#oks-mc

The ground quaked beneath them, sending the rest of the group reeling, scattered to the four corners of an abandoned street whose asphalt split and ruptured as if the very earth sought to swallow them up. Dangerous footing for the others, where a wrong step could plunge them to their doom.

A mere annoyance to Merlin, who was not bound by such frivolities as gravity. Even as MC stayed warily by their side, crouched down to retain her precarious balance upon the bucking pavement.

Something was cresting. Something that ought never to exist in this world. Still, the seals held, what little of them remained, fraying away into nothing for these past thirty years. The Otherworld should arise, its Veil tumbling down, before Hell would be allowed to sink its putrid fangs into the Earth.

Until the other side bared its own maw from the Heavens.

A rusted vehicle — classic Fiat 500 from the 1970s, someone else's memory informed them  — hovered slightly in the air, faintly surrounded by a nimbus of green, until ▇▇▇▇▇ strode up and cleaved it in half with a fiery gold-hilted sword, stooping to offer a hand up to the cowering Gwen.

"This city is lost. We should retreat to the banks of the lungotevere and regroup with—  oh, for the balmy love of the forsaken gods!" Merlin exclaimed as Percy and ▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇ raced past them, back into the shadows of a tumbling basilica, while stone crumbled to ash all around.

"Still ngam... there's still a chance if we can kill the original spellcaster, is it?" ▇▇▇ said, a flash of iridescence and white bone in her hands taking the form of a sword that belonged to someone else, even as ▇▇▇▇ tossed a silent thumbs-up behind him.

This is what came from consorting with 'heroes', as Merlin should well know by now. Although they distinctly remembered that she was supposed to have more sense than him back then.

Merlin turned, a pivot that had nothing to do with physical form nor the corroded laws of the mortal realm. It shook through the fabric of reality itself.

Something was coming. Not the Princeps Inferorum who slavered to take the Earth for themself, but something dangerous enough. After all... only two Riders of the Apocalypse yet walked the world.

For a nonexistent heartbeat, exhaustion pressed its heavy hand upon them, as ever-present as the eternal watchful eye of the negligent Almighty. They had cast off so much already. A feeling that manifested not one whit in their pristine form mirrored in the gazes of their companions.

They reached, nothing but intention manifest, and lifted. Gwen yelped in dismay, perhaps seeing more here than their other companions, as  ▇▇▇▇▇ merely squinted over at them — or where they would appear to be — in appraising calculation, while the two ▇▇▇ were forcefully reeled back from the jaws that erupted like an unending tunnel at the edge of the boulevard.

And at their side, MC merely smiled, hair whipping within the storm of their passing. Simply smiled, while the sight of a pale woman with wild silvery hair flaring around a perfect visage only touched by the faintest shadows of tiredness reflected in her eyes, as she shoved, her own will made manifest.

"Get to safety," MC's silent lips mouthed the words.

Shoved Merlin, and thus everyone else, a few stuttering steps away, as the walls of the time bubble rose to the uncaring heavens.

And the second-place winner for June is "Romanced!Merlin's POV as Serious/Sweet u_hero High Magic MC traps themself and a powerful enemy in a time bubble in order to buy the others time to escape. (Merlin is exhausted and unable to intervene) " at 1905 words.

AU not only because of taking place so far forward in time, but also because Merlin would probably be dead before they couldn't pop a time bubble in this sort of situation.

Merlin: You underestimate my power! (✿｀д´)9

They met on the piste that day, both clad in their fencing whites, Adrian in a common silvery-gray lamé, while MC faced him down in a custom golden vest, much to the approval of Zain and Gil, with their own nonstandard colored equipment.

Salute and bow to each other. Bow to the waiting Hjördis as referee. Bow to the scattering of their fellow fencing mates, most who've stopped their own training to gather round and watch.

Gil was even giving a thumbs-up right now as he leaned against the nearby vending machine, a suspiciously bright blue neon drink in hand. Adrian swore that some of those so-called energy drinks weren't actually potable.

Behind his own well-fitted fencing mask, the world was quieter. Darker. More focused. For a brief moment, he was safe within the eye of a storm.

Despite them both being guys, he and MC hadn't shared the men's locker room. Not with the other man rushing in late from his job as a security guard once again. Not with Adrian having no reason to wait, today's planned bout partner or not.

Too strange that. It's not as if they were actually friends.

One'd think that pulling the night shift would leave them free for club activities well enough in the late afternoon, but everyone was pulling overtime, double duty, triple duty nowadays. Everyone else except him... being an independent contractor certainly had its benefits, even if taxes weren't one of them.

At least neither of them was in health care. That'd truly be a horror show.

Adrian lightly stretched, nimbly rising on his toes as MC continued to fumble with buckling his fencing mask around the low, twisted bun of his hair. He stomped down the urge to help even as Aegon catcalled, "Aaany day now!" from across the room, standing stolidly within the taped practice lines on the floor as Brenda flailed wildly at his side with her own foil.

Being beginners, MC and Brenda normally faced each other during these matches, but sometimes they seemed to mirror each other's mistakes as well. And so Hjördisoften liked to set them up against a more veteran opponent. Hence, here was Adrian once again.

Yes, he was well used to facing down MC and Brenda both. He always won, of course he did, but he could drag out the matches long enough. Lightly enough. Allow them their fair share of touches and points for practice. Dodging lightly in quartata whenever Brenda attempted a nut shot.

Again.

Even though that area was off-target in foil!

Because the only other choice there, if Hjördis was to remain acting as referee, was to let Aegon smash and barrel his way over the poor newbies, beating them mercilessly without a single iota of a thought in his head about holding back.

That reminded him too much of someone else.

And so here he was again, waiting patiently as Hjördis reached up to help fasten the velcro buckles around the far taller man. Taller than Adrian and far broader too. MC certainly looked the part of a proper guard.

"Finally!" Aegon snorted, as if he'd been the one waiting this entire time, as they took their respective spots upon the metal piste, electrical lines trailing behind them to the glowing scoreboard.

"En garde!" Hjördis once more stoutly called out. "Prêts? Allez!"

And the winning drabble for June is "The first time Adrian lost to MC in fencing (Bold/Acquaintances MC preferred, but really it’s whatever. Masochistic awakening optional.)" at 2321 words.

So... not exactly a normal fencing match here, but I'm not sure you'd get the requisite "masochistic awakening" if MC was fencing properly. You're not exactly wrestling or whacking your opponent with normal fencing!

MC going all HEMA here for... reasons.

Having a Perfectly Normal Time at the Museum Heist

The Alpha Build on Patreon recently updated with the rough version of the final branch of Chapter2-6-2 (with four branches in total, around 50k each).

That means next comes the polished Beta Update for the entire Chapter 2-6 combo (both MC’s Mini-adventure + the main Museum Heist, around 190k - 200k in total). Starting first with the various Closed Betas on Patreon and then the Public Beta update on my site.

The hellhound that chased them down the street was far too large to ever fit in this alleyway, squeezed between a warehouse to the left and the edge of a strip mall to the right, most stores already long shuttered from the tanking economy of the never-ending pandemic.

Not that the eldritch monster would ever admit to it, as the thing shoved itself after them — limbs elongating, the hind end still wedged in the wider street bulging out as if the creature had rearranged all its innards to the back, while two bonily spasming shoulders dozens of feet above the ground knocked off a line of bricks to either side as it charged after them.

Dust and debris rained down as several in their crew turned around to face the threat while the report of gunfire resounded behind them. Meanwhile, MC, of course, quite sensibly kept running, trying to put more and more distance between him and the newest abomination trying to eat them all whole.

It's not as if he could do any good with his less-than-optimal physique and complete lack of any magical talent whatsoever.

The most that could be expected would be for him to stub one of its many twitching toes with his stupid gunsword-that-was-more-likely-to-blow-up-in-his-face-than-anything-else-what-had-he-even-been-thinking-when-he-picked-it-out?!

Yes. So he quite sensibly rushed to take shelter in back of the bullet blasting Cassandra while keeping an eye out for Merlin.

Where had that mage gone?

She was always the best one to stand behind when it came to emergencies like this!

Back at the entrance of the alleyway, Adrian and Broderick had skidded to a halt, waving their respective swords — the size of toothpicks in comparison to what they now tried to fight — in the debatable 'face' of the abomination.

One of them cursing far more colorfully than the other.

A few steps to the rear, with not a single jot of sense nor survival instinct in her daft head, was Gwen, jumping up and down as she boxed at the air, the only one in the entire group maybe even less fit for fighting a hellhound than him.

Percy was... Percy was entirely missing, hopefully attacking the thing's other end back out on the street. That or he'd already been swallowed down that tunnel-like gullet.

Alas, the local wildlife would never be the same.

And the tie-breaker winner for second-place in May is "Cowardly Low Body MC throws themselves in harm's way to protect Lorelei" at 2436 words. Better luck next time, Cassandra & Fae MC!

The colors of deep space unfurled all around them. Green with the far-distant slow curl of ionized gas clouds. Blue were the nebulae filled with massive stars spinning idly at their feet. Soft gold and red, the halo reflected of older galaxies drifting in the background.

The surcoat of the man standing before them matched those latter shades, silvery stars caught within the crystalline depths of armor that idly shifted on a spectral breeze.

The recently regained memory of Camelot pricked at the back of their mind, newly excavated and smarting like a freshly disturbed scrape.

MC stared down at their hands. The ones that'd borne the bier carrying the Pair Bywyd. They still had them both, unlike Bedivere, who—

Something rumbled silently in the distance, more pressure than sound.

Something darker than the black void between the stars was once more creeping in from the edges of the heavens. Their current companion seemed unsurprised, even as he tilted a red-gold head to glance back from where they'd come.

"We dare not linger any longer," Arthur Pendragon spoke above their protests of how they'd only been here for a few short moments.

A few scant heartbeats. Only a few small words exchanged between the two of them.

"Tis always most dangerous at the Edge, where other things besides Dreamers linger. Retreat to the safety of your own normal slumber. Or awaken instead, if such should suit you, and think upon the implications of what you just witnessed."

And after saying such, the once High King reached forward, both physically and otherwise, as a jolt of awareness pressed against the back of MC's mind, a light shove to more easily send them on their way. "I shall lead them astray to—"

That was Arthur's mistake. That was MC's chance. And so, as the newly budding dreamwalker also reached forward with phantasmal fingers, with mind intent, with will as sharp as a white-burning blade, as they wrapped both hands around the king's gauntleted wrist.

The stars rushed past in a blur of rainbow-reflected hues as something roared in the distance like the collapse of a high-rise wreathed in flames.

And the winning drabble for April is "Arthur and Dreamwalker MC visit Broderick's dreams together" at 2211 words.

Finally, a normal dream. Somewhat. With a bit of a more serious business MC, who has reasons why they're lingering in the dreamworld with Arthur. Thankfully, for Broderick's sake, his socks are safe this time.

@dexrry The fear probably spurs them on

They flitted through the air, gravity having long lost all its power over them, bathing in the moonbeams and the twinkling of the stars above that didn't shine half so alluringly as they.

They hunted. Something specific. Someone specific. One who ought to by right belong entirely to them by now, who had the temerity to leave, to wander off and do things not half so important as remaining by their side.

A promise broken, unspoken through the years, of eternal companionship couldn't be so easily cast aside. They wouldn't be so easily cast aside!

Adrian had left his mark on them, but just as indelibly they had left their mark on him. One didn't leave the grasp of a ▇▇ as simply as that, no matter the taint of ▇▇▇▇ blood that might flow through their veins. Not after all these years.

And so they tracked through the night, leaving behind the dimmer flickering souls of the other Harbingers, on a solo quest of their own. A wandering star alighting from the heavens in search of a familiar scent. A familiar sight. The faintest hint of their own essence that lingered upon the other, traceable even through all these many miles.

A singular thought...

Adrian... Adrian... Adrian... Adrian... Adrian... Adrian... Adrian...  ADRIAN... ADRIAN... ADRIAN... ADRIAN... ADRIAN... ADRIAN... ADRIAN... aDrIAN... ADRiaN... aDRIAn... aDrIaN!

And the second-place drabble for April is "Feral Yandere! Changeling! Crush! MC (fully consumed by their fae instincts) hunts down Yandere!Adrian after he leaves the group. When they finally catch up with him, there's a tense and emotional scuffle that ends with one of them being pinned by the other" at 1774 words.

And thus ends Adrian's escape attempt both in-(AU)universe and in reality. You know the saying goes to not stick your dick in crazy, but maybe it would help...?

. . .

Okay, maybe not.

How is mc with the fear of heights doing lmao