During My Tumblr Radio Silence I Was Working On My Part For @pizza-tower-jekyll-and-hyde-au S MAP! Considering

During my Tumblr radio silence I was working on my part for @pizza-tower-jekyll-and-hyde-au ‘s MAP! Considering how I haven’t animated in ages, or animated a human in general, this was a fun challenge and I enjoyed every second of it! I regret not saving the time I spent on this, but it was like four and a half days lol. Anyways enjoy! And check out the MAP, as there’s still some unclaimed spots.

P.S. Sometimes Tumblr steals the video’s quality for no reason. I’d recommend refreshing or watching on YouTube if it looks blurry!

Pizza Tower FANDOM wiki now steps from vandalism infestation into blatant misinformation

articles about non-existent or fan made stuff are created and presented as real things

I'm, once again, reminding you that real admins of the wiki moved it to different place to keep it safe from vandals and make it overall better (more tools and features to achieve that + no ads!):

I'm also reminding you that new wiki is now part of Indie Wiki Buddy add-on + why migration happened in the first place + why FANDOM sucks overall

please, share the news around, let more fans to know of this shit, help new wiki to grow, and most importantly just use it instead of dumpster fire that is FANDOM

even Sugary Spire Wiki is currently migrating from FANDOM (don't post about it over there, or it'll make the whole process harder)

AITA for quitting my job?

I (30s M) used to kill people for a living. Almost. You see, a terrible plague has befallen our cities, twisting people into bloodthirsty beasts. To protect whatever people remain, hunters such as myself are employed to slaughter the beasts in the street. I, however, stopped doing this because despite their grotesque transformations, they’re still people.

I’ve resorted to attacking fellow hunters to protect these beasts. They’re both people, so am I wrong for doing so, or would I be wrong for not doing so?

“̶D̵i̶d̵ ̸y̸o̷u̷ ̵e̵v̴e̷r̶ ̶c̶o̵n̷s̷i̴d̸e̵r̶ ̵t̵h̶a̴t̴ ̶t̵h̸e̷ ̶w̴o̶r̸l̵d̵ ̶m̸a̴y̷ ̶h̵a̵v̶e̷ ̵k̷n̷o̶w̴n̷ ̸s̵c̴r̵y̸b̷e̵s̷ ̵b̸e̵f̷o̷r̴e̵ ̵y̴o̵u̸?̵”̶

— Dawn of the Apocalypse (Part 1/2: Regrettable Deals) —

How long had it been since he had seen the sun? This question floated though the little wizard’s mind as he laid down in his void.

This was a final test, but to them, it was more of a punishment. The thought of one day being included in Magnificus’ deck had been keeping him going, but it was quickly losing its charm.

“Please…just let this be over.” They would mutter to themselves. “I don’t care if I fail or not…I just want to be free.” But alas, these pleas were never heard. No one seemed to care for the poor, poor wizard.

Until one day, something responded.

Reality itself seemed to warp as a red mass of pixels slipped its way inside the wizard’s void. The trek seemed to have exhausted the thing, so it sat as still as a statue. But that didn’t stop the wizard from noticing it.

He was very tempted to rush over and start poking and prodding the thing, but a part of him wondered if this was another part of the test. They wanted freedom, yes, and passing their test might just be their ticket out of here. After what felt like an eternity to the little student, the mass finally uncurled itself, revealing a humanoid figure.

“̷…̸p̴a̴r̴.̵.̵d̵o̸n̷ ̸m̷y̶ ̵p̷o̴.̵.̴o̶r̴ ̶t̸a̶l̴k̷.̴.̷i̶n̶g̴ ̶s̵k̶i̸.̸l̴l̴s̷.̵ ̸I̷ ̵h̶a̷.̶.̶v̴e̷ ̸n̶o̶t̷ ̴s̷p̵o̶k̸.̷.̸e̷n̴ ̵t̷o̴ ̷a̴n̶y̴o̶.̷.̶n̶e̷ ̶i̶n̵ ̴a̴g̷e̴s̷.̷”̵ It said, finally acknowledging three wizard. “̷.̷.̶I̷ ̵r̷e̷a̸.̷.̶l̵l̶y̸ ̵a̸p̸p̶r̴e̵c̸i̶a̶t̷e̴ ̷y̷o̸u̷ ̸l̶e̸.̴.̸t̴t̴i̵n̷g̸ ̶m̶e̷ ̶r̵e̶s̵t̸ ̸h̶e̶r̵e̶.̷ ̷Y̸o̵u̶ ̴a̷r̵e̸ ̵t̷o̸o̶ ̶k̷i̵.̵.̸n̵d̷.̶”̵

“-No problem!” The wizard quickly responded. They were talking! Talking to someone else! Finally! ”Not a problem at all!”

“̴…̸.̴S̴a̸y̸.̷ ̵W̸h̶y̶ ̷d̴o̴.̸.̸n̸’̷t̸ ̶I̷ ̶r̴e̸p̷a̷y̶ ̶y̴o̴.̷.̶u̵r̶ ̴k̵i̴n̸d̸n̴e̶s̶s̵ ̷w̴i̷t̷h̴ ̷m̶y̴ ̶o̵w̴n̷?̷”̵

It snapped it’s fingers, and a static-covered card appeared in its hand. ̴“̷I̴ ̷c̸a̴n̷ ̵d̷o̸ ̸m̶a̷.̵.̴n̶y̸ ̷g̶r̴e̵a̴t̷ ̶t̸h̵i̷n̶g̶s̷,̴ ̵l̵i̵t̸t̸l̴e̸ ̶o̵n̸e̵.̴ ̴Y̷o̴u̸ ̷n̴a̴m̸e̵ ̷i̶t̴,̷ ̷a̷n̶d̸ ̵i̶t̶’̸s̸ ̴y̵o̸.̸.̸u̵r̴s̴.̷”̴

The wizard’s eyes widened. “A-Anything?” ”A̷n̵y̸t̴h̷i̴n̵g̴.̵”̵

He didn’t need to think about his choice at all. He already knew what he wanted. ”I wish to be free! To see the sun once more! To-“ “̷C̸o̴n̶s̶i̴d̵e̶r̸ ̸i̷t̴ ̵d̸o̸n̶e̸.̸”̶ The entity offered a hand to the student, who quickly shook it. Before they could let go, however, a shooting pain shot up the wizard’s arm. ”O̸n̷e̷ ̶l̴a̷s̶t̵ ̵t̸h̷i̵n̴g̴.̴ ̶T̷h̴i̷s̸ ̵m̸i̵g̸h̷t̷ ̶h̷u̷r̶t̶ ̷a̵ ̴b̸i̷t̸.̴”̶

The void was spinning faster and faster now, and the entity was just a red blur of light. Quickly pulling away, the unfortunate victim of the rogue data only made it a few steps away before collapsing. With another snap of their fingers, both the red creature and the student were gone.

One down. Three to go.

—————————————————————————————— When the Prospector first noticed the red light, he had been doing what he was always doing: mining for gold. He had stepped away for a few moments to catch his breath when an unnatural voice called out from behind him.

“M̸y̵ ̸m̷y̷.̷ ̶Y̷o̴u̵ ̷a̸r̶e̴ ̶a̵ ̸v̷e̶r̷y̶ ̷d̷e̶d̷i̶c̷a̸t̴e̷d̸ ̵w̷o̵r̷k̵e̶r̸.̸̷I̴ ̵s̸e̶e̸ ̶w̸h̵y̵ ̴L̸e̷s̸h̵y̷ ̶c̵h̵o̴s̴e̶ ̶y̸o̶u̶.̵”

“Huh? Who goes there?” The Prospector responded, startled. Normally his faithful hound would have alerted him to any approaching stranger. Why was she so quiet?

“Show yerself!”

A red figure with a snakelike tail slowly emerged from the trees with its hands in front of it.

“R̷e̶l̷a̵x̷,̷ ̶f̴o̸r̷ ̸I̴ ̶m̴e̶a̷n̴ ̶y̸o̶u̴ ̴n̵o̵ ̴h̶a̵r̶m̶.̴ ̴I̶ ̵s̵i̴m̶p̷l̸y̷ ̶w̶a̷n̸t̴ ̷t̵o̴ ̵c̶h̶a̵t̶.̶”

”A chat, ye say?” ”Bitter make it quick. I gots a job to do!” The red figure smiled, before gliding over to the rock the Prospector was working on.

“…S̴a̶y̸,̸ ̵f̴r̵i̷e̸n̷d̴.̷ ̶D̸o̸ ̶y̶o̷u̶ ̶t̵h̷i̸n̷k̷ ̶y̴o̷u̶ ̸f̶i̸n̶d̴ ̷a̴ ̷f̷a̷i̷r̸ ̴a̵m̸o̴u̷n̸t̵ ̷o̸f̸ ̵g̸o̸l̵d̵ ̸f̴o̵r̴ ̴t̸h̴e̸ ̷a̵m̶o̶u̷n̸t̵ ̸o̶f̷ ̵e̵f̸f̷o̷r̸t̴ ̷y̶o̸u̸ ̸g̴o̶ ̵t̴h̵r̴o̶u̷g̴h̵ ̴m̴i̶n̶i̴n̷g̵ ̴t̴h̸e̴s̶e̴ ̸r̴o̶c̸k̵s̶?̵”

“What are you geetin at, stranger?” The grizzled man asked, narrowing his eyes.

“I̵’̷m̵ ̵s̶a̶y̶i̴n̷g̴ ̸t̷h̷a̶t̷ ̴y̵o̸u̴r̶ ̸b̵o̷s̶s̷ ̴i̴s̸ ̷w̵o̴r̷k̵i̸n̷g̴ ̶y̵o̴u̸ ̴t̴o̴ ̶t̸h̴e̶ ̶b̸o̵n̷e̷ ̴w̶i̴t̴h̶ ̶a̸l̷m̶o̵s̵t̶ ̷n̸o̸t̵h̵i̴n̷g̵ ̵t̴o̵ ̴s̶a̶y̴ ̴f̶o̵r̷ ̵i̴t̶.̶ ̴N̶o̸w̸ ̴t̶h̷a̵t̶’̸s̷ ̵j̷u̸s̷t̴ ̵n̸o̷t̴ ̸r̶i̸g̶h̸t̸.̷” The figure paused for a moment, as if thinking. “̶Y̴o̷u̵ ̶s̷e̶e̵…̵I̶’̶m̴ ̷w̷o̶r̴k̷i̷n̵g̵ ̶o̵n̶ ̴a̸ ̸l̸i̴t̶t̷l̸e̶ ̷p̵r̸o̸j̷e̴c̵t̴ ̸o̴f̷ ̵m̴i̴n̷e̶.̴ ̸S̷o̸m̸e̶t̷h̵i̸n̴g̷ ̵t̶h̴a̶t̶ ̴w̸o̶u̸l̵d̴ ̵i̵m̸p̵r̴o̸v̶e̸ ̵t̸h̶e̸ ̴l̵i̸v̵e̶s̸ ̶o̸f̵ ̸e̴v̵e̴r̷y̵o̷n̴e̸ ̵i̶n̴v̵o̸l̴v̵e̴d̵.̵ ̸O̵n̵l̴y̸ ̸i̴s̷s̷u̵e̴ ̸i̷s̸,̸ ̷I̴ ̸n̷e̶e̷d̴ ̶v̵o̷l̵u̸n̴t̷e̵e̵r̵s̸.̴”

The prospector let out a loud, donkey-like laugh.

“That’s it? Ye came out all the way here to ask me te’ join ya?” He waved his hand dismissively before turning back towards the boulder. ”Forgit it.”

Y̷o̶u̸’̴d̶ ̸f̸i̵n̸d̷ ̷n̸e̸a̷r̷l̸y̵ ̵t̶r̶i̶p̶l̴e̵ ̷t̸h̴e̴ ̷g̸o̴l̶d̶ ̷y̷o̵u̶ ̵d̷o̴ ̴n̷o̵w̷.̷ ̷P̸l̵u̸s̴ ̶y̶o̷u̶’̵d̵ ̴a̸l̴w̵a̵y̵s̸ ̵h̶a̷v̶e̶ ̶f̶o̵o̴d̴ ̴f̵o̵r̶ ̶t̸h̵a̷t̸ ̷d̵o̴g̵ ̶o̵f̶ ̴y̶o̴u̸r̷s̸.̷

The Prospector swung his pickaxe down, before freezing right before it hit the rock. After a few moments of hesitation, he put the tool down before looking back over at the red figure.

“If you can keep your word, I suppose I can help ye.”

“I̸ ̴A̷L̵W̶A̵Y̶S̵ ̷k̸e̶e̷p̶ ̸m̴y̶ ̵w̴o̵r̷d̶.̶”

The red figure extended a clawed hand, and the Prospector promptly shook it. He only realized that something was wrong when a burst of pain shot up his arm. He didn’t even hit the ground before the world went dark, the last sounds he heard being the laughter of that red entity.

Two down, two to go. —————————————————————————————— It was yet another standard work day for the Melter. However, there was an almost palpable taste of dread in the air, like the very factory itself was waiting for something bad to happen.

Suddenly, something caught the bot’s synthetic eye. Instead of the usual metal, a card, completely covered in static, was slowly traveling down the conveyor belt.

"What a peculiar sight. Hm..."

They knew that they should have just left the card where it was. Who knows? Maybe P03 would finally be satisfied by it. But curiosity was getting the better of them, and before it could leave their room, the Melter snatched the odd card.

"H̸e̵h̶.̶ ̴H̴a̴d̵ ̸a̴ ̶f̶e̸e̸l̸i̴n̶g̸ ̶y̷o̶u̵ ̵w̶o̷u̸l̵d̵ ̷n̷o̷t̵i̸c̶e̸ ̸t̵h̸a̸t̵.̷"

"Huh-" "WHAT-"

Two different voices seemed to come out of the robot as they turned to face the sneaky individual who had somehow managed to slip their way inside the Melter's room.

The red figure was standing there, leaning against the conveyor belt like he owned the place.

"D̵o̵ ̵y̶o̸u̶ ̵l̷i̸k̷e̴ ̶t̷h̸e̴ ̴g̵i̷f̷t̴?̶ ̸I̵ ̸m̷a̷d̶e̸ ̶i̸t̶ ̸m̵y̷s̶e̷l̵f̶.̸"

"How did you get in here? Can't you see that we- I'm very busy?" The robot asked, annoyance overtaking their fear.

"D̸o̸n̵'̴t̴ ̵g̵e̵t̵ ̵y̵o̴u̶r̷ ̵w̶i̴r̴e̶s̷ ̴i̴n̶ ̸a̵ ̴b̶u̸n̴c̷h̷.̸ ̸Y̸o̴u̶r̶ ̶b̵o̷s̸s̸ ̷l̷e̶t̷ ̷m̵e̸ ̸i̴n̶.̸" "̷S̶p̷e̷a̷k̷i̴n̶g̴ ̸o̸f̵ ̴y̵o̸u̸r̵ ̸b̶o̸s̷s̵,̸ ̵h̵e̴ ̸d̴i̵d̸n̴'̶t̵ ̸s̶e̴e̵m̸ ̴t̶o̷ ̶c̴a̷r̵e̶ ̸a̷b̸o̴u̶t̴ ̵y̴o̸u̷ ̷a̶l̶l̴ ̵t̵h̴a̴t̵ ̸m̵u̶c̴h̶.̴ ̸H̵o̶w̶ ̵c̶o̵m̵e̷?̸"

"What are you talking about, red man? Of course P03 cares about us workers! Why else would we tirelessly toil just to improve his deck?"

"...R̷i̵g̶h̷t̷.̵ ̵A̷n̶d̵ ̵h̷o̴w̸ ̵i̷s̶ ̴t̸h̴a̷t̶ ̵p̵a̸y̸i̸n̸g̸ ̵o̴f̸f̶,̶ ̷h̷m̶?̵"

The Melter hesitated, the flame on their head flaring up for a moment. "I...am not going to answer that question. Now leave me alone! I must be getting back to my work."

The red figure nodded, before turning to leave. But right before he passed through the door, the entity said one last comment.

"Y̴o̸u̸ ̶k̸n̴o̷w̵,̵ ̶y̶o̵u̸r̵ ̵b̸o̵s̴s̸ ̴w̸o̶u̷l̸d̴ ̶b̴e̵ ̸r̷a̶t̴h̸e̶r̷ ̷e̷x̶c̴i̸t̷e̶d̷ ̸t̶o̶ ̶r̸e̴c̴e̷i̶v̸e̶ ̸a̸ ̸l̵a̵r̴g̵e̵ ̵q̶u̷a̸n̸t̸i̵t̶y̴ ̶o̴f̶ ̸t̵h̸o̷s̴e̵ ̷s̴p̸e̵c̷i̶a̸l̷ ̷c̸a̷r̵d̷s̸ ̸o̵f̶ ̶m̷i̴n̸e̵.̶ ̴S̶h̵a̶m̷e̵ ̷y̵o̷u̸ ̷d̸o̷n̵'̵t̷ ̴w̵a̶n̴t̸ ̶a̷n̷y̷.̶"

"Huh-" "W-Wait!"

Smirking, Ol_card turned back to face the burning machine.

"...What would it take for you to give me those cards?"

"L̷i̵k̸e̷ ̷m̸u̴s̶i̵c̸ ̸t̵o̴ ̸m̸y̸ ̸e̷a̴r̴s̵.̵" The data mumbled. "̷A̷l̷l̴ ̸I̴ ̸w̶a̷n̴t̵ ̶i̷s̶ ̵y̸o̴u̴r̷ ̸h̵e̵l̵p̷ ̷f̶o̸r̶ ̵s̸o̷m̵e̵t̸h̵i̶n̴g̶.̷ ̸A̵ ̶t̸e̴e̴n̶s̵y̶ ̵t̶i̷n̶y̴ ̴l̷i̶t̵t̷l̸e̷ ̴p̶r̶o̷j̵e̵c̶t̸ ̸o̵f̵ ̶m̵i̸n̷e̷.̵ ̸Y̶o̴u̸'̷d̶ ̴h̶a̶r̵d̸l̸y̷ ̸h̷a̷v̸e̸ ̷t̶o̸ ̴d̵o̸ ̶a̶n̵y̴t̵h̴i̷n̷g̵,̴ ̷b̵e̷s̸i̷d̸e̶s̴ ̴s̶i̷t̴t̷i̸n̷g̶ ̵t̶h̵e̷r̷e̶ ̴a̶n̴d̷ ̷f̷a̴c̸i̶n̸g̷ ̵o̴f̶f̸ ̶a̵g̵a̶i̵n̶s̶t̶ ̵c̷h̵a̴l̷l̸e̷n̴g̵e̴r̶s̵.̷"

He stuck his hand out towards the Melter. "S̸o̴.̶ ̴D̶o̵ ̶w̴e̴ ̸h̸a̶v̴e̶ ̴a̴ ̴d̶e̵a̶l̷?̴"

The robot considered their options...before eventually shaking the entity's hand.

"NONONO-"

Before it could even react, they abruptly fell to the ground.

Their system was practically screaming at them about corrupted files. But before anything could be done, the unfortunate machine shut down, leaving Ol_card to pick up his static card before walking out of the room with the Melter disappearing shortly afterwards.

Three down, one to go. —————————————————————————————— In the human world, the smell of ash and burnt machinery lingered around what remained of GameFuna's location in ███████. One of the few things that survived the blaze that had been extinguished mere hours before was a computer and the red floppy disk that had been inserted into it.

On the screen, a new female challenger appeared. She stumbled around aimlessly as if it were her first time walking, before eventually finding herself on one of the many bridges that connected all of Inscryption's islands together.

She left the centre island and decided to travel to the right, completely oblivious to the red mass of pixels that was silently following her.

Entering what was once the domain of beasts, the new challenger discovered that it was now full of terrifying monsters which promptly chased her out. But when she went to cross the bridge once more, the red mass appeared out of nowhere before sprinting into her, causing the screen to go black.

"L̴̗̄Ë̷̥́A̸̭̅V̴̢̍I̸̤̽Ň̵̪G̶̓ͅ ̴̆ͅS̶̪̃Ö̷́͜ ̶͈͂S̷̼̈Ȯ̵͕O̵͍̅N̴̪̂?̸̳͗" The screen displayed. "B̷͎͝U̷̘͋T̴̺͛ ̸͈̌M̶̳̏Y̸̨̕ ̴̠́L̶̫̿Ó̶̢V̴̱̽Ê̴̱L̸̳̆Y̷̰̾ ̴̙̃N̷̬͘É̴͇W̶̹͠ ̶͙́G̷͇̓Ả̸͓M̷̝̈́E̴̥̅ ̸̞̈́I̷̭͊Ś̵̠ ̴̟͆S̵̜̏T̷̫̓I̸̡͑L̸̻̑L̶̲͂ ̶̺͝M̶̥̅I̴͔͑S̸̞̀Ṡ̶̤I̸̘͆N̴̟͑G̴̺̍ ̵͎̉À̸͚ ̸̼̎S̶̱̿Č̵̦R̴̹͊Ỹ̸̹B̶͕͛Ě̷̝.̴̜͒ ̸̱̃Y̴͔̋O̵̺͝Ù̷̱ ̵̥̇Ŵ̴̼I̴͓̚L̸̪̈́L̷̫͗ ̵̘͐D̸͈̾Ó̸̦ ̴̹͊Q̵͉̓U̵͓̎Ǐ̷̦T̵̥͘E̶͕͝ ̷̳̍Ṋ̷̅I̴̠̅C̸̡̚E̶̤̒L̶̬͐Ẏ̷͔.̷̹̉"

"B̷̠̈́U̷̦͠T̴̊͜ ̴̺̃Ḟ̷̤I̷̦̕R̸̛̬S̴̤͝T̵̡̔.̴̟̉ ̴̢́L̸͇̀E̶͖͒T̸͓͠S̶͂͜ ̴̩͑P̵̫̂L̶͈̽A̷̳͂Y̸̫͆.̶̱͆"

An act 2 battle initiated itself, with the red mass at one end of the table and the frightened new challenger at the other. The challenger used her generic deck to the best of her abilities, and was actually winning.

Despite appearing to not be very familiar with this world, the challenger certainly knew how to play Inscryption. She was just two points of damage away from beating this...this monster. It was all going so well.

...until Ol_card played his signature static card, that is. Once it was struck it rapidly duplicated itself, before the scale took a nosedive in the unfortunate soul's direction.

"W̸̙̑Ḧ̵̞́A̴̭̒T̶̖̉ ̷͚͠Ā̶͎ ̴̫̐S̷͚͘H̴̯͊A̸̠̎M̴̪̋Ë̸̡.̵̡͑ ̶̗̓Ÿ̴̱́O̸͚̎U̸͔͗ ̷̟̒K̶̻̄Ň̶̗O̷͓̚W̷̰͂ ̸̟͑Ẅ̸̟́H̸͖͑A̵̧͊T̸̤̎ ̸̙͝Ḩ̶͠A̶͇͑Ṕ̶̘P̸͕͊Ē̶̯N̸̺͗S̴̬̈́ ̵̹͐N̵͙̎Ö̵͚́Ẁ̵̳,̶̨̔ ̶͕̄K̴͍̊.̴̰̃"

The challenger struggled, but could only move her arms. She could only watch in horror as the entity climbed over the table, before lunging at her.

The screen cut to red, and the computer let out a high-pitched whine before shutting off, ejecting the floppy disk as well.

Four down. None to go. Now the game can truly begin.

I'm surprised on how well this turned out! I'm not usually the one for 'busy' genes on dragons, but I have to admit: I like this :)

Now let's compare her to my actual Dragonsona!

If Kiera here wasn't a Gen 1, I would have gone for a water-eyed dragon since my eyes are blue irl. Would I replace her with the dragon I made for this little Tumblr game? Probably not. Was it still fun to do? You bet!

Let’s Build Your Flight Rising Sona!

Breed: Determined by the breed most prominent in your den + hibden!

Gender: Determined by your gender! ENBY, gender fluid, nonconforming folks choose what feels best!

Age: Choose hatchling if you prefer sunrises, choose Dragon if you prefer sunsets

Primary Color: Your favorite FR color

Secondary Color: The color most often found in your room

Tertiary: Your childhood favorite color

Element: Your flight!!

Eye Type: If your age is an even number, choose from: Bright, Dark Sclera, Glowing, Innocent, Pastel, Rare, Uncommon. If your age is an odd number, choose from: Common, Faceted, Goat, Multi-Gaze, Primal, swirl, Unusual

You get to gene yourself however you want, mix and match to find the best look for yourself! (Also bonus points if you can find your dragon self on the AH)

What? A story that isn’t Apocalyption-related for once? Yep. It’s possible :)

Lurking Within

As Will walked along, he contemplated the choices that led to this current reality: The one where he wasn’t feeling the best, and was now wandering through the city before the most dangerous time of day.

”Stupid green monster.” He muttered to no one in particular. ”I still don’t know what you are, but if I find you again, I swear, I’ll-”

Will’s little complaining session was cut short by a sudden migraine. He had been having them a lot recently, and that paired with his recent encounter with a large, potentially-smiling creature, led him to going for a walk to calm his nerves.

The sun was beginning to set, bathing the wrecked buildings in a lovely pink glow. Will tried to enjoy it, but it felt like his heart had jumped into his head. Leaning against a nearby wall, the living shadow waited for the pain to pass.

But it didn’t.

If anything, it only got worse. As he went to wipe the sweat off of his forehead, Will noticed how badly his hands were shaking.

“I pray you don’t go looking for me, Italik. I got a feeling that I miAH—”

A sudden jolt of pain erupted from Will’s right wrist. As he quickly inspected it, the pain spread to the rest of his arm.

He scrambled to take his jacket off, tossing it aside just in time to see a dark grey spike tearing through his wrist, followed by two more.

As he stared in horror at his arm, a low growl could be heard behind him. Slowly turning around, Will was greeted by a quadruped Smiling with eyes on stalks, and gangly limbs.

“….shit.”

He started slowly backing away, before breaking into a full-blown sprint. His current condition was nearly forgotten as he tore down the abandoned streets as all the Smilings in the area began to stir and awaken.

Unfortunately, Will’s escape was cut short when he expected to see another street, but was greeted by an alleyway. He turned around to see that the tall smiling had pursued him all the way here.

“Heyyy there, buddy.” He said, slowly raising his arms in front of him. “Eating me would be a really bad idea. Trust me.” The smiling was now slowly approaching Will with a snarl. He desperately looked around for a way out, but just couldn’t focus with the pounding in his head. Will let out another pained cry as the smiling pounced. The last thing it expected were some newly-formed spikes to stab into the soft flesh of its paw. Quickly pulling away, Will watched with abject horror as the smiling thrashed and writhed, letting out guttural cries all the while. It eventually grew quiet and still, with its terror-stricken eyes now noticeably blackened, alongside its veins. “Oh….oh god…” “Did. Did I-“ Will took a few cautious steps towards the Smiling despite the pain radiating through him, before poking it. No response. Looking over at his shoulder he could already see new spikes starting to appear on his shoulder to replace the ones the smiling took out. “H-Hey. Maybe this isn’t so bad.” He mumbled to himself. “If this is all that’s gonna happen to me, then I should be able to-“ A loud ripping sound interrupted him. It was the sound of an exceptionally large spike emerging from his back. Then another. And another. And another- Falling to his knees, Will could feel his legs snapping and being rearranged, just like the rest of his body. He wished so desperately to pass out from the pain, but it didn’t happen. Not yet, at least. His fingers elongated and he could feel the muscles on his face tightening to make the telltale sign of infection…the unnaturally wide grin. His screams and cries eventually fell silent as the newly-changed beast finally collapsed from the pain. What felt like ages later did Will finally wake up. He tried and failed to stand, before remembering his condition.

“Hhrrphh….hgurrr…” He tried to speak, but garbled growls were the only sounds that escaped his twisted mouth. After trying a few more times, he gingerly leaned against the wall of the alleyway, covering his face with his clawed hands. (God…could this get any worse?) “Will? Where are you?” (…….) The smiling listened as the sound of his best friend calling his name and the scraping of a spear against the ground got louder and louder, until eventually he could see Italik’s shadow by the alleyway’s entrance. “Will? Please god be ok…” Will silently prayed that Italik would just pass by, and right as he thought that he would, a flashlight beam illuminated his hiding place. “….Will?” The infected looked over at Italik, shaking. “Itt….uh-“ “Oh. Oh god…” Italik took a few slow steps towards Will, visibly concerned. “W-Will? Is that really you?” In response, Will attempted to climb one of the walls to little success. “Hey, hey. Deep breaths, buddy. Deep breaths.” Italik said in a quiet tone. A terrified Will made eye contact, dark tears streaming down his face. “We…we can fix this. Maybe Drakor finally-“ The half-skeleton paused, trying to hide his panic. Italik slowly creeped towards what remained of his friend. “You’re still in there, buddy. And you’re going to be ok.” As Italik’s hand drew close to Will’s, the smiling’s spikes began to quiver. Italik unfortunately didn’t notice the warning, and was promptly jabbed. Letting out a shout, he darted backwards out of impulse. It only took a moment for the severity of the situation to dawn on Will. When his spikes made contact with that other smiling, they….didn’t get up again. And now his best friend had received the same treatment, and it was all his fault. It was his fault he got infected, his fault for reassuring his friends that he wasn’t, and now his fault that his friend might not live another day. With his thoughts spinning as much as his head was, he bolted past Italik and down the street, his companion’s frantic shouting gradually fading into the night. As the Smiling finally tired, Will curled up next to a dumpster, staring up at the night sky through his tears. The only audible sound being the soft weeping coming from the beast.

“It…ullk…” “mmm…surrr….ee….”