The Most Friendliest game.

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lilium mortem
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The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Well here I am, posting Fanfiction of Housepets!. I feel a bit embarrassed, like a boy being laughed at for playing with dolls. Sometimes something just grabs my imagination and I run with it. This time it was Housepets!. I never meant to share this fanfiction, but once I started writing the third chapter... well I figured why not.

I'll post the prologue and chapter one today, and try to post chapters weekly, I've got chapter two done and chapter three halfway finished. I'm open to criticism, if you feel like giving it. on with the show, I suppose

Summary:A traveler from beyond the universe arrives to play a game. Not a game where mortals are the pieces, no, This being decides to be both player and peice. Incarnated into the body of a cat with the memories of her time as an immortal being of cosmic power gone, she must rely on memories of her time being human, and whatever help a certain foxy GM decides to give to win. what is the goal of the game? To make friends with every pet in Babylon Gardens.

The Most Friendliest Game
a Housepets! fanfiction by Lilium Mortem

Prologue: the rules

It was a good day in heaven, which is every day, but better than any other kind of day, as that would mean something had gone terribly wrong. On this good day, a traveler appeared from beyond the universe. He got his passport stamped and a slap on the wrist for having packed fresh produce in his pocket dimension. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.

The man, as it was a man, a human at first glance, pulled down the brim of his blue hat and walked out of the indescribable reality of the nexus of multiversal travel. Most people just called it the spaceport. The man walked his way through heaven stopping to talk every now and then with a kind stranger. In as little time as a minute forty-six seconds or as long as an eternity, he reached his destination.

The comic book shop was unassuming, average, and out of the way. Which of course made it a novelty in heaven, thus it was jam packed and the owner had dropped the pretense of fixed spatial dimensions in the interior shop to let it grow to whatever size it needed to be to handle this kind of traffic. It would die down eventually.

“Could I have a copy of Universes and Unrealities?” the traveler asked the mink operating the register.

The mink’s face went white, Which is quite a feat with dark brown fur. Customer service employees in heaven take their Jobs very seriously. Given as time is subjective and that no one needs to work, there’s no real money, and there are always good people, it’s actually an enjoyable experience to work customer service.

So when a mysterious traveler comes into the comic shop you ‘work’ at and asks for a tome of forbidden knowledge you shouldn’t have, You apologize and say you have to get your manager. Now this isn’t admitting defeat, mind you. Such a customer could easily be handled. The book however, is trickier.

In the wrong hands that book could ruin worlds, enslave species, create and destroy life on a whim, and stain the basement carpet with coke. Saying you don’t have such a book and letting the traveler look elsewhere would be irresponsible of a good comic book store employee. Additionally when you do have that book, even when you really shouldn’t, maybe the customer knows. Thus, you wouldn’t turn away the traveler would you? No, you would call your manager.

And if that manager happened to be an immortal demigod, you’d have to roll the dice on upsetting them, because you couldn’t let the customer leave if there was a chance of fulfilling his request. Because you take your job seriously Dangit!

“Hello there tall, blue, and Mysterious” A mischievous voice called out. “Why are you going around scaring my employees? Not that I disapprove of it mind you, Helen made the funniest face last week when someone asked about the Necrocomicon.”

Standing in a doorway marked ‘Employees and Incomprehensibly Powerful Cosmic Entities Only’ was a Kitsune. The Great Kitsune to be exact. Demigod, Dungeon Master, and fine on the eyes if he had anything to say on the matter.

“Nice to meet you, You can call me… The Traveler” The traveler said. “I have a less mysterious, Proper noun name, but for equally mysterious reasons, it’s lost to me. You know how it goes, a few grand scale cosmic adventures and it’s hard to sit down and be normal for five seconds.”

“Eh, being mysterious is just another way to say you like to mess with people.” The kitsune Shrugged “But I get it, lost a bet, or a game. Either way no name. Did you actually want a copy of Universes and Unrealities, or was that just a dramatic way of getting my attention?”

“A bit of both, honestly”

“A man after my own heart. Sure, why not, you want to play a game?”

“I do, in fact...”

***

There’s a space, a place that’s a universe unto itself. It’s complexities stretching infinitely as cosmic machinery all for one purpose. In the center of that space sat a man and a fox. That’s oversimplifying things a lot, but if we’re going to have to continue the D&D metaphor, might as well go all the way. A man and a fox sit in a basement and talk about roleplaying games.

“The idea is this: No grand plots, no battles of destiny, just me. I go down there and become a mortal pet. I try to befriend all non-feral animal inhabitants of Babylon Gardens.” The Traveler said, taking a sip of fanta orange.

“Yeah, but counterpoint: that sounds boring” Kitsune said.

“I’ve never been a big fan of grandiose quests and life or death stakes. The most fun I ever had Playing D&D back when I was human was watching characters grow, become better, and overcome personal issues. That’s why I want the win condition to be befriending everyone.”

“But how would that be fun for me?”

The traveler had to think about that. Dungeon Masters tended to thrive when they got to show of their world and their stories with as much enthusiasm as the players playing through it all.

“You can’t manipulate people, because then we’re back to where things were when you were playing in this world with Pete and Dragon.” The Traveler mused. “But you could manipulate me all you wanted. Tug me in the direction of interesting events, give me incentives for befriending people and penalties for making enemies.”

“That sounds a lot like how Pete and Dragon treated their Avatars.” Kitsune Pointed out.

“But I actively want it, and what’s more I’m the player. That means you get to choose where to tug me, and you won’t push to strongly, because we both know that making a player do something they don’t find interesting just leads to everyone bored or worse.”

“Alright, let’s brainstorm some rules.” Kitsune said, grabbing a notebook and a pen.

***

‘Goal: Develop a positive relationship with every non feral adult animal resident of Babylon gardens.(Relationship to be judged by GM)

Boon: a spell from spell table Theta-351 for each friend.

Fail state: gain 100 enemies(any species, any place of residence), death.

Penalty: for every enemy gained you gain a curse from table Alpha-34. Curse may be removed by corresponding enemy ceasing to be an enemy.

Restrictions:
-May not reveal the existence of the game.
-Stuck in a mortal body of GM’s choosing for the duration of the game.
-All powers sealed.
-Memory erasure back to the age of 20.

Penalty for breaking or circumventing Restrictions is up to the GM

Prize for winning: all curses and restrictions lifted, freedom to come and go from this Earth.
Penalty for losing: Banishment from this Earth for 100 years.’


The traveler looked over the additional rules and the hack of Universes and Unrealities that made it possible. He blinked and double checked it.

“I get most of these, but what’s this about erasing my memory just up until age 20?” The Traveler asked.

“Well going full amnesiac has been done to death. You were 21 when the inciting event that lead to you becoming an immortal being of immense cosmic power right? I’m not going to hide who you’ve been since then, but I think it would be more interesting if you didn’t have all your experience to work with.” Kitsune said, leaning back in his chair.

“Alright, makes sense to me, not too thrilled about it, but It’d be pretty fun either way so I’ll take it. Or if not fun, a welcome distraction from the constant unending torment of eternity.” The traveler said. “Before we start I’d like some fresh air.”


“Alright, you know where to find me.” Kitsune said.

***

The Traveler took out a silver pocket watch carefully. It was a beautiful thing, glass front, ornate black clock hands, and most importantly, a backlit stained glass window as the clock face. He smiled, looking at it, hands frozen as objective time ceased to function in heaven.

“Hey, It’s been a while.” He said. “I still miss you, so don’t worry about that. I can’t remember your name now. I remember what you look like, who you are, but not your name. I’m sorry I made you take up my duty, I’m sorry I got killed like that. I’m sorry I can never see you again. My story is over, your story isn’t. I don’t remember your given name, but I do remember what you decided to call yourself. What the stories told of your tales will call you. I’m going to try and make some friends, try to settle down, we’ll see if it sticks. Goodbye Mosaic.”

The Traveler found it funny, that fate here looked like a pocket watch, at least on earth. He’d have Mosaic’s ‘fate’ in his hands(One of the terms he’d hammered out with Kitsune was to take the pocket watch with him). Too bad he couldn’t do anything with it.

Chapter 1: tutorial

“If your watching this, it means I’ve lost my memory. Specifically, all the memory up until six months after my twentieth birthday. First, let me prove to you I’m you, then we can discuss the situation I’ve put you in.”

It was Christmas morning at the Hayata Household. Mr. and Mrs. Hayata had two kids, Usagi and Shinji. Shinji was sixteen and Usagi was twelve. The two never got along despite their parents best efforts, but at least they could put that aside for Christmas.

“We have one last present for you, Usagi” Mrs. Hayata said.

She brought in a bright blue present, and sat it before her daughter. Usagi’s eyes went wide with excitement, while Shiji turned away, scowling. Usagi approached the box, and as she set her hands on it a tuxedo cat jumped out of the box. Her fur was cobalt blue with a light grey underbelly and paws. Her eyes were emerald green, along with her collar. In place of a tag a silver pocket watch hung. Both kids jumped, but their parents just smiled.

“Surprise!” The cat yelled. “Hello Usagi, I’m your new cat.”

“You got me a cat!?” Usagi squealed at her parents, disbelieving.

She scooped up the cat in a hug, holding her tight. Shinji turned scowled some more and sat down on the couch to play on his phone. His parents cast a glance his way, but didn’t say anything.

“We talked about it with the cat, and she’s ok with you naming her.” Mr. Hayata.

“My old name doesn’t mean much to me, and I want to be a part of your family. So please, go ahead!” The cat said.

“Mom, Dad,” Usagi began “You told me that Shinji and me were named after heros right?”

“Heroes...” Mr. Hayata said, thinking back to his anime collection, “right.”

“Ok, then you get to be a hero too” Usagi said, looking down at the cat. “Your name is… Rey!”

Mr. Hayata flinched and looked over at Shiji.

“Like Rey from star wars! She uses a lightsaber and is really tough and courageous!”

Mr. Hayata Visibly relaxed. Just to be sure he’d double check the lock on his DVD collection. And Usagi’s browser history. And Shinji’s browser history. His kids couldn’t know they were named after anime protagonists. Mrs. Hayata just rolled her eyes.

“I’ll do my best to live up to it!” the newly Christened Rey said. “Could you put me down though? Being held like this is kind of uncomfortable.”

“I was never good at being around other people, not really. I threw myself into my work to avoid people, and once I became immortal, The same thing happened, just on a larger scale. I want to change, and I believe we can. One piece of advice though: act nice, even if you don’t feel nice. Fake it till you make it baby.”

Usagi placed Rey back down on the floor. She ran up and gave her parents big hugs. Rey gave a sigh of relief. She wasn’t comfortable with touching people more than strictly necessary. After taking a moment to breathe, she walked over to Shinji. If Rey was going to do this, she’d act as friendly as possible.

“Hello Shinji” Rey said. “Just because I’m Usagi’s pet doesn’t mean we can’t get along right?”

“Wrong.” Shinji said, glaring at Rey.

“Why? I just want to be a good pet.”

“Well maybe I don’t want a pet, not for me, not for my sister, not in this house.”

For a moment, the world seemed to stop for Rey, and in her mind these words burned:

[Enemy gained]
[99 More enemies and it’s game over!]
[Curse obtained: Random fainting]
[Random fainting(Curse): You will faint as little as three times to as much as Thirty times per day.]
You didn’t think I’d make this easy, did you?


And just like that time started again. Rey frowned “Oh so we’re doing the LitRPG thing are we? So does this mean I faint randomly, or whenever the GM wan-”

Rey’s mumbling was cut off. Muffled by the warm embrace of the carpet.

***

Rey thought she was doing good, up until she talked with Shinji. She supposed it took more than a smile and a good attitude to win people over. Or maybe Shinji could tell she was pretending. It’s not like Rey disliked any of the Hayatas. She just wasn’t a person that was naturally in a good mood very often. Or one that smiled.

She cursed her past self for forcing her to make friends. How do you even do that? The fact that Rey didn’t know these things probably should have concerned her more than it did. As it was now she was just frustrated. She hadn’t even gotten out of the house since being taken home from the animal shelter. Already she was making enemies.

“-And those are the rules. Your GM is Kitsune, Have fun! Really, I mean that. Enjoy your life. I- We need it. You could see this situation as a curse, or as an opportunity. I need to be pushed to make progress, so you do too. Be better than me, and have a life you can enjoy.”

He opened his eyes. He was in some kind of cell. He lifted a hand and saw a grey paw attached to a blue arm. He screamed and then screamed louder when he heard how high his voice was. After being told ‘I swear to Dog if you scream ONE MORE TIME-’ he calmed down enough to take stock of his situation.

He was a girl cat. Ok. honestly the cat thing was a bigger shock than the girl thing, even if he knew it was coming. He thought about whether he should keep male pronouns and decided against it. She could play this game, and hey, being a pet meant no job. She was getting a blank slate here. Time to make the most of it.


Rey got out of the cat bed she’d been placed in and walked into the living room. After explaining to Mr Hayata that she had a ‘fainting condition’ he told her she had been out for about ten minutes. Luckily it seemed like the Hayata’s had just thought she was tired and being a cat by falling asleep wherever she felt like it.

“Usagi is outside playing in the snow. We’re going to leave for a family gathering at two, uncle Maurice is allergic to cats though, so are ok staying here by yourself?” Mr. Hayata asked.

“Yeah, I was hoping to introduce myself to some of the neighbourhood pets, get a feel for the area.” Rey replied.

“Oh one more thing!” Mr. Hayata said, grabbing a present from under the tree. “Here.”

Rey took the present and unwrapped it. It was a cat sized scarf and beanie. The scarf was rainbow patterned, the beanie grey. Rey blinked. She hadn’t expected any gifts. She supposed any cat related supplied might count, but they didn’t get wrapped.

“Thanks.” Rey said automatically “This means a lot to me.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re a part of the family now” Mr. Hayata said, grinning.

Rey jumped up and hugged the man, purring. She was caught off guard by her own purring, but mentally shrugged and leaned into it.
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

Very nice start. I like your writing style and the characters, keep up the good work.
“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” - Thomas Sowell

“The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.” Phyllis Diller
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Zesortinge
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Zesortinge »

This seems interesting.
I have ideas and I occasionally put them down.
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CuriousCnidarian
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by CuriousCnidarian »

Pretty nice so far, with an interesting premise. I'll be looking forward to seeing where this goes.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This fanfic does seem like it will be interesting! I can't wait to read more of what you have planned!
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Nathan Kerbonaut
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Nathan Kerbonaut »

Thanks for sharing this story! I'm hooked :)
lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Thank Y'all for the kind words. It means a lot to have people interested in this silly little fanfic I wrote for myself. I'm almost done with chapter 3, and if I finish chapter 4 I'll release chapter 2 early. I want at least a two chapter buffer in case I hit a dry spell or something comes up, but I would like to share more of the story. Stay tuned, next time Rey makes her first friend. any guesses?
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Nathan Kerbonaut »

That makes sense. I look forward to whatever comes next.
I'm guessing Peanut. Can't be too difficult, can it? :P
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Just take your time and don't worry too much if you do get writer's block. Just try not to think about it too much and eventually you will find inspiration in s place you would have never thought!
lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Happy new year, and new decade! Before we begin I'd like to ask if there's any Mod willing to Beta read the next few chapters? they contain stuff that might be PG depending on how it's handled. I'm pretty sure I've made it PG enough, but I want a second opinion.

Chapter four is done! which means as I promised Chapter 2 is here! I was hoping to make wednesday update day anyway. As always feel free to post feedback and criticism. On with the show.

Chapter 2: Open World

“This is it.” Rey said, waving at the Hayata’s Minivan as it drove away. “Time to make some friends.”

Rey plowed through the snow, past a clowder of Siamese cats constructing a snow fort, A pack of wolves engaged in a snowball fight, and A squirrel driving an RC car down the sidewalk. Rey just needed to find the right target. Then after a long and draining conversation, ask them to meet up later to deepen the bond between them. A foolproof Friendship plan.

Caught in her thoughts, Rey almost walked right into a dog. The dog didn’t seem to notice. She was tan and brown with a heart shaped charm on a pink collar.

“Sorry, I almost walked into you” Rey said, extending her arm out for a handshake “I’m Rey, I’m new here, a Christmas present to the Hayata’s little girl.”

“Oh, Nice to meet you and Merry Christmas!” the dog said. “I’m Sasha! Welcome to Babylon Gardens!”

Sasha shook Rey’s paw, which was a relief for Rey, since she didn’t know if that was a thing pets did. Now all that she needed to do was to ask Sasha about hanging out sometime. Easy enough. Soon there would be a friendship, Rey just had to stick to the plan.

“Want to be friends?” Rey asked.

In case anyone was wondering, that wasn’t the plan. Rey panicked when it was time to actually say something and ended up saying the first thing that came to mind. Everything was doomed, Rey would be solidified as a weirdo to the pets of Babylon Gardens, she’d get cursed a bunch, and then booted from the planet earth.

“Sure.” Sasha said, smiling.

[Friend Gained]
[1/68 Friends gained]
[Spell obtained: Sense Emotions]
[Sense emotions(Cantrip): at any time you may cast this spell to sense the emotions of creatures within 50 meters of you.]
That was freaking hilarious, you just asked her to be friends like you were a little kid. This is shaping up to be more fun than I first thought.


“I- uh,” Rey stumbled over her words, “Let’s hang out sometime. I’m going to continue to explore the neighbourhood.”

“Sure thing!” Sasha said, waving.

Rey couldn’t believe that had actually worked. From what Kitsune commented, it seemed like just asking people was still a bad idea. Sense Emotions would undoubtedly be useful. If Rey could gage how people were feeling about her, navigating a conversation would become much easier.

Rey shook her head. She didn’t have to rush things. Her past self had said to enjoy this, so why shouldn’t she? It was christmas, Rey felt entitled to a good time. For now though, a peaceful walk through the neighborhood would do.

She got all of two feet before fainting.

***

“You ok?” someone asked

“Buh?” Rey replied.

She sat up. The gears in Rey’s brain started up when she realized ‘oh yeah, the fainting curse’. She stood up with a helping paw from the stranger. He was a corgi, wearing a black scarf. He was holding a paper bag in one hand.

“Thanks,” Rey said, “Sorry If I worried you, I have a… fainting condition.”

“It’s fine, but should you be out if you’re just going to faint at the drop of a hat?” The corgi asked, concerned.

“Well it’s not like I stay out for long, only ever ten minutes, and it’s not like anything bad could happen to me when I’m out cold for ten minutes.”

Rey and the corgi both paused for a second. The corgi lifted up a paw and opened his mouth, preparing to talk, but Rey cut him off.

“Ok yeah I realized how stupid It was a second after it came out of my mouth. I probably should walk with someone.”

“I could walk with you awhile if you’re going my way, I need to get back home with the butter I borrowed from the Sandwitches, my wife is making cookies.”

“Sure why not,” Rey shrugged “I’m Rey, by the way. A christmas present for Usagi Hayata. Wait what do you mean you got butter from a sandwich?”

“I’m King, and it’s a family with the last name sandwich. Don’t think too hard about it or you’ll get headaches, trust me.” King said, walking ahead. He paused, stopped, and turned around. “What do you mean you’re a christmas present?”

“Well, lucky kids get puppies on christmas right?” Rey said, hoping she was right “Well Usagi is just more of a cat person.”

“Ok, yeah, but I...” King paused, looking thoughtful “Doesn’t it feel demeaning be a present? It sounds pretty objectifying.”

“Well… Yeah I guess it’s a bit weird being a gift, but I never really felt like an object, just a surprise. I want to be a part of the Hayata family. Usagi wanted a cat. It’s Christmas. Everyone comes away happy.” Rey explained, lying through her teeth.

Truth was, Rey found the entire pet/human society incredibly disturbing. Her past self had explained that she was on an alternate earth, one where most animals were sapient. He also said not to think about it too hard. That advice got thrown out the window as soon as she decided to question what was in her cat food.

“I guess, still feels unfair.” King said, furrowing his brow.

“Maybe it is.” Rey lied, was certain it was.

They came up to the house that was host to the snowball fight between wolves. It looked like it got pretty intense, and those wolves had muscle. They were tossing around Melon sized snowballs like it was nothing. Rey stopped to watch.

“Wow, those snowballs are bigger than my head!” She observed “Did that armless wolf just get creamed by a snowman’s Head? Oh, the old one is joining now… wait no he’s going over to those Siamese cat’s snow fort. Oh carp, he just lifted the entire thing! King, maybe we should run!”

But King was nowhere to be seen.

“King?” Rey asked, before turning back to see a wave of snow rolling towards her. “WHAT THE F-”

There was a deafening roar as snow crashed down all around the wolf house. The whole neighborhood shook. A purple cat woke up, looked around, shrugged and went back to sleep. A pomeranian caught a vase without looking before going back to reading. A squirrel clung to the top of a Christmas tree, a dog barking at him. A group of ferrets looked around, shrugged, muttered something about a fox and went back to their business.

A single blue and grey paw broke threw the new blanket of white. Then another. Finally Rey climbed up, gasping for breath, caked head to toe in snow. The wolves were off in the distance, laughing as they picked identical Siamese cats out of the snow.

Rey heard the front door of the wolf house crunch against the new level of snow blocking it. Someone was trying to get outside. With nothing better to do, Rey began clearing snow in front of the door and soon enough saw a husky in a blue bandana open the door.

“Old wolf with a walking stick joined the snowball fight outside?” She asked. Rey just nodded. “That explains why King ran in, threw a bag of butter at me and hid in the pup’s room. Come on in, you’ll freeze to death with that much snow in your fur. I’m Bailey, Nice to meet you and thanks for clearing the snow in front of the door.”

“Ugh, my new and only clothes are ruined.” Rey said, peeling her stiff scarf off “I’m Rey, I met King already, are you his wife?”

“Yep! I love that pipsqueak. Go ahead and sit by the fire, I’ll check in on you once I get the cookies in the oven.”

Rey walked into the living room of the odd house, and set her snow caked clothes next to the fire as she herself curled up next to it. Weird cosmic game of D&D, ethical dilemmas of a world of sapient animals, and Giant snow explosions aside, Rey felt like she could get used to this.

Just for kicks she decided to cast detect emotions, which only needed her to say the name of the spell with the intent to use it. Fifty meters goes a long way in the suburbs, Rey found out. Enough to cover almost two full houses. She could sense exasperation and worry from the kitchen, upstairs she could sense three curious and playful minds, and one incredibly scared mind. Outside was a mix of mirth and frustration.

After a bit, the fear in the mind upstairs lessoned and Rey could sense all four of the minds from upstairs start moving downstairs. She tracked two of them into the kitchen, while the other two made their way to the living room.

“Hi, I’m Olive!” A tiny voice said behind Rey.

The cutest being alive stood in front of Rey, She was a corgi husky mix, likely the daughter of King and Bailey. Rey remembered once reading a post online talking about the ‘Horgi’ mixed breed. Essentially chibi huskies. Seeing one in the flesh was an almost holy experience.

“Hello Olive, I’m Rey.” Rey said, smiling as Olive sniffed around her.

“You have funny colored fur, like Ms. Grape!” Olive said.

“It is funny isn’t it?” Rey said, sensing nothing but pure happiness from Olive “I don’t even know how blue fur happens. Get anything good for christmas?”

“Hehe, yeah! I got lego!”

“Wow, an entire legOOOOOOOO!” Rey yelled as she was tackled from behind. A tan Horgi was on top of her, panting and wagging his tail.

For a beat they just stared at each other. Then the Horgi pup licked Rey’s face. The next thing she knew she was hanging upside down on the ceiling hissing. She was shaking, slobber still wet on her face and the feeling of being tackled still fresh in her mind. Rey really didn’t like being touched without permission.

“Hey Rey, I wanted to apologize for-” King began, entering the room. He did a double take when he saw Rey. “Why are you on the ceiling?”
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

And Sasha is the first friend! I sympathize with Rey I do not like being touched without permission either. Good job! I like how you incorporated Grape, Tarot, Marion, the ferrets, and Uncle Deadeye. King could be an interesting friend/ mentor for Rey. Keep up the good work.
“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” - Thomas Sowell

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Zesortinge
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Zesortinge »

I think Rey might make another enemy in the next chapter. She will probably also immediately be an enemy of Bino when they meet.
I have ideas and I occasionally put them down.
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

Then again, who isn’t an enemy of Bino?
“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” - Thomas Sowell

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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I'm pretty sure that Bino would even be able to make Mother Theresa his enemy with how obnoxious he is.
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

What's up party people? I was thinking of releasing this chapter straight at midnight because it'd technically be wednesday and I wanted to keep my update day as wednesday, buuut I need to get my sleep schedule back in order before I head back to school monday.

Chapter six is maybe halfway done? I had to scrap chapter five and start over on that one so it chewed up a lot of time. So I'm still on schedule with my two chapter buffer, but I would have loved to share more than one chapter a week with y'all. There's so much I want to talk about. Today's chapter might push the bounds of PG. I don't think it does, which gives me plausible deniability, but who knows what the mods think.

Well I think that's it, without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Chapter 3: Side Quest

The next few days were good for Rey. She spent more time with Usagi, besting her at mario kart and losing a fair few snowball fights. If she was being honest with herself, Rey was being lazy. She knew she had a goal, but after Christmas day…

Well it had been a tough day for Rey, a rollercoaster of emotions. She told herself that she was getting used to things and establishing a comfort zone, but those were excuses. Rey was afraid of making friends. Of going out and talking to strangers, not knowing if they’ll be ok to talk to or would tackle you and lick your face.

The fainting curse had gotten both more annoying and more manageable. Sure, Rey would fall over semi-randomly, but she was a cat, it was almost expected of her. Except she wasn’t, not really. She’d lied to the Hayatas, and was living in their house under false pretenses. When she felt like this she would pretend to sleep, avoiding playing with Usagi.

On Saturday Rey woke up late and just stared at the ceiling. She sighed and got up. It would be hard but She could continue on, and figure out how to move forward. She smiled.

“It will take more than that to keep me from facing the day!” Rey proclaimed.

The next thing she knew she woke up on the floor. Rey grumbled something about dramatic irony not keeping herself down either when she got up and dusted herself off. She went into the kitchen to eat her breakfast of milk and dry cat food.

“Oh, it seems like Shinji forgot his lunch” Mr. Hayata commented. “Honey, could you take it to him on your way to work?”

A familiar feeling spread over Rey as time stopped again, but she was confused, how could she have made a friend or enemy right now.

[Quest: you are (not) alone]
[Shinji Hayata has forgotten the lunch his dad made for him. It’s a bit of a walk, but there’s nothing stopping you from taking it to him. It’s likely this will break the ice between you two and make him hate you slightly less. If that’s not enough, I promise something interesting will happen if you do ;)]
[Accept?]


Rey took a moment to think it over. Thankfully time was frozen so she could give it some consideration. Usagi was over at a friends house today, if she remembered correctly. On the other paw, she still had the fainting curse. How would she make it to Shinji’s part time job without fainting somewhere along the way?

“I have a question” She asked to the frozen world. “I can’t do this by myself, but I don’t know if anyone would be willing to walk with me into town. What happens if I ‘accept’ this quest and find out I can’t do it?”

Sure thing, since the quest has no explicit rewards or penalties nothing will happen if you fail it. But when I offer a quest, it’s always well within your power to complete. They are mainly just my way of saying ‘here’s something cool going on, you won’t want to miss this’.

“Ok then. I accept.”

Time started up again. Rey blinked and shook her head, never being frozen for so long. Mrs. Hayata was sighing, considering her options. She reeked of annoyance and reluctance. Rey was glad she chose to accept the Quest.

“Hey, I could do it.” Rey said. “I was thinking about going into town with a friend anyway. Let me just call her and see if she’s available.”

Mrs. Hayata tentatively relaxed as she watched Rey go over to the seldom used landline. She actually had to wipe some dust off of it. Sasha was free, since her boyfriend had to cancel on account of emergency at work.

The Hayata parents were proud of Rey. They told her that, but she also felt it. That in turn made her feel guilty. She was just using them, in the end. They didn’t know what she was, or why she really offered to Take Shinji’s lunch to him.

Rey borrowed one of Usagi’s old backpacks(Rainbow unicorn themed) and then had a lengthy and confusing conversation about leash laws and their loopholes. Once that was done She met Sasha on the street and began walking into town.

“Thanks for coming with me. I’d go by myself, but I have a fainting condition. I have to stick with the buddy system.” Rey said.

“It’s not a problem, besides, I get to know more about my new friend.” Sasha said, tail wagging.

It was clear to Rey from sasha’s emotions she was being honest. Not that she doubted them being friends, she had a demigod confirm that for her. No it was just how sincere she was. That was something rare, in Rey’s experience.

She thought about what she could tell Sasha and decided on just pet-ifying her life in general terms. She needed to remember what she said here, since this was the story she would be going by if anyone asked.

“Ok. My years as a pup weren’t anything special” Rey said. “I was owned by a nice family, upper middle class. We were hit by a disaster, a hurricane. We were separated. They must have moved somewhere else. I went looking for them for years. Ended up here and decided it was time to see if a new family would have me.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t find them” Sasha said, “That sounds so sad. I only have Daddy, He worries me sometimes, but he’s all I’ve got.”

“How does he worry you?” Rey asked, sensing a sharp spike of fear in Sasha.

“He drinks a lot, and sometimes forgets things, like unlocking the front door. I do my best to make him happy, but it’s not enough.”

That sent red flags flaring all over Rey’s mind. At first she thought the fear was from Sasha’s owner. Sasha might be afraid of what he could do, but she wasn’t afraid of him. She wanted the best for him. There was no anger there, Sasha would never blame him for anything. There was nothing Rey could say to Sasha to make her realize her own abuse. The best Rey could do was maybe talk to the police. Apparently the 5-9 unit here was a lot more important than it was on Her earth.

“You haven't said anything in awhile, are you ok?” Sasha asked.

“No, I don’t think your owner is a good man.” Rey said.

“But he is! He loves me! I get free food, a place to sleep, and all he asks me to do some are a few chores.”

“There’s nothing I could say to you to change your mind, and there’s nothing you could say to change my mind, so let’s drop it, ok?”

Rey had an edge in her voice. She knew things were wrong in this world, things were wrong in her world too. But Rey had apparently become immortal at some point. Why wasn’t she using that power to do good now, instead of playing this stupid game?

Rey fainted only once on there way to Shinji’s job. She had been shocked when she found out what shinji’s part time job was. He seemed like the type of kid who would slide by on the smallest amount of effort. But there Rey was, standing in the middle of the Warehouse District, watching men load and unload crates from trucks.

“Weird, I didn’t even know we had a warehouse district” Sasha said.

“According to this real, physical map I have in this, the gregorian calendar year 2019,” Rey replied, just a bit salty about not owning a phone. “ We have an uptown, downtown, midtown, Garden District, Financial quarter, Financial half, Business District, Warehouse District, School District, District Attorney, District 9, and combination water district/Taco Bell/KFC.”

“Ooh Taco bell is my favorite! Sometimes Daddy lets me eat his scraps!” Sasha replied.

Ignoring red flags like a jungle explorer ignores foliage with a michettee, Rey made her way towards the neared guy with a clipboard and hope for the best.

“Excuse me, do you know where Shinji Hayata is? He forgot his lunch at home and I’m taking it to him.”

The man furrowed his brow, grumbled something, and pointed to one of the trucks. Rey thanked him and moved with Sasha towards the back of the truck. Shinji was handing a man boxes from the back of the truck, who then piled them on a pallet, which was then taken by a forklift driver to some part of the warehouse.

“Hey what the heck are you doing here, cat?” Shinji said, glaring daggers at Rey.

“You forgot your lunch at home, human” Rey said, rolling her eyes. “I volunteered to take it to you.”

Rey took off the unicorn backpack and unzipped it, revealing an opaque tupperware container. She handed it to shinji, who just scowled at her. He still took it though.

“I could’ve just eaten at the combination Water District/Taco Bell/KFC” he said dismissively.

“The same one marked on this map I got from your parents that’s marked in red ink with ‘never EVER GO HERE!!!’ underlined three times?” Rey asked, raising an eyebrow. “Fine. I just wanted to do something nice for you. Sasha, let’s go.”

Rey turned to leave, pulling on Sasha’s arm. Shinji didn’t even acknowledge Sasha! Rey found she was angry with the kid, his mix of smugness and confusion fueling her fire. They walked only a few feet before Rey’s Feline ears perked up.

In the distance she heard the crack of wood splintering and a door slammed open. From the shouts of ‘police! Everyone down on the floor!’ It seemed like some crime stopping was happening in another warehouse.

“Huh, I hear a police raid going down two warehouses over,” Rey said. “We should probably stay calm and not move around too much until they’re done.”

Everyone in the area looked at her, then immediately Dropped what they were doing. Some people found seemingly random packages and threw them into a truck, while a truck that was being unloaded was being re-loaded. Shinji was rooted in place and shaking.

“Shinji, are you ok?” Rey asked, walking back up to him.

His first response was a string of profanities. He was radiating fear, shame, and regret. It didn’t take a genius to realize what was going on here. There was something Illegal going down at this warehouse and they were trying to get rid of evidence either because the warehouse being raided was one of theirs, or they were worried that the police might see something suspicious and declare probable cause.

“Shinji, how bad is it?” Rey asked.

“I- I won’t be able to get into a good school if I have a criminal record! Mom and Dad are going to Kill me.” He said.

Rey wanted time to weigh her options, to figure something out, but the police had already cleared the warehouse and were sweeping the perimeter. Rey grabbed Shinji’s hand and ran. She didn’t exactly know why, but it felt like the thing she should do. Time would tell if it was the right thing to do.

With her ears, and the ability to sense where people were based on their emotions, Rey let Shinji and Sasha away from the police and out of the warehouse district. Her eyes were scanning the street, looking for-

And then she woke up, being held by Shinji as he ran into a park. She was set down on a bench and looked up to him. How long was she out? Were they in the clear?

“What happened?” She finally asked.

“You fainted,” Shinji said, “So I carried you.”

“No, I mean are we in the clear?”

“Yeah, I don’t think there were any K-9s with those police and they weren’t looking for us,” Sasha said.

Both Rey and Shinji gave her an odd look. How would she know that?

“Thanks Sasha, Sorry I dragged you into this.” Rey said. “I don’t think we did anything illegal, we ran, but they weren’t after us, right?”

“Yep!” Sasha said. “I’m not sure why you ran in the first place, but you didn’t resist arrest or interfere in a police investigation. The police didn’t even see us.”

“How do you know so much about the police?” Rey asked.

“My boyfriend is a K-9 Officer!”

Both Rey and shinji froze. Sasha could just tell her boyfriend what happened today and the suspicious activity would at least be enough for officers to show up at the Hayata’s doors.

“Look,” Shinji said “You said we haven’t done anything wrong, right?”

“Yep!” She replied.

“So it makes sense that you don’t need to tell anyone about this, right?” Rey added

“Yep!”

“Ok, Sasha,” Rey said, putting her paws on her shoulders. “I want you to do me a big favor. Please don’t tell anyone what happened today. I know your boyfriend is a K-9, but Shinji is just a kid. I’ll take care of him, Ok?”

Sasha seemed to think about that for a second. Then she smiled. “Ok!”

Rey and shinji both eased back onto the bench, relieved. That was a close one. Now all that Rey had to do was get Shinji’s story and decide what to do about it. Sasha shouldn’t be here for that, she decided.

“I appreciate you coming along with me Sasha,” Rey said, “ but I’d like to spend some time alone with my- my brother, if that’s ok? Do you think you can get home ok by yourself?”

“I was hoping we could go shopping,” Sasha said, “but maybe another day, I understand, have a good time with your brother, Rey!”

Rey wondered how much Sasha actually understood about their situation. She didn’t seem very smart, though it felt mean to think that. Rey reconsidered. Maybe it was just that sasha trusted people to tell the truth, she might be a bit dense, but not stupid. Rey didn’t have time to give Sasha’s character further consideration, because she had a ‘brother’ to talk to.

“Shinji,” Rey sighed, “What did you get yourself into?”

“Look it’s not like I wanted to go around committing crimes.” He said defensively. “I- ok, I took a job in the warehouse because I quit sports, but I’m still in good shape. Made sense at the time, and I wanted to avoid retail after the horror stories my friends have told me.

“A couple of months ago, I noticed that we were moving certain boxes very carefully. I didn’t think much of it until I got offered extra cash to keep quiet about it. I figured it was none of my business and the work would get done anyway, so I accepted. It was stupid, I get that, but I’m saving up.

“One day a few weeks ago, a few guys dropped a box and it spilled open. Everyone at the warehouse froze. It was coming in with shipments of other things, disguised as packing peanuts. Some kind of plastic explosive, they said. Offered me more to keep quiet, and told me what would happen if I didn’t.”

Shinji punctuated the end of his explanation by dragging a finger across his throat. Rey was horrified. Explosives. She thought it was maybe smuggled goods, or money laundering, but not explosives. Rey didn’t know what to do.

“Hey, you told that dog, you said ‘I’d like some alone time with my brother’” Shinji said, “Do you really think of me as your brother?”

“Kind of,” Rey said without thinking, she caught herself and elaborated. “I- I don’t feel like I belong in your house. My job is to make Usagi happy and take naps. I grew up somewhere else, with a different family. Now I suddenly just belong to yours? I don’t deserve it, it’s too good to be true.”

“That’s not true,” Shinji said, looking away “I’m not sure I’d call you my sister, or even my cat, but you at least belong with Usagi. I just don’t get along with her that well. You’d do me a favor by keeping that annoying brat out of my hair.”

Rey couldn’t believe it. He was trying to act cool, but Shinji just admitted he’d rather have her around than not. He could see how much Rey meant to His sister, apparently. It didn’t change how he felt about her much, if Sense Emotions was anything to go on, but it was a step in the right direction.

“I’ll do my best,” Rey said, hiding a smile. “But right now we need to talk about what to do about your situation. You’re going to have to tell the police about the explosives”

“What!? No way!” Shinji said, anger bubbling up in his mind. “Mom and dad would disown me! I’d have a criminal record! Not to mention my boss would know it was me and then… I can’t take the risk.”

“I’m not saying you should walk down to the precinct right now. We just need to be smart about this. I can ask Sasha about how protective custody works. As for your criminal record, the first time you received money for staying quiet you didn’t even know what you were staying quiet about. It’s not illegal to pay your employees a higher wage. The second time you were being threatened. Committing a crime under duress, especially as a minor, would likely get any case against you thrown out.

“But, if you continue to work for them, continue to do nothing... What happens when they use those explosives? Are you willing to live with that? Of letting it happen?”

Shinji’s anger subsided a bit as he thought about what Rey had said. He was torn, and Rey couldn’t blame him. He just wanted to earn some money, never set out to do anything illegal. Then suddenly he knows he’s been moving explosives, and has his life threatened to keep him quiet.

“Alright fine.” He huffed. “You talk to your dog friend, figure out my options. Then I can decide what to do, not before.”

“Do you think you could stay away from work for the rest of the day?” Rey asked.

“Yeah, should be easy. Can just text my boss and say I was spooked and don’t want to risk coming back in today, offer to have my pay cut. Did the same thing a while back when they were testing the storm sirens. I thought they were police sirens and kinda just booked it. My boss laughed at me for being spooked by the siren test, but understood and let me take the rest of the day off. Weirdly thoughtful for some kind of criminal mastermind.”

“People who commit crimes are still people. No one is as simple as just good and evil.” Rey mused. “Let’s go home, Shinji.”
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

That was an unexpected twist. Good job it’ll be interesting to see what Shinji does, hopefully he or his decisions don’t damage damage Rey’s relationship with Sasha or Sasha’s relationships with Kevin.
“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” - Thomas Sowell

“The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.” Phyllis Diller
lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

trekkie wrote:That was an unexpected twist. Good job it’ll be interesting to see what Shinji does, hopefully he or his decisions don’t damage damage Rey’s relationship with Sasha or Sasha’s relationships with Kevin.
Sorry to disappoint, but It won't be going that direction. The reason I had Sasha talk about her owner was because Rey has a certain need to help other people. It's why she played this game in the first place, so she'd stop constantly working herself to death saving people. The bigger question is who needs all those explosives and where are they going?
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

Ah. I see.
“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” - Thomas Sowell

“The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.” Phyllis Diller
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This is coming along really nicely! Wonderful job!
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Zesortinge
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Zesortinge »

This is going to get very complicated before the tenth chapter isn't it.
I have ideas and I occasionally put them down.
NHWestoN
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by NHWestoN »

Nicely done - I'm intrigued. `course, explosives are always intriguing.
lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Amazee Dayzee wrote:This is coming along really nicely! Wonderful job!
Thank you!
Zesortinge wrote:This is going to get very complicated before the tenth chapter isn't it.
No, I don't think so. I like to think of each chapter as a kind of 'episode'. I can pick up plot points from it later, but a lot of the time I wrap up some of the minor stuff in the intro to the next chapter. I'm not sure this is a good way to write, but It's fun experimenting.
NHWestoN wrote:Nicely done - I'm intrigued. `course, explosives are always intriguing.
Then you'll love the next chapter >:)
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Nathan Kerbonaut
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Nathan Kerbonaut »

Excellent chapter. I wasn't expecting action so it was quite thrilling. Well done :)
lilium mortem wrote:Then you'll love the next chapter >:)
:shock:
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Obbl
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Obbl »

Well I must say I wasn't expecting the story to take quite that turn :lol:
Still, enjoying the trials of Rey and looking forward to more :D
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lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

The new semester has started, and it looks like wendsays are going to be busy for me. so. Tuesdays are now the """Official""" update day. No idea how college is going to affect my writing but y'all will get at least three more weeks of updates if I stopped writing all together.

This chapter is probably the one I'm most proud of so far. There's action, intrigue, ferrets. I've got it all. Without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Chapter 4: Party Game

Rey aranged protective custody for Shinji with help from Sasha and her insight from her boyfriend. He wouldn’t be charged with anything given the circumstances, and his knowledge would prove valuable for the police. Mr. and Mrs. Hayata were freaked out, but proud of Shinji for doing the right thing, which surprised him.

Two days after giving his testimony, The warehouse operation was taken down and everyone arrested. The day after that Shinji was released from protective custody. Rey didn’t know what exactly the warehouse was being used for, It was still part of an ongoing criminal investigation after all.

Rey had her paws full keeping Usagi calm after Shinji went into Protective custody. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Shinji came home new years eve. Rey even got a [Quest complete!] notification in her head.

Once everyone had a chance to welcome Shinji home, He retreated to his room like usual. Usagi decided to play pokémon and Mr. and Mrs. Hayata were sitting at the kitchen table. Rey decided to join them.

“It’s been a stressful couple of days, but I’m glad Shinji is back.” Rey commented.

“Thanks for being there for Usagi, Rey” Mr. Hayata said. “It means a lot.”

“You certainly proved to be a sound investment” Mrs. Hayata joked.

“I’m just looking forward to some time off, metaphorically speaking.” Rey said. “I love Usagi, I really do, she’s great. But she’s also a lot sometimes.”

“She is, I don’t blame you” Mr. Hayata said. “And you don’t have to spend all your time with her. It’s ok to say no if she asks to play. From how you just spoke, it sounds like you think it’s your job to look after her. While that’s a plus, you just need to be a friend. And friends don’t devote themselves to one person”

“Sorry” Rey said. “I guess I’m still figuring out who I am in this family. I grew up with my last one, so I knew where I stood, but here I don’t.”

“Just be here for Usagi,” Mrs. Hayata said “Not all the time, but like my husband said, like a friend.”

“Oh!” Mr. Hayata exclaimed, “Rey, check the mail on the counter, you have a letter.”

Curious, Rey hopped off her seat and went over to the pile of mail on the counter. She’d been here all of a week, and she was already getting letters? She didn’t even have a name until Christmas day! Still, the white envelope was addressed to ‘Rey Hayata’. She Shrugged and opened it.

‘Dear Rey Hayata, Cat of the Hayata Household,

You are cordially invited to the party of the decade! The ECP is turning ten in 2020, and we’d like to celebrate the best of the decade with you, the animals! So come over to the Milton estate at 8PM and we’ll send this year, this decade, off with a bang!

To a decade of progress,
-The Equal Chance Program and the Milton estate.’


“It’s from the crazy ferret billionaires that own the neighborhood.” Rey said, “They’re inviting me, and probably every animal in Babylon Gardens, to a new years party at 8.”

“That sounds perfect!” Mr. Hayata said “Go enjoy yourself and unwind, have some fun for yourself.”

“Yeah, this is perfect,” Rey said. “I’ll go, could one of you drop me off? I don’t want to faint on the way.”

***

Rey had seen the milton manor before of course, but it had transformed overnight, or during the day, she hadn't been out of the house in a couple of days. There were fair rides and neon lights everywhere, a rollercoaster, the pool had been turned into an ice rink, and there was a fleet of drones equipped with confetti cannons. On the roof a massive tower had been erected, and at the top sat a ball sat a ball like the one in Times Square on rails.

The Hayata’s Minivan pulled up to a red carpet. Rey felt underdressed, tugging at her collar. Eh, this wasn’t a human party, who cared about clothes? She took a breath and stepped out onto the ground. A man in a suit asked to see Rey’s invitation, and scanned it with an NFC reader. neat.

Walking inside, the manor was beautiful chaos. There were arcade machines strewn against walls, buffet tables, A basketball court set up inside the ballroom, a rock climbing wall, an entire room filled with balls within another ballroom, and a full body tracking VR suite.

“Eeeeeey, welcome to the party, how’re you liking it?” A ferret in 2020 sunglasses asked.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” Rey replied, slack jawed.

“That makes one ‘wow’, a ‘Dear mother of Dog’, a ‘HOW?!’, an incoherent series of screeching noises, and one ‘Uhhh’” The ferret said, circling something on a piece of paper, “LANA! I GOT A BINGO!”

“DANG IT! FINE, ROCK, YOU CAN DROP THE BALL” Another ferret yelled back from the back of a mechanical bull.

Rey needed to sit down. This was all so much. The Miltons lived up to their reputation, and more. She found one room relatively untouched by the chaos. It appeared to be an old sitting room, but with comfy new couches including cup holders. Rey saw a Doberman she Recognized and walked over.

“Hey, you’re Sasha’s boyfriend Kevin right?” Rey asked.

“Yeah...” He said, looking Rey over. “Oh you must be the new pet on the block! The Christmas Present!”

“Yeah, nice to meet you, my name’s Rey.”

Rey held out a hand to shake, and after Kevin sniffed it a few times, shook it with gusto. Rey was nearly pulled off her feet on the upswing. Despite the rough handling, Kevin seemed very likeable. Rey smiled.

“How’s Babylon Gardens been treating you?” he asked.

“Good, mostly. Still trying to adjust. My new family is a lot different from my old one.”

“You’ll find your place, don’t worry.”

“Easy for you to say." Rey remembered something important, slapping herself mentally for not thinking of it sooner. " I’m not sure how to say this, but you’re both a police officer and Sasha’s boyfriend… do you know about her abusive owner?”

“Yeah, Don’t worry, I’m building a case right now and keeping an eye on her. Once I have enough evidence I should be able to convict the guy. I appreciate your concern though.”

“Huh. Ok. I guess I didn’t expect it to be handled already. Thanks, I think you and Sasha are a good fit. This party is wild though, is it always like this around here?”

“Like what? Insane displays of wealth? Rampant chaos? Both?” He chuckled “Yeah it gets like this once and a while. Last year Keen Milton just parked an entire hot springs and spa complex in the middle of the neighborhood, then when we arrested him for parking it illegally, he blew it up! Without anyone inside, obviously.”

“Oh, that reminds me, K-9s are trained to sniff out explosives right? Do you have any info on the case my- that Shinji Hayata tipped the police off on? It can’t be over since it’s an ongoing investigation right?”

“Look,” He said, face gone serious “I’m not allowed to talk about that, but I understand being worried about your family. He’s safe. That’s all that matters.”

Something was wrong. Rey felt serious worry from Kevin with Sense Emotions. The case wasn’t going well. But it was more than that… more immediate. He was worried about something here.

[Quest: Countdown]
[The warehouse wasn’t the end of it. You have until the stroke of midnight.]
[Accept?]


“Kitsune?” Rey croaked “People are going to get hurt aren’t they? Why can’t you save them? What If I mess up?”

In the slice of frozen time, for the first time, Rey’s body unfroze. Kitsune walked in from the hall, wearing a grey hoodie with ‘Dice to meet you.’ set over a twenty sided die. He was eating a Chilli dog in one hand and had a Mountain Dew in the other.

“Nice party, huh?” He said. “Are you going to make a habit of having a conversation with me every time I offer a quest?”

“What the carp dude?!” Rey yelled. “There’s some kind of bomb in the mansion and you want me to deal with it? This isn’t part of the game, the rules say you can’t hurt people!”

I’m not hurting anyone, and not going to let anyone get hurt.” he said, swallowing the chilli dog in one go. “That’s Why I decided to tip you off. I know you can make a difference.”

“Why though? Why not just fix it yourself?” Rey cried.

“Because” He said, pausing to take a dramatically long sip of Mountain Dew, “Mortals need to deal with their own problems. They can’t grow dependant on gods fixing their problems. If not the quest, I would have showed up to give you a cryptic hint.”

“But I’m not mortal! I’m some kind of immortal being right? I just can’t remember.”

“For all intents and purposes, you are a mortal right now. Besides, do you think you have to finish the quest by yourself? You made this a game about friendship, so use it.”

Rey wanted to say something else, but the world suddenly shifted and she was back facing Kevin. Time had started up again. Rey mentally cursed. What did she have to work with? There was some kind of bomb in the mansion, and she had until midnight to stop it. But she wasn’t alone. Rey turned to Kevin.

“The warehouse wasn’t the end was it?” She asked him. “Something is going to happen here.”

“...Yes” He admitted. “Look we’ve got K-9s all throughout the party, sniffing for explosives on their third sweep of the mansion. We even had the fireworks removed. But if they catch on, they might detonate the bomb early. Please just pretend like you didn’t hear anything.”

“No, I think I can figure something out. I know some magic. I don’t like to bring it up, but I have a spell up right now. It’s called Sense Emotions, and it’s how I read you so well.”

“So you just want to walk around until you sense someone angry?”

“No, but I might have something else. Where is everyone going to be at midnight?”

Even before Kevin replied, Rey knew. The pieces were always there, She just didn’t see it until now. The K-9s hadn’t found the Explosives yet, despite sweeping the mansion. She had until midnight. There was a ball drop.

“We need to get to the roof!” Rey shouted, grabbing Kevin.

They ran towards the elevator, the stairs being too crowded. They barely managed to make it inside before the door closed. They were sharing the elevator with Bailey and some kind of big brown ferret.

“I need to contact Sargent Ralph,” Kevin said breaking away from Rey’s grasp. “You can just leave it to us, Rey.”

He was angry. He had a right. The police should take care of this. Except the police didn’t have a demigod guiding them. Probably. Rey considered what to say when the lights went out and the elevator shuddered to a stop.

“No no no no!” Rey yelled. “It’s nowhere near midnight!”

“Bailey, boost me up toe the escape hatch!” Kevin said, turning to the husky.

Unfortunately, the elevator had been designed for humans. The two of them together made about a single human. They tried getting the Ferret to help, but even with him at the top, there wasn’t enough room, and if a triple stack of people was that unbalanced, Adding Rey wouldn’t help. Kevin and bailey forced the doors open, but they were smak dab between two floors.

“We have to let someone know, the ball drop is a bomb!” Rey exclaimed “Do any of you have a cell phone?”

Kevin and the ferret shook their heads. Bailey said she had left hers on the roof, which is why she was in the elevator in the first place. Rey slumped down the wall of the elevator.

“I figured it out. I figured it out dangit!” Rey shouted, “The K-9’s had plenty of time to sweep the mansion. The only place where there wouldn’t be scent, one place everyone was guaranteed to be gathered was the ball drop!”

“What’s this about a bomb?” The large ferret asked.

“I guess it doesn’t matter much now,” Kevin sighed, “Breel, Bailey, Rey’s owners' son, Shinji, tipped off the police to a warehouse that was smuggling in plastic explosives. We caught most of them, but the explosives were already mostly sent out. We linked it with another attempt on the life of Keen Milton and the leadership of the ECP. This party was the perfect distraction for them.

“Rey figured out it was the Ball Drop when I told her K-9’s were on their third sweep of the mansion for the scent of explosives. Rey, does the watch on your collar work?”

“Uh, yeah” Rey replied, pulling the watch off her collar. “It’s about ten o’ one PM.”

“Then we still have about another two hours to get rescued. The bomb would have gone off already if they were onto us, which means the power going out is either not part of the plan, or something else.” Kevin said. “Best get comfy.”

“Well, if we’re stuck in here, might as well get to know each other.” The large ferret, who must be Breel said. “Let’s go around in a circle, introduce ourselves, and say what the best and worst part of the last year was for us.”

“You know what? Sure.” Rey said. “I came here to have a good time, might as well play some party games. I’m Rey, Just moved into Babylon Gardens. I’m a pet for Usagi Hayata. Best time of the year would probably be Christmas, since it’s when I was given to Usagi. Worst time would be when I was wandering. I don’t like to talk about it much.”

“I’m Officer Kevin Beauregard,” Kevin said, “The best time I’ve had all year was at the hot springs/spa complex Keene put down last winter. The worst time was probably when a badger with a magic coin that turns humans into animals evaded arrest, cutting Fox’s face pretty badly. I wasn’t even there! And mungo said Fox made the sweetest of tackles!”

“Hi, I’m Bailey,” Bailey said. “Best time was seeing the pups try and make some new friends. Olive met this nice fox kit from the forest. Worst time was last new years. King decided he wanted to celebrate it with the pups, and it threw off their sleep schedule for a week.”

“My name is Breel,” Breel said. “The best time I had all year is when Keene ordered the spa because our power was out. Then he invited all the animals in the neighbourhood, and the forest. Worst time was when I got arrested because he parked it illegally.”

“Ok,” Rey said, “Bailey wins the ‘normalist life’ award.”

“Oh, no I’d definitely lose that.” Bailey said, “I became a pawn of a malevolent deity to spare my husband who was being blackmailed with his former humanity.”

“Heh, I guess It means I’m in good company then” Rey said.

“What’s so odd about your life?” Breel asked.

“Well...” Rey said, drawing it out to think about what she should say. “I can’t talk about it really, but I’ve been at the center of magic(k)al nonsense before, it’s actually what separated me from my first family.”

Before anyone could comment, the lights turned back on and there was a muffled cheer from outside. Everyone's ears perked up, then drooped, as the car refused to move. Rey desperately pressed the roof button, but nothing happened.They quickly gave up trying again and waited for rescue.

The next hour or so was spent swapping stories, talking about the ECP, and a few more party games. Rey found out Breel was something called a Pine Marten, a mustelid like Ferrets. Eventually the topic circled back to Rey’s family, which she said she didn’t want to talk about in detail.

“You know, I had to leave my family too.” Bailey said. “They sold the farm we were living on, and the new apartment they rented didn’t allow pets.”

“Wait,” Rey said, holding up her paws “They can do that?”

“Yeah, families get rid of pet’s all the ti-” Bailey was cut off by Rey.

“No, not just that, they can ban animals from living on property? You just see a rule that says ‘no pets’ shrug, and go on with your life? And your family was ok with that? They just left you when you got too inconvenient? That's so wrong! The discrimination and lack of respect of any kind is mind boggling! How can you just gloss over that?!”

“You sound just like him” Breel and Bailey said at the same time. They looked at each other and blinked.

“Like Keene” Breel said.

“Like King” Bailey said.

“Huh.” Rey said. “How so? Wait, Breel, go first.”

“Ok,” Breel said, shrugging. “Keene always fights for what he thinks is right. He has a hard time standing back and doing nothing while injustice exists in the world. It’s why I love him. He always tries to do the right thing, and never gives up.”

“King… well,” Bailey began “He was a human at one point, cursed as part of a cosmic game. When I got sent here when my old family moved, he was so angry. And angry that I wasn’t angry. I didn’t get it at the time, but I do now. It wasn’t just that he was placing human values on animals. He gained perspective, living as a pet. He realized all the terrible things humans have done to animals, and wanted me to understand why it was terrible.”

“Well then,” Rey chuckled. “I guess I’ll take those as complements. I was fortunate, growing up with a family that loved me. I never really questioned things, because my life was good. Then I wandered. That whole period of my life is… fuzzy. But I know I always helped where I could, and often couldn’t. There’s so much wrong in the world that fighting it gets… tiring. That’s why I’m here now. I’m tired of fighting, of being alone. So I found a family, and hopefully, some friends.”

“I know the pups freaked you out, but I do think I can relate to you, and King too. You should come over again some time.” Bailey said.

“Well I’d certainly like you as a friend, and It’d be nice to have someone else to listen to Keene’s rants for once” Breel said, smiling.

[Friend Gained]
[2/68 Friends gained]
[Spell Obtained: Enhance Body]
[Enhance Body(Spell, 1 cast per day): Enhance Body makes you stronger, faster, more resilient, all by a factor of ten. It lasts for one hour.]

[Friend Gained]
[3/68 Friends Gained]
[Spell Obtained: Amity’s Sharing]
[Amity’s Sharing(Cantrip): Can Copy any effect on the caster to another Creature. Only one copy of an effect can be active at a time, but different effect copies can be given to different creatures.]


This was it, with Enhance Body Rey could save everyone. She could get to the Ball in time. And then- then what? Rey remembered Kitsune’s words. She didn’t just have Enhanced Body. And she wasn’t alone. Now all she had to do was come up with a reason why she didn’t use these spells sooner. No, Lies could wait.

“I need you guys to trust me, I think I have a way out of this” Rey said, checking the time “It’s eleven-Fourty. I can cast spells on myself and copy their effects onto other people. Kevin, I can make us both ten times as strong. You can go to the ball drop and find some way of shutting it off, I’ll track down Ralph. Bailey, I’ll give you sense emotions and you and Breel can start clearing the way and helping with evacuation. Does that sound good?”

The three of them looked at each other, then to Rey. After a pause Kevin nodded, followed by Breel and Bailey. Without a moment to lose Rey cast Enhance Body and Amity’s Sharing. Kevin leapt up and punched through the emergency hatch, then jumped back down to bring Bailey up. Rey picked up the lighter pine Marten, and Jumped up through the hatch after him.

Once on the roof they split up. Kevin said Ralph was supposed to be coordinating things from the far end of the pool. Not seeing the German Shepherd he described on the roof, Rey decided to take a leap of faith. Faith that Enhance Body was enough to get up after a four story fall.

It was. Rey took a moment to appreciate just how incredible that was, before running towards the far end of the ice rink. She spotted Ralph, who had a radio on his collar, and made a bee line for him.

“Kevin sent me,” Rey gasped, out of breath. “The bomb is the ball drop, he’s there now trying to shut it down.”

Ralph looked at Rey for a second, gauging her, before clicking his radio on. He called in to the Milton’s Security, and the rest of his officers who weren’t trying to blend in with the party. Somewhere along the way Kevin got ahold of a radio, because he called in.

“Sargent Ralph, this is Officer Kevin. We don’t have enough time to evacuate everyone. I can topple the tower over the yard, I got boosted by a Magic(k)al type. Over.” The radio said.

Ralph glanced at the large screens counting down from sixty and clicked his radio “Do it, over.”

Rey watched nervously as the tower started falling over, ball just starting to move down the rails.

“TEN!”

People started taking notice. They backed up a bit, but after all the weird stuff that’s happened around the Milton’s they were used to things going a bit wrong.

“NINE!”

The steel in the tower buckled, twisting around in the air as it fell over an empty yard.

“EIGHT”

The rooftop cleared, and Rey could barely make out Breel and Bailey ushering people away from the former base of the tower. Kevin was holding onto it, controlling it’s decent.

“SEVEN!”

The steel of the tower twisted, bending and breaking. The top of the tower and the ball entered free fall.

“SIX”

Rey held her breath as the ball hurtled out somewhere into the dark lawn.

“Five!”

The ball landed with a crunch on something. Ralph’s brow furrowed.

“Wait, isn’t that where we moved all the fir-” He said only to be cut off by two incredibly loud sounds.

“-ONE!!! ZERO!!!”

*BOOOOOOOM*


[Quest Complete!]

A massive fireball erupted, briefly chasing away any shadows. Then, Fireworks emerged from the explosion, flying off in random directions and exploding in colorful chaos. Somehow, the fireworks still managed to spell out ‘Happy New Year!’ and ‘Happy New Decade 2020!’

“Haha! We did it!” Rey exclaimed, throwing her arms up. “Maybe I can finally enjoy myse-”

Rey woke up on a stretcher. They were evacuating the manor, and the fire department had showed up. She’d been out for ten minutes after fainting. They were about to put her in an ambulance before she explained she had a fainting condition. They ignored her and took her to a pet hospital anyway.

***

Rey was cleared in the morning and the miltons arranged for a party on New Year's day to both make up for lost time, and to celebrate the heroes of the day. It was mainly focused on Ralph and Kevin, but They did point people in Rey’s direction for making it possible.

During the festivities, she met a bunch of the neighborhood pets. Peanut Butter the dog and Grape Jelly the cat of the Sandwich’s; Maxwell the cat; Bino, Fido, and Joey who were a trio of dog brothers; The three pets of the albert’s: Tiger the dog, Marvin the cat, and Zach the rabbit; Rey also learned that the identical Siamese cats were all named Mr. Bigglesworth, and was told not to think too hard about it.

After eating the greasiest party food and riding every ride, Rey was Partied out. She bid farewell to everyone and headed home to take a nap.
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Nathan Kerbonaut
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Nathan Kerbonaut »

Great chapter! There was a lot of suspense when Rey figured it out but ended up trapped with the others. Made for an all the more satisfying conclusion. :)
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Really awesome job with this chapter! Please keep on writing this because it is amazing!
lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Amazee Dayzee wrote:Really awesome job with this chapter! Please keep on writing this because it is amazing!
Glad you're enjoying it! I'll try my best to see it finished.
Nathan Kerbonaut wrote:Great chapter! There was a lot of suspense when Rey figured it out but ended up trapped with the others. Made for an all the more satisfying conclusion. :)
I did say I was pretty proud of it. still glad you liked it!

These positive comments are really nice, It really helps keep me going. I'm having plenty of fun writing this, and can't wait to share the rest of the story with y'all.
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Zesortinge
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Zesortinge »

Would it be possible for Rey to make friends with Kitsune?
I have ideas and I occasionally put them down.
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FireworkFox
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by FireworkFox »

Zesortinge wrote:Would it be possible for Rey to make friends with Kitsune?
That would be a pretty interesting plot twist...
My name is Firework Fox.
uwu
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John Granger
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lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Zesortinge wrote:Would it be possible for Rey to make friends with Kitsune?
I have thought about it. I mean Kitsune does kind of live in Babylon Gardens. That's all I'll say about it. :P
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

Good job on this latest chapter! It was a exciting and suspenseful. Rey has made two new friends hopefully she’ll continue to do so. Keep up the good work!
“Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.” - Thomas Sowell

“The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.” Phyllis Diller
lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

Ha I didn't write anything this week. good thing I have that buffer. I'll try to set aside some time this weekend for writing, I think I justneeded to settle into my new routine. let's see, what chapter is this... chapter five! not the best chapter, sorry. It's mostly just set up. If I was a smart writer I would have folded it into another chapter, but I'm not here to make perfect fanfiction, just fun fanfiction.

So excuse how short this is, and bless this mess, here we go!

Chapter 5: Key Items.

Things had gone back to normal after a few days. Rey did end up spending some time at the wolf house, and at Breel’s place. Breel made excellent cookies, and Keene milton was surprisingly passionate about equality for a billionaire. Rey didn’t get any new friends though, It’s hard to replicate the kind of bonding you get through being trapped in an elevator with someone while a bomb counts down.

Rey stretched and got up from a cat-nap, Which was doing wonders for her stress. Rey supposed sometimes your brain needs to restart. She yawned and walked into the Kitchen, where Usagi was doing some homework. It was her first day back so It probably wasn’t that bad.

“Hey, Usagi?” Rey asked, walking over.

“Yeah?”

“Mind if I use your computer?” Rey asked.

Usagi blinked. Rey hadn’t needed a computer, or so she thought. She was busy playing the part of the pet, but certain realities hit her on New Year’s. Like lacking a cell phone in an emergency. Usagi told Rey of course she could use her computer. Rey thanked her and went to Usagi’s room.

Rey needed a few key items. A bag of her own(Purse?), a cell phone, some cat ear friendly earbuds, a laptop, a notebook, and some writing supplies. She didn’t have any money though, so She decided to look online for what she needed and figure out how to pay the price once she knew it.

“Rey?” Usagi asked, startling Rey, “What’s Dungeons and Dragons? Sounds familiar.”

Rey might have been bookmarking some wishlist items while she was at it. She was allowed to window shop. Rey was just about done anyway. She might as well entertain Usagi.

“It’s a game where you use your imagination and Dice to live out a fantasy adventure.” Rey said. “I used to play it all the time, One of the animals I know, King, Mentioned it once and I was thinking of playing again.”

“Oh. How do you play?”

What followed was a lengthy overview of how Dungeons and Dragons worked, geared towards a twelve year old. There was some confusion over spell slots and leveling and armor classes and- well everything really. It helped when Rey used video game analogies. Eventually Usagi got the gist of it.

“Sounds fun! You think I could play?” She asked.

Rey’s first instinct was to say no, absolutely not… But that wouldn’t be fair. She could ask King what he’d think about Usagi playing with them, and could always set aside some of their normal playtime for D&D.

“Yeah, sure, It won’t happen for a while, but I’ll keep you posted.” Rey said, hopping off the computer chair. “I’m going to head over to the wolf house to meet with a friend. I’ll see you later.”

“Can I come?” Usagi asked.

Why was Usagi suddenly so interested in what Rey was up to? This felt out of character from the bubbly girl. Whatever the reason Rey wasn’t going to let her come. She was going to ask about how the wolves found jobs in the ECP. She didn’t want the Hayata’s to know. Getting a job was a very un-petlike thing to do. There was the problem of where Rey would be getting new things, but the plan was a work in progress ok?

“What brought this on?” Rey asked, “I don’t know much about your friends, why are you so interested in mine?”

“You don’t have to be so mean.” Usagi replied. “It’s just I heard about how you helped save the Miltons. It was really cool, but I was surprised. If you’re having cool adventures like that I don’t want to be left out.”

“Usagi, I’m not some action hero. I don’t go on adventures, I’m just a cat.”

“I know that! But… you’re so cool! But you never act like it, It’s like you have a secret identity. I want to know that Rey too!”

Those words hit Rey hard. Usagi was right, she did have a secret Identity, and she was sharing more of it with Pets than her adopted family. If the Hayata’s suspected something, it might give up the game… and Rey liked being treated like a pet. She didn’t want that to change.

At the same time She felt guilty for her place there. That’s why she was looking to get a job instead of asking for an allowance. She wanted to owe the Hayata’s as little as possible.

“I don’t want to be a hero,” Rey said, turning away from Usagi “I don’t want to be your role model, Or some mystery. Usagi, I just want to be your pet cat. I want to take naps and chase around stupid toys and beat you at mario kart.”

“You can be a pet cat and a hero. I love you Rey, I always will.”

Rey couldn’t say anything to that. After a minute of awkward silence, She just left. Usagi didn’t try to stop her, giving Rey space. Rey might have misjudged the kid. She might be bubbly and childlike, but she was growing up.

***

“So how does the ECP work anyway?” Rey asked.

“Well,” King began. “Keene technically owns all of us. It used to be the ECP just paid for everything, but now it’s more like… a scholarship? They pay enough for you to learn and get a job, and help you find that job. Beyond that they act as a surrogate human to deal with things the law says only a human can deal with.”

“You’ve got a really nice family, Why are you asking about this?” Bailey asked.

“Perspective, I guess” Rey shrugged. “Like a good capitalist pig, I want things, and I want money to pay for those things.”

“Well I can understand that.” King said. “It sucked not having a phone. I know most of the pets in the neighborhood get allowances, why don’t you ask for one?”

Rey sighed. She sat in the wolf house living room, talking with King and Bailey, their pups playing video games on the tv. Rey was still pretty nervous around the wolves. After that snowball fight on Christmas she had been wary, but up close and they were big and full of teeth. So she still hadn’t really met any.

“Rey?” Bailey asked, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, it’s just that I'm already in their debt, why should I ask for more and do nothing in return?” Rey replied.

“I might regret putting my two cents in,” King said, hesitant, “But I think that’s an unfair way of thinking of things. Pets get adopted because people want love and to be loved. They know the cost, but do it anyway. It couldn’t hurt to ask.”

“I-” Rey sighed again “We’re getting off topic. I want to make some extra money, any ideas?”

“You could always sell magic(k)al services.” Bailey said.

King and Rey both flinched. Rey had forgotten, Bailey knew about the magic she could do. She supposed that cat was out of the bag. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to explain it. She had a feeling that knowing three random spells that worked like D&D spells would be suspicious to anyone that knew anything about actual magic.

“You know magic?” King asked.

“A bit.” Rey replied curtly.

“Don’t be so modest!” Bailey said. “You figured out where that bomb was and made Kevin strong enough to topple the tower and guide it’s fall. Plus that empathy spell you used on me.”

“It’s not something I’m good at, really. I only know a handful of spells and I’m self taught.” Rey lied, “I took a chance New years night and it took everything I had. Did you wonder why I didn’t cast sense emotions on you and breel? I was at my limit.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Bailey said. “As much as magic(k) ever does”

“Yeah...” King chimed in “Magic(k) makes me nervous, had bad experiences with it.”

“You know, I’ve heard you were a human, and there were a few other humans turned animals running around, but I never got the story.” Rey said.

“It’s a long story,” King said “We should talk about it later, or maybe just you and Bailey. I’m getting tired of telling it.”

“Fair enough,” Rey shrugged “How could I make money off of Sense Emotions and about one hour of Enhance Body a day?”

“Well,” Bailey said, ” if you’re a tenth as strong as Kevin was when he had it-”

“Ten times as powerful as normal” Rey cut in.

“-then you could do stuff like de-stumping? Moving heavy objects that would need some kind of machine otherwise.”

“I’m not sure being ten times as strong is good enough if I’m not that strong to begin with.” Rey said.

“Why not team up with one of the wolf kids?” King asked. “They’re wolves. People aren't going to question how strong a wolf is. So you get to take jobs from people who are wary about magic(k) and get someone as strong as ten wolves.”

“That’s a good idea.” Rey said. “I guess I could ask them, Though it feels weird after all I’ve done to avoid the wolves.”

“They get that a lot.” Bailey said. “People avoiding them, I mean. The pack knows you’re just wary of them since the snowball fight on Christmas.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll ask the kids, if you’ll introduce me?” Rey asked. Bailey nodded.

“Hey Rey?” King asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask, why is your tag a pocket watch?”

“It’s a momento.” Rey replied, “A reminder of someone, and in some ways a piece of myself.”

“Hmm… ok.” King said, as if that answer somehow disappointed him.

***

Between the three wolf adolescents only one was willing and able to partner up with Rey for some quick cash. Darth Vader Sanches was already busy with his video game livestreams and was putting in the work to make some decent money there. Rey made a note to check out his stream when She got a computer.

Rockstar Hawk was going through his angsty teen phase of sitting around doing nothing with like his friends trying to act cool. Apparently he wouldn’t jeopardize his street cred by doing manual labor.

North star was ready and willing though. After rey explained the whole ten times faster, stronger, ect thing that Enhance body did he agreed immediately. His reasoning: Rey had a spell that basically made him go super saiyan. He wasn’t exactly wrong.

They had an hour to test his power for the day and in that time he accomplished many feats of strength. North Star Bent a steel beam into a pretzel, jumped over a building, ran alongside cars on the freeway, and punched a boulder so hard it exploded into gravel. All good results. Now all they needed was a job.

Which was surprisingly easy to get. A few days later, When Rey was taking baking lessons from Breel, she talked about her conundrum and Keene couldn’t help but overhear. Turns out in addition to a boarding house they just put up, The ECP was prepping more land for use in housing and office space for ECP members. They might not use it for a while, but a single superpowered wolf was a lot cheaper than heavy machinery.

***

“Keene, did you and breel have to come?” Rey asked.

In addition to having Lanna Milton, Director of the ECP on site they had Bree, Keene, half of the other milton ferrets, and a fox named Karishad.

“Listen, a superpowered wolf ripping trees, bushes, and rocks out of the ground is bound to be interesting.” the ferret replied. “Besides, I want to know if I’m getting my money’s worth.”

Rey just sighed. Her job was easy enough, just buff up North Star. because of how Amity’s Sharing worked she’d also be buffed up, but ten times Rey still didn’t have the strength to uproot trees.

“Alright, North Star, we have just one hour a day to do this, so remember the plan.” Rey told the wolf with her.

“Yeah, ok, I won’t randomly tear up this place with super strength.” He said.

“Alright,” Rey said, cracking her knuckles. “Here goes. Enhance body! Amity’s Sharing!”

A green aura briefly surrounded the two, green arcs of electricity jumping across their bodies, before it dissipated. The spells were active. North Star looked back at Rey and grinned like a madman.

He did not stick to the plan. He tore up the lot with superstrength randomly. Rey did her best to clean up after him. She could lift some of the smaller trees, and any smaller vegetation already pulled from the ground. Once the hour was up it looked like a hurricane, tornado, and earthquake had happened entirely localized within the lot.

“Well this will take longer than expected” Rey said. “I hope you know you’ve created more work for both of us, North Star.”

“Oh, I know,” He said, “That just means I get more days of superpowers.”

“Lemonade?” Breel offered, holding a pitcher and a few red solo cups.

“Breel, you are an angel.” Rey said, taking a cup and letting breel pour her one. She gulped it down in one go.

Things wrapped up after that. Lanna and the Milton ferrets had their fill of action and only Lanna would come back to inspect the lot once Rey reported that North Star and her were done with it. She was still mad that North star was sabotaging their efficiency just so he could go on a power trip, but It would only be a few extra days, and he was still a kid. He deserved to have a bit of fun.

The only Problem Rey had now was how to make it not look suspicious to the Hayatas that she suddenly got five hundred dollars. She racked her brain, but just couldn’t think of anything. At least not until the day Lanna came to inspect the lot.

“Good job you two!” Lanna said, “You just saved us about two to three thousand dollars!”

“Aren't you a billionaire?” North Star asked.

“Yes, but the ECP isn’t” Lanna said. “My siblings and I aren't resistant to the siren song of money. I was able to negotiate a sizable budget for the ECP, but cost saving measures add up. Every penny counts. What you’ve done today could mean the difference between an animal starving in the streets and getting a nice place to live.”

“Huh, so about our payment,” Rey spoke up “Is it possible for me to get mine in a comically oversized check? And to make it look like you gave it to me for my help at the new year’s party?”

“Well I was already going to do the comically oversized check thing.” Lanna said, turning to yell at a posh looking man in a suit “JEEVES, GET THE COMICALLY OVERSIZED CHECKS!”

Before Rey could say anything she was handed a surfboard sized piece of cardboard. It was impossible to carry something so big as a cat, no matter how lightweight. Rey just sighed and shoved it to the side. North star just had his tucked under his arm, the stupid, tall, wolf.

“I have a question” North star said, raising his hand.

“Shoot.” Lanna said.

“We’re both animals. We don’t have bank accounts.” North Star said, “Well I mean I guess Dad has one, but the ECP has to do anything. How are you going to get us the money?”

Lanna shrugged and handed them both five one hundred dollar bills. “The checks were just for fun, banks won’t accept them. As for your family Rey, You hang out with Keene all the time, just tell them he decided to reward you after the fact.”

“I- huh.” Rey said. “They would buy that. I thought it would be harder than that.”

“I heard a bunch of ferrets with the impulse control of toddlers, hold the majority stock in two dozen fortune 500 companies and run a world changing animal rights organization. If I can’t make lying look easy by now I’m not doing my job right.”

***

“And my owners did buy it.” Rey explained, “ I got a phone for four of my five hundred, and this really nice bag that can be worn as both a backpack and a messenger bag. It even has a little pouch just for my phone. Turns out it doesn’t cost much more than a sign up fee to get added to the family plan, so I don’t need to keep working.”

She did a twirl to show King her new bag. It was black canvas with leather straps and buckles. Of Rey’s original list, She was only missing the laptop. But a phone was good enough to get internet access.

“It looks good on you” King said. “I’m glad things worked out. What about the D&D core rules books? Don’t they cost like one-fifty all together or something?”

“Yeah, but it turns out Shinji owns copies.”

“Ah. Well I’m looking forward to this. Joey tried to invite me to his group a few years back, but he had a stack of mandatory reading as big as I am.”

They had arrived at their destination, Rey’s home. She opened the door and led King down into the basement. Sitting at a table were Breele, North Star, King’s friend Fox, and Usagi. Rey took her place at the head of the table. She cracked her knuckles.

“The gods are long dead.” She began in an ominous tone“ Magic was gone from this world until twenty years ago, when a Brilliant green comet appeared in the skies. It hangs there to this day, trailing sparks of green into the horizon. As the world wakes to magic impossible things begin happening, legends stir, myths walk the earth, and long forgotten places stir with life.

“Sometimes a water spirit wakes up and irrigates a kingdom’s fields, other times one would wake up only to drown a kingdom that had damned it’s river. Magic is a living force of nature, and it’s sweeping through the world. You four belong to the Containment Guild, an organization meant to deal with magical problems. To contain them, divert them, destroy them, or make them useful. You stand between civilization and the vast unknown, shields to keep the people safe.

“Today you receive a call to action. A castle is growing out of the eastern desert. Your mission is to go there and investigate. Today is your first day working together, what are your names?”

As the game began Rey wove a tail of daring adventure in a castle of animated sand. Their party consisted of a Bugbear wizard(Breel), a human thief(Fox), a Birdfolk barbarian(King), a Dragonborn monk(North Star) and a dark elf bard(Usagi). Fox and breel had a lot of trouble at the start, even more than Usagi. King did his best to help them along with Rey. North star picked it up pretty easily on his own. With a bit of work, together they ended up having a night none of them would soon forget.

Before she knew it, Rey was waving goodbye to Fox, North Star, and Breel. King was still talking to Usagi in the foyer, discussing some netflix show Rey hadn’t seen. Usagi yawned and decided to go to bed. King wished her a good night and came to talk to Rey.

“This was fun, thanks” He said. “Reminds me a lot about some of the better times of my human life. It’s nice I don’t have to throw those things away just because I’m a dog.”

“It was nice having you, King” Rey said, smiling. “I was surprised Breel was so good. Isn’t he from like, the eighteen-hundreds?”

“He was living in heaven, and if heaven doesn’t have D&D I might just decide to go to the other place.”

“Ha!”

“See you next week Rey!”

“Bye!”

As he turned to leave the world slowed down to a stop. A familiar feeling came over Rey.

[Friend Gained]
[4/68 Friends Gained]
[Spell Obtained: Dispel Magic]
[Dispel Magic(10 per day, any target): Dispels magic of a power that scales with the number of friends gained. 1 friend would only break novice charms. 68 friends could bring down even mid range demigod spells. Automatically activates if a harmful magic effect targets the user.]


***

_______ was shelving books. It was a meditative experience for him. The feel of books as he shuffled them, walking through the stacks, and the quiet. The university library was already pretty quiet, but back in the stacks it was just him and the books.

Soon enough he didn’t have any more books to shelve. He headed for the lobby, checking his watch. It was nine, almost closing time. _______ saw a green tint on the carpet and looked up. Through the skylights he saw an emerald trail in the night sky. He was mesmerized. He had heard about how close the comet would come, but he had completely forgotten that tonight was when it was most visible.

Wait, something wasn’t right. The trail was too long, it was reaching towards the horizon. _______ squinted, there were shooting stars! Now he was worried. The news said it wouldn’t get close enough for that to happen.

Just as he was about to turn, a shard of glowing electric green rock impacted him in the collarbone. He fe-

[Enemy Gained]
[98 More enemies and it’s game over!]
[Curse obtained: Nightmares]
[Nightmares(Curse): You will never have a good dream so long as this curse remains.]


Rey jerked awake from a dream she already had forgotten about. The words burned in her mind. How? She was asleep! She got up and checked around the house, but only she was awake. There was no one there. Sense Emotions put everyone where they should be so there wasn’t anyone within fifty meters of the house that shouldn’t be.

She stayed up for the rest of the night, but no new insights on her mysterious enemy emerged.
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trekkie
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by trekkie »

Nice job! I liked the new D & D group. Good to see North Star.
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lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

trekkie wrote:Nice job! I liked the new D & D group. Good to see North Star.
I didn't plan for any of the cubs to come into the story, at least not as much as North Star has. Mostly because they are unfriendable, but I realized if Rey was putting together a D&D group and including Usagi, she might as well include North star, since they are of similar age. I want to explore the friendship that develops between the two in the future, so look forward to that.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Great job on this chapter so far! Please keep on writing!
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FireworkFox
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by FireworkFox »

Great job on this!
What is with that ending though?! Is there some paranormal entity stalking Rey that we don't know about? I'd better go tell Zach to get his Proton Pack.(Yes, he has one)
My name is Firework Fox.
uwu
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lilium mortem
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by lilium mortem »

FoxyBoi wrote:Great job on this!
What is with that ending though?! Is there some paranormal entity stalking Rey that we don't know about? I'd better go tell Zach to get his Proton Pack.(Yes, he has one)
everything will be made clear... next week. well not everything, but you will get more information. and if you're looking for the paranormal, next week, Rey visits our favorite magic cat & dog duo! why? stay tuned to find out!
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FireworkFox
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by FireworkFox »

Okey dokey smokey!
My name is Firework Fox.
uwu
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Nathan Kerbonaut
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Re: The Most Friendliest game.

Post by Nathan Kerbonaut »

Excellent chapter! Rey's got a great crew. Looking forward to more magic(k)al hijinks.
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