An Even Bigger Mess (A.S, OPEN)

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Oh geez. Oh crap. Oh geez! Oh crap! OH GEEZ! OH CRAP!" Eric scrambled back a few steps and shakily unsheathed his mop, properly startled by the bizarre, angry, fanged creature rapidly approaching them and the sight of the other ones now lunging out of the tree. Not what he was expecting. Maybe guns weren't such a bad idea.

While Evan blasted one of them with lightning, Eric looked up to see one wyrm fling itself off a branch, flailing wildly through the air and emitting a piercing screech. Not sure what else to do but wanting to help regardless, Eric swung his mop as the beast descended upon him, smacking it head-on... only for it to sink its mandibles into the mop and start gnawing away.

"ACK-! NO!!!" Eric desperately waved his mop around in an effort to shake the wyrm off. "NOT THE LUKKY MOP! STOP IT!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

"DUDE!" Evan cast Arti an unmistakable WTF look, then warily looked up at the wyrm as it continued to slither towards them. After quickly stepping on and reabsorbing the severed bits of slime, Evan defiantly took a few steps closer to the monster without really considering why. Maybe it was to psyche it out, maybe it was to put himself between it and his friends, but whatever the case, the moment Evan approached, the wyrm stopped for a moment, recoiling and hissing as if out of disgust. Then it changed course and went for Arti.

While the Knight of Light introduced the creature to his frying pans, Evan briefly paused to regain his composure and stare dejectedly down at his keyblade. How was he supposed to wield it when he was this soft? If he couldn't keep a grip on it while summoning a lightning blast, who could say whether or not the blade would even stay firm in his hands if he so much as swung it? He supposed he could grab the electric soul gem and simply channel its power through his own body, but-

Aw geez, one of them was clinging to Eric's mop. Evan knew too well that messing with Eric's mop was a no-no, but he was suddenly much more concerned when it occurred to him that as it was flung around haphazardly, the wyrm's opposite end was attempting to latch onto Eric himself.

"DGHHH-!!!" With a guttural cry of shock, Evan dashed over to Eric and grabbed the wyrm's tail with his bare hands. Its long, snakelike body sunk into his arm, the slime sucking it in until the thrashing creature was almost completely submerged. From there, focusing every bit of energy he had on maintaining the solidity of his hands, Evan yanked the wyrm with all his might, straining to pry it off of Eric's mop. Finally, with a snap, he succeeded, the mandibles detaching and the creature fully sinking into the slime.

Evan tensed up, properly disturbed by the sight and the feeling of the curled-up wyrm struggling and squirming inside him. And yet it quickly occurred to him that it wasn't trying to eat him from the inside out. In fact, at one point, its screeching head erupted from his stomach in a desperate bid at freedom.

It was at that moment that Evan realized what was going on, prompting him to shove the wyrm right back in.

"ARTI! ORANGE GEM! HIT ME WITH AN ORANGE GEM!!!"

[DanteMGalileo]

... Oh.

"I get it. Just thank me later, okay?"

Arti lowered his pan slightly, and reached around in his pockets for something orange. Lucky piece of lint, piece of old toupee, rotten apple core...

Ah, there it was. Taking a second to confirm that it was the same colour as a certain fruit, the messy-haired man threw his hand and the gem back, as if preparing to throw out the opening pitch.

"Look out, Sunkist!"

TOSS.

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Eugh..." Eric relaxed the moment the wyrm was pried off of his mop, flinching and sticking his tongue out in disgust as he watched the creature squirm about inside the body of slime standing in front of him. "It's like The Mummy meets Alien with a little bit of The Blob thrown in. Good thing Nat's not here, huh, Evan?"

He briefly examined his mop, silently shedding a stream of anime tears as he surveyed the frayed yarn and chewed-up wood that had been eaten away on the head. The damage might've been minimal, but it still upset him to see the abuse his dear, precious Lukky Mop had been dealt.

THESE THINGS WERE GOING TO DIE.

[ParamountKeymaster]

The orange gem went whizzing through the air, quickly caught by a blue fist. As the stone became submerged in the slime, Evan maintained an intense focus on keeping the wyrm trapped inside his gelatinous body, watching out of the corner of his eye as the gem dissolved and spread its orange tint down his arm. When the inky streaks reached his chest, the wyrm wrenched away from them, gurgling in panic and twisting about in an effort to evade the bright color but still finding itself restrained. Soon enough, every inch of Evan's body had turned orange once again, the acid rapidly eating away at the creature inside it.

Evan watched the gruesome spectacle with wide eyes and hushed (albeit disturbed) awe. It took only a few short seconds for the wyrm to dissolve entirely, prompting Evan to place a hand on his chest and stare into himself, searching for even a telltale trace of the monster in his slime but finding none. Sure, he had guess that would happen, but to see it in action, to see his own chemical makeup have such devastating effects on the wyrm still boggled his mind.

A high-pitched screech prompted Evan to whip around and stare out into the forest. On top of the two other wyrms that had confronted them, several more were starting to surround them, no doubt curious about the commotion taking place.

Seeing so many of the little hell spawn made Evan nervous.

And somehow, adding that to the torrent of emotions he had been feeling up to that point... confusion, frustration, anger, anxiety... it only served to fuel his adrenaline.



"Okay..." The slime man smirked. "I can work with this."

A wyrm lunged at Eric. Evan lunged at it, his body briefly melting into an orange blur as he collided with and absorbed the wyrm in midair. Upon hitting the ground, he tumbled and reshaped into an action pose, the creature already half dissolved by then. He quickly dashed after another one, pouncing on it while it was still trying to slither its way towards the group.

In the meantime, he looked up at the kid with the mop, figuring he may as well offer a way to make him useful. "Eric! Grab the electric soul crystal off my sword! You can use that against them!"

[DanteMGalileo]

Well, this is making things go by easy!

When one of the... wyrm creatures got too close to Arti, he swatted it with the flaming pan, noting that the creature was burning upon impact. "Can't take the heat, can we? Or acid. You should avoid going to Florida, then. It's hot as a brick oven and the state is practically always on an acid trip!"

THWACK! There went another wyrm and another pan to the creature's... head region.

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Really? I can do that?" Eric responded, clearly excited by Evan's proposal and the idea of wielding a soul crystal. "I dunno... Electricity is Chris and Cole's thing, and I don't wanna impose on my best bros' OKAY!!!

Eric quickly put his mop away, not wanting to risk further damage to his tool of trade, then he dove for the Master Morning Star, grabbing it by the hilt and picking it up to study it. "Wow, Evan! I knew you were the keymaster and all, but I didn't know that title extended to key swords! This thing is awesome!"

He plucked the electric soul crystal off the blade and stood back up, accidentally slicing a wyrm in half as he swung around to face Evan. "When did you get this, man?! Are you trying to build a theme or are you just into Kingdom Hearts now?" Then the cogs in his brain clicked long enough for him to remember they were kind of being attacked by snake creatures. And that there were two small ones flanking him.

"Oopsy-poopsies. Just a moment!" With the soul crystal in hand, Eric pointed a finger at a wyrm, releasing a lightning bolt that struck the monster and almost immediately incinerated it. He cringed at the sight, all while nonchalantly zapping the other wyrm over his shoulder. "Ooh... Extra crispy."

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Eric, no cutting them up!" Evan ordered as he grabbed another stray wyrm. "It just makes more of them! Put the keyblade down!"

Once he was certain that Eric knew what he was doing (to some degree, at least), Evan fully absorbed the wyrm and took a quick look around. As he had anticipated, those that had chosen to attack them were going after Eric and Arti while actively avoiding him. So either they didn't recognize him as organic matter, or they instinctively saw him as a threat...

No matter. For the time being, Evan continued to circle around Eric and Arti, alternating between running like a normal person and exploiting his lack of bones by stretching and squishing with every lunge. He continued to latch onto, absorb and dissolve as many wyrms as he could, trusting that those that slipped past him wouldn't last long against Arti's fiery frying pan and Eric's constant blasts of electricity.

Soon enough, the small swarm had been dealt with, with Evan snatching one last wyrm and shoving it into his chest. As the acid corroded the squirming creature, Evan anxiously looked around. "Geez, if we missed that many before, there's no telling how many are still wandering around out here. Maybe we should do another clean sweep before-"

ZAP

SPLAT

Before he had a chance to even see what was going on, Evan was suddenly struck by a lightning bolt courtesy of Eric, the electrical force causing Evan to explode in a gooey orange burst, the slime splattering on everything within a twenty yard radius except, miraculously, the two humans standing next to him.

[DanteMGalileo]

WAIT WHAT HOLY CRAP HE WENT BOOM SPLAY SPLATITY SPLAT.

"Uh... Evan?" Arti actually seemed concerned. "Are you dead? Nod your head if you are not dead."

Nothing. Of course, only a second had passed. The knight turned to Eric. "Well done, ya dingbat! You done made Evan do the splatity splat! He looks like a Fruit Gusher got into a bad accident!"

[ThePopcornFairy]

"YIPE-!!!" Eric recoiled in shock as his attempt to electrocute the remaining wyrm resulted in him blowing Evan up along with it. The slime splattered everywhere except on him an Arti, likely a result of Eric blatantly and quite obviously not wanting to be burned by the acid. "I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY! THERE WAS A THING AND I TRIED TO ZAP IT AND I WAS IN MY ZONE AND I WASN'T THINKING TOO HARD ABOUT IT AND-!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Eric! Dude!" Evan's voice rang out from one of the nearby puddles of slime, wobbling as it split into a drippy, makeshift mouth. "Calm down, will ya? I'm fine! I-I'm not even mad, I'm just... Holy crap... Um... G-Gimme a moment."

In a scene that resembled their first encounter with the slime, the orange puddles simultaneously leaped into motion, slithering closer to Eric and Arti and combining into a single mass. Once every drop of the stuff had joined together, Evan straightened himself up into a standing position and quickly, mentally sculpted himself back into his typical humanoid shape. Upon completion, he stared down at himself, insuring that he looked like himself again and sighing with relief when that much was confirmed. "Okay, that was... That was a new experience..."

All that was missing was the Paramount Key, which Evan was too mentally exhausted to go looking for, so he instead raised his hand in the hopes that it was close enough to simply come to him. Thankfully, it was, flying out of the grass and into his waiting hand, predictably lodging itself in the slime and slowing to a halt near his elbow. "Ew..."

[DanteMGalileo]

...

Well, there's your Class of 3000 flashback. At least you know Evan's on your side. And to your knowledge, he isn't weak to funk music.

"... You really need me for this? You look like you could just eat 'em all up! Hell, you look practically indestructible, Mister Sunkist!" A pause, as Arti seemed to think. "'Course, I'll tag along anyway. I need a good scrap."

[ThePopcornFairy]

"Oh... Whew!" Eric relaxed his tense body and wiped his brow once Evan had reassembled himself. "That's a load of my conscience!"

He moved in a circle as he surveyed the area. "Now, uh... There was something I wanted to say... I'm trying to remember... Oh yeah! THAT WAS SO COOL!!! THEY WERE LIKE THIS BIG SNAKES WITH DUAL ENDS AND THEY WERE EVERYWHERE BUT YOU JUST WENT ALL BRAVE NEW LOVE ON 'EM LIKE THEY WERE SMALL TOWN CITIZENS AND YOU WERE A PREDATORY GERM WARFARE EXPERIMENT! AND YOU WERE SETTING THEM ON FIRE, AND I WAS SHOOTING LIGHTNING OUT OF MY HAND, AND...!"

[ParamountKeymaster]

"Eric? C-Could you just be quiet for a moment?" Evan muttered, stepping back a bit and taking a moment to think, staring at his hands all the while.

With the adrenaline from the battle having effectively died down, the full weight of the situation started to occur to him. A ship fell from the sky mere hours after the cloud appeared. Said ship contained something that turned him into living acidic slime, capable of killing the wyrms from the cloud. This couldn't have been a coincidence. The timing and the nature of his transformation were too –for lack of a better term– convenient for this to be coincidental. While he could accept that much, albeit with a great deal of discomfort, there were still so many questions bouncing around in his head, such as those regarding what exactly these creatures were, what exactly he had become, and what, if anything else, he was now capable of. There was bound to be some sort of history tying all of this together that could provide insight into combating the cloud.

He did know one thing for sure, at least, which he eventually made clear in response to Arti's inquiry. "I guess this is a helpful means of easy disposal... but even while I'm like this, I can't cover the entire island alone. I'm... We're still gonna need the extra hands."

Caught off guard by his own choice of words, Evan briefly found himself pondering if his malleable form could allow him to create his own extra hands. Literally and figuratively. Then he pushed that question aside for another time and turned to face Arti and Eric again.

"But, uh... maybe we oughta regroup with the others for now. See if they've learned anything." He mustered an awkward, forced smile, trying his best to say positive despite the apparent apprehension in his voice. "See what they... think of the new me."

[DanteMGalileo]

"I personally think this is an improvement." Arti you need to learn some tact man. "Please tell me the rainbow jell-o man thing is permanent."

Oh, right, Evan actually had friends outside your lot. "Bring it ON! We can map the floor with them, right? I mean, I did get past Dersite security with only some liquid carbonite..."