《The Crawford's Multiverse of Madness》Chapter 249 - Don't Answer if You're Dead
Advertisement
Lara stirred awake inside a cave she had found late last night.
She spent about an hour following the blue streak of light, but never found Zeel along the path.
Considering Zeel was not someone to just sit still, Lara surmised that he was either dragged off by an animal or just left on his own.
Lara snatched the berries next to her and gobbled them down. Berries were the only edible food she found, so she waited until she was absolutely hungry before eating them.
That way she could go longer periods of time without eating.
She knew that there were probably people scouring the jungle to find her and Zeel. It was obvious because someone had to fire the missiles that destroyed the helicopter.
She was comforted by the fact that not many men would show up because the leader probably assumed that both she and Zeel were dead.
After all, they fell nearly two hundred feet without any parachute.
However, Lara could not tell if the missiles were a spur of the moment launch, or if the aggressors had been notified of their arrival.
Both scenarios were not appealing. Spur of the moment launch meant that the island was heavily protected and monitored.
If the aggressor were notified of her arrival that meant that someone had possibly betrayed her and Zeel.
After eating, Lara pulled the dagger from her waist and slowly exited the cave.
She had enough training to be considered proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but she was not exactly certain of how to survive in a jungle for an extended period of time.
About five minutes later, Lara encountered footprints in the soil.
This was obviously not Zeel, he wouldn't leave a trail behind when he walked, so this had to be the people that were sent out to investigate the crash site.
Lara heard constant rustling nearby.
Lara ducked behind some shrubs and looked around cautiously.
She was not a killer and she could not exactly outrun guns, so the best option was to stay hidden until whoever was looking gave up the search.
She didn't think she had to wait very long, but reality proved different from her expectations. One hour had passed but she could still hear human voices close by.
Feeling her legs cramped, Lara readjusted her position but finally felt something amiss. She felt as if she was being watched; Zeel always taught her to trust her instincts more than anything.
Advertisement
'It is a primitive human survival tool, but that doesn't mean it is antiquated – just unevolved,' he would say.
Closing her eyes, Lara entered a zone of extreme focus, and then she could hear it. Slow, steady steps creeping a couple of feet behind her.
The feline scent of the animal was all she recognized before bolting away.
There was no need to figure out what kind of animal it was. If someone was coming to kill you, would you ask 'Is it Freddy or Jason?'.
No! Running would be the wisest choice.
Her movement was so sudden that even the encroaching Jaguar was startled for a moment.
Yet, Lara's quickness afforded her little advantage over the ensuing chase.
Ducking, jumping, swerving, and swinging, Lara did anything she could to lose the Jaguar chasing her to no avail.
Swinging around a tree, Lara paused and began to curse her bad luck. In front of her were two men holding guns, ready to take aim.
They had obviously picked up on the noise from the chase and planned to ambush her.
Now she had to deal with a Jaguar at her back, and the two men in the front.
Lara dashed forward with a grateful smile as the two men fiddled with their guns, hesitant to shoot such a beautiful woman.
It was obvious at a glance that women were scarce on the Island, something that made Lara both thankful and disgusted.
Why the smile? Well, Zeel taught Lara several things, including what he coined 'Suitable Techniques for The Weak'.
Zeel said 'When someone wants to shoot at you, just smile at them in a friendly way. It would make them less likely to shoot you. After all, nobody wants to kill a friendly face... except me,'
Lara was thankful for the advice since it came in handy the closer she got to the men.
Both men didn't take Lara seriously at first, but the Jaguar behind her warranted their immediate action.
Lara sliced at the gun of one man using her dagger. Unsurprisingly, the dagger slid straight through the metal causing Lara to curse herself infinitely.
If she knew the dagger was so strong, she would have killed the Jaguar and be done with it.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
The other man started firing at the incoming Jaguar causing Lara to switch her attention briefly.
Advertisement
Using this opportunity, the man without a gun, elbowed Lara in the jaw, causing her to stagger backward in dizziness.
Stabilizing herself, Lara rolled onto the ground, the Jaguar missing her head and instead, falling onto the body of the man shooting his gun.
What happened next need not be described, it was full of blood and gore.
While the first man tried to help his friend, Lara stabbed him in the shoulder from behind.
She was reluctant to kill anyone if she didn't have to. However, not killing was time-consuming, and that was time she didn't have.
*Pop*
*Pop*
Lara grabbed her leg in pain as she rolled out of the way. Several bullets were fired from deeper into the forest, clearly, the two men were only scouts.
One bullet managed to graze her leg so Lara decided to escape.
She bolted away limping as gunshots rang out from behind.
She could hear the dying whimper of the Jaguar as the men filled it with bullets, but she was not in a better situation herself, there was no time to mourn the animal that had bought her vital time to run away.
Lara pushed her running speed to the maximum, and surprisingly, she was able to create some distance with the chasing group of men.
She didn't know how many men were chasing her, but the bullets randomly shot in her direction didn't make her eager to find out.
Yet, it seemed like the world wasn't on her side. Lara came to the edge of a cliff, with only a log connecting one cliff's edge to the other.
Several more bullets whistled past her face so Lara made a bitter decision.
She jumped from the top of the cliff towards the water a hundred feet below.
The group of men exited the jungle in time to see Lara jump down, but none of them dared to jump.
They lingered on the edge of the cliff and prepared to fire at Lara below.
However, the chance never came.
*Pop*
*Pop*
*Pop*
*Pop*
Four heads were instantly vaporized before the men could even react. The remaining six men froze in shock as Zeel exited the nearby bushes, firing twice more with his Ionic-Beamer.
Earlier Zeel heard the sounds of gunshots and arrived in time to see Lara jump off the cliff.
Sadly, like the logical person he is, Zeel waited for the perfect opportunity to ambush the men.
Two more heads were instantly vaporized, and when Zeel wanted to fire once more, the Ionic-Beamer in his hand turned red.
This reflected a null-energy state, basically, Zeel had no more energy to power the Homo-Superior Weapon.
Seeing this, the remaining four men regained their wits and began firing back.
A Gravitational-Ball instantly appeared from Zeel's storage dimension, turning into a huge silver shield that protected him from the incoming bullets.
It pained Zeel to use his Gravitational-Balls in this situation since he didn't have that many remaining.
Still, the Gravitational-Balls were the only weapons he now possessed that could act as both defense and offense without energy infusion from himself.
The bullets embedded into the silver shield of Zeel, clearly not doing any damage whatsoever. The four men continued to fire until they were out of bullets.
Seeing the opportunity, Zeel's shield flickered with red electricity – the accumulation of kinetic energy stored by the vibranium within his nanites.
The four men couldn't even react as the bullets were launched back at them with twice the velocity.
Their bodies fell to the floor, bloody and unrecognizable from the chunks of flesh carved from their bodies by their own bullets.
A poetic end to 'He who lives by the gun, will die by the bullets,'.
Still, Zeel could not celebrate, he had to locate Lara in the rapid currents of water below.
"Maybe, she's dead," Zeel said.
"Lara! Lara! Don't answer if you are dead!" Zeel shouted and waited a couple of seconds "Yup! She is dead,"
The moment Zeel was about to call off his search, an irritated voice shouted back from the bottom of the cliff.
"Fuck you Zeel," Lara yelled with anger saturating her voice.
Zeel paused, walked near the edge of the cliff, and peered over in a mechanical fashion.
There, near the bottom, holding onto a protruding rock was Lara.
Zeel cursed his loud mouth for writing her off so soon, then he turned the gravitational-ball into a silver rope that he threw down.
Zeel considered having the silver rope accidentally slip through his hands many times but ultimately decided against it.
Advertisement
- In Serial14 Chapters
Shift (Ben 10+DCU Fanfiction)
Omnitrix+ DCU, what's not to like? The main character will not be Ben Tennyson, rather someone from our world who gains the Omnitrix Hello! This fanfiction Shift is what I wanted to do for an homage to what I thought were underrated pieces of media, Ben 10 and some DCU characters. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t add context to two of the major works that inspired Shift, Dial, and A Practical Guide to Evil. Dial is another ben 10 fanfiction, however that story takes place in the MCU, and with an adult that is already a grown-up at the beginning of the story. Dial, by my own accounts, is more superficially Like shift, even though the Omnitrix is a central device in both. My protagonist starts out around 18 years old, so is less serious and can build relationships with some of the junior justice league members, and then later on in the story meet the Justice League officially. The tone will be more light-hearted at the beginning of the story as teenagers are known to use sarcasm and jokes at each other’s expense. Furthermore, in Dial, the protagonist has a well-developed knowledge of the MCU which he uses to have knowledge on events and characters, that the character in Shift will not have. While the MC will have some knowledge of people's abilities, lesser-known characters and people's real identities will be not included as much, but the MC of Shift will have some knowledge. APGTE's influence is deeper than Dials'. The epigraphs at the beginning of every chapter are an example of that, a place for light-hearted jokes and worldbuilding that's not pure exposition, but I also want to incorporate narrative stories to Shift (heroes win more than lose, providence, etc) on a lighthearted scale. While the heroes of Shift will have to work to win against villains, the MC of Shift will be allowed limited precognition, through narratives tropes and archetypes as a trade-off of less knowledge of the DCU. For example, a villain a hero faces might monologue, but the MC will not instinctively know how to counter every villain they encounter. I also wanted to bring in more realism than usual superhero stories, ie: the MC cannot just walk and have a meeting with Batman or Superman, he would have to “work his way up” in terms of credibility and whatnot. The Aliens that show up in Shift I tried to make different than the ones in Dial, just to share the love for lesser-known characters. And to make it fairer for the villains of the DCU, the main character will not wantonly use if gain at all an Alien X or a ben 10 form of Kryptonians, just so the characters have to work a little bit for victory. I urge anyone reading to consider checking out both APGTE and Dial as they are both amazing works, and I hope you enjoy them. The beginning of how the MC enters the DCU will not be as important as him actually existing in that universe, so that is why a ton of time is not spent on that part of the story. Chapters will be around 2.5 thousand words and come out around every weekday.
8 102 - In Serial8 Chapters
Captain Stellon
A pilot in the Interplanetary Era, it was never Captain Stellon's intention to get caught up in the big questions of his time. But artificial systems and human agents have a worrying habit of finding him useful in their efforts to shape events. Kaitar, for example, an astrobiologist fixated on a return to Earth, would never have been chosen for him by a dating algorithm. They're just galaxies apart in everything they say and do. Yet their destinies get strangely entangled. And if that weren't enough, A.S. itself decides our young, hapless hero is just the person it needs for a spot of undercover work...
8 72 - In Serial26 Chapters
Mother Dryad & Father Dragon
He was murdered in front of a gathering of people who were oblivious to his suffering. He died, leaving behind the one person who cared for him, yet he got something from his loss. The Creator begs him for assistance for the world he created. A world gone crazy, with the good turning evil and the terrible turning misunderstood. The mythological race is in jeopardy, and a revolution is required. Only he can restore honor to his people with the blessing of unity. Keep an eye on him as he matures and forms relationships in order to rescue his people. P.S. Please be advised that my grammar score will be dismal XD. Just because I enjoy writing does not imply that I am a good writer. If you want to be a FREE (Broke College Student here) editor, please contact me. I'd gladly compensate you with early access. And money if it ever gets large, which it probably won't.
8 92 - In Serial31 Chapters
HUMAN IN TROLLS WORLD
Meet Melody, a human girl, who loves music than any human in the world. Being the popular Dj and singer, which she ended up getting a title known as the GEN-X or 'GENERATION-X'.However, Melody feel down because everyone treat her like a Princess instead treating her as herself or find someone to love. Find out in this story
8 147 - In Serial12 Chapters
Stories Of The Agency (FN Chapter 2, Season 2) [ DISCONTINUED! ]
Read about different missions agents, such as Meowscles, Skye, Peely, Maya, TNTina, and others have been on, the war between Ghost and Shadow as it intensifies, affecting relationships, as well as their general lives as stories, and Midas' plan unfolds in front of everyone.
8 138 - In Serial3 Chapters
Kauravyi : The Life Breath Of Phalguna [ Arjuna - Ulupi OS ]
She was the Princess of Bhogavati, He the Prince of Hastinapura. She was a Nāgi, and He was a human. Yet They crossed boundaries to reunite with each other! This is a retelling of their love, through their eyes, of Nāgi and Narottama, Parantapa and Pannagi, Kaunteya and His Kauravyi!Cover credits: @JishnuPranaa
8 193

