Forum Guardians
The “Forum Guardians” was a group PM created over a year ago, where one thing led to another and @TherMasterStitch started writing a story using some of the group’s IRL selves as main characters. A few months later, an alt posted it in a topic without giving proper credit.
The surprising popularity of the leaked story lead to the creation of this public version. This is an entirely new version written by the original co-author (me), and divided into episodes and chapters for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! 
Chapter 1: Imminent Calamity
Part 1: Awaken
Kevin looked around him. He saw only ruins and disgustingly, what appeared to be parts of a corpse.
Kevin first checked to make sure his loyal companions were okay. Other than some scratches and bruises, they were all fine.
“Hello? Is anyone out there?” Kevin called out. “Come on, follow me. We don’t know what’s out there.” he told his furry companions. As he walked toward the former Freatopia capital building, which was now little more than a pile of rubble and scaffolding, he heard a distant screech.
Kevin stopped in his tracks and peered in the direction of the noise. He heard another screech, this one much closer. As he turned around, he flipped out his knife.
Suddenly, two deformed creatures crept out from behind a crumbling wall. They slowly crept toward Kevin and his pets, looking at their new meal. Kevin’s grip tightened on his knife while his pets hid behind him.
Without warning, the two surged forward, going for the kill. Kevin slashed with his knife, driving one of them away. The second launched itself at Kevin, but his panda crushed the creature, which let out a piercing wail. Inspecting the two corpses, Kevin noticed they looked vaguely human.
Another screech echoed in the distance, startling Kevin.
“Quickly!” Kevin told his pets, racing toward the old capital.
———————————————————————
“Dammit,” Kevin muttered. They had nearly made it. But when they rounded a corner, a group of wails were on the other side. In unison, they let out a hungering roar. Kevin made a break for it.
That was a while ago now. Kevin limped away as the group of six wails chased after him. He felt like he’d been running for over an hour, and now he was on the verge of dropping to the ground in exhaustion. His pets kept up the pace, but they were also growing tired.
Around another corner, a wail leapt unto his back, forcing him to the ground. Kevin angrily swiped with his knife, and managed to hit a nerve. The beast sped away, emitting a low screaming. He lay there sprawled on his stomach for a few more seconds, trying desperately to catch his breath, his companions looking at him with scared, wide eyes. However, the hungry wails would not wait for him to catch his breath. Kevin painfully forced himself back to his feet and continued down a side street…right into a stupid, sure-to-be-life-ending dead end. Kevin whipped around, fully intent on facing death with his head held high and a big fight. He glanced to his companions. Kevin wasn’t happy they would go down like this, but he was happy at least it would be together. He readied his knife, preparing himself.
Then up on the rooftops, a mysterious young man, breathing hard, called down to him.
"Hang on! I’ll help you out of there!” the man called.
The man carried a long stick in his hand, using it as a crutch for the moment. After another second of rest, the man grabbed his stick in his arms and began descending the fire escape. Kevin threw a rock at one beast, but it did little to stop the creature’s advance. Still, he refused to give up! He hurled the largest rock he could pick up at it, knocking the wail into the others. They separated themselves from the pile up that had been caused, and now advanced on Kevin, furious. Their jaws hung open as they licked their lips and rubbed their hands together. Kevin, exhausted, just backed helplessly up against the back wall.
The leering creatures drew closer, when suddenly, in a flash, the young man leapt from the fire escape and landed in the middle of the fray! He spun the staff in his hands at a dizzying speed, then swung it across the Wail’s head, knocking it clean off. The four remaining wails gaped for a second, and in that second this man charged forward and knocked another unconscious. The other wails sprung into action, charging simultaneously. However, the man swung his staff around, shielding himself from the onslaught. He then separated them, keeping two on his left and one on his right. He had changed his stance now holding the staff as if it were a spear, even though it was missing the all important point.
As they attacked, he carefully deflected each blow. Then, he charged at one on his left, rapidly launching his dull spear at it, and pounding it with enough force to stun it. Then he struck with one swift motion, sending it flying against the wall.
Now, there were only two remaining. The demonic duo stood on either side of this young man, prepared to finish him. But the stranger leapt backward a step, studied the two, and then ran forward, stretching his staff out before him in a horizontal manner and kicking out their legs, sending them tumbling to the ground. Then he jabbed his “spear” into the eyes of one, and quickly decapitated the other with a machete from his pocket.
The man picked up the knife Kevin dropped. He walked to the back wall and held out the knife with a warm smile.
“Are you all right, dude?” the stranger asked.
“Yes… I’ll live… thanks to you.” Kevin replied, still catching his breath and taking the knife.
“Good. We should get out of here before the wails’ cries are answered.”
“Wait! Do you have a name or…?”
"Oh, yeah. This isn’t any normal kind of public meeting, is it. My name is David. And yours?”
“Kevin. These are my dogs, Hobbes and Stitch. And this is my pet panda, Hershey.
"Well, good, I’m glad we got that taken care of. And little word of advice: the rooftops are much safer than the streets. "
“That makes sense,” Kevin said.
“Okay, can you get up to that fire escape?” David asked.
Kevin looked down dubiously at his feet. He wasn’t THAT tall and he couldn’t jump THAT high. “No,” was all he answered, sadly.
“All right then, I’ll have to help you up there then.” David said. He cautiously looked around, got closer to the ladder, then squatted on the pavement.
“Get on my shoulders,” David ordered.
Kevin climbed up onto his shoulders, then David stood up, carefully balancing against the fire escape. Kevin wriggled up the ladder and onto the fire escape. Meanwhile, Hobbes and Stitch had climbed onto Hershey’s back, who then stood on his hind legs and climbed up in seconds. As Kevin patted his companions, he turned toward the alley and noticed that more wails were approaching it. He gripped the railing and whispered urgently what he had seen to David. David quickly grabbed his staff and used it to push himself high enough to reach the ladder. He grabbed the ladder and pulled himself up a second before the wails reached the alley and surged in.
As the wails looked at the fallen bodies and dust of their comrades and let out another screech, the two humans and three animals quietly climbed to the roof of the building. Kevin climbed on Hershey’s back once they reached the roof.
“So… what now?” David asked out loud.
Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.
“That sounded human!” Kevin exclaimed.
“Then it sounds like we should help them!” David eagerly responded.
Part 2: Companions
Kevin and David were still on the roof when they heard another scream.
“Sounded like they’re in trouble!” Kevin said.
“Yeah, big trouble. Let’s hurry,” replied David.
“Do you want to ride on Hershey?” asked Kevin.
David looked at the big animal, which had a wide smile and its tongue sticking out.
“Umm, I think I’ll pass…” he said.
“Suit yourself,” Kevin said. He held on to Stitch and Hobbes, who were also on the panda. “Let’s go!”
Kevin and David raced to the edge of the roof. While Hershey leapt across the gap using his powerful legs, David used his staff to vault himself.
The small group continued racing across rooftops, all the while keeping an eye out. With dismay, they realized the only things they’ve seen for the past few blocks were ruined buildings, packs of wails, and the occasional dead body.
Finally they reached the scream. As they looked down, they saw two girls, surrounded by eight hungry wails.
“Oh my gosh. They’re surrounded,” David said.
“Well, we’d better unsurround them,” Kevin replied.
David’s face screwed up. “Did you really just say that?”
“It sounded better in my head,” admitted Kevin sheepishly. “Come on!”
As Kevin held on to Hershey, the panda leaped off the building with ease, landing with a boom. David nimbly maneuvered down the fire escape.
“Hey, bozos!” David shouted.
The girls stared at the two newcomers. As Kevin and David got out their weapons, the wails hissed loudly. There was a moment of pause as both sides readied themselves.
Then chaos broke loose. As David charged in swinging his staff, Kevin rode in on Hershey and threw his knife at the nearest wail. The knife lodged itself in the wail’s chest, who promptly ran away screaming. Meanwhile one girl ran toward a wail, and then kicked hard on the wail’s legs, sending it tumbling into a pole. David had knocked another unconcious. The other girl had a bird perched on her shoulder. As one wail got near her, the bird started pecking it;s face while she hit it with a brick.
There were four wails left. As one wail ran toward the girl with the bird, Kevin tripped it, sending it falling onto a sharp wire. A second wail charged toward Kevin, but the lumbering panda knocked it over and sat on it. The third wail attacked the girl who kicked the other. It managed to get a swipe across her arm, before David pinned it to the ground with his pole.
The last wail ran off, carrying the corpse of another. As the group caught their breath, they looked at each other. Finally they smiled and exchanged greetings.
“So, who are you?” asked the girl with the bird.
“I’m David, and this is Kevin,” David informed her. Stitch, Hobbes, and Hershey whined. Kevin piped up. “These cuties are Stitch, Hobbes, and Hershey."
“I’m Kate, she’s Kayla, and this is my pet Pretty Bird,” the girl replied. Pretty bird let out a spoiled chirp as it laid on her shoulder.
After checking Kayla’s arm to make sure it was okay, Kayla assured them she wasn’t in too much pain and it wasn’t very deep. The group concluded it was best they find a first aid kit.
“How do you know each other?” Kayla asked the guys.
“Well, David helped me out of a tight spot as well,” Kevin replied. “You?” he asked the girls.
“Kayla and I just met. I was wandering around looking for someone when I found her. Then we got ambushed,” Kate told the boys.
David smiled. “Well, nice to meet all of you.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t come,” Kayla said.
“It’s no—” David was cut off by a screetch.
“More already?”
“No… no, it doesn’t sound like wails. But it doesn’t sound human or animal either,” Kevin mused.
“Then it can’t be anything good.” Kayla lamented.
“It’s getting dark. We should find cover for the night,” David worried. “Let’s go.”
“Do any of you wanna ride on Hershey?” asked Kevin.
Kayla stepped aside. “I appreciate it but I’d rather walk. Even with a hurt arm, haha.”
“I’ll ride,” Kate said. Pretty Bird peeped in agreement.
As Kate got on, the group looked around the deserted streets.
“Do you think there are other people out there?” Kayla asked.
“I sure hope so,” David said with a sigh.
With that sad wish still hanging in the air, the group headed down the street. As the sun was close to setting, they found an abandoned convenience store at the end of the street.
“Let’s set up camp here. There’s food and probably first aid,” David said.
The group agreed and entered the store. As soon as they passed through the door, a large BOOM made them all jump. There was a red puff of smoke, and what looked like cherry stems strewed about the floor.
A figure appeared in the smoke. A male voice boomed “Intruders! You have five seconds to get out before I do something I WON’T regret!”
Part 3: Smoke
Nobody moved. Kevin, David, Kayla, Kate, and their animal companions stood in front of the entrance, trying to find the newcomer. The pink smoke eventually dissipated around them as they regained their sight.
“Final warning: GET OUT. This is your last chance,” the figure in the smoke shot coldly.
“Who are you, to try to drive us out while hiding behind your pixie dust cloud?” Kate snapped.
David quickly stepped in front of her. “Umm, what she meant to say was, we mean no harm, we’re just looking for food and shelter, hopefully a first aid kit too,” David explained to the stranger.
The hooded figure, now partially in-view, tilted his head. “So, you’re humans… and animals?” he pondered.
Kevin nodded from atop the panda.
“Yeah?”
The figure stepped forward. He was tall, but not beefy. Slung across his shoulder was an open backpack, containing strange, discolored objects and mangled computer parts. As he stepped closer, they saw something move behind him. It was a grey blob, squelching across the floor.
Stopping a foot away, he lifted his hood, revealing a pale, emotionless face wearing cracked glasses. “There aren’t many left around here. A group of four survivors is unlikely."
Noting the group’s uncomfortable shifting, he adjusted his glasses and took on a slightly more friendly tone. “I’m Erick. You?”
David, being the nearest, stuck out his hand for a handshake. “I’m David. The girl standing next to me is Kayla, and the two on the panda are Kevin and Kate. Nice to meet you?”
“The panda is Hershey, and these two are Hobbes and Stitch!” Kevin exclaimed. “Does your, um, friend there, have a name?”
Pretty Bird emitted an angry chirp.
“And that’s Pretty Bird,” Kevin added sheepishly.
“This would be Robert.” Erick added, firmly shaking hands with David. “You said you needed first aid?”
Kayla eagerly piped up. “Yes! We do.”
At the end of the store, Erick brought out a medical kit from a small encampment. There was various gadgetry strewn about, as well as an assorted collection of glass bottles.
Erick stopped in front of a cooler and pulled out some water bottles. He passed them around, and they were all half-empty in no time flat.
He proceeded to pull a first-aid kit from inside his tent, which was promptly used to disinfect and bandage Kayla’s wound. The group sat around a fire lit over a barrel, and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. David recounted how they all met, Kevin told scary stories, and Kate told stories of a city under the sea.
"How’d you happen upon that grey thing? And what was that cloud earlier?” Kevin pressed Erick.
“I found him combing the beach. I don’t go there anymore, it’s too dangerous.” Erick stated matter-of-factly. “The smoke was improvised from a dried can of paint.”
“Not much for conversation, are you?” Kayla sighed.
Erick shrugged, trying to think of something interesting. “A cherry bomb once detonated while I was handling it. It took 15 minutes to get Robert down from the ceiling.”
“Cherry bombs. Those can be the pits!” Kevin grinned.
Kate chuckled, everyone else sighed.
“We should get to sleep. It’s getting late," David said.
“I can keep watch for wails. I noticed an untouched aisle full of energy drinks and coffee on the way here,” Kate offered.
The Pretty Bird let out an angry peep, protesting, but Kate shushed him. “Let me know if anything comes up.”
Kevin and his pets snuggled up between the aisles, while Pretty Bird plucked pink dust from her feathers on a nearby rack. David and Kayla slept outside Erick’s tent, having found decent pillows. It had been a long day, and they had another one ahead of them.
Part 4: Second Day
As the sun rose over the horizon, a parakeet crowed. The group rubbed their eyes and started to get up.
Everyone stared at Kate. “You didn’t sleep at ALL? That can’t be good for you.” Kayla reprimanded.
Kate shook her head. “No, actually. David woke up and insisted I sleep for a few hours, at the very least."
Everyone looked to David, who was audibly snoring, and back to Kate. “How long did you sleep for?”
“Maybe three hours? Or maybe it was two…” she pondered.
“I’m starving, we can discuss this after breakfast. What do we have to eat?” Kevin butted in. “The dogs and panda are going to need some food too. You can’t be cute on an empty stomach!"
Erick walked away and returned with a granola bar. “Go get your own,” he grunted.
As everyone else rushed off to grab the good snacks before anyone else, David slowly sat up. “Aagh, I feel like I slept on a ro- hey, wait up!”
Erick packed a few bottles of water and a box of granola into his bag, while the girls and Kevin scoured the store for supplies.
“I don’t see how you can eat these,” David gagged as he forced another spoonful down his throat. “That book on the floor is looking especially flavorful at this point.”
Erick didn’t bother to look up. “When you can’t even order a pizza, you eat what you can.” He gathered up his tent and the mechanisms that littered the floor. “I’ll be leaving now.”
“Where to?” Kayla asked from around the corner.
“Not anywhere with you. Food is sparse enough as is.”
He picked up a pole and headed for the door, with Robert following close behind. As Erick left the door, he suddenly bolted. With a groan, David realized he’d stolen his staff. He threw his box of granola in the trash and shot after him, with Kayla following close behind.
Part 5: Danger
They had lost him. David stopped to catch his breath, and motioned for Kayla to do the same. Before they could finish, they heard a growling from behind them.
“First, we lose Erick, and now this.” David sighed. He held out his machete as menacingly as possible.
A single wail slowly climbed out of a dumpster, gnawing on a stale loaf of bread.
“This shouldn’t be too har-”
Kayla was interrupted by the dumpster careening through the air. She had barely managed to dodge it before a giant hunk of concrete flew into David.
The once unintimidating wail now sped around the rubble at high speed, searching for another large object to hurl. Kayla grabbed David’s dropped machete from the ground as he lay unconscious.
“There’s no WAY that thing should be able to throw things like that! What in the world?!” she exclaimed before a lamppost sailed past her head.
The strange, powerful creep screeched, giving Kayla the chance she needed. She threw the machete as hard as she could, sending it straight into the creature’s stomach. Instead of running away like others of its kind would, the wail roared. Kayla looked away as it wail went for the kill.
BAMPT BAMPT. Two shots, and the wail laid dead at her feet. Kayla shielded her eyes a moment before looking up.
“That was close! Good thing I got here in time.” Kate chuckled, holstering her gun. “Where’s David?”
Kayla paused. She’d nearly forgotten about him! Kayla quickly led Kate over, and they both managed to move the massive chunk of concrete off of him.
Night had already fallen as they sat around a campfire with the injured David. He laid on a makeshift bed of leaves and rags while Kate and Kayla talked.
“That Erick! How dare he! We NEVER should’ve trusted someone so obviously shifty.” Kate declared, infuriated. “Next time we see that good-for-nothing, I’ll give him some of THIS!” She continued, dramatically pointing her gun at a distant tin can. Kayla winced as she put a hole through the center of it. Kate smugly returned the gun to it’s holster.
“Let’s calm down. We don’t want to be attracting any more of those monsters.” Kayla added a stick to the fire, and checked on David again. “You don’t think he’s dead, do you? He hasn’t moved in hours.”
“Shhh! Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Kayla stopped. The fire popped and crackled. Soon, she heard a distant thump. Thump. Thump. Kate put her hand on her holster, running her hand over the turquoise handle of her gun. She squinted her eyes for a second before she relaxed and sighed as Pretty Bird landed on her shoulder, chirping furiously.
“Just Kevin.”
“What am I, chopped liver?!” he pouted, riding in on his panda. “I run to the bathroom, and the store is deserted! You’d better be glad I grabbed our stuff before I went searching.” He paused, noticing David. “What happened? Indigestion? I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that granola. Stupid health food…”
Kayla chuckled. “I wish. You’ll never believe what happened earlier…”
Part 6: Reappearance
David held a stick over the fire, trying to roast his hot dog as evenly as possible. Hobbes and Stitch whined as it sizzled.
“Don’t we have cereal, or maybe some yogurt? I wouldn’t call hot dogs an appropriate breakfast food.” David sighed.
“We dibn’t habe enough fo evebyone” Kate said between mouthfuls.
“Franks a lot, Kate. You’re the brat-wurst,” Kevin butted in. Pretty Bird pecked him on the shoulder.
“Your humor needs some work… and I need a bun. Can you pass me one?” David pulled his hot dog off the stick, and held it in the air away from the dogs.
“Sorry, that wasn’t my best. And I don’t have any, you’ll have to eat it bunless.”
Scowling, David took a bite of his wiener as Kayla walked over, holding a large coin.
“I found this over by the beach. The markings look tech-y, do you think that one guy made it?” She handed it over to Kate, who looked it over.
“No, this is a solid piece of metal. He couldn’t have made it.”
“You’re right. I didn’t make it. But I’ve been looking for it,” a voice above them confirmed. Above them was Erick, looking down on them from the rooftop.
Kate brazenly pulled out her gun and aimed it at him. “What do YOU want, stupid thief?”
He sighed, weary. “That. How about a deal? Hand it over, and I’ll give the staff back, and even tell you something interesting.”
Kate started to protest, but David stopped her. “Well, the coin isn’t much use to us, even if he does double-cross us again. It looks heavy.” Kevin and Kayla nodded in agreement. Kate snorted and handed it to Kevin, not taking her eyes off Erick as she did.
As Kevin made it up the side of the building on his panda, David tapped his foot. “So what’s the ‘something interesting’?”
“You’ve met the wails with superpowers, haven’t you? There’s been a few around here.” The girls nodded, David gave them a bewildered look. “They aren’t the only ones. I passed by a human being who had them, over by the park.”
Erick grabbed the coin from Kevin, and bolted across the roof. Everyone looked at each other in amazement for a moment before David realized something.
“He never gave me back my staff! That liar!”
Kevin shrugged. “I don’t think we’ll need your staff if we can get our own superhero. Let’s go!”
Part 7: Paper Machete
Kate chuckled. “Yeah, a real superhero would be great!”
“Maybe not, but he said he’d give it back and he didn’t,” Kayla grumbled. “He might have lied about the superhero thing so we don’t go after him.”
David paused. “I think you’re probably right, but that would be an odd thing to come up with on the spot. What if you chased after him on Hershey while the rest of us look for the super-person?”
Kayla nodded, and climbed onto the panda. “Meet you at the town square!”
Speeding ahead, Kevin vibrated with enthusiasm. “A real superhero!” Stitch and Hobbes ran around him in circles, barking vigorously.
“You’ve said that seven times already,” Kate gasped, trying to keep up. “We’re near the park, let’s take a minute to rest, please. I don’t see anyone here, or at least anyone with their body intact.”
Everyone avoided breathing through their nose. The smell of decaying bodies filled the air, as fingers and bones laid strewn upon the withered grass. Ashes from a fire laid next to a pile of ragged blankets under a dead tree.
“So he did lie to us… what a jerk.” David kicked a nearby rock out of anger. Under it was a poster with a thunderbolt striking a sheet of paper. After studying it carefully for a minute, he reached out to pick it up. Suddenly, the paper flew behind him in a burst of speed, severing the head of a wail that had creeped up behind him!
“Ack!” David pulled everyone else away as fast as possible. A body crawled out from one of the blankets. Kate put her hand on her holster, while David pulled out his machete. Papers flew from every direction, gathering in the air.
The group quietly inched closer, before they were able to properly see who it was. It appeared to be a man, the papers forming a sword in his hand. Ash darkened his skin and hair, and he was wearing what once might’ve been called a tuxedo.
Everyone awkwardly looked to each other for a minute before Kevin spoke up.
“Uhhh… hey! Cool origami skills!”
Papers continued to fly into the now intricate sword. David cleared his throat and put away his machete.
“Hello! We don’t mean any harm,” David smiled nervously, waving his hand. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the man lowered the sword.
“He seems oka-” they were cut short when he threw the sword, missing David by a hair. Looking behind them, they saw two halves of yet another wail.
Kevin gulped as his dogs hid behind him. The man walked toward them, sending the sword flying back to his hand.
“Hey. I’m Tim, who’re you? I haven’t seen a single living soul in a month.”
Part 8: Breather
“I’m… David. Nice to meet you, Tim.”
After introducing themselves and their pets, the group nervously shook hands with him. He was happy to have company, but it was hard not to be intimidated by him.
“I doubted I’d ever see anyone again. A group of three is amazing! How’d you end up together?”
David smiled awkwardly. “We rescued each other. There’s actually someone else in our group, but they’re off chasing another person who stole from us.”
Tim laughed. “So there’s five other people! What a place! I guess this really must be a safe haven.”
“This is a safe haven? There’s a lot of wails around. Some even have superpowers!” Kevin replied.
Kate stared him in the eyes. “Where on Earth have you been that this is a safe haven?”
Tim returned her gaze and muttered a name under his breath. He wasn’t laughing or even smiling anymore.
“Don’t go there. That place seriously has to be cursed. What you’ve seen around here is the tip of the iceberg.”
“I’ve been there, before all this happened. It was a tough place even then,” Kate said quietly. “Were you… living there? When it happened?”
They sat in silence for a moment before Tim spoke.
“Changing topic, I have something for you.”
He pulled a pamphlet out of his pocket and held it out. “Here. This should be helpful to you.”
David took it and flipped it open. It was filled with descriptions and pictures of several kinds of monsters.
“It’s about wails and dheathfins, which are the ‘super-powered’ wails. Should be helpful if you take a minute to look at it,” Tim informed them.
Kevin grinned nervously. “Err, thanks? We will. It’s about time to get going, and we were going to meet the other person back at the town square, if you’d like to come with us?”
Tim nodded and stepped forward. “Let’s get going, then!”
Part 9: Premonition
Tim whistled a merry tune. Walking through the ash and broken glass that littered the streets gave them plenty of time to get a good look at the charred buildings that surrounded them. Kevin was unsure how anyone could be merry in their situation, but at least the sky was clear and a gentle breeze blew through.
David and Kate walked a few feet behind the two, occasionally stopping to muse over the pamphlet. The streets were eerie quiet.
“I, uhh, would make a few paper jokes to lighten the mood, but… all of mine are tearable.” Kevin shot finger guns at no one in particular. Tim let out a chuckle, while David grimaced and facepalmed.
“Haha, I haven’t heard any good jokes-”
“…me neither…”
“-in a while! Do you have any more of 'em?”
“Sure! I have enough to last a week!”
The four continued walking for what felt like hours before they finally got to the town square.
“There it is!” Kate flailed her arms wildly, like a castaway seeing a rescue boat. “Wait, I don’t see Kayla. She must have managed to catch up with Erick. Hopefully she’ll be back by tonight. What should we do now?”
Tim brushed the ash off a rock, and sat down.
"I’m sure you two’re tired of puns, so why don’t we get to know each other a bit better? I’ll start.
I used to work at a paper company. Thunder Tough Paper. I was an engineer, making sure the machines ran smooth. My coworkers were nice, and I loved my job. The only problem was the pay. I’m from that place under the sea, where the monkeys in charge don’t bother to enforce minimum wage. I couldn’t even afford my water bill! Honestly, the whole doomsday thing has been a lot better than what I had going for me."
Stitch and Hobbes whined and barked, alerting Kevin.
“Wow, look at those clouds over the beach! There must be a whopper of a storm coming!”
As he spoke, ominous, smoky-gray clouds appeared and hovered over the beach like vultures. Everyone else stared quietly, trying to guess where they came from.
KRACK!
Roaring thunder broke the silence, following a bolt of lightning that could have torn the beach in half. The sky darkened, inked black by an unknown force. The four were spurred to action, on their feet quick as a whip.
This topic has reached the character limit. Further chapters will have a dedicated topic.
Next: | Chapter 2: Sunken City
Credits:
@TherMasterStitch: Original Author
@Pawpsicle: Illustrator, Author, Original Co-Author
@Champion_David: Co-Author of the original Ep. 1, Founder of the FG group
