Round Robin October 2020

31 October 2020

"So why can't we destroy the monster?" Emilia asked, confused by Greg's increased paranoia about the box.

"The box will kill us if we open it. If we open it the monster will eat us. No opening the box!" Greg finished, panting with the effort to communicate this message.

Emilia looked at Samantha and then back at Greg, confused at his insistence. Emilia looked closer at Greg's eyes. They didn't look like the soulful brown that she would gaze at when she thought he wasn't looking. They looked darker, more sinister. 'Did the monster leave the puzzle box already and infect Greg? Or is this an AD Greg that I don't even know anymore?'

Emilia made a quick list of questions that she needed to ask Greg to verify his identity:
1. When did they meet? They met in freshman year in college in their first class.
2. How did Greg propose? Trick question-Em proposed after Greg couldn't finish the question while on one knee.
3. Who is Emilia's best friend that isn't Greg? Isabella
4. What did Emilia blow up in undergrad? Nothing. Emilia didn't move to explosions with Isabella until their Master's work.
5. What was Emilia's first impression of Samantha? She was very enthusiastic for a morning class.
6. Who is Emilia's most annoying student? Samantha (not anymore, but traveling dimensions tends to change student-teacher relationships and impressions.)

Emilia paused in her list making.

This couldn't be AD Greg. AD Greg and AD Emilia had both come into their house earlier, and Greg was with her the entire time. Which meant...

Sure enough, there was a crack in the box.

Apparently, the original box ate people, but the AD box possesses people instead - and the AD box used Greg's knowledge of the box to trick Emilia and Samantha.

"Hey Professor Dlaun," Samantha broke Emilia out of her thoughts. "The box is cracked."

Emilia nodded, "the AD box possesses people."

Greg - Possessed Greg really - looked at the two for a moment and began to run. Emilia felt a hot, tingling sensation that she was finally able to identify as the mark's power activating, and she tried hard to focus on the AD box rather than Greg. Above all, she didn't want to hurt Greg, and, since Possessed Greg had been protective over the AD box, it followed that the AD box was it's core anyway.

Still, her control over the mark wasn't great. If Greg kept moving about like that - she wasn't sure she could avoid hitting him.

"Samantha, I need you to stop Greg from running - NOW." She shouted to her student.

Samantha nodded and took off after Greg and the AD box.

Emilia wouldn't have been surprised to learn that Samantha was some sort of martial arts expert, or maybe even that she had joined a ninja clan after watching her launch herself off the ground, grab a tree branch, and swing herself on top of Possessed Greg.

As the two crashed to the ground, Possessed Greg lost his grip on the box, and it skidded about a foot away. Before Possessed Greg had time to shove Samantha off and retrieve it, Emilia released the mark's power. The black tendrils whipped toward the box, and Possessed Greg let out a howl of pain as the box shattered into a million pieces.

After a few moments, Greg mumbled "Samantha, could you please get off of me?"

"Not until I know ya aren't possessed." Samantha pulled his head up while remaining in a kneeling position on his back. Emilia rushed over to check his eyes for signs of possession, not wanting Greg stuck in that uncomfortable, and probably painful, position any longer than necessary.

As she was moving toward him, she felt a warm, tingling sensation on her forehead and the black tendrils swarmed out from the mark faster than ever before, surrounding her, Greg, and Samantha rapidly.

Emilia felt a sense of disorientation and swirling motion, making her want to throw up. The heat on her forehead intensified and the tendrils closed in so tightly that she couldn't see. It felt like hours passed before the blackness dissipated and the feeling of motion stopped.

"Em?" Emilia heard Greg's worried voice drift through her ears, and she pushed herself up from the ground. Greg was barely a foot away with Samantha still on his back, but they weren't in the African forest anymore. They were back in the lab. Not the creepy human transmutation lab. This was the button-that-should-not-have-been-pressed-was-pressed-and-everything-started-shaking-and-we-were-transported-across-dimensions lab.

It would probably need some repairs.

More importantly, Greg was staring at her with worry lines creasing his forehead and those beautiful brown eyes that she loved.

"You okay, Em?"

"Yeah."

"Can I get off 'im now?" Samantha asked, face looking pale and mildly green.

"Yeah, he's back to normal." Almost before Emilia finished replying, Samantha jumped off Greg and ran to a nearby trash can that had toppled over, righted it, and wretched.

"I hate dimensional travel." Samantha groaned.

Greg, meanwhile, got up and almost knocked Em over as he pulled her into a bear hug. "I'm so sorry, Em. I should've listened to you."

"It's okay. We're home now."

"Yeah, I know." Greg pulled back and pressed a chaste kiss on her forehead. "The mark's gone."

Nothing would ever really be normal again, and all three of them probably needed therapy after that excursion, but Em knew they would be okay.

The End.