LU 145 - Mira 8

It was just like any regular old day. I had decided to come to Spawn, but not to get coffee this time; no, it was because I was simply bored. Spawn Town always had people that I knew around. So I began to think, '*What would be the pain of today'*, that was all I wanted to know. There was always *some* sort of problem when I came here. Always something going wrong. Perhaps I should stop coming here so often, only when necessary... So that I didn't keep getting wrapped into this stuff... Nevertheless, I had come from the Amethyst Bridge, as I always had, though I had caught a glimpse of Vice and Shroom running in a direction. I was a little concerned about why they were running, but I shrugged it off for the moment.

That was when sheets of paper on the walls of some buildings caught my eye. They stuck out almost like a sore thumb, so I trotted over to one, before catching sight of the image that had been drawn on it. An image that was almost too perfect to realism, one that was all too familiar in my sight.

*Morpheus.*

It was a drawing of Morpheus, that damned giant blue flower that had killed me, and Shroom. *Perhaps that was why Shroom was running with Vice-? They both knew about Morpheus, after all.* And although I had hoped it were something else, the text that was written on the parchment told of the 'incompetently run government' of the place, along with 'secrets'... One of them reading to say ‘The flower that murdered me and many others (yeah that's right. murdered. not poisoned)’, which had confirmed my suspicion that it was indeed about the flower. It had also come with a set of coords, which I could only assume had led to Morpheus at that moment.

An unfiltered indignation towards the mushroom-like person had surfaced in every part of my very being. It was almost as bad as the vexation I felt against Tori, when I had taken one of his 'chances'. All I wanted to do was *strangle* that damned *bitch* of a Scroom that I had pitied only once before. Shroom *knew* that Morpheus was dangerous. Treacherous. Yet these coordinates that Shroom had placed on these flyers... *They were leading straight to it.*

I didn't even want to bother with figuring out if they actually did or not. I was too pissed off to think straight at that moment, before I had crumpled up any of the flyers I had seen, and made haste towards the cerulean plant that I loathed oh so much.

*I didn't even want to bother with figuring out if they actually did or not. I was too pissed off to think straight at that moment, before I had crumpled up any of the flyers I had seen, and made haste towards the cerulean plant that I loathed oh so much.*

It took me a while to actually get there. I didn't know how long exactly, but I know I got there not too long after Shroom and Vice did, *surely*- Despite my heaving from having run and warped all the way here, I was still more concerned about other people than myself. *Who knew what Morpheus would do to them?*

Though it appeared my worrying was all for naught, finding myself listening to Vice speaking almost.. calmly to the Guardian of the flower. As if they were acquaintances, maybe even friends. Which also was supported by the little *buzzing* I had heard, as if from a bee. There were only two bee people I actually knew of, and only one that would be with Vice... Thus, all I was questioning now, was *why was Hallthorr here?*

As if to answer my questions to myself, Vice had said something about Hallthorr likely having wandered from their home and stumbled upon the tree somehow, and he had apologized for the trouble Hallthorr had caused. That meant that the two had been here for a bit before I had arrived. But what I didn't hear was Shroom's voice. Just to listen in closer, I hunkered down near one of Morpheus's oversized petals, ensuring not to touch it as to not alert the Guardian of my presence, just in case it could somehow sense the slightest physical contact.

I had been kneeling there for a little while longer as I listened in on their conversation, attempting to catch my breath as quietly as I could, unable to relax fully as my muscles were almost aching from all the running I did. I was also rather on edge because of the fact that two people I knew were basically on Morpheus right at this moment, and I needed to make sure that nothing bad happened to them. That no harm came to them while they were here.

Eventually, I heard the Guardian bidding farewell to the two, and them saying they would head home, which caused a wave of relief to flood over me. It was as if all the tenseness in my body had gone away for just a brief moment. My eyes caught sight of Hallthorr and Vice stepping off of the bud of the flower which urged me to come over, Vice seemingly taking notice of my presence as soon as I was close.

He briefly whispered to me, "*We need to talk about this later,*" before beckoning the half-bee, Hallthorr, over to us.

I was happy to see these two getting along, and seeing Vice actually caring for him, but *here* is where I had least expected that. I at least knew that Vice wouldn't have taken Hallthorr to this location on purpose. *Shroom* however... despite how concerned they seemed for Hallthorr when I had met them again at Spawn that one time... I was unsure how to feel about them now. *Risking the people of Spawn Town like that, when we had promised after they had died to it, not to let anybody go near this forsaken plant in the future.*

My thoughts were interrupted by Vice proclaiming that he had to take Hallthorr back home and then head back to Spawn, which I only acknowledged with a nod. I soon waved him off after he had picked up Hallthorr, watching them just for a moment as they went off. However, seeing Vice act so caring for Hallthorr like that... It caused a somber feeling to come over me, a brief pain pricking at my heart as it had made me begin to think of a moment that had never occurred... *and never could again.*

I soon shrugged that thought off though, heading back towards Spawn Town. I took my sweet time however, as I didn't want to run all the way back again. I still had yet to speak to Shroom about all of this mess that they had almost caused. Thinking of Shroom again, though... I hadn't seen them at Morpheus, despite the fact I had seen them running with Vice, but I had only seen Vice with Hallthorr...

*So where the fuck was Shroom? Were they back at Spawn?*

I could only find out when I made it there. But thinking of this now, my casual walking pace had picked up, though I shouldn't waste my stamina... I needed to have a word with them.

*And I'm sure they won't misunderstand.*

It took me longer than it had taken for me to get from Spawn to Morpheus. So much longer in fact, that it had seemed as though Vice had gotten to Spawn Town again before I did. I wasn't about to get angry about that though, because I had something *far* more important to direct that rage towards. Coincidentally, I had spotted Vice speaking to that exact person; *Shroom*.

I clenched my hands into fists for no longer than a moment, huffing as I made my way over to the two, taking my spot right next to Vice Thornberry. He glanced up at me, his gaze lingering for just a couple seconds, before he glared right back at Shroom. We were all right in the middle of the town, but I don't think Vice nor I could care about that for the time-being. There was a matter that was much more important at hand. For me, it was to get Shroom to quit with the posters, and find out what the *fuck* went through their head when making them. I was unsure about Vice's intentions with this encounter, however.

"Oh, hey Mira," came from Shroom as soon as they spotted me. It was almost casual, to the point if one had overseen the conversation, it would look as though nothing had occurred before this conversation had begun.

*"You bitch-"*

"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR *PROBLEM?!*"

I had started to say something before Vice's overpowering voice had interrupted my thought process for a second. I hadn't expected such a short person to have such a demanding-for-answers kind of voice, but here we are.

Shroom spoke up once again, an ice cold glare pointed towards the person I had stood next to; "I have many problems. You are one of them," as they folded their arms over one another. They stood there as if their vision and stance was superior, as if what they had done and said was not intended to be argued with. As if they were in the *right.*

So I had interjected with my own piece of mind; "*You are making more problems for all of us*," a slight growl to my voice as my violet eyes glared just below Shroom's own, as to give the idea that I was making eye contact. Who knows what kind of message that sent across, but I soon continued my train of thought. "You know- Space trusted you to join us to destroy the trees, and then you go and pull *that* on us all?"

My voice had seemingly gone unheard by Shroom as their attention was still on the shorter one of us, Vice. That's when he had spoken once again, "You were soooo worried about him. Told me you'd kill me if he got close to getting hurt," then he had taken out a weapon that looked to be a sword from the corner of my eye.

*"So, I will do the same."*

That was when Shroom had taken out their own weapon, looking to be.. some type of axe. Was that a *war axe-?* No- I couldn't get intimidated. I couldn't get distracted from making a point here. Thus, I spoke up once again, intending to be heard this time.

"Shroom, I want you to know something; everyone of the tree group wanted them to be kept a secret. By doing what you did, you made an enemy of us *all-*" As if to add an intimidation factor, I had taken out my lance, a tight grip on it within my hand as I glared to Shroom once again.

Though it seemed as though my attempts of getting Shroom to back down had either gone unnoticed or ignored, which left me feeling quite awkward, whilst the two I stood by kept arguing back and forth. Shroom stating pointless things such as what they did 'helping them destroy the dumb government' and that they had told Frezz to keep Vice away from such a thing, and Vice arguing back saying that Frezz had done no such thing. At this point my mind was going to other things since I had been ignored...

"I didn't want to have to kill you, Vice," was a statement from Shroom that had brought my attention right back into the moment. I was now alert, on edge, and ready to strike at this point-

*"Kill me?"*

Thornberry had essentially repeated what Shroom said, then turned to look my way, and I returned the gaze.

"Mira, you'll help me, right?"

"Of course," I nodded after saying such words and tightened the grip I had on the lance in my hand, and returned my attention back to the Scroom standing in front of us. It was getting on my nerves how Shroom still thought they were in the *right* here. So, I extended my arm and angled the head of my lance to point directly towards them. I wasn't actually going to attack them *yet*, though...

"Shroom. I watched you die there. And yet you wanted to bring more people there." It was almost saddening, to see the confused look on Shroom's face right after I had said such words, but I continued regardless.

*"You've made a mistake."*

"I WAS GOING TO WARN PEOPLE! You think I *WANTED* people there?!"

They had immediately defended themselves, their yelling making it obvious that they were getting desperate for the two of us to see their point of view. But there was no point of view in this situation. They had *betrayed* us by telling people about the trees, and now they were going to *pay.*

"Warn them by killing them, perhaps?" questioned Vice, the glare on his face evident towards them, even in my peripheral vision. Seeing someone so short with such anger in just how they look is definitely a sight that would instill fear in someone, surely.

I had decided to add my own opinion on it alongside Vice's thoughts. "Then you should have put that in the flyer. Or, hell, maybe not tell them about it *in the first place*," followed by my tail lashing behind me. I wanted to get my damn point across, and it was pissing me off that this had been going for as long as it was.

"We kept it a secret to keep people AWAY," Vice's words were stern, the ire in his voice only growing. It seemed I wasn't the only one getting ticked off more and more the longer this went on.

"I wanted to show people that the evil trees are real and put everyone in danger-!" Shroom had tried cutting off Vice's statement... Just to get silenced themselves by Vice continuing to speak.

"-And to keep them *safe."*

I attempted to back Vice up as I took a step in front of my former position, angling my lance in an almost defensive way in front of myself, just to be cautious of any potential incoming attacks from our supposed 'foe'. "Shroom, you are being *unreasonable*. Just quit it while you're ahead." *'Please*.' I silently begged to them in my mind. I didn't want to attack them, *I didn't*- But what I said was true. Their reasoning was muddled, by what I wasn't sure. Regardless, this was just... *foolish behavior.*

"If you don't want a fight you won't have one," Shroom began. It seemed almost like they had read my mind, which irritated me. Though it gave me a little insight on how it felt to act as if they could just get away with their actions with no consequences. As if they were above any amount of authority, such as Vice, or any reasoning, such as what I was giving.

Then, they finished their statement; *"But if you continue, you are dead."* Speaking as though they could indeed handle a 2-on-1. The two being someone that could use potions at any moment, with an aggravated short person. And the one being themselves; a mushroom person.

"*You're* dead, Shroom," Vice had boldly claimed, then he had taken a stance, weapon poised at the ready to strike Shroom at any given moment. I, on the other hand, got into a more defensive stance, taking a step back to line up with Vice once more. My lance was in front of me, and I had taken out my shield to hold in my off-hand, before I decided to add my own thoughts on the matter... Probably the last sentence I would get in before something happened.

"Well, you shouldn't have done what you did so we wouldn't want one," though it was more Vice that wanted the fight. One could easily tell by our different stances... At least, I had hoped that was the case. But my hopes had been crushed before, and they were crushed once again. The one word I had hoped not to hear from them in response, had been spoken.

**"Fine."**

*The fight then began.*

In the span of a second upon the last word being spoken, action had taken place. Shroom had attacked me first, attempting to slam their war axe onto me which I had parried by holding my lance horizontally with both hands. I then angled the shaft to drive the blade of their axe to my left to avoid the blow, whacking their torso with the base of my weapon. Shroom was sent backwards for a moment, before being bombarded by Vice with his sword. He had sliced at them, nicking their armor before he had gotten hit by their axe, a long gash right in his forearm from the blade of Shroom's weapon. He bit back a scream, backing off for a bit and leaving me to fend off our opponent alone for a moment while he wrapped that up to prevent any blood loss.

Whilst he was backing away for the moment, Shroom had tried getting at Vice again, though I had stepped in and swung the lance right into Shroom's left side, resulting in them skidding back as the spearhead made contact with their armor. The Fire Aspect enchantment on the weapon however had managed to set them alight, so that must've burned for a second before they had gripped the top of the shaft below the spearhead and tugged hard, pulling me along with it as I refused to release my grasp on it- The outcome being that I was socked in the face, a small splatter of my violet blood on the floor now before Shroom had kicked me in the abdomen, sending me backwards a bit. I clutched my mid-section with my free hand, my lance out of Shroom's grasp now, groaning as I supported myself up with the weapon as if it kept me standing. I definitely was *not* used to this kind of feeling.

I raised my head to find Shroom's axe raised overhead, as if aiming to slam it down into my skull. I prepared myself to take the impact or to move out of the way, until Vice had sliced his blade into Shroom's side between the pieces of their armor that had left their skin exposed, followed by a pained yell. The adrenaline clearly kept them going however as they lowered their weapon briefly to grab Vice's arm, throwing him behind them and poising their weapon to strike him down, similarly to how they were going to do to me, but more diagonal. In that moment however I had pushed through the feeling in my mid-section and, using both hands on the shaft of my polearm, whacked Shroom's head to get them away from my current ally.

Shroom staggered away from Vice and I, a hand to their head as they recovered from the strike, whilst I went to Vice to lend him a hand to stand again. Shroom apparently took this as an opportunity to attempt escaping, as they had released a spore cloud, temporarily poisoning Vice and I. We waved our arms to try dispersing the cloud, until I took notice that Shroom had made a run for it, so I grabbed Vice's arm to pull him in the same direction as me when I started chasing after. They seemed to be headed East, so we just followed after them.

What I hadn't expected though, was them to jump in the small pool of water next to the streets, and to trident off onto the other side of the river, yelling back at us; "COME AND GET ME, COWARDS!" Which *definitely* told us that Shroom had no idea what a 'coward' really even was.

Nevertheless, using my current Frost Walker boots, I had traversed over the water quite easily. Vice took the same route as Shroom though it seems, having used his trident to cross over to the Scroom much faster than I could. I was a bit late when they had continued the battle, though as soon as I hopped in, I threw down a Fire Resistance Potion onto Vice and myself.

We continued trading strikes with Shroom after that. I hit Shroom, Shroom hit me. Vice hit Shroom, Shroom hit him. It kept going back and forth for a long while, but I could tell that the longer this went on, the further we kept getting from Spawn, confirming that Shroom was indeed trying to just run away. But I wasn't going to really let that happen. I *couldn't* let that happen.

*I'll take Shroom down.*

We were all getting beaten up pretty badly at this point, but I still had a regeneration potion on-hand if I needed it. Plus a Strength II potion, that I had thrown down on myself to deal heavier blows. Clearly we were *finally* starting to overwhelm Shroom, as after I had attempted piercing one of their arms with my lance as I had done once before this moment, Shroom had released yet another spore cloud. It left me coughing, distracted whilst Shroom stepped back and dashed out of my reach for the time-being. Vice had tugged on my arm briefly, resulting in a small wince from me as it had been getting increasingly more bruised from the continued fight, but I followed after him as he had noticed Shroom getting away from us.

A short while of running later, we spotted Shroom halting right next to a pit in the ground. The way Shroom looked back at us with an expression of almost newfound confidence told me that they had found something to use against the two of us- *Or rather, one of us*. They jumped down into the pit, and I warped right over right about to jump in and chase after them myself, before having noticed the *water* that Shroom had splashed up from diving into it. It caused me to stumble, nearly falling in before I took a step back.

Shroom resurfaced, an overconfident grin on their face as they spoke; "I know my Endermen, Mira! You can't enter this water!"

An irritation sparked up in me once again, before I threw off my current armor next to Vice who had *just* caught up. He seemed confused, before I had started putting on the other armor set I had with me; Water Protection. The set of armor I always had on before this fight started. I now positioned myself to jump in after Shroom.

"Wait Mira don--"

Vice's sentence was cut off by me diving into the water, lance in hand and trident now taken off of the strap on my back. Shroom clearly was also in shock as they were still for a moment, before swimming further into the cave. I used my trident to riptide after them, swiping my lance at them when I had gotten close, and piercing their leg. They let out a gasp, letting out air before resurfacing as there was a flat surface in the cave we had entered. Shroom had gotten onto the flat platform out of the water, though I followed after, riptiding into them from the cave pool, but spiraling out of control as I skidded on the hard stone. I quickly got back to my feet however, before Vice had joined us soon after on the platform; I was in front of Shroom and Vice was behind them. We had practically cornered them.

"BACK DOWN, SHROOM! Stop resisting!"

Of course my position was a little awkward as I said those words, as to anybody else it would look as though *I* was the one being cornered. Luckily though, Vice was on my side, so it was Shroom that was in a tight spot here. I expected that Shroom would likely give up right there and then.

What I hadn't expected though, was for Shroom to release *yet another* spore cloud, causing Vice and I to basically start coughing up our lungs. It was just for a moment though, as the cloud had dispersed, Shroom found themselves cornered by Vice instead, his weapon at their throat despite his size.

"Armor, weapons, and gear, please," Vice requested. He was actually offering for Shroom to hand over their things peacefully, taking out a pair of... connected bracelets? Wait no, they looked like what was described as 'cuffs' in books- Ah. They were cuffs. I was getting distracted-

Shroom, deciding not to give up on their ideals, spoke as if they could still get out of this situation. "Over my dead body."

"Well, if you insist," my voice broke out, my head tilted as I made my way over to the two. I positioned myself to get my weapon ready to pierce into them, despite Vice being there already. I felt as though I was.. almost powerful in this situation, fighting side-by-side with someone. However, that 'power' I felt was taken with Shroom's next words.

"LOOK! THERE'S TORI!"

It was stupid. It was stupid of me to shrink back, looking around, *in a cave that only Shroom, Vice, and myself were in*, trying to find the winged bastard that Shroom had yelled about. But even Vice turned to look as well, so I wasn't the only dumb one here, I suppose. The other dumb thing though, was that *Shroom had gotten away again*. They had dived back into the water, and began swimming away, using their own trident this time. I silently cursed to myself, soon following in their trail as I got back into the reservoir, riptiding after them myself. I also heard Vice dive in after me, so I knew he was following as well.

Upon getting to the original surface, the pit in the ground exposed to the open air, Shroom had used their trident to launch themselves to the ground safely. However, I, being stupid and not knowing how to properly use a trident safely due to inexperience, had launched myself right into the air. I panicked, *feeling the air rush past me as it had many years ago* but in a vastly different situation, and warped back down to the ground, closer to the runaway Scroom, however I had fallen over upon landing. I was lucky I had done that though, because I knew for sure I would be in incredible trouble if I let myself fall that whole distance...

I was still in a bit of a daze though, so I shook my head, recollecting myself as I zoned back in on the current objective; catch, or take down, Shroom. I stumbled back up to my feet, quickly running after Shroom once more, so zoned in that it felt as though I had tunnel vision. But I was quickly getting tired of this chase. I was sure we were all tired of this at this point. Of the fighting, running, and then fighting again. *I know I sure as hell was getting tired of it all.*

Shroom kept running though, and after looking over their shoulder briefly and spotting me rather close to them, they only ran faster. *I was sick of this.* I positioned myself, then teleported myself right behind Shroom, lance angled in my grip, and *stabbed* the spearhead into the back of their left leg. They tumbled over, practically crumpling onto the ground as their trident fell out of their hand, an agonized scream echoing from them into the open air around the two of us.

Vice had eventually caught up to us, the wound that my lance had caused keeping Shroom on the floor for the moment. I noticed however that Vice had two other people following him, but I paid no mind to who they were at the time. I didn’t need to know that. Shroom, however, apparently didn’t want to be seen like this, as they tried extending their arm to reach for the trident that they had dropped, in which I stabbed my weapon into the ground right in front of their hand to give them the hint not to even try.

“Whbzz werzz yozz fighbzzing?”

The voice that broke me out of my focus on Shroom belonged to none other than Hallthorr, confused. I turned to the half-bee, concerned and confused about why he was here, and almost overwhelmed about the fact that someone aside from the three of us - Vice, Shroom, and myself - had seen us all fighting. That was also when I had also realized who the other person was that had accompanied Hallthorr and Vice to this location.

*Tori.*

Shroom seemed utterly displeased, and desperate to escape from this scenario. They had been stripped of their weapons and armor, and were left practically harmless to the rest of us now. Unless one wanted to consider a voice a weapon, in which they apparently did, but not to go against us; no, it was so they could try and get *Hallthorr* to go against Vice.

“HALLTHORR, VICE IS AN EVIL PIECE OF SHIT!”

Desperation was obvious in their voice, along with the tactic they attempted using. Trying to get the bystanders to get involved… *It was honestly a pathetic display.* So pathetic, in fact, that I had slapped them.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH, gods damn it.” I attempted to make my voice as threatening as possible, glaring down at the Scroom that had now been cuffed by Vice. “You’ve caused *too much trouble* already.”

“It’s no use-”

“For you.” Shroom began to speak, until I had cut them off, making it clear that we would do our damnedest to ensure they would remain imprisoned for as long as necessary. But the chuckle that came from Shroom began to slightly make me doubt myself. *Slightly.* Paired with the words they spoke soon after.

“I have a stasis pearl,” they grinned whilst speaking, sneering at me as I looked down on them. “You can do *nothing.”*

For a moment, I started to doubt if imprisoning them would even do anything. That they would just escape, and come back, just to take revenge on Vice and I. Though my doubts were quelled by Vice speaking up, stating how he himself had used a stasis pearl, alongside the fact that he *knows* every little tactic that Shroom could use.

The conversation went on, Hallthorr saying something I couldn’t understand, but Vice translated it, saying that the half-bee agreed with him.

“Tori, we are both considered the villain, right?” Shroom queried the Soul Condor, who up until this point had just been observing. It was evident that he hadn’t expected to be involved as he seemed confused by what Shroom was trying to get at by speaking to him, at least from what I saw in the corner of my eye.

“I know we hate each other, but don’t you think this government has wronged you?”

*Oh no.* I knew what was happening here. They were trying to get Tori to fucking *help them-!* I turned slowly towards the winged bastard, cocking my head to the side as I stared straight towards him, saying his name in a way that I’m sure had unsettled him. I hope it did. I think it did, because he looked between Shroom and myself, before shrugging.

“Nah…”

“Tori, choose freedom. They will hunt you- They will find you!” Desperation was evident in Shroom’s voice once again, trying to get Tori to act with just the words. Tsk- If they were going to do something about Tori, they would have already done so already. Space hasn’t, so why would Tori have to worry?

It relieved me to see Tori shrug again at what Shroom was saying, as if nonchalant about their statements. “They won’t,” he claimed in a casual tone. He was way too cool-headed right now, considering I could *kill him again if I wanted to*. But I wouldn’t, because he’s being good for once and not falling for what Shroom was saying.

“I can’t say we won’t hunt you, but I know you like a good fight,” Vice spoke casually, as if he was just chatting away with his friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vice and Tori knew each other well, it’s just.. This wasn’t the time.

“I do need some more bones…” Tori began, trailing off however, in which Shroom interjected with their own thoughts about that statement; “Vice and Mira have some nice healthy bones-!”

I was tired of all the conversation and not doing anything though. We were getting nowhere just sitting around here, so I grabbed Shroom’s arm, yanking them in the direction of Spawn Town, telling them to shut their trap whilst doing so. Vice, Tori, and Hallthorr followed close behind as we made our way back… Though Shroom yelled “THE VERDURE!” as if directing it to one of the group whilst we traveled.

When we had arrived back at Spawn Town, we went straight into the Police Station, where I guided Shroom to the cells, and shoved them towards the singular high-security cell. Vice had opened the doors, getting Shroom inside, and closing the doors up behind them as they stumbled into the cell.

“I’ll be checking up on you. You won’t be getting out any time soon,” Vice proclaimed. It seemed like he *personally* wanted to be the guard of that cell. I don’t think Tori, Hallthorr, or myself had any authority to complain about that however, so we just agreed.

Shroom, however, appeared to have more to say to us, more specifically to Vice; “Listen to me, that dagger is an heirloom-”

“Uh huh.”

Vice clearly seemed disinterested, but just appeared to be humoring Shroom’s attempts at getting one last thing done for them.

“Leave it in my house,” the Scroom demanded. Their tone was oddly stern for someone that had just been freshly put behind bars.

“Uh huh. Anything else?”

I snickered, as it was made incredibly obvious that Vice definitely wouldn’t do such a thing for the prisoner. I’m pretty sure it was clear to the other two in the room as well, but Shroom just didn’t get the hint.

“Hey, Vice? Can I speak to them if you’re done?” Tori spoke up, in which I briefly glared towards the winged bastard, huffing as I made my way out. Vice would probably say yes. I could just listen in anyways on the other side of the barred wall. Vice obliged to Tori’s request, as I predicted, in which he just stood out of the way for the Soul Condor to step up to the cell.

“Come to mock me?” The Scroom questioned, spite filling their tone. I decided to hide behind the actual wall, and just listen from there. It’s not like they *needed* to know I was still here.

Tori seemed to attempt easing Shroom’s suspicions though, “I’ll only be a second.”

“So what do you want?”

Tori cleared his throat in response to the question from Shroom, in which he proceeded to whisper from there. Not like I couldn’t hear it still, though. “You yelled something earlier… Something familiar.”

I realized that had indeed happened, huffing to myself silently as I continued to listen in on their conversation. I soon saw Vice leaving, in which I reminded him not to forget Hallthorr, before returning to listen in on the conversation that Tori and Shroom were having.

“I do not agree with your methods… But, I do believe we have similar goals.”

Tori’s statement reached my ears, and if that didn’t make me want to *go in there and stab him*, I don’t know what would.

“If taking down the government is your goal, I’m all ears,” responded the captive.

They continued chatting, speaking of how Tori was upset that the location of Shroom’s stasis pearl wasn’t given to him, and that the winged bastard was wanted and couldn’t walk around ‘all willy nilly’. I heard more things about how Shroom knew how else Tori could ‘help’ them, before coords were said out loud. My eyes widened, and at that moment, I regretted not bringing along something to write on. But I heard an odd noise that sounded almost like scratching after that was said…

Shroom then stated how Tori could blow up the house or leave it be, but that nothing would come of it. They ended the conversation after they said there was nothing else, but that Vice already knew the location of their house. Tori soon gave an apology, sounding almost fake, before the sound of a slap was heard, along with him yelling “Fuck you!” at Shroom through the bars.

It took all my willpower to not chuckle at such an action, as it seemed almost childish, until I had seen Tori coming out of the room of cells, headed straight for me. It almost shocked me, but did succeed in making me freeze up like a prey being spotted by a savage animal.

What pleasantly surprised me however, was that Tori had handed me a bone. Much like how Tori had given one to Chizzy a while ago.

I looked up at him in disgust, a query needing to be spoken. “You’re not trying to court me, are you..?”

He appeared to look me up and down, which caused me to suddenly be oddly insecure at that moment, before he had laughed. God I *hated that laugh of his-*

“Don’t flatter yourself, princess.”

Rage hadn’t hit me in the face any faster than that as I went to grab at him, irritated.

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT, YOU BASTARD-!”

Then I returned my attention to the bone he had given, just about ready to throw it on the ground, before I noticed the coords written there… Those were the coords that Shroom had said, surely. I nodded to myself after reading them, groaning to myself as I then began wondering why Tori would even help me, before leaving the station afterwards.

Upon exiting however, I had noticed one of the flyers that Shroom had put up earlier, just lying on the ground… I picked it up, and read the coords once again, before realizing… *They were just coords to The Verdure*. I really had assumed that Shroom was trying to get people to go to Morpheus…

I shook my head shortly after. No time to think about that now… *They’re already in jail.*