Knockin' on hell's door

Pop! Goes the mascotverse

Being famous in the world of mascots wasn't hard. You served the role of representing which ever major sport event was happening and then you'd come to the Mascotverse to live there. Yet somehow, Willie wanted more than fame. He wanted to discover something new that would have the world talk about it day and night for hours on end. The British lion cursed under his breath whenever he saw La'eeb. To him, that was his mortal enemy.

"I'll see you later at the town square! I wanted to celebrate the Italy winter-games twins coming over into the Mascotverse" La'eeb said before floating away. That tipped Willie over the edge. He never liked newbies, they harked away attention from the older mascots. But alas, he'd be shunned by the community if he didn't join in to congratulate the newest members. Before going to town square, he dragged himself to his favorite bar. There, he could forget being a bitter old man with his best drinking Buddy: Schuss. Schuss was almost as bitter as Willie, but the only cheer in his life was his grandkids. Willie had his adoptive son Goleo of course, but they didn't stay on terms much after the older lion's personality shift.

At the bar, he asked for a glass of beer and waited until he saw the Frenchman. Schuss walked in, but more colorful than usual. "Hey! What's up with the cheer all of the sudden?" Barked World Cup Willie to his buddy. Schuss smiled. "I'm just excited for the newcomers! You know how much I love winter sports, and especially teaching the new kids about them" he replied with a warm expression. Willie rolled his eyes, but looked away so Schuss wouldn't notice. "Yeah yeah... but don't you ever feel like you're being pushed away? Every time there's a new Olympic mascot no one congratulates the old ones for being there, well, except for Waldi" the lion took another sip of his beer before continuing his ramble. "Yeah sure, World Cup mascots get a lot more appreciation, but i still feel like im... missing something". The skier sighed. "You and your plans Bill, if I can let the past go then you can too". The room fell silent. Schuss just nodded and left. Will took another large sip of his beer, attempting to drown out the idea of celebrating in town square.

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Cheers erupted as the newest Olympic (and Paralympic) winter games mascots rush back down from the high mountains of the Mascotverse. Fireworks were being lit, some winter mascots were skiing down the mountain with them. All was joyful, except for one member. Goleo tapped the backs of many other residents. "Have you seen my father? Please don't tell me he's out drinking again, he told me he would quit.." he asked, but all shrugged or said no. The lion felt somewhat defeated. He knew his once loving father grew bitter, but at least he'd be in town square?... Worried sick, he pressed his paws onto his phone, hoping his dad would pick up the call. They were ignored, but Goleo kept frantically trying to call his dad. His eyes constantly turned to the newcomers, and he internally wished his dad would accept them. Suddenly, one call finally passed through.

"Dad! Where are you?" The German lion said in a somewhat shaken tone.
"I'm fine, Leooo". That's when it clicked to Goleo.
"Dad, please don't tell me you've been out drinking"
No response. The distressed feline watched as La'eeb got his microphone ready in hand to announce the names of the new arrivals.
"C'mon dad! First impressions are everything.. a-and they're almost here" he'd occasionally turn around to see the amount of time it took before the newest additions to the Mascotverse would be here.
"Heh, hhh-hey Goleo? I found a... green shiny thing". Ideas raced to his mind on what the 'green shiny thing' meant.
"Rr-remember my Keith Moon costume for Halloween? Yheah, im gonnaaaa explode the thinggg"
"DAD, NO"
Just then, it was only a few more seconds till the new winter mascots arrived. La'eeb cleared the mic.

"Ladies and gentleman!" He started. Goleo was frantically tapping his foot onto the asphalt floor of the streets. He heard a matchstick go off on the telephone.

"DAD NO PLEASE" but he heard the match lighting something anyway.
"Meet-" the new mascots were at the podium on the square as the former Qatar World Cup mascot anticipated them.
A loud explosion reverberated through Goleo's phone as in the other ear, he finally heard the names of the news people. "Tina and Milo!". More cheering sounded loud, but the echo of an explosion sounded as if it was crawling closer. And it was. The last thing anyone saw was a huge green explosion...

And black out...

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The world looked different. That's the only way they could describe it. All they could smell was endless rows of fire and death. Miraculously, some survived. "La'eeb.. Tina.. Milo.... Dad?" Goleo barked out. He crawled on the ground, as his legs were in such a state of pain that he couldn't get up. Getting slightly closer to the wreckage, he noticed how burnt the host was. The lion dragged himself closer to the half-broken microphone. "I-if anyone is still alive, please help me" tears streamed down his face as he used his energy to spit out the words. He saw someone slowly approach him. Hope lit up in the eyes of the feline as he believed it was finally some help. But the face on the other person looked terrified. It was Milo, the new Paralympic winter games mascot, but the smile was nowhere on his face. "W-we need to get out of here, somethings wrong with my sister Tina". He gave Goleo a hand and the two looked back at the broken podium. They noticed blood and scattered body parts. "Schuss... Takuchan.." Goleo mentioned. They skied down the mountain with Tina and Milo, but were now broken into pieces. An arm reached out and grabbed for the arm of the dead teddy bear. One survivor, it seemed, until they heard a loud crunch. They looked up and saw Tina chomp on Takuchan's arm. The already white stoat looked almost even paler. Her eyes looked bloodied and her mouth was covered in blood. She looked the two survivors dead in the eyes, and slowly waddled over to them. "We gotta run" Milo said, but Goleo couldn't crawl that fast. Milo dragged the lion, keeping a close eye on the undead white stoat. It felt awkward, as none of them could run fast at this moment. To their luck though, help soon arrived in the form of two more survivors: Vinicius and Tom. Vinicius was much stronger than the brown stoat, and decided to carry Goleo for the rest of the way. Tom stayed with Milo to keep an eye on his sister.

Hopping away on both his tail and one of his paws, he pushed Tom's wheelchair. "I don't understand.." started the ermine, tears rolling into his eyes. "She was just so alive and excited minutes ago. Nothing could go wrong, she said. We'd get a warm welcome..." Milo cried at the thought of moments earlier. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Milo-" Tom wanted to comfort him, but all plant knew was how to tell the truth.

"Your sister has become a zombie".

For some reason, that's what hurt most. Knowing his beloved sister, who has helped him through his disability, who was there by his side for his entire life, who has been his main best friend since birth, would chase and try to kill him and his friends, that hurt the most. "I wish I would've just died in the fire as well, at least I wouldn't have to live knowing she'll never be the same again". Tom felt bad. To shake the feeling, he looked back to see how far Tina was. She was gone. "I think we lost her, but don't you worry, Vinicius and I will think of a plan". A small smile grew back onto the face of the stoat. It immediately disappeared again when he looked up in front of him. There she stood, his undead sister. With this closer look, he noticed half of her body had burn scars. "Tina, please listen to me..". Silence. The crackling sound of fire played in the background as the three had a stare off. The tension was so thick, Tom could taste something bad happening. "Run" he said. Tina charged at the plant, biting his leg. Tom let out a loud screech of pain and tried to push away Tina. Milo punched his sister away and sped off with Tom. The pale stoat gave one more look as she watched her twin brother run off from her.

"Your sister has become a zombie, Milo".

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(uhh oops this fic was longer than I wanted it too whoopsie Daisy)