"No friggin' way," Enforcer Evans stammered.
Shell turned, squinting at him with one good eye. "I beg your pardon, soldier?"
"Ahem..." Evans pointed down from the bridge between the two Nightshade towers in the industrial district. "I-I mean, no friggin' way, sir."
The Prime Enforcer hobbled up to the edge of the bridge. Leaning his weight on his metal cast, he peered over. So did several other soldiers and enforcers who were accompanying them in their search.
Muttering voices of shock filled the air, for a literal chunk of steel was floating down towards the smog-filled alleyways of Blue Nova's industrial district below. The object arced around the body of the northernmost of the two Nightshade Towers, hailing from somewhere on the fifteenth floor. The light was growing hazy from the setting sun, but even from such a long distance, the enforcers could at least make out a trio of quadrupeds positioned atop the floating platform, magically "surfing" it to the pavement paths below.
At that moment, a group of armored stallions trotted in from the norther building with Overseer Fatch in their midst. "Prime Enforcer Shell, sir, there's been manabursts reported on the fifteenth floor. We sent a team to investigate the blackout and—"
"Silence!" Shell growled, leaning heavily over the railing, almost to the point of teetering over. His eye squinted.
Before the platform disappeared, he made out the colors of the three bodies. One was large with brown fur. Another was petite with a burgundy coat. The third...
"Stripes..." Shell exhaled. His muscles tightened as he galloped towards the southern building. "Evans! Call in the managliders! Target is located forty-five degrees, north by northwest! Ground level!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Order all of our backup forces to the streets of the industrial district! Dr. Bellesmith's spouse has been spotted!"
Evans started shouting commands into a shoulder-mounted sound stone as he and several other stallions galloped briskly after Shell.
In the meantime, Fatch stood between Ledomaritan guards, his ears drooped and his limbs trembling.
Don't you know how to talk to your superiors?!?!
Hooo boy...
2839357
Hey, if my superior was as batshit as Shell has become, I'd talk to him that way, too. As a soldier, it is your duty to refuse any unlawful order. Shell has forgotten this.
No push-ups this round, ):(, because manasurfing is boss.
2839437
Well, I hope your superior isn't.
I- I mean, I hope your superior isn't, sir.
I'm not in the army, so you are my superior.
2839441
Don't call me sir. I work for a living.
2839517
Sounds all cool.
God, this story is awesome!
2839524 Damn skipity, this story is bologna awesome!
Shell doesn't mind using excessive force.If you got that your awesome.
2839573
You have bested me in adjective combat, my good warrior. Gah! *falls over dead*
And all of a sudden, the fan came into contact with a pile of shit.
2839636
you mean, like, Colon deliberately slammed a high-powered fan into a huge pile of shit?
this is starting to get really intense again, now that shell is gonna high-tail it toward Pilate. all we need is some chase music!
Aw, crap.
I think that should be the slogan for this story. Not only does the narrative itself include many synonyms and additives for the word crap (Crud, crudmuffin, etc.) but it also comes with its own supply of (sometimes literal) cliff-or-building-hanger moments.
So, I will repeat it for emphasis - because we know everyone on that floating slab of metal is going to be thinking it soon: Aw, crap.
Well, poop. Shell's caught a whiff of zebra. Hopefully some combination of manasurfing and squirrel wrath can stave the bastard off long enough for Pilate to make some headway.
Things sure are intense, and we've still got almost seventy chapters in this installment. With all the pieces coming together in Blue Shelf, it seems we're looking down the barrel of one big crescendo of narrative tension from here to "O-----". I likes it.
Bullcrap on a bullcrap biscuit
Can someone just head-shot Shell already? Why doesn't anyone carry a sniper rifle around? They're great for assassinations, and really deadly if you're competent enough to do so in a battle, which I am not.
Oh my ever-lovin' cheese and crust, I've finally, finally finally caught up!!! When this story was started, I was barely breaking into Austraeoh, and now I'm here! Living it up with the masses of people who have been up-to-date this whole time!! I wanna thank all the little people...
Wow, haven't read this in a while. I missed the shitstorm, didn't I?
I thought this story series is long overdue for having a TVTropes page, so I've created one. If anyone has TVTropes editing experience, feel free to flesh it out.
So piece by piece, we're now getting to know Floydien's looks. It's funny how trivial it feels, after wondering how he looked for so long. I've talked to my literary studies lecturer about this concept before, and she's been most curious about it (the impact and consequences of employing a blind narrator, I mean) - I bet she'll also be interested in the apparent negligibility of visualization that now seems to be taking shape. Thus, oh great and authorious overlord, your work has now become the subject of a scientifical study. Congratulations.
Side note: the English term 'literary studies' does in fact not include the word 'science'. This is unacceptable. All my gears are grinding like crazy.
2839437 I know I wouldn't talk to someone like Shell that way - not out of respect, but out of sheer love for my own life. I really like living.
2840616 Because his head needs to explode or he won't be dead.
2839806 More like nonchalantly tipping it over and walking away whistling...
2840601 Personally, I don't see how Shell is going to stand a chance against Floyds. I don't see how anyone is going to stand a chance against Floyds. He's like the original Clown Shark: once his jolly red nose has smelled blood in the water, heavens help us all.
Shell spots steel slab sky surfing, squirrel style.
Aliteration and sleep deprivation go quite well together.
2839517
I would upvote this twice if I could.
...Well. I hope Simon isn't pouring all his magic into surfing, or they're not going to have any way to ward off these gliders.
Of course, if the gliders are clever, they would fire at them from a distance so they didn't get pulverised into dust by Floydien and boomers who are not Floydien.
Simon is the Swiss Army Knife of characters. There's nothing he can't do.
I still think fatch and nightshade are not as evil as they seem.
2842139
I guess I could've reworded that differently, though I will admit it may have been caused by this being the second or third time I caught him.
2843241 Scolon can take it and a lot more, anyways.
2843271
Well, we don't actually know how he feels about all this. He could just be a dude with a lot of spare time or be locked in SS&E's basement forced to slave away. Its a possibility, since nothing is proven. Heck, Colon might even be an alien, for all we know. A blue, rainbow-haired, winged, alien......
2843657
I do say! It needs to be said more!
2840605With bullcrap gravy, and a side of bullcrap.
For some reason, I don't think it's a good idea to engage in combat with a group of people that are surfing on a chunk of steel.
2843434 He is a deity. I thought we had sorted that one out already.
Shell's calling in the cavalry.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Oh, boy. This can't end well. Anyways, Floydien has a brown coat, right? He's totally a gazelle. These are my thoughts do far.
-MASH
2840732 I too am catching up! Unfortunately, I have about as much as the first two books combined to catch up on still!
2841146 Thank you very much!!!
2839517
NCO?
Uh oh,
-Spirit
Shits about to go down
2841146
Dammit, I read a spoiler because of you that pertains to this story!!!!!!!!!!
And so begins the destruction of Blue Nova.
Holy shit on a cracker
Floydian: confirmed moose
Pilate: confirmed alive (by Shell)
Manasurfing: confirmed to be radical
awwww riiight
Floydien is a moose? All this time I thought he was a deer.
Ummm...nowhere in this chapter does it say that there's a moose. Not saying y'all are wrong, just saying that it seems a tad hasty. ;)
6217111
Reindeer. He has a shiny red nose. And shoots death lasers.
6984030
Paindeer.
Shit. This does not look good
6984030
Shell got ran over by a reindeer, while he was chasing stripes one day~
If only this were true..