Gloom (1x1 with Stardustblade)

[Aqua7KH 5,395]

Miguel wasn't able to sleep soundly either. He had bad dreams of the people he killed. They were screaming at him, countless voice screaming and yelling in utter pain and agony. The air horn immediately knocked him out of this dream, and Miguel woke up with a start. As soon as he heard the word 'Intruders' all Miguel could say was "Mierda!" He jumped out of the bed, grabbed his knife and ran to go to the children. He had to make sure they were to be safe. He took two plastic cups while he was running, and as soon as he passed Patrick and Jack he threw the cups right at them.

"Vamanos! Rapido rapido! There's intruders!" With that, Miguel ran into the children's room.

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Patrick and Jack got their cups and hurried to the Kid's area, waking them up. "Everyone, Code Z! Code Z! We have to get going, NOW!" Jack called, the children quickly standing up, barely able to see anything through the smoke. "Exit A and B have been blocked! They've set fire on exit B and they're coming in through A!" Cupid said as he took a peek in. "We have to separate. Take the children to the different exits. We have to get running before the distraction runs out! Cupid, take Grim and do your thing!" Patrick called. "Sir yes sir!" Cupid ran off to where Grim was, already on the first floor, ripping open the chest. Cupid got his bows and arrows, Grim got his explosives. "Over exit A! Before they reach the first floor!" Grim said as he took out a grenade. He pulled on it and threw it with precision. The moment it hit the wall, it exploded, pieces of cement falling on the exit, crushing a few. Cupid set an arrow on fire. "Hair spray and smoke!" Cupid called. Grim picked up both asked items, throwing them into the air. Cupid shot his arrow, piercing through both as another explosion occurred, fire going everywhere while blinding them with white smoke. Jack helped the kids walk. He picked up 6 year old Ash and another boy around the age of 4. "Miguel, you and Grim have to take the youngest ones, Ash and Nicholas, we have to separate our ways and meet up in New Dystopia!"

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Miguel grabbed a weapon as well, and went to fire at the enemies as soon as he was sure that the children were safe. Sadly, all his efforts were in vain because the enemy had a hug advantage on him. There was shouting and smoke everywhere; Miguel could hardly breathe. After a few minutes, Miguel finally met up with everyone.

"S-Sì!" He said in responce to Jack's order. "We'll meet you in New Dystopia! Becareful!" He saw that Grim had the explosives, making him the best person to attack at the moment. Miguel scooped up Ash and Nicholas. "Neñas, don't worry you'll all be safe with me and Guada." Miguel whispered to them as he held them in his arms.

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Cupid and Grim continued their assault on the entrance. "The smoke is getting too thick, I can barely breathe or see anything anymore!" Grim said coughing. "Just a little longer!" Cupid said as he continued to shoot his arrows. Grim glanced around and saw Miguel with two of the children. Now he felt more calm. He was alright. "You go ahead with him, I'll take care of keeping them off our tail!" Cupid said. Grim turned. "Are you crazy?! You can't handle this all alone!" Grim said. Cupid smiled. "I may be a coward on the outside. But this is my home territory. I'll die with it. Besides, you have your brother to worry about!...or was it your boyfriend?" Cupid teased. "Brother!" "Then go!" Cupid shot another arrow. Grim slowly backed away and hurried over to Miguel, guiding him through the smoke as he picked up a backpack. "We're running out exit E! Just keep running and don't look back!"

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Miguel held the children tight. Cupid had revealed that he was going to stay behind and try to fight. Miguel didn't want to leave Cupid behind, especially with how overrun they were. He feared that Cupid could be killed or captured. But he had to focus on the kids he was tasked to protecting. Miguel nodded at Grim's order. "I won't stop!" Miguel yelled. He grabbed Grim's wrist and make a break for Exit E. He looked all around as he was running, watching out for any enemies that would pop out and try to attack. He was going to protect these kids with his life.

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Grim led Miguel with the kids out the exit. Grim took out a flashlight from the backpack and turned it on, the light shinning the way in the dark and through the smoke. If you were to look back you'd only see blazing fire and smoke. "This way." Grim said as he led them through the darkness, as far away as their feet could carry them. The children, Ash and Nicholas hung onto Miguel for dear life. Grim could hear the running footsteps of whoever was chasing them. They had to keep going. The two of them ran until the sun started to rise. By then their feet felt on fire and sweat covered their bodies. Grim had no idea where they were but they were far away from where they started. "I think...we're...good." Grim panted, his legs shaking. "Daddy." Grim froze and glanced back. It was Ash. "Daddy." She repeated. "Um..." she turned to Miguel and pointed at him smiling. "Daddy!" Grim smiled a bit. "Oh my."

[Aqua7KH 5,395]

Miguel went as far and as fast as he could. He pushed himself to keep moving, even though his legs felt like jelly and he just wanted to collapse. He knew he couldn't. He had people that were relying on him, and he couldn't let them down. Especially the children. Finally after what seemed like years of going, the journey had come to a stop. Miguel fell to his knees; he couldn't go on any longer. Ash suddenly spoke a simple word, and pointed to Miguel. At first, Miguel was completely shocked.

"P-Papa??" As soon as Miguel saw her sweet smile, that's when Miguel felt as though his heart was stolen by these two children. His face softened, and Miguel brought both children into a hug.

"Sí." Miguel whispered softly. "We're your padres." He held his arm or for Grim, wishing him to join in the warm hug. It was here that Miguel vowed to protect these two children, and Grim, with his life.

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Grim smiled and joined in the hug, smiling and hugging Miguel and the kids. A little family, even if they had just escaped from danger and most likely death. "Well then...we should rest and hopefully find some food. If we can get to a river I can try to fish something out for us to eat." Grim said as he looked inside the backpack. "Lets see, there's some water, nutrient bars, oh a map." Grim said as he took it out and opened it. Luckily it had the New Dystopia city marked down. However they would have to find out where they were to begin. "Where the hell are we?" Grim muttered. "Hell!" Ash repeated. "Ah no no no, no hell." Grim said we he waved his hand. He turned to Miguel. "Which direction should we head?" Grim asked.

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Miguel looked down for a moment. That was a lovely question. He didn't even know which way was North. And it wasn't like there's any moss to tell. He looked up into the sky, seeing the sun rise.

"Well... The sun rises in the East and sets in the West, so North is that way." He pointed towards North. Miguel looked down at the map. "What direction do you think we went? What direction does Exit E lead?"

A soft voice was suddenly heard. It was from Nicholas. He sounded scared.

"D-Daddy..." He said quietly, clutching Miguel's shirt. "I'm scared..."

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Grim scratched his head. "I think west. The city should be south then? Maybe if we walk we are able to find a landmark that we can identify on the map, and lead from there." Grim suggested. He heard the little Nicholas whimpering. Grim smiled slightly. "It's ok. Your daddies aren't going to let anything happen to you. We're going to travel and have so much fun. We might see some awesome stuff." Grim said as he stood up. "We better get walking then, let's hope we find a landmark too." Grim said. Ash stood up. "I'm going to lead the way!" She insisted. She started to walk. "This way, daddy!" "W-Wait, no rushing! Stay together!"

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Miguel nodded. "Good idea. I just hope we don't find... You know." Leave it to the Universe to have Grim and Miguel to stumble upon the camp of the Wolves. He wouldn't be shocked if that happened, honestly. He looked down at Nicholas with a soft sigh.

"You're going to be fine, niño. Like Guada said- we're going to protect you and we're going to have a lot of fun. Trust is sí?" Nicholas nodded and closed his eyes. Miguel got up and continued to carry the boy. Miguel reached his hand out, failing to grab Ash.

"Get back here or you'll get hurt." He rushed after her. "Come on Guada!"

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"Right after you!" Grim said as he picked up his backpack and hurried over to catch up with Ash, which they did as she wasn't a fast walker to begin with. Grim looked over at Miguel. "We'll steer away from them. As much as we can. Surely they can only have one camp. If we encounter any other hostile camp we will avoid it too by all means nessesary in the sake of safety. Better safe than sorry, ya know." Grim said as he walked while holding the map. "In terms of sleeping do you think we should sleep in a tree to make sure something or someone doesn't harm us from the ground? At least in a tree they have to work in order to get to us." Grim said as he looked over at Nicholas and smiled. He could barely resist himself from cooking over the small child. Especially how he hung onto Miguel. "See? You do make a great daddy!" Grim teased as he watched over Ash, who by now was holding his hand. "I think dad would tease us of being single fathers but he would then see the irony in that."

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He could barely resist himself from cooking over the small child. Especially how he hung onto Miguel.

(I dunno why but I lole'd)Miguel shrugged. He loved being in trees, and he could climb easily."Sure." He said. "After we steer away from all the bad camps. But what if one of el niños fall out of the tree?" He rubbed Nicholas' back, trying his best to bring comfort to the child. He smiled at Grim's comment."Yeah... Thanks. I wish Dad was here to see us. He would love Ash and Nicholas. Imagine Papa? Papa as a Abuelo!" He chuckled. If only he could get to see Death as an old man.

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(OH MY GOD I MEAN COOING. NO NO COOKING THE CHILD)

 

Grim smiled at the fond thought. His father as a grandfather? He didn't know how that would go. Maybe he'd actually be pretty kind to his grandkids. Telling them stories of any troubles that Miguel and Grim got into in their youth, or stories about his days as a doctor before the world went down to hell. He could definitely see his dad as the grandfather who would sneak candy to the grandkids even if he was specifically told not to. He could be grouchy, but despite his cold personality that was only there to protect himself and those around him, he was a kind human being, and a kind man. "He would most likely say something around the words, 'way to go Miguel, Grim, some brave soul actually fell in love with you two knuckleheads'." Grim said trying to make an impression like Death would've done. "Or, 'congratulations your kids inherited your grandfather's stunning looks!'." Grim said with a laugh. "I'm hungry." Ash said as she pulled on his arm. "Ah yeah, here." Grim said as he took out a nutrient bar for Ash, who ate it happily. He took another one out. "Hey Miguel try and see if he want to eat too?"

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Miguel looked up and imagined what would be like. It would be so much fun. He and Grim could take the kids over to see Ol' Abuelo, and maybe they would be so excited. He could make fun of Death on how old he was, and they all could be one big happy family. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen because it was just a fantasy and Death was dead. The best Miguel and everyone could do was make the best of it. Miguel looked down to Nicholas and took the bar to try to feed it to him.

"It's time to eat." Miguel said with a smile. He opened up the nutrient bar and offered it to Nicholas. "Go on."

Nicholas looked down and buried his face in Miguel's chest. "No.... No..." He whimpered.

Miguel frowned and looked up to Grim. "Does he eat much?"

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Grim thought. "Not much but enough. However, he hasn't eaten since yesterday morning before I left and...found you. I would know because Jack was complaining about it before going to sleep." Grim said with a sigh. "He's a coward baby!" Ash hissed. "Hey, be nice. He's just...well, insecure." Grim said as he turned over to Nicholas. "Come on Nicholas, it's good food. It's not as tasty as chocolate...but it's something. You need to eat if you want to be as big and strong as Miguel and I. Just look at us, we eat enough and we're as strong as a dinassour!" Grim said as he flexed his arm, hoping it would do something to have the kid eat. "You're like a whimpy noodle." Ash commented. Grim paused and scowled. "A strong, noodle." He turned to Nicholas. "Come on...it tastes good...if you eat we can be strong enough to find something more yummy." Grim said before making a nom nom sound effect.

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Nicholas shook his head. He was rather stubborn when he didn't want to eat. "N-No..." He whined. "It's going to make me feel icky..." He clutched at Miguel's shirt and looked up to him. "Please... No icky..." He began to sniffle at Ash's words.

Miguel sighed softly and looked down at Ash.

"Ey," Miguel said. "Leave him alone. He just doesn't like to eat, sí?" He wondered why. Usually kids jumped at every chance they get for some type of food. But Nicholas didn't. Could something have happened to him to make him this way? Miguel rubbed Nicholas' back.

"Come on eat. Just a few bites. I'll show you it won't make your tummy feel bad okay?" Miguel took a tiny bite. "See? Mmm delicioso!"

Nicholas shook his head again, and hid his face even more in Miguel's chest. "Nooooo..."

Miguel rubbed his head. What would his father do?

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Grim frowned and tried to think. "This kid was brought in by Cupid, now I kind of wish I knew what is his past. Maybe it would help..." Grim muttered as he shook his head. "Maybe he'll eat on the way. I do remember...Patrick mentioning something about this place being close to the coast. Which means a beach. Something about one time taking his little brother there before...all of this went to ****." Grim said. "Shewt?" Ash repeated. Grim's eyes widened and turned. "No no no, don't repeat it, forget I ever mentioned it!" Grim said nervously. He cleared his throat. "Um...if I remember it's somewhere...to where the sun sets...Patrick mentioned the pretty sunsets..." Grim turned to Miguel. "Let's head there. To the coast. The salty air can do wonders, and I can try to catch us some fish." Grim said as he smiled at Nicholas. "Have you ever swam in the ocean? I heard it's very pretty." Grim said. "I wanna go!" Ash said. "Well it's our best chance right now to figure out our next move."

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Miguel sighed. He was going to try to find a solution to this problem later. Now, he was going to let the kid pass on the bar for now. As soon as he hears the kid's stomach growling however, Miguel is going to make sure he takes at least one bite. Right now, the coast sounded like a wonderful idea. "Yeah, let's go-" Miguel snickered at the exchange between Grim and Ash over the curse word. "...It'll be great. The air might do good for us."

Nicholas peeked his tiny gaze out from Miguel's chest. He snuggled in his shirt, making sure his small scarf covered his neck. "I never seen the ocean... Can I swim w-with my scarf on?" He asked innocently.

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Grim smiled, he was getting somewhere. "You could, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you want it to get wet. Come on! To the beach!" Grim said. "Onward!" Ash followed. It was further than expected. About three hours of non stop walking until they were able to smell the salt in the air and notice the clearings upfront. Palm trees opened up to show the clearing of the beach. It was beautiful. The sand was warm and soft, there were seashells all around. The contamination of human kind had stopped for enough years for the water to be crystal clear. It looked like something out of a painting. "Whoa..." Grim smiled as he looked around. "Miguel, are you seeing this?" Grim asked. Ash's eyes glistened in amazement. "This is the bweach?!" She asked in awe. Grim smiled at Miguel and Nicholas. "What do you think?! I bet dad would be very jelouse at us now huh?" Grim asked with a chuckle, already starting to strip from his clothing.

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Miguel followed along. Nicholas had fallen fast asleep for the trip. Once they got there however, Nicholas was woken by the sounds of laughter, and Miguel cheering.

"I can't believe this!" Miguel said. "This doesn't even look like Earth anymore! No ruins, no red skies, nothing!" He dug his feet into the sand. "Hurry guys lets go!" He began to get undressed after putting Nicholas down. Nicholas yawned softly and rubbed his eyes. He took off his things too, only leaving his scarf on and his undergarments obviously.

"I want to keep my scarf on but I don't want it to get wet..." He said, looking up to Grim.

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Grim stripped into his boxers. He turned to Nicholas and smiled, offering his hand. "We'll leave your scarf here in the bundle of clothes with the rest. By the time you get back from swimming, it'll be nice and warm for you." Grim assured. Ash had taken off her big jacket and sandals, leaving her in shorts and a cami shirt. She didn't hesitate as she ran into the water. "Water!!!" She sung as she jumped right in, only to shriek once she realized how cold it was. Grim looked up at Miguel. "Isn't that right Miguel? We used to leave our wet clothing in the sun to bask, and when we came back they were warm and ready to go! Perfect for a nap!" Grim assured as he turned to watch over Ash, who swam around clumsily, avoiding any seaweed that came floating her way. "There's fish in here too! Fishy!" Ash laughed before trying to chase it. "Be careful, there might be crabs around too!"

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Nicholas shook his head nervously. "I... I'm going to go in with my scarf... I'll just keep my neck above the water." He muttered softly, bashfully. Slowly, he inched in the water, shivering as it went up to his waist. "C-Cold..•

 

Miguel nodded to Grim. "Sí. It'll be all nice and warm-" he sighed softly and looked to Grim with worry all over his face. He tried to smile, enjoying the sight of Ash playing in the water. He went up to Grim.

"What do you think happened?" He asked.

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Grim rubbed his shoulder, cracking his neck a bit. "Most of these kids have been found in numerous circumstances. Some have had their parents die from hunger or sickness. Others belonged to groups that couldn't afford to have a child slowing them down. There is a possibility..." Grim's expression hardened. "That the kid might've been part of the Snakes, the same group that took me when we got separated." Grim said as he began to explain. "The Snakes is a very small and undercover group. They aren't big like the wolves, but they are large in numbers and scattered all over the place. They are...more like doctors...they're trying to find a 'cure' for the Gloom, and have been trading supplies and other things for children to experiment on...that's how I got infected. Of course there were members that did...other things." Grim said, muttering that last part as he hugged his arms. "If he was part of the snakes, he must be wary of food, due to them trying to feed him something tainted with stuff to see its effects."

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Miguel frowned. "The Snakes..." He muttered. "I hope that's not what happened... That sounds terrible. If he was with them, maybe the medicine the gave him made him feel sick" he watched Nicholas standing around in he water, who tried to get adjusted to the freezing temperature. He looked over to Ash.

"You're not cold...?" Nicholas asked.

Miguel placed his hand on Grim's shoulder and smiled. "... Race you!" With that, Miguel playfully punched Grim's shoulder and ran straight to the water.