[SIDESTORY] Morbit Oneshots

[SHIVERS]

Fourth Plate - 2020
Como + Shivers, Masa con Papas + Patchwork Kernel
CW: serious injury, self-harm, breakdown
Erica has a surprise visitor.

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The ruffneck put out her camp cig as she made her way up the steps to the door, hastily trying to waft away the smoke with a paw as she pocketed what was left, not wanting to drop it nearby.
She took a quick breath, then knocked.

Audible from inside was two or three voices, followed by approaching footsteps. Within a few moments the door creaked open, a ruffneck in glasses with prosthetic limbs and a blind eye peeking through. "Hello?"

The canine standing outside was very tall - well over six feet - and covered from head to toe in various scars. She wore a dull violet-red poncho that was tattered and worn, showing its age.
Ravine tried and failed to muster up a friendly look despite this.
"Hi. Is someone named Erica here?"

"Mmhmm, I can get her. I don't think I've seen you in town before." The ruffneck pulled a bit of hair out of his face. "People don't usually come here in the evening, is something wrong?"

Ravine towered over the other ruffneck, even through the doorway.
"Nothing wrong. Just need to talk with her."

"Mm. One moment" He pulled back inside. Not too long after, the door reopened, and another ruffneck well into her golden years took the place of the previous one. She was wearing a long poncho that covered most of her and had piercing glowing eyes that were immediately noticeable. 
"You're a tall one. You here on business?"

She gave the ruffneck a small nod in greeting. 
"Not exactly, ma'am.
I'd like to become part of the judgment lineage.
I've heard you're the person to speak with about that.
I'm guessing there's some kind of test; I'd like to take it. Today, if possible."

The old dog smirked. "You're asking a lot very suddenly, straight to the point too. I'm about to start dinner with my people but..." She shook her head. "Aw heck, you eat yet?"

She looked very confused. "...Ma'am?
Oh."
Ravine shook her head. "I appreciate that, but I can wait outside while you eat."

"I'm not gonna leave you standing out here for an hour like that. Come on in."

She hesitated, very much wanting to wait outside - maybe take a walk in the meantime - but couldn't bring herself to be rude.
The dog exhaled from her nostrils, almost inaudible.
"Alright. Thank you, ma'am."

Ravine stepped inside, having to duck slightly into the doorway, a campfire scent wafting in with her.

Inside the walls were decorated in all sorts of worn and torn artifacts and family photos. "Gonna be us and my two grandkids, hope you don't mind." She led the way through the entrance hall and into the living room. "Well, guess they're not kids anymore. You seem about their age actually. Might have them spar with you if you decide to train here."

Ravine followed along dutifully. 
She tried not to stare long at the various family pictures, all of them serving to make her feel more and more out of place.
She couldn’t help but end up lost in thought, however, having to force herself to snap back.
"...Train?"

She nodded. "Course. You're looking into knighthood, yeah?"

"Yes ma'am. Though, I was hoping to just take the exam."

"I personally can't knight you, but I can give you a recommendation for a guild to give you the test for a license. Prove you got what it takes and I'll hand you a letter and handle your travel."

"...Oh.
Alright.
What would you have me do?"

"An initial spar to see where you're at. From there we can gauge what you need to train to pass that test... Though I gotta say you look like you've got a lot of fighting experience under your belt already."

"I do.
Who would I be sparring with?"

"I think... I'll let you pick your opponent when we get to that." They both arrived in the kitchen. A vaguely canine-esque construct with long hair was setting the table.  "Geezer! You mind setting up a fourth plate?"

The construct turned his head toward the two of them. "We got a guest today grandma?"

"We sure do! I'll catch you up to speed in a sec." Erica turned back toward Ravine. "Get yourself settled in at the table."

Ravine felt her heart rise into her throat as she was left alone with the construct.
She just nodded in his direction, not saying a word, and looking confident - if slightly awkward - despite her nervousness.

The construct placed down mats and silverware on the table. "You're pretty quiet. You okay?"

"I'm fine." She hesitated to sit down, not really knowing where to do so.

"You got a name?"

"Ravine."

"Geezer. Everyone else will be here soon... sit down anywhere you want. "

She hastily took a seat in the chair closest to her, causing it to loudly scrape on the floor in the process.

Geezer avoided making a comment. "So... you're not allergic to anything yeah? Tonight is pasta and roasted poultry."

"I can eat that." She avoided eye contact, awkwardly transitioning into conversation after a moment.
"...You said Erica is your grandmother, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You live here, then?"

"Yeah, on and off. What's up?"

"...Just curious. Haven't been here before."
She tried to think of a hasty way to bridge that gap into somehow asking to leave while she waited for them to finish eating, but nothing came to mind.

"Guessing you're far from home. You nervous?"

"About the fight?
No."

"Just in general. You don't gotta pretend."

"I'm not nervous, I'm just not comfortable.
I don't do this kind of thing."

"Yeah... between you and me, if she keeps you around for a bit you can skip dinner by telling her you're eating out with friends. Probably too late right now though. Promise you the food is good though, cousin handled it."

"I'm not worried about the food, and I'm not going to lie to your grandma."

"If you're sure. Real talk, she's probably gonna have you fight me or my cousin as a note. Don't know if after dinner or if she'll wanna wait til morning but I can push for the former if it'll help you out."

"As soon as possible would be better.
Which of you is stronger?"

"Depends a lot I think. I got more muscle but Charon's got a bit extra in the bragging rights department."

"Why?"

"Thumped an angel a few years ago. I helped but he got that finishing blow in... still beat him in our sparring sessions though."

"If you win when sparring, then I'd rather fight you."

"Up to you. Grandma might just wanna fight you herself too."

"Whatever works."

There was an interrupting knock on the doorway. Erica was there with Charon behind her. "Back, hope I wasn't too long."

"No ma'am."

"That's good. You know I don't think we exchanged names proper." She scooted into a chair.

It was finally sinking in that this was happening, but she didn't show visible signs of her panic at all.
"Ravine," she stated simply.

"Gotcha. So what made you wanna join the line?"

"Don't have much else to do, and I can handle myself."

Erica scratched her head. "You're... trying to join because you're bored?"

"No. 
I can take knight contracts if I join a line.
I need work, and I know I could do it well."

"It'd be a tough job."

"Suits me fine, ma'am."

"Long as you're fine with a little danger." Charon and Geezer sat themselves down, too, plates now set. "You resistant at all to mutation? Horror work is a big seller in the trade lately."

"Not that I'm aware of, but I'm sure I can deal with horrors."

"Hmm. I'd suggest you avoid getting too close to those. Uh, feel free to start eating by the way, these two worked pretty hard on dinner today."

She had barely noticed, but began to politely nibble away at the meal.

Erica watched her discreetly, trying to get a good gauge on the dog.

Ravine caught her watching almost immediately, meeting her gaze for a few moments before continuing with her meal.

Erica smirked. "Eat all you'd like 'cause after this we're gonna get a good gauge on you. Once we know where you're at we can brace you to get your license."

"Did you decide which of you I'm fighting yet?
I'd prefer to get it over with sooner rather than later, ma'am."

"Well first I gotta know who's willing."
Charon raised a hand. "I wouldn't mind, I think I could get a pretty accurate feel for where she's at."
Geezer joined in. "I'd be down too. Feeling pretty good for it."

"Both at once, then?"

Erica shook her head. "Nah, wouldn't do something unfair like that to you. You can pick."

"I've had worse.
I don't really care to pick, either."

"Hmm? Whatcha implying by that?"

"They can pick, otherwise I'll fight both."

"That'd be a heck of a mistake and not reflective of any sort of actual test."

"With all due respect, ma'am:  You don't know me." 
She took a drink of water.
"And even if I lose, you'd see plenty to judge me by.
...You can learn a lot about someone when their back's against a wall."

"Can't learn that much if the fight ends too quick. You don't know what anyone here's been through either."

"Doesn't matter."

She glanced at Charon and Geezer.
"Up to you two."
Geezer shrugged. "I got no issue with it if you really wanna go this route. Sure there's gotta be some merit here. Charon?"
"I'm game. Nobody talks that hard unless they've got something big in their pocket. Besides it's a spar, we wouldn't be going all out."

Ravine kept her eyes on them.
"Whenever you're ready."

Geezer nodded. "We'll do this outside. Hope that's alright."

"I'd prefer it that way. Wouldn't want to break anything in here." She stood up from her seat.

The three Judgments followed suit and quickly made their way to the clearing in front of the house.

Ravine stood a good distance away.
One paw loosened the ice axe from her side and held it, the other holding firm on her gun; still in its holster.
She got down low.
"...You ready?"

Erica was stationed at the patio while Charon and Geezer stood with a bit of distance between the two of them. The duo of construct and dog seemed to communicate with each other non-verbally before Geezer spoke up. "We're gonna play this kinda safe and clean on our end to get a feel of things. Hope you don't mind. Ready."

Ravine gripped her revolver tight.
"Go."


Geezer manifested a segmented club in his hand and charged immediately.  Charon stood behind watching patiently.

The gun was out of its holster with blinding speed as she was already mid-motion, hopping to the side.
With the two lined up, she fired, a huge pulse of air blasting Geezer backwards into Charon.

Charon blasted a wall of electricity toward Geezer with one hand, bouncing him back full force at Ravine. Geezer rode the momentum to go for a swing.

She holstered her gun as she caught the blow with her ice axe, forcing the club aside and downward, straining Geezer's hand.
Her other paw helped the motion along, grabbing Geezer by the head and swinging him down into the dirt.

Geezer was downed instantly. Charon walked up slowly with a spark flickering in his hand. "What a cowardly weapon."

"Can't really call me a coward when you sent your cousin at me alone.
You want to talk, then close the gap."
She put her foot on Geezer's back and used the leverage to wrench the club from his hand, promptly tossing it in Charon's direction.

Charon knocked the club aside with the back of his hand and continued his approach. "I have a little trouble walking so pardon me for not running straight at you."

She got distance from Geezer, keeping both of them in sight without moving further away from Charon.
"Take your time."

Charon fired a burst of electricity toward Ravine, trying to force a closing of the gap.

She moved aside and tossed her axe into the strike.
The electricity flicked towards it and sputtered out, allowing her to safely retrieve her axe.
"If you won't get close, then I will. Your choice."

Charon made direct eye contact. His eyes lit up. "I'm taking my time, you have the option to come at me too."

She stared blankly.
"You want me closer so you can grab me and get in a bigger shock at close range, I’m guessing?"

"Keep looking at me like that and I won't have to."

She began walking towards him, keeping a wide enough circle to make sure the downed Geezer stayed within her view, just in case.

There was suddenly a massive influx of pain sent Ravine's way, all force dealt against Geezer in the past moments rushing in.

She exhaled, her shoulders lowered, and she stopped abruptly, nearly falling.
Seconds later, she resumed walking with rougher breath, not breaking eye contact.

Charon continued his advance, an unnatural shadow looming in front of him. "Stand down. I have all my pieces in play. Admittedly not by intention."

She didn't falter and didn’t speak, her heart racing.
Her gun raised and fired in an instant, aimed at one of Charon's arms.
This time, though, the compressed air was forced to a single, small focal point, tearing through the air with the force of a bullet.

Charon didn't bother to resist it, letting the bullet fracture his mechanical arm.

It pierced clean through, the hole making it less structurally sound.
This time, she fired again, widening the focal point slightly as she neared him. The 'bullet' fired down at one of his kneecaps with the force of a focused shotgun shell.

The shadow at Charon's feet gushed a wall of metal lances and needles to soak up the blow. "I'm curious how far your resolve goes here. I know where mine is at."

She didn't respond, instead charging around the shadow straight at Charon, firing a quick volley of shots at the shadow to keep it busy.

The shadow yanked itself out of the ground, forming into a tall figure with a mix of floral aesthetics and hard metallic shell. It proceeded to hammer her with the side of its forearm. 

She took the blow and stumbled, nearly falling, but kept on charging. She closed the gap on Charon within another moment and tackled him to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Charon refused to flinch and instead clung on tight. The figure merged with him, letting him take its form.  

She wasted no time. Her knee pressed hard into his gut while one claw gripped his head, the other yanking his left arm, pulling it as hard as she could.
Ravine's gaze didn't break - breath wild and panting, eyes baring down on him; panic and adrenaline channeling through her into raw tenacity - as his mechanical shoulder began to split from the socket.

Charon responded with a bit of karma, grabbing Ravine by the head and slamming her aside into the ground.

She got right back up, swinging her head to sling the blood away.
She extended her ice axe and caught Charon's neck, jerking his body back down.

Charon took advantage of the lack of distance and spawned a lance from the ground underneath Ravine, jabbing her very lightly with the blunt handle.  "You should surrender now--"

Ravine didn't speak, entirely in a frenzy at this point.
She cut him off mid-sentence, aiming directly at his head and firing a wide, concussive blast of air, attempting to knock him out.

Charon separated apart from the form in time, the figure taking the blow and collapsing back into a shadow. Out of desperation, he cocooned himself in a pile of lances and needles. "This is getting a little out of hand. I do hope you realize this. If I have to be a little rude to win, I will."

She fired off blast after blast at the shell of spears, gradually knocking them away and entirely shutting out his voice.

"This... has gone on long enough." There was a heavy feeling cast on Ravine's limbs. They quickly were becoming a vapor. "Drop your weapon."

She couldn't hear him at all, panicking, instead lunging in against the spears in desperation.
Through sheer adrenaline she reached in through them, countless spikes stabbing into her torso and face.
She felt around momentarily before finding his throat.
Her leg placed itself behind him as best she could manage, and with every ounce of her strength, she threw down, flipping him over to chokeslam the dog into the ground with everything she had.

Charon just tried to play dead at this point, hoping she'd back off.

Her body shook as she stood over him, needles jutting out all over her hide.
Her hands still firmly gripped her weapons, but they were shaking violently.
Ravine looked as if she was barely conscious, teetering on the verge of passing out from the pain alone.
She stayed at the ready, watching Charon as he lay there.
"...Are we done now?"
"No. I'm petty." 
Charon began to roll away sideways.


She watched him make it a few feet, then placed her gun in her holster.
"I forfeit."
Ravine didn't bother removing any of the numerous needles sticking out of her limbs and face as she stepped over to the wall of the house. 
She slumped down to the ground next to it, put a cigarette in her mouth, and lit it.

Charon clumsily got to his feet. "Really? I do suppose we've both taken quite the toll. I'm willing to accept this as a stalemate."

"Wasn't a stalemate. You won, take the win. I'm tired." She pulled one of the needles out of her cheek and flicked it, smoke billowing from her nostrils.

"Don't pull those out, I can fix you up properly in a moment."


She looked over in Geezer's direction. "May want to help your cousin up, since you can still stand."

Charon hurried on over toward Geezer. 
Erica approached Ravine. 
"You put on a heck of a display there. Any thoughts going through your head?"




Ravine stared off into the treeline, taking a little while to respond.
Smoke billowed from her mouth as she spoke.
"Sorry for chokeslamming your grandson, ma'am."

"He's had worse... probably not hurt that bad as much as shocked you actually went and did that. Anyway I'll get your evaluation and letter of recommendation written down soon as I can. You mind sticking around town another day? Wanna get this done thorough as possible. 
Plus I can't let you travel after enduring as much as you did today."

"I've had worse." She blew more smoke.
"Not sure why you're writing a recommendation, though. You watched me lose."

"You said it yourself, even if you lose you can get a lot out of that. What I got is someone with a lot of talent handling a pretty extreme match-up. Plus I wouldn't mind adding to our little family here." 
Charon shouldered Geezer over to the patio and sat him down by the stairs.

Her eyes swiveled to watch them as they walked before facing forward again.
She pulled the cigarette out of her mouth momentarily, watching her hand still shaking from the match.
"You don't want me here," she said frankly.

Erica frowned. "Why not?"

"Nothing you need to worry about."
She braced herself against the wall and stood up with a grunt, taking another drag once she managed to right herself.

"Yeah, well... think about it a bit more. You'd be a great addition. Promise." 
Charon interjected.  "Before you both continue I propose a little first aid. May I do the honors?"

"I'll do it." She rolled a shoulder and sighed, starting to walk through the clearing to leave.

Charon blocked her off. 
"You're badly injured and I can fix you up instantly. 
Please."

She pivoted on her feet when he swooped around in front of her, as if she had just barely stopped herself from throwing him out of the way on instinct.
"I'll handle it. 
Move."

"...Fight me again some day. One-on-one. For real."

The ruffneck stepped around him.
"I'll pass."
She put her cigarette out with a claw as she walked, and pocketed what was left.

"I don't understand you. You have the guts to come out here, ask my grandmother for something huge, and then walk out on her after she offers it?"

She stopped walking, but didn't turn to face him.

"When you asked to become a Judgment, that's not just telling her you want to become a knight. That's telling her you wanted to join her family. At her age she's lost a lot of her closer connections to time, not that you could have known that much, but... it's something with a lot more weight than you seem to understand. 
To give you the letter of recommendation without so much as training you means she sees the possibility of a connection. Perhaps a bit of herself even. That's a huge thing to just walk away from."

Ravine finally turned around, only looking at Erica.
"I didn't realize what it meant when I asked, or I wouldn't have asked that of you.
I'm sorry to put that on you.
But what I said stands regardless:

You don't want me here.
You don't want me as part of your family."

Erica took a moment to process it before giving her a shrug. 
"If that's your choice, I can't really force you to do anything. You don't gotta join any family if you don't want to, but if you still want that letter I can write you up something independently of all that. You did good today."

She watched Erica and the other two for a long time.
Ravine turned away.
"I'm at the bed and breakfast on the north side of town.
If you really want to recommend me, you can have it sent there."

"Sure thing. Just mail me back when you pass your exam."

"...I think it's best if you don't keep in contact with me.
Same goes for your grandchildren."

"...I'll have it sent in the morning. Wish you good luck."

"You as well, ma'am." 
She started walking, raising her hand just above her elbow in a slight wave.

"And thanks for dinner."