The Dark Trio Meets (Part 2)
Anibase watched outside of the cage, still completely invisible, sitting on the floor nearby. She loved this, it was just like watching cartoons! She held Nini, who was also invisible under her touch, cleaning off the ink and trying her best to stitch her back together.
The hyenas shake off Unreal’s influence but all turn to look at her. Two of them rush at her aggressively. They aren't made of actual ink like Niy and Gary are. Ouros had learned her lesson.
A few break off to sniff around the room and circle the area Anibase is in while the rest go to Ouros to bite the ink trapping her.
“F̙͕̟̃̇̇u̢͇͈̽̆̉c̬̜̟͛͗̃k̢̜̺̊̄͛!̳͇͗͗̚ͅ ̡̬̘̆͛͘”Unreal cries as she made a shield of ink in front of her, stealing some the ink from Anibase’s empty cage.
“What the fuck are these mongrels made of?!”
Unreal hears the hyenas chomping on her and can feel the unpleasant sensation. She growls and has the ink extend out, covering their mouths with sticky ink.
Anibase finishes with Nini and hovers her above the pendant. “WW91J2xsIGJlIHNhZmUgaW4gaGVyZS4uLg== ((You’ll be safe in here…))” And with that, Nini vanishes inside. Anibase then looks up and see the hyenas and gasps, the softly squeals in delight.
“UFVQUElFUyEhIQ== ((PUPPIES!!!))” And her eyes filled with childish glee as she phased back into the material plane.
The hyenas snarl at the sticky ink and devolve into a dark liquid that looks disturbingly like blood before reforming healthy and whole. They attack the ink holding Ouros with renewed vigor. The ones attacking Unreal circled her while laughing unable to get past the shield.
Ouros was taking deep breaths in the ink trapping her. She glared over at Anibase, “My hyenas are not puppies.”
The hyenas near Anibase growled in agreement and backed away from her wearily.
Panic seized Unreals’s heart but she tried not to show it as the laughter of the hyenas increased. She made the ink shield surround her completely like a dome and huddled down trying to think. She heard something buzz in her jeans and took out Huffle’s phone from her pocket. Ah annoying pop up for the game she played. Unreal studied the device before her hand glitched in front of her again. Hmm… she might be able to use this.
Anibase frowns as the hyenas pad away. She then looks at Ouros again and observes her more closely. “SGF2aW5nIG90aGVycyBkbyB5b3VyIGZpZ2h0aW5nLCBodWguLi4/ ((Having others do your fighting, huh…?))” Anibase asked. She looks at the ink-shield-bubble. “U28gaG93IHdvdWxkIHlvdSBmaXggdGhpcyB0aGVuIEFtYmVyLi4uPw== ((So how would you fix this then Amber…?))”
Ouros snorts, “My ink creations are familiars and should be considered mere extensions of myself.”
With one last snarl the hyenas tore through the ink holding Ouros and she stepped out with a shake. The hyenas padded to Ouros and brushed up against her.
Ouros looked over at the ink shield and pointed up at the ceiling where there were a few sprinklers. “How good are you at starting fires?” Ouros asked.
Unreal stares at the phone then quickly starts typing, knowing exactly where to go. She touched the screen and her frantic glitchy pixels seemed to be sucked into the screen, as if drawn into it.
Then she heard Ouros’s plan and cursed slightly. But an idea struck her. She held the phone close to her chest and waited to see what their next moves would be.
Anibase grins. “T29oLCBJIGhhdmVu4oCZdCBzZXQgVGVGQSBvbiBmaXJlIHlldCwgdGhhdOKAmXMgYSBnb29kIGlkZWHigKYh ((Ooh, I haven’t set TeFA on fire yet, that’s a good idea…!))” Anibase stores the idea for later and rubs her hands quickly together. She then spreads them apart and fire dances between her hands. She then quickly brings her hands to the ground, letting the sparks light up the room around them. She raises her arm over one of the flames and her arm phases out. She laughs as if being tickled. “VGhhdCBnb29kIGVub3VnaCBmb3IgeWEgQSBtIEIgZSBS4oCmPw== ((That good enough for ya A m B e R…?))”
Ouros nodded while ignoring the flames creeping toward her, “This is good enough.” As she said it the sprinklers above Ouros burst into life and began spitting out water.
The hyenas growled and melted back into Ouros’s skin as she stood with her arms crossed waiting for the ink bubble to melt away.
The instant the water touched the ink it almost seemed to screech and sizzle slightly. Sparks like wet electronics started to erupt from the bubble as it started to dissolve. Unreal winced in pain at the sounds and felt the ink of her skin start to spark slightly too. She had to hurry to escape this!
She opens the messenger app Huffle uses to talk to her friends and shoves her hand into the screen. Immediately she’s sucked into the screen leaving it covered in ink and it hits the floor with a dull thud.
A ping goes off on both TeFA’s and Juri’s phones.
Anibase hears Juri’s phone goes off and bursts into immediate laughter. “T2ggbXkgZ29vZG5lc3MgY2FuIHlvdSBwbGF5IHRoYXQgYWdhaW4gcCBMIGUgQSBzIEU/IQ== ((Oh my goodness can you play that again p L e A s E?!))” Anibase continues to laugh, unable to control her childish nature.
Ouros’s eye twitched as the ringtone faded out. “Juri,” Ouros seethed. She reached back to pull out her phone and turn the annoying thing off.
As soon as Ouros unlocked the screen Unreal came bursting out as colorful pixels, sending a hand right to Ouros’s face. The full weight of her body pushed Ouros to the ground as Unreal settled back into her body. Acting fast she shot another wave of ink at Anibase but already the water from the sprinklers was burning her skin. It started sparking and smoking and Unreal held back a scream of pain.
Anibase, caught slightly off guard, quickly dodged, but looked again seeing that her arm got slightly hit. She growled and quickly wiped it off. She looked back, her right eye starting to faintly glow. An idea suddenly struck her and with a lot of her strength, wrapped the two of them up with her noose, and hung them above the ground. She stared up at them with furious eyes.
“V2UgYXJlIGdvbm5hIGdldCBub3doZXJlIHdpdGggdGhpcy4uLg== ((We are gonna get nowhere with this…))” Anibase admitted through strained teeth, trying to keep the two of them together. Holding up something that weighed a lot more than you, let alone two, was a struggle. She then eyed Unreal with a glare. “RXNwZWNpYWxseSB3aXRoIHlvdSBhIEMgdCBJIG4gRyBsaWtlIGEgY2hpbGQsIGFuZCB0aGF04oCZcyBjb21pbmcgZnJvbSBtZS4uLiE= ((Especially with you a C t I n G like a child, and that’s coming from me...!))”
Ouros lay limply in the noose staring deadpan down at Anibase. “Why am I strung up here with Anger Management issues,” She asked Anibase while pointing at Unreal.
There was a pain building up in Ouros’s head signaling Juri trying to wake up. Ouros grit her teeth as a new stab of pain hit her. Juri usually didn’t try to fight Ouros for control so Ouros struggled to force Juri back to sleep.
Unreal growled and struggled against the ropes but couldn’t budge. She was starting to smoke more and spark more and finally let out a pained cry. Her skin was burning and she was close to passing out.
“I͖̤͒͊-͕̝̉̎ḭ̗̀͒f̲̱̓̂ ̢̹̾͗ỵ̩͌̕o̝͕̾̈́u͔̭̔̋ ̢̻̈̕ẘ̨͔͒à̩͓̉n̨͎̾̑t͓̞̿̕ ̯͎̌̑t̨̟́͘o̫̪̎̌ ̺̝̈̎ṣ̛̯͐ă̹̩̈y̜̗͛͝ ͇͓͆͝š̘̞̉o͉̗̐͒m̥͇̽͝ę̳̈̈́t̗̘́̅ẖ̐͘͜i̛͂͜ͅn̬͔̂̀g̤̮̈̋.̞̭͛̚.͈̘̐͝.͎͔̈́͝t͈̲̄͝-̫̗̽̇ẗ̳̙̉u͚̇̽ͅr͕͚̆̽n̗̣̔̅ ̦̲͑͘ò͇̜͠f̮̞̌̈́f̞̱́̂ ͍̂̕ͅṭ̡̐̌h͍̬͌̀ḙ̛̥͌ ̖͕͌̾s͔̘̈́̋p̡̜̉͝r̝̝̈̅í̙̼͑ǹ̢͇̒k͔͖̿̌l̼̪̓̚ē̮̲̚r̻̟͛͘s̟̰̆̓!̧͖̕͠ ̺͐̇ͅÌ̺̼̋.̧̛̟̂.̗̰͑̋.̯̱̄͝Ì̼̤͒’̨̙̆̚m̝̹̃́ ̧̬͑͗n̻̖̂͂o̢͖̒͝t͔̣͑̈́ ̝͕̆̋g̲̬͐̀o͍͙͂͌n̻͍͂̚ň̝͙̈́ạ̘̀̂ ̻͖̓̈́l̜̖̓̎a̻̹͗͘ś̩̱̕ṯ͉̓̏ ̺͍͝͠m͕̐̔ͅu͉̜̇͘ç̑̀͜h̘͈̏̅ ̱͉͑͝l̞͇̆͘ó̫̥̐n̹̝͆̄ḡ̜̫͆é̢͖̈́r̳̞͑̍.͈͖̚̕.̖̞̆̄.̫̦̃͝”Unreal gasped, more ink running down her face as if she was crying from the pain.
Anibase crossed her arms and evilly smiled. “RiBJIE4gYSBMIGwgWSEgWW91IGxlYXJuZWQgd2hlbiBlbm91Z2ggd2FzIGVub3VnaC4uLiE= ((F I N a L l Y! You learned when enough was enough...!))” She built up a jump and leaped up high, and broke the sprinklers. She then landed back down and started panting. “V2h5IGRvIHlvdXIgaG9zdHMgaGF2ZSB0byBoYXZlIG1hdGVyaWFsIG1hc3MuLi4/IQ== ((Why do your hosts have to have material mass…?!)) She rolled her hands into fists to focus.
“SXQncyBvYnZpb3VzIHRoYXQgd2Ugd29uJ3QgZ2V0IGFueXdoZXJlIGZpZ2h0aW5nIGVhY2ggb3RoZXIgbGlrZSB0aGlzLi4uIFdlIGFsbCBoYXZlIGdvYWxzIHdlIHdhbnQgdG8gYWNjb21wbGlzaC4uLiBBbmQgd2Ugd2lsbCBkbyBhIE4geSBUIGggSSBuIEcgdG8gZ2V0IHRoZW0uLi4= ((It's obvious that we won't get anywhere fighting each other like this... We all have goals we want to accomplish... And we will do a N y T h I n G to get them…))” Anibase then looked at Ouros. “V2hhdCBpcyB5b3VyIGdvYWwsIGh1aC4uLj8gQ2VydGFpbmx5IGl0IGRvZXNuJ3QgaW52b2x2ZSBtZSBvciBJbmt5LCByaWdodC4uLj8= ((What is your goal, huh...? Certainly it doesn't involve me or Inky, right...?))”
Ouros glared at them both. “My only goal is to get a body. That in no way involves either of you.”
Her head was really pounding now and dangling in the air wasn't helping. Ouros glanced over at the hurt Unreal and huffed.
“Put me down,” Ouros demanded, “I have no more reason to fight.”
Unreal whimpered quietly, ink falling off her face in big watery drips. Under the ink you could see red blotched burned skin. Unreal weakly tried to use her ink to cut them down but all her ink was rendered useless from the water. It was gonna take her a long time to rebuild her reserves….
“What makes you think…” Unreal rasped, glaring at Ouros, “You’re the only one that wants a b̬̮͇̊̾̓o͖͕̙͂̉͐d̜͎͈͂͒͝ŷ̢̱̱̽̉?”
She shuddered at the sting of her ink slithering over her burns then muttered through gritted teeth, “Maybe… we could help each other? Since our hosts are close or whatever…”
Anibase smiles, but this time truly happy. “SC1IZWgsIGxvb2tzIGxpa2Ugd2UncmUgYWxsIGZpbmRpbmcgb3VyIHBsYWNlLi4u ((H-Heh, looks like we're all finding our place…)) And with that she drops them both and collapses to the ground, her body unable to keep itself from staying materialized. She pushes herself up so she's sitting in front of them. She holds both of her hands out to be shaken.
“SSBjYW4gaCBFLQ== ((I can h E-))” Anibase starts her bargain, but stops. She sighs. “V2UsIGNhbiBoIEUgbCBQIGVhY2ggb3RoZXIuLi4= ((We, can h E l P each other…))” Anibase repeats, with an added look to the two darksonas to get their reassurance.
Ouros had landed on her feet with a slight stumble and listened to Anibase’s proposal. Without glancing back Ouros turned and strode out of the room to enter her room she used for experiments. She grabbed a tiny cauldron and walked back into the other room.
“The proposal sounds interesting to me but I know that Unreal and I have bad blood so I have a peace offering as humans do,” Ouros said. She set the cauldron on the ground and used one foot to shove it and let it slide over to Unreal.
Unreal’s ink bubbled in it. “I went back after our fight and collected all the ink that dripped off you to experiment on,” Ouros explained with a shrug, “it should be safe for you.”
Unreal stared at the cauldron with a wary glance. “You’re a fucking weirdo…” she mumbles. She peers in before plunging her hands in, letting the ink settle into her skin. She sighs in relief as her ink reforms on places outside of her burns. She leans back and cracks her neck loudly, wincing at the burns still but she looks better.
“This seems like it could backfire easily. Cuz you both are assholes and I’m the worst. But…” she sighs and shrugs, “Not many other dark sides go work with.”
Unreal sticks out her hand and tenderly shakes Anibase’s hand with a scowl. “Let’s see if we avoid killing each other...unless y̭̻̥͆̀̚ö̼̝̞̊̌ȕ̡̲̊͛͜ ̫̞̬̈̽́p̛͚̫̲̃͝í̮̠̱̐͝s̖̘͚̑̌̃ś̢̳̱̏͠ ̢̱̃̄̉͜m̲̲͙͆̏̌e͚̦̖͂͋̐ ̼̻̗͑͛̂ơ̱̝̣̓̎f̨̘̞́̽͆f̱̜̰͌͊̚.̖̲̻̉̇͝”
Anibase shrugs and returns the handshake. “U2FtZS4uLg== ((Same…))” She then returns to Ouros, her hand still slightly outstretched. “V2VsbCBBbWJlci4uLj8gSSBrbm93IHdlIGp1c3QgbWV0LCBidXQgeW91IGhhdmVuJ3QgZ2l2ZW4gbWUgYSBmdWxsIHJlYXNvbiB0byBrIEkgbCBMIHlvdSwgeWV0Li4u ((Well Amber...? I know we just met, but you haven't given me a full reason to k I l L you, yet…))”
“My name is Ouros,” Ouros announced as she shook Anibase's hand. She took a step back after peered around the destroyed room.
With a grimace Ouros spoke, “I would take you to a new room but my host is fighting me right now when she never has before and I don't have much time left.”
“Since when were you one for hospitality, Medusa?” Unreal taunted with a smirk. She winced and held one of her burnt arms with a grimace. “I...I might be close to gone too. Lauren’s still asleep but her body…” She curses and glares at her arms with disdain.
“If we’re gonna work together. We need to keep our hosts together…”
Anibase thinks. “VHJ1ZS4uLg== ((True…))” The dream demon then thinks and crosses her arms. “QnV0IHRoYXQgc2hvdWxkbid0IGJlIG11Y2ggb2YgYSBwcm9ibGVtLi4u ((But that shouldn't be much of a problem…))” Anibase smirks. “TGV0J3MgcmVzdCB1cCwgYW5kIHRoZW4gd2lsbCBnbyB0YWNrbGUgb3VyIGZpcnN0IHByb2JsZW0uLi4= ((Let's rest up, and then will go tackle our first problem...))”
“TG9uZ2VyIGNvbnRyb2wgb3ZlciBvdXIgaG9zdHMuLi4= ((Longer control over our hosts…))”