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Goblin Queen [Worm/Exalted] [Crosspost]

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A wild Teaser~ shows up!​

It was vexing, and yet... curiosity ate at me me. It didn't make sense, it was clear that he knew. That he could easily take advantage of that knowledge, given who he was; Lung. That very same curiosity compelled me to come to him at night, to where he and his followers had set up camp on the beach.
 
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    • - - - Tanuki are typing.... Please wait warmly. - - -​


    Somewhere along the line, there was a disconnect. And for the life of me, I wasn't sure where said disconnect was... only that introspective thoughts would result in... me needing to dodge techniques like a flying knee strike to my face.

    Or at least a sharp twist of my body as I stepped away from the projected motion of Ken... no... Lung's rising knee with my forearms held up high enough to deflect his forward motion.

    Somewhere in the sequence of encounters narratively, something had gone wrong. Horribly wrong even, given that I was fighting with Lung one on one at night. And yet, it felt... right that I was fighting him at night. That this was meant to be.

    It might have been that brief encounter that I had with at that really good Japanese restaurant that I had fantastic pasta at.

    Lost in my thoughts and recollection, he nearly managed to pierce my defensive stance with a straight punch that was telegraphed with a drawing back motion and wide stance that was almost a textbook practice technique.

    Perhaps it was those other brief encounters at the Leviathan battle and my patrol with Beefcake... I mused to myself as I locked myself against his forearm before I twisted my body up and over it and slammed my knee against his face.

    A face that didn't shift from the impact, despite the force behind my kick.

    "Girl. I almost felt that. Try harder."

    There was a snort from him before he twisted his face away from me before slamming his cheek against my knee. By reflex, I released my hold on his forearm and allowed the force from his face to launch me away from him.

    As I landed on the sand, my thoughts drifted as my body skittered and drifted on the soft beach sand. It was quite possible that it had been when I had met Lung once more without a mask. When I spoke to him as a girl complaining about the actions of her father to him as someone who labored alongside her.

    The fact that he had invited me to play as we finished up had been odd and certainly unexpected... even when Ken had simply smiled before holding up a finger around which flames crawled, I could not believe what he had implied with his words. He knew what I was, and quite likely the identity of the masks I wore. Or at least a specific mask.

    It was vexing, and yet... curiosity ate at me. It didn't make sense, it was clear that he knew. That he could easily take advantage of that knowledge, given who he was; Lung. After all, the tattoos on his back announced his allegiance. More, he was an asian pryokinetic, there was a total sum of one cape who had that power and was asian. At least, in Brockton Bay.

    That very same curiosity compelled me to come to him at night, to where he and his followers had set up camp on the beach. We had gotten to talking about assorted things, such as how my experience as a cape had been. About what it had been to be treated with respect by the members of the Triumvirate.

    It was nice being treated as an equal by Lung. He didn't speak to me as if I was anything different, special, worrying, or [annoying]. I was simply me, granted, he called me a girl, but then, he had also called his... women of ill-repute, girls as well... so, it likely was a thing with him. Granted, I could give him a name to call me by, but that would change the dynamics of our conversation.

    His retaliation to my kneeing attack was a series of clawing attacks as he chased after me across the beach in a motion that was light enough to leave few traces in the sand. In and of themselves, they were simple clawing motions with his hands, darting out and then swapping down or to the side... if one were to break down their motions. The only problem was that they were far faster than one would expect from a man with Lung's mass.

    More worrying was the way fire flickered and flared behind his clawing strikes to create a surging wave of fiery clawed hands that reached for me... to incinerate my throat, to tear out my heart, to gouge out my eyes. All of this was clear to me as I took in the fullness of his strikes blazing bright in the darkness of night, as the heat from his heart reached for me.

    If I didn't know any better I would have sworn that the attacks had been chained together with a charm designed to strike multiple times within the span of a single moment.

    My eyes darted up and down briefly. More importantly, I looked inside myself and reached within my soul... and twisted the world around the treasure that lay in the depths of my soul. Precious motes of essence flared within my mind and soul.

    For a single timeless moment, the world and I could see. If I stayed still, my defeat was assured. I wouldn't die, no. The attack essayed by Lung wouldn't kill me, just hurt me and deal me a crushing defeat. I could see the progression from there, possibilities of joining him, of fighting him to the death as I reacted poorly to the defeat... or at least clawing out a victory.... and all it would take was for me to bring in my countless army of insects.

    Or... I could move just so.

    I stepped forward into his attack, twisting around his clawing motions, the heat blossoming on my face as I closed my eyes against the brilliance of his flames.

    Surrounded by his arms, there was a moment of not quite intimacy as the heat from his attack fluttered my shirt as I kept my arms folded in front of my body, ready to push away his arm. But that wasn't why they were positioned the way they were.

    I turned my head to look at him, a smile on my lips. It was clear from the resigned look on his face that he knew what was about to come. Essence flared from my heart and pulsed up to my shoulders, and down my legs as I found a stable footing while my elbow lashed out at his chest.

    The impact was simple, the force behind it... not so much as essence lent me a certain might beyond normal human capability.

    "That was an excellent strike, girl." He nodded at me as he stomped on the sand to stop his backward motion. "But you're still distracted."

    "I'm just confused at why you invited me here tonight." I kept a careful eye on him as we circled closer once more. I could hear the crackling flames from the fire pit that Lung's women had been seated by. That there was silence from them and his other followers didn't matter to me. All that mattered was their intent.

    "Was it not obvious, girl?"

    I could feel their fear and wonder, but there was no indication of an attack. They seemed content to observe the fight.

    "You need worthy challenges."

    "What?" What he said had me blinking owlishly at him.

    "Join me and I will ensure that you need never go without a worthy challenge." I had to admit that it was tempting to yield to him, he had a certain presence as he looked at me with the shadows from the fire shifting on his face.

    I stopped and thought about it. Truly thought about what Lung could offer me and yet I could not betray my liege like this. "You do know that I have someone I already call a master, yes?"

    There was a snort, and a moment of silence from him before he replied. "Coil is too much of a coward to give you what you need, he plays things too safe."

    ".... how?" I could only look at him in shock. "How did..."

    "It was obvious. You are not part of my gang, the Empire, the Merchants, nor the Wards and the Protectorate." He twisted his neck with an impressive sounding crack as he listed out the reason why it was obvious. "Even if you are part of the Undersiders, you said master... and previously mentioned an employer. Which means that you belonged to Coil."

    "That's kind of a stre..." He simply shook his head at my attempt of a defense.

    There was a look of disappointment as he continued. "Girl, there is no need to try and pretend."

    "I will say this again, girl." He looked at me once more. "Join me, and I will give you the challenges you desire and need. For I intent to take this world and make it mine."

    "I... I will need to think about this."

    - - -
    Goblin Queen | One Mountain, Two Tigers
    Worm / Exalted
    - - -​
     
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    • The answer is no. But none of the gangs are the same. Heck, the empire has more capes as is.

    But the ABB still does illegal stuff like drug dealing, prostitution, loan sharking, and so on alongside its more legal stuff like owning casinos, being in real estate....
     
    Kenta has an odd way of expressing his romantic feelings.

    Next I expect to see him leaving corpses of Empire goons at her doorstep.
     
    Vodajo said:
    Alright then. Thanks! Taylor! Rip that stupid dragon's face off! :p:p
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    Hahahahaha... ish dat soh?

    Seclorum said:
    Kenta has an odd way of expressing his romantic feelings.

    Next I expect to see him leaving corpses of Empire goons at her doorstep.
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    He wants a tinker in his gang... and Taylor is a nice tinker... ^_^

    SwiftRosenthal said:
    Unbeknownst to me, I did in fact have a sign on my porch saying "Dead Nazi Storage".
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    Fuhuhuhuhuhu~

    ShinSpark said:
    My dear typing Tanuki, could it be that you meant 'intend'.
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    Auuuu..... yesh...
     
    ​


    A wild Teaser~ shows up!​

    I... was upset and confused.

    This was a state that was unacceptable, simply unacceptable to me. I could withstand being upset. Certainly, I stood up well against confusion. But both at once was something I could not abide.
     
    SwiftRosenthal said:
    Unbeknownst to me, I did in fact have a sign on my porch saying "Dead Nazi Storage".
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    "I don't need you to tell me how fucking good my tea is, okay? I'm the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Lisa goes shopping, she buys SHIT. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But you know what's on my mind right now? It ain't the tea in my kitchen. It's the dead Nazi, in my garage!"

    "Oh, Taylor, don't even worry about-" "No no, don't think about anything, I wanna ask you a question. When you came pulling in here, did you notice the sign on the front of my house that said 'Dead Nazi Storage'?"

    "Yes Taylor, I did, that's-" "DID YOU NOTICE- wait what?"

    "There's a sign that says 'Dead Nazi Storage' right there on your porch, see?"

    "...huh"
     
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    ah "Those Who Insanely Love Books Say, 'Paper Is Always With Us'". One of my favorite Taku Iwasaki pieces.

    Glad to see some appreciation for his quieter tracks, oh flufftastic one.

    Also, I'm kinda sad his penchant for incredibly long song titles has waned as of late...
     
    SuaveIV said:
    ah "Those Who Insanely Love Books Say, 'Paper Is Always With Us'". One of my favorite Taku Iwasaki pieces.

    Glad to see some appreciation for his quieter tracks, oh flufftastic one.

    Also, I'm kinda sad his penchant for incredibly long song titles has waned as of late...
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    Read or Die had nice music
     
    Tanuki is typing still. But here's a teaser... from what might be the most lewd chapter of Goblin Queen yet....

    A wild Teaser~ shows up!​

    Which was a sharp contrast to the wholesome protective big brother image that Brian had. I had noticed the way he would clam up when discussions about our normal life, or rather our respective family situations. And yet, there was that something about him that made me think thoughts that went along the lines of if I had a big brother like him... I would totally understand the brocon thing that showed up in certain stories and comics.

    This was helped, admittedly, by the six-pack belly he had, those sharply defined muscles, and a butt that I could look at all day long...

    Something that Lisa had caught me doing more than once. She would smirk at me every time I did so.
     
    Biigoh said:
    Tanuki is typing still. But here's a teaser... from what might be the most lewd chapter of Goblin Queen yet....

    A wild Teaser~ shows up!​

    Which was a sharp contrast to the wholesome protective big brother image that Brian had. I had noticed the way he would clam up when discussions about our normal life, or rather our respective family situations. And yet, there was that something about him that made me think thoughts that went along the lines of if I had a big brother like him... I would totally understand the brocon thing that showed up in certain stories and comics.

    This was helped, admittedly, by the six-pack belly he had, those sharply defined muscles, and a butt that I could look at all day long...

    Something that Lisa had caught me doing more than once. She would smirk at me every time I did so.
    Click to expand...
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    Jedi dog is still ready for new chapter... and bacon
     
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    • ​


    - - - Tanuki are typing... Please wait warmly. - - -​

    I... was upset and confused.

    This was a state that was most vexing and worse, unacceptable, simply unacceptable to me. I could withstand being upset. Certainly, I stood up well against confusion. But both at once was something I could not abide.

    Both states were things which stemmed from a lack of knowledge.

    Thus, I did what I always did when faced with that dreadful certainty that I didn't know something. I researched, gathered up precious points of data. This was something I was quite used to. Certainly, it would seem to not be so to my avid readers on the ParaHumans Online forum in the Creative Writing subforum.

    I could even heard them cry out now... as if in disbelief at the amount of research I put into my works of fanciful fiction. Just to write my tales the way I did. It was one of the reasons, after all, that Lisa called me the enemy of all who write. I took absolute care to ensure that the subject matter I wrote about held an air of legitimacy by virtue of holding knowledge within it that lesser works did not and, indeed, could not possess.

    Still, to do proper research, one requires an environment conductive to such.

    In the past, I made full use of the public library. From actual books, laden with information and datum, to the very depths of cyberspace, where nothing was ever truly lost... I devoured knowledge. What some might call useless trivial knowledge. It was all information to be acquired for the purpose of writing my stories.

    There would be those who would argue that I should acquire knowledge to enrich my life with the wisdom of the ages, but the truth was I acquired all that information to enrich my tales and flights of fancy... and in turn, with that narrative strength, I could better word what I desired to do mentally and thus the very world was made a better place.

    Why else would I spin my tales?

    And yet, the public library was currently off limits to me. There had been concerns raised regarding the structural integrity of the various libraries across the city, a result of the collapse of the majority of the city into the sinkhole that had once been its source of water. A crater that mirrored the aquifer that had once lain beneath the city. There was also the matter of it being late at night and thus the library would also have been closed normally.

    I could do my research in the lair of the Undersides. Certainly, the others had made it their home. And yet, I would have no privacy. Worse, Lisa would know that I had yet another cape sniffing after me. I would never hear the end of it.

    Granted, what I had seen of Lung only made me more intrigued.

    He was intelligent. How else had he simply chained together what I had said and come up with the identity of my liege?

    He was strong. Anyone willing and capable of fist-fighting an Endbringer toe to toe, face to face, could only be considered to be strong.

    More than that, he had a certain forceful personality that matched his dashing good looks. That smile full of fangs, the delicate curve of the claws that graced his hands, the wings on his back... Then there was the quadruped centuar lower body where the muscles beneath burnished silver scales flexed in glorious motion.

    It... it made me want to simply mount him and ride him long and hard while he was being all aggressive and going "Imma dragon! Fear meee!" as we charged our enemies and I waved my sword while going "Get me closer, I want to hit them with my sword!".

    That was just part of his wild bad boy charm.

    Which was a sharp contrast to the wholesome protective big brother image that Brian had. I had noticed the way he would clam up when discussions about our normal life, or rather our respective family situations. And yet, there was that something about him that made me think thoughts that went along the lines of if I had a big brother like him... I would totally understand the brocon thing that showed up in certain stories and comics.

    This was helped, admittedly, by the six-pack belly he had, those sharply defined muscles, and a butt that I could look at all day long...

    Something that Lisa had caught me doing more than once and had resulted in a smirk from her afterwards. That knowing smirk.

    Unlike the easy going pretty boy attitude that Alec had. He was soft and effete, safe and yet he possessed that hint of quiet danger. That knowing look followed by a gentle smirk that spoke volumes of his knowledge of the impression he cast. The pretty bad boy, one who was laid back... I remembered the way he behaved around Vista and Dinah... like the fun big brother who would play with his younger 'sisters' and enable any mischief that they got up to.

    In a way, he was the dangerous version of a big brother, unlike the safe one that was Brian.

    With these kind of thoughts, it would be easy enough to claim that my mind was filled with nothing but lewdness regarding the guys I had met... but that's not quite true.

    The Undersiders had girls in it beyond me...

    Like Rachel, who I hadn't had much of a chance to interact with. She was gruff and seemed content to leave me be... and as such I returned the favor.

    Or Dinah who held a solid lock on the know it all bratty sister who stuck by Alec as much as possible.

    And then there was Lisa... the blonde that everyone thought I was dating for some reason. But I knew better, that was a cover. One that I, as a friend, was helping to maintain....

    After all, she was thick as thieves with my liege. I couldn't deny the way she hung out with my liege, and their explanation of them plotting and abusing the combination of their respective powers, made all the more potent with a choice selection of questions to Dinah. It was a good explanation and yet... it didn't hold water.

    After all, the two of them didn't need to be in their skin tight costumes as they rubbed their egos against each other and played about with their cunning plans and schemes ridden with contingencies, multiple redundancies, backstabbing betrayals and so much more. They really were Thinkers who enjoyed stimulating each other intellectually.

    And last, but not least, Madison. The cute and innocent-looking Madison who was just the right height to be kissed. The girl who was nice and soft, and bore the scent of apples and roses.

    Madison who tasted of cherries with her kisses. I wasn't sure what to do about that one. It was odd to know that someone liked liked me. Unlike Lisa who people thought liked liked me, but didn't, not really... at least not that way.

    And so I sat upon the woven branches of a tree, somewhere outside of Brockton Bay. The sounds of a healthy night life surrounded and serenaded me as I made sure with the senses of my insect selves that there were no humans or, at least, no intelligent life.

    With the coast quiet clear, I pulled out the one toy that would likely get me killed by Lisa should she ever find out about it. A single bar that I unfolded on both ends perpendicular to itself so that it resembled more a tetris Z block, before extending it's width to a comfortable typing size. Turning it on was simple enough and accomplished with a single tap on the softly glowing button on the side of the bar.

    And there was light in the darkness, as a keyboard and 'mouse' pad of light flickered and flared into existence from the lower bar, while the upper projected a screen for me.

    This was a simple computer that floated before me on very precisely aligned anti-grav crystals, and which allowed me to hook up to the internet from anywhere I was via Elsewhere. I had to admit its graphic interface was very much... liberated from my home computer. But then, it didn't need to do much, just allow me access to the internet at any time I wanted from anywhere I happened to be.

    It was a lack of knowledge that had caused me to stumble in my encounter with Lung, thus it was only fitting that I researched him... to acquire information I didn't have prior.

    My first stop, the ParaHumans Online wikipedia... and then after that, I would have to surf the digital seas for more information.

    - - -
    Goblin Queen | One More Time...
    Worm / Exalted
    - - -​

    What information I had gathered didn't reveal much. Certainly, his power was not in doubt. But everything I could find portrayed him as an unthinking Brute who used force to acquire things. And yet, my impression of him was that he was intelligent, dreadfully so. A fact that he had taken great pains to conceal, it appeared.

    And yet, the truly worrying thing wasn't him battling Leviathan when he could.

    Rather... there were hints that he had been held captive by the China Union Imperium and its Yàngbǎn parahuman forces. At least, he had been captured by them for some time. Parahumans did not leave China or the Yàngbǎn, and yet, here he was in America.

    More concerning was that incident in August oh'two where there was speculation of a double attack by Behemoth, one in Bogotá in Columbia. The other, very shortly afterwards, in China, as something smashed and burned its way out from an unmarked area near Shenyang before going on an eastward rampage. At least if one were to trust the satellite photos that certain conspiracy theorists hosted.

    Which left me with disturbing thoughts as the sun slowly rose in the east.

    Given that his strength wasn't in doubt, and that he was pretty smart... he clearly wanted me for my ability to craft much like how he had woo'ed Bakuda into his gang. He needed a Tinker, to go beyond what he had.

    The only question was... what to do.
     
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    • ah Rhakasha conflict-is-romance-because-it's-narratively-interesting* combined with a shard's conflict based reproduction ... yeesh, she really got a double whammy there didn't she?

    *edit: or am I confusing myself with changeling's True Fay?
     
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