January 4, 2026 — 01:45 AM | Wave 2 — Time Remaining: 04 Hr 15 Min
Gilbert's boots hit the floor with a heavy, uneven thud. The sound echoed off the damp walls, a steady rhythm that matched the hammering in his chest. He was sweating. It wasn't just the humidity or the lingering heat from the day's chaos. It was the tight, suffocating itch of anticipation.
He watched Malenia. She was just ahead, a silhouette of sharp lines and quiet power. His skin felt hot. He could feel the blood rushing under the surface, making his ears ring.
Every time his heel clicked against the stone, a new image flashed in his head. He saw her turning around. He saw her reaching for him. The scenarios looped, getting more vivid, more desperate. His mind was a mess of "what-ifs" that all ended with him finally getting what he thought he'd earned.
He swallowed hard. His mouth was watering. He could almost taste it—the imagined sweetness of her skin, the salt, the heat. His tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth.
'I've been waiting for this,'
The words were a jagged loop in his brain.
'Gonna tongue-fuck those weeping sores till she drips red down my chin.'
He closed his eyes for a second, tilting his head back. His lips were dry and cracked. They felt like old leather. He imagined her leaning in, the contrast of her soft mouth against his rough skin. He'd trap her there.
'I'll force her jaw open with my thumbs and shove my tongue so far down her throat she gags on the taste of me.'
'Oh, I'm gonna explore every inch,' he muttered under his breath. The thought of his tongue—of everything else—meeting her made his hands shake. 'I'm gonna make you feel it.'
He could smell his own sour pre-cum mixing with the brine in the air.
A sharp tap on his forehead snapped him back.
He blinked. The world came rushing back in—the cold air, the smell of brine, and Malenia standing right in front of him. She wasn't leaning in. She was holding something out.
It was a sword. Not metal, though. It was white, porous, and jagged. A bone sword, likely carved from the remains of one of those fish-men that had been trying to tear them apart earlier. The hilt was wrapped in rough leather that looked like it had been scavenged from a boot.
Malenia didn't smile. She told him he'd earned this. Not a reward, but an opportunity. She was going to train him. She spoke about basic swordsmanship like it was a holy rite, her voice flat and hard.
It wasn't going to be easy, she said. He had to endure. If he survived the "intensity," he might actually stand on his own two feet with something resembling pride.
Gilbert just stared. He looked at the bone sword, then at her face, then back at the jagged white blade. The transition was too fast. His brain was still stuck back in the hallway, three minutes ago, in a completely different kind of "intensity."
"Wait,"
"What about... the kiss?"
Malenia's expression shifted. It wasn't a soft look. Her lip curled, a flash of genuine disgust crossing her features. She looked at him like he was something she'd found on the bottom of her shoe—something small and slimy. She didn't understand why he'd even think that was on the table.
"Not even a quick blowie?"
"You don't even have to swallow, just."
"C'mon, just let me eat your ass for five minutes. I don't care if it's bleeding rot, I'll lick it clean-"
She cut him off with a look that could have drawn blood. She didn't know the word, but the tone told her everything she needed to know. The "gift" in her hand suddenly felt more like a threat. Her patience was a thin thread, and he was hacking at it with a dull knife.
[LIVE FEED: UTAH SECTOR CHAT]
simp4_rot: bro just asked the Goddess of Rot for ASS EATING LMAOOOOOOO
dead_pixels: "bleeding rot" he's literally begging to tongue her scarlet aeonia
xX_MaleniaSimp_Xx: malenia looking at him like he's literal pond scum rn im dying
grimy_handz: her face = instant vomit + bloom combo, rip gilbert's dignity
noob_master: take the sword and shut up you degenerate take notes from pink dog
waifu_collector: i would sell my soul to be in his position... but not like THAT bro wtf
doomscroll99: let him cook? nah he's deep frying his own balls in rot oil at this point
rot_addict420: mommy malenia pls step on his throat next, make him gargle spores
maleniafeetguy: if she lets him anywhere near that ass the rot wins fr fr
Gilbert looked over at Courage.
Courage wasn't paying attention to the drama. He was already moving. He had his own blade, slashing and stabbing at the empty air. His movements were stiff but focused. He was following a mental script, his eyes locked on an invisible target.
Malenia told Gilbert to stop wasting her time. He was joining Courage. Now.
Gilbert let out a long, heavy sigh. He took the bone sword. The grip was scratchy, the leather biting into his palm. He felt the weight of it—clunky and poorly balanced.
'At least she's more revealing in this light,' he thought, eyeing her as he stepped into position. It was a pathetic consolation prize.
For the next two hours, the room turned into a meat grinder.
[LIVE FEED: UTAH SECTOR CHAT]
sweaty_palmz: malenia drill sgt arc holy shit she's ruining them
edge_lord: COURAGE IS CRACKED pink mutt swinging like he got personal beef
loot_goblin: gilbert already gassed after 20 mins lmao mans built like wet bread
pixel_junkie: every kick to gilbert's ribs is personal, she hates his vibes
rona_survivor: bet 100 credits gilbert pukes rot-sludge in the next 5, over/under?
anon_4chan: courage out here actually trying while gilbert's thinking "her fingers on me = choke play"
drillmommyfan: malenia correcting form by beating his ass is my new religion
cope_cage: gilbert malding every time courage gets gentle grip adjustment, favoritism real
Malenia didn't teach; she dictated. She showed them how to grip the bone hilts until their knuckles went white. She corrected their stances by kicking their ankles into place.
She moved between them like a ghost, her voice a constant, abrasive bark. Pivot. Strike. Parry. Move your weight.
Gilbert's muscles started to scream within twenty minutes. His shoulders felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets. Every swing of the heavy bone blade sent a jolt of pain up his arm.
It was a strict, ugly regime. He watched Courage. Courage was struggling too, his breath coming in ragged gasps, but he kept his head down.
Gilbert had a nagging feeling, though. Every time he slipped up, Malenia's correction was a sharp blow to the ribs or a crack across the shoulders. When Courage messed up, she just adjusted his arm with a firm, cold grip.
"Her cold fingers on my bicep felt like a promise. Bet those same fingers would feel perfect wrapped around my throat while she rides my face."
The discipline wasn't even. He was the punching bag.
The hours bled together. The dim light in the room grew even darker as the night deepened outside. The only sounds were the whistling of bone through air and the wet, heavy thud of Gilbert's breathing.
Huff. Huff. Huff.
The air felt thick, like he was breathing through a wet cloth that had been sitting in a bucket of fish.
Sweat's running into my eyes and all I can think about is licking the sweat from the small of her back after she's done using me.
"It's getting dark,"
Gilbert gasped, his knees buckling.
"Can we... call it a day, m'lady?"
Malenia didn't answer immediately. She turned toward the opening of the room, looking out at the water. The sky was a bruised purple-black. She watched the waves for a long moment, her eyes tracking something Gilbert couldn't see yet.
Then, a small, grim smile touched her lips.
She looked back at the duo. She told them to get ready. The practice was over. The "actual experience" was arriving.
From the hallway came a sound that made the hair on Gilbert's neck stand up. A wet, rhythmic slapping. It sounded like a stampede of bare, oversized feet running through shallow puddles.
A wet stampede.
Courage and Gilbert turned. Their eyes were bloodshot, their bodies trembling with exhaustion. They braced themselves, Gilbert gripping the bone sword so hard his hand cramped.
Malenia didn't move to stand with them. Instead, she sat back on the bed. She crossed her legs, looking perfectly composed in the middle of the looming chaos.
She told them she wouldn't help. Until the wave was over, they were on their own. They had to fight. For once, they had to prove they weren't just dead weight.
The slapping sounds grew louder. The smell of rotting fish filled the room.
Gilbert's jaw hung loose. He turned to Malenia, the words already tripping over each other in his throat. He wanted to tell her his arms felt like lead. He wanted to say the bone sword was too heavy, that his lungs were burning, that he wasn't ready.
Before the first whine could leave his lips, Malenia's hand was up. She didn't look at him. She didn't have to.
"Don't"
Her voice was a cold blade.
"Before you beg for help—especially from a woman—try looking at something other than my chest or my lap. It's pathetic. It's shameless."
Gilbert flinched like she'd slapped him.
"If I die tonight at least let me die knowing what color your nipples are under all that metal."
"Beg again and I will let the rot decide which of your holes it enters first. Face forward," she commanded. "Stop asking for things that aren't coming. Remember what I taught you, or die."
[LIVE FEED: UTAH SECTOR CHAT]
get_wrecked: "pathetic" "shameless" MALENIA JUST ENDED HIS WHOLE CAREER
simp_nation: step on me mommy call me worm next PLS I BEG
gritty_reboot: she just read the entire twitch chat audience for filth lmao
lurker_01: gilbert's face when she said that = purest form of malding, screenshot it
bet_on_pink: courage locked tf in meanwhile gilbert begging for nipple lore
f_in_chat: FFFFFFFF gilbert's last braincell just got bloomed
rot_goddess_only: "let the rot decide which hole" line had me acting unwise ngl
thirst_trap420: if she lets him see those nipples the haligtree blooms early
Gilbert's face burned. He turned back to the door, his throat tight with a mix of shame and a bitter, stinging heat. He gripped the bone hilt so hard the leather wrap groaned.
He glanced sideways at Courage.
The pink dog wasn't shaking. His spindly legs were set wide. His eyes weren't wide with the usual cartoonish panic. He looked... ready. There was a weird, quiet hum of anticipation in his posture.
It grated on Gilbert. This was the coward. This was the one who was supposed to be hiding under the bed. Seeing Courage actually living up to his name felt like a personal insult. It was annoying. It made the weight in Gilbert's own gut feel heavier.
Bam.
The door shuddered. Dust shook loose from the doorframe, coating the floor in a fine grey grit.
Bam. Boom. Bam.
Then, the wood screamed.
The lock didn't just break; the entire frame splintered inward. The door flew off its hinges, skidding across the floor as a flood of grey-green scales and wet noise poured into the room.
The smell hit first—rotting kelp and old, stagnant blood.
"Ahh! Fuck!"
Gilbert scrambled back, his heels catching on the uneven floor.
The stampede was a blur of clicking teeth and dead, bulging eyes. Gilbert's mind went blank, a wall of pure panic. He was about to turn and run when a high-pitched, jagged sound cut through the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
It wasn't a scream of fear. It was a war cry.
Courage charged. He didn't look like a hero, but he moved like one. He swung his bone blade in a frantic, wide arc. The first fish-man took the hit right in the neck, its black blood spraying across Courage's pink fur.
Courage didn't stop. He stabbed. He lunged. He cleared a circle of three, then four, pushing back against the tide with a desperate, shaky strength.
'Fucking show-off pink rat. Bet he's only doing this so she'll pet him later. I'd let her step on my balls for half that attention.'
A fish-man lunged from the side, its webbed hands reaching for Courage's throat. Courage brought the blade up in a jagged parry. The force of the impact sent him reeling back, his heels skidding toward Gilbert.
Courage didn't look back, but his voice was strained.
"Help me!"
[LIVE FEED: UTAH SECTOR CHAT]
hype_beast: LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO COURAGE WAR CRY PEAK
pETA_official: pink dog just turned into a blender wtf decap on sight
glitch_mob: gilbert frozen like a bot HELP THE GOAT DOG BRO
toxic_gamer: gilbert the type to dc when healer goes down in raid lmao
no_cap: courage eyes went full beast mode, pink blur supremacy
shook_ones: AAAAAAAAAAHHHH war cry into neck spray = GOATED moment
couragechad: mutt clearing packs while gilbert stands there simping harder, embarrassing
rot_enjoyer: malenia watching like "these are my clowns" biggest flex
Gilbert looked at the mob. He looked at the teeth, the spears made of sharpened coral, the way they moved like a single, hungry wave.
He gulped. His heart was a frantic bird trapped in his ribs.
"AAAAAAAH!"
He threw himself forward. It wasn't graceful. It was heavy and clumsy, but he was moving.
Step and stab if their reach is shorter than yours. Malenia's voice echoed in his head, cold and instructional. Gilbert planted his lead foot. He thrust the bone sword forward. The tip sank into a fish-man's chest with a sickening, wet thud. He yanked it back just as the creature collapsed.
Two more rushed him. They came from the flanks, hissing, their mouths opening to reveal rows of needle-teeth.
When dealing with multiple, keep them in front of you. Move.
Gilbert scrambled backward. He didn't think; he just reacted. He kept his eyes locked on the two of them, circling until they were both in his line of sight. They lunged, their claws raking the air where he'd been a second before.
Beyond them, he saw movement. A fish-man in the back was winding up, a jagged coral spear held high.
Projectiles. Cover. Protect yourself.
There was no wall nearby. No shield. Gilbert's eyes landed on a heavy wooden table. He didn't hesitate. He dropped his shoulder and rolled, sliding under the thick oak top.
Thunk. Thunk.
The coral spears bit deep into the wood above him. One point poked through, inches from his ear, vibrating with the force of the throw.
Suddenly, the table was jerked aside. A massive fish-man stood over him, raising a rusted cleaver for a downward strike. Gilbert stared up, frozen.
Before the blade could fall, a flash of pink blurred past. Courage.
The dog swung low, the bone blade shearing through the fish-man's scaly shins. The creature let out a gurgling shriek and toppled over.
"Atta boy, Courage!"
Gilbert scrambled to his feet, his breath coming in short, jagged stabs.
'Great, now I owe the mutt. Maybe I can pay him back by pissing in his water bowl.'
Courage didn't say anything. He just gave a quick, shaky thumbs up, his fur matted with dark slime.
They moved together, backing into each other until their shoulder blades touched. They were surrounded. A circle of scales and dead eyes pressed in, closing the gap.
Gilbert risked a glance over at Malenia.
She was still sitting on the bed. She looked bored.
'She's just sitting there like a queen on her throne, legs crossed, probably wet under that skirt from watching us bleed. Fuck I'd crawl over there and lick the floor clean if she let me.'
The weirdest part? Not a single one of the fish-men went near her. They gave her a wide, terrified berth, circling the duo but treating the area around the bed like it was filled with white-hot fire. They didn't even look at her. It was a primal, instinctive avoidance. They knew.
They knew that attacking the two humans was a gamble. Attacking her was an appointment with a shallow grave.
[LIVE FEED: UTAH SECTOR CHAT]
fish_fry: malenia just SITTING there unbothered queen shit
salty_spitter: mobs pathing around her like she's radioactive aura 100
broken_physics: gilbert yeeted the phone like "here mommy record my L" lmao
malenia_toes: legs crossed, bored aura, still hottest thing in the room
survival_expert: hold the line or become chum, no third option
chat_mod: can we get 5 seconds without "mommy" spam they're literally dying
bloom_enjoyer: she's probably getting off on the blood splatter ngl
toesucker_prime: i'd crawl through the fish guts just to lick the floor under her bed
cope_and_seethe: courage carrying, gilbert inner monologue still 100% coom, classic
Gilbert gripped his sword, the salt from his sweat stinging his eyes. He threw the phone to where Malenia was resting and watching.
"Ready?"
Courage growled, a low, rumbling sound that didn't sound like a dog at all.
"Ready."