#he just feels like he's the most emotional sibling (mostly cause his source depiction brought to us by the great TGC looks 5 seconds from

[dirtytransmasc]

Step dad Criston Cole HC:

his kids never got too big. never too big for him to (at the very least try to) hold close, to carry around, to rock them to sleep, to let them sit in his lap or be buried in his side. they're never too big to run to him for comfort. they're never to big to need their tears wiped away. his kids are never to big for him, they never 'age out' of his love and care, he will always be their dad in every way until he draws his last breath.

[crabas-lordes]

Explaining Gen. 3 Legendaries/Mythicals in My Remakes

According to the games/anime:

Regirock - The Rock Peak Pokémon, a pure Rock type, unknown gender, 5′07″ tall, weighs 507.1 pounds, was sealed away hundreds of years ago. It lives in caves or ruins.

Regice - The Iceberg Pokémon, a pure Ice type, unknown gender, 5′11″ tall, weighs 385.8 pounds, capable of surviving extremely hot temperatures, and is made of Antarctic ice. 

Registeel - The Iron Pokémon, a pure Steel type, unknown gender, 6′03″ tall, weighs 451.9 pounds, actually made of metal harder than any known metal and hollow. It’s body was tempered underground pressure for thousands of years, therefore, it cannot get a scratch. It’s food source is unknown. 

Latias - The Eon Pokémon, a Dragon and Psychic type, always female, 4′07″ tall (long), weighs 88.2 pounds, capable of Mega Evolution, can telepathically communicate with people and disguise as people. It is capable of refracting light to become invisible. It is highly intelligent and capable of understanding human speech. It is highly sensitive to human emotions, and will act intimidating if it senses a hostile person. 

Latios - The Eon Pokémon, a Dragon and Psychic type, always male, 6′07″ tall (long), weighs 132.2 pounds, capable of Mega Evolution, can telepathically communicate with people. It is highly intelligent, capable of understanding human speech, and dislikes fighting. It can fly faster than a jet plane, and can open its heart to any compassionate trainer. It can detect peoples’ emotions. 

Groudon - The Continent Pokémon, a pure Ground type, unknown gender, 11′06″ tall, weighs 2,094.4 pounds, has a Primal Forme, depicted in mythology as a Pokémon who raised lands. It can make volcanoes erupt upon awakening, and saves people from suffering from floods. It has beef with Kyogre. 

Rayquaza - The Sky High Pokémon, a Dragon and Flying type, unknown gender, 23′ tall (long), weighs 455.3 pounds, has a Mega Evolution, lived for hundreds of millions years in the ozone and never descended to the ground. It feeds on meteors and water particles in the atmosphere. It is only to descend to the ground if Kyogre and Groudon were to battle. 

Kyogre - The Sea Basin Pokémon, a pure Water type, unknown gender, 14′09″ tall (long), weighs 776 pounds, has a Primal Forme, capable of causing downpours. It was depicted to form the oceans, and saved people suffering from droughts. It sleeps in a marine trench after battling with Groudon. 

Jirachi - The Wish Pokémon, a Psychic and Steel type, unknown gender, 1′ tall, weighs 2.2 pounds, capable of granting every wish written on its sticky notes on its head. If it senses danger, it can fight without awakening. Jirachi will sleep for thousands of years and waken to a voice of purity. When it sleeps, a tough crystalline shell envelopes its body to protect it from enemies. It only stays awake for seven days. 

Deoxys - The DNA Pokémon, a pure Psychic type, unknown gender, 5′07″ tall, weighs 134 pounds, has 4 forms total (Normal, Attack, Defense, and Speed), created from a alien virus in space that underwent DNA mutations. It’s crystalline orb in its chest seems to be its brain. It is highly intelligent and has psychokinetic powers. 

My Take on Gen.3 Pokémon For the Remakes:

Regirock - It was originally sealed away by the ancient people of Sinnoh, but then a Mew decided to put it to good use. Mew set Regirock free from its temple confine and lead it to the Tree of Beginning to guard. Regirock has no gender in my remakes, since it is completely made of rocks and therefore, cannot mate. It sometimes likes to collect igneous minerals, and has a liking toward crystals. Even though it is made of rocks, it is intelligent, and has a telepathic connection to its other siblings. It can also shed its rocks when it feels it becoming too clustered.

Regice - It was formed from the powerful storms around Snowpoint City, and was awakened by a Mew to be brought to the Tree of Beginning to guard. It is highly intelligent and has a connective mind with its other siblings. Regice has no gender in my remakes, since it is made of entirely ice. While it still can survive very hot temperatures, dragonfire would easily be able to melt and kill it. It sheds shards of ice occasionally when it feels it needs to be cleaned. 

Registeel - It was found sealed in a cavern by a scientific team. They took it to their base to study, where Registeel was awakened. It wasn’t violent, but was seen as observative and intelligent. It mimicked the humans’ actions. Upon discovery, it was stated to be hollow, and its armor harder than tungsten (the strongest metal known to Earth). Registeel has no gender in my remakes since it is made of metal, and therefore cannot breed. Registeel was shown to communicate to humans, and is the only one of its siblings capable of speech (but it sounds artificial). It was soon abducted by Team Rocket, where they would take its shed armor and use dragonfire to meld its powerful metal into god-killing weapons known as “God-Killers”. 

Latias - Latias is very skittish, but loves human contact. Once she warms up to someone, she will become emotionally attached to them. She is highly intelligent but tends to act like a puppy. Latias was made from the soul of a little girl with a free spirit. When her village was destroyed by a volcano in Groudon’s wake, and flooded by Kyogre’s fury, Rayquaza had saved her and transformed her into a Latias. Latias can disguise as a human to hide herself from enemies, turn invisible, and telepathically communicate with anyone that deserves her voice. Latias likes to whistle and hum. 

Latios - Latios is more confident than Latias, and is more of a protective older brother. He’s more skeptical about humans, but can warm up to them. He too can become invisible, but he lacks the ability to disguise as a human. He is also much faster than Latias, having passed speeds of over Mach 1 in times of crisis. Latios was made from the soul of a young boy with a wish to become a knight, and was transformed by Rayquaza, just like his younger sister. Latios can also speak telepathically, and also can project his vision into the mind’s of those he finds worthy. 

Groudon - Groudon is extremely territorial and almost impossible to catch and tame. Groudon is a male in my remakes. Team Magma has failed an abundance of times to catch the Legendary beast, but would fall to his extreme heat and radiation. Groudon likes to rest in volcanoes, where he swims and drinks the magma and feeds on radiation. Groudon’s armor is iron; it is usually hard to pierce his hide. Groudon also protects Jirachi in her sleep; he nests her cocoon in a connective cave in the volcano, so the deity is not always a savage. Groudon has only battled Kyogre once as the continents and oceans formed, and the battle was eventually ended by Rayquaza. Groudon is the middle sibling of the Weather Trio. Groudon now stands at fifteen feet and weighs about a ton, due to his size and armor. 

Rayquaza - Rayquaza is one of the most territorial dragons on the planet. Rayquaza is a hermaphrodite in my remakes, which means its both male and female. Rayquaza mostly has beef with the Deoxys species and Ultra Beasts, due to them invading its home. Sometimes Rayquaza descends to check on the people of Hoenn, and only Hoenn (it’s birthplace). There, it made friends with a young boy, and sometimes it visits him in a time of need. Despite its territorial tendencies, Rayquaza is usually very curious to its surroundings. Rayquaza is now slightly longer at 25′ long, and its Mega Evolution now slightly longer at exactly 50′ long. Rayquaza is the most respected deity in Hoenn. Rayquaza is the oldest of the Weather Trio.

Kyogre - Kyogre is the least territorial and is a female in my remakes. She is the least territorial because she remains nomadic around the oceans -- until she gained the trust of Team Aqua. Once Team Aqua moved to the coasts of Sinnoh due to their discovery of Samiya, Kyogre followed, now loyal to Archie. Archie had no interest to catch Kyogre, but rather, study and monitor her. Once Kyogre joined their ranks, she would circle her routes from Sinnoh to Hoenn, and stay near those two regions. She only fought Groudon once in her lifetime, and nor does she plan to do so again. Kyogre is extremely intelligent and can pinpoint the solutions to problems fairly quickly. Kyogre is now around 25′ long and weighs slightly over a ton. She is the youngest of the Weather Trio.  

Jirachi - Jirachi is a female in my remakes and is very childish despite her age. She also is very curious and skittish, which is understandable when you only have so many days to be awake out of a thousand years. She can remain to her sleeping schedule, but rarely does she sense someone worthy to wake early for. While she can grant most wishes, she cannot grant the wishes that involve serious crimes/harm or resurrect the dead. She can speak telepathically, but is limited in speech, and almost sounds like a three-year-old. Despite how old she sounds, she is quite intelligent. She is smart enough to remember the faces of anyone she meets for quite a while, and she’s also smart enough to understand the situations she is put in. She can sense people’s emotions like her own, and does her best to change it if the emotions are negative. Jirachi mainly stays in Hoenn, but can choose to go to any other region that she pleases. She is very attached to Groudon and Giratina. 

Deoxys - There are two Deoxys on Earth; one with a purple core, and one with a green. They always stay together as partners, not mates. They have no genders, since they are mutated viruses and almost tend to breed asexually. However, Earth is slightly too harsh for them to raise their young, given Rayquaza nearly hunts them down every chance it gets. Their core is not their brain, but rather, their “heart”, or life source. If it is shattered, then the Deoxys disappears forever. Deoxys are smart enough to evade problems and don’t go looking for fights. They are usually very curious, especially in the human world. They have a fascination for humans and tend to try to mimic their actions. The two Deoxys have notably different personalities: The one with the purple core is confident and protective, and more willing to fight offensively as the one with the green core is curious, skittish, and prefers to fight defensively. To put another example in the make, if there was a lost child in the woods, the purple-cored Deoxys would more likely leave the child, but the green-cored Deoxys would most likely bring the child to safety.  

Disclaimer: These remakes are for fun and by no means are meant to replace the Pokémon franchise.

[randomly-random-jen]

Uncalled For Actions (4/?)

A Girl Genius fanfic

When Gilgamesh Holzfäller is fourteen, he’s taken on as an apprentice to Baron Wulfenbach as part of a program to produce the next generation of leaders in the Empire–a group that will hopefully get along (although most see this as wishful thinking on the Baron’s part).

He’s learned a lot over the months of shadowing the Baron, but nothing has prepared him for his most challenging assignment: confronting the skeletons in his closet.  [Part 1 | 2 | 3 | Part 5 ]

Part 4

About half a dozen emotions flitted across Tweedle’s face at that news before he settled back to his barely contained rage.

Gil refused to back down for the obvious intimidation tactic he knew well from his childhood. He brought himself up to his full height which was still nearly a head shorter than Tweedle, chin held high and a practiced, indifferent expression plastered on his face.

Finally, Tweedle stepped out of Gil’s personal space and dusted the front of Gil’s jacket like he was straightening out the wrinkles Gil had already fixed. “The Baron, you say? I heard a rumor about you.”

Gil cocked one eyebrow under his fringe of bangs and crossed his arms over his chest. “Which one?”

“That you’re the orphaned son of homicidal Sparks that went on a rampage, and the only reason you’re an apprentice is the Baron feels sorry for you.”

Gil wanted to laugh–as if his father would give such an important job to someone out of pity. Instead, he shrugged as if the words didn’t bring back loathsome memories. “Close enough.”

As expected from habitual bullies, Tweedle looked even more annoyed that he didn’t get a rise out of Gil, but he recovered quickly. He took two menacing steps towards Gil and shoved a finger in his face. “Baron or no, I don’t care who you are, if I catch you around my sister again-”

Seffie interrupted him with a swat on the back of his head. “Martellus, no. Bad brother.”

She grabbed Tweedle’s rather large and solid forearm and tried to drag him away which had the effect of her trying to move a train until she pinched him in the side.

He didn’t say anything else as he finally allowed his sister to pull him down the hall, but he did smack Gil’s head into the wall one last time for emphasis.

Gil rubbed the back of his head as he watched the von Blitzengaard siblings round the corner then glanced at Anevka. She had her face in her hands.

“I’m so sorry about that. My family is–embarrassing.”

“Aren’t they all?”

She looked at him through her fingers then dropped her hands with a dry laugh. “I guess you’re right and my family has the market on humiliating twisted branches cornered.”

“I don’t know–Seffie seemed okay.”

“Well, you don’t know her like I do,” she said with a grin. “Come on, there’s still time before the summit reconvenes.” Anevka slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, leading him down the hall opposite the way Tweedle and Seffie had disappeared.

Gil looked over his shoulder. “I don’t think we’re supposed to leave the luncheon.”

“They won’t even notice we’re gone. Besides, you’re with me and this is my home.”

Gil had a feeling the Baron would not accept that excuse, but he continued to follow Anevka farther into the castle, memorizing the route just in case.

They took two lefts, a right, went up a flight of stairs, two lefts then right, left, right before going down a very narrow spiral staircase lit by something glowing on the walls. Fascinated, he reached out to touch the substance, but it contracted into itself with a pip causing a cascade of lights going out up and down the stairs.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Anevka laughed. “Don’t worry–they’ll light back up if we’re quiet.”

Sure enough, the walls began to glow softly a moment later until they were back at their original brightness. Gil leaned closer to get a better look; this time without touching. “It’s a fungus–that glows.”

“Pretty, isn’t it? It grows in the mines all around Balan’s Gap–the miners use it instead of gas lamps or candles with the added benefit of it processing just about every toxic substance into oxygen so-”

“No chance of sudden asphyxiation–a light source and air scrubber in one. That’s brilliant.”

Anevka smiled then tugged him along. “Well, I can’t take credit for creating the things, but I did bring them up here and plant them along the walls in some of the lesser used passageways that are too troublesome to keep lit with gas lamps or wire for electricity.”

“This was your idea?’

She ducked her head and despite the green glow, Gil had the distinct impression she was blushing which made him feel a little light headed.

They got to the bottom of the stairs when Anevka suddenly turned to him, eyes twinkling in the shimmery light. “If you like plants, you’ll love the arboretum,” she said, guiding him to the left. “We have hundreds of specimen from all over the world–Mother used to get dreadfully sorrowful during the long winters so Father brought the tropics to her. It’s all very romantic.”

Gil coughed then started choking before nearly tripping over his own feet.

Anevka tried to hide her giggles behind her hand but didn’t do a very good job. “I’m kidding, Gil.”

Gil let out a breath, face blushing fiercely.

Anevka pinched a cheek. "Aren’t you just adorable.”

He tried to smile, but he suddenly felt uncomfortably aware of their isolation. “Where even are we?” he asked after they passed numerous unadorned and presumably locked doors.

“The East Wing or as it’s affectionately called, the ‘Fire Mountain’ Wing."

"Why do you call it that?”

Anevka just smiled as they spilled out into a large, open atrium–the glass dome soaring at least ten meters above them–and covering every wall, a mural depicting the surrounding mountains burning.

“Pretty, huh?”

Gil's eyebrows shot up--'pretty' is not the word he'd used to describe it.

Terrifying, morbid, twisted--those worked better, but he just nodded, not that she was paying any attention to him anymore.

She twirled around the center of the room, face turned up to the dreary sky beyond the glass. "This is my favorite room in the entire castle.

You should see it during the sunrise and set--the whole room is ablaze of reds and oranges thanks to the special glass." Her eyes looked a little on fire themselves when she glanced back at him. "The flames in the murals seem to dance, and you can almost feel the heat."

"Uh, that sounds-"

She continued to dance, oblivious to his awkwardness.

He needed to move things along because Anevka was seriously creeping him out right now. "So, you said something about an arboretum?"

She stopped abruptly then grabbed his hand at a run. "I almost forgot--we don't have much time before we have to get back."

Gil let out a sigh, allowing himself to be dragged along again. This girl was going to give him whiplash, and it reminded him of his father's numerous lectures on the evils of women that Gil mostly ignored because he thought the theories were just his father's way of coping with being bad at relationships. Maybe he wasn't so wrong after all.

A minute later, they dashed under an arch adorned with angels of some sort and through a set of glass doors.

The air inside was humid and you swam through it more so than walked, and everywhere you looked were plants and trees and more plants--the ground, the walls, hanging from the ceiling, growing in planters.

"Wow."

"You like it?"

Gil could tell this was important to her so he nodded, not that it was a lie or anything; the place was amazing.

"Come on, I'll show you my favorite spot." Anevka reached her hand out to him, wiggling her fingers in invitation.

Gil had a feeling he was going to regret spending so much time alone with this girl, but she was nice and a princess so he could hardly refuse. Besides, it was kind of nice having the attention on him for once and not have it involve fists and stolen food.

He pushed those thoughts away, took Anevka’s hand and followed her through the maze of tropical trees and flowers until they came to a clearing near the center where the largest tree towered over the others, its’ branches heavy with long strings of leaves reaching to a little pond at the base.

"This is the best spot for picnics,” she said, flopping onto the ground and patting the soft grass next to her.

Gil scratched the back of his neck as he looked around, unease growing in the pit of his stomach. “It’s getting kind of late–don’t you think we should go back?”

Anevka threw herself back, her red hair splaying around her face, contrasting with the dark green grass. “You know, you remind me of my brother.”

Gil sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would you say that?”

“Oh, you know–you’re both concerned with following the rules and being responsible.”

That’s how she saw him? Responsible? Gil mulled that over while Anevka continued to ramble about the garden and what having fun actually meant. He considered how it felt to be compared to Tarvek so easily and cluelessly.

As a kid, he probably would have puffed up with pride if someone thought he was like Tarvek who was smart and resourceful and brave, but what would Anevka think if she’d been on Castle Wulfenbach with them when they were skipping classes and sneaking around in restricted areas?

The thought made him smile–sure, Tarvek was always the voice of reason when they planned their adventures, but he never stopped them and came up with more than his own share of stupidity.

“What’s that grin for?” Anevka asked, breaking into his reverie.

Gil schooled his features. “You really think I’m like your brother?”

She cocked her head, considering the question. “No, I suppose not much–he’s way stuffier than you. He’s always studying and playing by the rules to get ahead. I can tell already that you’re a lot more fun–Tarvek would have never doodled during a meeting.”

Gil hoped his disappointment didn’t show too much.

Anevka didn’t seem to notice. “You’ll see when you meet him later. Come, sit with me.”

She patted the ground next to her, her expression way too innocent to be authentic–Gil didn’t like it. “We really should be getting back,” he said, taking a step towards to exit. “I don’t want to make the Baron mad.”

* * *

Violetta balanced on a branch in one of the great trees in the arboretum watching her cousin and the Baron's apprentice chat. Since she'd been following them, she'd learned his name was Gil, he was lying about being an orphan, had zero experience with girls, probably spent most of his life on Castle Wulfenbach by the awed way he stared at the foliage, and obviously already knew Tarvek even if Anevka seemed oblivious to that fact.

And he was surely keeping other secrets that Violetta was eager to discover. She was tired of people like Martellus always underestimating her. She could do this job--she could be a good Smoke Knight if they just let her try.

Down below, Gil took a step away from Anevka. Violetta swiveled to keep him in sight, her foot sliding from the edge of her branch.  The whole tree swayed and she scrambled for a better grip, cracking several twigs in the process. She finally steadied, holding her breath as Anevka looked around suspiciously then she got up, dusting off her skirt.

"Yeah, you're probably right; we should get out of here," she said, holding her hand out to Gil who reluctantly took it, following her out of Violetta's eyesight.

The girl slowly let out the breath with a groan. "I suck at this," she mumbled, tears filling her eyes while she quickly slid down the tree trunk. "Can't even spy on my own stupid cousin."

She gave herself a full minute to wallow then sniffled and wiped her eyes with the corner of her cloak. She couldn't keep following Gil--Anevka was on to her now--so she left through the opposite door into a darker, cooler corridor that wa only used in the summer months.

Consumed by her thoughts, Violetta almost missed the voices growing louder as she walked towards them. At the last second, she darted into a corner and used a technique to blend with the shadows, staying absolutely still without so much as blinking her eyes until the people passed.

She let out the breath she'd held too long and followed after the three older boys--Martellus; that oaf, Orrik; and one of the assistants brought by a distant uncle controlling a nearly non-existent kingdom in the north. She tiptoed behind them, darting between shadows, trying to keep up--all thoughts of Gil and Anevka fading from her mind at the mystery before her.

Somewhere in the back of her head, Tarvek's voice whispered that this is the kind of thing that would get her killed, but like the real boy, she ignored it as always--Tarvek never had any fun.

They took several turns and staircases, including a hidden one, making Violetta wonder how well Martellus knew the castle when he didn't live here full time--she barely even knew where they were and only did because of the scorch marks on the walls.

This hall led to several abandoned labs. Abandoned by people, at least. The accident that nearly took out a quarter of the wing released quite a few unruly monsters that wreaked havoc for days before they were forced back into the labs where they were left to rot--no one smart came over here anymore. So of course, Martellus was here; he was one of the biggest idiots Violetta knew, and too full of himself to know any better.

Eventually, she got close enough to catch their conversation while Martellus consulted a ring of keys in front of a very impressive oak door covered in more locks than seemed necessary. He was actually going to the labs--idiot.

"Martellus, where are we even going," Orrik whined as he leaned against the wall looking sleepy.

"It's a surprise," her cousin answered, finally finding the first key.

"I don't like surprises," said the other boy who looked a little older than Martellus--maybe in his early twenties and still pockmarked with acne that his scraggly beard couldn't hide.

Three more locks were undone followed by a steel bar across the entire door. "Relax Warner, will you?"

Both Orrik and Warner contained any other complaints as the last lock fell off and it took all of Martellus' strength to pry it open--they didn't look very happy about any of it. The door creaked open, and Martellus stepped aside to let the other two through.

Violetta needed to get through that door but there was no way she'd be able to open it on her own--she needed to think fast. She quickly pried free a chunk of battered wall and tossed down the hall, catching Martellus' attention.

As soon as his head shot up, she bolted for the door using another Smoke Knight technique that was supposed to shield her from view even up close. She'd only learned it a month ago and wasn't sure she could even do it correctly yet, but she skirted past her cousin and slid into the shadows of the room beyond where the other two boys were arguing softly.

Not seeing anything, Martellus closed the door, blanketing them in absolute darkness, causing Warner to squeak in surprise.

"I don't like the dark any more than I like surprises."

Martellus lit a match and pulled a candle from a shelf near the door.

"Oh, shut up," he commanded, shoving between the other two towards a dark set stairs at the far end of the room--these led to the labs in the bowels of the castle.

The three were silent as they descended which made it harder for Violetta to follow without being heard. When they reached the bottom, Martellus opened another heavy door that led to another staircase--this one only a few steps long. The complaining started up again as soon as they got to the bottom and realized the room was filled with over a foot of water.

"I don't like water," Warner muttered.

Martellus ignored him, marching through the room with purpose.

Violetta hurried to stay within sight of the dim candle but paused at the bottom of the stairs. She had no fear or general dislike of water, but this water had an oily gleam to it and smelled foul--like rotting eggs. The surrounding room showed the obvious signs of the devastation from the explosion and ensuing battle.

Chunks of walls and ceilings poked above the water and broken furniture floated in the boys' wake, but the lab tables along the edge of the room looked sturdy and intact if more than a little worn. Violetta stuck to these, hopping from table to table to stone blocks to barely stable shelves--anything to stay above the water and out of sight.

"What was that!" Orrik yelled suddenly. "Something touched my leg."

Warner glanced around at the mostly placid water. "Don't be ridiculous."

"No, really, I felt it." Orrik's voice continued to rise in pitch.

"You're imagining things--it's just water."

Violetta perched on a crooked chandelier as the boys argued beneath her, but her attention was on the water.

Martellus had stopped as well, spinning slowly to shed his light on the surrounding room. The water glistened green and purple but nothing moved. "Keep moving," he ordered, putting everyone in motion again.

Violetta swung the chandelier enough to hop to a beam hanging at an angle on the opposite wall then to an equally cockeyed shelf that nearly gave out under her weight.

The idiots were making enough noise not to notice her presence much to her relief. They continued through a heavy metal door blown nearly off its hinges into a bigger lab where the main explosion must have taken place by the nearly complete destruction of the contents--nothing was untouched by fire or left unbroken which left Violetta with a lot fewer choices when moving.

"There it is again," Orrik screeched, his voice echoing in the large space and causing everyone to freeze.

Martellus swung the candle in an arc around them showing placid water except where Orrik churned it up with his nervous dancing. "Knock it off, idiot--you're scaring Warner."

"I'm telling you there's something in the water."

Martellus growled in frustration. "I swear, you whine more than my little sister. Now get your heads in the game."

Warner still watched the water warily. "But I heard there were monsters under Sturmhalten, and we are most certainly under Sturmhalten."

"Why are we even down here, Tweedle?" asked Orrik. "I thought you said we were going to work on the plan."

Violetta's ears perked at this new information. A plan? What plan? What were these idiots up to way down here with the monsters other than being monsters themselves? Her mind swirled with intrigue but stayed alert enough for other clues.

"We are," Martellus said, his annoyance growing. "We just need one thing."

"What's that?" Orrik asked, inching closer to Martellus but never taking his eyes from the water.

Martellus fiddled with a dented and rusted cabinet in the corner until he pried open the door with a loud squeal of twisting metal. He pulled out a bottle of iridescent liquid with a triumphant smile stretching across his weasely face.

"And what's that?" asked Warner, peering over Orrik's shoulder to get a better look.

"Just something my great-uncle cooked up--right before he cooked himself," he said glancing around the destroyed lab with a chuckle.

He left the cabinet door hanging open and trudged back towards the stairs, Orrik and Warner muttering behind him. Violetta didn't need to know what was in the bottle to know it was bad news--it was made by someone in her family and locked in a lab destroyed by Madboy experiments and monsters.

What she did need to know was what they were planning on doing with it because her imagination ran wild with the possibilities including plagues and mind control. You just never knew with her family.

She quietly followed them back up the stairs, hiding in a dark corner while she figured out how to slip out without being seen which ended up not being a problem because as soon as Martellus shuffled the others out, he wheeled around and tore Violetta from the shadows.

"You just never learn, do you?"

"Damn," Orrik yelled from out in the hall, "look at the time, Tweedle."

That was enough to get Martellus' attention and give Violetta the seconds she needed to escape in a less violent method than she'd originally optioned for which would have probably led to one less future Blitzengaard heir.

She did a quick twist maneuver with a practiced ease that made her heart pound with glee. Before Martellus knew what was going on, she dropped from his grasp, grabbed the bottle from the pocket in his coat and darted out the door--all Martellus found was the broken remnants of a chair wrapped in a piece of tapestry with a dirty mop for a head.

"Violetta!"

She didn't stop to hear what curses her cousin threw at her--she knew she couldn't outpace him in a foot race which meant she needed to get sneaky. And fast.

[Part 5 ]