she be crawlingggg

I'm just imagining Nyx doing that bit from Demon Slayer where Inosuke crawled on the ceiling.

This is probably one of my favorite chapters of OITTB 😭 ALSO IDK HOW TO DRAW THE TAILS FOR SOME REASON???

This story has so many great moments.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN YALL!

“This is embarrassing Kia…” Tera mumbled, looking at herself in the mirror, she was dressed as a cat, a black cat, the ears poking out from her mane of black hair, most of it held back in a wolf's tail.

Black fur covered felt covered the cord of her tail, the only part uncovered was the head; which protested bring covered by anything. Her costume included gloves shaped like paws- the world's most unflattering black leather jacket, and black shorts.

“You look puuurfect!” Kiara giggled, wearing a witch costume, pointy hat and all.

“Ugh… I think I'd rather be one of the monsters for Mom's haunted house again…” Tera groaned, which got worse when Kiara rang the bell attached to her neck.

“You promised~” She teased, making Tera's face heat up in blush and a growl escape her core.

“I promised to go to the festival with you and Rad… not to wear a catsuit.”

“Daw but you look sooo cute!” Kiara replied, pushing lightly on Tera's chest, making the solver drone sigh.

“Fine. Whatever, what's Rad going as?”

“Werewolf.”

“So why am I cat?! You're both actual monsters!” Tera protested, slumping in defeat.

“Hehe. Because you said you didn't care what you went as and let me pick it out for you.” Was the worker girls response, standing in the middle of Tera's room, ready to head out.

“Right…”

Kiara grabbed her wrist and out the door they went, tumbling down the walkway stairs and ending up on the ground in a minute flat.

The little town of Sanctuary was lit up in a festive hue, lights of purple, orange, and green, banners of every color depicting drone cores. There were booths full of games and prizes that ranged from food to plushies to electronic parts, and a stage with live music.

Of course… there was also a big, spooky temporary structure sat at the mouth of the front gate- the haunted house, run by the Chieftess Uzi Doorman herself.

“Hey dudes!” Said a voice from behind them, and there stood Rad, green eyes mixing well with the shaggy brown ears stuck on his hat and a limp tail attached to his shorts. He was wearing tattered rags with faux fur lining the arm and leg holes…

“Nice witch K! And uh…” He looked Tera up and down, snickering a little. “Cute kitty.” He teased.

Tera whipped forward and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, about to yell about how she absolutely was not cute- only for her big paw gloves to squeak loudly.

Rad began to laugh histericly, despite still being lifted into the air. “Oh my god! That's the best!”

Tera flustered, putting him down and crossing her arms. “I'm not cute.”

“Tell that to the squeaky paws.” Rad smirked, earning him a few more indignant grumbles.

“Soooo? Haunted House first? Lines not long and we have a whole night!” Rad suggested, pointing at the open maw of the gate that served as the entrance.

“Sure. Not like it's gonna be actually scary.” Tera shrugged. Looking a bit aloof, owning her costume accidentally.

“Awesome! -Ah wait, Kiara?”

“Um… shouldn't we do that last? It's like, the best thing to do right? Like a uh- grand finale!” There was sweat on the inside of her visor, and her voice shook.

“You're not scared are you princess?” Tera teased, lifting an eyebrow.

“N-No! Of course not!” Kiara protested. “I just think it's a better thing to do last.”

Tera and Rad looked at each other with equal shit eating grins.

“Yeah. Were going.” They said in unison, all but dragging the eldest member of the group into the maw of the unknown.

Once they pass the blackout curtains, they arrive in a recreation of the Outpost-3’s bunker doors, wide open, snow blistering from the beyond and the howling of angry winds blasting against the mouth of the underground shelter.

“Holy hell! Your mom has got the atmosphere down! It almost feels like I'm really there!” Rad exclaimed taking in the painstakingly recreated environment.

“Yeah well… Halloween is her favorite holiday.” Tera replied, heading up to where the guides were… which was just her Dad. N.

“Hey kids! I just got done with the last group. You want to go through?” His head tilted to the side and his tail wagged, he wasn't dressed up as anything. Just himself, which was perfectly on theme.

“Yes please Mr. Doorman!” Rad exclaimed in excitement, and N laughed in response. “For this tour, call me by my name…” He said eerily, visor flickering into an X and his head beginning to twitch.

“Ooooh. Spooky.” Came from Rad. Tera just chuckled and Kiara just smiled warily, scooting a bit closer to Tera.

“Follow Me.” N hummed, disappearing behind a black curtain painted to look like a ventilation shaft, and the trio went along with him, Rad leading the charge.

N lead them through a dark corridor, His voice becoming echoed.

“Before we settled here… we lived on a planet called Copper-9-' The sound of wind blew more harshly, hail pattering against the walls… “Somewhere frozen, Inhospitable, a broken, forsaken place.”

“The worker drones were safe in the bunker… but outside?”

Three giant claws erupted through the ceiling next to Tera's head. Kiara jumped a foot in the air, and Rad yelped, Tera just ducked slightly with a laugh. “Hey V.” She hummed deadpan.

“Outside there were monsters… Angels of Death that swooped down in the night, stealing away anyone caught outside the safety of the walls.”

“Aren't you a Dissasembly Drone too?” Tera called out. Knowing every keyword the attraction had by heart.

N stopped in the middle of the hall at her words before suddenly whipping around, smiling maniacally, swiping his claws just shy of actually making contact with any of the group.

He growled before pulling back. “I have more… self control…”

Rad looked impressed, whistling at the showmanship. And Tera smirked, Kiara laughed but it sounded nervous, her eyes flickering to the hall they'd just went through.

“Come on, it's just my dad.” Tera hummed, just quiet enough for Rad not to hear. Kiara laughed a little.

“I-I know! I'm not scared!”

“As I was saying… there are monsters outside.”

The audio of utter carnage began to soak through the wall; gunfire, screams, the sounds of drones being ripped apart and eaten.

“But… they don't compare to the horrors beneath the planets crust.”

The hallway opened up the room swarmed by black tentacles, erupting from the ground crawling on walls… the red overhead light made it seem like they were moving…

“Up from the depths, all drones are consumed- no matter their make or model.”

Tera shuffles uncomfortably. She never liked this section even when she was activly working in it, it always made her feel uneasy.

Kiara screams. Activating all the alarms in Tera's head, Kiara grips onto her- something pulling her down into the floor. Rad yelps as something grabs his leg too.

Tera grabs them both, acting on instinct and lifting them both off the floor with one hand, Rad in in left hand, and Kiara in her right.

She hears giggling underneath the floor and sighs.

It's the twins.

“We shouldn't linger here.” N hums ominously, inviting them to follow. And Tera drops her freinds back onto the ground.

“Come on scardy cats.” She groans before moving on, ignoring the comment from Rad about her costume.

The next room is one the Doorman family likes to lovingly call, “The Chase”

There are multiple ‘infected’ drones clawing at a fence behind them, before them is a long dark hallway, only at the end is there light.

“This is what happens to drones caught by the infection.’ N utters, his voice seeming to spur on the excitement of the infected, they growl and hiss, tentacles incasing their arms or legs- even entire face.

And then one fucking screams. Beginning to climb the gate at an unnatural speed.

“RUN!” N shouts. As the rest of the infected scale the fence to reach them, Rads the first one off, half-yelling, half-laughing as the first one leaps over the fence and sprints towards them.

Kiara is frozen though. Standing shock still as two more hit the ground running.

“Kia! Move!” Tera shouts before, taking her onto her shoulders and sprinting down the hall, but there's one drone that can somehow keep pace with her, hot on her heels as she has to actually TRY to get away.

It was probably Bishop. But that revelation only came later.

The infected drone swipes at them, just barely missing as they fall into the next room, quite literally plummeting a few feet onto a pile of pillows.

N does not follow… they are on their own.

Tera maneuvers herself so that she breaks Kiara's fall. She knew there were pillows, but old habits don't die with that knowledge. And so the worker lands on top of her with a grunt.

They both pant breathlessly, Tera staring up at the worker that has her pinned to the ground, her arms either side of her head.

Then she starts laughing. “Dammit! I knew that was coming and I still got surprised!”

Kiara joins her a moment later, both flying into a fit of giggles. “You goob! And you called me scared!”

After a moment, they climb out of the pile, pulling back a curtain to reveal a room that's pitch black…

“Rad? Raaaaad?” Kiara calls out, and gets no response. Tera squints into the darkness, it's oppressive and even the eyes on her tail struggle to make out anything.

Then- feedback noise so loud it makes Kiara wince and Tera nearly double over, yellow light rises from the floor, the entire room spinning and spinning…

The walls are flesh, the floor is flesh… there's something moving on the ceiling, it curls and coils in strange patterns, lurching unnaturally, it's humanoid then it's not, dozens of eyes in the shape of camera lenses stare at them.

Tera freezes, she knows what this room is, she's been in this room, worked here, been the one controlling the thing on the ceiling and yet being down here brought a whole new feeling.

It was the thing from her nightmares- the creature she'd been fighting every other night in her sleep, it was here, staring, looking into her soul to try and seize it from her.

She's pulled out of the room by the wrist, ending up back in the beginning room. The bunker. Her core pounding out of her chest, she doesn't realize it. But she's trembling.

“Tera? You alright?” Kiara's voice brings her out of it, and she snaps back to reality. Her Dad is back behind the desk, and Rad was chatting with some random worker in their own group.

“Wh- Yeah! Totally!” She quickly recovers, shaking off the feeling of dread and finding herself grounded by Kiara holding her hand- when had that happened?

“Alright! Let's head to the rest of the festival!” Rad runs back over to them, giddy beyond reason. Kiara's hand is quickly no longer there.

“Thank god… no more haunted house.” Kiara laughs, seeming to relax a lot more after the ordeal was over.

Tera found herself agreeing…

“Yeah. Let's just head to the rest of the festival…”

Aaaand, it's archived in my google drive now. I'm just too big a Halloween fan and this was too nice to not save in case.

Me debating with myself to post this or to let it fester in my computer until the end of creation

Me: It's essentially PwP I can't post that.

Also Me: But it's so good! Your practice works are never usually this good!

Me: ...

Okay yeah, here's some Tera and Kiara smut.

This is NOT CANNON

It is a practice fic that ended up being really good and I peer pressured myself into posting it.

I repeat this is NOT CANNON.

Experimentation

(An Exploration on What If?)

Smut that both does and doesn't read like something 18+ because of how well done the drones' system is designed. Always gonna love this stuff.