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STORYLINE: Kyle dozed outside the glass door of MasterGin’s bedroom.
Cold, luminescent spores drifted past the glass balcony in slow, rhythmic pulses, glowing like deep-sea jellyfish in the dark air. It was hypnotic. The heavy hum of the cooling vents weighed on his eyelids, pulling them down.
The mission was simple: Escape. But MasterGin was guarding Jihoon’s limp, unconscious body like a clingy dragon sitting on a pile of gold. Jihoon hadn't opened his eyes or uttered a word since falling into the coma after catching fire in daylight. He was entirely at the mercy of whoever carried him. Kyle couldn’t force open the door lock to steal him, let alone carry unresponsive body safely across the chasm of toxic bioluminescent parasites.
Inside, Jihoon was sprawled across a luxurious silk bed in sleek, blindingly white bedroom. The room hummed with a low, throbbing energy as the overhead LED panels pulsed in a slow sleep cycle.
The Shadow Serpent slept curled around Jihoon's body like an ominous overgrown cat, — if a cat were made of liquid obsidian scales and flicked its forked tongue when snoring.
“WHAT’S UP DRAGONLETS!!!”
Kyle jolted upright, his heels skidding against the floor as his heart slammed into his ribs.
What the…?
Lisa? Lisa Liemawr was here?
He peered inside the room. The Shadow Serpent dissolved into dark mist, vanishing through the wall on the opposite side.
Was it looking to see what was going on?
A moment later, its head poked straight back out of the plaster, eyes wide with frantic urgency.
Click.
The electric door lock disengaged.
Kyle wasted no time slipping into the bedroom, pressing his shoulder to the far partition to listen. He held his breath, ears straining against the cold marble wall. Everything was muffled, a tense argument between MasterGin and Lisa. MasterGin was insisting Lisa worked for him.
What? No. That couldn’t be true.
Kyle leaned back, mind racing. No. Lisa was trying to expose him and his operation. She knew where they were too. Was she intentionally distracting MasterGin to buy them time? He didn’t know. Whatever game she was playing, she had broken in for sure.
An incredulous chuckle escaped his chest.
Even if she was out of her goddamn mind, he had to respect her gall for breaking into a vampire diva's private domain. MasterGin seemed impressed too, he was praising her. She’d be ok.
Wait…. It was silent now.
He pressed his ear against the wall again. Nothing.
The Serpent was curious too. It poked its smokey head through the wall, looking around before turning toward Jihoon.
It gestured wildly, dipping its head low in a sharp bow to the silent boy on the bed, then jerking toward the balcony exit.
Kyle didn’t need to speak Snake to translate. MasterGin had left with Lisa, and somehow Jihoon, even trapped deep in that coma, had just sent him the signal to run.
Gotta cover him. Gotta cover him now.
Kyle sprinted to the wardrobe, grabbing a white bomber jacket which was the only thing in MasterGin’s closet that wasn’t a dress or covered in glitter.
Face cover. Need a face cover. No daylight could be allowed to touch Jihoon’s skin.
His eyes landed on an old, hollowed-out TV monitor with devil-horned antennas sitting on a side table. Perfect. He snatched it, ripping out the tangled cluster of copper wire and dead capacitors, turning the plastic shell into a makeshift helmet. The chemical stink of old circuit boards drifted out.
No battery. No power cable dangling.
Yet, as Kyle lifted it toward Jihoon, the dead screen crackled to life. Static crawled across the dark glass in a soft, grey fizzle. For half a second, Jihoon's face appeared inside the static, faint, pale, and staring directly out from the screen.
Kyle froze, his throat tight, his hand still on the helmet casing as he stared the glitching screen.
“…Creepy.”
He shook off the chill, threw a heavy blanket over Jihoon, and wrapped him tight.
“Ready, Snakepoo?” Kyle muttered, hoisting Jihoon’s dead weight into a firm carry. “Can you get us across the walkway?”
The Shadow Serpent gave a single, resolute nod. It surged through the open balcony doorway, its long tail trailing thick black smoke across the floor.
The glass walkway chimed in its wake. Individual planks unlocked and extended one by one over the abyss, warm lights awakening in a rapid sequence.
Kyle stepped forward, hugging Jihoon tightly against his chest as the bridge settled beneath his boots.
“Lisa Liemawr,” he whispered under his breath, waiting for the final plank to lock into place. “I owe you one, Queen.”
The moment the path sealed, Kyle dashed into the darkness, following the eerie faint glow of the Serpent as it hurtled ahead.
On Him, Kyle:
Mask: +NK+ - Manji Mask - VIP 250L[mesh](CyberFair)(250L)
Wings: SOLE - SA - Wing DND (Black)[mesh](CyberFair)(329L)
Eyes: MIDORI - Abduction Eyes // BOM // EXO 01 [BOM](CyberFair)(399L)
Top: YUEBIN - Sinful Patrol - black [Legacy (m)+Athl] [mesh](350L)
Pants: L&B - LEGACYM Tapered] Swear Havoc Leather Pants [mesh]
Boots: CULT - Cobain - Legacy Male [mesh]
Hair: TRASH - Lucifer w/o Horns V1 - Rainbow pack [mesh]
Headphone: !Reliquary - !R! Synth-o Ear Tap [mesh]
Skin: MUDSKIN - Hajimu, C, Brow, WINTER [BOM]
Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)
On him, Jihoon:
Head: KNIFU - Deadware.exe Head [mesh](CyberFair)(499L)
Jacket: Muho - Tokyo - Jacket - Legacy [mesh](CyberFair)(189L)
Top: ZOS - Cyber Comprezzion Fatpack - Leg At [mesh]
Pants: AVEC TOI - Kai Pants, Turmoil, LegacyM [mesh](595L)
Boots: CULT - Gzad - Legacy M [mesh]
Claws: Subject Thirteen - Slay Plague Claws, PBR - LegacyA [mesh]
Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)
Pose: Cyn~Cyn - Being Saved
