotel for some well deserved R&R.

Also not sure if this should be mentioned during the explanation scene or in the morning, but Yeti Guy mentions that the spirit of the royal griffon said he would only bond with ‘a loyal follower of a ruler’. Arthur then snarks ‘So a Kingsmen than?’ earning groans and a slap to the head.

During the night, Mystery and Arthur get some time alone to talk things out. Arthur admits that he does feel a bit nervous about being a griffon now but not as much as he would have before they all had therapy. Mystery admits he’s simply afraid for Arthur because Arthur is going to be alive for a LONG time now(several hundred years) and the human somehow managed to worm his way under his skin (T-T-T-TITLE DROP) and considers him a best friend. They hug and whatnot, promise to always be supportive and there for each other and then head to sleep.

Not sure if the story should end there or include Yeti Guy’s extra protection spells and maybe a scene of Mystery helping Arthur out with his new body.

But that’s the end of Under Your Skin! Hope you enjoyed reading this summary! Again, feel free to ask any questions! Let me know if you plan on writing this out or just plan on playing in this sandbox I created! Peace!