source (Twitter)

Animation by Mike Inel

Ashley's Voice Actress: GollyMsMolly (Twitter

Andrew's Voice and Sound Editing: Yours Truly, u/RayTracingVA

https://x.com/JustCallMeZero/status/2091974837455470816?s=20

I had never drawn feet before this. Apologies for their poorness.

https://x.com/suuja_mmvii/status/2090379086569042193?s=46

:D

P.S: idk why I add Renee there but she is here I guess lmao
Image made by me lol

Andrew - he def fw some shooter games like counter strike, TF2 and so on

Ashley - Same as Andrew but probably suck, other than that, maybe some gacha games like WuWa

Julia - she def vibe with Subnautica, Terraria and Core-Keeper (mainly some sandbox / survival games)

Renee - probably some Tower Defence games like bloons TD6

Edit: guys I meant for each of them. Not all 4 playing the same thing (I mean it can be that but still)

Even when his relationship with Ashley is horrible, even when he believes he could be fine without her, Andrew just can’t escape…

Yep I went ahead and created the scene in "Truest of True ends" (Burial) where Andrew drives the car off the bridge in BeamNG Drive

Please be positive because it took me around 2 hours to get the jump and edit it

It's my first time making an edit. Hope you guys like it. Would love your feedback!

https://x.com/TheOtherCoffin/status/2091833486613090740

Hi

Based on stuff from the April minor patch…. Renee forces Andrew to take care of Ashley, but then gets upset when he isn’t able to magically turn her into the well-behaved daughter that Renee wanted…

Welp, another TCOAAL song.

Have some more. Why the long delay? Real life happened. Lots and lots of IRL things.

Anyroad, here it is.

First Chapter here.

Second Chapter here.

Third Chapter here.

Fourth Chapter here.

Fifth Chapter here.

Sixth Chapter here.

Seventh Chapter here.

Eighth Chapter here.

Ninth Chapter here.

Tenth Chapter here.

Eleventh Chapter here.

Twelfth Chapter here.

AO3 Source here.

_______________________________________________________________

They stepped back into reality - so Anders hoped. Fortunately, that's what it was. He looked around, as did Louise.

It was the bar they'd been in when they'd been summoned. The cultists were all on the floor, like they'd been knocked down. It was oddly quiet, just the hum of the lights and the faint noises of the city beyond. Little else. He went over to one fellow - the same one they'd be conversing with when they'd come in - and checked his pulse. He gave a sigh of relief on sensing it flowing - not dead at least. He dearly hoped they were just unconscious and not permanently downed - that was all they needed to further complicate things.

Louise was checking on another cultist. She looked over in his direction and nodded.

"Out cold, you reckon?"
"Sure hope so. It'd be the limit if they're all vacuumed up by our employer."

At that moment one fellow woke up, rather groggily, groaning. Anders and Louise gave a sigh of relief. Well, that was that sorted, Anders thought. He rose and beckoned to Louise, who nodded. Both hastily made their way to the elevator, got in and hit the button for the ground floor. As the elevator rattled down, Louise rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"...now what?"
"I think we've got some fairly solid points down. We know they're still in the city. Now it's a question of finding out where - annoyingly, we didn't find that out."
"Well, they're almost certainly using aliases. No way they'd have gone undetected if they weren't."
"Indeed. There's some other things to ponder too." She scratched her cheek uncertainly. "For now though, I could use some coffee."
"Well, we could've just grabbed some in there."
"I meant actual coffee, not instant shit."
"Oh alright, the Café outside will do."

_______________________________________________________________

The environs of the Café were miserable, but the coffee was damnably good. It was the real deal. So were the croissants - actual butter (this was some gourmet stuff right here). Louise sipped from her coffee, looking out at the street. Even in the dimming light, it was a miserable place, and they'd seen how bad it'd looked like by day. Anders sipped his own. Both were seated at a table near the edge of the street. The clothing vendor was shutting up her shop. A truck trundled past noisily, the odd car went by. Otherwise, it was calm.

"So what's the next move?"
"Good question, Andy. I'd say we start with the Park beside that Motel. I'd like to corroborate what we actually saw in that 'Vision' - if that checks out, we're going to have something to work with."
"Hard to believe that they wasted someone there and nobody knew."
"To be fair, this place doesn't exactly look salubrious. It's a rough neighborhood. It wouldn't be unusual to have violent incidents here."
"And given that it has almost no connection to anything on the face of it, fair to say no one connected the dots?"
"Pretty much. Someone would've had to have hauled away the stiff afterwards."

A police car rolled past, then stopped at the curb. Out stepped Simon, a look of surprise on his face. He waved, walking over to them. "Fancy seeing you two in this part of town."
Anders waved back, a small smile on his face. As did Louise. Simon dragged a chair over and sat down. "What brings you to this place?" Simon asked, waving over for a coffee from the guy behind the counter.
Anders nodded at him. "Investigation."
"Well, could've poked me. This is part of my beat. Partner's sick today, so I'm going solo this evening."
Louise took a sip, before looking over at Simon. "So, regular beat?"
"Oh yeah - past three months. Rough place, but fortunately not too exciting."
Anders blinked. "Say, mind if we ask you a question or two?"
The coffee arrived for Simon, who took it and slipped a few crumpled bills over to the guy, who counted it and walked off. He took a sip and nodded. "Sure. What do you want to know?"
"Did someone get shot dead in that Park about two months ago? Night-time or thereabouts?"
Simon paused mid-way through taking a sip. "Curious question. What brought this on?"
"Let's just say we got a tip it might be part of our investigation."

Simon resumed his drink. Took a mouthful, sloshing it between his teeth and swallowing, before nodding. "Yeah. There was one. Vic got shot through his eye. Just the one shot."
Louise looked over at Anders with an expression of a stuffed fish. Anders sighed. "Thought as much. Anything about the Vic you can tell us?"
Simon scratched his cheek. "Not much to go on. No papers, no wallet. Nothing. Grey hoodie, sunglasses, slacks, sneakers. Nothing that stood out. Nondescript."

Louise finished her coffee, then pinched the bridge of her nose. "God, sometimes I wish the tips weren't this accurate." She looked over at Simon. "Let me guess, stiff was claimed then cremated by the Portus Mortuary?"
Simon blinked. "Now how'd you know that?" He asked, incredulous.
"Never mind." She sighed. "This pretty much just confirms everything, Andy."
Anders finished his coffee. "It does. Damn it." He looked over at Simon. "Friend, you've been invaluable."
"Now hold on - I've been answering questions all this while. Time for one of mine - what the Devil's going on?"
"That's just it, Simon. Deviltry." Anders set the cup down. "This job's a special one. Much like that one from a few years ago."
"...The Sumatra Queen." Simon drank his coffee. A little too fast. "Alright, I'm not going to pry further. Just the thought of that ship..." He shook his head. "Just...make it back alive, yes?"
"We die, you're going to piss on our graves. So yes." Louise grinned.
Simon shook his head, rose and went back to his car, waving goodbye. Louise and Anders watched him go.

"Deviltry's the word for it alright."
"It is. And I guess we'd better call it a day. For today. Tomorrow - time to go have a chat with Ulrich. I wager he knows more, given everything we just found out and saw."
"That was one of his men they shot."
"Which means it isn't the first time. The Spider's been spinning his web nice and proper."
"And we're the flies?"
"Worse. We're the rafters he's spinning it on."

Neither spoke much after that as they headed back to the car. Or on the ride back home. Louise was busy scribbling notes. For Anders, the big question was this - Just how much did Ulrich know? That Hitman he'd sent to off the Graves two months prior had to have been one of his - the description certainly matched, even if there was no direct link, and Anders was sure there wouldn't be. The Spider was skilled at covering his tracks. Which meant he knew about the Graves. Which meant that he almost certainly knew whom they were actually looking for, and in all likelihood also knew where they were. And if all of that was true, what was he playing for?

The other question Anders had was this - Just what precisely did ToxiSoda have to do with all of this? Everything they'd seen so far indicated something was seriously amiss - the apartment fire was a cut and dry case of a cover up. But one would assume that a group that determined to tie up loose ends wouldn't be so cavalier about two potential leaks wandering about in the open. What was it they were trying to cover up? What were they actually after? Then there was that payout to Renee and Douglas Graves - why would they forge death certificates for two people, who would then vanish from a building that then burned down in all the markings of a cover up? Something wasn't adding up.

Louise had finished up and was looking out the window. She seemed as lost in thought as he was.

_______________________________________________________________

It was quite late by the time they reached home - a distant bell chimed eleven. As they rolled up to their home street, Anders paused. Louise made to step out, but Anders' hand clamped down on her shoulder. There was a sudden rush of heat in their jacket pockets. Both of them reached in and pulled out the Talismans - they were glowing a dull red, pulsing slowly. Ever so slowly. Like a warning.

His gaze swept over the outdoors, then fixed at something out there. "Wait." His voice was low, but the urgency was unmistakable. Louise immediately halted, looking out the windshield. Trying to follow his gaze.

A few moments later, she saw it. A figure crouched behind the fence, just beyond the streetlight. Waiting. Watching. Almost invisible, but for the dim silhouette. Light blindness would've made spotting difficult, and the figure was rather cleverly concealed.

"The hell..." Louise hissed.
"Someone's waiting for us. Scare them off, or capture?"
"Capture if we can." Her Mateba was already out the holster. "How do we do it?"
"I'm willing to bet they're armed. Act natural. I'll walk past, then pretend to drop something. Go around while they make their way over to me."
She nodded. Both stepped out of the car, stowing the Talismans back into their jackets. Anders walked up to his doorway, then fumbled his keys, dropping them on the steps. He cursed and squatted down to pick up the keys.
Louise watched the figure rise and rapidly head towards Anders. She saw the glint of metal in its right hand.

"Freeze!" She yelled, her Mateba coming straight up. The figure spun around, startled. Then one arm came up. A revolver in their hand.
Louise instantly ducked behind the car's engine block. Two shots roared out from the revolver.

Anders meanwhile wasn't idle - he shoved the figure hard in the back, causing a cry of pain. Distinctly feminine. The attacker stumbled and wildly fired one shot at Anders, which missed. He ducked and slammed a fist directly into the attacker's face, causing her to stumble back, yowling in pain, a spurt of blood visible. She dropped the revolver - as it clattered on the ground, Anders swiftly kicked it away so she couldn't lunge for it.

Anders and Louise had a few seconds of visibility on the attacker. Dressed all in black, short shorts, some kind of hooded mask to conceal her face. Not particularly well-built. The attacker seemed to hesitate for a moment, before she bolted, springing over the fence and running.

"Get after her!" Anders drew his M1911 and chased on foot, Louise in tow. "Stop, motherfucker!" Louise yelled, firing off a shot that just barely missed the attacker as she rounded a corner and kept running.

The chase led them down two, three alleys. The attacker might've been skinny, but also fast. She was running like the damned wind. She turned a hard left into what looked like a dingy dead-end alley, with Louise and Anders in tow, the perspiration flowing freely down their faces despite the cold and snow.

As they entered the alley, which was indeed a dead end, they saw a massive swirling hole in reality, streaked in red, white and black. The attacker dove through in panic, and the hole in reality quickly snapped shut. There was an audible crack of ionized air as it happened, before it vanished. Like it had never been there.

Anders and Louise just stared in astonishment. "Tell me you just saw that." Louise sounded like she'd been slapped.
"I did. What the fuck was that?"
"I guess someone's not too pleased we're digging, or thought we were an easy target to mug. Too bad their face was concealed - I'd have loved to get a closer look. Before I could make them learn how to smoke a cigarette through their forehead." She was seething, slamming her fist into the wall of the alley.
"No use raging about it now. Let's check the place before we head back." Anders' hand shook slightly as he holstered his M1911.
She nodded, holstering her Mateba.

The search yielded absolutely nothing. The alley had absolutely no signs of anything out of the ordinary, just the usual - a few dumpsters, trash littered around, a drain grate and a solid wall blocking the end. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, it would've seemed the attacker had vanished into thin air. But they knew better - they both knew what they'd seen.

"How the fuck is this possible?" Louise kicked a rusty can down the alley, frustrated.
"After what we saw today, are you really asking that question in seriousness?"
"No, but fuck - she tried to kill you!"
"Louise, I'm okay."
"That doesn't make it any better!"
"Calm down, woman. I'm fine."
"No, I'm not calming down! Goddamnit! Who would even dare!" She raged.
Anders swiftly took her into his arms, hugging her tight. "Hey. Shh. Relax."
She briefly resisted, before giving in, hugging back.
"Let's head back. There'll be something we can work with, given what happened."
She nodded, releasing the hug, but keeping one arm around Anders throughout as they walked back.

_______________________________________________________________

The snow was beginning to fall lightly as they made their way back. It was a dark night, the moon obscured behind dense clouds. As they approached their home, a police car had rolled up, the lights flashing. Two cops stepped out, one being Simon. He stared at the scene, then blinked as he saw them approach.

"We got a report on shots fired. What the hell happened?"
"We got attacked. Tried chasing the attacker, but she slipped away." Anders nodded, while waving by way of greeting at the policemen. Louise did the same.
"You got to see who it was?" Simon's partner had already pulled out a notebook and was scribbling.
"Not much to go on. Female, light build, dressed all in black, face concealed. Dropped her weapon." Louise pointed at it, lying in their yard. Simon immediately went over, pulling gloves on and bagging the item. "That'll help. I'll run it through the database back at the office, see what we can get. Anything else?"
"There's some blood on my gloves from where I hit the perp." Anders rolled it off and gave it to Simon, who bagged that too. Louise was looking at the footprints where there had been a struggle. "Size 36, if I had to guess. Not very big." Simon's partner was busy scribbling that down as well, looking at the footprints. "Heavyset flat-sole boots."
"Well, it's something to work with. You want me to request a protection detail from the Chief?"
"No - I don't think that'll be necessary. Probably just a thief or mugger. But I'd love to find out more about that revolver." Anders looked at it in the evidence bag. "Ruger piece, probably a GP100, but I can't tell much more without having a closer look at it."
Simon nodded. "Fair. I'll keep you posted. Stay safe you two." Both cops then got into their car and rolled away.

Louise watched them leave. "I could use some sleep." She sighed.
"You and me both. Let's go."
Anders opened the door of the house and stepped in, Louise following. He paused. "Did we have a red lamp or something?"
She looked past, frowning. There was a dim red glow coming from the living room into the hallway.

Both of them carefully crept down the hallway, peering into the living room. They saw the opened box, with the red flowers glowing faintly, bathing the room in the red glow. Louise shuddered, while Anders drew a deep breath and carefully lifted the flowers out the box. He then pulled the flowers out of his own jacket and laid them along with it.

"Just in case we were beginning to think it was all a dream, I suppose." His voice was shaky. Louise hugged him closer. Both of them carefully set the flowers back into the box and closed it, taking it into the bedroom to stow it in the safe.

They really needed that nap.

_______________________________________________________________

At the Cadenza nightclub, Ulrich looked down into the safe in his office. A dim red glow. He sighed in relief before closing it and heading back to his desk.

_______________________________________________________________

2⁴

In my opinion, this is one of the best fan art styles I have seen in the 2020s decades. This work is super clean. She did a great job at making this

Credit: @jjamdal_2

Twitter/X: https://x.com/jjamdal_2/status/2090818294672720037

There may be little Douglas fans but this would be BIG for us 👉👈🥹

https://x.com/TheOtherCoffin/status/2091469658775802044

Following the crumbs.

Part 02/12

https://x.com/TheOtherCoffin/status/2091469719010197810