Awesome Force 8: White Tombie Part 3

 

 Sylvia found that she could not remove her gaze from Morder's stare. There was complete silence as the two were locked in a contest of not blinking. Her breathing was fast and erratic while Morder's was slow and steady. His hand was still firmly clasped around her arm.

Suddenly she noticed his left eye squint a bit as his brow furrowed. He let go of her arm and reached his hand into his pocket. The grin on his face softened to a smile that showed teeth. "Did your husband offer you a piece of my candy? I am a confectioner by trade, and would be absolutely delighted to know your opinion of my treats."

Sylvia blinked a few times as she tried to understand what he was saying. "My husband? I'm not married," she replied.

"Oh, forgive me my dear. Are you not the madame of the house?"

Sylvia shook her head. She began to speak slowly in a confused manner. "No. This is my...cousin's home. I only stopped by to visit."

Morder's hand came out from his black overcoat holding a lollipop. "Would you like a lolli? This one is cherry flavored. However, I am working on expanding the available flavors."

Sylvia shook her head again. "I'm vegan. I don't eat anything without knowing what's in it."

Morder looked confused. "Forgive me. I am not familiar with Veega or the customs of your culture. Unless, are you from Las Vegas?"

"No," said Sylvia. "I currently live here in New Mitten. Vegan means that I don't eat anything made from animals or an animal's work."

Morder broke out into laughter. "That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard of. Besides, this is only a mixture of melted sugar and cherry flavoring. Please, take it. When you find the time I would gratefully appreciate your feedback."

Sylvia began to back off into the living room. "I'm sorry. I'm just not interested. You need to go. Please leave."

"What is the hurry mademoiselle?  Is the man of the house free? I would very much like to speak with him. Perhaps I may even meet his dear wife?"

Sylvia looked past Morder into the dining room. The five Thomases were all standing and staring into the living room. They weren't entirely motionless, but seemed to be very calm for toddlers given the events of the evening. Morder noticed her looking behind him, so he turned and placed the lollipop back into his pocket.

"Ah, yes! The young master Thomas." He moved over to the baby gate. " I am certain you enjoyed my Halloween treat." He stopped and looked over at the other Thomases standing there. "My word. I did not realize that Thomas had identical siblings. This must be a very busy home indeed." He reached down with a hand to pat the closest Thomas on the head.

"I wouldn't do that. He has a tendency to bite," said Sylvia. No sooner had she finished speaking than the Thomas snapped out at Morder's hand. Morder was able to quickly pull his hand back and he began to glare at the little one.

He then clasped his hands once again the same way he did in the doorway. His gaze grew large and intense. All of the Thomases straightened right up and began to stand completely motionless with an empty look to their faces and eyes. Sylvia could not see what Morder was doing. She did notice that the children were all acting strangely and started to walk towards them.

Morder lifted a hand to his chin and said, "Most interesting. Most unexpected. I must rework the form-..."

He turned to his side and noticed Sylvia approaching. "They are all brothers, are they not?" he asked.

Sylvia didn't know what to say. If she lied he might see through it. If she told the truth he might think her crazy. The situation with people turning into Thomas from a bite of a Thomas was certainly difficult on its own. There was clearly something off about Morder. Trying to handle him was apparently going to be more difficult than asking someone to leave. If he knew about the Thomas situation, there's no way of knowing how he might use it to his advantage.

"It's hard to say," came out of Sylvia's mouth. She realized this answer would only lead to more questions. She winced wishing she could go back in time. Or at the least stop it dead in its tracks.

Morder looked confused. "How do you mean? They all look very alike. Which is strange, because when I asked the man of the house how many children he had, the reply was that Thomas was the one and only."

"Well," said Sylvia before running out of anything further to say. She lifted her arms up and shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. There isn't a clear answer."

Morder turned back to the toddlers in the dining room. He studied them some more before asking, "How did this happen?"

Sylvia stumbled her words for an answer. There was nothing that she should say to this man any more. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. There was no notification for missed calls or messages. "What is taking Nathaniel so long?" she wondered in her head.

Two quick, but soft, coughs came out as she tried to clear her throat. "I could use a drink of water. Would you like a drink of water? Right this way. Let's go to the kitchen," she said. Sylvia didn't wait for Morder to answer, but turned hoping he would follow her around the hallway and into the kitchen.

"I am very well. There is no need for a drink for me. I will wait here," replied Morder.

"Oh, great," thought Sylvia to herself. At least she had some space away from him. Hopefully this would give her time to come up with a plan.

As she rounded the corner and entered the kitchen she began to feel uneasy about leaving Morder with the Thomases. She walked over to the baby gate on her side of the entrance to the dining room. The Thomases were all standing facing Morder. His hands were once again clasped in that strange arrangement. The look on his face was again wide eyed and intense. Sylvia started to call this his stupid look, but only to herself.

Morder's eyes moved as he locked Sylvia in his sights. He smiled at her, and then returned to his stupid glare. The Thomases all at once turned around, each spinning slowly to the right until they faced her. Slowly but with intent, arms down at their sides, they walked over to the baby gate in front of Sylvia. They were clearly in a trance and Sylvia looked up at Morder realizing he had some sort of control over them.

"Hmmm," came out in wonderment from Morder. "And how exactly is it, that they all have turned into the young master?" he asked.

Sylvia turned and saw her bottle of water still standing on the island in the kitchen. She moved over to grab it and started to twist the cap off. "What was that?" she asked.

"Do not lie to me. I am aware something is very off here this evening. How is it that there are so many little boys who all look the same?"

Sylvia turned to face him and brought the bottle of water to her mouth. She poured slowly, taking even slower gulps as she looked out across at Morder. She swallowed one last gulp, lowered the bottle, and just stared at Morder.

"Where are the parents. I insist that I speak with them this very moment."

Sylvia smacked her lips as her mind raced. She couldn't think of what to do. The water bottle wasn't completely empty. She took hold of it and launched it through the air across the dining room at Morder. He knocked the bottle down from the air and turned to his left. Sylvia turned down the hallway and ran making the turn into the living room. Morder was no longer there.

She stepped back and looked down the hallway. All the doors were open. She crept and peeked into the first room on the left. She flipped the light switch on and made her way to the closet. Slowly she reached and while stepping back as far as she could without losing grip on the door, she slid it open quickly. There was nothing there. She peered in again to make sure, but Morder certainly wasn't there.

She stepped back out into the hallway. The bathroom was the next room on the left. The light was still on here and the shower curtain was pulled back. She walked over to the door that led to the deck in the back where the hot tub was. The door was locked, so if Morder came out this way he had locked himself out of the house.

She turned and made to leave when she noticed the door to the basement across the hall. She opened it slowly, but the basement was pitch black. He couldn't be down there. She turned left, back into the hallway after shutting the basement door.

There on the left was the final room. She turned the light on and stepped in. There was nowhere here for Morder to hide. She made her way back out into the hallway, turned left and entered the kitchen. He was nowhere to be seen. Just then, she heard a door upstairs shut.

Running down the hall she slammed her shoulder into the doorway as she turned into the living room. She grabbed the railing to the stairs in the living room and swung around putting her front foot on the steps. She leapt three steps at a time up heading towards the shut door at the top of the stairs.

She stopped for a moment at the door. It had been a long time since she had been in a fight. Sylvia was trying to remember what she did the last time that worked. There weren't many options from what she remembered, and she wasn't sure that she was ready to potentially kill another human being. Even a human being as wicked as this Morder is.

She turned the knob and pushed through. There on the room to the right, where Anna and Matt slept, was Morder. He had opened the walk in closet and stepped in. "Come out if you are hiding! I may be able to help your son," said Morder.

He turned in time to see Sylvia and stepped out to confront her. "You need to leave. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you," she said.

Morder laughed and grabbed both her arms. "You can do nothing to stop me."

"I'll call the police," said Sylvia.

"That would be most ill advised," Morder replied.

Sylvia wasn't wearing her converse sneakers, but she kicked out with her right foot and caught Morder in his left shin. Morder let go of her arms and bent over in pain. He shrieked as he reached out with his hands and shoved Sylvia back. He started to limp quickly for the door.

Sylvia fell back onto the bed and forced her momentum to roll up onto her back and over with both feet landing on the floor. She ran over to Morder and grabbed his arm at the door. He turned and snarled at her. He reached back into his pocket. Sylvia had no idea what he might be pulling out. Panicked, she resorted to the only thing she could think of.

Her right pointer finger came out and pushed into Morder's chest. "Poke!" she called out.

Morder straightened up and looked at her. His face softened and Sylvia waited for his ultimate demise. She let go of his hand and stepped back hoping the damage to the roof wouldn't be too bad.

Nothing more happened. Morder was fine. He glared at her and said, "What is this?" He reached forward and poked her in the chest. "What is this poking? Do you take this all for a game?"

With that he shoved her back again. Sylvia tumbled once more and for the second time this evening the back of her head slammed hard into the ground. This time she took a little more time to get up as she rolled onto her knees. She shook her head but it wasn't helping. She'd be feeling this one for quite some time.

In the way that pain often does, the increased discomfort of her head reignited the still fresh throbbing of her shoulder. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. There were still no messages from Nathaniel. "I need to call him," thought Sylvia.

As she started to unlock her phone she looked up to see where Morder was. She stood up and made her way out of the bedroom. The bathroom on the right was small and she didn't see him in there. Across the hall was another bedroom, but the light was off. She turned to her left and opened the door down the stairs.

Morder was in front of the baby gate. He was bent down and started to fumble with latch. Sylvia jumped into action moving down the stairs as fast as her legs would take her. When she felt safe enough she launched herself off the steps and dove to tackle Morder. He stepped back and she slammed hard onto the ground.

She rolled onto her back and saw Morder grinning down at her. Sylvia turned to the baby gate and saw it swinging open. The Thomases were lined up and marching slowly through the gate. Morder placed a foot down upon her chest to hold her on the floor. Sylvia looked up at him to see his hands clasped in the manner he had several times before. She turned back the other way and saw the Thomases all fix their gaze on her. They moved forward with their arms out before them and their mouths open. Morder intended for them to bite her. "What am I going to do?" Sylvia thought to herself. 

Sm4sh Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Kornotex · Dungeon Of Dangers [Super Mario World Castle Fortress ULTIMATE Metal Remix]

 

Awesome Force 9: White Tombie Part 4 --> 

<-- Awesome Force 7, The New 5: White Tombie Part 2

Awesome Force 7, The New 5: White Tombie Part 2

 

 

Sylvia took a few steps back and looked around the living room rubbing her eyes. There were, for certain, three little Thomases where there should have only been one. The original was still jumping up and down on the sofa while the other two were on the floor covered in clothing that was much too large for them. The one in Anna's pile of clothes started crying and holding his arm where he had been bitten. The one in Matt's pile of clothes finally fought his way out and stood naked on the floor.

"Uh oh!" he shouted as a stream of urine started to hit the floor. "Sorry!".

Sylvia put her head in her heads and took a deep breath. She ran from room to room looking for some diapers when she found them in a room off the hallway. She had to go past the bathroom to get there which further reminded her that she needed to pee. There was no time for that right now. She grabbed two diapers and made her way as fast as possible back to the living room.

As she turned the corner she saw the Thomas on the sofa launching himself off of the sofa in an attempt tackle the other two on the floor. He didn't make it very far and crashed onto the coffee table, sliding forward across, and flipping off head over heels bowling over the others. There was now a pile of Thomases and clothing and urine.

Panicked, Sylvia ran to the group and started pulling bodies apart. One of the nude Thomases made a snap at her but she was quick enough to pull her hand away. She stood up and looked around spotting the dining room that sat between the living room and kitchen. Both entryways had baby gates that were currently open.

She ran through the dining room, which had been converted to a playroom for Thomas, dodging the toys and stuffed animals on the floor, and slammed the far gate shut. She then ran back and shut the one between the dining room and the living room. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, she saw that none of the Thomases were near her.

When Sylvia completely had turned around, there were only the two naked toddlers remaining.  The clothed Thomas had ran off somewhere in the house. Far off in a different room she heard loud crying. She ran over and grabbed one naked Thomas from behind under the armpits and stretched her arms out as far in front of her as she could. She made her way over to the baby gate and stepped inside the dining room. Laying the Thomas on the floor, which only lead to a struggle as the wormy body fought to stand up, Sylvia strapped on a diaper as fast as she could. It wasn't on as snug as it should be, but it would have to do.

Stepping back over the baby gate, she ran over to the other Thomas, snatching him up from behind and under the armpits, and laid him down on the coffee table. This Thomas gave just as much fight, but she was able to put the diaper on him. This diaper seemed to fit snugger which was quite the relief. She flipped this Thomas over, grabbed him under the armpits, and carried him over to the dining room where she placed him down over the baby gate.

She took a deep sigh and realized that she needed to clothe both the Thomases. Once again she turned down out of the living room and down the hallway. She was careful to look into each of the rooms to clear them before stepping in to look for clothes. The original Thomas had stopped crying and was nowhere to be seen. "Thomas! Are you in here? Are you ok?" called out Syliva.

She waited a moment, but there was no response that she could hear over the noise of the two Thomases in the dining room. The first room, to her left didn't turn up anything they could wear. She went back into the hallway past the bathroom, once again wishing she could stop and pee. She made her way into the second room on the left where there was another tv. This room was also empty of both the remaining Thomas and any clothes.

She turned back around and saw the washer and dryer in a closet across the hallway. Moving quickly, Sylvia opened the dryer door and was pleased to find that there was clothing in there. The first shirt she pulled out was small, and in the dark light she couldn't see what was on it. Given the size it had to be a piece of Thomas's clothing. She rummaged around until she found another shirt and two pairs of pants.

She turned into the kitchen, rounded the corner, and stepped over the gate into the dining room. Both of the Thomases ran at her and she stepped back tripping over the gate. Sylvia crashed down hard on the kitchen floor and let out a grunt. Looking up at the gate she saw the two Thomases reaching through the bars with clawing hands yelling "Grains! GRAINS!!".

Standing up and putting a hand on the back of her head, Sylvia looked around and saw various containers on the kitchen counter. She squinted and looked at a big, yellow box of cereal. The Cheerios box lid was up and the plastic bag inside was separated open. She grabbed the box of Cheerios and chucked it into the dining room. The two Thomases turned and ran for it giggling. They started to pick up little circles of oats and chew on them as they sat down on the ground.

Sylvia jumped back over the gate and grabbed one Thomas from behind. He immediately started to scream and wriggle in an attempt to get free. Snapping as his head shook back and forth, Sylvia kept him as far from her body as she could. She stepped over the baby gate back into the kitchen and placed Thomas down. She quickly threw the shirt over his head, pushed him gently back down onto the ground, and slipped a pair of pajama pants on. She picked him back up and dropped him gently on his feet on the other side of the gate.

His pants were inside out, and his shirt was inside out and backwards. "Oh, well" Sylvia thought to herself. "This will have to do." She jumped back over the gate and ran over to the other Thomas grabbing him from behind as well. This Thomas seemed to be calm and didn't make any fuss. She climbed over the gate, placed him down, and made a more careful effort to dress him appropriately. She then picked him up and placed him back over the gate into the dining room.

Sylvia leaned back against the counter and took a deep sigh. The dripping of water from the kitchen faucet caught her attention. She needed to pee, and holding it in wasn't going to be an option anymore. She moved forward, glanced around the corner of the kitchen into the hallway, and stopped to look and listen for anything.

It seemed safe enough to move, so she crept as quickly as she could trying to give herself some chance of running if the missing Thomas jumped out at her. Stopping at the door to the bathroom, Sylvia started to do the pee pee dance at the threshold. She reached in and turned the light on. She looked carefully into the room but didn't see Thomas there.

"Thomas. Are you in the bathroom?" she called out. There was no response, so she looked quickly to her left and her right. There was no movement or sound coming at her. She stepped in the bathroom, shut the door, and turned the lock. She had her pants unbuttoned and zipped in a flash and sat down on the toilet.

The relief she felt was great, as for the first time in she didn't know how long she felt a little safer and the tension ease. She put her head in her hand as she tried to process what was happening. She took slow, deliberately deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. Listening to the sound of her breathing, her mind started to clear a little. She asked herself, "What do I know?"

Firstly, she knew that a bite from Thomas turned you into Thomas. Secondly, she knew absolutely nothing. Placing her hand down on her lap she felt her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at the screen. "What do I do," she thought to herself, "when I don't know something?"

An idea came to her mind. She unlocked her phone and opened up the internet. She turned, as many people do, to Google for the answer. Typing in "why does Thomas's bite turn you into Thomas" she hit enter. There were 1,115,000 search results in (0.66 seconds). The first result had a link that read "What would have happened if Thomas let Newt bite him...". This clearly wasn't going to work.

"Seriously," said Sylvia in despair.

Her Apple Watch chimed in with the response, "I'm listening."

Sylvia hadn't even said Siri, but she figured she'd make the most of it. "Siri, who is the smartest person I know?"

"That would Nathaniel Wilburn."

Of course, Nathaniel was the smartest person she knew. If anyone could help her figure out what was going on, it had to be Nathaniel. "Siri, call Nathaniel."

The phone rang several times before Nathaniel answered. "HEY SYLVIA!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?", he shouted. There was loud music and people talking in the background.

"Nathaniel! I need your help!" She yelled into the phone.

"WHAT!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SELL YOU?!", came Nathaniel's voice loudly through.

"No, I don't need you to sell me anything! Can you go somewhere quieter?"

"YOU FOUND A SQUARE LIGHTER?! THAT'S GREAT! I'LL SEE YOU WHEN YOU GET TO THE IMOQ HALLOWEEN PARTY! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR SQUARE LIGHTER!" yelled Nahaniel. And then he hung up.

Sylvia let out a frustrated sigh and typed a text to Nathaniel saying "It's an emergency. I need your help!".

She wiped, pulled her pants and underwear up, flushed the toilet, and washed her hands. The phone started to ring and she answered. "Sylvia, what's wrong. Are you OK?"

"I'm ok, but I'm not. I don't know. It's crazy."

"What's going?"

"My nephew Thomas bit his dad. His dad turned into Thomas. Then the dad Thomas bit the mom and she became a Thomas, too. Are you following me?" asked Sylvia.

"Hold on. Thomas bit his dad, so his dad became Thomas's mom? And then Thomas's mom bit Thomas's mom, and she became Thomas's dad? Are you drunk? Because you're not old enough to drink and you shouldn't be doing that."

"No, Nathaniel. Thomas bit Matt. Matt turned into a second Thomas. Matt-Thomas then bit Anna and she turned into a Thomas. Now there are three little boys named Thomas. There is no Anna. There is no Matt. I don't understand what's going on. But I need to find a way to fix it.

"If I send you the address, do you think you could come help me?"

"I wish I could. I have no way to get there. I'm too young to drive and I don't have money for Uber."

"Where's Cal? Can't you ride him over?"

"No, he's out reenacting the headless horseman ride on Smarmington Ave with Tempopo. He's going to be a while. Can you come pick me up?"

"No, Nathaniel. How am I supposed to leave three toddlers all to themselves?"

"Can't you bring them with you?", asked Nathaniel.

"You want me to pack three toddlers who can bite people and turn them into toddlers into a car? I don't have three car seats. This isn't safe and I can't take that chance. I mean, I have no idea where the third Thomas is. Or the first Thomas, I guess. Please, help me!"

"This is confusing and crazy, Sylvia. Are you sure you're not on drugs?" asked Nathaniel.

"I'm positive! Please, just help me any way you can."

"Ok, Sylvia, hold on. Let me sit at my computer."

She heard clicking on a keyboard as Nathaniel's fast fingers went to work. "Ok, from what I see biting people and changing them is a common trope for vampires and zombies. It's quite possible that you're dealing with something related to one of the two."

"Ok, so what do I  do next?" pleaded Sylvia.

"That depends most likely on which of the two you are dealing with. If it's a vampire, then something like a stake to the heart, or garlic maybe will work. I'm not sure."

"I'm not going to kill toddlers, Nathaniel! What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just processing audibly. Let me think some more."

There was silence on the phone. Sylvia stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes started to get irritated and tear up as she refused to blink. "Nathaniel! Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm trying to figure out which situation you are most likely dealing with. Is there any drinking of blood? Or shouts for brains?"

"No blood. They have been shouting for trains and grains. That sort of sounds like brains."

"Ok, and can you see any reflections in mirrors?"

"I don't know. Playing mirror time at this moment doesn't seem like a great idea. What should I do?"

"Go grab one, and hold them in front of the mirror."

"Nathaniel, is that even a real thing? Are vampires a scientifically proven thing?"

"I don't know. It's just a shot in the dark while I try to come up with something better. Ok, if they're calling for trains and grains that resembles brains. Let me see here." There was more clicking of keys on the keyboard. "Has Thomas undergone any kind of experiment?"

"I can't say for certain. Nobody mentioned it, and I have to think it's not likely."

"Ok, has Thomas been feeling ill?"

"I don't know that either. It wasn't mentioned, but he did seem fine. And we were supposed to go trick-or-treating. If he wasn't feeling well, I doubt we'd be going out tonight."

"Ok, I have to look some more into this. Let me get off the phone so you can focus on staying safe. I'll come back to you when I find something."

"Fine, Nathaniel. But please hurry!" begged Sylvia as she hung up and put the phone away. Looking back up into the mirror she tried to steady herself more. She noticed the shower curtain moving in the reflection of the mirror and turned quickly around. She lifted her left hand up and grabbed the curtain pulling it to the side. There was nothing there out of the ordinary shower items.

It was time to face her current dilemma so she unlocked the door and stepped back out into the hallway. The doorbell rang and she thought to herself "who could that be?". Then it occurred to her, it is Halloween. There will be trick-or-treaters.

She turned to her right and then back to the left. The candy bowl was next to the front door. All she had to do was place the bowl outside and shut the door to keep the problems inside the house from getting outside. When the front door came into view she was able to see that it was already opening.

Thomas, the one fully dressed, had ran over from wherever he had been hiding and turned the knob pulling it open. Outside was a man and his young child who was dressed as the Incredible Hulk with an angry green mask. Thomas was frightened and gave out a loud shriek. He then dove forward and bit the Hulk causing a commotion outside. The man stepped forward and tried to pull Thomas off of his child. Sylvia ran over to help.

"What's wrong with your kid, lady? Keep him on a leash!"

Sylvia started to apologize. Thomas looked up at the man who held his shirt clenched in a fist. A second bite came and the man yelled. Realizing the attention this would bring if anyone was watching, Sylvia grabbed Thomas and pushed him back in the house. She then grabbed the Hulk and did the same. Turning back around, the man was another Thomas now who was swimming in the man's clothing.

She grabbed this last Thomas up in the pile of clothes and stepped back inside slamming the door shut. She dropped the Thomas in her arms over the baby gate and turned in time to see the original Thomas running at her. She side stepped him, grabbed him from behind and placed him over the gate into the dining room. That left one more Thomas. She turned to see the Hulk sitting on the floor and ripping the mask off.

The clothing was a little too big for this Thomas, but not enough to completely engulf him. He was sitting on the floor crying. She snatched him up and placed him, too, over into the dining room.

Sylvia was in complete despair now. It was one thing to have Anna, Thomas, and Matt involved in this mess. It was quite another to have strangers getting involved. She pulled her phone out and checked to see if Nathaniel had called or written. There were no missed calls, and no new text messages.

Sylvia looked into the dining room at the growing number of Thomases. Thankfully, they were getting along and not fighting amongst themselves. She noticed the Thomas that was nestled in the pile of clothes of the man and realized she needed a diaper and clothes.

Heading back down the hallway she grabbed a diaper from the room they were kept in, and another set of clothes from the dryer. She threw everything down onto couch and made her way over to the baby gate. All five Thomases looked up at her. Some giggled. The others made no noise whatsoever. She realized she couldn't just walk in amongst them and dress the naked Thomas. Pointing to the center of the room where the box of Cheerios still lay she said, "Look. Grains."

They all turned and saw the Cheerios. The group moved in a frenzied pace and attacked the cereal. Sylvia stepped over the gate, grabbed the Thomas that was once a man, and stepped back over the gate into the living room. She laid the Thomas down on the coffee table, put the diaper on, and stood this Thomas up. She quickly grabbed the shirt and slid it over Thomas's head. She didn't pull it all the way down so that he couldn't see. She lifted him, and pulled the pants on. Then she slid his shirt the rest of the way down and moved quickly to drop him back over the baby gate.

She checked her phone again, but there was still no word from Nathaniel. The doorbell rang once again. "Oh great," she thought to herself. There were still trick-or-treaters to deal with. She walked over to the front door and picked up the bowl of candy. This time, she was going to place the bowl out onto the steps and let the people figure it out for themselves.

As she opened the door she startled and stepped back. There standing in the doorway was a man with bushy eyebrows, a short mustache just under either side of his nose, and two strips of hair coming down either side of his chin. His eyes stared intensely at her as he held his hands clasped one in the other, with his right hand palm and thumb pointing up while his left hand palm and thumb were pointing down.

"Good evening. My name is Morder Legenda. I just moved in across the street. I believe I met your husband and son earlier today. Is everything all right?" he asked.

Sylvia struggled to break her gaze away from the man. She tried to speak, but found herself only stuttering. He reached forward and grabbed her left arm with his right hand. Sylvia moved back but Morder stepped in after her, never breaking his hold. He used his foot to kick the door shut behind him.

"Aren't you a trifle afraid, madame?" he asked as a smirk grew on his face. His grip on Sylvia's arm tightened as all she could do was take a gulp. 

Joshua Aldama · Halloween Songs - Scary Music - Evil Theme

 

 

 <-- Awesome Force 6, The New 4: White Tombie Part 1

 

Awesome Force 8: White Tombie Part 3 --> 

 

 

Awesome Force 6, The New 4: White Tombie Part 1

A burly man with long black hair and a bushy beard looked down at the bowl of candy sitting by the front door. His eyes scanned the delicacies wrapped in Halloween themed wrappers looking for just the right morsel of sugar to feed his ever growing sweet tooth. A bright yellow wrapper containing two sour flavored Starburst chews became his target. Reaching down with his beefy right arm, he delicately plucked the small packet of candy with powerful fingers that in this motion looked more dressed for show than their usual work related action of heating and beating.

With a quick tear the innards of the packet were revealed. Two sour blue raspberry squares appeared and he gave out a sigh as the choice of two possible flavors was denied him by Urðr. Unwrapping the first square, he popped it into his mouth and turned into the living room, painted a dark red, where his toddler son named Thomas was jumping on the sofa. "Be careful so you don't fall", he said to the little blonde haired boy who could only giggle and jump harder.

Walking over to the fireplace, he stopped and looked at the small anvil seated on the mantel which brought back thoughts of his wedding day. The anvil had sat atop the altar during the ceremony as the blacksmithing tradition called for. Savoring the sour flavor in his mouth he called out to the kitchen with a smile on his face, "Hey Hon! You think I should start a fire? It'll be chilly by the time we get back!'

"No Matt," came a voice from afar. "We can start one when we come back. How are we gonna leave a fire when we'll be out trick-or-treating?"

"Good call. Not sure why I didn't think of that. What time is Sylvia going to be here?" he asked and resumed chewing.

"She should be here soon. She said she was fifteen minutes away. That had to be like ten minutes ago." Anna came walking into living room with a wad of paper towels to dry her hands. She looked over to Thomas and asked, "Are you excited? We're going to go trick-or-treating. And Sylvia made you a costume. You're going to be a train for Halloween."

"TRAINS!" screamed Thomas as loud as he could. He then moved in his mother's direction and made to jump off the couch and tackle her. Anna quickly moved forward and caught him.

"Thomas you can't do that! You're going to get hurt," she scolded him as he giggled loudly. Thomas mushed his face forward and bit his mother. "OUCH! Thomas, you can't bite people. It's not nice".

"Yeah, he's still doing that." said Matt. "Almost got me like three times tonight. He's quick, but you gotta be quicker."

Matt walked over and picked Thomas up. In a deeper grizzly voice he said "Biting is for food! Mommy is not food! GRRRRRR!"  He pressed his face into Thomas' stomach and made like he was biting into him.

Thomas giggled and said "Mommy, food!"

The doorbell rang and Anna moved to open the door. There on the front stoop was Sylvia holding Thomas' train costume in both her hands. She was taller now than when we last had heard of her at the end of the secret Snowman Wars. She looked down at Anna and apologetically said, "Sorry if I'm late. I was just making some final checks on the train costume".

"No problem, Sylvia. How are you doing? Come on in", said Anna and stepped aside to let her cousin in. Sylvia walked in and set the train costume on the floor. She looked over to Matt and Thomas and waved.

"Hi. How are you guys doing?" She asked.

"We're all right," replied Matt. "Thomas bit Anna, so be careful when you're near him. He's likely to snap at you."

"That's not good. Thanks for the heads up". Matt put Thomas down and Sylvia moved over to him. She bent down and looked at him. He stared back with a smile on his face. "Do you know what you're going to be for Halloween?" she asked him.

"Snowman!" shouted Thomas. Sylvia's face turned serious.

"No, not a snowman. That's too scary a costume for you just yet. I made you a train costume," she said.

Matt started to laugh ironically. "What's scary about a snowman?"

"Oh, I don't know," replied Sylvia quickly. "I've been having snowman nightmares lately. It's weird." She turned and walked away towards the kitchen. "Could I have something to drink?"

"Sure!" said Anna. The three others followed after Sylvia to join her. "You want some tea or juice?"

"No thanks. Water will be fine. So what's new with you guys?" asked Sylvia hoping to get off the subject of snowmen as quickly as possible.

"Not much. Just work and taking care of Thomas." replied Anna. They gathered around the small island in the kitchen with a metal rack hanging overhead to keep the pots and pans.  Sylvia stooped down so she could look at every one. She wondered if they were still thinking about her snowman comment. It wasn't the kind of thing she wanted to get into at the moment.

Anna moved over to the cabinets and pulled out a tall glass. She then moved over to the side door of the house which led out towards the garage. There on the floor was an opened 24 pack of water. She pulled out a bottle and moved back towards Sylvia. "Do you want a glass? Or just the bottle?"

Sylvia reached for the bottle and said, "The bottle's fine. Sorry, I should have told you not to grab the glass."

"No, I should have asked if you wanted a glass. So what's new with you?"

"Just work and school. I'm glad I could get the costume finished. I was worried I wouldn't have the time."

"We appreciate it. But by all means, focus on your schoolwork. That's more important," said Matt.

"I know," she replied. "School comes first. But I was really excited to get this done. I had been thinking about it for a while now."

Matt lifted his hand still holding the packet of Starburst now containing just the one chew. "Would you like a Starburst? It's sour blue raspberry."

"No, not right now. Thanks," answered Sylvia.

"Ok. There's a bowl of candy by the front door if you want something. Help yourself," said Matt as he unwrapped the chew and popped it into his mouth.

"Are there any Sour Patch Kids? I like those," said Sylvia.

Matt nodded his head and said, "Yeah, there are a lot of chewy candies. Not everyone likes chocolate so we tried to get a good selection of sweets."

Anna's face brightened up as she said, "Speaking of candy. Tell Sylvia about our new neighbor."

Matt's eyes got wide as he nodded again. "Talk about weird. Something just seems off about him."

Sylvia chuckled, glad that no one was asking her about snowmen. "What happened?"

"So, he was outside, just across the street. Thomas and I were out front making sure the lights work. We don't want anyone tripping on the way to the front door. Thomas started shouting and pointing towards the street. I look out, and this guy is just standing at the edge of his yard looking at us with this intense stare.

"He's got this pointy widow's peak. And these thick bushy eyes. They look like those drawings people make of birds flying, but it's just a line that curves for the wing. And the other side looks like it's mirrored. Then he has these two small sections of mustache. He trims it like that, and the same with his beard. Instead of a full goatee coming off his chin, he just has two patches on the ends of his chin. The middle is completely bare." Matt had demonstrated with his hands where the mustache and beard were as he described the neighbor. He touched one finger just above the right side of his lip, and then the left. He did the same tracing the right side of his chin, then the left. He placed his finger vertically in the center of his chin making sure to touch the bottom of his lip to demonstrate the bare patch.

"He's got a bit of an accent, so I didn't quite catch his name. I think he said it's Morty."

"Matt. You have to pay attention to people. What are you going to call him next time you see him?" asked Anna.

"I don't know. I'd be ok not speaking to him again. I got a weird vibe off of him.

"Anyways, he invites us over. So, I felt like I needed to go. I picked Thomas up and crossed the street to make our introductions. He's got some sweet decorations over there. The typical plastic and animatronic, motion activated decorations. But he also has some really good LED lights going on over there. A real light show with music."

"I saw that," said Sylvia. " I'll have to check it out when we go over".

"So," began Matt again, "he says he's really looking forward to this Halloween. He's new to the area. He makes candy and he hands it out for Halloween. When he moves to a new neighborhood he looks forward to seeing what people think of his candies. And this year he's got a new recipe he's trying. He offers me a piece so I take it. He gives one to Thomas, too. He then offers a few more and asks me to have my friends and family try it."

"I still can't believe you ate it. You don't know what's in it," said Anna.

"Well, I had to."

"What do you mean you had to?" asked Anna.

"I didn't want to tell you. Before I had a chance to take the candy away from Thomas, he had the wrapper off and ate it."

"MATT! You don't know what's in it. What if Thomas gets sick?"

"Well, that's why I opened a piece up and ate it, too. I figured if Thomas was in for a ride, then so was I."

Anna glared at Matt with her mouth open. She shook her head. He shuffled around in his pocket and pulled two flat, long sticks of candy. "Here, try one, too. What was I supposed to do? Thomas already ate one," he said. "They're kind of like the Softees your parents buy for him."

Apprehensively, Anna reach out and took one. Sylvia took one as well, "I'm not sure if it's Vegan, but I'll take it for now. I'll ask him about what's in it when I see him," Sylvia said.

Anna opened up her stick and took a small bite. She chewed it slowly and pondered. "It tastes very good. I just hope there's nothing weird in it. What if he's making weed candy?"

"I'm fine. So is Thomas. And this was well over an hour ago. If there were something off about the candy I'm sure we'd start seeing it by now. And who calls it weed candy?" He saw he couldn't win this argument so he picked Thomas up and turned. "Come on, let's get him dressed to go out".

Sylvia placed her candy in her pocket, and opened her bottle. She took a sip as Anna placed her opened candy down and turned to wash her hands in the sink. "You need to start paying better attention to Thomas. He can't be eating things when you're not looking," Anna said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know he would open it so soon. I won't let him have candy in his hands if he can't eat it from now on." Matt called back behind him.

"TRAINS!" yelled Thomas and started to giggle.

"I'll be right there. Let me finish washing my hands," called out Anna after them.

Sylvia cleared her throat and twisted the cap shut on her water bottle. "I don't know if he'll understand how to get down and hold the position to look like a train. It's kind of like a Transformers get-up, if you understand."

They heard a shout from the other room. "Ouch! Thomas! Stop biting people! It's not funny!" yelled Matt as Thomas giggled.

"We'll give it a shot. As long as we can keep him in it long enough to take some photos. That's what we really want," said Anna.

She started to head towards the living room. Sylvia called to her, "I'm just going to go to the bathroom. I'll be right there."

"Ok," said Anna as she walked off towards the living room and Sylvia started down the hall for the bathroom. "Thomas, it's not nice to bite. We're not going to do fun things like dress up for Halloween if you're going to bite people." Sylvia heard Anna's voice trail off as they moved in separate directions. Then there was another yell. This shriek was louder and different than Matt's when Thomas bit him.

Sylvia ran over to the living room and looked at Anna. She had backed up into the corner and was hyperventilating. Sylvia asked her "What's wrong?"

"Th-Tho-Thomas," she said and pointed. Sylvia looked to the couch and saw Thomas bouncing around on it. He looked fine. She was about to say so when she caught a movement in the corner of her eye. She turned and looked. There, swimming in the clothes Matt had been wearing, was another boy that looked just like Thomas. He was trying to move but kept falling over in the cumbersome pile of clothes he couldn't get out of.

"Where's Matt?" asked Sylvia. Her eyes grew wide as Anna pointed at the other Thomas.

"That has to be him." She moved over and picked up the second Thomas. "Look, he's even got a bite mark on his arm."

Sylvia moved closer to look. The second Thomas in Anna's arms yelled "TRAINS!" and bit her on the arm. Sylvia stopped dead in her tracks and blinked. She blinked again and again. There were now three Thomases standing in the living room. The original was bouncing on the couch. The other two were on the floor laughing. In unison all three turned towards Sylvia.

"TRAINS!!!!"

Diamond Music Trap · THIS IS HALLOWEEN (Trap Remix)

 

Awesome Force 7, The New 5: White Tombie Part 2 --> 

 

 <-- Awesome Force 5: The Battle for Joshua @^()wley! Part 2: Heavyweight and Still Undisputed

Awesome Force 5: The Battle for Joshua @^()wley! Part 2: Heavyweight and Still Undisputed

 
     Sylvia came walking up the steps to her home with Babcia in New Mitten. Her hands were full with all the supplies she would need for finals. Her Art History II teacher, required her class to write a paper on the evolution of squares through art. Her 2-Dimensional Studio teacher, wanted the class to finish a drawing of the most 2-Dimensional person that each student knew. Her Issues in Artmaking teacher required a paper be written describing the effect of banning red dye 2 on art. Her 3-D studio teacher wanted a 3-D work of your favorite Pokemon. Her Rhetoric and Writing 2 teacher wanted a paper about themes of Where's Waldo?.

    That sure was a heavy workload with only 10 days to complete all assignments, but Sylvia was ready to rock and roll. She placed her supplies on the top of the stairs and unlocked the door. Scooping up the bags, she moved forward, placed them down again, and opened the second door. She picked everything up, stepped in, kicked the door shut behind her, and made a dash for her bedroom. She dropped her things on the floor and looked towards her chinchilla in the cage.
   
    Onyx was hanging back in the shadows, which Sylvia knew meant that there was company. She turned around in time to see Sophie standing in the door. "Hi Sylvia, what's up?"

    Sylvia smiled and waved back answering, "Hi, not much. Just got all my stuff for finals."

    Sophie entered and began to chit-chat for a while before letting Sylvia know that a boy had been around asking about her. Sylvia's heart began to race as she asked who it was. Sophie told her it was some weird boy named Josh. Sylvia was trying to hide how excited she really was, but playing it cool said, "Oh, yeah. That guy. He's nice."

    At that point she stopped listening and began to think about Josh. He sure was dreamy with his dark eyes. The way is hair parted in the middle and fell to the sides was like cascading chocolate. Even vegans enjoyed chocolate given it was the real deal, and not tainted by milk or milk derived products.

    Sophie was busy was talking while looking at her phone, so she couldn't see that Sylvia wasn't paying attention. When she mentioned upon Josh's arrival that she thought he had brought a black octopus with him Sylvia never heard. She simply looked up and said, "Oh, that's weird."

    Sophie left and Sylvia turned back to Onyx who had finally come forward from the darkness. Sylvia opened the cage and pulled Onyx out. The female chinchilla jumped up onto Sylvia's shoulder. "What's the word, Legkilla'?" she asked.

    Sylvia laughed. "Why do you call me Legkilla?" Onxy glared deep into Sylvia's eyes and responded, "Why do you call me Chinchilla?" Syvlia went on to explain that Onyx was a chinchilla. Onyx didn't like this, she thought it was stupid word to call an animal. Not stupider than hoooman, like what Sylvia was, but pretty close.

    The two started to talk about Josh. Sylvia spilled the beans about how she liked him, but with all her schoolwork she just didn't have time for much of a social life. It had been several weeks since she got to hang out with the gang at I.M.O.Q. Her big plan was to have an end of the school year party there, but first she had to pass her finals.

    Only now there was this other thing. Josh was getting pretty serious about wanting to ask Sylvia out from what Onyx was saying. She was hoping it would wait until the next 10 days were over, but Sylvia knew that with boys you couldn't count on having the time you need. She was just hoping that he wouldn't do something stupid.

    The next town over from New Mitten was Cumberlin. That's where Sylvia's cousin Adam lived. Josh pulled up in his car in front of a white house. Inside he hoped to find Adam and convince him to give up his Czaskorek.

    The driveway was empty except for a green pickup truck. Josh hoped this meant someone was home. As he rang the doorway he stood in the sunshine and felt the warm air leaving drops of sweat on him. No one answered the door. He rang again, even beginning to pound on the door and windows he could reach. Still, no one answered.

    He made his way down the walkway to the driveway. He saw a fence that came up only a few feet, so he hopped it to the backyard. No one was out back, but he noticed the back door was open. His way in was barred only by a screen door. He walked over to it and began to knock. No one answered, but Josh could've sworn he heard someone whisper "Ky".

    He called out some more before grabbing the handle for the door, and pulling. It opened and he entered into a small hallway with walls that were green from the ground up to halfway, then became white up to the ceiling. It was dark but the air conditioner was on leaving the room cold. He called out some more but nobody responded.

    Turning to his right he saw a flight of six steps leading to a door. He climbed them slowly, then knocked calling out. Still no one answered, so he turned the knob and pushed the door open. He stepped through and found himself in a kitchen. He could see a dining room straight ahead. Shutting the door he saw a living room to his left as well as the front door. Again he called out, but no answer. He again thought he heard a voice whisper, but this time it said "Ay".

    Josh turned to his left as he stepped through to the living room. That's where he swore he heard the whisper. Again he called out without an answer. He flipped the switch and saw another flight of six steps. He made his way up and found himself in a corrider with five doors shut. There was a knock on the door straight ahead which caused him to jump. He called out again, but all he heard in return was the whispering voice say, "Gah".

    He moved forward and threw the door open. It was pitch black. He felt along the walls until he reached a window. There was a Roman blind covering it, so he fumbled around until he found the cord pulling it up. The sun illuminated the room and he saw a bed with a figure sleeping under the covers. He couldn't risk waking whomever it was sleeping, but maybe he could find the Czaskorek, take it, and settle up his debt later.

    As he looked around the room he couldn't find it. There were several items strewn about but none of them amounted to a ring. That's when he thought that it might be on the figure slepping, if it was Adam.

    He approached the bed and made his way to the left side. He pulled back the cover, and underneath he saw a man sleeping. His face was covered in a beard that looked soft and full. It was the finest fur he had ever seen. A sudden urge took him, forcing him to pet the beard. He then leaned over and slowly made to sniff the beard. He wanted to nibble on it for just a bit, but that's when he saw the Czaskorek on the middle finger of Adam's left hand.

    Josh gently grabbed the hand and opened it. He slid the ring off and dropped the hand. He was about to turn and leave, but he couldn't stop thinking about that beard. Slowly, he leaned forward again. Just a nibble, that's all he needed and then he could go back about his business. He stopped just short of the beard, and took a deep breath in. As he exhaled with his mouth open the beard rustled. Adam groaned as he started to wake.

    Josh turned scared, and ran for the door. He jumped the six steps and stumbled. Unsure if he was being chased or not, he crawled for the front door. He fumbled with the lock before pulling it open. He threw the screen door open and got to his feet running for his car. Getting in was easy, but pulling out his keys and sticking them in the ignition proved more difficult. He never looked back once the engine started. He slammed the gas and drove off.

Awesome Force 6, The New 4: White Tombie Part 1-->

<--Awesome Force 4: The Battle for Joshua @^()wley! Part 1: The Scientist

Awesome Force 4: The Battle for Joshua @^()wley! Part 1: The Scientist

     Josh stood outside the two story house in New Mitten where Sylvia had moved with her grandmother while she attended the University of Smartford. He was nervous just thinking how the girl who had caught his eye lived in this home. This was where she ate her Vegan cereal. Where she drank her Arizona beverages. Where she created amazing works of art. He could not have been more nervous and excited had he stood at the dawn of time itself.

    His long brown hair parted in the middle, and his beard was groomed to follow the line of his jaw. His legs, on the other hand, had turned to noodles. He was afraid with his first step he would fall to a pile of fool upon the driveway. That's when the back door opened and Sylvia's sister Sophie stood staring down at him.

    "Are you coming in or not? I have things to do today." Sophie wasn't sure why she was helping this boy. He didn't look fit in her eyes to date Sylvia. More importantly, all this business was keeping her from her own boyfriend.

    Josh moved up the steps and waved while saying, "Hi. Thanks again for doing this. I just-"

    "Don't mention it. Let's make this quick". Sophie turned her back quickly on Josh and walked off into the first floor apartment. "Close the door behind you."

    Josh turned around making sure the door shut, but with a gentle motion so as not to upset Sylvia's grandmother. He then moved forward through the inner door and shut it as well. When he turned around the old woman stood looking at him with squinted eyes and a hunched back. She had a cane in her hand.

    "Hello," she said and then turned to Sophie continuing in a language Josh didn't understand. "(Ask him to sit down. What's his name?)"

    Sophie relayed the information and Josh followed the gesture of Babcia's hand and sat in a chair. She joined him by sitting to his right while Sophie took a place to his left. He looked up at the courier cabinet filled with glasses, cups, saucers, vases, and projects which Sylvia must have made for her grandmother.

    "Hello, my name is Josh."
  
    Sophie translated for Babcia who just shrugged as she said, "Oh," For Babcia, Josh's name was foreign and she wasn't sure how to pronounce it. Nonetheless, she asked Sophie to ask him again if he would like anything to drink.

    Josh was thirsty, but he was too nervous to simply accept. When he was offered cookies, he again passed. At this point Babcia and Josh found themselves staring at each other. Sophie was on her phone texting her boyfriend. Josh cleared his throat.

    Babcia went on to ask what Josh did. He replied saying he was going to school and worked at the bookstore where he studied. Babcia was curious as to what he was studying. Josh answered with some combination of Biology and the Martial Arts. Sophie was unsure how to describe this, so she turned and in one word said "Doctor".

    Babcia was thrilled to be meeting such an intelligent and determined young man. She smiled at Josh and said, "Oh, that's nice". Josh was happy, things seemed to be going well.

    Next followed the questions, such as how he knew Sylvia? Where did he live? What do his parents do? Was he Catholic and did he go to church? What she could do to help him? At last it was time.

    Josh asked and Sophie translated that he would like to ask Sylvia out. First, he thought it would be prudent to give Sylvia a gift or some token of good faith. He wasn't sure what to give her.

    After almost a half hour, all they had determined between the three of them was how Sylvia was most busy with finals on the way. She was working at her job and completing homework all the time. Come to think of it, Sylvia could use some more time.

    At this point Babcia went on to tell the tale of Czaskorek. Before Christianity found it's way to the country of Babcia's birth Skaska, long before she was ever born, in the annals of antiquity, there was a pagan religion known as Dazh. According to Dazh, when the seasons were first born they tugged at their blanket known as time.

    Three weavers of time were created to keep the blanket intact. One would fix the wear of what was already created, one would crease the wrinkles of what was before it, and the third was constantly stitching new sections. In this way all was even across the seasons from the hours of day to the hours of night.

    Like the worst of siblings, the seasons began to squabble. Summer wanted the sun to be its crown and reign of glory. Winter preferred the moon. Spring and Fall grew tired of the other two bickering, and sought to put an end to this. Yet, when they tried to stop they were only thrust aside by their bigger, and stronger siblings.

    As Fall and Spring sat crying over their woes, an ugly old woman with the legs of a chicken came out from the woods and asked them why they were crying. When they finished telling their story, she offered to help them. She promised to make them a ring which could be used to stop time, or let it flow faster, depending on what the wearer would like.

    Fall and Spring were so excited they agreed to let her help them. She pulled out a mortar and pestle, pinched the air before her with two fingers, and was able to remove a slither of sun's ray. She placed this in her mortar and pestle and began to crush it up. Once it  turned to powder she spit into it, molded the paste around her finger, and thrust her hand into the air.

    The two seasons watched as the sun grew larger, and the old woman thrust her hand deep into it. When she pulled it out, the ring Czaskorek was complete. She gave it over to the seasons and told them to present it wisely to which sibling they thought would be more responsible.
  
    They did so, giving it first to Summer. Summer was so excited to have this ring which it put it on slowing down the days so the sun may shine long, and the winds may be warm. It would speed through the nights for the next day to come quicker. Overjoyed, Spring and Fall believed the bickering was done. Of course, this did not sit well with Winter.

     One night when Summer fell asleep, Winter stole the ring and hid it. As time went on, and Summer decided to go off and find the ring, Winter put it on speeding through the days, and lengthening the nights. So are the mechanisms of why we have the change in daylight hours between summer and winter. When Summer learns of Winter's treachery, it comes back and steals the ring away again. In this way the seasons constantly change, with Spring and Fall trying to clean up the mess left when the fighting resumes.

    Of course we know none of this is true now, but then again neither is the existence of Baba Jaga. That's the name of the old woman who forged them the ring to begin with. Still, from time to time you can find a ring being sold as a souvenir by the name Czaskorek. As a matter of fact, Babcia was pretty sure Sylvia's cousin Adam had just a ring like it.

    Josh was determined to find a Czaskorek for Sylvia, but he didn't know how. He thanked both Sophie and Babcia for their help, and realizing  Sylvia could come home at any moment decided it was time to leave.

    In his car, Josh pulled up the internet on his phone and tried to see if he could purchase a Czaskorek. His search turned up nothing, but eagerness was taking him over. He had to get one of these rings. There was only one thing to do. He was determined to get the one Adam had. With a start of the engine, Josh was off to find where Sylvia's cousin lived.

 

Awesome Force 5: The Battle for Joshua @^()wley! Part 2: Heavyweight and Still Undisputed --> 

 

<--Awesome Force 3: The Great Snowman War of They Didn't Use Numbers for Years, Yet!!!  

Awesome Force 3: The Great Snowman War of They Didn't Use Numbers for Years, Yet!!!

     

      The attack on Sylvia began as the sun was lowering in the sky. She figured the situation was going to take care of itself back where the children were ridding the world of their slavers, the snowmen. Even the blaring of Bring Me The Horizon on her Ipod was not enough to drown out the noise. She turned to her right to see the actual horizon was filled with snowmen. Every last one of them must have been there.

      She had spent the greater part of an hour knocking down snowmen and crushing their heads. Still they came on, ever the mindless minions that they were. What Sylvia didn't know was that the snow giant, Lord of the single Avalanche that ran the span of the world, and King of the World itself, was closing in behind her.

     Glittercheeks Snowfrost emerged from behind having knocked over trees to make his path to the victory he was certain of. He looked on the carnage of snow and made note to better arm his snowmen. They were such weak, and stupid subjects. Why, a thaw was good enough to make puddles of them. This wouldn't stand if he were to rule the World forever.

      He had no love for his subjects, but for every one that fell fear would grow amongst them. It was time to strike and show them all that he was here to save them. His large tree trunk hands began rolling boulder sized snowballs. The pile beside him grew taller than the trees.

      Sylvia had just waylaid a circle of snowmen about her with a spinning Converse kick. She took a moment to catch her breadth, her hands resting on her knees when the first snowball took her. It sent her crashing forward into the snow. There was so much of it on top of her, but Sylvia knew that she had to push herself up or die. Push she did, stretching out her thin arms with all the force she could. When she broke through to the surface she looked around to see that the snowmen had stopped advancing towards her. Looking behind she saw the largest snowman she had ever seen.

      Glittercheeks was cocking his arm to throw a second snowball at her. He flung, and though it moved slowly arcing in the air, Sylvia had no time to roll out of the way. It was surreal, and she wasn't sure that she was seeing things right. The snowball thumped atop her turning the world around her pitch black. For the second time she found herself buried under snow searching for the energy to get up. She planted her hands down on the ground and pushed up. She broke through and saw another snowball closing in on her. Thump!

      Sylvia needed a plan, but it was all happening so fast. What was she to do? She took a few deep breaths and decided she'd have to run for it. Pushing herself up again, she rolled to her side when she broke through the surface and began to sprint. She saw the forest first, so she made her way to the treeline.

     Glittercheeks was surprised that she was up and moving. In anger, he grabbed balls in both hands and launched, quickly filling his hands again and launching. The sky grew darker with all the snowballs crashing around Sylvia. Two hit her at the same time, sending her flying to her right head over heels. The thumps kept coming as Sylvia lay in the dark waiting for her head to stop spinning.

      It was hard to move and breathe, but Sylvia knew that she had to get out. Which way was up? She thought back to something she learned about being buried in an avalanche. To find out which way was up, you had to spit. Gravity would send your saliva down. The hocking noise she made was loud as it bounced around the snow she was encased in. When she spit she felt the wet splat as it landed back in her face dripping into her left eye. Ewww, she thought, but at least she knew which way was up.

       Extending the forefinger of her right hand, Sylvia reached up and whispered, “Poke.” The heat that grew from her finger began to melt the snow until it was as easy to sit up as in bed from under a blanket. She shook her head to get the water off and looked around.

      Glittercheeks had been sneering while barking orders to the snowmen to get back in line and go after the children. Nathaniel Wilburn was the first to see Sylvia. He couldn't speak from fear, but he reached up and touched the bottom ball of Glittercheeks's body. Glittercheeks looked down and yelled, “What?!”

      He followed Nathaniel's left hand and looked out to see where Sylvia was standing. “Bring me the Callithumpian!!!!” he yelled.

      A group of ten snowman were required to move the large box. Each side had a suit of cards symbol painted on it. On the top, the box had a Joker card. A crank handle stuck out from the center of the Spades symbol. Glittercheeks started turning the crank. “Christmas is Creepy” by Fred Figglehorn started to play.

      Sylvia glanced at the trees that were so far away still, and then looked back. She had no idea what was in the box, but she knew better than to wait. She took off like a bolt heading for the woods. She heard the music stop and looked to her left while she ran.

      Something black had shot up out of the box and the giant snowman swatted it out of the sky. He took aim, and threw.

      A quick look forward told Sylvia she was almost behind the safety of the trees. When she looked back to find the projectile it was too late. With a crashing thud Sylvia went down to her right. Her left side hurt, but she knew that the treeline was close. If she was going to survive, she'd better get there.

      When she turned back to look at what hit her, she saw a black figure that looked like a horse. It was covered all over by black, shiny leather, with zippers sewn all about it. She saw the dark eyes at once, and saw sadness in them. She didn't have much time, but she noticed the giant snowman laughing.

      Glittercheeks was laughing so hard pointing at Sylvia and screaming, “I hit her with a horse! HAHAHAHAHAHA! A horse! I finally did it! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

      Nathaniel Wilburn saw that the girl was up and dragging the Callithumpian with her to the trees. He looked down at the snow and couldn't help but feel like it was all so wrong. Nathaniel was too small to do anything on his own, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. He started laughing too, and giving Glittercheeks high fives when the giant branch hand stretched out for one.

      Behind the treeline, Sylvia let go of the horse in leather and zippers. She fell back against a tree and sat down. Looking over at the horse, she reached out and unzipped the zipper at it's mouth. “Are you ok?” asked Sylvia.

      The horse drew in a deep breath and sighed. “No.” A tear started to trickle down from an eye.

     “Why are you dressed like that?” asked Sylvia.

      The horse sighed again and answered, “He thinks it's funny.”

      “It's not. You're covered in leather. That's so mean.” Sylvia was a vegan, and leather was a no-no in her world. “It's ok,” started the horse, “ there's nothing to be done about it. He's too big and strong. Glittercheeks does whatever he wants.”

      “Wait, did you say his name is Glittercheeks?”

      “Yeah.” Sylvia started laughing. “That's a funny name” she said. The horse started laughing too and said, “Yeah, it is.”

      “What's your name?” asked Sylvia.

      

      “Calliope, but you can call me Cal.”

      Sylvia smiled, “I like that. It's a pretty name.”

      “Thanks. What's your name?”

      Sylvia cleared her throat with two quick, quiet coughs. “My name's Sylvia.”

      “That's a pretty name. I like it, too”

      “Thanks.” At that Calliope reached out a hoof and said, “Hoof bump.” Sylvia reached out her hand and they bumped. Calliope said, “Now neigh it out. NEIGH!!!!”.

      Sylvia started laughing, and knew what she had to do. “You stay here Calliope. I'll be back.” The horse started to contest her, telling her she'd be better off staying. That Glittercheeks was too strong and would kill her or worse. Sylvia was determined, and she walked out from the trees.

      Glittercheeks was still laughing, knocking off the icicles that were forming where the tears from his eyes froze. Sylvia started charging at him full speed. He never saw her coming, but did turn towards the direction she was coming from when he heard her shouting “CONVERSE KICK!”

      Her left foot drove into the bottom of Glittercheeks taking what would have been his legs out from underneath him. He came crashing down so hard that birds in the trees took of flying, as the snow nesting in those trees fell. Sylvia had rolled out of the way to keep the Giant from falling on her. She looked up and saw a boy with thick glasses. This one had been helping Glittercheeks. She glared at him, but the boy only said, “Destroy the head” and took of running.

      Glittercheeks pushed himself up and roared. He turned to face the girl and started to swat out at her with his hands. She dodged left then right. She jumped right over his hand and landed on his arm and began climbing as easily as she would a tree. Glittercheeks tried to shake her off flailing his arm back and forth. Finally he reached out with his other hand grabbing her. He cupped his second hand over the first to lock her in tight.

      He pulled her up close to his face and said, “I've had enough of you. You're a pain in my glittery bottom, but you'll taste sweeter than dessert.” He sneered showing his large, icicle fangs. Sylvia realized he meant to eat her, but she had other plans besides becoming snowman fodder.

      She bent forward and took a bite out of his large carrot nose. It was cold and tasted terrible so she spat it out. Glittercheeks yelled out and drew her away. “A NOSE FOR A NOSE!” he hollered and pulled her close again. Sylvia wiggled down into his hands so that she was no longer sticking out. Try as he might, all Glittercheeks could manage to do was jam his fists against his mouth.

      He threw her up in the air and tilted his head back with his mouth wide open. Sylvia took this opportunity to roll forward in the air and land on his head between his eyes up against his carrot nose. He reached with his hand, grabbed her, and started to pull away. Sylvia threw her hand forward sticking out the pointer finger and yelled “POKE!!!!”.

      Her finger only brushed against Glittercheeks's skin. He started to laugh. “You mean to defeat me with a poke? Hahahahahahahahaha. How do you think snowmen gain eyes and hands and mouths? Your poke does nothing!”

      Suddenly, Glittercheeks looked shock. He dropped Sylvia and grabbed for his head. “OW!!!!! IT BURNS. IT FEELS LIKE...LIKE...BRAIN FREEZE!!!!!” he howled. The warmth spread growing to the size of his head. Soon his eyes popped out and fell to the ground, followed by his carrot nose. When his mouth opened the light that shone out was brighter than the dusky sky. His eye holes and nose hole gave off just as much light. Soon a giant ball of flame grew enveloping Glittercheeks's head and growing. All that could be seen for miles around was this.

      When the burst had died off, and the heat gave way back to cold, nothing remained of the giant snowman. Sylvia shuffled back in the snow to Calliope. She helped the horse out of the leather suit and found that Calliope was a palomino colored Colt. He was excited to see that she was ok. Nathaniel Wilburn joined them as well, and said he was terribly sorry to have helped Glittercheeks, but he needed to do something to survive. Sylvia forgave him, and Calliope did too.

      “I'm hungry” said Sylvia. “Anyone know a good vegan restaurant?”

      “I do” said Nathaniel Wilburn. “Have you ever eaten at the International Manse of Quinoa?”

      Sylvia had not, so the trio took off marching for the town of Cumberlin, and the street of Smarmington Ave.

     The International Manse of Quinoa was a small, dilapidated building situated on 999 Smarmington Ave in Cumberlin. Nathaniel Wilburn told how the building was originally the home of The Cutting Hedge Gate Shop, a landscaping firm that made wonderful gates out of hedges. When the Gate Shop moved down the road to a larger location, the small building sat empty, until recently.

     An immigrant had bought the property and decided to open a Vegan only restaurant called kinoa no kokusai Mansu. Or, in English, The International Manse of Quinoa. At first the place looked to be a bust as the paint was peeling off the exterior. The inside looked like it could use some work, but seemed much larger than the facade of the building should have allowed for.

     The walls were bare, and looked as though they were in the process of being covered with wood paneling. The floors were wood as well, and stained a deep cherry color. The tables matched the floors and were set low, with cushions about them. Apparently you were meant to sit on the floor here, Japanese style.

     The proprietor of the restaurant emerged from the back and smiled. He stood eight inches tall, was round like a ball with two feet that were covered in shoes only slightly darker a shade of pink than his skin. His cheeks looked as though he were blushing, and his two dark, large eyes shone as he smiled. He wore a large white chef's hat atop his head. "Poyo, poyo!" he seemed to say, but Sylvia wasn't sure.

     Nathaniel did the talking for them and informed that the three would like a table. The chef looked up at Nathaniel, then over to Sylvia where he had to crane his neck to see, and finally at Calliope. She thought that he might refuse the horse, but he laughed and said several more poyos. 

    After having been seated, the group was handed menus that were painted on slabs of wood. Neither Sylvia nor Calliope could read them, so Nathaniel did the translating. Calliope ordered a bag of oats, while Sylvia opted for the Vegan strawberry pancakes, and Nathaniel took the Quinoa Delight. As the chef cooked back in his kitchen, he could see them through the serving window. Syliva and Calliope listened as Nathaniel chatted with the chef and translated for the other two.

     Though Sylvia swore she recognized him, the chef said no. His name was Tempopo. He came from an island a very long distance away. He tired of his life and decided to move and take up his real passion, cooking. 

     As the night wore on, Tempopo and the customers talked, and joked, and shared a good time. Tempopo even had Vegan desserts for them, which he offered on the house because they were his first customers. He went to say that he was looking for help, and since neither Nathaniel or Calliope had plans for the future, they agreed to work for him. Sylvia had to decline, because she was getting ready to go to school at the University of Smartford, home of the Fighting Smocks. 

     As the night ended, Calliope asked where he could go to sleep. He had no place to go since he was captured by Glittercheeks when he was young. Tempopo offered the Quarter Horse a place to live. He was lonely and could use the company. Nathaniel needed a place to live, too, but he didn't think there'd be room enough for three at I.M.O.Q. Sylvia offered to take him home, but she'd have to find a way to convince Babcia to let him stay. 

    As Tempopo finished cleaning up, he walked his two parting guests to the door and gave each a hug while delivering several more "Poyos". He invited them back sometime soon, and locked the door behind them as they left.

     Neither Sylvia or Nathaniel knew what would happen next. They both agreed, it was probably going to turn out for the best.

 

 Awesome Force 4: The Battle for Joshua @^()wley! Part 1: The Scientist -->

<--Awesome Force Part 3 Teaser: The Callithumpian Cometh!

Preview

Coming this summer, from the creative hiccup that brought you Awesome Force!: The Great Snowman War of They Didn't Use Numbers for Years, Yet!!!, an all new chapter of Awesome Force! Featuring Sylvia.

He was just a young man hit by Cupid's Arrow. She was just awesome.

Follow one hopeless romantic's journey as he tries to win the heart of his beloved, accidentally releasing The Beard of Destiny.

What follows is a fight for love, justice, and peace on Earth.

It's Sylvia vs Adam in....

The Battle for Joshua @^0wley!!!