Emotibeast Chronicles

While the hornets swarmed around the group, the Chronicles huddled all together along with Skits, Payne, and Lobe. A combination of Fionn’s wind and Rage’s fire was making a protective defense against the swarm but their plan was shaken up as the garglox lunged forth towards Rage. Skits hastily grabbed the hero and pulled him aside with his long arms. 

“Now S-see here you wooden bee fella you can’t just be messing around in town like this! People be living here!” Skits yelled. 

The gargolox wasn’t amused by Skits defending its prey and decided to bite at him. Payne rushed in to take the bite for Skits and in the process the beast tore off his arm. 

“Dagnabbit, that arm is always getting torn off in my traps. I don't need some darn oversized beehive tearing it up more for me!!” He yelled.

One of the perks of essentially being a robot without many vital organs is that most of the time you can just throw yourself into danger, as Payne will now demonstrate. The stubborn scarecrow started kicking the gargolox away from the others. As he picked up his arm the severed limb began to transform into a mallet which Payne used to start bashing in the beast's chest with. With a body made of wood, a simple mallet is enough to do some real damage and for once Payne seemed like a threat to his enemy. This was short lived as the gargolox began taking flight with its leafy wings. Payne’s range is only so far and although the gargolox could do no real damage to him still, the others were a different story. The gargolox was quick to start firing rapid spurts of vicious hornets at the others, but once again Skits’ speed came in handy. Even an infant paranoitor can outrun a hornet at its top speed so utilizing his own two feet and arms, Skits would tug along each member one at a time to bring them some place hidden from the monster’s sight, while Payne taunted the creature to keep hold of its attention.

“WOW so you can fly huh? MY BOYFRIEND HAS BETTER WINGS THAN YOU AND HE EVOLVED FROM A FLIGHTLESS BIRD SPECIES.” Payne shouted. “You may think I can’t do anything, but I’ll show ya just how much of a shanny you are!” He added.

That's when Payne got his idea. Propping off his arm again, Payne morphed his severed arm into a hatchet and took aim. He threw it at the gargolox’s wing and sliced through it. The gargolox plummeted to the ground and was more enraged than ever. It took off at Payne and relentlessly pummeled the poor scarecrow into the ground. Payne could endure it sure, but he knew eventually it’d get to his Vic hive and he could say goodbye to any repairs. Skits and Rage watched from behind a house. Skits was terrified to say the least, but Rage on the other hand was a bit impressed. Payne may have come off as rude before but resourcefulness is definitely one of his strengths. He was about to run out and try to rescue him when Lobe stretched along his hand and pulled Rage aside. 

“Now kid, from what I saw in the cave you’re one of those, stop talking and rush in types am I right? Well I do think your fire would be a great asset for this enemy, his bee breath is gonna outspeed your fire. You’ll probably get stung so much in the face that you’ll probably die where you stand! And I think that’d probably make your grimhook girlfriend really sad.” Lobe explained. “Sh-She’s not, We’re not a couple!” Rage flusteredly stammered. “Really? Oh huh, that's a shame, she seems like a one in a million but back to my plan. I’m gonna immobilize the beast for you, and that's when you’ll come over with, drumroll please, the paranoitor!” Lobe responded as he pointed to Skits. “ME?? ME??? Why I’m just a little guy with stubby legs and long arms, I’m only good for running away” Skits argues. “Yes exactly! Running! I’m gonna slam that guy silly and then you can bring Seth over before the goon has enough time to recover. How about it? Does that sound like a good plan to you?” Lobe asked as he nudged Rage. It took a moment for Rage to remember he was Seth now. “OH right right, yeah lets do it” He haphazardly agreed without really thinking over the plan. As Lobe enacted out his scheme Rage turned to Skits. “What was the plan again??”

Lobe  started waving his arms to get the attention of the gargolox which luckily spared Payne from any permanent damage to his hive. The neurotal let his arms stretch like noodles and slung himself around from house to house as a moving target. He cackled at the gargolox further provoking it to give chase to him. While Lobe was up to his little plan, Pyayne slowly recovered from his pummeling. Thana and Misery rushed to his side to help. 

“Darn it all, I wish I could have done more...” Payne grumbled to himself. “You already did enough fella. You did pretty good too for a scarecrow. Now that thing is grounded for good.” Misery congratulated. Payne broke free from the two’s grip and forced himself to stand on his own as he turned to the two guild members. “How is it you guys are so calm about this monster??” He asked. “It’s pretty simple. We’ve had a short time together but we’ve all been through a lot. It seems like the more We hang with...Seth, the more dangers we have to overcome. It doesn’t get easier, but I’ve had to become stronger through it all to keep him safe.” Thana explained. 

Her explanation lingered in the back of Payne’s mind. Payne truly did want to become a protector that could take a hit and dish out double the damage so maybe if he had to overcome dangers like this often he finally could. He viewed the whole situation in a whole different light now as he had a bit of a confident grin on his face. Maybe “Seth” would be seeing more of Payne in the upcoming future. Meanwhile, Fionn was watching Lobe’s movements. He’s never seen emotibeasts fight like this before and was surprised with the utilization of  Lobe’s own power, as well as Payne’s earlier. He studied each swing while remaining hidden behind the house. Speaking of which, Lobe was just about to enact his plan into his next phase as he led the gargolox closer to Rage and Skits’ hiding spot. By now the gargolox was a bit tuckered from the chase but still dangerous as ever. Lobe flung himself right above the gargolox and let out a huge laugh as he plummeted towards the beast. The monster tried to blast Lobe with hornets only for the neurotal to shapeshift a hole in his body for the insects f;y right through leaving him unscathed. 

“Well, you tried and that deserves some praise!” Lobe joked as his hands began to swell to massive size.

Using all his strength Lobe brought his giant hands together with the gargolox in between them for a bone breaking clap. As he moved his hands the way, the gargolox stood still, shaking from the impact of the clap.

“You know I’d say you deserve an encore actually!” Lobe added as he brought his hands together for a terrifying applause.

All the clapping and smushing broke off pieces of the gargolox like his wings and tail, until his body was left all cracked up and shaking on the ground. Lobe looked over at Rage and Skits and gave them a whistle, it was time for the last step. Skits was a bit nervous at first, however he mustered up enough courage to grab hold of Rage and carry him over to the gargolox as fast as he could. Having long arms truly does make these sort of things easier. With a clenched fist Rage set his hand on fire and bashed the beast in the head with it as fast as he could. The impact spread the flame across the monster’s body setting it all ablaze as it let out a defeated roar. It crumbled before Rage’s eyes and his confident fanged smile. 

“YEAH we did it, you’re pretty good at this strategizing thing Lobe.” Rage praised. “HA well, not to brag but I was quite the adventurer back when I was your age, I shan’t elaborate right now, what's important first is that we make sure the village is alright '' Lobe instructed. As Rage and Lobe were getting ready to set off they noticed Skits was still shaking just a little. “ G-Golly we really did just kill a monster huh??” Skits spoke with disbelief.

After a quick snap from Lobe, Skits snapped back to reality and joined up with the two emotibeasts to survey the village. Fionn, Payne, Misery, and Thana were all happy to join in on the check up. Luckily the paranoitors’ homes were unscathed, a good thing the beast wasn’t after them. As a finishing touch, Fionn got the attention of the paranoitors.

“We’re deeply sorry about the damage done to your village by that beast, hopefully you won’t be bothered once I boost your town’s defenses.” Fionn proclaimed as he waved his arms from side to side, creating a wall of icy stakes  that cut off the neighboring forests. “It won’t last forever, but it’ll give you time to ready your weapons and such next time a beast tries to ruin your day” Fionn joked smugly. “Um, Well Fionn we do appreciate all of y’all’s help and especially the wall but uh. I ain’t thinking the rest of my people will be too keen on fighting. We’d rather just avoid any conflict entirely and hide.” Skits explained. “REAlly??” Fionn exclaimed with a bit of confusion. “That’s just asking for extinction if you ask me” He added. Payne snickered a bit and took a step forward. “Now I’d hate to say this folks but the windbag here is right, WHICH is why you need a powerful protector like me, but after seeing these folks work here today I’ve decided..I’m leaving runner’s field and joining the Chronicles so I can become even tougher for you kind folk!” Payne proclaimed. “WH-WHAT PAYNE YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE IM...BUT...WHAT ABOUT US...IM JUST...'' Skits panicked. “AND SKITS is gonna join me” Payne added. “I'M WHAT'' Skits shouted. Payne took Skits with him near the village edge to talk privately to him. “Listen Skits honey, we both could benefit from this. YOU helped defeat the big bad monster right, so it's not like you’re weak,  just imagine if we’re both strong enough to defend the village! Besides, I can’t just leave you alone here in the village, I’d miss you too much” Payne said with a grin and a kiss to the forehead. Skits got a bit flustered and red in his face from the kiss but just nodded slowly. “O-Ok, as long as I’m with you, I’ll feel safe enough to travel to the end of the world and back” Skits replied with a firm hug to his cowboyfriend.” Rage coughed, hoping not to intrude in this cute little spectacle, but there was something he needed to discuss. “Well you know we didn't exactly accept you yet-” He commented. “HA right like you’d waste your chance for someone like me and Skits. We’ll just keep following ya’ll till you give in, not like you can get rid of me easy or even land a hit on ol Skitsy” Payne boasted. Rage chuckled a bit, if anything Payne certainly was interesting in terms of personality. “Well, I’m sure the others won’t mind, welcome to the Chronicles then!” Rage said. “He better not keep making holes.” Misery sneered. “Unfortunately there’s a bit of a problem here.” Thana interrupted. “My house was already cramped with the four of us in it. We’re not gonna be able to fit two more in so we’ll need a new base.” Thana pondered. Lobe stretched his smiling head over Thana’s shoulder, creeping her out a bit. “WELLLL Maybe we can rearrange our little deal from earlier. I’ll tell you what I’ll do, that 800 myg? 400 now. That's right I slashed it in half! Why? because yours truly happens to have a large plot of land that can be available to YOUR, Yes YOUR TEAM as a new base location! Seems like a fair deal don’t it?” Lobe laughed. “Actually yeah” Misery responded unenthusiastically. “Sanity Hills is a very versatile location. It's northern so that's great for me, and it's not too far from any of the other territories. Personally I’m not liking this warm southern weather.” Misery commented. “Misery has a point, if we’re closer to all the territories there than we were at Reaper’s Village it’ll be easier for us to reach more emotibeasts faster. And with an expanded team we can separate into multiple groups.” Fionn summarized.

It was decided, Sanity Hills would be the new home of the Chronicles. A new plan was set into motion that would involve the gang splitting into two groups. One team was led by Thana and followed by Lobe and Rage. They were to head back to Reaper’s village to pick up everyone’s things and transport them to Lobe’s home for the time being. Their group would be reaching Sanity Hills first as Lobe stressed it was important they reach there fast. The other team would be led by Misery followed by Payne, Skits, and Fionn. They were to go back to Misery’s own home in the Zanphonite Mountains. Misery knew a good carpenter who would be willing to lend some supplies like nails and stones. Luckily with Payne around they wouldn’t be needing any tools thanks to painequin morphing. The two teams wished each other the best of luck as they parted ways. Misery’s team left at midnight to make good time while Thana’s team set out during the next morning. Thana’s team had a somewhat uneventful trek through the Sands of Isolation. There were a few times where it felt like something was watching them, but it usually turned out to be just a wild critter passing through. Once they reached Reaper’s village something seemed to be happening near the center of the ground. A lot of people seemed to be in a lot of commotion over something, further inspection revealed two grimhooks with cracked bones slowly recovering from their injuries. 

“What happened here???” Thana asked one of the townspeople. “Oh you missed it, there was an armorient, it was looking all around the village for someone, though I’m not sure who on earth would warrant him to travel all the way from the silent mountains. It’s not a grimhook he’s after yet he’s still rummaging through the village.” The grimhook woman explained. “You mean he’s still around??” Thana asked with worry. She turned to Rage and Lobe who both seemed to share the same hunch. “I’m really getting tired of this “being hunted” thing Thana'' Rage pouted. They all rushed back to Thana’s house and luckily it seemed the armorient had not visited it just yet. Thana grabbed all she could and tied it up in a sack while Lobe enlarged his hand to grab another big pile of stuff to carry. Rage grabbed a stick. That's all he felt he needed. 

“Rage you...you realize that's just a stick right??” Thana asked. “Hey, I’m just bringing a snack to calm me down” He retorted. “I’m not gonna address that'' Thana responded as she finished packing the last of their belongings. “So this armorient thing is a big deal right?? I think I heard about them once in the Magmakor alleys. I heard they’re covered in armor all over and that it can even withstand the fires from sekevils.” “Yep! And that's why you’ll probably lose if this one decides to go after you little guy. Trust me I know from experience, Armorients are no joke! They’re fast, silent, and tough! Pretty much a perfect hunter. So we best be skedaddling!” Lobe announced. 

The group of three set out on the second part of their journey, and just when it seemed like they were gonna get going without any trouble, the sky grew dark and then rain followed. Black stormy clouds pelted down with hard droplets of water that were making puddles in no time. It was even worse once the team reached the Sands of Isolation again. All the rain was making the sand wet and sticky, and the harsh winds from the desert were just pelting everyone’s eyes to the point they could hardly see anything other than wet blurs. Despite this, Rage felt something else was very wrong, like there were daggers aimed at the back of his neck. Lobe felt it too. 

“The armorient is here.” Lobe whispered. “What?? Already? How on earth did they track us so fast…” Thana said as she tried looking around for the armorient, yet the rain continued to blind her. “It’s likely they saw us back at Reaper’s Village, but didn’t want to attract any attention, so they confronted us here where bodies disappear all the time..” Lobe concluded. “Guys this ain’t good” Rage added. He tried to sputter even a spark from his hands or mouth, nothing. “Between this rain and this wind, I can’t start a flame, even the weather’s on their side”.  Lobe reached around for Rage and held him close to his side. “I think it's in everyone’ best interest if you stick with someone who has armorient experience.” Lobe explained. “You beat one of these things???” Rage asked. “Well no, but I used to work with one, so I have some idea how they operate. It's important we stay close to each other's backs, that way we have no blindspots.” Lobe instructed. “That’ll be hard to pull off if we can’t see to begin with because of this rain.” Thana critiqued. In response Lobe morphed his hair into a large umbrella hat to cast over everyone and give them time to wipe the rain from their eyes. “Now for the final step...Look for the giant bug mime.”