A Dangerous Encounter: Chapter 14

Mango's Adventures in Angst-Land: Chapter 12

(Author's Note: I'm ready to actually get to the arc of the comics I made. Tis the chaos in my head is gonna break me someday. Welp, here goes nothing. *Hands over the next short chapter* Enjoy!)

A few moments after the fight (in which Queener broke up), Scylla said as she smiled, "Alright, fine. I'll go home, on one condition."

Mango crossed her arms, her messy fur sticking out as she asked in a sassy voice, "Then what's your condition?"

Scylla turned serious. "Let me bring the Abstractions."

"HUH?" Kiui asked in alarm.

Mango raised a paw to rest on her cheek as she thought about the deal. "Hmmm..."

Kiui growled. "Just say yes!"

Mango sighed, making up her mind. "Well, I've made my choice. I've decided that you can -"

I'd Like You To Share A Nightmare With Me

Emerald walked into the café, expecting to see just her aunt-in-law and her younger cousin there. Instead, she was met with the entire family, including her strict, elderly grandmother, Flare. Emerald nervously sat down and ordered a heated gingerbread-flavored glass of cowsmilk from a waitress, which Flare raised an eyebrow on. Emerald said, "I like gingerbread."

Flare huffed, muttering, "Maybe a little too much."

"Mom!" Emerald's mother, Chaos, gasped.

"You can't be serious. Emerald just got a promotion, and you're criticizing her over her gingerbread addiction?" Emerald's Aunt-In-Law, Red, sighed.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm used to this." Emerald waved it off, thanking the waitress as she received her burning-hot glass of cowsmilk. Emerald watched her younger cousin, Seraphina, as Emerald sipped her glass, managing to hide a wince as her venoma instincts tried to kick in to the burning sensation on her tongue.

Seraphina noticed though, and the three-year-old babbled, "Emmy 'kay?"

Emerald chuckled at the adorable toddler, reassuring her, "Emmy's fine, she's used to being served glacier ice at work." It was an excuse, Emerald knew that, but with the venoma outbreaks throughout the Fire Kingdom, she could be killed if she even shared any confirmation that she was one of those venoma, nonetheless she somehow was the queen of the hive. Plus, her lies worked anyway. Her family believed her excuse, and Chaos gave Emerald a sympathetic look. Emerald cleared her throat, asking her grandmother, "So, where are we going after our drinks? You must have something planned for my promotion celebration."

Flare perked up. "Well, we're going to go to a movie theater and watch one of those Pokemon movies you like." Emerald's fear spiked for little Seraphina's safety, sensing something bad will happen to her if they go in there.

Emerald starts to protest. "Grandmother, a lot of us can fight, but I fear that my cousin Seraphina won't be able to defend herself if she gets kidnapped."

Red agreed. "My child needs us to defend her, as she doesn't have much training, despite the fact that she is a werewolf."

Flare dismissed them. "Everything's going to be fine. We walk into the theater, watch the movie, and walk out of there. Nothing bad's going to happen."

Emerald had enough. She told Flare, "Not to sound disrespectful, but this is my celebration, not yours. You came here uninvited, so you have to listen to me. I fear for my cousin's safety, so we're going somewhere else." Emerald was careful not to use any flames or black magic in her anger towards Flare. That was all rendered useless, as Flare blew up on Emerald.

"Well, I am the alpha of this pack and I make the demands. I say that we're going to the movie theater, whether you like it or NOT!!!" Violet flames intertwined with green ones flared in sync of Flare's anger. Customers and staff alike look on in confusion. As the flames grew brighter, the heat licked Emerald's skin, making it crawl uncomfortably. She looked in fear, registering the fact that she has to give in to her grandmother's demands before things could get worse.

Emerald lowered her head submissively, muttering, "Fine, we'll do it your way."

Flare's flames flickered out, to which Emerald sighs in relief for. Flare clapped her hands together, cheerfully saying, "Great! Now, let's finish our food, and let's go to the movie theater!"

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As they entered the movie theater, the family were talking amongst each other about some gossip, while Red held her child as she asked Emerald, "What did you get promoted to in that lab?"

Emerald replied happily, "Oh, I got promoted to scientist-level. Which, compared to the security guard night shifts, is a pretty good deal to me!" She was secretly happy that no one's found out about her yet, which usually means that no one suspected her of being a venoma yet.

"Oh…" Red thought for a moment, smiling at Seraphina's subtle demands for attention. "Can you promise something to me secretly?"

Seraphina, surprised, answered. "Of course." She looked around, then Emerald, Red, and Seraphina hid in the corner. Emerald sighed. "What do I have to promise you that no one else can hear?"

Red looked serious. Emerald gulped, thinking she did something wrong. Red said, "I know you're the venoma queen." Emerald mentally cursed. Red continued, "And I see how well you've protected your kind, so I want you to promise me…" she stroked Seraphina's hair gently. "That if I die and Seraphina becomes one of the venoma, you will protect my child with your life."

Emerald said, "I would have done it anyway, but why would you ask -"

"Promise me on one of Simara's children."

"Okay, okay, I promise on behalf of Queen Benji's life that I will protect your daughter." Emerald backtracked. "But if you knew about me, then why didn't you say anything?"

Red said, "Because I know you. Now, let's join the rest of the family."

"Wait, what -"

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As the werewolves sat on row E of the theater, Emerald couldn't help but worry about her younger cousin's safety. After all, the movie theater felt unsafe for small children like Seraphina. Emerald looked at her high-tech watch and researched the rate of kidnapping during the venoma pandemic. As the internet revealed the very high rates in this particular movie theater, Emerald's heart dropped. She starts to look around nervously, wondering if any of these people around her would attempt to kidnap Seraphina. Emerald whispered to Flare, "Um, so I did a bit of research about the rate of kidnapping of this place, and we could be in potential danger right now, especially for Seraphina. Can we please leave?"

Flare hissed, "No, I paid for those tickets, and I'm not refunding them for no reason."

Emerald sighed fearfully, knowing that this is not going to go well. "Fine." She kept her senses on high alert, just in case.

About thirty minutes into the movie, Emerald heard someone grab something small, and Red shout, "MY BABY!!!!"

Swerving to look at Red and Seraphina, Emerald's teenage senses registered that Red was somehow tied to her seat with black magic and Seraphina wasn't in her seat and was being carried away by lab agents. Seraphina's muffled screams made Emerald's fear and anger spike. Flare, however, said, "She's still in her seat, Red, so return to the movie and quit worrying."

An illusion. Emerald looked at her mother, who saw the same thing the rest of the family was shouting at Flare angrily for. Chaos nodded. Emerald jumped out her seat and ran for the agents. When she got outside, they were nowhere to be seen. Emerald looked around, then realized that one of her favorite people in the universe was gone. Clenching her fist in anger and tears streaming, Emerald decided right then and there that she'd track this evil organization down and destroy them. Her thirst for revenge spiked a new height.

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After about three weeks of searching for Seraphina in fear, Emerald finally hacked into a base called Thunder Base #305. Turns out this was a cult located outside the Fire Kingdom's premises, and near Emerald's venoma hive. Emerald sucked in a breath, tapping on a file with Seraphina's picture on it. As she read the file, Emerald's horror and anger rose. She eventually watched a video of an experiment.

Five minutes later, Emerald saw a familiar scale. She paused the video. "No, it couldn't be…" Emerald zoomed in on the scale. It's her venoma scale. Emerald gasped, a mix of emotions rushing through her. Her? Having her DNA shared with her own cousin? That's terrifying and something Emerald didn't ever wish on Seraphina. Emerald quickly calmed down, a familiar rush of wrath washing over her. She smashed her watch on the ground, walking off to attack the base.

Three hours later, imagine the security's chaos that Emerald caused as she slammed down the door. Stalking down the hallways, numerous cult robe-covered security guards were thrown onto the walls, held by their throats using black magic. Fire spewed from the staff lounge. The door to the base's lab was punched open as a furious, vengeful Emerald roared, "WHERE IN THE NAME OF THE EXES DID YOU TAKE MY COUSIN TO? I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO -"

Emerald's ears twitched, picked up the sound of a child crying, a familiar voice stuttering brokenly, "E-E-Emmy?"

Emerald looked to her left to see a half-scaly, half-bloody face of her cousin, Seraphina, tied to a chair. Emerald's anger simmered down. Filled with relief that she found Seraphina, Emerald ran over quickly and cupped the three-year-old's face in her hands. Heartbroken, tears started to fall as Emerald whispered, "Oh, Sera, I didn't want things to go this far. I -"

A woman's voice cackled. "Oh, if it isn't the young Venoma Queen herself, come to rescue her cousin from the terrors of our lovely home."

Emerald took her hands away from Seraphina, turning to see a woman in a bright yellow suit. Emerald glared, baring her teeth as she growled, "Who are you? What do you want with me and the rest of us, human?" Seraphina whimpered.

The woman chuckled. "See, I wanted to know more about your kind, so I experimented with some of the Fire Kingdom's younglings, but none of them survived. But when I found your scale, I decided to do one final test. My name's Dr. Belial Wicked, though to my experiments, I will be their Ringleader."

Emerald narrowed her eyes. "You give humanity a bad name."

Dr. Belial chuckled. "Oh, but it's all in the name of science!"

Behind the scientist, Emerald's voice sounded hollow and vengeful as she laughs. "There are other ways to research. Please do pardon me, but you humans do look funny when you're running." Chills went down Dr. Belial's spine as she realized she just had been tricked. "Pray. I dare you. You won't ever come out of here again." Belial's head was then smacked to the side of the wall hard.

Emerald jumped down, landing on her feet as she grabbed Seraphina and ran. Okay, according to my calculations, the human's either's got a concussion or is coming after me right now. I've got five minutes, tops, to get Sera out of the facility. Emerald thought. When they ran into the closet, Emerald shut the door and sat Seraphina down. Seraphina whimpered, which Emerald quickly silenced. Emerald whispered, "Seraphina, I need you to promise me to never talk about what's happening here, or what happened to you. Not even a peek at your new form."

"Why?" Seraphina asked fearfully.

Emerald tried to hide her wavering wisps of hope as she whispered, "Because I love you, and I promised your mommy that I'd keep you safe. Now promise me to not tell anyone or show them anything."

"But -"

"Your safety is more important to me. Promise me."

"I pwomise."

Emerald wiped away any tears that strayed from her eyes as she ordered. "Close your eyes. Don't question." Seraphina quickly obeyed her older cousin's orders. That was…too quick for Emerald's liking. Usually, it'd take Emerald a minute longer to get Seraphina to listen. What did they do to her? Nonetheless, Emerald cast a mixture of a memory-erasing and a sleeping spell on Seraphina. As Seraphina fell asleep, Emerald whispered, "I'm so sorry." Emerald used her black magic to teleport the sleeping Seraphina to her mother.

Belial stalked towards the closet, singing, "Oh, Emerald ~! I'd love to study you, if you'd just come out."

Emerald looked at the door. She'd better end this quickly, or they'd end up harming people again. Emerald silently creeped toward the door, sliding out the two spines she had when she was infected with the venoma virus from her forearms. As the blood dripped down from the two wounds, Emerald said in a dark, reptilian voice, "Well, hope you've learned a lot from life, because I'm about to end you."

"Oooo, an empty-ended threat! I love it! Maybe we'll -"

Emerald punched the door so hard, Belial was slammed onto the wall by the door. A large crater in the wall proved just where the scientist was, along with the door's hole, where Emerald had punched it. Emerging from the dust was a half-dragon, half-werewolf covered in grey scales and fur. Aqua-green eyes glowed in vengeance and rage, sharp teeth dripping with venomous saliva as the creature growled. Emerald scales hung from the wolf-ears, shining blood-red in the twilight. "You messed with the wrong Venoma Queen, human." It hissed.

Belial shook in fear at the powerful creature that stood before her. Was this really the true Venoma Queen? It can't be, venomas are usually smaller -

Emerald spread her wings, chuckling. "Some nightmares never end, do they, weakling?" She showed her evil, unmerciful smirk, adding to the horror she knew she was. "You think you know us? Wrong. You've only got the very tip of the iceberg."  The lines blurred, making Belial shake her head. When she looked up again, aqua-green eyes glared into her own. Belial gulped. Emerald laughed. "You should meet our god. He's much deadlier than I am."

Belial grabbed Emerald's spine on the left forearm. Belial smirked. "I believe I can study you now."

Emerald swung her arm to end the scientist, but Belial blocked it with her own bo. Emerald growled, pressing her weight onto the natural weapons of the venoma, attempting to break the wooden weapon to no avail. Frustrated, the Venoma Queen attempted to bite the human's head off, only to have her face whacked by the spinning stick.

Animal instincts thus arise with that pain.

Emerald grabbed the bo and threw it out of sight. Belial looked at where the weapon went, then at Emerald. Pure fear rushed through the human scientist's body as she realized what this means for her. Emerald screeched, raising her claws for the final -

25 years later…

Seraphina woke up in a cold sweat. That nightmare… It couldn't mean… She's still alive?!

A Dangerous Encounter: Chapter 12

The Ini Pyramid crumbled.

Sonic had cut off a large piece of Zielo's quills.

Scylla woke up to see Adam, Sophia, and Diana worriedly staring at her. Scylla touched a feather on her face; which was located near her eyes.

Scylla panicked, asking urgently, "Where's Aite and Ajal? Are they here?"

Adam shook his head. Diana answered timidly, "Aite and Ajal went to the Ini Pyramid. When the pyramid collapsed, they didn't come back."

Scylla's eyes widened, and she sat up quickly, only to feel the blood rushing to her head. Scylla turned towards the destroyed Ini Pyramid and growled, "Then we need to get over there quickly. Aite and Ajal may be in trouble."

Sophia asked, "But how are we going to get there without the Soulless spotting us?"

Scylla thought about it, sparking a tongue of fire in her hand. Looking into it, Scylla smirked.

Extinguishing the flame, Scylla said, "I think I have an idea."

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Scylla made another illusion, but this time, it was of a couple of demigods engaging in battle with the Soulless. Before the Soulless could come to the scene, Scylla, Adam, Diana, and Sophia ran toward the ruins quickly.

As they reached the wreckage, Scylla saw a mix of violet cinders and blood on the ground. Signaling to the others to stop, Scylla knelt down, trying to drown out the doubts, fear, anger, and despair that welled up, pricking her tears with a dangerous guilt as Scylla tried to blink the tears back. Her eyes were blurry, and she felt like she was going to burst into flames.

Please be okay, Ajal and Aite. Scylla transmitted, not expecting anything to happen.

"Scylla, we should be helping with exterminating the Soulless." Adam gently whispered, helping Scylla up.

Scylla nods. "Their deaths won't be – ACK!!!!"

Scylla held her head, feeling dizzy, but she felt something coming from the north. It felt familiar, but she was in too much pain to walk towards it.

"Scylla, are you hurt?" Adam asked.

"Are you okay?" Sophia asked urgently.

Diana started, "Maybe we should take her to the -"

ENOUGH!! Scylla transmitted.

The Blizzard: Chapter 4

(Author's Note: Short chapter again. It was worth it!)

"My glass shoes are miiiissiiiinnnng!" The woman on the phone sobbed, making Demetria's mood drop. The one day she was supposed to be hanging out with her aunt has been interrupted and hands-down ruined by this one customer. But fake it 'till you make it, right?

So Demetria faked a cheery voice as she replied, "Ma'am, we're a hotel, not a detective agency. If you're not booking a reservation, please look for someone else."

"B-b-but I asked all the other detective agencies in town b-b-but they w-w-wouldn't heeeeeelp!" the wailed, nearly bursting Demetria's eardrum.

In a desperate attempt to save both her eardrums and her sanity, Demetria finally said, "Fine! Fine, we'll help you, just pleease stop whining like you're a bull calf!"

"Thank you! I'll be right over!" The woman said, hanging up quickly.

"Who was that?" Sylvia asked as she came into the office. "I can feel your annoyance from the pool."

"Some woman kept screaming about her glass slippers being missing, so I told her that I could help." Demetria replied. Sylvia's face paled. Demetria sighed and asked, "What did you do? Did you steal those shoes?"

"Ididn'tdonothingIgottagobye!" Sylvia ran.

"HEY! RETURN THOSE SHOES RIGHT NOW OR-"

The Blizzard: Chapter 5

(Author's Note: An animatronic is going to appear in this chapter! Also, another short chapter.)

"I'm so glad that you found my slippers so quickly." The woman said thankfully. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, and I'm glad that I was able to help." Demetria replied.

As the woman left, Sylvia rushed over, not caring about the water droplets dripping down her arms as she asked, "Did you really HAVE to chain me to the wall?"

Demetria snapped her head towards her aunt. "YOU WERE GOING TO MELT DOWN THOSE GLASS SLIPPERS!!!"

"Okay, fair, but YOU FROZE DOWN A CASTLE TWO MONTHS AGO!"

"NOONE STOPPED ME AT THE TIME, BUT I'M NOT RISKING THAT AGAIN!"

"She did WHAT?!" Nima gasped, making both Demetria and Sylvia flinch.

Of course Nima would be awake. Sylvia thought.

Demetria said, "It's nothing, it was an accident -"

"AN ACCIDENT? YOU COULD HAVE DIED!!" Nima burst out, wrapping her metallic hands around Demetria's wrists. "I don't really mean any harm. And if you needed magical knowledge, Nokomis and I will be here to guide you and be there beside you to destroy any enemies that come our way."

Demetria nodded as she mumbled, "Thank you..." She then turned around and ran out of the room.

A Dangerous Encounter: Chapter 17

A couple of hours later, Scylla found herself on land again, in the form of a human. Her raven-blue eyes reflected the crazed glee she felt as she stood at the edge of the abandoned island, waiting for the eventual arrival of the Soulless. A part of her wondered if her family were safe, but she knew nowhere was truly safe during an apocalyptic event. How many Soulless have they had to destroy since the beginning of this blasted zombie timeline?

Too many to count, that's for sure.

And that's only within a few weeks, if not months. Who knows how many more will be forced to die for their cursed master? What's it going to take for them to stop?

Nothing, because the god who orchestrated the entirety of the apocalypse was selfish and greedy for power.

Scylla finally spotted something. It was small, yes, but it was nothing compared to the violet lights in the distance that signified the presence of the Soulless. They were coming.

Scylla retreated to the gray ashes of what had once been the grass, trees, and bushes that outlined the island. From there, Scylla opened her mouth and let out a blood-curling shriek that echoed for miles on end.

The water was splashing from several miles away, allowing Scylla to run towards the trees in the middle of the island and hide in the branches. She started to have doubts about her plan.

What if the Assimilation ring doesn't work?

What if they won't listen?

What would the pack say about this?

This was a bad plan.

Why did I make this plan? To cope with having to fight Zielo someday?

What kind of strategy is this? A dumb one?

How are we going to restore the world when this apocalypse ends?

Scylla's thoughts was interrupted when the Soulless were fumbling on the island's shores, muttering something along the lines of, "Master's gonna enjoy his new slave."

Scylla shuddered, reluctantly sliding down the tree she was hiding in and tapping the ring five times.

A large number of pained screams filled the air, making Scylla smirk and enjoy the sounds of agony. She let her EXE form take over, walking over to the large group of Soulless. Her grace was unnerving and terrifying to those who saw it. It was like she was going to kill the Soulless right then and there. But Scylla only whispered, "All of you are mine now."

Some of the Soulless looked at Scylla, terrified of what she might do to them. Scylla smirks and said in a lighthearted tone, "Don't worry, I'm not going to make you do anything stupid, like a suicide mission or something like that."

"But what about -" One of the Soulless started.

Scylla clicked her tongue, holding up a hand and interrupting the question. "I don't want to hear you say, think, or wish for your god to save you. He's the one who corrupted you, and I am here to fix that. If you rebel against me or even run away, I will not hesitate to track you down and turn you into ashes. Do I make myself clear?"

Most of the Soulless gulped, afraid of what would happen to them if Scylla made good on her threat. They nodded, offering fearful smiles at the terrifying woman. One Soulless nervously replied, "O-of course, we won't let you down, Your Terrifying Lady."

Scylla smirked, snapping her fingers and letting the Soulless be slightly free. What the Soulless didn't know was that they were standing still long enough to allow Scylla to get a firm hold on their souls, so if they actually escaped, she'd destroy the souls almost instantly.

Talk about making good on the threat, am I right?

A Dangerous Encounter: Chapter 13

Look, I'm not in the mood for medical attention. Someone's in the rubble. Scylla transmitted, pointing towards where she felt the familiar, yet painful feeling.

Diana, Adam, and Sophia all shared a look, obviously having a private telepathic conversation between them. Scylla was too busy trying to get rid of the painful feeling to notice, or to mind.

Suddenly, Scylla's EXE instincts snapped into place, and she moved towards the source of the energy.

It took her five minutes, maybe less, to find the source. But once she did, she gasped in shock, falling to her knees and shaking. Tears streaked down her face as she looked at the violet cinders and crimson blood, along with the unconscious bodies.

Sophia, Adam, and Diana all just stood there after finding Scylla a few seconds later. They couldn't believe it.

Scylla found Ajal and Aite.

Feeling herself spiraling out of control, Scylla muttered softly, "Take Aite and Ajal and treat them. I'll hold the Soulless back."

Diana nodded, taking Aite, and Adam and Sophia taking Ajal. They all soon left Scylla to her thoughts.

Hearing the crazed shrieks of the Soulless, Scylla slowly stood up, black flames igniting in her hands and on the floor around her. Her tears were angry and furious. One of her eyes turned red, her sclera black in color, and it was clear that she slipped off her hold on reality and saw red.

Her hand reached out, and in fifteen seconds, she could feel the half-souls of the second and first stage Soulless spilling out.

Scylla lost her mind in that moment. She controlled the souls for a moment, messing with them as her insane part of her mind contemplated on whether or not she should destroy them.

She snapped out of it as soon as someone's voice whispered in her mind, Scylla?

Aite? Scylla asked, the fire extinguishing around her. I thought you were -

Dead? Yeah, I know. That's what I thought too. Aite reassured. Luckily, Ajal and I were both far enough away that we got the least amount of the damage. I bet that if anyone was in the middle of the destruction, they'd be very much dead.

But are you safe? Scylla pressed, tightening her grip on the rotting souls of the Soulless.

Aite went quiet for a moment, before whispering, We're safe.

Scylla almost cried when she heard that, but spotting a large group of Soulless in the distance made her think sharply, before transmitting, Aite, stay as far away from the desert as possible, and don't run into any Soulless. I'll join you as soon as possible. Tell the others.

But, Scylla, what about you? You're our leader! Aite said worriedly.

I'll... be fine. Scylla hesitantly said, not sure if her words were true.

Alright, but I want you to promise me something. Aite transmitted.

Scylla mentally rolled her eyes. You know I can't say no to that.

Promise me that you'll be careful. Aite said seriously.

It shocked Scylla, but she brushed it aside and transmitted, I'll try. Scylla then cut off the connection.

The Blizzard: Chapter 8

(Author's Note: A mention of a near-death experience and an endangering experiment. Also, this chapter happens almost a year after the Incident.)

"MANGO DRAGONFRUIT MOCHISOLAR OF THE MERCATS, COME HERE, YOUNG LADY!" Hikari shouted, causing Demetria to flinch. The one day Demetria was supposed to be visiting the nightmare-ridden Mercat (that was Kiui) was interrupted by the yells and hisses of the cat side of the Mochisolar family.

Mango came into the living room and stopped when she saw Demetria. Mango waved nervously. "...Hi?"

"Alright, what did you do to get called out like that?" Demetria asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

Mango hesitated, a look of trauma crossing her face, before she raised her hands to sign, 'No need to worry, it was just a small donation.'

"Mangoo, you can't lie to me. I saw the look on your face, and you only use sign language if you did something really bad or if something traumatizing is happening." Demetria grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and sipped on it, watching her cousin closely.

Mango looked nervous, steeling herself before signing, 'I got strapped into an experiment and nearly died twice because it drained my life force and I forced myself unconscious!'

"MANGO!" Demetria gasped. Yeah, she's joining in on the punishment party on that one, because what Mango did was dangerous and incredibly reckless.

'I was TIRED!'

"Just go to Aunt Hikari - NOW." Demetria pointed to the security office, where her aunt was. She didn't want to deal with this.

'Fine, fine.' Mango grumped over to the security room.

Demetria sighed, sipping her hot chocolate and headed to the kitchen. "One of these days, the girls are gonna give me a headache." A yellow-and-grey dart flew past Demetria, almost making her trip. "Kiui!"

"Sorry not sorry!" Kiui meowed back.

"Hey, Kiui? Can you call Ashley?" Hikari called. Demetria's eyes widened as she realized this is becoming a family issue. She's gotta go before Demetria gets wrapped up in it.

"OkayIgottagobye!" Demetria rushed, heading back to her residence.

A Dangerous Encounter: Chapter 6

All Scylla could remember was the blinding light on the water, the three hedgehogs laying on the ground, and Scylla herself being slammed into a tree from the force of the explosion. Scylla's magenta eyes slowly closed as she felt the white-hot pain rock itself into her core.

Several hours later, Scylla opened her violet eyes to see that Silver, Shadow, Sonic, Zielo, and the blinding light were gone. Panicking and worried that Zielo could have taken the younger gods to his lair, Scylla jumped to her feet, only to wince in pain as her sore body protested.

Scylla started to run west to try to find Sonic, Silver and Shadow. Scylla's mind swirled with worried thoughts as she checked every tree, lake, rock, and bush where the three hedgehogs could have hidden near.

Suddenly, Scylla heard the thoughts transmitted between Shadow, Sonic, and Silver. Scylla stopped searching for the hedgehogs, because she felt how far away they were.

Scylla closed off the hedgehogs' transmissions and thought to herself, "Well, I can't reach them, so it's only fair that I leave."

As Scylla turned her back and transformed into a pale-skinned, green-eyed, blonde-haired woman with wolf ears and tail, five wolf-looking Dark Gaia creatures rose out of the ground and awaited Scylla's directions. Scylla looked at the Dark Gaia wolves and understood what had happened. She looked at the starlit sky and whispered, "Thank you, Dark Gaia."

So, Scylla and the wolves stalked off into the night.

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Two days later, Scylla had changed her appearance. She has ruby-red eyes, black skin, and strawberry-blonde hair.

Scylla had her bow and arrow stretched into a potential firing position, aimed on what was called a Soulless. Apparently, according to the information she had learned from SOMEBODY'S thoughts (not naming who), a Soulless is a slave of Zielo, with half a soul left in their body. The other half of the Soulless' soul is kept inside Zielo. The half of the soul in Soulless' body rots away, and the Soulless knows it. There are three stages of being a Soulless and how much time you have to "save" them.

The First Stage of being a Soulless - Its' soul is just starting to rot away, and you have a somewhat medium-sized time window to save the other half of the Soulless' soul.

The Second Stage of a Soulless - Their soul is halfway rotted, and there is a smaller time window to save it.

The Third Stage Soulless - They can't be saved. The only way to end their suffering is to destroy them and their mark.

But there's a catch to saving a Soulless - You have to make a deal with the Dark God, which is Zielo, who somehow keeps every Soulless' soul in himself.

Scylla fired her fiery arrow, hitting the Soulless in their mark.

A voice with a French accent spoke behind Scylla, saying, "Alright, it iz time to go to Paradise."

A Dangerous Encounter: Chapter 1

Scylla Raven sold another handmade voodoo doll to another Mobian customer. It was a normal, boring day in Tin-Can, at least until she smelled blood. Fresh Blood.

Scylla's body tensed, fighting the urge to find the reckless person and do something horrible. A blue blur ran past her shop, causing all of the voodoo dolls to fly. Scylla quickly caught all of the merchandise before they hit the floor. As she set the voodoo dolls back in their proper place, Scylla tried to reassure herself that the blood scent and the blur was just the wind.

In her raven's-eye vision, she sees a crack in the ground, seemingly ready to explode. Scylla quickly looks around, quickly spotting another Mobian walking towards the volcanic-looking crack. Without even thinking about what she was about to do, Scylla jumped out of her stall and pushed the Mobian out of the way as the crack exploded, knocking Scylla to the ground.

Time seemed to slow down. Tin-Can was in chaos. Fire engulfed the buildings. Men, women, and children were rushing to evacuate the area. Screams echoed in the air. Too many scents of blood reached Scylla's nose, making her slowly lose her mind. Within the chaos, strangely without anyone else there to notice, Scylla slowly got up, letting her EXE form take over.

Scylla's eyes slowly turned blood red, while black blood spilled out of her eye sockets and dripped down her copper cheeks. Her hair was as black as a new moon. Blood-stained claws grew out of her fingernails. If anyone noticed her now, they'd call her a monster. Scylla's urge to kill someone grew larger, but she ignored it. Now was the time to leave the the scene of destruction. Scylla touched a certain ring on her finger. The Miraculous of Assimilation. She'd promised someone she'd loved that she would keep it safe.

Scylla clenched her fist hard. In the corner of her eye, she saw people standing on the highest hills outside of the town, where the explosions didn't reach them...for now. Smirking, Scylla actually admitted to herself that it was a smart move to head to the hills. A female scream of pain jerked Scylla of her thoughts. Her instincts tracked the scream to the woods nearby. Cursing internally at herself, she ran out of the now-destroyed Tin-Can to find the exact source of the scream.

A specific scent of blood wafted in from the west of where Scylla was in the forest. Scylla turned around, only barely missing a bump against a red blur that had sped from behind Scylla, toward the scent of the blood. Realizing that this streak might bring the EXE to the source of the scent of blood, Scylla tried to follow as quickly as she could without having to fly after the blur. Scylla quickly got lost in a maze of trees and fires.

"Curse this fire!" Scylla distortedly growled as she looked around. "If it weren't for this maze of light, I'd have been able make my way around this blasted forest!"

Transforming into a seemingly normal raven, Scylla flew into the flaming sky, reaching a height higher than the burning forest. Scanning between the flames and trees, she spotted a red light that seemed to shine brightly. Tucking her sleek, black wings against her body and diving towards the harsh glow, Scylla remembered an old quote her adoptive mother used to say countless times, but she refused to acknowledge it.

If Scylla's raven eyes could naturally narrow, they would have been slits by now. Suddenly, the red light disappeared, making Scylla stop diving and open her wings to glide through the air. She silently cursed, but only stopped when she felt a ripple of magical energy in the fabrics of reality. Turning to a floating island - the ONLY floating island in the sky, called Angel Island, Scylla spotted much light on the land, and what feels like blue eyes and purple outlines of people walking on the island like guards.

Mentally raising an eyebrow, Scylla flew to the island to investigate. Her thoughts felt like they were swimming in a bath of honey and matcha tea. Scylla felt the energy around Angel Island were darker than normal, drawing more concern from her than it should've.

Scylla took how her instincts reacted to the island as a red flag. As soon as she landed on the island, Scylla transformed back into a "regular" copper-skinned human, with the intention of investigating the fire.

"What happened here? I thought this island wasn't supposed to be inhabited." Scylla wondered. Dodging falling trees and avoiding the strange Mobians and humans, Scylla eventually saw two hedgehogs getting attacked by these strange creatures. It made her blood boil, so, she made a mistake. She grabbed a Mobian - with cyan eyes and a strange purple mark on their hand - and punched him. Hard. Smelling blood, Scylla shapeshifted into a wolf and went insane, Harming the humans and Mobians acting strange enough to be considered a threat.

Then, Scylla was knocked down to the ground by something - or someone.