#i also quite like spyper

[pocketsniper]

Who’s your favorite freak fortress spy?

^ this guy

#my art #tf2 #freak fortress #polite spy #bright colors #eye strain #ask #answer #anon #i also quite like spyper

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 15: Ride or Die

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

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

“Thanks.”

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

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

“You and your friends tutored him, right?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Of course.”

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

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

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

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

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

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

“Thanks.”

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah. The more, the better.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Apparently. Now all he needs is us-” 

Ring! Ring!

“Huh? My phone!”

“Who is it, Jackie?”

“Unknown Number. Should I answer it?”

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

Jackie did. “Hello?”

“Jackie? It’s Marcus. Are you okay?”

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

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

“Aw. How long have you been at HECU?”

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

“...I’m sorry, what?” 

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

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

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

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

“You worry too much, Quinn. Chill.”

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

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

“Sure thing, man.”

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

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

“Yeah. Which ones do we need?”

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

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

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

“Wait, really!?”

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

“WHAT!?”

“Yeah. Apparently”

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

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

“On it.”

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

“Gotcha.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Alright. Nobody die overnight!”

“Don’t jinx it.”

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Like sardines.” 

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Did everyone pack some clothes and supplies?”

“Yeah, but why not electronics?”

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

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

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

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

“Good.”

“What do we do once at HECU?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Probably run. Or run him over.”

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

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

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

“Melissa James.”

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

“...is that bad?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Would she even let us use them?”

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

“Well…”

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

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

---

RING! RING!

“Hello?”

“Hey, Aunt Anita.”

“Oh! Hi, Melissa! How are you?”

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

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

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

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

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

“My lips are sealed.”

“Thanks.”

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

#only human #breather chapter #freak fortress #tf2 freaks #TF2 #dr. anita james #mad scientist

[ask-chaos-kin]

Chaotic Adventures in Babysitting Chapter 6

Almost to the final chapter! Co-written with @royalbabble

The Freaks still in the base had collectively decided to watch a movie to both unwind from Nightmare Medic and to take their minds off of Jesters outburst. Brutal decided to leave on another murder spree with Gentlespy. Pure was observing Pancakes can out of the side of his vision, wondering if he was taking longer than normal to heal or he was too embarrassed to come back out.

“Wonder what happened to the three while we were gone. Ya know, while they were inside the artifact?” Spyper asked aloud.

“We had to chase after Rose almost the whole time,” Pancakes answered from his can. Just as Pure thought, he was too embarrassed to come back out.

“I’ve been in Jesters artifact once before. I know you weren’t just looking for Rose,” Pure said, “You got on a few rides didn’t you?”

“One ride with Roseflame. Tilt-A-whirl. After me and Roseflame dropped 300 feet onto a bouncy castle,” Pancakes came out of his can to explain it.

“Ah, the High Drop,” Pure said.

“Why the hell do they even have that thing? Scared Roseflame to near death,” Pancakes commented.

“Jester likes falling for some reason,” Pure shrugged.

“Wait, Roseflame’s afraid of heights?” Intelligent Heavy asked, now tweaking the cube with some other random machine parts. 

“I was surprised too but yeah. Pretty bad too. Don’t have anything left of her grabbing my arm, but it was pretty similar to being held down by Painis,” he mentioned.

“Then why does she fly around if that’s the case?” Spyper asked, reclining beside his friend. 

“As far as I’m aware, she both doesn’t look down and she only focuses on where she’s going, not how she’s getting there,”

“Ah,” Spyper said, fixing his vest. 

“Kinda feel bad for her,” Pancakes stated, joining the others to watch the movie. 

“Wonder if Jester knew. They seem to know everything that goes down in their artifact,” Intelligent Heavy said, affixing the machine part to the cube.

“What are you doing over there anyways?” Spyper asked, leaning over to his friend.

“I’m trying to see if I can recycle the cube to harness Jesters magic again,”

“Will that even work?” Spyper doubted, watching as his friend used thin tape to graft the machine part onto the cube.

“No idea,” That’s when the silhouette of another Scout approached the door. Since no truck was heard pulling into the driveway, it was either Wolves Bane, Roseflame, or Anthony. Pancakes got up tentatively and went to answer the door, only to hiss in worry and disgust at the sight.

“You look like you need an ER,” Pancakes let a very bloody and battered Roseflame into the base.

“096 isn’t as hard to deal with as some others, he was just pissy because so many HECU members saw his face,” She answered, her voice was hoarse and filled with slight pain. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know any healing spells would you Pure?” Spyper asked the priest.

“Unfortunately, no. Jester does, but they can only heal shallow wounds,” Pure sighed. 

“It’s fine guys. Worse comes to worst i’ll respawn on the roof,” She dismissed it as Pancakes helped her to the couch. 

“Heard you got the High Drop,” Spyper said, leaning forward on the couch. 

“Yeah… Wait how much did you tell them,” she looked to Pancakes with slight anger in her eyes.

“...That was supposed to be kept secret wasn’t it?” He responded. She didn’t have the strength to punch him so she slumped into her jacket to bury her face.

“You fucking suck...” she crowed out though she was muffled by her jacket.

“Surprised Jester didn’t say anything about that. They hate scaring people,” Intelligent Heavy said. Pancakes shot him a huffy look. 

“Oh, they should be apologizing soon,” Pure said. 

“They don’t have to, it’s my fault Pancakes even decided to try using their artifact. I’d consider it a lesson taught,” Roseflame stated before going into a coughing fit. Pancakes rubbed her back, trying to soothe some of the internal problems.

“Easy, easy,” He calmed her down, trying to prevent a slow death on his hands. Especially someone he knew and trusted. 

A fssh sound came from the other room.

“And that should be Jester. In three, two, one…” Spyper counted down, and right as he hit one Jester came darting into the common room, sparks and smoke following them as they skidded to a halt. 

“-WAIT HANG ON DON’T DIE ON ME,” Jester panted, breathless. They stumbled over to Roseflame and nearly face planted into the floor as they went. Pancakes immediately jumped back into his can.

“Not dying yet, slowly. But not yet,” Roseflame chuckled a bit before coughing a bit more. Jester scrambled up and managed to stand upright.

“I can’t do much, but I can patch up the shallow wounds,” They said, still catching their breath,

“I’ll be fine Jester, honestly I’ve dealt with worse,” Roseflame tried to wave them off. Pancakes had absconded by the time Jester had burst the door open to rush to Roseflame.

“You’ll be fine!? Look at you! You’re clothes are soaked with blood, you have cuts all over your body, and you look like you’re two heartbeats away from death!” Jester protested. 

“Again, I’ve been through-” She paused to cough a bit more, “worse,” 

Jester scowled, clearly not going away any time soon.

“Stay still, i’m healing you,” Jester said. They extended their hand out towards Roseflame and a spiral of blue sparks began to swirl out from the palm of their hand. Dancing sparks scattered from their palm and to their fingertips and jumped away from their hand in a sort of mist that came to rest over Roseflame. The sparks started to disperse themselves, making their way to whatever shallow wounds and bruises they could and sealing them up, stopping the bleeding from those injuries completely and removing the soreness from where the bruises had been. The sparks managed to slightly cauterize the larger injuries to prevent further blood loss, but were largely unable to seal the more brutal wounds. She righted herself after the healing process was done.

“Thanks Jester,” she gave them a smile. “Though I came back to talk to you,” She started to stand up. 

“You’re gonna need more than some magic for what you went through,” Spyper said, getting up, “This is a mercenary base, right? Where’s the Medics Infirmary?”

“It’s underground. I’m fine though, honest,” Roseflame stood up and tried to walk around to show she was fine, though she stumbled quite a bit while walking at a snail's pace.

“...Ok i’m getting the bandages,” Spyper said bluntly, walking off. Roseflame groaned in response to the action and returned to the couch.

“You really should just rest for a bit,” She heard Pancakes tell her from his can.

“Fuck off tin head,” She snapped. She grabbed the can and hurled it down the hallway, Pancakes panickedly yelling from it as it sailed through the air. He ditched the can and landed on his back as his can hit his chest.

“Listen here pissy,” he groaned picking up his can before getting up himself. The moment he stood up he immediately regretted coming out of his can, because now he found himself standing right in front of a still miffed Jester. He gulped as he weighed his options. Running away would result in him never being able to see Chaos possibly ever again, going back into his can he’d be easy to just toss out the door. He didn’t know what to do other than stand his ground and hope Jester didn’t kill him.

“H-hey, didn’t know you were still here…” He squeaked out, his voice cracking at the beginning. 

“Where else did you think I would go?” Jester said harshly. 

“I-I don’t know? I just thought that-” he was trying to back away from the angry Jester while looking at them. Jester opened their mouth to say something when it suddenly snapped shut. Bewildered, Jester whipped around to look at Pure, who had one of his hands raised at Jester, imposing his basic telekinesis onto the Freak.

“That’s enough Jester, you’ve made your point,” The priest chastised, letting go of Jester. Pancakes made his way over to Roseflame still wary of his situation. Roseflame glared at him as he sat next to her. He simply helped her position into a more comfortable sitting position without saying a word. 

***

Not long after the two were asleep, Roseflame was laying with her head on Pancakes chest and her upper body along his stomach and thigh area, while Pancakes laid in a slight degree with his right arm draped onto Roseflame’s side. From the shelf that Pancakes had been resting on earlier, Jester sat, shrunken down and sullen from the scolding they’d received from Pure. They glanced down at Pancakes and Roseflame, both fast asleep and resting by the looks of it, peacefully. Even though they were still angry at Pancakes, they couldn’t help but crack a smile at it. Nothing like platonic cuddling to raise the spirits. 

Spyper returned to the room with bandages from the Medbay. He removed the blanket off Pancakes and Roseflame to patch up her wounds.

“What did she even fight? These things look like she fought with Heavydile,” Spyper commented while patching her up.

“Nah, something called SCP-096,” Jester squeaked from their shelf. 

“Doesn’t sounds too intimidating,” Spyper shrugged. Jester shrugged with him. 

“You know, I've never actually met Heavydile-”

“No,” Was all Pure said

“Heavydile is twice as feral as Painis, you don’t want to meet him,” Spyper clarified.

“Painis wasn’t even as bad as Hoovydundy. Heavydile can’t be much worse,”

“And you’re also completely inedible and the most friendly Freak this side of the planet. Of course Hoovydundy or Painis weren’t so bad. Neither of them can actually hurt you,” Intelligent Heavy chimed in. 

“Heavydile eats people and freaks, he’s not even close to human. He can barely talk besides aggressive yelling,” Spyper finished. He placed the blanket back on the two resting teenage freaks. “They’re cute like this,” He commented off hand.

Pancakes shifted in his sleep putting his other arm on his stomach, his face was slightly upset. Must have been having a bad dream. Minutes had passed since then and Pure was keeping an eye out for Chaos by the window.

“Still hard to believe that Roseflame is afraid of heights,” Spyper commented in general.

“WAIT WHAT!?” Jester cried, their squeaky voice peaking their lungs, making a very painful and shrill sound as a result. They fell off the shelf and smacked again the floor in a very tiny puff of sparkles before they shot up into the air at Spypers face, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S SCARED OF HEIGHTS!?”

“According to Pancakes, She’s horribly afraid of heights. She’s embarrassed by that fact, but she is,” Spyper explained calmly, “She apparently held onto him with a death iron grip when they were at the top of the High Drop,” 

“OHMYGODSHEWASONTHEHIGHDROPANDSHE’SSCAREDOFHEIGHTSOHGODWHATHAVEIDONE,” Jester yelled wildly. Spyper tried to calm them down, but to no avail. The panicking Jesters screaming and yelling woke the two teenagers up from their platonic napping.

“What’s going on this time?” Roseflame asked aloud, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Pancakes stretched a bit before returning his arm to Roseflame’s side.

“ROSEFLAMEI’MSORRYIDIDN’TKNOWYOUWEREAFRAIDOFHEIGHTSTHEARTIFACTSHOULDN’THAVEEVENPUTYOUTWOUPTHEREINTHEFIRSTPLACE!!” Jester cried, panicked. The two stared in confusion for a second as they watched Jester panic.

“Put us up where?” She asked, still confused from the screaming and groggy from the nap.

“THE HIGH DROP!!” Jester yelled, throwing up their hands. 

“Oh yeah, that thing. Yeah that sucked horribly, thanks for that,” She flopped her head back onto Pancakes chest, he groaned in response to her softly flopping onto his middle. Jester threw their hands over their face and yelled while continuing to apologize profusely. Neither of them could continue to sleep so they both proceeded to stand up and stretch.

“Jester, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting to go from ground level to 300 ft. Also, why the hell do you have it be a free fall to almost uncertain death? That’s my only thing about it, why the free fall?!” Roseflame questioned in an aggressive tone.

“I want that answer too,” Pancakes stated in a calmer tone.

“I like falling,” Jester said sadly, “I don’t know why, I just like falling from high places,”

“I mean, I like spinning at speeds that are the closest to max speed,” Roseflame shrugged.

“Also you’re mad at us, why are you apologizing to her so much?” Pancakes asked, confused.

“I’m mad at you, not her,” Jester retorted.

“Why not both of us? I’m just as guilty as he is for the whole mess,” Roseflame commented.

“Did you open the cube? Did you use my magic? Were you the one that accessed my artifact?” Jester asked. 

“No, but I gave him the ideas,” Roseflame answered bluntly, “Hell, if it wasn’t for me, Rose wouldn’t have been by herself on the Ferris Wheel when you arrived. If you should be mad at anyone for that shit show, it’s me,” She stood her ground.

“No, I’m not. You may not be entirely innocent here, but you’re not the one who did any of this,” Jester reiterated, growing back to their normal size.

“Still, don’t throw all your anger at him,” Just then everyone could hear a truck pulling up to the house along with distant rolls of thunder. Pure went to go help his adopted daughter carry things inside. Rose was the first one of the three inside the house and was confused to see the scene in front of her.

“Hey Rose,” Pancakes greeted her,

“Are you still fighting?” She asked as she walked over to the three.

“Kinda, it’s complicated,” Roseflame explained to her.

“Why?” Pancakes and Roseflame had no idea how to answer this one. Rose tugged in Chaos’ pants to get her attention and then looked to Pancakes and Roseflame.

“I know what happened,” Rose said quietly.

“You do?” She asked in slight confusion,

“What?” Pancakes and Roseflame said in unison.

“She apparently knows what happened with the whole Artifact situation,” Chaos then had Rose tell Jester what happened with the whole situation.

“I wasn’t really asleep when Aunt Lily left. I was in the kitchen and I heard Pancakes say that he was gonna use the artifact to spy on you guys. I never heard Roseflame give Pancakes any ideas. It was all Pancakes,” Rose explained. Chaos looked to Pancakes in slight shock.

“Why would you want to spy on us?” She asked him.

“We were worried about you, we knew everyone else could handle themselves but you could have gotten hurt out there,” Pancakes answered simply.

“So it wasn’t Roseflames fault at all,” Jester said, crossing their arms, “We were all alright. I had Nightmare distracted for most of the mission. He never even saw Chaos,”

“Well think about it Jester, they had absolutely no idea of knowing that fact. Besides, he’s still a scout. Name 5 times he’s had an idea that didn’t end like this,” Chaos stated, Pancakes couldn’t argue with her about it.

“Doesn’t mean I suddenly can’t be angry with him,” Jester bit back, “How would you like it if someone broke into your room and began going through your things? Because that’s what this whole ordeal was,” 

“I do, everytime we leave, Someone’s fucking with my stuff Jester,” Chaos snapped, her eyes flashing purple as she advanced towards them.

“Then you know EXACTLY why i’m angry here!” Jester snapped, their own body lighting up with sparks. 

“OKAY ENOUGH!!!!” Roseflame screamed, the power shutting off. Chaos, Pancakes, and Jesters throats now at the mercy of Slenderman. Roseflame’s eyes changed to a state similar to Wolves Banes. Only instead of orange, they were white and filled with a piercing rage.

“The three of you need to knock it off. NOW!” Roseflame’s voice boomed to life with rage. The three where at her mercy now. While all Spyper, Rose, Pure, and Intelligent could only stare in horror at the monster Roseflame summoned. Jester struggled for a moment and took a deep breath in, and within a second their form poofed into a cloud of blue smoke, only for them to reappear somewhere else. Jester raised their hands and invoked their own power, hoisting the monster up and subduing it in a cloud of sparkling smoke, but it was apparent they were struggling to keep the monster in place. With a flick of Roseflame’s wrist, they were back in a tendril of the monster.

“You’re not getting out of this Jester, everyone else here is fine. YOU, CHAOS, AND PANCAKES NEED TO MAKE UP! I’ve already seen so many people hurt each other here! Do you really want it all to happen again?!” 

“THAT IS ENOUGH!!!!” Pure roared, using his telekinesis to sever the tendrils that held Chaos, Jester, and Pancakes. He turned to Roseflame and shoved her back into her seat, jarring her enough to make the monster she’d summoned disappitate into a cloud of black smoke, the power flickered back on as the tie was severed. Chaos and Pancakes tried to regain the breath they had been losing in the grasp of Slenderman, “Jester, i’m going to say this right now. You have every right to be angry at Pancakes, but that does NOT give you any room to start throwing a tantrum! You’re an adult, behave like one! Pancakes, don’t EVER touch Jesters artifact without their permission. You know good and well how important it is to them. Chaos, this matter does not concern you in the slightest so do not involve yourself where it is not needed. And Roseflame, you have absolutely no right to start strangling people on a whim just because you’re mad. That’s what toddlers do, and I know full well that you’re not a toddler,” Pure snapped, turning to everyone in the room as he addressed them. All four of them were shocked into silence that quickly turned into shame and guilt, they knew what they did wrong. 

Rose was behind Intelligent, on the verge of tears. Jester glanced over at the tearful child and felt a pang in their chest. Scaring people was the very last thing they ever wanted to do, yet they had managed to scare two people in one day. Pancakes guilty slunk back over to the couch and sank into the sofa, not saying a word. Chaos awkwardly shuffled out of the living room, and Roseflame sat silently, slumping into the chair. Rose then finally started to cry and everyone felt ten times worse. 

And Jester felt their entire world come crashing down.

Jester brought their hands to their face and began to cry themselves, apologizing profusely to Rose as their body began to release some sort of blue aura that radiated sadness. Rose looked up to Jester for a moment before going to their chest and hugging them.

“It’s not your fault, we just need to be nice to each other instead of being angry,” She tried to dry her eyes while hugging Jester. Roseflame and Pancakes looked to each other, they had an idea how to make up to Jester as well. Roseflame got up and made a slight detour into Rose’s room to drop something off in her bag. Once Jester saw it, she knew they’d cheer up. 

There was a knock on the living room door, and it opened to reveal Brutal and his partner in crime, Gentlespy, waltzing into the house whilst covered in blood from their murder spree, only to stop confusion on why everything was suddenly a huge mess.

“What the hell happened while I was gone?” Brutal asked turning to Pure.

“Arguments,” Pure said, rubbing his temples, “I took care of it,” 

“Let’s hope that the child’s visit isn’t too long then,” Gentlespy commented, “Brutal told me about the situation,” Everyone could only hope so.

#Chaotic Adventures in Babysitting #Chaos Kin #Roseflame #Ass Pancakes #Freak Fortress #Gentlespy #christian pure spy #Christian Brutal Sniper #Count Jester #Spyper #Intelligent Heavy #Story Post #Long Post

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 11: Panic In Evo City

Authors Note: I know I keep apologizing for the wait, but this time I’m really sorry. Three months between chapters is way too long and I’m sorry this one took us so long to complete.

The offices at HECU were in sheer chaos. Interns were running around hauling papers, tech people were working HECU’s servers to the edge of meltdown, and countless soldiers were being issued out to different parts of Evo City. Tyson had wrung himself ragged trying to keep the chaos under control, but no progress had been made.

“How are three teenagers so hard to track down?!” he shouted, staring at a huge collection of screens.

“I don’t know, sir!” A sleep deprived employee cried. “We’ve combed through every last bit of security feed available in both Big City and Evo City, but there’s no sign of them! All we’ve found are several new Freaks that just keep popping up!”

“New Fre- What do you mean, new Freaks?!”

The employee quickly pulled up security footage of an old motel, and the feed showed the disturbing sight of a group of choir students warping and transforming into twisted monsters.

“We were sent this footage by the owner of the motel last week. We were sent a similar piece of footage from Evo Subway where a crocodilian Freak was spotted running across the tracks,” The employee explained, pulling up footage from a subway. “And this is footage of a new Freak that was just spotted earlier today.” The employee showed Tyson one last piece of footage from downtown Big City, where several mechanical Freaks were rampaging down the street.

Tyson sat down, shocked. “I want soldiers everywhere you get footage from here on out. Track these new Freaks down.”

“Yes sir.” The employee quickly left their post and hurried out, several documents on hand. As the employee left, Rudra headed into the room, a phone in hand.

“Colonel Tyson, there’s someone that wants to speak with you.”

Tyson nodded. “Thank you, Commander,” he said, taking the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello Tyson,” a deep, distorted voice replied. “Things are looking a little bleak over at HECU.”

“...who is this?” Tyson asked, suddenly guarded.

“You can call me Archsage.”

“Alright, Archsage. What do you want?”

“To help, of course. HECU has been overrun with news of new Freaks, and so far you haven’t been able to track down the Trio.”

“How do you know that?” Tyson asked, then got up and left, putting her on speaker and motioning for Rudra to follow and stay quiet.

“I know quite a lot. More than you, certainly. I’ve been monitoring the Freaks for a while now. I know what they’re planning to do, and I know why so many new Freaks have been appearing as of late.”

“Care to enlighten me?” Tyson asked. “It would certainly make my job easier.”

“The Freaks are planning to bring about a worldwide catastrophe called the Cataclysm, and they’re bringing more Freaks into the world to further their goals.”

“Worldwide catastrophe? Are they attempting to destroy mankind?”

“More like they’re attempting to replace humanity entirely with Freaks.”

“WHAT?!”

“That’s why they’re after those kids. Those teenagers have powers that can stop the Cataclysm from happening.”

“Motherf@cker... How do you know this?”

“I’ve been looking into this whole ordeal for quite some time.”

“And how do you know about us?”

“I happen to know someone from HECU.”

“You have an informant?”

“In a way.”

“How can I trust you if you’ve been spying on us for so long?”

“Because I have information that you don’t. Information that you need.”

"And I assume there's a price for that information?"

“There is. If I’m going to help you, I want access to HECU’s databases.”

Tyson sighed. "It seems like I don't have much of a choice, but if you use it, you do it here. So we can ensure you're not using it against us."

“Agreed.”

Tyson sighed as he hung up. "Of course this stuff happens to me."

“If this is what we must do to stop the Freaks, then so be it,” Rudra replied. “I’ll send my troops to Big City to keep watch for any new Freaks.”

"Thank you," Tyson replied. "And try to keep this from reaching the public. Chaos in the streets would make this worse than it already is."

“It’s hard to keep something like this secret when some of these new Freaks have already been rampaging down the streets in broad daylight,” Rudra deadpanned.

"Then make up something and bribe the media to say it."

Rudra squinted at Tyson. “No, I don’t think I will.”

"I could get Anita to. She'd probably consider it a social experiment."

“You know good and well the kind of havoc she could wreak.”

"I also know how hard it would be to keep the public calm if they knew this was happening. You remember the plague two years ago."

“You can’t hide things that are already in the public eye. You tried to hide what happened with Grave Manor, and instead it’s one of the most well known horror stories to date. It even has its own music album. You tried to cover up that plague, but you can’t exactly hide something that nearly destroyed two entire cities and decimated their populations. You tried to hide Dr. Grace’s invasion, but you can’t hide the fact that a giant armada of ships came right the f_ck out of nowhere and attacked Evo City. And you certainly can’t hide a horde of monsters running through the streets of Big City in broad daylight.”

"I'm not saying hide it this time, just come up with a believable story that's less serious than the APOCALYPSE!"

“And how do you expect me to do that!? Tell people that all the new Freaks popping up everywhere isn’t a sign that things are going horribly wrong!? We have people turning into Freaks left and right, the Freaks that are already around are becoming more hostile by the day, and we have a Trio of teenagers running around that are our only chance of stopping this apocalypse!”

Tyson sighed. "Look, I just don't want the public to panic. If they do, everything will collapse into chaos and it'll be even harder to track down those kids."

“Tyson, the public is already panicking. The best we can do now is try to keep them safe.”

Tyson sighed. “...you’re right.”

Rudra nodded. “And I suggest you get on that. If things keep getting worse like they have been, you might end up having to evacuate the city very soon.”

Tyson nodded. “Alright. Start a watch and tell the people to prepare for evacuation.”

Rudra turned on her heel and quickly took her leave, calling up a group of soldiers to her side. “I hope you guys are ready for another round of disaster. We have to be prepared to evacuate Evo City ASAP.”

“Yes, ma’am,” a soldier replied.

***

Meanwhile at Christian Pure Spy’s chapel, Polite Spy and Jester were watching a movie while Isa played with her dolls nearby.

“Have you heard from Spyper and Intelligent lately?” Jester asked, tossing a handful of popcorn into their mouth.

“Not since last week. They were supposed to come over for a get-together, right?”

“Yeah, they were. But I haven’t heard from them at all.”

Polite Spy lit a cigarette. “I did hear from Sny, though. Apparently he’s out of the country on a job.”

“Spy job or Sniper job?”

“Spy job. He’s looking into an organization.” Polite leaned back. “If you don’t mind telling, who was that on the phone?”

“A guy named Odi-Tron. He wants to help humanity and he wants me to help him do that! Isn’t that great?”

Polite tilted his head. “Is he starting a charity or something?”

“He didn’t really give me much info. All he said was that I had to look out for three kids that’ll be coming by soon.”

Polite hummed, opening his laptop. “So you’re going to help without the information?”

“Well, yeah. Nothing bad’s gonna happen if I look after three kids, right?”

Something flashed in Polite’s eyes, but Jester missed it as the Freak replied, “I suppose not,” and started typing.

“I do wanna know why I have to look after these three kids specifically,” Jester mused. “I hope they’re not in any danger.”

“As do I.” Polite looked up. “I’ve heard Brutal has three people in his crosshairs as of late. What do you think they did?”

Jester looked at Polite with alarm. “You don’t think he would be going after some kids, do you?”

“I certainly hope not. On the off chance that they are, however, if they keep up the diligence that made him fail the first time, they’ve got a shot at survival.”

Jester gave a long and worried pause, then glanced back at Isa. “I really hope he’s not after these kids…”

***

In a dark base, somewhere nobody would have ever thought was habitable, much less inhabited, someone got a call. “This better be good, 9.”

“It is. I just got an email from Polite. It’s about Count Jester.”

“What about them? Aren’t they too busy eating candy or something to be cause for concern?”

“That’s what I thought. But what Polite just sent me is more than enough to worry you. Jester’s apparently been suckered in by Odi-Tron. The guy in charge of this whole mess. He managed to sucker in Jester.”

“Of course he did. Of course he’d get in someone with access to a whole other dimension... Tell Polite to stay put. Be ready to knock Jester out if need be and bring the Aspects here if we don’t get to them in time.”

“Well...Here’s the thing. Maybe we can get Jester on our side. Jester may have a few screws loose, but they’re not malicious. If someone can convince them that they were lied to by someone like Odi-Tron, they might just defect to our side. Then we’ll be the ones with the reality bender.”

“Alright... Tell Polite to try and get Jester to contact Odi-Tron again. Have them pry deeper. We didn’t work this hard to lose now. And keep an eye out for the Aspects. All our agents in the States are at your disposal for this mission.”

“Yes Archsage. I’m on it. I’ll contact you again if there’s any major developments.”

“Good. And give Polite a bonus. Tell him to buy himself some stickers or whatever he can treat himself with.”

“Understood. Until next time, Archsage.” With that, 9 hung up.

The shadowy figure sighed and leaned back. “Of all the people to run this operation, why did it have to be me?”

#freak fortress #Only Human #Ari #Marcus #Cally #Rudra #Polite Spy #Count Jester #team fortress 2

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 8: Licking Their Wounds 

"What do you think happened to them?" 

“I don’t know. Are they dead?” 

“I don’t know. Check the boy’s pulse.” 

The first thing Marcus felt upon regaining consciousness was a cold hand on his neck, and given the events of the previous day, one could hardly blame him for freaking out. And opening his eyes to see someone in an oddly dressed face mask and a Sniper outfit? That just worsened his mood. He drove a foot into the man’s gut, rolled away, and drew his gun, pointing it at the man, who also had a very large companion wearing a pot. 

“My friends and I had a very bad day yesterday. If you don’t want me to take it out on you, you’ll tell me who you are, what you’re doing here, and why you were touching me,” he hissed, glaring. 

“Gah-!” The masked figure grunted, falling on his back. “F_cking OW! I was just checking your pulse, kid!” 

“Like hell you were!” came the reply. “You with them? You here to kill us, too?!” 

“What? No! We just stumbled across you a few minutes ago!” The man with a pot on his head exclaimed. 

Marcus looked at him. “Who are you two?” 

“I’m Spyper,” The masked man grunted, stumbling to his feet. “This is my friend, Intelligent Heavy.” 

“Let me guess. Freaks?” Marcus asked, keeping the gun trained on Spyper. 

“Yeah, we’re Freaks. Why?” 

Marcus took a step to the side, shielding Cally and Ari’s sleeping forms. “Wanna guess why we had a bad day yesterday?” 

“I can guess. Run in with hostile Freaks?” 

“Yeah. Tried to kill us and gassed a room full of choir girls. And apparently all this is over something that someone wrote or said would happen in the future.” 

Spyper and Intelligent Heavy glanced at each other, then back at the trio. 

“Ok, that just sounds bad. But look, we’re not here to hurt you,” Spyper said, raising his hands. 

Marcus opened his mouth to respond, but a quiet groan interrupted him. “Marcus? Who are you talking to? Where are we?” 

Marcus tensed. “Don’t worry about it, Ar.” 

Spyper frowned and leaned to look past Marcus to Cally and Ari, and then winced. “Your friend doesn’t look too good,” He grimaced, pointing out the wound on Callys head. 

“We fell off that,” Marcus replied, indicating the ledge. 

“I have bandages in my van,” Spyper said carefully. “I’m just going to get them. You stay here.” 

Marcus moved to shield Cally, then nodded, equally cautious. 

Ari, not cautious at all, approached Intelligent Heavy. “Hi! I’m Ari! What’s your name?” 

“I’m Intelligent Heavy,” The big Freak replied. 

“Nice to meet you!” Ari smiled and stuck their hand out. 

“Sounds like you three had a rough day yesterday,” Intelligent said, shaking his hand. 

“Oh, yeah. I got really bad superpowers that let me feel other people’s emotions, and the first time it was used, that Australian guy and his French buddy were putting gas in a room of choir girls to turn them into Freaks,” Ari whined, her eyes shimmering blue. “It hurt so much.” 

“That sounds awful - Wait, an Australian and a French man?”

“Yeah. The Australian guy tricked me into telling him where we were, and then he tried to kill us. And the weird thing is, apparently Marcus killed him earlier! Tricked him into lowering his guard and shot him twice.” 

Marcus nodded, grumbling. “And I’d do it again.” 

Intelligent turned pale, looking over the Trio with a sort of sickly concern. “Oh no...You three were attacked by Christian Brutal Sniper and Gentlespy, two of the most infamous Freaks around.” 

Ari hesitated. “Wait, he’s a Christian? But Cally is a Christian, and she’s a good person! She’d never try to kill one of us!” 

Marcus swore under his breath. “Most infamous Freaks, huh? I guess we really do have to be important if they came after us.” 

Intelligent rubbed his neck. “I don’t know why Brutal calls himself Christian. None of us do, actually. We think he just picked the name at random. Either that or he did it to mock one of our friends, Christian Pure Spy.” 

“Sounds like that kinda @sshole,” Marcus bit out. “So do you know anything about the turning people into Freaks deal?” 

“A little. We know Brutal’s been out with Freaks like Doc Jarate to create something that could do that, but we didn’t realize that he’d already started the process.” 

“Any idea why?” Marcus asked. “And how the three of us are supposed to make that not happen?” 

“I’m not entirely sure why. All Brutal ever said was that it was for payback or something.” 

“Payback? Did someone else, like, torture him to make him a Freak? I’d gladly help him find that guy if that was the case,” Marcus said, leaning back. “No need to take out three teenagers.” 

“Well...I mean his team left him to die in a fire before he became a Freak, but he never really showed any interest in getting revenge against them. I think he wants payback against all of humanity for… something.” 

Ari whimpered. “Aw. Whatever happened to him, it must have been real bad for him to hate the world over it.” 

“Team?” Marcus asked. “He play sports?” 

“No, he was a mercenary before becoming a Freak. His team was made up of other mercenaries.” 

“Mercenary? Like Deadpool?” Ari asked. 

“What? No, a contract killer.” 

A third voice joined the conversation. “Oh, great. A hitman. I- Augh, my head is killing me.” 

“Cally’s awake!” Ari exclaimed. He ran over and knelt down beside Cally. “You ok?” 

“We ran in a magic hamster ball off a cliff. I don’t think I’m- OH MY GOSH WHO ARE YOU?!” Cally jumped upon seeing Intelligent. 

“Don’t freak out! I’m not here to hurt you!” 

Ari giggled. “Heh, freak out.” 

“My friend Spyper went to get bandages for you. Just take it easy,” Intelligent said. 

“Spyper…” Cally thought. “Another Freak. You’re another one?” 

“I am, but we’re not here to cause trouble.” 

“That’s good. We could use a breather.” Cally sat up, hissing in pain, then put her hand to her forehead. The moment she felt the sticky, wet gash on her face, she gagged. “WHEN?!” 

Marcus shrugged. “Hell if I know.” 

Ari waved at Spyper as he came back. “Hi! I’m Ari!” 

“Hey, I’m Spyper,” he waved. He crouched down next to Cally and unpacked the medkit he had. “Now just hold still, this may sting a little.” 

***

Meanwhile, at the hotel, Gentlespy was on the phone, looking very uneasy. “Uh, yes, they got away, sir.” 

“How? You are a trained assassin, how did three teenagers with no grasp on their powers get away from you?” A demonic voice hissed on the other end of the line. 

Gentle hesitated. “Would you believe me if I said the boy formed a magic hamster ball around him and his friends?” 

“...You cannot be serious.” 

“I know that sounds crazy, but that’s what happened. And given his reaction, I believe his powers did that on their own.” Gentle sighed. “I’m as confused as you are. Brutal is just angry.” 

There was a moment of silence, and painful screams echoed somewhere in the background on the other end for several minutes before the archdemon was finally back on the line.

“Did you at least convert the choir?” 

“That we did. Brutal says he can tell it hurt by both the screams and how the Heart reacted. They’re probably going to wake up in a few minutes.” 

“Find the three. Get the choir acquainted with their situation, and then find the three. Get help if you have to.” 

“Understood.” 

The person hung up, leaving Gentle to get up and head to see how the choir girls were doing. 

Passing the lobby, the Freak allowed his mouth to twitch into an amused smile upon seeing the receptionist with his eyes gouged out, a smile carved into his face, and his heart cut out, chains and hooks coming out of the hole. “Brutal clearly didn’t take losing well, did he? Eh, you’ll wake up soon anyway.” 

Coming to the room the choir girls had been locked in, Gentle was greeted with a rather disturbing sight. Each of the girls were still unconscious, and their bodies were twisted and mangled into insectoid-like forms. Gentle came up to one of the girls and dragged her to her feet before attempting to shake her awake. 

“Wake up, you have work to do,” He ordered sharply. 

The girl opened her eyes, which now looked like insect eyes. Panicked, she moved so she was crouched and a fair distance away from him. “Who are you? Where am I?” her now-monstrous voice came out in a blend of horror and rage. 

“Now just calm down, no good in freaking out,” Gentle said smoothly, raising his hands. “Me and my friend just...Made a few tweaks to you are your little choir group here.” 

The girl looked at her friends and gagged. “You did this to them? To me?! They look like... they look horrible!” 

“You actually look quite normal. For Freaks, at least.” 

“Freaks? What are those?” 

“...Of course, the people we infect don’t even know what a Freak is,” Gentle sighed, throwing up his hands. 

Another voice came in from above them. “We’re superbeings, kid.” 

“Wait, who are you?!” the girl shouted, jumping back as Brutal dropped from the ceiling. 

“Christian Brutal Sniper. You?” The Australian asked, cracking his neck. 

“...Alicia. What did you do to us?” 

“Turned you all into Freaks. I thought that was obvious,” Brutal said, looking over the choir girls, who were now coming to. 

“Wh-” Alicia blinked, holding her head and stumbling back as the other girls sat up, groaning. “What am I hearing?” 

“What am I seeing?” another girl asked, speaking in unison with her. 

“What happened to us?!” a third joined in. 

Brutal peered at the girls, a glint of creepily gleeful curiosity flickering in his eyes. “A hivemind. That’s the best Freak development yet.” 

“Hive mind?!” the girls managed, blinking as their vision and senses returned. “What are you talking about? How did- why- when-” Questions rushed out of the girls’ mouths as they looked at themselves and each other. 

“We could use this,” Gentle said pointedly, pulling Brutal aside.

“You think that I don’t know that? Give Doc Jarate a call. He’ll know how to put these girls to use.” 

Gentle grabbed his phone. “Where’s the adult that came with them?” 

“Not sure. She must have ran out before we got here.” 

Gentle shrugged. “She’s probably gonna end up causing trouble. We can bring her in then.” 

Suddenly, a horrified scream reached everyone’s ears. 

“The chains were overkill, you know,” Gentle commented. 

“Just had to be safe. Bring him here.” 

There was the sound of crashing and fighting, and then the receptionist was pulled in by the chains coming from his chest, snarling like a vicious animal. 

“Seems like an intense little bugger. What do you think his powers are?” Brutal asked, looking the mangled receptionist over. 

“I don’t know. You’ve never gouged out someone’s eyes before.” 

The receptionist moved to bite Brutal’s hand, hissing as black slime dripped from the holes where his eyes had been, falling to the floor and burning through it. 

“Never seen that before…” Brutal mused, peering at the black ooze. 

“Neither have I. He attacked with these things,” Gentle informed, holding up the chains. “And if you get his mouth open the whole way, there are so many teeth in there. Ugh.” 

“Different forms of torture lead to different results...I like this new development,” Brutal chuckled, giving a wry, unhinged grin. 

The receptionist growled, then pulled at the chains as if asking to be let go. 

“Hurry up and give Doc Jarate a call. He’ll want to hear about this.” 

** 

At Spyper’s van, Marcus, Cally, and Ari were eating scrambled eggs. 

Marcus was still watching Spyper and Intelligent like a hawk, his sharp gaze warning them away. Ari was sewing some clothes Spyper had torn, whistling cheerfully. Cally was playing chess with Intelligent. “I still can’t believe you’re so good at chess. You know how many people there are at my school who can play?” 

“How many?” The pot wearing Freak asked, moving his Rook. 

“One,” Cally grumbled. “Just one. Her name is Cally.” 

“Must suck not having anyone to play with,” Intelligent chuckled. 

“Absolutely. I had to play with a computer. Marcus keeps promising to learn, but never does.” 

“Because it’s boring,” Marcus quipped. 

"It is not!" Cally shot back. 

“It’s an acquired hobby,” Intelligent shrugged. 

“I don’t see why you don’t just change out of this,” Ari complained after poking Spyper again. “Don’t you have another outfit?” 

“Why? I look good in this!” Spyper protested. 

“I’ve poked you 4 times.” 

“I can handle it,” Spyper replied. 

“And it smells like pee.” 

“That’s one of my weapons.” 

“You use pee as a weapon?” 

Spyper grinned. “I’ll explain on the way to… where do you want to go?” 

“Anywhere,” Marcus replied. “Anywhere we can get help.” 

“You got it,” Spyper replied, heading to the wheel once Ari was finished. 

** 

The receptionist watched with nonexistent eyes as the girls asked Brutal and Gentle, “So you want to do this to everyone else?” All of them looked at the two with an intrigued, uneasy look. It was as if it was one person. 

“Yes. When everyone’s like this, it means you can do whatever you want without consequences,” Gentle grinned, looking over the new Freaks with sadistic glee. 

“Like, go out late at night?” One asked, and they all tilted their heads. 

“You poor, sweet, innocent souls,” Brutal laughed, shaking his head. “No. We Freaks have had our fun ruined by organizations like HECU for too long. It's time we got rid of them and make this world a sandbox for Freaks like us to run amuck in.” 

“Fun?” 

“Like what?” 

The girls, as one, leaned in, curious. 

“Doing what we used to do. Destroy and maim whatever and whoever we want. To have that rush of adrenaline whenever we want!” Gentle grinned crazily. 

“You kill people?” the girls asked, matching looks of worry crossing their faces. 

The receptionist scoffed decisively, indicating himself. 

“Yes. But afterwards, they’ll wake up with their own superpowers. It’s a win-win situation.”

The receptionist grabbed a Sharpie and drew an eyeroll on a wall. 

The girls tensed. “So we’re dead?” 

The receptionist growled and stormed out of the room. 

“Basically,” Gentle shrugged. 

The girls paused and closed their eyes, as if talking amongst each other mentally, then decided, “You know what? This isn’t too bad. We’re in.” 

Gentle grinned. “Good. Now, here’s what you have to do…” 

As he talked, Brutal went out to get the receptionist and found him in another room sitting in a corner in silence. 

He growled lowly when he heard Brutal approach, and the chains slowly rose in warning. 

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Brutal leered. “It’s not all bad. You’ve got powers now. That’s gotta count for something.” 

The receptionist indicated the hole in his chest and his mouth, hissing. Then he stood up, angrily pointing to himself and out a window, at the town. 

“Now just calm down. Think about this for a second. You won’t be accepted by them anymore, but you’re perfectly welcome with us Freaks.” 

The receptionist tilted his head, snarling, then went back to looking outside. The chains formed the words: I belong out there. 

“Not anymore you don’t,” Brutal said sternly. “You belong here. With us Freaks.” 

You did this to me. How am I supposed to just go with you? 

“Where else are you supposed to go? The people out there will fear you, and they’ll run the moment they see you. Us Freaks are just about the only place you can go.” 

Why do you want to do this? What did I ever do to you? What do you want? 

“Didn’t you hear my friend out there? We want to turn everyone into a Freak, because when everyone’s a Freak, no one will be able to stop us from doing what we used to do. I don’t have to worry about my fun being ruined by HECU or some other organization that decides to pop up.” 

So, anarchy? And you expect me to not only be okay with this, but help you? 

“It is your only option now,” Brutal grinned. 

The receptionist growled, but bowed his head in a silent admission that the Freak who had stripped him of his humanity and turned him into this… thing was right. 

“It’s not all bad. You’ve got powers now,” Brutal assured slyly. “Come on. Let's get you acquainted with some of the Freaks that are helping me with this plan.” 

The receptionist nodded and approached, handing Brutal the chains like a dog handing his owner his leash. 

“Doc Jarate will find a job for you. Trust me, you’ll come to love this life.” 

The receptionist nodded. 

Outside a window, a hooded figure watched the scene with a scowl, then stormed away. “Son of a b@#$h,” she muttered as she headed to a motorcycle. With a pin and scissors, she hotwired it and started it up before driving away. 

#tf2 freaks #freak fortress #christian brutal sniper #gentlespy #spyper #intelligent heavy #Marcus #Cally #Ari #TF2 #only human