pepper lays in his bed, reading more of the book he borrowed. "Zeus has a father, huh? Cronus... Zeus saved his siblings because their father had eaten them due to a prophecy?' pepper thought, as he read the book. 'Wow, this stuff is more interesting than I thought. I'm still concerned about this map though, makes no sense to me.' pepper continued thinking.
"Ugh, reading again? Can you, like, not?" Niku said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Who poured you a cup of sass this morning?" pepper said, not paying much attention.
"Excuse me?" Niku said, getting angry.
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention, this book is really bothering me." pepper said, trying to genuinely apologize.
"Whatever." Niku said, turning her head away. "If it bothers you then throw it out or take it back from where you got it." Niku said, walking away.
'I don't think she understands the value of this book...' pepper thought, with a sigh. 'Oh well.' pepper thought, closing the book and getting up. "I'm gonna go on a walk and think about things. Polly, Mae, if anyone needs me, use your spirit forms or whatever they are to find me." pepper said, as he opened the door.
"Understood, Daddy." Polly said, bobbing her head back and forth while sitting with Mae on the floor.
"Okay-" Mae said, cutting herself off. pepper closed the door behind him. "Daddy?" Mae questioned, turning her head toward Polly.
'I should go to the library and get another book.' pepper thought, making his way to the library. 'I have a feeling- Oh?' pepper thought, cutting his own thoughts off as he sees a small object roll from behind a box.
'A die? It landed on one. Why is it here?' pepper thought, questioning the random die.
"Sleep" A voice said, causing pepper to collapse instantly.
"Daddy! Don't let go!" Kumo yelled, gripping peppers wrist as he grips hers, holding her from falling off of a cliff.
"Kumo, don't worry, I've got you!" pepper shouted, as he pulled her up.
"Daddy!" Kumo shouted, as she hugged pepper out of fear.
"It's okay, Kumo. I'm here, I'm here." pepper said, holding Kumo tight.
pepper jumped as someone walked behind them.
'I can't see their face... brown hair?' pepper thought, trying to see this person.
"Wake up!" a voice screamed.
pepper instantly shot up. "Wh-What?" pepper said, looking around.
"Wow, did someone have nightmare?" A girl said, to pepper.
"Where am I? Who are you? What happened?" pepper said, realizing he's not walking on the street anymore.
"One question at a time. You're in my house." The girl said, walking to a black and gold throne.
"Okay... Who are you?" pepper asked, another question.
"My name is Madie, pepper." Madie said, as she sat in her throne, putting her right leg over her left. Her hait was completely blue and long, like Kumo's, Utsu's, Muma's, and Polly's. Madie's eyes were both bright pink, and her ears were pointy. She wore a long sleaved, stripped shirt, it was stripped with black and lavender-pink, and a short sleaved shirt over it that was completely black with a gray skull on it, she also had a shurikan hair clip.
"I see. Wait, how do you know my name?" pepper asked, switching his third question.
"You don't know? You've got a big bounty on your head, and I'm pretty broke right now..." Madie said, smirking at pepper.
'Shit, I forgot about that...' pepper thought. "Then why didn't you just kill me and take the cash?" pepper asked, not understanding her.
"That's no fun..." Madie said, with an obviously fake pouty face.
"Okay... So, what do you want exactly?" pepper questioned, still not understanding her.
"Pow!" Madie said, playfully, as she threw something toward pepper.
'What'd she do?' pepper thought, getting on his guard. 'Another die?' pepper thought, as he watched the small die roll towards him and land infront of him.
"Three! Haha!" Madie exclaimed, as she jumped out of her throne.
"What the..." pepper said, as he watched Madie grow bigger. 'She's getting bigger? No, not just her, the room too!' pepper thought, getting prepared for whatever might happen.
Madie looked down at pepper with an evil smile. "Aww, aren't you just adorable!" Madie said, as she tried to stomp her foot on pepper. pepper had a sense to move so he jumped away before it landed. She tried it again, and again, and again, everytime pepper jumped away.
'What the hell is happening? Why is everything so big? Did I... shrink?' pepper thought as he kept dodging her feet. 'How long will this go on? She has to realize it's pointless.' as pepper thought that, he started to grow back to normak size.
"Damn, the four minutes is up..." Madie said, to herself.
"What was that?" pepper said, trying to get an explanation.
"Pow!" Madie said, again, as she threw another die out, ignoring pepper.
'Whatever, I'll just tie her down with my webs, then she'll talk.' pepper thought, as he rushed towards her and his spider legs came out.
"What's it gonna be?! What's it gonna beee?!" Madie shouted, with excitement on her face.
"Just stop!" pepper yelled, as he stuck his web to the ceiling, making a rope he can swing from, using it to swing towards Madie.
"Five!" Madie shouted.
"W-Woah!" pepper shouted, as his spider legs and web disappeared. "What?" pepper said, not understanding what happened.
"Haha! I'm getting lucky today!" Madie shouted, happily.
"What do you mean?" pepper asked, trying to understand what's going on.
"You don't get it yet?" Madie asked, looking at pepper with confusion. "I can roll a die and depending on which number it lands on, certain things will happen." Madie explained, not really caring enough to go into detail.
'So... it landed on a five, as she said, and then my ability stopped working. Not Itsy Bitsy, but the one that takes abilities, I think it connects them all, I can't even use Spooky Scary Skeltons...' pepper thought, realized he's got no abilities.
Madie walked up to pepper, she reached her hand up and caressed his face. "Pow!" Madie shouted, as she punched pepper. pepper looked up at her from the floor, his eyes filled with sadness for her. Madie smiled as she saw pepper like that.
"Madie..." pepper said, softly.
"What? Is it really so bad for me to get happy when you're sad?" Madie said, smirking at pepper.
'I guess... some people are just bad naturally, or maybe something caused it? I don't know, but I have to help her.' pepper thought, to himself, hoping to help her any way he can. pepper got off the ground.
"Awww... Is somebody speechless?" Madie said, still smirking at pepper.
"Madie, give me my ability back." pepper said, trying to see if she would.
"You'll get them back when I roll again." Madie said, moving the die through her fingers.
"I see. What if you never roll again?" pepper asked, curious of the outcome.
"Then it's gone forever." Madie said, responding instantly.
'That's not good... I need her to roll.' pepper thought, trying to figure out how he'll get her to roll again.
"Don't worry though, it's more fun if you can fight back!" Madie said, giggling a little. "Pow!" Madie shouted, as she rolled her die.
"Yes! A six!" Madie shouted, in excitement.
"What's a six mean?" pepper said, as he felt his ability come back.
"It means... I get your ability." Madie said, wondering what exactly pepper's ability is.
pepper's eyes widened. "...Wait! You really don't wanna do that!" pepper shouted, trying to warn her.
"Hahaha! It's too late now!" Madie shouted, not able to stop it even if she wanted to. "Haha... ha... huh?" Madie said, feeling strange.
"Madie?" pepper said, softly, wondering if she's okay.
"I-I feel sick..." Madie said, falling to her knees. "Oh God... I... I feel..." Madie continued, then throwing up.
"Madie, no!" pepper said, worried about her. 'What if she can't take it?' pepper thought, continuing to worry.
"I-I need t-to roll again... I need to reject th-this..." Madie said, reaching for her die.
"No! Don't reject it!" pepper desperately shouted.
"Shut up!" Madie shouted, in obvious pain.
Madie slowly crawled over to her die, every second she felt worse. "Got... it..." Madie said, holding the die. "Pow..." Madie mumbled, as she rolled it.
'Two? What happens on two?' pepper thought, hoping it isn't anything like it's been.
Madie's body started to shake intensely. "Madie?!" pepper shouted, his voice filled with worry. Madie looked up at pepper, her eyes filled with rage, before they widened in fear and pain. "Aaahhhh!" Madie screamed, as her chest exploded open, her blood went all over the floor. Madie twitched and rolled in excruciating pain. Then she stopped moving, her body lifeless.
"Madie!!!" pepper shouted, as he rushed to her body. He checked for a pluse, but he felt nothing, he thought of C.P.R. but her lungs were destroyed, there wouldn't be a point. pepper sat with her corpse, holding her as she layed lifeless, crying for her as her soul leaves.
"What the... hell?" Madie mumbled, as she got off the gray ground.
'Where am I?' Madie thought, as she looked around, seeing gray trees, and gray skies.
"Welcome... to the In-Between..." A girl that looked similar to Madie said.
"The what?" Madie said, not understanding.
"The In-Between, you will stay here... forever." The girl said, eerily.
"Yes... I will... stay here forever..." Madie said, looking a bit mind broken.
"Poor Madie..." pepper said, looking at her corpse, as he carried her out of the building. 'This place looks abandoned... She really lived here?' pepper thought, feeling bad for Madie.
"I'll dig you a grave Madie..." pepper said, wiping tears off his face. pepper began to dig using his hands, he dug for hours.
"Okay, I think that's good." pepper said, looking into the grave.
'Now I'll just gently set you in here... There we go.' pepper thought, as he sat in the grave. 'She looks quite peaceful, aside from the massive hole in her chest.' pepper thought, smiling at Madie's body. 'Now to get a stone and engrave her name on it with another.' pepper continued to think, as he looked for a stone.
'There, it's all complete, I hope it's good enough Madie...' pepper said, putting flowers that he found ontop of it.
"Alright, I guess it's time I left." pepper said, looking around. "Where the hell am I?" pepper said, realizing he has no idea where he is.
'This whole place is a small island... What do I do?' pepper thought, as he sat on the shore of the small island.
"Who might you be?" pepper heard a woman's voice. pepper quickly turned to see who this woman was, but stopped himself as he felt he shouldn't look at this woman.
"What's the matter, boy? Answer me." The woman said, getting frustrated.
pepper paused for a second, trying to figure out if he should look at her or not. "My name... is pepper." pepper said, trying to keep the conversation simple.
"And why are you on this island, boy?" The woman asked, giving more questions.
'She just asked my name and still calls me boy?' pepper thought, as he didn't understand this woman. "I'm unsure of my reason for being here, but I believe I was taken here to be killed simply for someone's enjoyment, they also probably wanted my bounty." pepper said, explaining himself without going into too much detail.
"Ah, you too, have a bounty? Interesting..." The woman said, slowly starting to walk around pepper.
'I can hear her moving... Is she trying to get me to face her? That seems suspicious to me...' pepper thought, as he turned more to his right, avoiding her coming up on his left, making it to where she's behind him again.
"Don't wanna see my face, huh? Why would that be?" The woman asked, with a voice of curiosity.
"Just a bad feeling, nothing personal." pepper said, telling her exactly how it is.
"Is that so...?" The woman said, clearly suspicious of pepper.
"Who are you? I've said my name, tell me yours." pepper said, with a slightly demanding tone.
"Hm... A demanding man, are we? Alright, I'll humor you, but I'm sure you've heard of me." The woman said, smirking a little. "I am known as Medusa, I am a Gorgon and one of three sisters." Medusa said, moving her arms a lot.
"Medusa...? Never heard of you." pepper said, bluntly.
"...Huh? You've never heard of me? Are you sure?" Medusa said, with a confused voice.
"I assure you, I remember mostly everything since I woke up on a sidewalk a good few days ago. I've never heard of you." pepper said, again.
'I see... I'll just have to make sure he remembers my name in hell!' Medusa thought, as she gave an evil smile while looking down on pepper's back.
"Are you done with the questions?" pepper asked, not knowing exactly what she's doing.
"She might have been pretty, but that doesn't mean she is allowed to bring outsiders on my island without asking!" Medusa shouted, angerly.
"You mean Madie?" pepper asked, not understanding who Medusa meant when Medusa said she.
Medusa kicked pepper, causing him to go flying into the water. 'Wh-What the hell?!' pepper thought as he tried to swim up.
pepper gasped for air as he reached the surface.
'Where's the land? I need to find the land but avoid her face at the same time.' pepper though as he looked around for the land. Suddenly a rock was thrown at pepper's head, causing him to go unconscious and sink into the water.