Persica and Asterion dashed through the trees. Persica glanced back, "I need my possessions from the carriage."
"Another time. They're safer on that mushroom," Asterion said. Though he could afford dying, since he'd just respawn, the same couldn't be said for the princess. A few more zombies and skeletons appeared on their peripherals. He hated being on the run, "First mole people, now the undead. What's next?"
Asterion got his answer. A creature about the same height as Persica rounded a tree. Its green, rotted flesh dripped from its girthy body. It hobbled on beach ball sized nubs. It had no arms, and its head bulged each time it took a step.
"That's just an erect penis!" Asterion realized Gamer was right about the enemies.
"Stay away from it!" Persica pulled Asterion away. When it closed in, Asterion heard the thing begin hissing like dynamite. Some white goo began leaking out of its top, "That's a creep! They're a type of undead that yearns to be close to others, only to become volatile and explode when they get too close."
"Of course," Asterion mentally cursed the developers.
"Their explosion can level a building," Persica and Asterion returned to cardio workout. More undead showed up, and more creeps appeared with them. Ahead, they saw lights of a structure through the foliage. They entered a lush grove, with dangling foliage and cascaded by dusk's low light. Past the opening in the forest was a three-story, derelict mansion. It dominated the grounds as a foreboding figure. The inside lights were on.
"What's this doing in the middle of a forest?" Asterion wondered.
"We shouldn't enter it. This is a haunted place, filled to the brim with babas," Persica warned. "Compared to everything we've faced, and anything Kammy can throw at us, it is the most dangerous place in this forest."
"Are the residents evil?"
"Evil is harsh, but they would be biological hazards."
They kept moving to evade the undead, and they skirted the side of the mansion. The wood paneling did not age well in the environment, stained and weathered by time. Clumps of fungi and mold grew in the cracks. The drapes in the windows dressed up the home with that dreary aesthetic. They were muted, hung like limp limbs, and torn or frayed.
When they passed by one window, Asterion picked up on an individual inside a room. He ducked back and peeked in, wondering if it was Gamer or Minnie. Asterion saw a reading lounge.
Bookcases lined the walls, a fireplace provided soft tones, and cozy furniture decorated the room. The individual sat in an armchair closest to the window, faced away at an angle towards the fireplace. Most of her was obscured by the armchair, except a part of her auburn hair and a shoulder covered in a yellow and orange fabric.
"Mmm..." the lady monstrously growled. Her voice was vivacious, and so was her sensual squirms. She stood up and revealed that she was not a normal woman. Her body tilted sideways due to her uneven legs. Stitches lined her body and limbs, separating various skin tones and textures. She had the head, face, and neck of a human, with remains of an orange and yellow dress torn from the shoulders down. The voluptuous torso, its ghostly pale skin tone contrasting the neck stitch, had a set of succubus wings and a corset that squeezed tight. Her breasts were nearly popping out of the corset. Her arms and legs were mismatched and bare; the right arm of a brown fur gorilla, the left arm of a battle-torn toad, the left leg of a werewolf, and the right leg of a golden animatronic. Remnants of the orange and yellow dress remained at the waist, as it acted as a torn skirt.
"What in the..." Asterion could not piece together what he saw, but the princess's scream brought him back to his dilemma. He abandoned the peeping.
Asterion sprinted towards Persica. She pinned herself against the wall as two skeleton shellies reached out to attack. Asterion shunted forward and delivered a shoulder tackle to one. Its bones erupted apart and shotgun blasted the other shellie, and it too crumbled to pieces.
"Sorry about that. I saw somebody inside the mansion," Asterion apologized and observed their surroundings. More undead lingered in the shadows.
"There was?" Persica furrowed her brow.
About a dozen undead closed in on them from all directions. A few creeps were peppered amongst them. Asterion couldn't straight up fight with so many conditions. He glanced up at the rooftop and came to a decision. He picked Persica up under her arm and waist, and said, "Sorry about this. I'll lead them away."
An aura surrounded Asterion's body and his eyes glowed red as he activated his Super, "Atomic Springboard!"
Persica launched towards the roof of the mansion. She yelped once at the apex, and then angled herself to catch the corner. She landed and prevented herself from falling. Her heart dropped, though, when she realized Asterion's plan. She leaned over and down, and watched the minotaur horde the undead and creeps away. They converged into a mass and pursued Asterion.
"Billies! If only I had power ups for him..." Persica pursed her lips. She maneuvered along the roof eaves, as they weren't too steep. She scanned the forest around the area. The mushroom trees that were not fully grown appeared as platforms at this level. By her calculations, she could jump her way back towards the yosauri. Persica wrapped any loose clothing to her body, measured a running start, and then bounded from the rooftop to the first mushroom treetop. Success!
Persica brandished confidence, "Hang on, Asterion. I'll be back."
Down below, Asterion grabbed a smaller tree and pulled it. He ripped the trunk apart and collapsed it on top of some undead. It was a minor achievement, because more soon replaced the disabled ones.
After another grouping of foliage, Asterion ran into a large rock wall. It was taller than the mansion, and concave. To his left, creeps. To his right, skeleton shellies. Behind him, all of the above. He sighed a laugh, and turned his back to the wall. He didn't have any fancy items like springs or brooms. What he did have, though, needed to be enough, "My back's against the wall. That's fine – dead or alive, I'll show you why my name is echoed in the halls of champions!"
The zombies and skeletons were the least of his worries. It was the ten creeps that moseyed on over. Asterion grinned, flexed, and then charged headfirst.
Farther away, Minnie jumped over a bush as she ran from her living dead ancestors. She strained to keep the tears back, "I can't become one...I can't become one..."
A thunderous boom in the distance made Minnie pause. When she did, a mound formed several feet away. It burst open and Mandy's upper body appeared. Her hoodie rolled the loose dirt away and kept the mollie clean. Minnie expected an attack, but Mandy sniffed the air, and looked vaguely in her direction, "You must be one of Gopher's friends."
"Uh...who? Do you mean Gamer?"
"What, is that his real name? That's fine...here's ya boy," Mandy ducked back underground. Soon after, Gamer's body shot out of the hole like a geyser. He smashed into the ground and moaned in pain from the sudden expulsion.
Minnie took it the wrong way, and her tears sprinkled, "Ah! Gamer's a zombie now! Nooo!"
"Zombie?" Gamer parroted. He found his feet and peppered the dirt from his signature t-shirt and jean combo. He examined his surroundings. Minnie ran over, and by the time she reached Gamer, eight more mounds opened up to different mollies. Minnie slowed her run to a tiptoe, since they all expressed themselves with mean mugs. Mandy even popped back up.
"There you go, sweetie. We found you your friends. Aren't I so kind? I deserve a reward," Mandy asked with a sly smile.
"Why are there so many friendly mollies?" Minnie was surprised they weren't hostile.
"It's a long story, filled with excruciating details and tormented memories. However, we won't be attacked by them anymore. I guaranteed it," Gamer said as he rubbed his aching nards.
"⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ I'm an aunt now!" Samira rejoiced.
"A hundred times over," Gamer adjusted his jawline and cheekbones in customization to the highest point, defining them to looksmaxxing proportions (•̪ o •̪)
"I would never bring any harm to my hubby. Thank you for providing for the colony. We'll let you know when they're born. After all, we'll need child support to give them a healthy upbringing," Mandy and the female mollies giggled. Some even waved goodbye with handkerchiefs or gave lewd gestures. They all burrowed underground and let Gamer be.
"I'm gonna need to talk to Persica about a loan," Gamer figured. He searched for the princess, and noticed the missing minotaur, "Where is everybody?"
"I don't know. I blanked and ran away when Kammy summoned..." Minnie started to brief Gamer, but he had to interrupt.
"Cammy's back?"
"No, Kammy with a K."
"That's konfusing. Whatever – what are you running from? Do we have to gather eight pages or something?"
"They're what we're running from," Minnie pointed a thumb sideways. Since they took so much time, the horde of undead had reached them and waited to be noticed.
"Eghck!"
"AAAH!" Gamer and Minnie hightailed it in the opposite direction.
More undead shambled into sight. That's when a creep appeared before them. Minnie freaked out, but Gamer broke out in laughter, "It looks so fucking stupid!"
They started to run by the decaying penis monster, and it hissed like dynamite. As it expanded in size, Minnie noticed and tackled Gamer to the ground. The creep erupted. The concussive force cratered the ground and destroyed the vegetation. What also happened was a surplus of white, viscous gunk exploded in every direction. It painted the blast radius, which Gamer and Minnie narrowly skirted. They gawked at the results.
"It explodes with cum? How did you know that was going to happen?" Gamer asked.
"Well, your penis always grows bigger when we're almost done having sex. I made a guess," Minnie shrugged.
Gamer chuckled in disbelief, and patted Minnie on the shoulder, "I'm glad we're bedfellows..."
Minnie flashed a smile, but they didn't have time to relax. The undead marched on, and thus, they fled on. Gamer checked the skies for flying turtle girls. No luck – he figured Kammy used normal necromancer tactics and stayed hidden behind her minions. Ahead, however, the duo saw lights. They ran towards a three-storied mansion.
"Ahah! That's how we'll lose them," Gamer grinned, his golden ticket to avoiding game over. "In video games, there are these things called load zones. Enemies of one load zone can't go into another one."
Samira taunted, "Not quite, but close enough."
Nonetheless, Minnie followed his logic, "Oh, in other words..."
When they barged through the front doors of the mansion, they shouted, "...this mansion's the safest place in this forest!"
Across the forest...
Persica closed the chest in her carriage. She cinched closed a bag and hung it on her backside. It's all she could carry at the moment. The yosauri gathered around her, cramped at the top of the mushroom tree.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but all of you must remain up here until I return with the others," Persica apologetically bowed. "I do not know how healthy it would be for you to eat one of Kammy's minions, and I would not be able to live with myself if any of you were harmed."
The yosauri nodded in solidarity, and Persica hugged each one of them. After she embraced Ego, she deemed, "I'll count on you to keep them safe. Wait for me."
Ego smirked confidently and nodded. Persica appreciated the dependability, and leapt away to another mushroom tree. She retraced her jumps back to the mansion, and to where she became separated from Asterion. She fell to the ground below, landing with a non-damaging, dainty thud, and headed in the direction she saw Asterion run.
"There's no way he escaped after that explosion I heard," Persica ignored the strain in her bare feet as she ran over rocks and twigs. Her breathing became haggard, "Where...is he? Please, don't let me be too late..."
Persica quickly descended a hill, and came upon the first of many casualties. Multiple body parts of zombies and shards of bone laid strewn before her. A gargantuan outcropping of rock stretched towards the canopy and disappeared in the darkness. Near the stone, a single individual stood with their arms crossed, not moving. An afro and two horns denoted the silhouette's identity.
"There he is!" Persica smiled. "You really gave me a scare, gentleman bull. I see you managed to deal with the undead, and even the creeps."
When Persica drew closer, she stepped into a puddle of white. Repulsed by the gunk, she quickly wiped her feet in the dirt. It was semen, and that's when dread overtook her. She looked upon the minotaur. Asterion barely stood in place, his pants shredded and body bruised. Craters ruined the forest floor, and even the rock face around Asterion. An indescribable amount of cum plastered everything. Just buckets and buckets and buckets of cum. It dripped from Asterion's stoic form.
"What's with all this cum?!" Persica stepped next to Asterion. It pooled in his arms, fur, and every crease of his pants. Persica couldn't even tell if the man was still alive, "What happened? Did the creeps do this?!"
"Nothing..."
"Huh?"
Asterion struggled to grunt through the thick semen, "...nothing happened."