Of Love and Death.

The Future Chapter 11: The Newest Snake Pt. 3

      Shu placed down the stack of paper with a resounding thud, all of it for the next round of the Roar Tournament. Various school forms, parent permission stuff, and hotel room nonsense. It had been five weeks since the battle against the Sparking Wishes, and Bel, Gabe, and Den had won their way to the semi-finals with two more battles.

     Just that thought was enough to make Shu's heart swell with pride. Not just for his son, but also the whole team he'd helped to coach. Now, in two more weeks, a good chunk of the Pit would be heading to Nevada to cheer on the Snake's as they fought through the last few days of the tournament. It would certainly be something to see.

     Speaking of seeing, out of the corner of his eyes, Shu saw Mr. Midnight poke his head up, perhaps startled by the thud the papers had made.. The rabbit narrowed his eyes at Shu, who in turn narrowed his own red eyes. The blader didn't even think having a staring contest with a small creature was weird anymore, it had become a staple of his life, fighting off this "rabbit". Wow that was loud, Valt "said", poking his head through the door.

     "Tell me about it," Shu groaned. He took a few steps across the black tile floor and collapsed in the red chair. It was a half hour to the end of the day, and he was about ready for it to end. "Gabe going home okay?" He checked. Valt nodded his black and blue mask bobbing up and down.

     There was an odd disconnect in Shu's head, as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Even after almost two decades of Valt being Ashtem, seeing the mask still gave Shu pause on occasion. Not being able to see his husband's face was unnerving. Especially considering how it'd been replaced with something so utterly similar and different to the original Ashtem, someone both Shu and Valt despised. It just felt like a twisting of reality, not helped by the black eyes. Merging the man in front of him with the real Valt, that Shu knew would probably never actually walk through the universe again. "That's good," Shu commented after a moment, rubbing his tired eyes with his hand.

     Sitting down on the small couch, Valt chuckled. Yeah, I'm ready for the weekend too, He admitted. Shu smiled. He was about to say something else, perhaps suggesting that they should watch a movie tonight or something, when there was a small blip on one of the Snake Pit's holographic monitors. "Huh?" He and Valt wondered in tandem.

     Standing up, Shu tapped on the monitor the noise had come from, the one monitoring the intercom. The small red notification bell expanded to the view from the front security camera. It showed the normal scene, the trampled grass from so many people coming and going through the doorway day after day. The yellowing walls of the pyramid, someone needed to do something about the moss on those soon. The spider that had set up a web two days ago. However, there was one key difference. There was a kid, about Bel and Jamie's age, standing in the doorway, clearly the one who had called.

     Shu felt a warmth as Valt moved over to him, looking over his shoulder. Shu glanced at his husband, who pressed the button to speak to the kid in response. "Hello?" Valt asked. "Can we help you?"

     A spark of guilt ignited in Shu's heart as the kid jumped, not having expected a response that instant. They looked like a good kid, although perhaps not used to Mexico quite yet. They had a pink coat with fur on it, hopefully fake and their long pink hair, with a little bit of blue dye in it, looked hot in the heat. Nearly red pants and white boots were stuck to their legs and feet, and their shirt didn't look too breathable either. So, definitely a bit too warm for the middle of the jungle, even if, in mid December, it could get somewhat cool. During the heat of the day, it was overkill though.

      The kid placed a hand on their heart, like they were calming themself down. After a short moment, they spoke up, their voice crackly over the intercom. "Uh, ye-yeah. I was wondering if I could see about joining the Snake Pit," They half-mumbled, clearly a bit nervous about coming to the middle of a jungle to join a club.