Chapter Text
Rat god couldn’t understand
What was making this little rat determined?
So determined to die?
He was going to die anyway; he was destined to die before the next sunrise.
As she watched the little rat rapidly approaching her, she wielded her crescent scythe. No point in keeping that cute rat illusion at this point. Her parasitic form was twitching, rhythmically pumping out magic from the red cysts to summon the ‘nightmares’ All her attempts to kill the little rat, the gigantic top hat, condensed orb of magic, and spike mines, had failed. Her summoned lumps of nightmares were now nothing but a stepping stool for him to maneuver through her beam of deadly light, giving him greater mobility.
To be precise, most of them didn’t actually mean to kill him. It was pointless anyway since he could just rewind a few seconds before to fix his blunder. No, it was to stall Mad Rat. Their battlefield was in her realm, but in fact, that realm of hers was just another illusion, a mental image. Her so-called magic was not strong enough to create another space out of nowhere; it was just the rat’s mindscape, delicately woven by the goddess’ hallucinations and magic. It was convincing enough to trick the rodent while his unconscious body was still on top of a moon-lit building. If she could trap him in her illusion long enough, some stray cat might find this vulnerable rodent and eat it. The location was not exactly favorable, but Rat god could sense several cats roaming not too far, so she decided to take a chance. A plan devised with haste, depended too much on random luck. But plausible, if she could trap this rat to run in circles just like she did before.
Which this stubborn rat was completely obliterating it. The fact that Mad Rat could actually harm her, his sheer willpower and mental defense repelling her, was not expected. It threatened to break the goddess’ realm and reveal where Mad Rat actually was. She had to keep him busy. Still, she sensed a cat approaching. Given a few more time and luck, she would be victorious. Rat god concentrated her magic, giving up her winged-rat illusion and revealing her parasite form, only consisting of granules of cysts and wielding her moon-like scythe, and started to reshape her realm.
A vertical maze with platforms and enemies, with herself in a vulnerable form at the end, just like the last time the rat hit her. The labyrinth was difficult enough to delay him but solvable enough so he wouldn’t try something unpredictable (He was named Mad Rat for a good reason). The false sense of hope that the rodent could give her another blow, along with a convincing defense, seemed to work. The rodent was now trying hard to reach her. A few more seconds and she’ll live, in another cat…
It was that cursed black cat from before.
The cat that refused to eat Mad Rat.
Everything she planned was now pointless.
“Why… why? WHY??”
It was her nature to lead rats to be eaten by a cat for survival. She, being a parasite, could only live inside another and nowhere else. “This rat was going to die this night anyways! Was that such a great sin? For wanting to live?”
The black cat was nudging Mad Rat, trying to wake him up. Rat god’s illusionary realm was slowly falling apart.
Either way, it was the end of Rat god, by the cat or the rat. She will die that night with the rat. Everything, her deception, her plan, her effort, resulted in absolutely nothing. As if her demise was inevitable…
“No.”
“I won’t just stand here and accept this.” Rat god muttered.
“If the whole world hates me just for trying to survive, then I’ll make sure it hurts. Isn’t that what the little rat wanted? Leaving a mark behind? Well, then, I’ll make my mark on this world. If I die because of those two, then you are going down with me!”
Pure spite was enough to fuel the unhinged parasite. The goddess summoned her clock and unleashed her magic, winding fast. Mad Rat’s mindscape was turning black, and platforms were fading. Mad Rat braced for the fall, but he was just floating near her. As the clock winded faster and faster, it was breaking apart, bits of gears and springs shooting out from it, and cracks growing on its face.
Even Rat god was unsure of what she was doing. A risky gamble, perhaps? It might send them to the past, distant enough for them to lose their memories so that she can start over. Or sending them anywhere where the rodent would not be able to reach his goal. Or just disintegrate, vanish from existence as a consequence of tearing the delicate space-time causality or whatever. But at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. If she could bring those both fall with her, anything would suffice.
The black cat was worryingly staring at the rodent. Suddenly, bright light was emitting from the rat. The cat, startled by the light, ran away. When the cat returned to see what happened, the rat was nowhere to be seen.
Metal island, Bugaria.
Stratos and Delilah were on their ‘vacation.’ More like a forced leave of absence, now that most of the mysteries they relayed were solved by team Snakemouth. They enjoyed sparring with them from time to time, but it was not the same. Hopefully, there were rumors about expeditions to the Eastern lands, and then they’ll surely have a chance to find something interesting (and relaying them too).
“Alright, better get going, or we’ll miss our last boat. And I’m not gonna pay 40 berries for some glorified bed and mushed berry.” Delilah said, emptying her cup of berry juice.
“Sure, but where to? Do you have something in your mind?” Stratos asked, turning away his gaze from the lake, lit by a full moon’s light.
“I was thinking snakemouth den… They say the locked upper chamber is now opened. That place is not related to ancient artifacts, according to the records, but it might have its own secrets!”
“So, you think we should explore there by ourselves? Didn’t Team Snakemouth already search that area, though?
“Well, they did say they went there, but when I asked Kabbu, he seemed reluctant to share about what’s in there… He did mention some of Roach’s experiments but not in detail. I’m sure he’s not hiding something from us, he’s a trusted member of the guild. But then again, it’s not like he was trying to stop other teams going in there, so… Besides, we don’t exactly have anything better to do-
Suddenly, a burst of iridescent light was emitting from the lake’s horizon near the Giants’ Lair. The two insects were stunned, squeezing their eyes shut, and after a moment, when they both peeked to see what happened, they were struck by a thunderous boom.
After everything calmed down, the two insects looked at each other, grinning with anticipation.
“Forget what I just said about Snakemouth den.” Delilah was the first one to speak.
“Take our boat ride, get to the prison through the mines, collect intel from the roaches in the village. That explosion was blaring with unusualness, but it could be some just roach experimenting with those mystery berries….” Stratos swiftly devised a plan with a knowing nod.
“Or, we can ask nicely to the captain to go straight to the Rubber prison. We’re the only passengers on the last boat, and that will be faster too. And if we do find out it wasn’t some berry experiment….” Delilah trailed off.
“Let the other team know, as usual.” Stratos finished.
Team Slackers packed their equipment and started to walk toward the piers.