Vile [Omori AU]

Chapter 17 - Rot

There was a strange quiet as the group was waiting in some bushes, Mari specifically hoping to ambush Omori.

The problem was that nobody was coming. Complete silence was all around. "Is he waiting for us to make a sound before he leaves the clearing?" Basil asked nobody in particular.

Mari hushed him before listening to the forest's sounds. Well, moreover, the lack thereof. The forest was completely silent. No movement, not even birds chirping, though there were never really any birds around Vast Forest either... the chirping seemed to just come from the treetops, normally.

Of course, nothing about the current situation was normal, so it wasn't exactly unexpected.

"He's not following... it looks like we finally have a chance to talk." Mari began, "So... why did you run away out of nowhere like that!?"

Sunny awkwardly looked away. "It... reminded me of something." He justified keeping his secret by telling himself that these were just dream people and didn't count towards the "never keeping bad secrets again" promise.

The others chose not to press, which Sunny was thankful for. "We should probably try to gain some more power since that fake Omori will probably be trying to claw himself together some as well." Mari reasoned, "Should we be going for manpower, or for development of your abilities?" She stood up, making the other two follow suit.

Basil and Mari both looked to Sunny. "I-I don't know... what do you guys think?"

"It's your power, Dreamer. You're the one who decides." Mari said, crossing her arms

Sunny looked to the ground. He was never good at making decisions. It took him four years to make his mind up about telling the truth, after all.

It was a good minute of silence before Sunny finally spoke again. "I... I think we should find... I don't think having more people will stop Omori... whatever power we can get our hands on will be best."

Mari nodded, "Then, we will have to return to Blackspace. Basil, if you could do the honours."

Basil promptly opened a portal on the ground yet again by pressing his hands against the grass. A sullen black fluid poured across the forest floor and became a gateway to Blackspace.

Sunny worriedly looked at the portal. It was pitch black on the other side. Mari put her hand onto his shoulder, "Be brave, little brother." She said with a warm smile.

Despite her not exactly resembling his sister anymore, her voice still sounded just like hers. He took a deep breath and then hopped into the portal, which swallowed him up instantly.

Basil followed, then Mari, the portal closing soon after, leaving the forest empty.

-〔〕-

Omori began walking down the highway towards Deeper Well. "Can you tell me anything of note about Humphrey?" Omori asked his new travelling companion.

The keychain-sized cat nodded. "He gets his power from the pool he floats in, rather than from any inherent power."

"Hm. That's useful. Saves me the trouble of wondering why I would have gotten nothing from killing him." Omori quietly remarked.

The cat purred in response, right before they reached Deeper Well. "Well, time to get to work. I haven't the time to waste to eat anything."

The coralized residents of Deeper Well were easily shattered by a stab with a spear each. Omori contemplated maybe trying just one piece of one, but they sort of looked like they'd taste like chalk.

Not worth the risk.

The limited power they'd grant was far from the power he'd gain from the pool, at least considering how difficult it was to just make Humphrey puke him out.

That was the past, though. With his power now...

"Alright, we're here. Don't get in my way." Omori spoke with conviction. He prepared his weapon of choice as of recent, a halberd. "Do you know anything of the power this pool should grant?"

The cat answered promptly, "Yes. Projectiles will be far more effective and will be able to be launched at greater speeds."

Omori grinned, "So guns? Sounds like what I need to shoot down the dove we met earlier."

"I believe she is an angel, not a dove as you described." The yellow cat corrected.

"Whatever. Shut up." Omori said as he entered the cave in which Humphrey dwelled.

"Whale, hello there!" Humphrey greeted, followed with an annoying "Nyak nyak nyak!"

Omori gritted his teeth and lunged at the whale. Humphrey frowned, then spouted water at Omori from his mouth. This knocked him off his feet and sent him tumbling into a cave wall.

"That's not very nice, you know!" Humphrey exclaimed before swallowing more water from the pool to spit at Omori.

Omori looked to the cat observing the fight, "Was I supposed to swallow that?"

"Yes, but that would be very gross." The cat replied.

The blood-soaked monochrome-ish thing ran at Humphrey again, this time hastily evading a jet of water from Humphrey's mouth before stabbing the halberd he wielded into him.

"YEEEEOWWW!" The whale shouted in a somewhat comical fashion... before the halberd bounced right back, not even piercing the whale's epidermis... or whatever the skin of a whale would be called.

The force of the rubber-like reaction of Humphrey's skin made Omori bounce back, once again hitting the cave wall, this time bumping his head on a stalactite, making it break from the impact.

"Nyak, nyak. Fooled you, didn't I?" Humphrey mocked.

"If I may be so bold, Omori, I believe I know how to end this one's life." The yellow cat interjected.

"Tell me." Omori growled with anger. After the cat whispered a few words into his ear, Omori got a smirk on his face as he formed a sledgehammer and readied himself to attack.