<<audio Bambiance stop>>
<<audio 1rubber play>>
With an exasperated sigh, Suki cinches the final length of rope to bind Athena. Upon finishing, she surveys the scene around her. Athena sits on the ground, arms behind her back, legs bound in a frogtie, and pouting for having lost the match. She chews on her cleave gag in vexation. (“Just gag me before I say something I regret,” she had grumbled when she lost the match, and Suki hesitantly complied).
Just short of a dozen guild members lay on the cold tile of the guild quarter’s floor, themselves knocked out cold or groveling in pain. Suki couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. Despite many of the guild's men shared an interest in the art of binding, many had a severe ̶a̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ allergy to rope. The compromise the guild came up with was that men who lost bouting matches could either fight until they were compromised or flee. Meanwhile the dilemma of binding the ladies had simply never come up. Carol loved it (Evelyn secretly did too), while Suki was partial and Athena tolerated it.
Leroy pats Suki reassuringly on the back. “Don’t worry, the unconscious ones appreciate it.”
“That...doesn’t make me feel any better.”
Leroy shrugs. “Can’t say I didn’t try, Princess.” He chews the stick of straw in his mouth thoughtfully, surveying the scene. “Damn…I think we won. Good effort, by the way,” he compliments Athena as he pats her on the head. She glares at him and growls through her cloth gag. “Sheesh, tough crowd. Well, Princess. Shall we? Don’t wanna keep the boss waiting.”
“With pleasure,” Suki replies, mocking a curtsy in her green pants and guild tunic. As the two make their way to the guild master’s office, they hear a muffled clamor behind them.
[[They respond. It could be danger! Or maybe a compromised guild member needs an ice pack…->2 Respond to It]]
[[They ignore it. Nothing’s more dangerous than the dynamic duo of Suki and Leroy! Also the guild master’s waiting.->B Ignore It]]Suki and Leroy turn around, surveying the scene. Nothing had changed except…
“Where’s Athena?”
Leroy chews his straw in agitation. “Maybe she got so upset she lost, she broke free to pout in her quarters?”
“That’s a stretch...”
“Yeah, she sucks at escaping.”
<<linkappend "As if on cue...">>
<<audio 2AthenaClutz play>>
A barrel by the bar in the lounge’s corner topples, prompting an eek from Athena as it rolls past her and stops against the wall. A few stray glasses on the counter clatter and roll over - one or too unfortunate ones finding their way to the tile ground. Suki and Leroy jog over as the commotion settles.
“How’d you get over here?” asks Suki.
“How’d you escape so quickly!?” Leroy asks, astounded.
“I-I got real bored and, um, thirsty. Yeah, I got real thirsty, so...”
“Hmph, I never took you to be a drinker,” Suki comments.
“I...just wanted water,” Athena replies."
Leroy swipes a cup and pours fresh water from a barrel on the bar’s countertop. <<linkappend "“Here you go, kid,” he says as he slides it down the counter to her.">> <<audio 2AthenaClutz stop>> <<audio 2slideglass play>>
“Thanks...” Athena stares at the cup, as if unsure what to do with it.
Leroy side-eyes Suki. “Great, you broke our mercenary. What’d I tell you about making the knots too tight? Poor girl still doesn’t have enough blood going to her head,” he teases.
“Please, you’re the one who patted her head. Your stupid probably rubbed off on her.”
“Forgive me, Princess, I think I misheard you.”
“I said you're dashingly handsome.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought you said.”
Athena stares at Suki and Leroy with more astonishment than she gave the cup of water. “You...you two are kind of funny.”
Leroy narrows his eyes. “Yeah, and you’re acting real funny. Seriously, kid, you okay?”
Athena shakes her head and puts on a forced smile. “No, I’m fine. Just have a lot of chores today. You know, like, entertaining guests in the trophy hall if you know what I mean.”
Leroy smirks. “Oh, I know what you mean. Hey Princess, let’s help her entertain our ‘guests’. The guildmaster can wait a bit longer.” Suki sighs but relents. “Fine. I still don’t trust you’re feeling okay, Athena. Let’s go together.”
Athena smiles awkwardly and heads to the trophy hall with them. Leroy nudges Suki and looks quickly at Athena, then back at Suki. //Have you ever seen her smile before?// Suki shrugs and mimes drinking a glass. //Maybe she had a drink at the bar before we found her?// Leroy shakes his head and points up, dragging his finger down as if tracking the sun. //She didn’t have enough time to get drunk!//
Noticing their gesturing, Athena stares at them in awe. “You guys know sign language?”
“Haha! No. We just have our own language,” Leroy answers.
“Oh...you guys are pretty close,” Athena replies.
Suki and Leroy look at each other and shrug. “We get along. Not like today’s any different,” says Suki.
“Though we did kick ass particularly well today,” Leroy adds.
<<linkappend "“Heck yeah we did!” his teammate replies as she and Leroy high five.">> <<audio Kclap play>>
“Hm? What did you guys do today?”
Suki and Leroy stare at her, dumbfounded.
“The annual Guild Takeover event? Girl, we kicked your ass, too. Did that barrel hit your head or something?” Leroy asks.
“The...annual what?”
“Damn girl, do you need a doctor?” he asks as he checks her head for a bump. Suki looks at him surprised and motions to her own head before holding a hand up with tensed fingers. //She’s letting you pet her head!//
Leroy stares back at Suki with wide eyes. //Oh shit, you’re right.//
Suki continues the explanation as she sees Athena waiting for them to continue. “You know, when the boss rewards the team that can take down the most guild members in one day? He started it a couple years back to keep us on our toes. You took the day off last year because you said it sounded stupid, remember? But you’ve been here all day, we fought you earlier! Don’t you remember anything?”
Athena laughs nervously. “Hehe yeah, I think you’re right. That barrel must’ve got me good.”
- - -
Okay, Athena’s definitely acting strange. “Hey, Athena, let’s get you checked out,” Suki presses. At Suki’s prompting, [[Athena panics like a mercenary shouldn’t and sprints out of the lounge. Something’s up. After her!->3 After Athena]]
Well, Athena's sure acting weird but she says she's fine. [[Let's just keep walking with her to the trophy hall.->III]]
<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Suki and Leroy look at one another and shrug.
"Probably Athena pouting."
"Yeah, let's keep going."
<<linkappend "Their footsteps echo in the dark stone halls.">> <<audio Bambiance loop play>> <<audio Bhesitantsteps volume 1.3 play>> As they enter the foyer, the practice escape cell to their left looks all the more ominous, empty and cast in shadows. The usual chatter from the vendors at the far end of the room is absent given the Guild Takeover Event. Their stalls can barely be made out in the poor lighting. Their obscure angular shapes easily toy with one's imagination in the dark.
"H-hey Leroy, it isn't usually this dark, is it?" Suki asks, looking over her shoulder to where she expects to find him. She shudders at the realization: not only is he nowhere in sight, the foyer's even quieter than before. "Leroy? Athena? ...Anybody?" Suki probes as she backs up towards the guild quarters from where she came. Even if everyone's compromised, at least they’re company.
She nearly jumps out of her skin as she bumps in to a warm body behind her. She spins on her feet, hand lingering over her sparring knife, then sighs in relief.
"Shit, Leroy, you scared me. Why weren't you answering?"
He menacingly pulls a length of rope taught between his hands as he approaches.
“Leroy, you-you’re acting funny...”
She jolts as her back hits a cold stone wall behind her. In the dark, Suki feels more than sees him grab her, spin her around, and pin her against the wall. A soft ‘eek’ escapes at the sudden cold from the stone against her cheek, as well as the sensation of rope being wrapped around her wrists. “Leroy, what the hell! We’re on the same team!” He cinches the ropes binding her wrists and leans in to whisper in her ear:
“I’m not on anyone’s team.”
- - -
[[Oh shit! This doesn’t look so good. How’s Carol faring?->C Check in with Carol]]
[[Oh shit! This doesn’t look so good. How’s Evelyn faring?->D Check in with Evelyn]] <</linkappend>><<audio 2slideglass stop>>
<<audio 3chasefoyer play>>
<<audio 3forestambiance volume 1.5 play>>
Athena sprints back to the main quarters and to the foyer. Suki and Leroy run after her and catch a glimpse of her armor as she runs up the foyer stairs to the outdoors. Upon making it outside, they see Athena looking back and forth as if trying to decide where to run. “Suki!” she calls out.
“Right behind you!” shouts Suki as she tackles her from behind.
“Some free advice, girl: Don’t shout the name of your captor.” Leroy taunts as he loosens the coils of rope stored on his belt loops.
“N-no, the others, I mean, help!” Athena shouts to the trees.
Suki glances at Leroy. “I know we’re in the middle of nowhere, but maybe we should gag her just in case?”
Leroy tosses the rope beside Suki and grabs strips of cloth from a pocket. “As you wish, Princess.”
“N-no, wait, helmph!” Athena stammers before Leroy shoves fabric in her mouth and ties another strip of fabric around her head to keep in place. Suki tightens her grip around Athena as Leroy cinches the cleavegag and grabs a coil of rope. “Are you stronger than Athena?” he asks Suki right as Athena throws her head back and smacks Suki in the face.
“No,” Suki groans, “Can we trade?” As Suki’s grip loosens, Athena scrambles to her feet just in time for Leroy to grip her from behind and pin her to the ground again.
“Sure thing, Princess.”
Athena squeals in frustration as Leroy pins her torso and arms while Suki sits on her legs and binds her ankles. Given Athena’s continued squirming, Suki wraps more rope around Athena’s upper legs for good measure and cinches them together as well. “Overlapping arms?” Leroy asks. “Yeah,” Suki agrees as Leroy grips Athena’s forearms over eachother while Suki binds them. Athena grunts and tries to buck the two off her to no avail. “Don’t worry, girl, we’re almost done. And then we’re gonna have a long talk,” Leroy says as he adjusts her to a kneel. Athena groans and flexes against the rope, moving alarmingly well given the amount of rope on her. Suki and Leroy look at one another with concern. “Well okay! Guess we’re adding more,” says Suki as she wraps rope around Athena’s torso while Leroy holds her as still as possible by the shoulders. Suki makes sure to wrap rope around the outside of Athena’s arms to pin them to her torso. Upon Suki cinching the rope harness in place, Leroy lays Athena on her stomach once more. Athena thrashes against the rope, though notably less than before.
“Mind if I do the final touch, Princess?” asks Leroy. “Be my guest,” she replies as she tosses him a length of rope, which he loops through the binding at Athena’s ankles. Athena grunts as Leroy grips the rope towards her torso, causing her knees to bend. He loops it through her chest harness, pulling until Athena’s back arches. Satisfied at the taughtness, he cinches the rope and leaves Athena in a snug hogtie. He pants as he stands again and wipes his brow. “Who’s the best Guild Takeover team?”
<<linkappend "“We are!” Suki answers with an energetic high five.">>
<<audio 3chasefoyer stop>>
<<audio 3slowclap play>>The two start at the sound of slow clapping from the trees. A girl dressed in green pants and a green guild tunic walks out of the forest, accompanied by a lean man with the scruffy stubble of a beard.
“Well done, I’m impressed. Athena’s not particularly bold, but she puts up a fight,” says the girl.
“Do I...know you?” Suki asks. The girl stops clapping and holds her arms out. “Take a good look, what do you think?”
“I think...you may be...my cousin?”
“Your, wh-what?” gasps the girl. Suki shrugs. “I was adopted, I don’t know much about my family.”
The other girl looks at her in disgust.
“I’m you, you idiot!”
- - -
[[Pfft, another Suki? And I suppose that lean guy standing next to her is another Leroy? Ha! What a laugh.->4]]
[[Another Suki? And is that another Leroy, too? Something’s not right…->5]]
<</linkappend>> Prior to the three approaching the trophy hall, on the morning our story begins, a young lady with an appearance much like Suki's and a tall man that looks strikingly like Leroy roamed the guild base. They extinguished lanterns as they went, casting various areas of the base in darkness. Other guild members thought nothing of it, assuming it was intentional on behalf of the boss to make the Guild Takeover event more challenging.
Carol certainly thought so as she entered an unusually dark Trophy Hall later in the day in search of opponents...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
<<linkappend "“Come on partner!” Carol calls to Athena, who begrudgingly trails behind her.">> <<audio IIIsteps play>> <<audio Bambiance play>> “For the last time,” Athena sighs, “we’re not partners, we just have a truce for now.”
“Sure thing, comrade.”
Athena scowls but doesn’t give in to Carol’s baiting. The lantern extinguishing duo nods to one another in the shadows and creep up behind Athena, who trails behind Carol.
“Aw, no response? You gotta admit, we make a good team. Call it whatever you want, but you owe me for freeing you.” She chuckles. “Man, I still want to know the dirty details of what happened between you and Suki. I get it, you’re embarrassed to admit you and Suki had a little fun together. But seriously, your cover story makes no sense! You expect me to believe Suki and Leroy tied you up, left you in the guild quarters, and then a second Suki dragged you in to Suki’s room and left you there? You gotta admit, that sounds pretty crazy. It’s less embarrassing to just admit you and Suki had a little one on one."
As Carol rambles off exposition and her own personal fantasy, she fails to hear Athena’s muffled surprise as a hand clamps over her mouth. The man grapples her and brings her to her knees. <<linkappend "Just as Carol hears Athena’s halberd clang on the floor...">><<audio IIIsteps stop>> <<audio IIIhalberd play>> the man’s companion comes up behind Carol and pins her to the ground. Carol gasps in surprise and tenses slightly before seeing who her captor is. “Suki?” she asks quizzically, relaxing. “I was wondering when we’d come across you,” she grunts as her captor forces her wrists behind her back and begins wrapping rope around them. “I was, ugh, hoping to, hah, ask what happened between...you and Athena,” Carol manages to ask as she sighs at the sensation of the rope cinching around her wrists.
“Damn it Carol, fight back! That’s not the real Suki!” Carol growls as she manages to momentarily shake the hand off her mouth. The man clamps his gloved hand back on her mouth even tighter while also smothering her nose. Athena struggles all the more harder at the sudden lack of air, grappling at the hand clamped over her. The man uses his other hand to grab a wrist and pin it behind Athena’s back. She tenses and tries in vain to break free, but given the lack of oxygen her struggling gradually slows and the tension in her face and body softens. It makes it all the more easy for the man to bring her from her knees to her stomach. Suki finishes binding Carol’s ankles together before joining her partner on top of Athena.
The man releases his hand from her mouth and overlaps Athena’s arms behind her back so that his partner can bind them together. Athena gasps for air and begins to tense her arms, though by then it’s too late and they’re already tightly bound across her back. Her captors force her to kneel again as the one who looks like Suki wraps rope around a folded leg, binding it in to a frog-tie.
The man holds her still and uses a new length of rope to cinch Athena’s arms to her torso in a chest harness, while his partner finishes the frog-tie on one leg and begins wrapping rope around the other. “Ugh, who are you!?” growls Athena, as she fruitlessly tries to break free from her captors. “I’m Suki,” the one binding her legs grins mischievously. Athena narrows her eyes at her. “Something’s off about you.”
“Is it the ponytail?” the man asks, then tsks. “I told you you should have gone with pigtails.”
“Maybe it’s my skin,” the other muses as she mockingly frames her face with her hands. “I have been moisturizing more lately.”
“That’s not -oof!” Athena grunts as the man abruptly stands, lifting Athena with him.
“Bring her here,” the one like Suki says, dragging Athena’s halberd to the entrance to a cell. The man places Athena in the gated entrance, and his partner threads the hilt of the ax through Athena’s chest harnes in the space between her bound arms and chest.
“Decorative,” huffs the man.
“It’s to hold her in place, idiot,” she scolds as she fixes it in place so it rests horizontally across her back, the hilt protruding on one side and the blades on another. With two short lengths of rope, she binds the hilt to the bars on one side of the entrance, and binds the base under the blades to the bars on the other side – fixing Athena in place. Athena tenses against her bonds and tests her mobility. No matter her struggling, the shaft of her weapon pins her in place. Her female captor, still behind her, slinks closer. “Now for the finishing touch.”
As her male counterpart drags Carol in to the cell across Athena, the Suki look-alike gruffly shoves a bundles cloth in to Athena’s mouth. Ignoring Athena’s growls of frustration as the fabric fills her mouth, the captor pulls a thick strip of cloth from a pocket and binds it taught across Athena’s mouth. “There we are, nice and quiet.”
“Wh-what are you going to do to us?” Carol asks expectantly.
“Yeah,” comments the man standing over her as he looks to his partner. “What are we going to do?
- - -
[[Leave them be. Maybe-Leroy and Is-That-Really-Suki? have other matters to take care of. Let Athena and Carol entertain themselves.->IV]]
[[Well, Maybe-It's-Leroy and Girl-Who-Looks-Like-Suki have business to take care of. But it wouldn’t hurt to entertain their captives for a bit...->V]] <</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Suki and Leroy pause, look at one another, and burst out laughing. Leroy wheezes and props his hands on his knees to steady himself. Suki grips her stomach as she fights to compose herself.
“Hahaha, o-okay okay, I gotta know, is that Carol? Besides the ponytail, she looks just like me,” Suki manages to say after catching her breath.
“Hahah! Oh, oh gods, I gotta give it to you, kid, that was great." Leroy wipes at an eye. “Ah man, I can’t remember the last time someone made me tear up like this. And where’d you get that ugly mug from - I suppose he’s supposed to be me?” adds Leroy.
The tall man behind the second Suki huffs and crosses his arms. “Shrug it off, snowflake,” she growls at him before addressing Suki and Leroy again. “Look, we’re on a timeframe. Laugh at yourselves all you want. But you can either help us, or we’ll take matters in to our own hands.”
“Oh ho ho, a tough Suki, eh? Not sure what to think of that,” says Leroy, standing as his laughter subsided. “Your costume’s spot on, kid, but your character work could use some fine tuning.”
“Yeah, Carol, besides the ponytail you nailed me.”
The other Suki smacks her forehead in frustration. “For the last time, I’m not Carol I’m you!” She jabs the man standing beside her. “Forget it, they’re not going to cooperate. You take the big guy, I’ll deal with me."
- - -
[[Haha, okay Carol – and whoever that stranger is. Sure, we’ll play along and cooperate.->6]]
[[Cooperate? Ppft, don’t tell us what to do!->5.5]]Suki and Leroy glance from their look alikes to one another, then laugh nervously.
“Alright guys, good prank. Now tell us what’s really going on,” Leroy says as he crosses his arms and chews his straw stick in earnest.
The Suki lookalike slinks over and leans in to Suki’s face. Suki gasps and leans back, surprised by the speed of her doppelganger. Up close, she can’t help but be all the more impressed by the getup. The clothes look exactly like the ones she’s wearing. Staring at this other person’s face is like staring in to a mirror – that is, if her reflection had a ponytail instead of pigtails and stared back with a perturbing and smug smile. Her other self even smells like her and has the same notable birthmark on her…
<<linkappend "Suki jumps back, brandishing a knife.">>
<<audio 5blade play>>
“Who are you?” she asks her doppelganger, no longer appreciating the eerie resemblance. If this was a prank, it had gone on long enough.
“I already told you,” the other Suki replies, pulling out an identical knife and mirroring Suki’s stance. “I’m you. And right now, there’s one too many of me.”
“I concur,” Other Leroy nods as he enters the clearing from the treeline. “Now we’re on a time crunch, and unfortunately we’re evenly matched. So, we’ll have to rely on the element of surprise.” He smirks at the first Leroy and Suki. “Sorry for this,” he says without the slightest hint of remorse.
<<linkappend "In a flash, he throws a small orb to the ground...">>
<<audio 5smoke volume 2 play>>
...and it erupts in white smoke. No sooner has Suki covered her face from the smokescreen than she feels her opponent knock the blade out of her hand. She hears a scuffle between the Leroys as the Other Suki knocks her to the ground. Athena, nearly forgotten, squeals at the edge of the smokescreen’s radius. “Oh suck it up, we’ll get you when we’re done,” the Other Suki sneers.
//It’s just two on two, I can take on myself//, Suki thinks as she struggles and tries to shove her other self off her back. Suddenly she feels the weight of a larger body squat over her legs, pinning them together as rope is quickly lashed around her ankles. “Well that was fast,” the Other Suki notes as she in turn lashes rope around Suki’s wrists. Other Leroy shrugs. “It just comes down to who can kick the other guy’s balls first. The smokescreen gave me the advantage, so.”
//Well this isn’t good...//
“Get off me!” Suki cries as she thrashes and squirms under their collected weight. Other Suki sighs and abruptly shoves a thick cleavegag in to Suki’s mouth. Suki “umph”s and tosses her head side to side, though her captor cinches it tight with ease. “It’s a pity we came across you so soon, I would’ve enjoyed the hunt but, well, it’s easier tucking you two out of the way here.” As the smokescreen clears, Suki can see Leroy knocked out on the ground. Given the marks she can see, it looks like he got more than a kick to the balls. Other Leroy sees her looking. “He’ll probably be out for a while.”
Suki growls through her gag and attempts to kick at her captors as they dismount. //These ropes will be easy enough to get off, and when I catch up to them-//
Other Suki goes to free Athena, while Other Leroy drags Suki near the treeline. “Rrmph!?” she squeals in confusion. He loops a new strand of rope through the bindings at Suki’s ankles and tosses the other end over a nearby treebranch, then pulls so her legs bend at her waist, placing her ankles above her and out of reach from her bound hands. “I know, it’s nothing fancy. But at least it'll keep you out of the way,” he says with a wink. Suki grumbles in frustration in to her gag, squirming in vain as the tree branch lightly shuffles above her. “Come on, kid, I’m doing you a favor, you’re in the shade now,” he says as he walks away.
Meanwhile, Athena dusts herself off as she gets to her feat. “You were there the whole time and you just WATCHED them do that to me?” she scolds through gritted teeth.
“We didn’t hear you at first.” “It was fun to watch.” the two respond in unison.
Other Suki snickers while Other Leroy avoids making eye contact with either lady. Athena storms ahead towards the guild hideout once more, and the other two follow.
<<linkappend "(Fin)">><<audio 3forestambiance stop>><<audio 5sadtrombone play>>
[[Aw, you got a premature ending. Here, go back to the previous passage.->3 After Athena]]
<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Suki and Leroy chuckle again. Leroy shrugs at Suki.
“All right fine, we’ll play along with you guys, we’ll ‘cooperate’.”
“...Seriously?” asks the other Suki who may-or-may-not be Carol. The man who looks eerily like Leroy without his trademark straw in the mouth appears surprised as well.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s not much else going on today. The event of the day finished, we're just going to check in with the boss.”
The other Suki smiles widely. “Funny, that’s where we were going, too.”
Suki’s eyes widen in realization, “Oh! You made it to the final round of Guild Takeover! That’s why I haven’t seen you all day! Dang, Carol, the boss is going to be surprised to see you, you always get captured in round one.”
Leroy eyes up the other man. “New recruit, huh? Surprised you made it this far.”
Athena, nearly forgotten in the exchange, begins to grunt and struggle on the ground.
“Oh, sorry Athena! We got so distracted we nearly forgot about you,” Suki admits sheepishly.
“Hehe, I bet you were just doing a bit with the kid, that’s why you were acting funny,” muses Leroy.
Athena pauses, then nods her head – as much as her range of motion allows. “I mean, she basically lost twice already. Plus the Guild Takeover is over, we shouldn’t leave her outside,” says Suki.
<<linkappend "“Yeah. Well, we’re not gonna share our prize with you, but we’ll let you go so you can rest up,” Leroy explains as he and Suki begin loosening her bonds.">> <<audio 6release play>> <<audio 3forestambiance volume 1,5 fadeout>>
The man beside the Other Suki lowers himself to mutter in her ear. “You sure we should let them release her? She might let something slip.”
The Other Suki shrugs. “We might need her brawn.”
“Fair enough,” he replies as Athena is released from her hog tie. She spits out the stuffing of her gag and glares at the Other Suki and her Leroy look alike. The Other Suki smirks at her as she and her companion walk on towards the guild entrance. “Let’s go, don’t want to keep the boss waiting.”
Athena begrudgingly takes up the rear as the Other Suki, Other Leroy, Suki, and Leroy descend the stairs of the guild’s main entrance. Athena walks up to the Other Suki and grumbles, “Did you really just watch them tie me up like that? You just used me as bait!”
The Other Suki slaps her in the arm, “Shut up, they’re right behind us.”
The other Leroy smirks. “It was entertaining.”
- - -
[[What are they gossiping about? Pry and ask them to spill the tea.->7]]
[[They sure are chatty, you can hardly hear them. But it would be rude to interrupt.->8]]<</linkappend>><<audio 6release stop>> <<audio 89steps play>> “You’re sure acting secretive,” says Leroy. “You know there’s plenty of reward for two winning teams, right?”
“Yeah, why’re you whispering? It’s just Leroy and me,” adds Suki.
“Secretive?” asks the other Suki. “Nah, we’re not hiding anything. It just gets echoey here, we didn’t want to annoy you guys.”
Leroy shrugs his arm. “Since when has Carol cared about how annoying she is?”
“Yeah, and Athena, you’re not exactly the epitome of grace and subtlety.”
“I, well, that’s because...I mean, if you say so...” Athena stammers.
“I HEAR THEM!” a voice that sounds oddly like Athena’s echoes from the direction of the guild quarter’s.
The sound of panting follows it along with Carol’s wheezy voice, “You’re...hah, egh, so fa-ast.”
<<linkappend "“Shit,”">> <<audio 89steps volume 0.5,0.5 fadeout>><<audio 89Athena play>> says Athena right as Athena barrels out of the archway from the guild quarters and wallops her in the face. Athena falls to the ground as Athena crouches over her and grabs the fallen Athena by the straps of her armor. “W-wait I can explain!” Athena whines as Athena shakes her. “I don’t care about an explanation!” Athena roars back. “I just want to slap you silly for impersonating me and for watching Suki as she toyed with me!”
“A-actually,” Carol says with a wheeze as she props herself against the archway to catch her breath. “I...hah, would like an, an explanation.”
“Yeah, same!” adds Suki. “What the hell is going on Athena?!”
Both Athena’s look up, confused. “Does she mean me?” the one sprawled on the ground asks. “I thought she was talking to me,” replies Athena still grabbing hold of her from above.
The other Suki smacks herself in the forehead and groans. “Isn’t it obvious? After we trussed up your Carol and stole your Athena, we left them in the trophy room. But your Carol must’ve gotten free and helped Athena. And since //somebody// was a nosey-body, they heard us and came charging in!”
“Oh give me some credit,” says Athena as she drops the other Athena and stands up. “I tracked you down on my own. You’re not exactly covering your tracks.”
The other Suki jabs the other Leroy who throws his arms up defensively. “Oh, I suppose that was supposed to be my job! How was I supposed to know they’d get out?!”
[[Okay reader, I’m gonna be real with you: There’s not really a choice here. The commotion is so loud, the boss can hear it and he gets curious...->9]] <</linkappend>><<audio 6release stop>> <<audio 89steps play>> “What do you think they’re whispering about?” Suki asks Leroy as they walk through the guild’s entrance hall towards the guildmaster’s office. Leroy shrugs. “Don’t know, don’t care. I just wanna claim our prize money and call it a day.
“Understandable.”
Meanwhile Athena whispers with the others. “You sure we’ll be able to take the money and stuff with us? I’ve never done this before.”
“Relax, kid, we did this last year. Easy in easy out. Anything we can carry on our body comes with us,” the Leroy look-alike explains.
“Yeah, nothing living mind you. Doesn’t work like that. But anything you can carry is fair game.”
“And we have until the end of the day?” Athena clarifies.
“Yeah, but if we finish early Suki here just says a few magic words and we’re back home,” man-who-looks-like Leroy answers.
He pats Athena on the back, and she shrugs it off and quickens her pace to increase the distance between them. “I’ve never been a big fan of your scheming,” she admits.
“Well, we had a third slot open and the others have their own jobs to do. So tough luck,” the Other Suki retorts.
Athena suddenly pauses in her tracks, causing man-with-Leroy’s-face to walk in to her.
“Oof! The heck, girl, why’d you...” he trails off as he looks to where she’s staring. In the archway between the entrance hall and guild quarters stands Athena. <<linkappend "“Shit,”">><<audio 89steps stop>><<audio 89Athena play>> says Athena right as Athena barrels out of the archway and wallops her in the face. Athena falls to the ground as Athena crouches over her and grabs the fallen Athena by the straps of her armor. “W-wait I can explain!” Athena whines as Athena shakes her. “I don’t care about an explanation!” Athena roars back. “I just want to slap you silly for impersonating me and for watching Suki as she toyed with me!”
“A-actually,” Carol says with a wheeze as she props herself against the archway to catch her breath. “I...hah, would like an, an explanation.”
“Yeah, same!” adds Suki. “What the hell is going on Athena?!”
Both Athena’s look up, confused. “Does she mean me?” the one sprawled on the ground asks. “I thought she was talking to me,” replies Athena still grabbing hold of her from above.
The Other Suki smacks herself in the forehead and groans. “Isn’t it obvious? After we trussed up your Carol and stole your Athena, we left them in the trophy room. But your Carol must’ve gotten free and helped Athena. And since //somebody// was a nosey-body, they heard us and came charging in!”
“Oh give me some credit,” says Athena as she drops the other Athena and stands up. “I tracked you down on my own. You’re not exactly covering your tracks.”
The other Suki jabs the other Leroy who throws his arms up defensively. “Oh, I suppose that was supposed to be my job! How was I supposed to know they’d get out?!”
[[Okay reader, I’m gonna be real with you: There’s not really a choice here. The commotion is so loud, the boss can hear it and he gets curious...->9]] <</linkappend>><<audio 11blackbird stop>>
<<audio IXdoor play>>
"What in blazes is going on out there!" you hear the guildmaster roar. He emerges from his office, does a double take of his gang and their doubles, and quickly retreats in to his office once again.
"Oh no you don't!" the Other Suki cries out and flies over, stopping the door with her foot just in time. "I didn't come all this way just to have you hide from me!"
Suki and Carol approach, curious. Even Athena, stoopped over the Other Athena, decides it's worth leaving her double to investigate. "Hey, boss," she calls out. "There something you're not telling us?"
The Other Suki shoves the door open, eliciting an 'eek' from the guildmaster, unbecoming of someone of his stature. He backs away as the others file in, Other Suki approaching him menacingly, the other ladies in tow.
The more confident of the two Athena's crosses her arms. "In your own words, boss, //what in blazes is going on?//"
"Yeah, boss," Other Suki follows up, mockingly. "Why don't you tell them why you started hiding in your hovel every midsummer? Why you send your pawns to sweep the base under the guise of some stupid game."
"...is she talking about the Guild Takeover Event?" Carol asks in a rare moment of insight.
"I, that is....ugh." The guildmaster sighs and composes himself. <<linkappend "He stands over the hearth at the back of his office, staring contemplateively into the fire as he begins his story.">> <<audio 9fireplace volume 0.4 play>>
“You see, before you had the mission at the academy and befriended Evelyn, I used to frequent the academy to keep tabs on advances in...well, in technology. Magic technically, but what is new magic if not new technology?”
“Wait a minute,” the Other Suki interjects. She turns to Suki. “You’re friends with Evelyn?”
“You’re not?”
“What the hell! You all actually get along in this world?”
“Jealous?” Athena grins at her.
“Pfft, as if,” the Other Suki grumbles as she looks away.
“Uhm,” the guildmaster awkwardly continues again. “A few years back, they tapped in to what has now been deemed forbidden magic. They discovered a way to peer in to other worlds. Some unlike anything you could ever imagined! But one world...one world was just like our own. Only, things had played out differently. Cherisa betrayed you earlier as your aunt launched war ahead of schedule. She had ample resources at hand, I guess their economy is better than ours,” he says with a shrug. “And I…I got a little too curious. The magic advanced such that a few could visit the world at a time. I decided I wanted to visit myself in this other world. See if there were tips I could learn for our guild, maybe tips I could give to my other self.
As it turns out, our guild is doing much better than our counterparts in the other world. And the other me is...selfish. He feigned friendship enough to weasel out the basics of how to use the portals, only to send his Leroy and Suki after me.”
“And the magic is incredibly time consuming,” adds Evelyn. “So it can only work on the summer solstice.”
The entire room jumps at her voice save the guildmaster.
“That’s right, thank you Evelyn. So you see-”
“Holy shit how long have you been there!?” squeaks Carol.
“I’ve been here the whole time, I was just in the library next door and came out when I heard you.”
“We have a library?” the Athenas ask incredulously.
Carol eyes the door Evelyn had just come through. “I always thought that was a closet...”
The guildmaster clears his throat. “And so-”
“We come once a year to rob you, that’s why your coward of a guildmaster hides in his room while he has you play this ‘Guild Takeover’ game. To try and stop us.”
“Now now, there’s no need for name calling is there?”
The Other Suki takes a sudden step towards the guildmaster, who gasps and shudders back.
“Hmph, coward.”
“Soooo let me get this straight,” Carol interjects. “You’re just in it for the money? That doesn’t sound like our Suki at all.”
The Other Suki spins around and grabs Carol by the collar. “I’m not just in it for the money,” she spits, ignoring Carol’s sudden deep blush. “And I’m not your Suki.”
<<linkappend "A Leroy suddenly stumbles in to the room, gasping.">> <<audio 9Leroy play>> “Damn, the other me sure packs a punch,” he says. As his breathing steadies, he pats his tunic and pants as if searching for something. “Crap, almost lost the straw,” he says as he finds it stuck to his collar and places it in his mouth.
Another Leroy stumbles in, also gasping and flushed from the scuffle. “I’m not done with you yet, you bastard.”
“Enough of this,” Other Suki says. “Leroy, let’s do the thing and finish this.”
“Oh ho no you don’t,” says Leroy 1. “I don’t know what this ‘thing’ is you’re talking about, but we’re done with your shenanigans.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” says Leroy 2. “You’re on her team, I’m the one who won’t let //you// get away with shenanigans.”
“Wow, man, you’re going to pretend you’re the other guy just to trick them? That’s real low. Asshole.”
“Takes one to know one,” counters Leroy 2. “Now spit my straw out of your mouth, asshole.”
“Look, Suki,” Leroy 1 says, facing her and nibbling the straw for emphasis. “You recognize me, don’t you? It’s me, I’m your Leroy.”
Suki looks at Leroy 2, unsure. “Come one Princess,” Leroy 2 says. “Have I ever lied to you before?"
- - -
[[Leroy 1 does have the straw. Leroy’s not Leroy without his straw. (Trust Leroy 1)->10]]
[[Leroy 2 might not have the straw, but… (Trust Leroy 2)->11]] <</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Suki hesitantly faces Leroy 1. It’s hard to say for sure, but he does have the straw in his mouth. Suki had never seen Leroy without straw in his mouth, so surely…
“You’re my Leroy, right?”
Leroy 2 drops his shoulder in disappointment. “Seriously, Princess? Just because he stole my straw you chose him?”
Leroy 1 scoffs. “Lame.”
Engaged in conversation, Suki and Leroy fail to notice the subtle signal Other Suki gives her Leroy. In a swift and fluid motion, Leroy 1 pulls a damp handkerchief from a vest pocket, grabs Leroy 2 from behind, and clamps it over his mouth. <<linkappend "Simultaneously, Other Suki throws what looks to be a small gem at the guildmaster’s feet.">> <<audio 10blackbird volume 0.1 fadeoverto 8 1>> <<audio 5smoke play>> It erupts in a cloud of pink and purple smoke, and the guildmaster wheezes and falls to his knees. Other Suki takes the opportunity to grapple Suki, while Other Athena plants her feet and throws herself forward. Athena is taken by surprise and breaks her headlock hold on her doppleganger. She falls over Other Athena’s back, sprawls on the floor, and her double jumps on her.
<<linkappend "Through her grunting as she wrestles our heroine, Other Suki chants a short phrase of unintelligible speech." t8n>><<audio 10tongue volume 2.5 play>>
<span class="upside-down"><span class="font">
<span class="slanted">//Bla bla magic magic Come Forth Portal and btw Chelsea isn't Suki, deal with it simps//</span></span></span>
Evelyn, engaged in attempting wind magic to clear the smoke from the guildmaster, widens her eyes in surprise at the phrase. “That’s the ancient mage’s tongue...” she murmurs. “Who taught you that?”
“You did,” Other Suki smirks. The small gust Evelyn had just barely managed to form dies instantly.
<<linkappend "Any further attempts at magic are fruitless as a golden orb gradually takes shape in the center of the room.">>
<<audio 10portal play>>
Evelyn drops to her knees in exhaustion just as Leroy drops to the floor unconscious.
“Enjoying the show?” Leroy’s double leers at Carol, who had been too stunned by the action to react.
“I...lost track of who’s on me team,” she admits with a bashful scratch to the head.
“I’ll give you a hint,” Other Leroy taunts as he grabs her by the wrists. “Not me.”
“No, wait,” Carol objects halfheartedly. Other Leroy ties her wrists behind her and quickly binds her ankles as well. As soon as he’s done, he leaves her on the floor and lunges towards Athena to help her double. Carol looks after them, stunned. “That’s it?” She struggles against her bonds. Though simple, the handiwork is well done and she’s unable to break free. “Seriously, that’s it?!” she laments as she observes Other Athena and Other Leroy bringing a heavily bound and panting Athena in to a strict hogtie. “She even has a gag...” Carol whines to herself.
“Wh-what’s wrong with Evelyn?” Suki gasps as she tries and fails to pull her arms free. Her double is surprisingly strong, and Suki’s heart sinks as she feels rope quickly encircling her wrists behind her back. As she tries once more and in vain to break free, she feels the rope around her wrists cinch and more rope being added around her upper arms and chest.
“Curious thing about world travel magic – it only works on one side. If we open the portals, only we can come and go to your world. If you open one, only you can come and go to ours. But, the portal pulls on magic from anyone nearby. Our Emily’s used to it, but yours apparently isn’t.”
“It’s Evelyn,” Suki corrects with a grunt.
“Gesundheit.”
“So you decided to come home early?” A bored voice similar to Evelyn’s sounds through the golden orb in the center of the room. Since it formed, the orb has grown to about a person’s height. It stands like a flattening disk, and on either side one can make out a couple of figures standing in the lawn outside the Mage’s Academy. The image ripples slightly, as if being viewed through clear water. “Oh, is that another me? I wasn’t expecting that. Carol, you’re taking notes, right?”
“Yes yes,” Carol’s voice seems to echo through the portal, though far more serious than Carol herself had ever heard herself sound before. Carol looks up at the portal, and a version of herself wearing a cloak and glasses stares back at her.
“Is that me?” both Carols ask incredulously.
“Oh I must take notes on this,” Carol’s double states as she adjusts her glasses and furiously scribbles in her notebook.
“Wh-y...do you keep…co-ming back?” the guildmaster wheezes. The smoke around him has mostly cleared, though a pink and purple glittery residue surrounds him.
“Oh, our stun bombs work,” Other Evelyn comments. <<linkappend "Other Carol takes a moment to high five her before furiously continuing her notes.">> <<audio Kclap play>>
As Other Suki finishes cinching the rope binding Suki’s arms and chest, Other Leroy takes over to bind her legs. Other Suki walks up to the guildmaster and grabs him by the collar. “I suppose you deserve an explanation. One – you got the money. It’s tempting, it’s worth a once-a-year-trip for. Two – You’re a despicable perverted old man but you’re also my boss. Once a year I get to have my revenge on you with no repercussions in my own world and it is //so// worth it.”
The guildmaster’s face drops in despair. “I know the other me isn’t the best in character but...”
Carol looks at him quizically. “Do you hit on Suki?”
“No, I would never!” he responds promptly. “Maybe the other me would, but Suki’s like a daughter to me! Also I’m gay...” he murmurs at the end.
Carol looks around at other members surrounding her. “Is everyone in our guild gay?” The Other Carol energetically adds more to her notes.
“Enough of this!” Other Suki shouts. Her hold on the guildmaster slackens as she stares at the scene in the office, conflicted. She’d been to this world once before, but she hadn’t spent enough time then to consider just how different the other world would be. How different the inhabitants of this world might be…
She laughs, a hollow empty laugh with more bitterness than mirth to it. She releases her hold on the guildmaster’s collar and he drops to his hands and knees again. “You guys actually get along in this world, don’t you? Like, y’all look out for one another and shit. Hell, you even know Eva’s name.”
“Evelyn,” Carol corrects.
“Hey no need for name calling,” Other Suki interjects, then sighs. “Fuck, I almost feel bad robbing you now.” She walks over to the safe behind the guildmaster’s desk and opens it with ease. //Idiot, never changes the combo here either,// she thinks. She hefts a bag of coins on the desk with a thump and slings a second bag of gold over one shoulder. “Hm, almost.”
Other Leroy takes the coin bag off the table and the two step to the portal. Other Suki lingers at the foot of the portal after her Leroy steps through. She stares at Suki with an unreadable expression. “You have it good here, Princess,” she says before stepping through the portal and on to the lawn before the Mage Tower of her own world. <<linkappend "Once she does, the portal closes behind her. She drops the bag of gold to the ground, and her Leroy eagerly scoops it up to count with the coin bag he’s carrying.">> <<audio 10portal play>> <<audio 9fireplace volume 1,1 fadeout>><<audio 10blackbird volume 1 fadeoverto 12 0>>
“Hey, you guys get the data you wanted?” she asks her peers.
“Oh yes, all the data we wanted and then some,” the Carol of her world answers.
Other Suki glares at the stone base and crystals Evelyn of her world used to form the portal.
“Good. Then, let’s destroy this thing. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”
<<linkappend "~Fin~">>
[[Eyy, you made it to an ending! Since you made it this far, why don't you see what happens when you identify the right Leroy->9]]
<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Suki steps beside Leroy 2, facing Leroy 1 and the Other Suki.
“Leroy always calls me Princess,” she says, a rising anger in her voice as she glares at the Other Leroy. “And he would never lie to me.”
“...thanks, Princess,” Leroy says next to her as he pats her shoulder with a sniffle.
“Are you...crying?”
“No! It’s allergies, sheesh,” he says as he wipes at his nose.
The Other Leroy throws his hands in the air. “So much for trying to trick them! There goes your stupid plan!”
“It wasn’t stupid, it would’ve worked if you didn’t suck at lying!” the Other Suki shouts back.
Athena, still holding the Other Athena in a headlock, nods to Carol. “Help me tie this one up.”
Leroy cracks his knuckles and gives Suki a nudge. “And let’s clean up our own trash.”
“With pleasure,” she responds.
“Fuck,” Other Suki swears, “just take the colorophome out anyway, we can take ‘em!”
“Oh?” Leroy and Suki express in surprise as the Other Leroy fumbles a small bottle and towel from his pockets. “You brought presents?” Leroy jests as he slides up beside the Other Leroy with unexpected speed. He swiftly grabs the bottle and cloth and, before Other Leroy can react, tosses the bottle to Suki. “Sweet dreams,” he says as he grabs one of Other Leroy’s wrists from behind and uses his other hand to clamp the damp cloth over Other Leroy’s mouth.
Other Leroy tenses and fumbles at the hand clamped over his mouth. The muscles of his arms bulge as he struggles to break free, but Leroy keep an iron grip on him. Other Leroy thrusts his body forward, hoping his body weight will shake his captor off of him. Leroy only holds on tighter. Other Leroy’s eyes begin to flutter and, with a soft moan, he succumbs to the effects of the clorophone and goes limp.
“Carol, pay attention!” Athena hisses as Carol stares distractedly at the Leroys. The Other Athena, gagged and partially bound on the floor, reinvigorates her struggling. Carol tightens her grip on her legs and Athena continues to cinch rope around them.
“Sorry, that as just...very distracting...”
“I know you like guys, too, Carol, but that’s no excuse, I need you to focus.”
“Oh I’m focused…I’m so focused...”
Athena sighs in exasperation. “Carol, please shut up you’re making me uncomfortable.”
Other Suki grabs a sparring knife from her belt and takes a fighting stance, standing equidistant from Leroy and Suki. “I don’t need him, I can take you.”
“Oh I don’t doubt that,” Evelyn responds as she makes a fluid motion in the air, “But it’s one against three, dear, and the odds are not in your favor.” Other Suki yelps as a ring of sparkling fire fizzles around her wrist like a suspended firecracker. The sparring knife clatters to the floor, and she scoots backwards as she tries to shake the fire off her wrist. The fizzling stops once her back hits the wall, and she glares at Athena with a sneer. “You play dirty.”
Leroy scoffs. “As if you don’t.”
Before Other Suki can react, Leroy and Suki pin her against the wall. Evelyn tosses them rope from the library (this is a kidnapping guild, why wouldn’t there be rope in the library?), and Leroy spins Other Suki to face the wall. Other Suki bucks and struggles as Suki bind her wrists behind her back. Carol walks over hungrily. “I can help.” Athena sighs and stands over her doppelganger, now trussed from shoulder to ankle in various rings of rope pinning her limbs together. “I guess I can help, too.”
Leroy brings Other Suki to lie on her stomach. He clamps one hand over her mouth to muffle her protests, and her and Athena hold her down by the shoulders. Carol helps by sitting on Other Suki’s ankles and watching as Suki begins to wrap rope around Other Suki’s upper arms, bringing her elbows together behind her back. Other Suki shouts muffled profanities in to Leroy’s hand and bucks her body. Given the team holding her down, it makes little difference as Suki begins to wrap rope around her counterpart’s waist. She snakes it between her legs and ties off the crotchrope to Other Suki’s wrists. Other Suki bucks again, and her struggling instantly softens as she moans in to Leroy’s hand at the sensation of the crotchrope.
“Well done...” Carol says dreamily. Realizing who the weakest link is, Other Suki gives a sudden powerful kick with her legs. She gasps at the sudden tension it creates with her crotchrope, but succeeds in throwing Carol off of her. Just as Other Suki attempts to throw the others off and stand, Evelyn makes a sudden motion and crackling fire lick the length of Other Suki’s legs. “Stay down,” Evelyn commands, surprisingly authoritatively. Other Suki groans at the unpleasant sensation and lays her legs flat again. Upon Evelyn quelling the fire, Suki quickly wraps rope around Other Suki’s ankles. Upon cinching it tight, she adds more rope below and above the knees for good measure.
“Yuck!” Leroy shouts as he jumps back, saliva coating his hand. Other Suki laughs. “Your squeamish in this world as much as in mine,” she says tiredly, exhausted from struggling against four captors and a mage. The guildmaster clears his throat and stands straight again, clearly braver now that the visitors from the other world were taken care of. “Good job, girls.” Leroy cocks his head at him. “And Leroy,” the guildmaster adds.
“Well,” Evelyn looks up as if expecting to see the sun, then frowns as she remembers the rest of the guild’s base is windowless. “When I was in the library, it looked like it was late afternoon. World traveling magic only lasts ‘til the end of the day. Any minute now and they should be drawn back to their world.”
“Hold up, not only do we have a library, the library has windows?!” Carol asks in amazement. “It sure does. Maybe later I can give you a private tour of the bookstacks,” Evelyn smiles back with a wink. “Oh, I wouldn’t mind a private tour of your stacks,” Carol responds with a mischievous grin.
“Carol!”
“Seriously!?” the Other Suki and Athena scold in unison.
As if on cue, a soft light falls over the Other Leroy, Other Suki, and Other Athena - as if they alone were being touched by the evening light of a setting sun. The Other Suki struggles in vain against her bindings. “Ugh, this isn’t fair! Thanks to you idiots I didn’t get what I came for in the first place!”
“What, money?” asks Suki.
“We’re not a bank, you know,” Leroy adds with crossed arms.
“No, revenge!”
The others look at one another in confusion. The Other Suki looks at the guildmaster in disgust. “You’re a despicable old man and thanks to a pervert like you being in charge, no other women want to join the guild! I could’ve had my revenge in this world without any repercussions in mine!”
The guildmaster’s face drops, hurt by the insult. “Despicable?” he whines under his breath.
<<linkappend "Other Suki turns her gaze to Athena, Carol, and then Evelyn.">> <<audio 11blackbird volume 2 play>> The anger in her eyes mixes with jealousy. “In my world we can barely put enough money together to hire Athena and Carol as mercenaries. And Evelyn...I didn’t even know your name until today.”
The Other Athena, still bound on the other end of the room, spits out her gag. “No amount of money is worth working for you guys again.” Other Suki shrugs, then winces as the rope unexpectedly cinches tighter. The guildmaster kneels beside Other Suki, moved by her confession. “I know I’m not him. But on behalf of the me in your world, I’m sorry. I’ve met him, too. As much as there’s a difference in character between all of us, the greatest difference in character is surely that of my counterpart and I.”
Other Suki looks up at him in wonder. “Damn, you speak better than him, too.”
The guildmaster chuckles, then grows serious. “Truly, Suki, I’ve always seen you as a daughter. It pains me to think the other me doesn’t.”
The sunset-like glow on the Other visitors softens to a dim twilight glimmer, their bodies seem to fade with the dieing light. Other Suki sighs. “Well, this was fun...if not pointless.”
“Hey,” Suki calls out as the guests from the Other world fade faster and faster. “I’ll be rooting for you.” Through the fading glimmer, Other Suki’s lips seem to curl, in what could either be a sneer or a rare but genuine smile. “Thanks, princess.”
With that, the others fade, leaving the guildmaster’s office feeling more empty.
“Dang, they took the rope with them,” muttered Leroy. “The damn rats...rope’s expensive.”
The guildmaster sighs in relief as he thinks to himself.
//I am going to personally fund the academy’s anti-world-travel research.//
<<linkappend "~(Fin)~">><<audio 9fireplace volume 1,1 fadeout>> Eyy, congrats! You've reached what I, the author, deem one of the True Endings. That said, identifying the wrong Leroy is a close runner up [[if you wanna backtrack and see what happens there.->9]]<</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Suki and Leroy glance from their look alikes to one another, then laugh nervously.
“Alright guys, good prank. Now tell us what’s really going on,” Leroy says as he crosses his arms and chews his straw stick in earnest.
The Suki lookalike slinks over and leans in to Suki’s face. Suki gasps and leans back, surprised by the speed of her doppelganger. Up close, she can’t help but be all the more impressed by the getup. The clothes look exactly like the ones she’s wearing. Staring at this other person’s face is like staring in to a mirror – that is, if her reflection had a ponytail instead of pigtails and stared back with a perturbing and smug smile. Her other self even smells like her and has the same notable birthmark on her…
<<linkappend "Suki jumps back, brandishing a knife.">>
<<audio 5blade play>>
“Who are you?” she asks her doppelganger, no longer appreciating the eerie resemblance. If this was a prank, it had gone on long enough.
“I already told you,” the other Suki replies, pulling out an identical knife and mirroring Suki’s stance. “I’m you. And right now, there’s one too many of me.”
“I concur,” Other Leroy nods as he enters the clearing from the treeline. “Now we’re on a time crunch, and unfortunately we’re evenly matched. So, we’ll have to rely on the element of surprise.” He smirks at the first Leroy and Suki. “Sorry for this,” he says without the slightest hint of remorse.
<<linkappend "In a flash, he throws a small orb to the ground...">>
<<audio 5smoke volume 2 play>>
...and it erupts in white smoke. No sooner has Suki covered her face from the smokescreen than she feels her opponent knock the blade out of her hand. She hears a scuffle between the Leroys as the Other Suki knocks her to the ground. Athena, nearly forgotten, squeals at the edge of the smokescreen’s radius. “Oh suck it up, we’ll get you when we’re done,” the Other Suki sneers.
//It’s just two on two, I can take on myself//, Suki thinks as she struggles and tries to shove her other self off her back. Suddenly she feels the weight of a larger body squat over her legs, pinning them together as rope is quickly lashed around her ankles. “Well that was fast,” the Other Suki notes as she in turn lashes rope around Suki’s wrists. Other Leroy shrugs. “It just comes down to who can kick the other guy’s balls first. The smokescreen gave me the advantage, so.”
//Well this isn’t good...//
“Get off me!” Suki cries as she thrashes and squirms under their collected weight. Other Suki sighs and abruptly shoves a thick cleavegag in to Suki’s mouth. Suki “umph”s and tosses her head side to side, though her captor cinches it tight with ease. “It’s a pity we came across you so soon, I would’ve enjoyed the hunt but, well, it’s easier tucking you two out of the way here.” As the smokescreen clears, Suki can see Leroy knocked out on the ground. Given the marks she can see, it looks like he got more than a kick to the balls. Other Leroy sees her looking. “He’ll probably be out for a while.”
Suki growls through her gag and attempts to kick at her captors as they dismount. //These ropes will be easy enough to get off, and when I catch up to them-//
Other Suki goes to free Athena, while Other Leroy drags Suki near the treeline. “Rrmph!?” she squeals in confusion. He loops a new strand of rope through the bindings at Suki’s ankles and tosses the other end over a nearby treebranch, then pulls so her legs bend at her waist, placing her ankles above her and out of reach from her bound hands. “I know, it’s nothing fancy. But at least it'll keep you out of the way,” he says with a wink. Suki grumbles in frustration in to her gag, squirming in vain as the tree branch lightly shuffles above her. “Come on, kid, I’m doing you a favor, you’re in the shade now,” he says as he walks away.
Meanwhile, Athena dusts herself off as she gets to her feat. “You were there the whole time and you just WATCHED them do that to me?” she scolds through gritted teeth.
“We didn’t hear you at first.” “It was fun to watch.” the two respond in unison.
Other Suki snickers while Other Leroy avoids making eye contact with either lady. Athena storms ahead towards the guild hideout once more, and the other two follow.
<<linkappend "(Fin)">><<audio 5.5sadtrombone play>>
[[Aw, you got a premature ending. Here, go back to the previous passage.->4]]
<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><<audio Bhesitantsteps stop>>
Carol wanders the basement, where the irregular plip plop of moisture condensation echoes through the space, giving the impression of an endless cavern rather than an empty room. Since the guild hadn’t had any captures lately, the spare cells in the basement lay empty, or so Carol thought. The echo of the water dripping suddenly sounded less sharp, as if another body’s presence were dampening the sound. Carol gulps audibly, then jumped at the sound of her own voice. //Dammit, why did we think it was a good idea to split up again?// Carol laments, wishing Athena were by her side. Then again, it was flattering to have Athena trust her to hold her own.
Now Carol could swear she heard breathing from one of the cells at the far end of the basement. The flickering torches by the stairwell were the only ones lit in the space. They cast the edges of the basement in odd undulating shadows. “H-hello?” Carol ventures, procuring a knife and sideways shuffling further in to the room. “Anyone there?”
No answer.
“If...if you’re hiding, you can just forfeit, no one will hold it against you.”
<<linkappend "Another drip, another drop…">> <<audio Ckick volume 0.6 play>>
“Aha!” Carol kicks open a cell door, hoping the other party will be more scared than she is. She groans at the empty dark quarters and creeps to the next one in the row. With each “Aha!” Carol grows more annoyed than scared. She growls in exasperation at the last empty cell. “Oh, come on!”
//Well, guess I worried over nothing.// Carol turns to leave and nearly jumps out of her skin. “Holy shit, Athena, you scared me!” Carol scolds. Her companion approaches, lazily holding a coil of rope in one hand. “So, uh, how’d it go upstairs?” Carol asks, subconsciously walking backwards. Her companion onfurls the coil of rope and continues to approach Carol. “You, uh, gonna say something?” Carol asks, her voice nervously raising in pitch.
“Oof!” Her back hits the far wall of a cell. Her partner grabs Carol and swiftly brings her to the ground. Carol flushes at the sudden power move. “Hehe, alright, you wanna play? I’m good with that but...we should get our reward from the guildmaster first.”
No answer. Ropes quickly bind her wrists behind her back, then more is added to cinch her upper arms and elbows together. “This is, uh...a bit more intense than our usual play...” More rope is added to Carol’s ankles. Once cinched, another length binds her upper thighs. Panic begins to set in at how methodical and silent the procedure has been.
//But okay Athena, I’ll give you credit, this mood is kinda hot at the same time…//
Suddenly a thought strikes Carol and she goes cold. “Wait a minute, are you turning on me? You’re trying to claim the prize for yourself, aren’t you!?” Her captor sighs and abruptly shoves a ball of coarse fabric in to her mouth. “Umph!” Carol exclaims in surprise. //What the hell?! She planned ahead for this,// she realizes, given she was biting on a knot tied in to the length of fabric. The gag is snugly tied in place behind her head, and another length of fabric tied over it, covering from her nose down to her chin. Carol can’t help but blush at the addition. There was something kinda hot about having her breathing restricted…
//But also what the hell Athena?!// Despite the pleasure of the binding and gag, Carol manages to lazily kick out towards her captor, who dodges and sits on top of Carol. Carol moans as the wind is knocked out of her and feels her captor lean in to add a blindfold.
“No hard feelings,” she finally says. “This is just a job.”
[[Uh-oh...->E]] <</linkappend>><<audio Bhesitantsteps stop>>
<<audio Dthunderroll play>>
Perhaps the best lit, unhampered part of the base is the library. Though mostly underground like the rest of the base, it’s well lit by natural light from a sunroof. Evelyn glares at yet another cloud that takes away her precious reading light. //Looks like a storm’s coming.//
She procures a stone from her pocket and, with some concentration, gets it to produce light. She blows on it as if coaxing a fire, and its light strengthens and steadies. She hums in satisfaction. It’s nice to be able to do magic without relying on a wand.
“Cute magic trick,” an unexpected voice speaks to her. Evelyn jumps in her seat.
“...S-suki?” she asks hesitantly, looking around at the empty rows of books shelves (most full of old guild ledgers, but some shelves full of imports from the Mage Academy per Evelyn’s request). //Brighter, please,// she thinks to her stone. Though the light is bright and warm enough for reading, it does little to light the recesses of the library. “Watcha working on?” The voice sounds closer and from the opposite end of the room. Evelyn spins her head but still doesn’t see the speaker. A dissembodied lough seems to taunt her for her reaction.
“Uh...research...on energy and stuff and...this.” Evelyn responds by holding up her stone, wondering if her company can see it. Raising it stretches its rays ever so slightly, though it only manages to emphasize the many dark hiding spaces between the distant shelves. The stone nearly drops from her hands as Evelyn feels warm breath and soft hair tickle her back. She shiveres at the familiar but distinctly alien scent that accompanies it. Something like thick ribbon loops in front of her torso and constricts, pinning her arms to her side. The stone tumbles. The light dims. Her assailant chuckles. “Cute.”
[[To be continued...->E]]<<audio Ckick stop>>
<<audio Dthunderroll stop>>
<<audio Eawake play>>
<<audio Edungeon play>>
Acidity wakes Suki from unpleasant sleep. She hacks at the vile ammonium scent and groans at her bodily discomfort. As if the cold stone floor wasn’t enough for a rude awakening, the ropes binding her body added its own slue of aches and pains. Suki’s wrists were bound in front of her, and she’d been lying on her stomach for quite some time given the numbness of her arms beneath her. Her legs were each folded and bound, leaving her legs feeling cramped. The frog-tie on her legs greatly restricted her movement as well, despite her hands being bound in front. Further reducing her mobility was the constant distraction of a snug crotchrope.
Suki looks up at a figure dressed similarly to her, with a face that makes her feel as if she’s looking in to a mirror – though the hair is gathered in a ponytail instead of pigtails. The eyes of this eerily familiar face look down on her with wicked delight, and its bearer holds a small sack of smelling salts under Suki’s nose. At Suki’s awakening, she tosses it over her shoulder in to the corridor of the Trophy Hall.
“Smells like piss, doesn’t it?”
“Wh-what’ve you done with my friends?”
“As if in answer, Suki hears movement and groans from nearby. In the cell to her right sits Evelyn, wrapped from neck to toe in thick red ribbon with golden runes on it. Suki can only assume they must suppress her magic, given the most Evelyn can do is squirm like a worm in them. She pants from the effort, though her voice seems to also be suppressed by a ribbon wrapped around her mouth. To the cell to Suki’s right sits Athena, in the same binding her and Leroy left her in earlier. Damn, we did a better job than I thought, reflects Suki with a pang of regret.
In a cell diagonal and across from her lies Carol, her arms bound tightly behind her back and elbows nearly touching. Her legs are also well bound at the ankles and thighs, and Carol grunts and moans in to her layered gag from flexing and struggling against the many snug layers of rope. So that’s where most of the noise is coming from…
Suki glares back at the dashing stranger who looks like her. “Who are you?” Her leering counterpart leans in, and Suki blushes at the sudden proximity.
“You can’t tell yet?” The captor grabs Suki from by her chest harness and maneuvers to sit behind her. “Maybe I can show you,” she says as she wraps her legs around Suki and begins feeling her up beneath her tunic. Suki gasps and tries to grasp her captor’s hands away. But, despite Suki’s wrists being bound in front, her tormentor’s hands were tantalizing just out of reach.
“I know all your weak points,” she said, tickling just under Suki’s breast and eliciting a soft gasp. “I know all your sensitive spots,” she adds as a hand slides to tickle Suki’s left knee. Suki grunts and tries to kick away, to no avail given the snug frogtie. “I know what makes you tick,” her captor whispers in to Suki’s ear before nuzzling the soft sensitive skin beneath it.
“Do you know who I am yet?”
[[Well, we’re fucked. (Give up.)->F]]
[[You’ll never get away with this, fiend! (Escape)->G]]Panting, Suki turns to her-
<<linkappend "//Wait a sec,//">> <<audio Falert play>>
//Did you just give up? Why, did you think you’d get a spicier ending by giving up? Was that last segment not seasoned enough for you??//
...
//Okay, fine.//
//Challenge Accepted.//
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Panting, Suki turns to face her assailant. “How the hell is this supposed to make me figure out who you…!” Realization dawns as Suki looks at her doppelganger’s face more closely and reflects on their knowledge of her own body. “But, that’s impossible. You can’t be...me?”
Her other self hums in satisfaction. “You’re smarter than you look.” Other Suki leans, uses one hand to grasp Suki’s throat to hug her closer, and lands a kiss square on Suki’s lips. Suki struggles to bring her bound wrists up to grab her assailant’s hand from her neck. Though not restricting her breathing, the throat clasp coupled with the kiss makes her grow dizzy. Not the tongue…! she thinks as she feels something warm and soft enter her mouth and aggressively explore its crevices. Suki’s legs go weak...not that it matters much with them being bound. She moans in to the kiss as another hand begins to explore her torso under her tunic. The wandering hand squeezes one of her breasts, and Suki blushes as she grows keenly aware of the small audience watching (Carol being particularly quiet and attentive all of a sudden).
The two gasp as the Other Suki pulls away. “What’re you….why...” Suki pants, words escaping her as her mind goes foggy. She’s vaguely aware of movement from the corridor as the man who looks much like Leroy (minus his iconic chewing straw) drags an unconscious Leroy (his chewing straw crumpled on his tunic) in to a cell across the way. The first man unceremoniously leaves Leroy on the cold stone floor and closes the cell’s gate behind him. Another Athena comes down the hall from the same direction, holding a small sack.
Other Suki snickers as she observes the short length of rope lazily wrapped around Leroy’s wrists. “You went easy on yourself.” Other Leroy shrugs, “I ran out of rope.”
“Sure you did.”
“Lay off.”
Other Suki gestures to the second Athena. “You bring the goods?”
Other Athena scoffs and tosses the bag in to the cell. “Knock yourself out.”
“Hey hey, come in here and help me out.”
“Ah don’t drag us in to your game, you perv,” Other Leroy replies as they begin to walk away.
“Just pretend she’s me.”
The Other Leroy and Athena stop in their tracks and slowly turns on their heels. Other Leroy looks from Suki to Other Suki and back and Suki, then grins. “Alright,” he says as he approaches and enters the cell. “I can do that.” He hops and grabs a dangling hook on a chain from the ceiling. Have those always been there? Suki wonders. “You know before we took this place over as a base it was a storage facility,” Other Leroy explains, as if reading her mind. “Arguably, it still it.” He secures the hook under Suki’s bound wrists, then motions Other Athena to the back of the cell where the chain adheres to a wall hook. She pulls the chain until Suki’s wrists are held taut above her head, then secures it at the wall.
“Athena, Leroy, cut it out, this isn’t like you!” Suki growls, her mind starting to clear up again. As if on cue, her double returns to feeling her up, taking advantage of her now vulnerable arms and sides. Suki gasps, feeling dizzy again as Leroy comes to squat in front of her. “First of all, I’m not your Leroy. But,” he shrugs, “you’re right. This isn’t like me.” He grabs a ball-gag from the bag Other Athena had brought. Before Suki can process what’s happening, her double pinches her breast, eliciting a gasp. Other Leroy takes the opportunity to place the ball-gag in her mouth, and Other Athena secures it behind her head. Suki groans and tried to shake the gag off, though it stays snugly in place. She blushes even deeper when she realize how intensely Carol is watching. This one is her favorite after all… Suki realizes. Carol moans from her cell, making Suki even more aroused in hers. Dammit, Carol!
Unlike Carol, Athena becomes angrier at Suki’s predicament. She gives a muffled shout in to her gag and thrusts her shoulder in to the bars dividing her cell from Suki’s. Other Suki glances at her with a mischievous grin. “Hey guys, it looks like she wants to join us.” Athena goes stiff at the implication and nervously shuffles away from the bars. Other Suki laughs, “Thought so.”
Suki glances at Evelyn from the corner of her eye. Is she even more turned on than Carol?!
She’s suddenly distracted by a sudden tug at her crotchrope and throws her head back in to her double with a grunt. Other Leroy squeezes her thighs, painfully so. “Hey, no hard feelings, kid,” he says as he shifts to stroke her cheek. “I got nothing against you personally. But your other self, well...” Other Suki gives him a cold calculating stare. “Oh go on. How were you going to finish that sentence, Leroy?” Other Leroy leans back and holds his hands up in defense. Other Athena deftly answers for him. “Let’s just say, we would never have the opportunity to do this back where we’re from.” Suki grumbles in to her gag and feebly struggles against her bonds and captors. So I’m just a punching bag for you? she thinks angrily.
“Lemme have a try,” Suki hears the Other Leroy say. She feels her captors change place and, before she can gather her bearings, feels a strip of fabric obscure her eyes. One of her captors cinches it in place, and Suki’s struggling reinvigorates. But with her legs bound and arms held above her head, there’s little she can do to change her position. She groans as she feels a hand grab her crotchrope again, toying with it more aggressively than before. She squirms, feeling a tingling sort of tension build between her legs. Her stomach feels like it’s filling with warmth...though that could just be the hands rubbing her midriff. Her head seems to buzz from the stimulation, and she looses track of who’s hands are where.
“She’s got a lot of fight in her still,” she hears the Other Athena say. “Not that I’m surprised.”
“What can I say, we’re cut from the same cloth,” Other Suki chuckles. “It’s a good thing we caught them all so easily. We’ve got plenty of time to play before we hit up the boss.”
“Yeah...heh heh, I wonder if that witch girl back home will want to hear about this. Just look how hard she’s blushing watching us here.”
They must be talking about Evelyn… Suki thought, though keeping track of their conversation was growing harder by the second as her body grew warmer and shuddered under the hands of her captors.
“You know it’s thanks to your magic that we’re here. So, I suppose a thank you is in order,” Other Suki says.
Wait, what?! Did that mean Evelyn from the other world sent them here?
“Should I bring her over?” Other Athena asks.
“Maybe later,” muses Other Leroy. “Let’s let this one enjoy the extra attention first.”
As if on cue, the many hands on her seem to hit up all the sensitive parts of Suki’s body. A warm tension grows throughout her body, like liquid electricity coursing through her veins. The hands stroke from her thighs to her midriff to her arms, and no amount of struggling can shake them off. Suki’s writhing weakens as she pants from the effort and the stimulation. The drool dripping from her ballgag makes her feel all the more helpless in her predicament as she has no way to wipe it away or hide it from her captors.
“You know,” Other Athena says, hungriness imbuing her voice, “as much as you’re a thorn in my side...I’m also grateful for you...It’s thanks to you I have such steady employment. So...this is from me.” Soft lips gently peck Suki on her neck and throat before growing more and more aggressive. She moans at their intensity as the smooches grow just short of bites. A surprised gasp comes from the direction of Athena’s cell. Suki can’t help but wonder...how much do our other selves reflect us? Could Athena actually harbor feelings for her? Was her ‘gratitude’ this intense?
Suki whimpers and fidgets as the kissing and toying of the crotchrope stop. She hears her other self snicker. “You were about to come, weren’t you?” Suki breathes deeply but, loath to admit it, shakes her head. Laughter teases her as a hand strokes her over the crotchrope and a mouth begins to nibble her ear. She whines at the erotic tickling sensation and finds herself subconsciously grind in to the hand between her legs. “Alright,” a voice whispers in to her ear, “you’ve earned it.”
The captor’s hand between her legs presses the rope deeper against her sensitive nether regions, and Suki’s body jolts and shudders. Her head goes numb, as if shot by the liquid electricity coursing through her body. She can’t think of anything but the many hands that seem to be embracing her. A sound between a moan and a gasp escapes her as she tenses, shudders once more, then softens. As her head droops, she nuzzles against the shoulder of the captor in front of her. She feels the shoulder gently roll with laughter from its owner.
<<linkappend "“You enjoyed that, didn’t you? Well lucky for you, princess, we’ve got plenty of time before we need to go anywhere.”">><<audio Edungeon stop>>
- - -
[[Welp... I hope you enjoyed. NOW I the author bestow the magic of traveling-back-in-time-to-the-last-segment so you can go back and //not// give up. (There’s more plot, I swear, please read it.)->E]] <</linkappend>><</linkappend>><<audio Eawake stop>>
Panting, Suki turns to face her assailant. “How the hell is this supposed to make me figure out who you are?!” Her captor stops her assault and peels back. She walks around Suki, squats in front of her, then points to her own face. “You really haven’t figured it out...okay, then answer me this, what do you see when you look at me?”
“I...I see myself. It’s like I’m looking in to a mirror.”
Her doppelganger looks pleased at Suki’s shock.
“But that’s impossible. You can’t be...me?”
“I knew you’d be smart enough to figure it out. Eventually. You know I was gonna hit up the head honcho now that you’re out of the way...but man, I’m tempted to play with you a bit longer.”
Though she can’t see much from her angle, Carol shivers at the revelation she hears a couple cells over. //Two Suki’s? One with a dastardly plan? Okay this was fun while it lasted but I’m done.// Carol deftly procures a sparing knife from her boot and, with practiced sawing motions, cleanly cuts the ropes binding her wrists followed by those on her ankles. With a bit of reluctance, she removes the cloth filling and wrapping from around her mouth. Upon checking the coast is clear, she leaves her cell (Wow, they didn’t lock it? Such little faith…) and creeps to Evelyn’s across the way from her. She tries the door and, //Locked...what the hell, she’s wrapped up like a present she doesn’t need…!//
Carol darts back to her cell at a sudden clamor from Suki’s cell, much to the silent disappointment of Evelyn. As the din subsides from further down the corridor, hurried footsteps approach from its direction, and a slightly disheveled Suki appears. “Where is she, can she see me…?” she pants to herself, cautiously darting her eyes up and down the corridor. The corridor seems even darker than before. A single torch barely casts a halo of light in the walkway between Carol and Evelyn’s cell. Carol jumps out and brandishes her sparring knife, catching the already startled Suki by surprise.
“Which Suki are you?”
“Wh-what?”
“Are you my friend, or the other one?” Carol presses. //She’s a hot mess and I can’t tell from the hair anymore,// she laments to herself.
“I, I’m your friend of course!” Suki replies in a hushed tone. “I barely managed to get away from the other one, keep your voice down or she’ll find us.”
Carol lowers her knife with a humph and rushes to pick the lock on Evelyn’s cell.
“Oh no, looks like we’ll have to...oh, never mind, you got it,” Suki says as Carol quickly deals with the lock.
“Heh, these things are cheap, they’re more for show than anything.”
“You’re good at picking locks aren’t you?”
Carol beams at the compliment and kneels at Evelyn’s side to start cutting the rune-riddled ribbons wrapped around Evelyn.
“Wait what if they’re booby trapped! Oh, never mind, you already...”
Carol promptly and cleanly slices the ribbons. As she does, the golden runes seem to loose their luster and the bindings slacken across Evelyn’s body. She squirms and helps shake them off, gasping for a deep breath as she removes the wrapping from around her mouth. “Ugh, that was awful, I don’t even know how she got her hands on this thing!”
Suki bounces on antsy feet in the corridor. “Come on,” she urges them as she grabs the lit torch from the wall, “let’s put some distance between us and the others until we think of a plan.” The other two nod. Carol helps Evelyn to her feet, and they follow Suki down one end of the Trophy Hall that feeds in to a large retaining room. The large, rectangular, windowless room has a single cell stretched length-wise at the far end. The metal softly gleams where the torch’s light just barely touches it. Suki pauses in the middle of the room to steady her breath. She stands taller now, more confident. Carol and Evelyn catch up a few seconds later to see her drop the torch to the ground. Its head sparks from the impact, and the flame dulls to a wisp. <<linkappend "In the dim light, Suki seems oddly happy all things considered as she gathers her disheveled hair and puts it up again.">> <<audio Gdrag play>>
- - - - - -
A few minutes prior to Evelyn’s rescue and the trio’s retreat, a man who looks much like Leroy (minus his iconic chewing straw) drags another unconscious man that looks like Leroy (his chewing straw crumpled on his tunic). The first man drags the other in to the cell directly across from Suki’s, unceremoniously leaving him on the cold stone floor and closing the cell’s gate behind him. He dusts off his hands, looks at the two Suki’s, and gives an exasperated sigh.
“I’m tempted to play with you a bit longer,” he hears his partner coo.
Sizing up the situation – These two don’t get along do they? – Suki responds back. “And leave the dirty work to your ‘partner’? Poor guy’s carrying the weight for both of you.”
Other Leroy looks startled at being addressed, then glowers at the truth of it. “She’s right, why do I gotta do all the dirty work?” he says as he angrily approaches the cell. Other Suki stands up to confront him. Taking advantage of the situation, Suki grabs a knife from her boot, makes a quick cut at her wrist bindings, then slides the blade between the bars dividing her cell from Athena’s. Athena subtly grabs it and begins cutting at her already slackened ropes. Well done as the bindings were, her struggling since acquiring them loosened them up enough for easy cutting.
“All you did was seduce the witch and wrap her up, we actually had to fight ours!” Other Leroy growls.
“Oh, you’re just touchy because you had to deal with yourself. Look at him,” Other Suki scolds as she points at Leroy resting peacefully in his cell with a small coil of rope haphazardly looped around his wrists. “You went easy.”
Other Athena comes from down the hall, holding a bag and looking exasperated at her teammates’ bickering. <<linkappend "“Hey, I got the -oof!”">> <<audio Gdrag stop>> <<audio GAthena play>> Athena charges out of her prison, ramming her other self against the bars of the far cell. Suki lurches from her cell as well, grappling with her counterpart. Other Leroy stands dazed, still in argument mode and unsure what to do at the sudden turn of events.
Other Athena contorts herself and just manages to yank free from Athena’s grip.
“I yield!” she throws her hands up defensively.
Athena grips her by the wrists and throws her against the cell bars again.
“Oww, I said I yield! Come on, go easy on yourself.”
Athena sneers and grabs Other Athena by the collar. “You’re not me. You’re just some pathetic girl from another world who does what she’s told if the price is right.”
“P-please, like you being a mercenary in this world is any d-different. You have no right to act high and mighty, you work for a kidnapping guild!”
“No,” Athena replies with a dangerous calm. “I work for my friend.” [collapse] With a strong headbutt, Athena knocks the Other Athena out and lets her drop to the ground. She turns her attention to the others. “I...I yield?” Other Leroy attempts before being KO’d with the butt of Athena’s polearm.
Suki, hand over a bloody nose, looks at Athena adoringly. “Am I...you said...we’re friends?”
Athena blushes and looks away. “Don’t let it get to your head, boss,” she mumbles as she drags the Other Leroy in to a cell and closes the door behind him. “What happened to your nose, where’s the other you?”
Suki takes a handkerchief from Athena and uses it to gingerly dab her nose. “Ow! She, she hit me good. It stunned me and she slipped away.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find her-”
A high pitched shriek interrupts the two.
“Oh shit, Carol? Evelyn? Is that you!?” Suki calls out in concern.
Athena snorts in amusement towards the cell Leroy was left in. He shakes his hands frantically, the sliver of rope around his wrists flailing wildly before it drops to the floor.
<<linkappend "“Holy shit I thought that was a snake…” he gasps, one hand clenching his chest.">> <<audio GAthena stop>> <<audio Gbadend play>>
- - - - - -
Carol toys with the hilt of her sparring knife for comfort. “So, uh, you...inspired by our new friend?” Carol asks as she nervously observes Suki putting her hair in a ponytail. Suki looks back, confused, then gives a sheepish smile. “Oh yeah. I thought, it looked easy to do in a bind. I just wanted to get my hair out of the way, you know?”
Carol looks at Evelyn, who shrugs. “Fashion aside, do we have any idea what’s going on? Where did they come from? And why are there doubles of you but not Carol and I?”
“They had to stay behind to make the portal.”
“Come again?”
“Uh, that’s what I heard the other me say. The other two stayed behind to make the portal, and only three can come over at once so...yeah.”
“Hmm, it seems you and the other you were quite chatty,” <<linkappend "Evelyn notes as she takes a step towards Suki.">> <<audio GEvelynfire play>> As the wispy flame of the torch shrinks, Evelyn’s hand begins to glow. Suki subconsciously takes a step back. “I wonder why they’re here?” Evelyn muses, taking another step towards Suki. She can’t help but notice her companion reach a hand to her pocket as she takes yet another step back.
“I dunno...I think they said something about, visiting the guild master?”
“Hmm, interesting. I must’ve blacked out, I didn’t hear any of this.”
“Hehe, yeah, I guess so.”
“Or maybe they were extra chatty when they captured you,” she suggests, her hand glowing brighter in a glove of fire.
“Y-yeah...maybe...” Suki responds, warily eyeing Evelyn and shifting to a more defensive stance.
“Oh, what’s wrong Suki? You look nervous.”
“It’s just, you’re holding fire...” Suki responds, gripping something in her pocket.
“Yes...you’ve seen me do magic before, haven’t you? Or have you never seen my counterpart work magic without a wand before?”
“Wh-what?”
“It’s harder without a wand, but still possible.”
“Wh-what are you talking about? I’m just on edge because of, well, because of everything!”
Carol nods. “True, it’s been a crazy day Ev-” Carol immediately hushes at the sharp stare she feels more than sees from Evelyn. Carol grips the hilt of her knife for comfort. //Oh man, Evelyn’s in badass mode...shit’s about to go down…//
“S-see, even Carrie agrees with me!” Suki argues as her back hits the cold cell bars behind her. Evelyn takes a step closer until she’s a breath away from her. Panicked, Suki brandishes her sparring knife and holds it up to Evelyn’s chin. “Get back, witch!”
<<linkappend "Evelyn grins like a victor declaring Checkmate. “You don’t know my name, do you?”">> <<audio GSuki volume 0.5 play>>
With a roar, the cornered Suki grabs a small white orb from her pocket and hurls it at the ground. White smoke, gray in the dim light, fills the room and reduces the already poor visibility to a confusing landscape of swirling light and shadows.
- - -
[[It’s two against one, take her on!->H]]
[[Well crap, we can’t see shit. Run back to the others and regroup!->I]] <</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>Carol takes a defensive stance and strains her eyes against the smoke and darkness.
"Come on, Evelyn, we can take her!"
"I wish I shared your unfounded confidence,"
No sooner did Carol inch towards Evelyn's voice, than she hears the sound of a soft impact. Evelyn grunts in pain, and the thud of a body dropping to the floor sounds, swirling the undulating smoke on impact. Carol freezes, her blood running cold at the sound of a body being dragged and the clanking of metal. She grips her knife tighter. "Evelyn, you okay?"
Though the extra light from Evelyn's fire had vanished, Carol can just make out a figure from the soft glow of the torch's remaining wisp. She relaxes at the sight of the silhoette’s long flowing hair.
//Thank goodness,// Carol thinks, //she just put out her flame to be stealthy, smart move Eve-woah!//
<<linkappend "Carol jumps back...">> <<audio 5blade play>> narrowly dodging the swipe of another's sparring knife. She looks at her assailant in shock, the silhouette she thought was Evelyn's morphing in to that of Suki with her hair let down.
"Wh-where's Evelyn?"
The Other Suki tosses her hair with one hand and laughs in content. "You rely on your eyesight too much."
"What did you do to her?"
"I just put her to rest. You'll be joining her soon yourself."
Carol glowers at the figure confronting her and lashes out with her blade, striking the metal of her enemy's weapon.
"You bitch! How dare you! What did she ever do to you?"
"She was in the way, and so are - shit! You nicked me."
"You deserve far worse, murderer!"
"Woah woah, wait a minute. I didn't kill her! I laid her rest! She's knocked out!"
"Oh..." Carol pauses in mixed shock and relief, then quickly has her legs swept out from under her. He blade clatters to the ground. She reaches out in hopes of finding it, but it's lost to the thick darkness of the room.
She grunts as the weight of her aggressor heavily lands atop her back, knocking the wind out of her.
"Though killing you would make things easier..." the Other Suki muses as she pins Carol’s wrists behind her back. Carol shudders, and Other Suki laughs to feel her prey grow tense beneath her. She draws a length of rope from her trousers and hurriedly but skillfully wraps Carol’s wrists together.
All things considered...//aggressive Suki is kinda hot.// Despite her prior chill, Carol feels her face grow warm with a blush. Ropeplay was always fun with the regular Suki. But there was something different with this one...the dangerous edge to this other Suki added an element of excitement.
"But I won't kill you, Carrie. I'm fond of you. You're very different in my world, but I like you here, too."
"It's Carol."
"It //is// cold in here, isn't it?"
"That's not what I –"
Carol grunts as Other Suki moves to face Carol’s feet and sits on her back again. She uses the remainder of the rope to bind Carol’s ankles together near her wrists, creating an impromptu hogtie. //I can reach the knots pretty easily,// Carol thinks smugly, before feeling fabric tightly wrapped around here fists. //Dammit!//
Upon cinching the cloth mitts around Carol’s fists, Other Suki drags Carol to the cell with surprising ease and familiarity of the terrain despite the dark. Carol hears a groan and the light clinking of metal. “Carol, is that you?” she hears Evelyn’s hoarse voice ask.”
“Where are you? I can’t see...”
“She’s against the wall,” Other Suki answers. “You don’t come in here as much as I do, do you? This is the holding cell for hostages and bounty. Seems the guild is just as obsessed with rope in this world as in mine, but we use shackles for the more unruly ones.”
Other Suki closes the cell door, grabs the dull torch, and begins to walk back to the Trophy Hall.
“W-wait a minute, you’re just gonna leave us like this?” Carol calls after her. “Just a single piece of rope, no gag...” she trails off.
“Carol what the hell?” Evelyn hisses under her breath.
Carol whimpers, //I just don’t want her to take the light.//
“I ran out of fabric wrapping your hands. But go ahead, if my work wasn’t enough, then come at me!” Other Suki challenges. Carol struggles against her bindings but, with fists wrapped, fails to loosen them by any means. Other Suki hums with confidence and continues walking away. “I don’t doubt you can get free on your own. But call for help all you want, no-one’s going to hear you. And we’ll be long gone by the time you get out."
As Other Suki makes her way towards the others in the Trophy Hall, she hears her companions moan.
“They’re waking up,” she hears someone say, “Should we tie them up or just leave them in the cell?”
“How about neither,” Other Suki says, startling the others. She tosses her now dead torch to the ground and enters the soft hallow the lone remaining torch of the Hall illuminates.
“Wake up,” she growls at Other Leroy as she tosses a sack of smelling salts in his face. He goes from moaning to coughing and sputtering at the stench.
<<linkappend "“And wake up our muscle,” she commands before throwing a smoke bomb at the ground.">><<audio Hcough play>>
“Hey, halt! Gah-” No sooner had Athena raised her halberd, than she starts hacking in the smoke. She feels two hands grab her by the ankles and yank, throwing her towards the ground.
“Not again,” Leroy whines before a crack resounds through the hall and he drops to the floor.
Other Suki tsks Other Leroy. “You just keep knocking him out because you feel bad tying him up.”
Other Leroy shrugs and grabs Suki with his partner. Coughing in the smoke, her eyes watering in the haze, Suki struggles to find her bearings as she’s made to sit on the cold stone floor of a cell, and Athena’s back is pressed against hers. She feels Athena violently shake from coughs as rope is hastily and tightly coiled around them.
Other Athena retrieves the bag she had dropped in the hall a few s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶s̶e̶g̶m̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ minutes prior. Athena, her coughing subsided, shouts at Other Suki. “That was a cheap trick! You were too scared to fight us yourself, coward!”
“Just in time,” Other Suki says to Other Athena as the bag is handed over. She procures a ballgag from it and shoves it in to Athena’s mouth. Athena shakes her head and gives a muffled growl in to it as Other Suki tightens it behind her head.
“You guys keep your toys in the same place here,” Other Athena scoffs. “They were easy to find.”
Other Leroy cinches the rope coiled around the girls’ torso and adds more rope around their lower arms and stomach with the help of Other Athena. Other Suki crouches in front of her counterpart with a wide smile. “Allow me to do the honors,” she teases, dangling a wide bit gag in one hand.
“Wait wait w-mph!” Suki attempts to protest before the gag is wedged between her teeth and tightened behind her hair. Her double takes a step back to admire the handiwork. She snaps her fingers, as if inspiration from her artistic muse just struck.
Other Suki grabs Suki’s wrists and stretches them back to wrap around Athena’s abdomen. She pins them together infront of Athena’s bellybutton. “Hold these for me,” she asks a companion. Suki feels her wrists pinned in an iron grip as rope is cinched around them, snugly keeping them together. She feels some shuffling behind her, and her hands are more tightly pinned against Athena just below her bellybutton. Athena gives a surprised gasp in response, and Suki confusedly tests her bonds. Doing so makes Suki realized she has little range besides a small up and down motion, though the subtle movement elicits breathy moans and squirms from Athena. When Suki stops, Athena growls and aggressively rolls a shoulder in to Suki.
Suki’s confusion is soon dissipated as their captors pin Athena’s wrists infront of her bellybotton in turn. Rope cinches them together, then snakes between Suki’s legs and…
//Oh,// Suki realizes as Athena shakes her hands, aggravating Suki’s crotchrope.
“Mm-Phar-re-MpH!” she attempts to apologize before Athena yanks, pulling tighter on Suki’s crotchrope. //What the hell! It was an accident the first time!// Suki laments as she kicks out her legs and moans at the pressure of the rope against her nether regions.
Athena blushes, //Fuck, I just wanted pay back, I didn’t expect that to be so...//
“Erotic,” Other Leroy mockingly praises Other Suki. “Good job. You ready, or do you need to add more to your masterpiece?”
Other Suki sighs. “Well, we are on a time crunch. May as well hit up the boss, now.”
The three captors leave the cell, locking the door behind them. Other Suki picks up the lone lit torch and gives a final acknowledgment to the prisoners and her handiwork. “Well, I don’t think you’ll be complaining about the cold anytime soon. But this was fun, girls. I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table next year.”
With an insincere curtsy, Other Suki takes her leave and leads the other dopplegangers down the hall, abandoning their prisoners in darkness behind them.
<<linkappend "[[Wop wop, you got overpowered. Go back and run away! (It's okay to run away sometimes).->G]]">> <<audio Hwhop play>> <<audio Gbadend fadeout>> <</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><<audio 9fireplace stop>>
<<audio Kambiance stop>> Carol takes a defensive stance and strains her eyes against the smoke and darkness.
//I can't see shit.//
A flash of light, the clatter of a blade hitting the ground, a "Crap!" in Suki's voice - angrier than Carol's ever heard Suki before.
Evelyn's flames go out, and in the subsequent darkness Carol feels a warm hand grab her wrist and pull her back towards the hall. As she gathers her bearings, a soft glow emanates from Evelyn's other hand to light their way.
"We could've taken her!"
Evelyn shoots Carol a look, and she mutters half to herself. "I could've taken her."
"You can't even take on our Suki!"
"I can sometimes!"
"Yeah, when she lets you win."
Carol gasps, "She would never..."
Evelyn sighs and tries to sound more friendly in her response. "Carol, dear, you're not a tank. You're our DPS."
"What?" Carol looks back quizzically. "I don't speak Bookworm."
The two quickly come upon their other party members - Suki and Athena using the remaining embers of a dim torch to try and relight others, and Leroy catching his breath from the snake scare. He jumps when he hears Evelyn and Carol approach from behind, but quickly calms at the realization. "You're okay! And great, you brought light."
Evelyn grabs the torches Suki and Athena are struggling with and quickly igniting them, casting further light on their surroundings.
“We checked the other cells and couldn’t find you, what happened?” Suki asks.
“We ran in to your lesser half,” Evelyn explains. “We thought she was you and she led us away-”
Evelyn and Carol jump at the sound of groaning, then realizing the Other Athena and Other Leroy are knocked out and lying on the ground. The sound of heavy breathing and footsteps make the entire party turn around to see Other Suki – panting angrily and with disheveled hair.
“Wake up!” she barks at Other Leroy as she throws a sack of smelling salts on his face. He coughs and sputters at their strong scent and groggily rolls on to his hands and knees. “Grab our muscle, we have unfinished business,” she commands and, before anyone can gather their bearings, she throws a smoke bomb on the ground. Perhaps subconsciously expecting it given their close encounter moments earlier, Evelyn and Carol manage to cover their faces behind their collars. Athena, Suki, and Leroy are less prepared and drop to the ground coughing in the thick smoke.
“How many of these things does she have?” Carol’s annoyed muffled voice asks.
Evelyn and Carol help drag the others to the fringes of the smoke cloud, whilst the doppelgangers make a hasty retreat down the hall in the direction of the guild quarters.
“We...we have to go after them,” Suki says with watery eyes from the smoke.
“Yeah, but, where are they headed?” Leroy asks as he hands a handkerchief to Suki (what a gentleman).
She dabs her eyes with it, allowing her vision to clear.
“We know, don’t we?” Evelyn says, looking at Carol.
“R-right,” Carol replies with feigned confidence. //You tell ‘em, Evelyn!//
“Your other self said something about ‘visiting the guildmaster’.”
Carol nods in assertion. Crap, I totally missed that.
“Let’s go.” Athena stretches her hand out to Suki and helps her to her feet.
They enter the guild quarters to see a dozen or so men incapacitated on the ground, save a few men at the bar. “Those fiends! What have they done to our guildmates!?” Carol cries.
Suki and Leroy sheepishly scratch their heads.
“Actually...this was our doing.”
The men at the bar look at the party, dazed and confused.
“How did...you get there...when you just went there?” the bar tender asks quizzically, pointing in the direction of the foyer.
The party charges in that direction, Leroy giving a hasty, “Thanks, mate,” as they run past. The men look at their drinks in concern. “Hey man, what year did you say this was from?” one poses to the bartender in a shaky voice.
<<linkappend "In the foyer, the group sees the guildmaster’s office door is uncharacteristically swung wide open.">> <<audio Bambiance fadeout>>
<<audio Edungeon stop>> <<audio Gbadend volume 1,10 fadeout>>
<<audio Iend volume 1.4 play>> The room seems to be filled with mist slowly dissipating, the signs of yet another smoke bomb having been released.
Another oddity that catches their attention is that the door up the stairs on the opposite wall is swung open, filtering the soft sound of wind and thunder.
- - -
[[Check on boss.->J]]
[[Pursue the Others outside.->K]]
<</linkappend>><<audio Iend fadeout>>
<<audio 9fireplace volume 0.3 play>> The party hesitates for a brief moment, then rushes to the guildmaster’s office.
“You okay boss!?” several voices ask at once, accompanied by a single voice asking, “You okay, dad?”
The guildmaster trembles in the midst of trying to rise to his feet, using his table for support. He glances at the party, his eyes still watery from the smoke screen. “You came back for more?” he sighs before realizing the party includes Carol and Evelyn. “Oh, it’s really you.”
Leroy swoops in to help the guildmaster stabilize, and Athena inspects the exposed safe in the wall behind the guildmaster’s desk. The decorative portrait that usually adorns the wall lies tossed aside in the corner of the room. “They knew the code?”
“Apparently,” the guildmaster winces as Leroy helps him sit in his chair, “my other self and I always use the same combination.”
The guildmaster begins to hack and cough, still not recovered from the smokebomb (poor guy, he’s not as young as everyone else). Suki offers him the hankerchief Leroy had lent her. The guildmaster nods in thanks and uses it to still his cough. Leroy glares at Suki.
//I was only willing to lend it to //you.////
Suki shrugs back sheepishly.
//I thought it’d be okay.//
He lets out a pained breath as he looks back at the guildmaster.
//He better not be sick.//
“So, what did they really want? Just your money?” Evelyn asks as she, too, inspects the safe.
“Yes, that – apparently our guild in this world is more successful than in theirs. And...it seems I’m not as well liked in the other world, either.” As if for emphasis, he gingerly touches his side and winces. “Ah, there are already a few bruises blooming.”
Carol crosses her arms. “So, lemme get this straight, since they don’t like you in their world, they take it out on you here?”
“Yes. They see me as a ‘punching bag’, if you will.”
Carol nods in understanding. “I get it.”
“Thankfully you stalled them for most of the day, I half expected them to do even more damage.” He looks thoughtfully out his door. “It’s nearly twilight. If they haven’t gone back on their own, they’ll be returning to their world any minute now.”
Evelyn glares at his statement. “You certainly know a lot about them.”
The guildmaster flushes and avoids eye contact with the others. “This isn’t their first visit. They discovered interworld-transportation-magic a couple years ago. It’s...it’s why I started the Guild Takeover event. It’s not just a training exercise, it’s-”
“It’s a ploy to make us all your bodygaurds,” Athena states in annoyance.
“Yes...” he admits. “I justified that by withholding the whole truth, I’d spare scaring the guild. But...perhaps I should have been upfront from the start.”
Athena scoffs. Light flashes in the foyer from the open door in the stairwell. Thunder accompanies it, far louder than it had been moments prior. A gloom settles over the team at the quiet revelation that their visitors from the other world will be back again next year.
- - -
[[Well, you did the right thing and made sure the boss was okay. But, that means those riffraffs got away! Why don't you backtrack and go after them...->I]]<<audio Iend volume 1,1 fadeout>>
<<audio Kambiance play>>
The crew pause in the foyer. A roll of thunder sounds down the stairwell and, with a nod to one another, they climb the stairs and emerge in a clearing in the forest. The Others stand in a semicircle in anticipation. Other Suki murmurs something, and a faint golden oval begins to form infront of her and her companions. Upon noticing Suki and gang emerge outside, Other Suki stops her recitation and the golden oval disappears.
“You’re fast,” Other Suki comments, “but not fast enough.” Other Leroy holds a large sack up as if for emphasis.
“Thanks for the loot. Oww!” he comments as a rock sails at his hands, prompting him to drop the sack. Bars of silver and gold spill out, as well as a few scrolls.
“Wow...I can’t believe we let these guys intimidate us...” Carol trails off, amazed by the impact of her throw.
“I just wasn’t ready, you little twerp.” Other Leroy grabs a sparring knife tucked in his belt and approaches. Other Athena sighs and reluctantly approaches as well. As Other Suki begins an incantation again, Leroy shoves his teammates towards her.
“Go, stop her! I can handle these two.”
Athena looks at him skeptically.
“I can at least stall them.”
Athena nods and eagerly charges towards Other Suki ahead of the others. Other Suki stops her incantation, the faintest of golden light extinguishing as well. <<linkappend "Athena swipes her halberd...">> <<audio Kthunk play>> throwing Other Suki in to a tree. Rainwater falls on both of them from the disturbed branches, soaking them far more than the few minutes of rain have.
“D-don’t you want us out of your hair?” Other Suki gasps from the impact but looks at Athena in contempt.
“Yes, please! You guys are exhausting.” Carol answers.
“Then let us go. All you have to do is turn the other way and we’ll be out of your hair.” Other Suki looks at Suki. “I keep my word, don’t I?”
“No,” growls Athena, pinning Other Suki against the tree even harder. “OUR Suki keeps her word. YOU guys have done nothing but give us hell.”
“Right right...” Carol mumbles to herself. Evelyn shakes her head. “I’m glad you don’t handle negotiations,” notes Evelyn.
Other Suki uses the tree as leverage to bend her legs, puts her feet against Athena’s chest, and pushes her away. With a grunt, Athena falls to the ground. “Uh, ladies!?” they hear Leroy’s concerned voice in the distance. He grapples with his other self, clamping a hand over Other Leroy’s mouth while Other Athena recites the incantation and points to a nearby mound. <<linkappend "“Apparently they all know it!”">> <<audio 10portal play>> The golden oval from before forms again atop the mound, expanding and to the height of a doorway. Though relatively flat, either end of the golden ellipse is like a window on to the grounds of the mage academy.
“Is that me?” Evelyn gasps, seeing a disgruntled double of herself through the portal. Beside her is a short red-head girl in glasses, taking notes. “Why...I think that’s you, Carol.”
“Uh huh,” Carol responds absentmindedly, admiring Leroy’s brawn as he wrestles his counterpart to his knees, twisting Other Leroy’s arm behind his back. Other Suki sprints forward, grabbing the sack of goodies from the ground as she heads toward the portal. “Oh no you don’t,” Athena responds by promptly using her halberd’s staff to trip Other Suki. The bag falls once again, and both scramble to retrieve it.
Sparks emanate from Evelyn’s hands as she prepares to take on Other Athena, but she stops as she notices Carol still in a daze. <<linkappend "Evelyn glances at the Leroys mud-wrestling, sighs, and clasps Carol’s face between her hands.">> <<audio Kclap play>> “Carol, you hopeless bi-romantic mess, I need you to focus.”
“Huh?”
“Snap out of it and help, dammit!”
“R-right.”
Evelyn leads the way, running to cut off Other Athena from reaching the portal. Other Athena gives a nervous squeal and stumbles forward with heightened determination. The Evelyn from the other side of the portal perks up in intrigue. “Woah, the me in that world is kinda a badass.” The bespectacled Carol on the other side nods and vigorously scribbles in a notepad in hand.
“Guys, just let them go, I got the sack – fuck!” Athena calls out as the sack of loot is gruffly grabbed from her hands by Other Suki. Suki tackles her other self to the ground, skidding on the growing layer of mud from the rain. “What’d you do to the guildleader?” she asks, more concerned about her boss than the potential losses in the sack beside her.
Other Leroy chuckles from a distance. “What didn’t we do.” He yelps as Leroy twists his arm, subduing him further.
“We beat him up, we wrecked his office, we stole his shit. You didn’t need me to tell you that, Princess,” Other Suki leers. Suki grabs her by the collar, surprising her other self with the intensity in her eyes. “Why!? What do you want from us?”
Other Suki smacks Suki’s hands off her collar. “Because I get a kick out of it! Because he’s an asshole in our world and for once a year, I get to let loose a little, I get to let off some steam. Because our life’s been a shitshow since Cherisa sold us to this miserable backwater guild, and for at least once a year running this pathetic mission gives me a sense of purpose!”
Suki softens, hit by the raw truth laden in her words. Other Suki pushes her off and runs toward the portal, nearly forgetting the sack in the process. She frantically grabs it, reaches the Leroys, and smacks Leroy with the sack to free her own companion. As Leroy falls with a grunt, the Others charge up the mound to the portal, stopping short at the ridge.
“The hell...” Other Leroy looks over the ridge to the skyroof of the library. “How long’s that been there?” Carol from the other side adjusts her glasses and peers downward through her glimpse through the portal. “Oh, the library? So many people don’t know it’s there. A pity, really. Oh, look out,” she calmly adds as Evelyn and Carol reach the ridge at nearly the same time. Other Athena shoves them with her halberd, chuckling as they stumble in surprise and slide back down the hill.
Other Leroy leaps to the portal hovering just over the lip of the ridge, then grabs the sack from Other Suki. Other Athena leaps in after him, just before a halberd is chucked in their direction and sails right through the portal. “Shit, they trying to kill us?” Evelyn from the other side exclaims. The bespectacled Carol beside her nods. “Theory 44: Objects only transport if a traveler from this side carries it through. Confirmed.”
The shock of the halberd sailing so close causes Other Suki to loose her footing on the already slippery slope. Just as she’s about to stumble forward in to the skyroof below, a long arm reaches out to grab her. [[scuffle sound??] “You...you saved me,” she says, vocalizing her shock out loud.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want your death on my conscious,” Other Leroy grunts as he pulls her through. The portal slowly begins to fade, as fast as a slug climbing a tree. Suki and crew make it to the edge of the ridge as it continues to slowly fade. “Well...this is awkward,” Evelyn from the other side comments. “No wait, don’t do that, you can’t come through, it’s a one way thing!” she exclaims as Carol motions to leap in to the portal. Athena grabs her as she flails through its glow, saving her from the drop below. “That was Theory 1. I suppose we never tried testing that one yet so...Confirmed,” Carol from the other side notes matter of factly as she flips to another page in her notepad. As the portal reaches its faintest she looks at her counterpart and nods. “Thank you.” The portal disappears entirely, and Carol stares dumbfounded where it had stood moments prior.
<<linkappend "“What a weirdo...”">> <<audio Kambiance volume 1,1 fadeout>> <<audio Kforest volume 2 play>>
- - - -
Carol on the other side adjusts her glasses and shakes hands with the Evelyn beside her. “Another good year,” she notes.
“Likewise. The mages look forward to working with you next year,” Evelyn replies.
“No!” shouts Suki, kicking the bag of loot on the ground. “This is the last time!” The others look at her in surprise. She freezes momentarily, unsure how to deal with the attention she garnered. “At least...I’m done,” she says, unwilling to share how much the other world reminds her of how much hers is lacking. //I gotta get my shit together, and these trips aren’t doing shit.// She grabs a bar from the bag and distracts herself admiring its sheen and weight. The smoothness refracts her reflection, and she frowns at it before looking back at the others. “If you continue your little science experiments, leave me out of it.”
<<linkappend "~Fin~">>
Eyy, you made it to one of the full endings! Congrats. As a streat, here's a map of all routes (there may be more endings to read!)
<img src="images/map.jpg">
<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>The one with Suki’s face shrugs. Just leave them.”
“What?!” Carol asks incredulously. “After all that you’re just gonna leave us?”
“Yep. The powers that be said no.”
“Who the hell are 'the powers that be'??”
“Look Carol, we’re busy alright? We got more important things to take care of.”
“B-but…,” Carol whines as she watches Athena struggling against her heavy binding. “She got so much more than me.”
“Tough luck,” the female captor says as she hops over one side of the halberd’s staff holding Athena in place. “We ran out of rope and we prioritized tying up the stronger of you two.”
“But,” Carol complains in a grumpy mumble, unheeding the backhand insult, “I didn’t even get a gag.”
Her captors leer at her as they close the gate to her cell. “I had a nagging suspicion that would annoy her,” said the man. Carol’s eyes widen in shock at his words. “You bastard.”
“Hey!” he shouts back as he grips the bars of her cell. “Come on big guy,” his partner coaxes as she pulls him off the cell and down the hall with her. “It’s just an insult. It’s not like she knows your family history.”
“Oh…,” Carol pauses, reflectively. “I didn’t know Leroy was a bastard child.”
“Yeah,” the female captor says as they walk away, “he’s kinda touchy about it.”
“I see. Sorry, lemme rephrase that: You son of a bi-!”
The man roars in frustration and spins on his heels. His partner quickly grabs him by his belt and yanks him forward again. “Dude, get your shit together.”
<<linkappend "“But-”">><<audio Kclap play>>
His partner clamps a hand over his mouth with a shush. The man almost laughs, amused with how high she has to stretch her hand to do so. She beckons him to a dark corner of the hall as they hear three voices echo from the direction of the guild quarters.
“The heck is it so dark for?” Leroy asks as they round the corner.
“I dunno, this is darker than usual...” Suki reflects. The Athena walking with them pauses as she hears a familiar sound – a soft tapping that could be mistaken for the soft drip of water from accumulated moisture...or the sound of her colleagues softly clapping a code to get her attention. She quietly walks backward in to the dark corner the sound comes from, and Leroy and Suki continue walking forward without noticing.
“Suki?” they hear Carol calling. “And Leroy? Is that you? Did you seriously come back just to taunt us again!?”
“Again?” Leroy asks.
“Yeah what do you mean again? And Athena!? How the heck did you get captured so quickly, you were right behind us!?"
Leroy clicks his tongue. "Whoever did this went real fast and real overboard."
Athena glares at the two and struggles all the more harder.
“Hold on, tiger, let’s undo these bonds first,” Leroy says as he crouches to assist untying Athena. Suki backs up and enters Carol’s cell. “Athena doesn’t look too happy to see me,” Suki mutters as she helps Carol kneel. Suki’s hands begin to slowly trail down Carol’s arms and along her sides. Carol shudders as Suki’s hands snake underneath her shirt, approaching her breasts.
“U-uhm, Suki?” Carol asks quizzically, pleasure clearly showing in her voice.
“Whu-oh! Crap! I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me, every time I come to the trophy hall it's like I'm not myself.”
“Heh heh...it’s okay, I don’t mind,” Carol whispers under her breath. She whines slightly as Suki quickly unties her wrist and ankle bindings. As Suki and Carol stand, Leroy just finishes undoing enough of Athena’s bonds for her to wriggle free. She gets to her feet and storms over to Suki, grabbing her by the collar and pinning her against a wall in the cell.
“What the hell is going on?! You playing some trick on us?”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Suki shakily replies. "We were just as surprised to see you all tied up like that!"
“Two people that looked like you bozos got the jump on us. And earlier someone that looked like //ME// dragged me to your room!”
Carol shakes her head. “You’re still going with that story...”
- - -
[[Damn, Athena’s anger is infectious. Screw it, lets storm through the guild with her! We’ll figure things out eventually! (Probably).->VI]]
[[Calm Athena down, let’s figure out what the heck is going on.->VII]][[->VI]] <</linkappend>><<audio 9fireplace stop>>
Maybe-Suki reaches a hand in to her trouser's pocket with a smirk. “I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna show our captive here a good time.” Athena grunts in confusion. Carol’s eyes widen in anticipation...though she couldn’t help but notice the singular ‘captive’ in that sentence. She sees the one who looks like Suki pull a small egg-shaped stone from her pockets, then hold it to her mouth as she whispers in to it. “Hmm, that wasn’t it...what was the incantation the witch gave us for this thing?” Her companion shrugs. “I thought she already put a spell on it and you just had to shake it,” he answers. His companion’s face lights up. “Right! It’s heat and motion activated! I was thinking of something else.”
Their female captor holds the stone and shakes it in her hands for a few seconds before a soft hum emits from it. “You’ll like this,” she purrs as she slides her hand across Athena’s shoulder and under her chest plate, lightly pressing her hand and the stone against a breast. Athena gasps and twitches at the sensation of the cool stone vibrating against her sensitive chest. Carol narrows her eyes quizzically. “Wait a minute...is that stone...buzzing…?” Carol’s voice trails off, a hint of jealousy and arousal mixed in it.
Athena growls in to her gag and tenses against her bindings, though her halberd keeps her firmly fixed in place. Her growl shifts to a whimper as her captor shifts the stone to the other breast. She hangs her head and pants as the stone and its buzzing is then slowly taken away. Carol looks at her, captivated. The man who looks like Leroy looks at her, the epitome of bored-and-ready-to-move-on. She blushes at both of their stares, finding them equally arousing in their own way.
“I know an Athena back home, too. And like you she stupidly wears a skirt instead of leg armor,” Athena’s captor chides as she slides her hand under Athena’s skirt. Athena squeals at the sudden sensation of the stone vibrating against her thighs. She instinctually tries to stretch her legs to stand, but the snug frogties keep her legs in place. Squirming is all she can do to try and shift away from the sensation, though her captor easily trails her hand and the stone higher up Athena’s legs until it presses against her nether regions. Athena bucks against it, throwing her head back into the nook of her captor’s shoulder. “There’s a good girl. Might as well enjoy it, right?”
Carol’s panting can just be made out through Athena’s haze. //Goddamit Carol, of course you’d be turned on...// Athena thinks in annoyance. Though having such a captivated audience makes Athena feel all the more hot and bothered. Her captor wraps one arm around her torso and slips her wandering hand under Athena’s panties. Athena squeals in surprise and frustration, struggling with all her might. The halberd tethered to the cell shifts, grating against the metal, though it and her bindings still keep her in place. The arm around her torso tightens, and the hand between her legs slips the now warm stone in a rather well placed nook. Athena relaxes and pants at the stimulation, then tenses and squirms again. Her breathing heightens as she finds the stimulation simultaneously relaxing and aggravating.
As her captor trails her hands and nails across Athena’s vulnerable sides and legs, Athena’s eyes flutter to the bored man leaning against the opposite wall and inspecting his nails. //Why does his disinterest make this more exciting!?// she groans partially from frustration as much as the stimulation. The vibrations from the stone between her legs seems to grow stronger, and she writhes her waist to try and alleviate the pressure growing from down below. “Fun, isn’t it? Heat and motion make it release more energy. It should last all day as long as you keep it warm and moving.”
The man leaning against the wall scoffs and stops inspecting his nails to correct his partner. “I’m pretty sure the witch told us it only lasts a couple hours.”
“Aww, is that all?” his companion replies in mock dissapointment before snickering. “Well, I bet to our friend here it’ll feel like all day.”
Athena fights to suppress her whimpering as the heat and pressure in her body continues to build from the stone’s vibrations. //The more I struggle, the worse it gets...// she realizes. //But just having it pressed against my body is going to keep it warm...fuck.//
“Come on,” her captor whispers in an un-Suki-like husky voice. “Come for me before I leave?”
As if on command, Athena feels her body reach its limit. She presses herself against her captor and feels the tension in her body roll in waves. She gasps and arcs her back as a final wave of tension escapes her, then collapses against her bindings, hanging her head to her side where she feels it nestled in a pair of hands. Her Suki-faced captor looks at her hungrily as she craddles Athena’s face. “Well wasn’t that fun.” She stands and slips away to the center of the walkway between the cells. “You seem to like that toy. I’ll let you keep it.”
“Had your fun?” her companion asks as he peels himself away from the wall.
“I certainly did,” she responds with a broad smile as they walk away.
Carol watches them depart in a daze before the epiphane hits…
“Wait a minute, they didn’t do anything for me!” She glares at Athena across from her. “You lucky goat.”
Athena glares back, though her eyes quickly soften as the stimulation from the gift left behind change her features and she begins to pant anew. Carol groans, jealous of Athena’s luck and mildly turned on by it.
After what feels like hours to Athena but ten minutes to Carol, footsteps echo from down the hall. A Suki with her characteristic pigtails accompanied by Leroy and his trademark straw can just be made out in the faint light of the hall. “Carol!? Athena!? How the heck did you - are you two okay?” they hear Suki ask.
Carol sizes up their guests. “Are you the nice Suki?”
“Am I...the what?” Suki asks as she kneels down and begins to unbind Carol. From her gentleness and concern, Carol senses this isn’t the same girl as their captor. Once her ropes are loosened and fall away, Carol wraps her arms around Suki and whines in to her shoulder. “I’m so glad it’s you! The other Suki was so cru-hu-huel!”
“You poor thing, what did she do to you?”
“Nothiiiiiing! That’s the worse part. She just tied my hands and feet and left me alone! She did everything to Athena!” Carol whimpers. Leroy glances behind himself as if he's seen as ghost before undoing the ropes binding Athena. "Girl you were just behind us in the...what the heck is going on?" Before he can work on undoing her gag, Athena reaches her hand between her legs, procures the distracting magic infused crystal, and smashes it to the ground.
“No don’t destroy it! We don’t have that kinda technology in our world! What if Evelyn can replicate it?! Didn’t it feel good?
Athena tears the gag off herself and throws it to the ground as well. “It felt amazing.” She glares at its shattered remains. “I hated it...I’m gonna kill that bitch.”
- - -
[[Dang, Athena’s anger is infectious. Let’s find these imposters!->VI]]
[[Alrighty, let’s calm Athena down before she hurts someone.->IIX]]<<audio Bambiance fadeout>>
Suki’s blood boils with Athena’s. Someone was impersonating her //and// messing with her friends? She had to get to the bottom of this. (Also they threatened her and Leroy’s two-year streak as Best Guild Takeover Duo.)
Suki calmly grips Athena’s hands and removes them from her collar. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I intend to find out.”
Leroy, feeling the mood is safe, hands Athena her halberd. She takes it with a grin. “That’s what I like to hear.”
They exit the cell and stand in the dimly lit Trophy Hall. Athena excitedly raps the floor with the butt of her weapon. “Let’s go to the guildquarters, see if anyone’s recovered or seen something.”
The rest nod and power walk with her to the main room of the guild – Carol lightly jogging to keep up. Their look-alikes press against each other in to the dark corner of the hall, worried for a moment of being seen. As the sound of Carol’s jogging fades away, they sigh in relief and relax.
“Alright, get off me,” the man grunts as he shifts uncomfortably in the corner, pinned by his partner’s weight and the mercenary’s heavy armor.
In the guild quarters, Athena scans the situation. Some men from earlier are still knocked out or tending to their n̶e̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ battle wounds. Others are giving one another reassurance at the bar. They look up at the sounds of the approaching group, sigh, and continue quietly drinking.
“Hey, anyone seen these two?” Athena asks, motioning to Suki and Leroy with her halberd. The men look at them again, perplexed.
“What she means is,” Carol adds, “anyone seeing double?”
The eyes of the man at the bar grow wide in realization. He shushes the men sitting as they try to speak, then nods at the group with a finger held infront of his mouth. <<linkappend "The group freezes upon hearing the soft sound of footsteps coming from the Trophy Hall.">> <<audio VIsteps play>> Athena and Suki look at one another, nod, and sprint to find a hiding spot. They both dive behind the player-piano while Suki and Leroy run to hide behind the bar – Leroy taking the opportunity to nab an unguarded drink from the counter, much to the chagrin of the man sitting in front of it.
“The hell, Leroy?!” the man growls under his breath as Leroy’s doppleganger and companion enter the room. The man who looks like Leroy frowns and crosses his arms. “Say what? I just got here.” The Other Suki spaces her feet in a defensive stance, scanning the room. “What if the other you is here?” she whispers to him. Other Leroy widens his eyes, and him and Other Athena scan the room suspiciously.
- - -
[[Crap, they’re on to us. Get the jump on them now while we still (sort of) have the element of surprise!->IX]]
[[They’re on to us...wait it out and let them make the first move before jumping out.->X]] <</linkappend>>Athena glares at Carol. “It’s not just a story, it’s the truth.” She faces Suki. “Either you or someone who’s real good at playing dress up locked me in your room right after you captured me in the guild lounge. How do you explain that?”
“Maybe...there are two Suki’s?”
Athena scoffs. “Carol, if you can’t add to the conversation then stay out of it.”
“No hold on, I think the kid’s on to something,” Leroy steps in, ruffling Carol’s hair.
“Hmm hmm,” Carol beams, more so at the affection than the compliment.
“What if there are two of me, and two of little miss princess? Heck, there’s probably a second Athena running around, too.”
Carol freezes, an epiphany hitting her. “Oh damn, was I right? I was just spit-balling.”
Athena crosses her arms. “I mean, as stupid as that sounds, it sure explains a lot.”
As the crew dwells in silence, they hear a soft rustling in a cell a few meters away. A sound so quiet, it was easily masked by their prior scuffles and conversation.
“I wonder what that is,” Carol mumbles as she approaches the cell the noise is coming from.
“Carol, the hell!? It might be a trap!” Athena scolds as she lunges after her. She reaches the cell right as Carol does and points the blade of her halberd towards the sound.
Evelyn stares back from the dark recesses of the cell, a look of annoyance and relief on her face. //About time! I thought they’d never hear me with their rambling.//
“Evelyn! Are you okay!” Suki barges in to the cell, thankful the door hadn’t been locked. She kneels besides Evelyn, who had been tightly wrapped in red fabric imprinted with golden runes. The magic laced fabric wrapped her from mouth to toe, magically preventing her from vocalizing as well. Evelyn catches her breath as Suki reaches a bare hand for the fabric around her face.
//Suki, no! Don’t touch it!//
“Agh!” Suki yelps as electricity shoots through her body. Her energy drains, her sight goes dark, and she collapses across Evelyn.
“Woah, what the heck was that?” Carol enters the cell, fascinated. “Lemme try.”
//Carol, you masochistic idiot! Oh, wait, nevermind...// Evelyn is pleasantly surprised to see Carol brandish a knife to slip under the fabric bindings. With a gentle flourish, she slices through the bindings around Evelyn’s torso. As the fabric rips, the golden runes dwindle until they disappear. The tension of the fabric fades, and Evelyn shimmies until her arms are free. She gasps as she removes the fabric from her mouth, at last able to speak.
“Thank you, Carol.”
Carol beams at the compliment. “No problem.”
Suki moans as the others gently roll her off of Evelyn. “What happened?”
Evelyn sighs. “Your other selves came prepared. That binding dampened my magic. Though when a non-magic user like you touched the runes, it seems it saps energy in lieu of magic.”
Evelyn stands, wobbling at first, though she catches herself. She holds up a hand, turning down the offered help and motioning for the others to be quiet. She stares at the end of the hall, completely enveloped in darkness from the lack of lit torches. “Do you have rope?” she whispers to the others.
“Heh, what kinda question is that,” Leroy whispers back as he and Suki procure lengths from their belt and pockets.
“Good. Steady yourself, Suki. And be ready, all of you.”
Evelyn enters the walkway between the rows of cells and casually leads the others towards the dark end of the hall, towards the entryway between the trophy hall and guild lounge. “We should check on the others, see if they’re all right,” she says aloud, hoping if their captors are present they’ll be lulled in to a false sense of security.
(It works – good job, Evelyn. The trio of the Other Suki, Leroy, and Athena hiding in the shadows sigh in relief, satisfied the dark corner of the hall hides them from view.)
“But first,” Evelyn pauses as a mischievous grin grows on her face. “Let’s do a favor for the guild and clear the hall of vermin.”
“The what now?”
“Oh Carol, do catch up, I know you’re sharper than this.”
With a brisk graceful motion, Evelyn whips her wand from her belt sash and points a stream of crackling fire in to the dark end of the hall. The hiding trio yelp in surprise and pain. The Other Athena drops her halberd to pat out the flames eating her clothing while the Other Suki stops, drops, and rolls. The Other Leroy, though spared from hungry flames, is greeted by the terrifying sight of Evelyn silhouetted by hellfire, pointing her wand like a deadly weapon as her weapon-brandishing-posy-of-four charges the others. Suki and Carol tackle Other Suki. Leroy grabs Other Athena’s halberd, wrestling her. While the Athena on our heroes’ team pins Other Leroy against a wall with her halberd.
“Athena, dear, leave him to me and help our Leroy take down your double.”
Athena nods, and Evelyn shoots bolts of fire with precision to light at torch behind Other Leroy’s head. He eeks in surprise at the hurdling bolt, and shivers at the uncomfortable light and warmth behind him. “Wh-what are you gonna do, toast be to death?” he challenges her, trying to sound strong.
“Dear me! Do I look like a murderer to you?”
Yes... Other Leroy thinks as the edges of Evelyn’s deep purple robe crackle without burning in her magical fire. Her hair blows slightly in the heat emitted from her magic, and as she takes a step closer the wall pressing against Other Leroy’s back feels like a death sentence.
“Well, if it’s any reassurance, we may be kidnappers but we’re not murderers. And if you’re scared of fire, I have other tricks up my sleeve.”
That’s not reassuring at all, Other Leroy thinks just before a flick of Evelyn’s wand is accompanied by a column of stone shooting from the ground, smacking him in the chest and knocking the air out of him. When the column returns to the ground, Evelyn appears closer.
“Don’t worry dear, I’ll make this quick.”
“P-please...” Leroy wheezes.
“Please what?”
Leroy freezes, unsure to what degree the Evelyn in this world differs from the witch he knows in his.
“Please...mistress?”
“What? No! I wasn’t, I wasn’t prodding you to give me a nickname! I genuinely didn’t know what you were saying please for.”
“Oh...” Other Leroy flushes.
Carol cackles, and Other Leroy shoots her a dirty look only to see her and Suki have wrapped the Suki from his world in a cuccoon of rope. She grunts and squirms, while the Athena from his world pouts in defeat, her ankles and wrists tied as a chest-harness pins her arms by her side. The color drains from Other Leroy’s face as quickly as it had come.
“So what was it you were trying to say, love?”
Other Leroy snatches his sparring knife from his belt and shakily holds it in front of him. “Just give me a fighting chance.”
Evelyn throws her head back in laughter. “Oh, dear. Honey, you brought a knife to a magic fight. You never had a fighting chance to begin with.”
With that, Evelyn flourishes her wand upwards, and another column of stone smacks Other Leroy in the forehead. His knife clatters to the ground and he drops, knocked out cold.
“Holy shit...” Other Athena murmurs.
“The hell!? That was brutal!” Other Suki scolds.
“He had a knife, I had to defend myself. What was I supposed to do, tie him up as well?”
“Um, yeah?” Other Suki responds in disbelief.
“Wait, what?” Carol interjects.
“You guys would’ve been okay if we tied up your Leroy?” our crew’s Leroy asks.
“Of course, why woul- why is that even a question!” Other Suki shouts as she writhes in her bindings.
Suki looks at her Leroy, then to the knocked out Other Leroy, and back to her partner. “I mean, that...that would have been the more humane option.”
“Yeah, yeah we just kinda assumed...” Leroy trails off as he awkwardly scratches the back of his head.
“...What the hell is wrong with you people,” Other Suki gasps.
Evelyn sighs and pockets her wand. “Well, I don’t mind a good fight but...that would have been nice to know sooner.”
“Sadist,” Carol scoffs under her breath.
“What was that, dear?”
“Nothing, just a sneeze.”
“Oh really? Well, maybe I should give you a look over in private later. Just to make sure you're not coming down with something~.”
“Yes ma'am,” Carol gives a mock salute. If she had a tail, it’d be wagging.
“Gods, even in this world you two are like this.” Other Suki says in annoyance.
“Yeah, speaking of, how’d you all get here?” Leroy asks.
“And what the hell are you doing here?” Athena growls.
“Well, since we discovered portal magic to take us here a couple years back, we-”
“Athena, shut up!” Other Suki cuts her off.
“What? They caught us, not like there’s any harm in their knowing.”
“Okay fine, you wanna know why we’re here!? We’re here to have a little fun and to screw you over! We’re here to rob your guildmaster, and while we’re at it, why not fuck you up if we have the spare time!?”
Suki flinches, taken aback by her other self’s flowery language. “But, why?” she asks.
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know!”
“Yeah, she would, that’s why she asked!” Athena steps in, approaching Other Suki with her halberd. “So why don’t you show my employer some fucking respect and answer the question?”
Other Suki leers at Athena. “Hah. Well you have a stronger backbone than our merc, I’ll give you that. But even in this world you’re just your employer’s lapdog.” Other Suki catches her breath as Athena holds the blade of her halberd to Other Suki’s chin. Other Athena glares at her employer and picks up where she left off.
“The mages in our world were looking in to portal magic a few years ago. They kinda accidentally discovered making portals to others worlds. Or more like, other realities? We can only see a handful, they’re pretty similar to ours. Not very interesting to be honest. It’s like, ‘Oh, people don’t eat meat on Tuesdays in this one. Ah, they use plantain fibers to make rope in this one instead of hemp’. But your world, well, it stood out. For one thing, your personalities are more favorable here.” Other Athena looks away as Other Suki shoots her a dirty look.
“Given that...I feel sorry for your boss, actually. You guys are more successful in this world, so that’s sorta why we choose this one to start coming to.”
Other Suki flinches as Evelyn turns to her.
“Well, that’s a lot from your Athena, thank you dear. Now what do you have to say?”
<<linkappend "Other Suki smirks and chants." t8n>><<audio 10tongue play>>
<span class="upside-down"><span class="font">
<span class="slanted">//Bla bla magic magic Come Forth Portal and btw Chelsea isn't Suki, deal with it simps//</span></span></span>
Evelyn raises an eyebrow. “What was that?”
“The witch in our world taught us that,” Other Suki smirks. A soft golden glow silhouettes her body and bundle of ropes, as well as that of Other Athena and Other Leroy. “Using the portals like this burns a lot of daylight. That’s why we only come on the solstice. It’s like that fairy tale, our time runs out once the sun sets. But we can go home early with a little spell.”
“Magic users in your world use incantations? Fascinating...not very efficient, but fascinating.”
Other Leroy moans as he slowly regains consciousness. “Why’s it so bright?” He groans, annoyed at the soft glow. Remembering the happening just a few minutes prior, he asks, “How did ya...know we were...here...we were being...so sneaky...”
“Oh, you mean your signals to one another? Those little mouth clicks and tapping.”
“Yeah!” Other Leroy softly exclaims. “How...how could you tell? I trained for hours…listening to water...imitating water….drinking water…”
Evelyn turns to the others. “Oh dear, I didn’t think I hit him that hard. You should have the medical mages check him out just in case. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s spot on imitation! It’s just, I go to school in a cold and dingy stone tower. And my roommate specialized in water magic. She would practice late at night, I grew accustomed to the sound as I drifted off to sleep...” Evelyn trails off, nearly lost in memory lane before she brings herself back. “Well, as you can guess, I’m all too familiar with what actual water condensation sounds like.”
“Fascinating stuff,” Other Suki responds sarcastically. “Well, toodles.”
The three others take on a stronger golden hue before them and their light fade. They disspear, leaving Suki and her entourage alone in the corner of the hall. “Shit, they took the rope with them,” Leroy notes. “That stuff takes forever to make.”
- - -
Meanwhile, on the lawn at the base of the mage’s tower and academy, Evelyn and Suki stand on a stone clearing accompanied by their tools for the day. An elevated dish with glowing runes and stones for creating and maintaining a connection to the chosen world. Carol adjusts her glasses and continues taking notes in her book. “This pattern means they’ve used the ‘phase-back-home’ incantation, right?”
“That’s right, dear, you’re getting the hang of this.”
As if on cue, the others return. Other Leroy on his hands and knees. “I’d like some water,” he says before collapsing. Evelyn looks down at him in surprise but is quick to motion over a lounging mage by the tower’s entrance. Athena materializes, wrists and ankles bound with a harness pinning her arms to her side. Suki materializes with her, wrapped in rope from ankles to shoulders like a worm.
Evelyn and Carol smirk at them.
“Have fun?” Evelyn asks.
“Nope.” Suki replies coldly.
“Oh, it looks like you had fun alright,” Carol beams as she scribbles notes.
“Are you...are you seriously recording this in your data?” Athena asks, aghast.
“And no loot this time?” Evelyn prods.
Suki glares back at them both. “We didn’t get any loot and we didn’t have fun. Add that to your notes you nerds!”
“Well that was uncalled for,” Evelyn huffs. She leans over Carol’s shoulder to read her notes and smiles. “Very good, dear, very good.”
<<linkappend "(Fin)">>
Well, good on you, you tried to calm Athena down. But Athena's Athena, sometimes you just gotta let her rage. [[Here, go back and see what happens->IV]]<</linkappend>><</linkappend>> Leroy downs the drink and hands the half empty mug to the peeved man. “Thanks mate, I needed that, I owe you one,” he replies. The man calmly places his mug down, reassured by the promise. Leroy nods to Carol, then glances at Suki and Athena hiding behind the piano. They gesture ‘ok’ to him, and he imitates a shrill bird call that resonates against the stone walls of the room. The doppelgangers as well as some of the conscious men groan and cover their ears while Suki, Leroy, Carol, and Athena surround their doubles. Guildmates no longer compromised join them as well. Other Suki looks up with a snarl to see a good dozen people surrounding her and her group.
“So we //were// seeing double,” says the bartender, brandishing his cobbler like a club. “So much for trying to pass as them,” mutter Other Athena. “Shut it,” Other Leroy growls with an elbow jab to her. “How do you know //we’re// the doubles? They’re the real impostors, they’re trying to trick you!” he claims as he motions to the others. Carol scoffs. “Okay Leroy. If you’re the original, do that bird call again.”
“Yeah, sure, I can do that,” Other Leroy responds confidently as he awkwardly places two fingers between his lips and attempts to blow a whistle. Hissing air akin to a soft fart resounds in place of a shrill pitch. “I, uh, just gotta warm up, give me a second.”
“I get it, you’re nervous, sorry we doubted you man,” says the man who lost half a drink at the bar. He goes to the bar counter, retrieves his mug still half full of beer, and offers it to Other Leroy. “Here, mate, you can finish mine, no hard feelings.” Other Leroy and Other Suki look at the mug in disgust. “You already drank from that and you’re offering it me?” Other Leroy asks. “Dude, that’s disgusting,” adds Other Suki. Other Athena shrugs and reaches a hand out, “I’ll finish it.”
<<linkappend "The dozen guildmates surrounding them narrow their eyes in suspicion.">> <<audio IXmusic volume 0.1 fadeoverto 8 1>> “Yeah you’re definitely the imposters,” glowers the barkeep. “What?!” roars Other Leroy, “How could you possibly-”
“Look here,” says Leroy, “Suki and I, we would never turn down a free drink.”
“Yeah man, that was perfectly good beer,” Suki confirms.
“Speak for yourselves, sharing a glass with these men is disgusting. Do you have any idea where they’ve been?” Athena adds. Her doppelganger shrugs and awkwardly lowers her hand.
“Alright boys, let’s tie them up before they cause more trouble,” Suki proposes.
“W-wait, don’t you want to know why we’re here? Let’s just talk, there’s no need to tie us up is there?”
Athena grins wickedly at her double as she grabs a length of rope from a guildmate. “So you don’t like being tied up either? Well there’s one thing we share in common.”
“You can still talk when you’re bound, can’tcha?” Carol asks, slurring her words as a hungry look comes over her face.
Other Suki grabs a sparrig knife from her belt and stands ready to attack. Other Leroy pats himself down looking for a weapon and fails to find one. “Fuck.”
The guildmembers pounce on them. Athena and Carol don’t hide their pleasure in subduing and binding the Other Athena. Suki and Leroy, with the assistance of an additional guildmember, pin Other Suki to the ground. Other guildmates find spare rope for binding, while a handful surround Leroy.
“H-hey, come on now, I’m unarmed,” Other Leroy laughs nervously.
A guildmate cracks his knuckles with a mischievous grin. “So are we.”
One man punches him in the chest, knocking the wind out of Other Leroy. A second smacks him in the cheek, causing him to stumble back. Other Leroy growls and swings at the man, missing widely. The man he aimed for laughs and trips him. Other Leroy falls to his hands and knees but, despite a strong kick to the stomach, clumsily finds his way back to his feet. Other Leroy manages to land a blow on one of the men, who laughs at the impact. Other Leroy’s eyes widen in realization at the thickness of the others’ leather armor.
“You guys clearly outnumber him, stop toying with him!” growls Other Suki in a strained voice. She huffs as one man sits on her legs while Leroy pins her arms behind her back for Suki to bind.
“She’s right, we should put him out of his misery,” says the barkeep. One of the other men comes up behind Other Leroy and sharply thrusts his knee upward between his legs. He wheezes as he dizzily drops to his knees. The barkeep lands the final blow, knocking him out with a rap to the head with the cobbler.
“Holy shit, you guys are animals! He couldn’t even fight back, it would’ve been easier tying him up!” Other Suki scolds them.
Suki finishes the final cinch binding Other Suki’s arms behind her back while the guildmate sitting on her legs cinches the final length of rope binding her legs. “Wait a sec, are you saying where you’re from you tie the men up, too?” Suki asks incredulously.
“Of course we- why is that even a question!?”
One of the men who fought Other Leroy awkwardly scratches his head. “We, ugh, always knock the men out cold. It’s just what we do, I never even questioned it before.” Other Suki looks at him in horror. “That’s brutal!”
“Wait, did I hear that right? Where they’re from they also tie up...?" an incredulous guilmate asks the guildmate beside him.
"The fellas," his companion nods in assurance.
“...Lucky bastards.”
"Right?"
Suki scans the room. Other Athena is snugly bound and gagged, Carol hungrily leering over her. Other Leroy is knocked out cold, poor guy. She looks down at her double. “Alright, talk. What the hell’s going on?”
Other Suki smirks, trying to look confident all things considered. “Guess we got cocky this time around. We were here last year, you know? Our Eevee, she figured out some kinda magic that let’s us travel between worlds. It takes forever to get it going, though, so we only do it once a year on the solstice. Funny how your Guild Takeover thingy is always on the solstice, isn’t it?”
“...Wait, are you talking about Evelyn?” Leroy clarifies.
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“Oh, okay, continue.”
“So, Violin makes this portal for us. Looks like the limit is three per entry. So we thought, let’s take a mercenary.” She scoffs. “You can see how well that worked out.” Both Athena’s glare at her remark.
<<linkappend "Overcome with curiosity, the guildmaster emerges from his office and enters the guildquarters.">> <<audio IXmusic volume 1 fadeoverto 15 0>> <<audio IXdoor play>> “It doesn’t usually take you all until evening,” they hear him say. “What’s going on out here...” He trails off and turns pale as if he’s seen a ghost. Other Suki laughs.
“You know as fun as it is to mess with the guild every year, we mainly come to mess with this guy and steal his loot. There’s a safe behind the portrait in there, did you know that? Idiot has the same combination in this world as he does in ours.”
A soft golden glow like the light from sunset settles over the three dopplegangers. Other Suki shrugs despite her pinned arms. “Well, looks like our time’s up.” She flashes the guildmaster a wicked grin as her and her companions grow translucent and fade away. “I look forward to having a proper meeting with you next year.”
With that, the three vanish.
“Damn, did they take the rope with them?” a guildmate mumbles to another. “That shit’s expensive”.
Leroy and the Guildmaster speak in unison:
“I need a beer.”
<<linkappend "(Fin)">>
Yay! You...won? Not all victories feel like winning. [[But, if you wanna taste of what loosing is like, go back a passage and take the other route.->VI]] <</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>“Uuhmmmmmm…” the barkeep glances down at Leroy and Suki hiding under his counter, then quickly looks back up their dopplegangers. The Other Leroy nods. “I thought so.” He kicks the wall beside him, then smacks a hand at a loose brick. He catches it before it hits the ground and scoffs. “This place is as much of a dump as it is back home.” Before anyone can react, he chucks it at the makeshift shelf behind the bar holding three tiers of barrels stacked one on the other. The weak shelf shifts, the barrels with it, and the whole structure collapses behind the counter. The men sitting at the bar jump back while the barkeep, Suki, and Leroy shout and attempt to protect themselves. The barkeep manages to push away from the small avalanche while Suki and Leroy groan beneath the weight of the barrels.
“Hmmph, you’re a good shot when it matters,” Other Suki comments.
“Thanks, I think.”
“Wasn’t meant to be a compliment. Besides, you didn’t take them all out.
<<linkappend "Other Leroy glares at her and folds his arms.">> <<audio Xmusic play>> Other Suki pulls out a small white orb and tosses it to the remaining conscious men at the bar. It erupts in smoke, and they hack and cough for a few moments before collapsing in the carnage as well.
“Last one,” Other Suki comments. “We oughtta bring more next time.”
The Other Athena roams the room, dexterously using her halberd to incapacitate those few men who were conscious and recovering on the ground. “No no, not again!” one moans as she wacks him between the legs without changing her gait. Carol quivers behind the piano with her Athena. “We can still take them,” she whispers under her breath. Athena nods. The odds aren’t in their favor, but she’s too angry to care.
As Other Athena turns her back to the piano, Athena and Carol roar and charge from behind it. The Athena’s clash weapons as Carol sprints towards Other Suki and Other Leroy, her sparring knife drawn. Other Leroy karate chops at Carol’s arm as she draws near, clattering her knife to the floor. Carol gives a brief shriek in frustration. Other Suki and Other Leroy yank at either end of a large hanging tapestry on the wall, pulling it down. “Hey, you can’t do that!” Carol scolds. “Those are antiques or something.”
“Sorry to make a mess of your lounge, hun,” Other Suki taunts as she throws the tapestry over Carol like a net. Given her small size, Carol flails her arm under it to push it off and fails miserably. She barely manages to poke her head out right as Other Leroy scoops her up and rolls her up in the tapestry like a spider cocooning its prey.
“Hey, wai-wait you’re...making me d-dizzy...h-hey Athenaaa?”
Carol gets placed on the floor, too tightly wrapped to move. She tilts her head to see Other Athena pinning her Athena on her back over the head of the piano. //I shouldn’t be blushing...// Carol scolds herself, finding the scene oddly arousing.
Noise from the bar catches everyone’s attention. Leroy emerges, groaning and rubbing his head. He looks at his other self and furrows his brow. “You’re a good shot...”
“Hmmph, thanks.”
“But I won’t let you get away with-”
Leroy staggers away from the bar, only for his doppleganger to charge across the room and pin him against the far wall. The lone door beside them leading to Suki’s room is slightly ajar. As the two wrestle against the wall, Athena takes advantage of the distraction to kick her doppleganger off. As Other Athena staggers, Athena rolls off the piano and clashes halberds with her opponent. Meanwhile, Other Leroy manages to throw Leroy in to Suki’s room and promptly closes the door on him.
“Hey, merc, mind handing me that?” he says as he motions towards them.
Other Athena grunts and, with a fast twirl of her weapon, dislodges the halberd from her opponent’s hand and arcs it through the air. It lands beside Other Leroy, who lodges it in the doorway such that it tucks beneath the doorknob, holding the door closed. It rattles weakly as the still recovering Leroy tries the door from the other side. “Hm, that should hold you for a little while, big guy,” Other Leroy says through the door.
“You bitch!” Athena shouts at her opponent, mad (among other reasons) to have lost her weapon. She grabs Other Athena’s halberd shaft and wrestles with her over it.
“It-it’s not my fault I know tricks you don’t!” Other Athena growls back.
Other Leroy nods at Other Suki as a weak Suki staggers up behind her. Other Suki sighs, twirls around, grabs Suki by the collar, and hurls her across the room. She skids to Athena’s feet, tripping her. As the two groan and sit up back to back, Other Athena reacts fast as lightning and wraps rope around them both. “Hey! Fight us fair and square, cowards!” Athena roars as Other Leroy approaches with drawn rope. The two are quickly secured to one another, as their ankles as bound as well.
“Well, I mean, you and I had an honest fight at least...” Other Athena murmurs as she cinches her final knot. Athena slews a tirade of profanities at her doppleganger, who stands up with hands raised in defense. “Sheesh, bitter loser much?”
“Just gag her,” Other Leroy says, looking around the room for supplies, ignoring Carol’s eager look from where she lays. “We don’t have time,” Other Suki answers as she beckons them towards the guildmaster’s office. “Do you really…?” Carol murmurs half to herself. Other Leroy grumbles as he obediently follows – Other Athena trots behind, eager to escape the daggers shooting from the bound Athena.
“What’s the hurry?” Suki calls out, hoping to buy time as she tests the tight bonds holding her to Athena. The knots are all out of reach, her sparring knife is lodged in such a way that – yeah, screw it, they weren’t getting out anytime soon.
Other Suki pauses in her tracks, then slowly spins on her heels. Suki regrets asking as she sees the leer on her double’s face – a cross between angry and mischievous. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Princess.” Other Leroy throws his hands in the air as Other Suki walks past him and back to their captives. Athena feels Suki tense as the Other Suki reaches them and kneels. “I’ve had my fun with your crew, I suppose the least I owe you is some exposition.” Suki gasps as her other self grips her chin and stares at her hungrily. “You don’t know how easy you have it in your world, Princess. The guild is better off here, did you know that? And they treat you better, too. You lucky bastard.” Suki gasps as the Other Suki pinches her chin tighter. “But you know what we beat you at? Magic. Our magic’s better than yours. And once a year it lets us visit your world for a day so we can let off some steam.” Other Suki give her captive’s cheek a smart pat before walking away. Athena grunts and kicks her legs out, trying to trip their captor. Other Suki hops over them and laughs viciously. “Ah, you’re much spunkier than our Athena, I’ll have fun playing with you more next time.”
The Other Athena rolls her eyes and as her and the grumpy Other Leroy follow their leader to the guild’s office. Athena and Suki struggle against their bonds in the absence of their captors. “Athena, oww...just, oof! Reach for my knife, to your lef-”. They freeze as a bloodcurdling scream follows the commotion from the guildmaster’s office, unsettling high for a man of the guildmaster’s calibur.
Hysterical laughter echoes from the guild base’s foyer as the others exit the office. The other Leroy and other Athena exit carrying sacks of loot as the Other Suki clenches her sides. As her laughter subsides, she seems equally amused by the horrified looks her captives give her.
“Oh he’s not dead! Sheesh. We’re kidnappers, not murderers. Besides, what’s the point of coming back next year if he’s kicked the bucket?”
Other Leroy mutters words that are hard to make out from the distance, but that sound unlike any language Suki and Athena have heard before. <<linkappend "In response, a golden orb expands in front of Other Leroy,">> <<audio 10portal play>> <<audio Xmusic volume 1 fadeoverto 8 0>> large enough for him and the others to walk through. Voices on the other end address the party. “Yeah yeah, it went off without a hitch,” Other Leroy says, voice dripping with sarcasm as he enters through the portal first. Other Athena skips in after him. Other Suki lingers and gives a mocking salute to the bound Suki and Athena. “Later, losers.” She follows her party, and the portal shrinks and vanishes, taking it’s soft golden light with it.
Athena sighs and throws her head back as the Other Suki’s words sink in.
“We have to deal with this shit again next year.”
<<linkappend "(Fin)">>
Aww, you lost. <<audio Hwhop play>> [[Go back and get the jump on them, see what happens.->VI]]<</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><<cacheaudio "1rubber" "music/1rubber.mp3">>
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“Alright, kid, deep breaths,” Leroy calmly tells Athena. “Let’s cool down and figure out what's going on so we can think up a plan-”
“Screw that!” Athena kicks her halberd up from the handle, grabs it midair, and charges down the hall in the direction of their captors. The other three freeze in stunned silence. “Well that didn’t work,” Carol muttered in to Suki’s arms. She releases a soft and sad moan as Suki stands, releasing her from the hug. “We should go after her,” Suki notes.
“Oh there’s no need for that. Lookit, she’s right here,” Leroy’s voice echoes down the hall. A version of Leroy minus his straw and an Athena with a wary stance face them from the end of the hall. “Woa,” Leroy breaths, his straw dangling in his open mouth. “This is disorienting.”
His doppleganger laughs from the other end of the hall. “Touché.”
“Wow, our Athena just barreled right past you didn’t she...” Suki reasons.
“Haha! Yep, your mercenary’s much more hot headed than ours,” the Other Leroy says as he pats Other Athena’s head. She breaks her wary battle stance and stands straight to look at him coolly. “Can you fucking not?”
Carol snorts. “All Athena’s hate head-pats.”
“Alright, enough small talk. You gonna attack us or what? I’m game,” Leroy says with a sneer. “Especially when we outnumber you.”
Other Leroy laughs as if his counterpart had told a good joke. “Oh no, I know when I can handle a fight and when I need to play dirty.” He pulls a small white orb from his pocket. <<linkappend "“Now’s not a good time to fight.”">> <<audio 5smoke play>> He throws the orb to the ground, and a cloud of smoke obscures the already dark corridor. The sound of Leroy’s grunts as he fends off an unseen assailant overlap with Carol’s odd mix of reactions. Suki backs away from the cloud and ducks in to a cell, narrowly avoiding being enveloped in the mix. She gathers her bearings, grabs her knife, and-
“Evelyn, is that you?” In the dark, Suki can just make out Evelyn’s form, wrapped in what appears to be fabric decorated with golden runes. Despite the thinness of the fabric covering her mouth, it seems to completely mute her. “Here, lemme help you, then you can help us take down these-”
Evelyn huffs and bends her legs, drawing them away from from Suki. “Hey come on, it’s me, I’m gonna help you.” Evelyn rolls away, shaking her head. “Come on, Evelyn, it’s me, not that other me.” Suki leans forward and grabs hold of the fabric in an attempt to tear it. Electricity suddenly shoots through her body. The last things Suki sees are the runes beneath her hand lighting up before she collapses to the ground unconscious. Evelyn rolls her eyes. //I tried.//
Carol parries and steps out of the cloud just briefly enough to catch sight of the cell. “Oh, hey Evelyn, so that’s where you’ve been. Lemme finish taking care of scaredy-cat-Athena, then I’ll cut you free.” Evelyn sighs. <<linkappend "//At least Carol has the sense to use a knife instead of her bare hands.//">><<audio Bambiance fadeout>><<audio 9fireplace volume 0.1 fadeoverto 8 0.5>>
- - -
Athena, upon charging out of the Trophy Hall in to the guild hall, sees Other Suki head towards the guildmaster’s office and sprints after her. She gets to the guild office just after Other Suki.
“You!" A deep voice booms. "How did you get past-”
“Your peons? Hah! Old man, you ever consider that this Guild-Free-For-All-Whatever actually works in //our// favor?”
“Wh-what is she talking about?” Athena asks as she barges in to the guildmaster's office, her anger briefly giving way to her curiosity.
“Yeah, boss, why don’t you, I dunno, respect your underlings and tell them the truth?” taunts Other Suki. The guildmaster stutters, trying to sort his thoughts, before looking at Athena sorrowfully. “I should have been truthful to you all from the start. These visitors...are from another world much like our own. Though there are differences in things such as personality and...finances.”
“Thank you for your pity,” Other Suki says dryly as she goes behind the guildmaster’s desk. He shies away from her as she removes the hanging portrait behind his desk and swiftly opens the safe it was hiding. “I love that the you in our world uses the same combo.”
“Hey wait a minute!” Athena yells at the realization of what Other Suki is doing.
“Here, hold this for me,” Other Suki says as she throws the portrait to the oncoming Athena.
“Hey!” Athena and the guildmaster shout in unison.
“What’s expensive,” bemoans the guildmaster as Athena deflects and tosses it aside with an arm. She lowers her halberd towards Other Suki, who proudly carries a bag full of the safe’s contents over a shoulder. “Whew, gold’s heavy!”
“Drop it.”
<<linkappend "Other Suki shifts it and beams. “I don’t think I will.”">>
<<audio IXstab play>>
With a roar, Athena lunges and her weapon pierces the wall, narrowly missing Other Suki. “Damn, you could kill someone with that thing,” her opponent observes, her voice trembling a bit at the close call. Athena pulls the tip embedded in the wall out and readjusts to face Other Suki. “Yeah...yeah I could.” She takes a stance to face Other Suki again, who begins to glow a soft golden hue. She looks down at herself and gives a smug smile to Athena. “You’re not mad about our little one-on-one in your cell, are you?”
“You bitch!” Athena lunges again, though Other Suki does nothing to dodge it. The halberd pierces where her left shoulder should be. Other Suki continues to hold the sack over her shoulder, unflinching to the metal that should be stuck through her. “Neat magic trick, huh? When we start glowing like this, that’s us getting pulled back to our world. Too bad I can’t stay longer.” She leans in and purrs in a deeper voice, “I had a lot of fun earlier.” Athena bellows in frustration and swings her halberd through Other Suki several times before pausing to pant for breath. “Haha! Oh, you’re fun to tease in more ways than one. Don’t worry, hun, we can spend more time together next year.”
The glow on Other Suki fades, as does she and the bag. Within moments, Other Suki is gone, leaving an out of breath Athena facing the guildmaster. He composes himself after his close encounter with Other Suki and Athena’s blade, and plops in to his desk chair. “I was really hoping they'd get tired of this,” he sighs. “I guess we're doing this again next year.
<<linkappend "(Fin)">>
You made it to an ending! There are plenty more. [[You can even go back a passage and reach a couple other endings based on your choices.->V]] <</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>><</linkappend>>