"A little paranoia is a good thing, kid. In your case, you need more than a little." King Terrac scolds Rasool.
"Cut it, old man." Prince Rasool snorts. "If it weren't for you, I would have been sipping lotus juice in my tub."
"Have you ever tasted one before?"
"No?"
"There won't be any in the afterlife for you to try," Terrac warns.
"Why you…" Rasool moves against the former king and the generals restrain the prince as he struggles to reach Terrac.
"I didn't invest so much just to watch you perish, brat," Terrac nods at Serra, and with a flick of her whisker, Rasool drifts into unconsciousness.
"How many?"
"Over three," Serra salutes.
"Such a golden opportunity, and yet we're stuck on the sidelines," Terrac grumbles, brushing his whiskers with more force than necessary, his gaze fixed on his nephew. "Instill some sense into him... Fast! If you want to progress," he instructs the others.
"Sire," Serra bows. "I was wondering if I could go watch. I promise—"
Xeno's whisker encircles Serra's mouth, silencing and strangling her as he bows. "Apologies, sire. She's new to this—"
Terrac cuts off the general with a wave of his hand. "Know your place, brat," he glares at Serra, then vanishes into a puff of smoke.
"Are you out of your mind or trying to get us killed?" Xeno shouts.
"By asking?" Serra mutters, rolling her eyes.
Before her uncle responds, she gracefully evades the whiskers and gazes into the distance, where the impending action is set to unfold. "Can't you sense it? Something massive is about to unfold, and we're stuck waiting for him," she scoffs at the Prince. "Get clearance from—"
Whiskers wrap around Serra, and she finds herself back home, with her mom cooking, her dad irritating her mom, and... "I get it." she dispels the illusion, leaving only herself and Uncle Xeno shrouded in whiskers. "Do you think anyone prevented him from entering?" Her gaze drifts back to the horizon.
"Who?"
"The one with the crazy imagination and crazier smile… I'm sure he's right in the thick of it, with no one reining him in or dictating his actions," she slumps onto the whiskers as it transforms into a chair.
"If that's the case, you wouldn't want to have his whiskers," Xeno warns, extending a hand to pull Serra out of the whiskers.
"Why not?" she reaches out.
"Because I suspect even he will grow to despise his predicament."
"Ah!" Serra snorts. "You need to work on your art of deception, Uncle."
———<>|*|<>———
"Oh, I hate this," Tetsu was compelled to smile, concealing his true feelings beneath the facade of the ever-smile skill. Deep within, he cursed every deity in the multiverse.
*!Blink!*
Vines ensnare Tetsu within the tree crevice, his supposed sanctuary.
"Why the hell are you acting so fast?" He kicks open the wooden cover and emerges from the tree trunk onto a branch.
A [Night Warg] was already advancing towards his hiding spot along the branch. Two other [Wargs] alter their course, scaling the tree after the first one emits sonic signals upon spotting Tetsu.
"Good boy?" Tetsu dives back in one swift motion, the wooden plank under his feet moving in tandem as he retreats into the trunk.
Emerging from an adjacent hole, Tetsu exits the trunk through a safer, much thicker passage he had prepared for such occasions.
The [Warg] on the branch becomes ensnared in the vines as it attempts to pursue Tetsu through the trunk. Ignoring its predicament, it relays Tetsu's next location to its brethren.
The Wargs wings situated on their head doubled down as their ears, spread wide, halting and redirecting their trajectory in a split second.
About to plummet, Tetsu observes four Warg soaring toward him.
The [Warg] group howls in astonishment as Tetsu defies gravity, ascending the tree in a manner unique to him. Though his arm positioning suggests a downward fall, and he lacks wings, he moves upward, confounding their expectations.
Complicating matters further, the leading Warg forgets how to fly, extending its ear wings wide and obstructing two others. Bereft of their wings for flight or glide, the trio plummets to the ground, succumbing to gravity like conventional creatures.
The fourth Warg snarls at Tetsu, baring its sharp fangs. Tetsu responds by flexing his own pair, and the Warg collides with a [Simian's] foot before it can register its surprise.
A Simian detaches from the original moon to scout. It targets Tetsu but misses and lands on a Warg's face instead. Leveraging the Warg as a foothold, the Simian propels itself upward. However, even upon reaching Tetsu's sole, it only grazes it before Tetsu uses it as a platform to propel himself even farther away.
Next moment it soars into the moon above, accompanied by a small army intent on hunting down the lone human.
Tetsu's trajectory guides him into the embrace of a tree, which unfurls into tiny snakes before swallowing him whole.
The moon erupts into beams of light, unleashing havoc on the tree as it tears it to shreds and exposes Tetsu at its epicenter.
Tetsu's composed demeanor compels the others to proceed with caution, and a mere smile deters them from executing their follow-up strike. "You shouldn't have made a move," he remarks, his frown directed at the raining shards of wood, the remnants of [PythonWood].
One simian takes his comment to heart and advances to attack. Tetsu moves closer, countering Simian's opportunity to gather momentum. Two other shards descend towards the first Simian's back, while a minor slip foiled their attempt to flank.
A focused sonic blast pierces through the Simians from a distance, the primary target of the [Sonic Tweed] being Tetsu, concealed by three shards.
Tetsu places his palm on the first Simian's stomach, executes a flip, and delivers a kick to its chin while turning upside down. He uses the creature's chin to push off and dive into the ground, burrowing faster than any mole could ever aspire to.
Four fireballs soar true and crash into the [Tweed], which was distracted as its original target vanished behind the three [Simians], who unwittingly serve as a cover for the hole Tetsu dug. Even the Simian's comrades take a moment to notice the discrepancy.
"See you in the next life." Tetsu pats a [PythonWood] which bursts into several snakes, engulfing him.
The tree had expected Tetsu's approach since their initial attack, sending vines to intercept him during the dig, but Tetsu dug deeper than they expected before homing in on their location.
"Didn't expect a human to dig so deep?" He smiles with emotions that remain locked away, and a face devoid of expression.
This infuriates the beasts, but before they can retaliate, a moonlight cascade showers them into the next life. In the end, they act as an unwitting shield for the one thing they despise the most.
"What are y—" Before the Simian could express his disbelief, Tetsu swung underneath his arm and emerged behind him.
The Simian lunged to seize the slippery human, but he misjudged his footing and found his face hurtling towards a punch he hoped wasn't intended for him. The last sensation he felt was the wet touch of mud as Tetsu dove back into the ground, tunneling away.
Pressing a palm into the dirt, Tetsu frowns. "Great."
Several [Raptors] dive into the tunnel, their size allowing them to follow Tetsu's narrow path. Yet, after five seconds, only Tetsu emerges outside, with the ground itself turning against him.
Pink claws of mud pierce out, each aiming for Tetsu's vital spots. With minimal movement, he maneuvers around the claws, using them to block the barrage of boulders hurled at him.
"Ah!" An Apexian roars, drumming his chest at Tetsu.
"Yo!" Tetsu raises a palm. "Long time no see... How's aping?"
The apes shriek in unison as a reply. "Not good, huh? Well, if you're all resorting to weapons?" He glances into his pouch. "Nah, not yet!" His smile challenges their leader as he deftly dodges another set of earth claws.
Tetsu gestures for the ape to stay focused on him then points to his right. The ape leader follows his gaze to the left, and a [Tweed] crashes into him from the right. "Ha... my bad! I meant you're right," he sticks out his tongue.
The Warg leader circles Tetsu, wary of the sudden spikes. This time, Tetsu gestures at the wolf to watch out for an attack from the left, but the wolf peers toward its right.
"Not mine, yours, you dunce, bitch," Tetsu yells too late.
A wooden snake wraps itself around the wolf and drags her away. Her howl harmonizes with another, and Tetsu spots a wolf glaring at him with all the hate in the world.
"Are you the female?" Tetsu wonders, slipping into a gap he finds, heading straight toward the female who chased its mate caught by the snake.
"In my defense, all of you look alike," Tetsu dives forward, his hands poised to dig into the ground once again.
The female wolf shifted its stance, preparing to confront the approaching human. At the last moment, Tetsu adjusted his hands, opting to push off the floor instead of diving inside.
As Tetsu pushes away, a Raptor ramps into his previous spot. The bird detonates after catching sight of him snickering. Despite the last-ditch effort, it fails to so much as scratch Tetsu, who has already positioned himself around a tree trunk, blocking the obvious suicide attempt.
Unaccustomed to the unconventional techniques of the eccentric bird, the wolf became an unintended victim of the explosive assault meant for Tetsu. Amid her swing, the explosion sears her skin clean off, yet her skill remains true.
An ethereal claw sliced through the massive tree trunk, dividing it into three perfect slices. If only the aim had been lower, it might have reached Tetsu, who was engrossed in digging deeper.
"All you have to do is stay... yeah! All you have to do is hate...!" He sang and rapped, hoping to find a single safe spot within the chaotic field.
If he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was in the midst of a hellhole, but he did know better. So, he blamed the system and later his luck for the chaotic situation.
═─┈─{═E═}─┈─═