Panther Cub

OMG! I cannot believe how quickly this chapter came to me... nor how BIG it ended up being! Phew. Well, anyways, here is the crazy next chapter of A Mother's Love, I hope you all enjoy it! A Mother's Love (Chapter 6) by Panther Cub Tina, a teenage brown field-mouse girl wearing a white blouse and blue skirt, was sprinting through the trees. Flanking her were her teammates. Louie, a little bear cub wearing just a red flannel shirt and diaper, to her left. And on her right was Chase, a gray and white wolf boy around her age, in a yellow t-shirt and blue shortalls. Clutched to Tina's chest was the green and gold-striped egg they had found inside a cave, roughly the size of a football. Chase had a second egg, his being pink with sky blue polka dots, tucked under an arm, with his paintball pistol in his free paw. Louie, despite his shorter legs, was easily keeping up with them, carrying a paintball minigun. When their team, the Cookie Bandits, found it in a nearby crate, everyone had trouble holding it from its weight, and it made running impossible. Not for Louie though. After Chase had had to put the gun down and catch his breath, Louie walked up, picked the much larger boy up in his arms to gently set him aside. Then, without any effort, he equipped the minigun, and started jogging around the camp. "Okay, it should be less than a mile to camp," Chase said with a smile on his muzzle, his tail spinning in a circle in sheer excitement. "I think we lost those guys." Just then, Chase's eyes went wide, and he pitched forward, a splattering of purple paint on his back. "Dangit," he said, disappearing in a cloud of white smoke. There lay his egg, with no trace of the wolf boy. Without thinking, Louie and Tina jumped behind a tree, a purple paint pellet exploding against the bark. The egg Chase had dropped was laying just out of reach. "Okay, I think we got us a sniper situation," Louie squeaked out, pulling out and unwrapping a watermelon lollipop before sticking it in his muzzle. Tina wasn't certain, but after interacting with Louie for a while, she suspected that he had been a smoker, due to him having a greater oral fixation than some others. Even the way he pulled out his lollipop, it was with the stick in between his middle and index fingers. "Poopy," Tina said, intending on using a similar word but the Realm's censor kicked in. "The egg is right there too... maybe if I make a run for it?" "Try your skill first," Louie said, checking his minigun. Tina nodded and, touching a heart shape on the rainbow friendship bracelet on her left wrist, there was a multicolored shimmer in front of them, before it cleared and a second Tina stood where the shimmer had been. The real Tina looked at her copy and smiled, she then willed it to run over and grab the egg. The fake mouse girl sprinted over to the egg and, just before it touched it, a paintball sailed through the hologram, making it disappear with a POP!. Now with a purple splatter on the grass, the two teammates weighed their options. "We could just ditch it and run," Louie suggested. "One egg is better than no eggs." "True... but I hate the idea of letting whoever that is get one we found," Tina said with a pout. "The chatter on the network is that the purple team is called The Disruptors. They've got a crack shot for a sniper." "No kidding," Tina said, peeking a little around the tree. She whipped her head back just in time to avoid another paintball, barely missing her nose by an inch. That helped to make up her mind. "Okay, we'll just take this one back," she said, holding up a smirking stuffed bunny instead. "What the?" "Success," Jayce cheered, his invisibility wearing off. The jackrabbit boy in blue jumped for joy, stopping when he realized that he was visible again. He looked at the two and smiled weakly. With Tina reaching for her gun and Louie leveling the minigun at him, he rapidly said "Now you see me, now you don't," and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind another stuffed bunny, this one looking like it was pointing and laughing at them. "GAH!" Louie indignantly growled out, firing around in the direction the jackrabbit had been standing. Stopping, no clouds of white smoke appeared to signal he had gotten a hit, indicating that the thief had gotten away. "That sneak!" Tina stomped her foot in frustration. She then peeked back around the tree again, her blood running cold. Running towards them was a gray bunny boy, wearing what looked like a police SWAT gear, with PRPD emblazoned across the chest. "We got company!" "We're not leaving here without at least one egg, or getting shot trying," Louie said, popping his sucker back in his muzzle. "I'll hop out and start laying down suppressing fire, you grab the egg and run. If I can get away, I'll catch up. If not, then at least we'll have gotten one egg. Now MOVE!" From the left side of the tree, Louie hopped, his eyes glowing red, his minigun spinning and opening fire. In his Berserk Mode, the paintballs, while still harmless and not able to cause any of the players any harm, can cut right through the terrain, allowing him to shoot through cover. But when he activated his ability, Dante activated his own. His SWAT gear glowed bright blue and became a shining blue Riot Gear, complete with shield. Like Louie's Berserk Mode, Dante's special ability only lasted for a short time and then had a cooldown period until it could be used again. He stopped as red paintballs slammed into his shield, the paint splattering and dripping down. Dante was forced to slow his pursuit, but he kept on walking forward, his paintball pistol in his free paw, waiting for his opening. Tina jumpned and rolled towards the egg, two purple paintballs barely missing her. She grabbed the egg and got up, weaving through the trees. Off in the distance, from her vantage point up in a tree, 'Becca, wearing her own PRPD SWAT gear took in a deep breath. The mouse girl was running in a serpentine pattern, so 'Becca started to lead the suppressed barrel of her rifle and, letting her instincts take over, she fired at where she believed Tina was going to be. She was right on the money as her purple paint pellet burst against Tina's side. "No," she said, dropping the egg and disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Dante could feel his Riot Mode begging in wane, any second now his shield was going to disappear. But then, Louie ran out of ammunition. Seizing his opportunity, Dante dropped his guard and fired two shots, both hitting the bear cub in the chest. "GAH! I almost had ya too," Louie said while crossing his arms in a pout, white smoke enveloping him. Right where the second egg lay, Jayce became visible. The jackrabbit boy scooped up the egg, holding one under each arm now, smiling wide. "And that's two more for Jayce and the Disruptors," he said. "Jayce, we all told you no to that team name. We're just The Disruptors," Dante said with a sigh. Jayce pouted and stuck his tongue out at the bunny boy. Dante rolled his eyes and pulled out his walkie talkie, which was a bright blue and had googly eyes on it. "Alright, 'Becca, you see anymore hostiles?" "There's a group of five northeast of us. I think that they're heading in this direction, over," 'Becca was looking through her scope, having activated her skill that she called Dead Eye. It allowed her to see through solid objects and even 'mark' enemies she observed with a little icon that she could continue to see even when her skill was inactive. "Okay, let's start heading out," Dante said through the radio. The arctic vixen started climbing down, wincing from her soggy Pawpers. She scrambled down, pulling out her pistol instead, meeting up with Dante and Jayce at the base of the trees. It had already been decided that since Dante and 'Becca both had extensive experience using firearms, that Jayce should be the egg carrier for their little outings. Off they went through the trees, with 'Becca turning back to check on the location of the marked enemies. About halfway back to their base, she determined that the group she was observing had just made it to the scene of their little showdown. Just to be safe, they didn't head straight to the base, making more of a serpentine route, doubling back a couple of times. From what 'Becca observed, the enemies had spread out, presumably in search of them, but were all far off the mark. Eventually, they made it through the copse of trees that helped hide the base, which was now encircled by two circular walls, made up of white blocks. Along the top were crenelations, with ten automated turrets evenly spaced along the top, the plastic toy robots on sticks with paintball guns for arms chugged as they slowly swiveled back and forth on their spots. As the trio approached, the portcullis, the only entrance or exit through the walls, raised, allowing them to enter. It quickly slammed back down, making a 'Paff' sound as the solid-looking metal bars were actually also made of the same soft cushiony material as the walls and everything else in the environment of the Playroom. "Welcome back," Molly said, the raccoon girl said, laying on a red changing mat in the grass, her sailor dress pushed up a bit for the change. Father was on his knees, in the process of taping on a fresh diaper, this one with a silver hammer design on the front. The large glowing blue deity patted the diaper, signaling the change was over. "There we go, one clean bottom," Father said, kissing Molly on her forehead. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, that he was quick to return. After Molly let go and toddled off towards the walls, Father then reached over and picked up Dante, pulling down the surprised bunny boy's pants. "D-Daddy," Dante whined as his uniform shirt was revealed to be a police SWAT uniform legless onesie, with Father undoing the badge-like snaps at the crotch. "Hmm, a little damp, but you're still good to go, champ," Father said, redoing the snaps and setting a blushing Dante back down. A gentle pat to Dante's padded bottom was enough to get Dante to head on up the ruin steps with a snickering Jayce, who didn't seem to recall that his own diaper was visible for all to see. "But I think I see another little princess who has herself a wet diaper," Father said, scooping 'Becca up and doing the same thing to her that he did to Dante. 'Becca blushed and slipped her thumb into her mouth as Daddy confirmed she was indeed very wet and laid her down onto the changing mat. Dante and Jayce entered the temple, Dante taking one of the eggs so that the two could climb down the ladder. At the bottom they found Saffy staring at her toy monkey wrench, a binky in her muzzle as she concentrated. Seemingly unbeknownst to the otter girl, still wearing an identical sailor dress as Molly, with the hemline barely covering the top third of her diaper, which sported a silver gear symbol on the front and back; her tail was starting to hike. Dante and Jayce toddled over to the basket, ignoring the subconscious grunting from across the quiet room, and placed their eggs into the basket, bringing the current total up to seventeen. With Molly and Saffy working on the base defenses, and Melissa out scouting the area, as well as hunting for hidden eggs; Dante, 'Becca, and Jayce had decided to go out and start actively hunting players who were transporting eggs. This way, not only were they collecting eggs for their own basket, but they were actively preventing some eggs from going into enemy baskets. Of course, as the game progressed and players started getting a hang of their special abilities, that apparently everyone had at least one of from what all of the previous engagements had revealed, they would need to change up their strategy a bit. Especially with leaving someone else to help defend the base. Walls and automated turrets were fine, but the group had concluded that to make the game fair, Mommy and Daddy had probably given others abilities just for dealing with base defenses. "All in all, I think this is a pretty decent start," Jayce said. "Agreed," Dante replied, his tummy letting out a grumble. "Let's go see if Daddy brought us some snacks, I'm hungry." "'Kay!" Jayce and Dante both giggled as they raced to the ladder, feeling a flood of energetic excitement. Finished with her examination of her hammer and the fun little menu screen only she could see, she learned that by using her turret bot skill so much, it had actually leveled up. She had unlocked some additional schematics and the ability to upgrade her automated turrets. Rushing over to the ladder, she started climbing, also feeling hungry, wincing as she started climbing the rungs. She stopped and looked at her waist as best she could on the ladder. "I don't think I'll ever get used to doing... that, and not realizing it," she said with a sigh. "Never thought I'd ever willingly go back into diapers, or that Molly would either, but considering what we got out of Mummy and Daddy's blessing..." Saffy trailed off and smiled. She resumed climbing, also feeling a sudden rush of giddy excitement, her fully loaded diaper forgotten, and the sudden warmth leaking into it completely ignored. Daddy or Mummy would take care of it. And THIS Daddy and THIS Mummy were actually caring. One Snack Time Later... With a flash and several plush doves flying all about, Melissa suddenly appeared, holding three eggs. One was metallic shiny blue with golden stars dotting it, another with orange and red horizontal stripes running up and down its body, and the last was purple with green swirls decorating it. The red pans girl in her red sequin vest, with a white long sleeved shirt underneath, and her matching red fedora and domino mask stood proudly on the steps of the temple. "Look what I found," she said, looking around and spotting Molly running towards her. "Good job," the raccoon girl shouted in joy. "Yeah, I may have swiped a couple of these literally right out from under some other players that were looking for them," Melissa said, feeling proud. "OH! Me and Saffs leveled up our skills! I've been going around reinforcing the wall blocks. And Saffy can now upgrade her turrets!" Molly looked around before spotting the aforementioned rudder-butt up on the wall and pointed her out. Saffy was holding her toy monkey wrench above one of her turrets, mimicking turning a screw. There were a few dings and a puff of green smoke that quickly cleared. The toy robot turret was now twice as big, was wearing a belt of ammo across its chest, and its turret arms now looked like machine guns. It was also swiveling back and forth faster. "Oh wow! This place is becoming practically impenetrable," Melissa said. She looked around and spotted 'Becca waving at her from atop the domed roof of the temple itself. "So I take it that Dante and Jayce headed out to do some more egg hunting?" "Yup, Jessie too," Molly said, slipping a binky into her muzzle. "Dey spwit up, 'cause this is gunna be more about scoutin' dan egg huntin'. Ta see what da odew kids are upta and ta get a bettew wayout of da wand." Melissa giggled from how so much Molly's lisp made the babied raccoon girl even cuter. "Well, I'll go ahead and put these into our basket and then head back ou--" Melissa was suddenly interrupted by a shout coming from the portcullis, the bars of which looked even thicker. Jayce was standing there, six colorful eggs in his arms, looking panicked. "Lemme in, lemme in," he cried out, hopping from one foot to the other. Molly ran-waddled over to the lever and pulled on it, raising the gate. Once Jayce slipped through, she dropped it back down. The jackrabbit boy, who was clearly sporting a soaked diaper, hurried over to Melissa. "I think a bunch of players are gunna be heading this way soon!" "Jayce," Melissa said as Molly started taking some of Jayce's eggs, "what did you do?" At that, Jayce looked offended. "Why do you always assume that I did something?" "Because you're you," was Melissa's retort. "... Okay, maybe when I was scouting I found another base. And maybe... I decided to turn myself invisible and run inside for a quick looksie. Aaaaaaaand... when I was there, I saw the basket and decided to go ahead and take all of their eggs while I was at it." Melissa facepalmed. "Jaaaaaaayce!" "Hey, it wasn't my fault! They were sitting right there, and the guards were eating cookies! So I swiped 'em... and then an alarm went off... and for some reason my invisibility ended sooner than it shoulda! I think its was someone's skill at work!" Melissa sighed. "And so you lead them right to us?" "Well... maybe, but I didn't come straight back here! I first let them tail me to another base I had found. I turned invisible again shortly after running in... and swiped a couple eggs that were in that team's basket too." Jayce, his arms now unburdened, whipped his blue sequin fedora off his head with a flourish and started reaching in, his arm going in much deeper than the hat should be. His tongue was sticking out in determination as he made it up to his shoulder, before he lost his balance. With a squeak of surprise, he fell into the hat. He got stuck at the waist, one arm poking out on the right of his soggy padding, his legs kicking frantically. Melissa sighed again as she picked up the hat by the rim and turned it back over, giving it a shake. With a POP, Jayce fell out onto his padded bottom making a squish, eleven more eggs landing in his lap and around him. He looked up at the agitated Melissa with teary eyes. Melissa tried to maintain her frown, but a jackrabbit toddler, even a teenaged one, giving the sad puppy eyes was just too much for anyone to take. Picking him up under his arms, Melissa pulled him into a hug. "Okay, so you messed up a little. At least you got us all these eggs," she said, rubbing his back. "And a couple wallets from the players who entered through the daycares," he said under his breath, opening said wallets and taking out the money from inside them literally behind Melissa's back. "Guys," everyone stopped what they were doing, hearing a note of worry in 'Becca's tone. She was watching from the direction Jayce had come from through her scope. "Trouble is heading our way." "Well, these walls seem even sturdier than when I left," Melissa offered with Jayce nodding excitedly. "One of them is driving a tank," was 'Becca's reply. She watched the green marked tank stop off in the distance, and a little zebra head poke out. Mirajaine, the little zebra girl/former granny. Reading the girl's lips, Mirajaine seemed to be saying 'Lock and load, dearies'. Back on the temple steps, Melissa was glaring at Jayce who was whistling and trying to look innocent while not meeting her gaze. "So you led a tank right back to us?!" "Uhm... maybe..." Elsewhere... Dante had been looking around the forest, peeking out where it ended and a rocky desert area began. The green grassy carpet became a light tan-brownish color to look like sand, with cushion rocks and plush cacti and scrub bushes dotting the landscape. He didn't dare walk out into the open, with little to no cover, and instead headed further into the trees. He had managed to successfully avoid some scouts, including barely avoiding the lookout of what seemed to be a teenaged lion boy in a green legless onesie flying high with a kite attached to his back. As he was hiding, he noticed a bright red plastic-looking pipe that made him think of the Super-Duper Partio Bros. games. It wasn't sticking straight up, however. Instead, the pipe was sticking up out of the carpet ground at an angle, almost laying on its side, with a strange green fog perpetually pouring down from the top of the opening, obscuring the inside. Dante looked at the green fog dubiously. It was such a stark contrast to the bright almost primary greens and browns he was otherwise surrounded by. Looking around, Dante could see that part of the carpet forest flooring had been torn up around this strange red pipe, some of the ripped fabric bunched up. It was apparent to Dante that this was not supposed to be here in the Playroom. The teenaged baby bunny boy looked around for a moment to make sure that the coast was clear, before stepping right up to the fog. It was silent, as if it sucked all of the surrounding sound into it. "This could be REALLY dumb," Dante said aloud, just to break the ominous silence. He lifted his left hand and gently dipped it into the mist, prepared to rip it back out at any moment. All that happened was that he felt a cool tickling sensation on his hand. Pulling it back out and examining it, nothing seemed or felt any different. "Come in, Chief Soggy-Pants, over," Jessie's voice crackled over the radio, making Dante leap back in fright. He wasn't sure, but if his diaper wasn't wet before, it most likely was now. "Jessie, I'm a little busy right now," he said into the radio with an irritated growl. There was a moment of silence before the skunk girl responded. "You forgot to say over." Dante rolled his eyes. "Look, I found something... weird. Something I don't think is supposed to be here in the Playroom. I think it might have some kind of a clue that can help us get our lives back. I'm gunna head inside and look around a little... over," he said. "Woah, hold up one second, Dante," Jessie said, a tonal shift in her voice that caused his ears to twitch. "Assuming you didn't just stumble into some kind of puzzle or something, you shouldn't go inside ANYTHING that you think might not be a part of this Realm. Based on what happened to Fluffy, as well as something Melissa and Jayce were just telling us about when they went exploring in the out of bounds area, it's REALLY dangerous to go exploring in there." Dante didn't respond, remembering when Fluffy had been brainwashing him to make him more babyish and obedient. He shuddered a bit and slipped his thumb in between his lips, sucking on it helping to calm his nerves. "Dante, you there?" Jessie asked, now sounding more concerned. "You didn't say over," Dante said, wiping his thumb on his uniform shirt. "DANTE! So help me if you do that again, I will wait until right after your next diaper change, I will tie you up, gag you, and then pour a whole tray of ice down the back of your fresh diaper! Over!" Dante smiled a little. "Look, Skunk-Butt, I''l just poke around a little and come right back out. Then we can all come here and explore this place properly as a group, hopefully without alerting Mommy and Daddy, 'cause they'll probably seal it off or something." Squaring his shoulders, the former Chief of Police stepped forward and began to walk into the mist. "Dante? DANTE?! Oh so help me if you--SHOOT! Guys, we're under fire, west side! Dante?!" Like stepping through a curtain, Dante stepped out of the mist... and immediately dropped, He let out a surprised shriek, his brain barely registering that he was sliding fast down a red and yellow plastic slide, that twisted and turned in a twilight gloom, corkscrewing and even loop-de-looping. Finally, he landed into a pit of multicolored balls. Popping up, on his feet and taking a fighting stance, Dante looked around. There were tall plastic sides with silly cartoon character faces painted on, most faded or scratched. Pale yellow bare bulbs on long wired hung suspended above. Checking himself in their light, Dante was surprised to see and feel that his outfit was... different. The material had changed, becoming a bit rougher, more familiar. A quick inspection showed that while his uniform shirt was actually now a dark blue BDU onesie with crotch snaps, and his shorts had morphed into a dark blue pair of BDU pants. His booties were black boots, with velcro straps. Touching his helmet, it no longer felt like the plastic costume SWAT helmet it had been when he had first put it on. Now it felt heavier, more solid. Like it was made from Kevlar. Checking his equipment, his nightstick unfolded, and definitely had some more heft to it than the nerf toy it had just been. And the paintball gun... this was no longer a paintball gun. Dante knew the weight and feel of a Glock... HIS Glock 20. Somehow, he just knew it was his. "What is going on," Dante asked, his voice still sounding like a teenager's voice. From the twitching of his drooped ears and the twitching of his cotton tail, he knew that he was still a bunny. And, letting out an involuntary grunt, Dante felt himself mess his Snuggies. Whimpering, his thumb found its way back into his mouth, his suckle reflex kicking back in. "So I'm still somewhat dressed as, and acting like a toddler... but I now have real weapons and a... mostly real SWAT uniform..." Dante sighed, his ears twitching at a sound that drew his attention. Turning, a little bit off, he could see a young girl, an otter he guessed from the tail, wearing a ragged-looking pink dress with a grimy plastic tiara on her head. She had her back to him and was hunched over, crying. "Uh... h-hello?" Dante slowly approached the girl, his hand resting on the butt of his gun. "This is exactly how scary movies set up a terrifying monster," he murmured under his breath. "H-hello?" she called back, tilting her head a little, but not turning around. "Oh yeah, this is gunna be some kind of a monster," Dante quietly said to himself, gripping his nightstick tight. "Are you okay?" The girl sniffled and shook her head. "N-no! I'm l-lost and all alone. And my Mommy and Daddy aren't even looking for me! I-instead, they're preoccupied with all the new babies," she sniffed before continuing, "making them happy. They forgot all about me... here in the darkness." Dante said nothing, steeling himself for the big reveal. "I was made by Mommy and Daddy to be a big sister to all of the babies. But then Daddy got sealed away, as did Mommy and the Realm... and it began to roooooot." Her voice started becoming deeper, and more distorted, like several people were speaking at the same time. There were some loud and sickening crunches, and her arms began to elongate. Her hands became long-fingered claws. Patches of her brown fur tore away leaving bald spots showing wriggling muscle and sinew. "Down here in the darkness I fell, and no one came to find me," the creature said, its spine popping and tail thrashing, its entire frame now longer and lankier. "Until, one day, a new baby, the first in such a loooooong time after the others had been stolen away, arrived, and breathed new life into Mommy and the Realm. And from there, more appeared, and even Daddy returned. Fluffy, who had started to succumb to the rooooooot was healed. As were some other things leftover from the previous Realm. But not me... I was left to continue to roooooooooooot!" She snarled and whipped her head around to stare down at Dante with a baleful glare, eyes shining with a sickly green light. Dante flinched a little but stood his ground. He had dealt with deranged lunatics, cold blooded killers, mobsters, underhanded politics, and most recently; human sacrificing cultists and death itself. Dante wasn't fearless as he stood there looking at the giant twisted otter girl. Instead, he fell on instinct. Without realizing it, his radio, which was no longer a toy, was in his hand. "Requesting backup, officer needs assistance," was all he needed to say. Just then, in a semi-circle in the ballpit with Dante at the center of the arch, four light blue lights began to shine. They quickly formed into translucent-looking figures. Dante instantly recognized them as Jessie, 'Becca, Jayce, and Melissa. Confused, he saw that his player menu screen was up and that he had just activated a skill called Backup. Under it said 'Limit 4'. "What the?!" Jessie said, looking around and down at her hands. She was wearing a black t-shirt with a red skull on the front, her headfur done up at the top into a short mohawk. She was wearing a red and black pleated skirt that covered half of her diaper, with thick black boots on her feet. In her paws was a black and red electric guitar. "This is so weird... I'm still in the forest and moving around... but I'm also here?" "I know what you mean," 'Becca said, her uniform having undergone the same transformation as Dante's, with his sniper rifle looking much more real and dangerous. "I'm still on top of the temple, yet I can feel that I'm also here... wherever here is..." "Looks like Jayce wasn't the only bunny boy to land our tem into trouble," Melissa said, her outfit looking largely the same. but now there was a red aura around her. "How many times do I have to apologize?!" Jayce asked with a pout, he too looked mostly the same, aside from the bright blue aura that surrounded him. "Once would be nice!" "Guys, we kinda need to focus right now," Dante cut in, motioning towards the confused and agitated-looking monster. "What even is that thing?" Jessie asked. "Something else affected by that green stuff that twisted Fluffy and the puppets," Dante said. The creature roared and lunged right for him. Dante rolled out of the way just in time, the others doing the same. "And I think, somehow, we can actually fight it." "What could you possibly be basing that on?!" Jessie demanded. "Because we're all different here!" Dante said, whipping out his glock, taking aim, and firing two rounds. The creature shrieked and recoiled in pain/ Hissing, she swiped at him with her claws, which he rolled to avoid again. Dante figured he would have to be mindful of his stamina to keep avoiding the monster. "Oooh! I wanna try something I saw in my menu!" Jayce ran forward, pulling out a deck of cards from his sleeve that he began shuffling. He ran through the balls along the side of the monster, shuffle-flipping the cards into the air as he did so. The cards shone bright blue like little stars, and shot towards the monster. Each one that hit burst into a shower of spark, making the beast roar in pain again as it dodged some more of them. Its eyes on Jayce, it quickly skittered towards him. "Uh-oh," he said, jumping to the side to avoid a swipe of the claws. He wasn't quite quick enough, and Jayce took some damage. He kept running, not noticing any pain, but saw in his menu that he now had a health bar, and that swipe took him down to half his health. The creature scooped up some of the balls and threw them into the air. They ignited with green flames, and started streaking towards Jayce. Just then, there was a loud BANG, and the monster clutched its right eye, howling again. 'Becca was crouched to the side, the barrel of her rifle smoking. The creature ran towards her, but she activated her own skill and disappeared into the shadows. Jayce was dodging the flaming plastic balls, until he slipped and fell. Just before one could hit him, Melissa hopped in front of him and whipped off her hat. She held the mouth of it open and the remaining flaming balls flew right in. She flipped the hat in her paws before holding it up again, facing the beast. Out shot the five flaming balls, now wreathed in red flames, and into the creature's back they slammed, exploding on impact. With a hiss, the creature jumped straight up into the air, did a front flip, and dove into the ball pit like it was made of water. "Okay, we just gotta keep dodging and attacking," Dante said, "we're hurting it!" There was a growl coming from the ball pit and, without thinking, Dante activated his Riot Mode. His riot shield manifested, glowing with a silvery light now as well as the rest of his body armor and his baton; just in time as the otter monster popped up and swiped at him with both claws. Hitting his shield, he swung the shield. The resulting powered up knockback tossing the monster back out of the balls and flailing up into the air. 'Becca and Jayce, who pulled out another deck of cards, unleashed a volley that struck the monster. Its roars were drowned out by Jessie who had finished reading her menu. Just going with it, she had activated her Rock Out skill. The punky-skunky was glowing with a white aura as she played her top single, Ice Queen. The soundwaves from her guitar were visible to all, and where they struck the monster, large ice crystals started forming. It slammed into the ball pit, now breathing heavily. Its movements were slower and sluggish, even moreso due to the rapidly growing ice encasing its body. It tried to lunge towards Jessie, but was soon trapped in a spiky pillar of ice. Jessie unleashed a final riff, and the soundwaves smashed into the pillar, smashing apart and sending the monster skidding through the mangled plastic balls. It got up and tried again for Jessie, but Dante intercepted with his shield. The knockback didn't send it flying back into the air again, but it did leave the monster reeling. Seeing an opportunity to strike, Dante swung his nightstick, striking the monster in the leg. There was a crunch that turned his stomach, and the creature fell over, roaring and whining. Dante approached, his pistol in his hand. He stopped before its snarling, whimpering mouth. He saw the green light start to flicker, and could see tears rolling down the hurt creature's face. Looking at his glock, Dante holstered it. The creature lunged and, stun gun at the ready, he hit it right between the eyes. An ear splitting screech echoed around the chamber, and then the beast slumped over. Dante backed away as a precaution, but something told him that the danger had passed. "So... that was cool and all, but what are we supposed to do now?" Jayce asked. "What is going on in here?" Mother's voice made all of them freeze. Turning, they saw the pink deity, now once again matching each of their different species from their different perspectives, with Daddy right behind her. "Wait... is that... Ariel?!" Daddy asked. Mother's eyes went wide and over to the beast she rushed. Her eyes started to shine with a golden light, and so did the body of the beast. In a matter of seconds, it had shrunk back down to the size of an average little girl, that Dante placed looking at around five or six-ish. Her blonde hair done up into a ponytail, and was wearing a glittering pink sundress. The whines and snarls were replaced with hiccuping sobs and sniffling. Her injuries had somewhat healed. Her broken leg was now just a scrape, her shot out eyes was now just bruised, and so on. "M-Mommy? Daddy?" the otter girl asked, looking up and at the two beings. Mother gently scooped the girl up and held her to her chest, rocking the little otter. "Oh, Ariel... I thought you had been lost to the void," Mother choked out a sob, hugging the girl who was quick to hug back. Father joined the hug, kissing the otter on her forehead. "Baby girl, you were here all along?" he asked. The otter looked down at her wringing paws and nodded. "I g-got lost and tried to find my way back... but then I started feeling sick..." "It's okay, honey, I promise," Mother said, relieved tears streaming down her face. She looked at the ghostly little ones and gave them a smile, while Father walked over and scooped Dante up into his arms. Dante noticed that his gear had reverted to its more infantile forms and let out a sigh, leaning into the hug Daddy was giving him. "Hey, buddy," Daddy said, bouncing Dante a little. "You went someplace that I'm pretty sure you had an idea you weren't supposed to." Dante winced at that, but instead was hugged again. "But, you helped find your big sister... even if it does look like you and some of your other brothers and sisters got into a scuffle with her." "I-I'm sorry for... going out of bounds," Dante said, surprised to find that he actually meant it. He too received a kiss and was set with his head looking over Daddy's shoulder while his back was gently rubbed. "I think Mommy and I will overlook it this time, so no time out. You did a good thing, champ. And I'm just so proud of you." Hearing those words brought back memories from when Dante was a child... the first time. Remembering how he had always tried to make his father proud, and the stern and perpetually unsmiling man never giving little Dante even the tiniest hint of pride. Instantly, Dante felt his eyes begin to prickle with white hot tears, and his breath began to hitch, and now it was his turn to sob as he buried his face into Daddy's shoulder. Daddy continued to gently rub his back. Mother and Father exited the out of bounds area, sealing it back off as they left. From up above, a single green eye blinked, and let out a venomous hiss. Well... that was weird... but so much fun to imagine and write! I really hope that you enjoyed it! Until next time!

Geeze this was so good!

O.O Blush Thank you! I imagine that that could be quite the revelation for someone like Mark. Perhaps he had heard from non-adopted Littles about their negative views on adoption and their thoughts on Matureosis, and in his head just thought that it was a bias on their part, and that the unfortunate ones with the disorder come to see how much better off or slip into the role they need in this new transition of life really are much happier with their lot in life after they've had some time to adjust. Then Mark comes along, who's been adopted for a while now and while a little fussy but should be fitting into his new baby role now, and then unleashes that tirade.

I do have to wonder if this means Janet will finally realize just how deep Clark's hatred for what has happened and for her actually is? I mean, that Mark guy just gave up after one, granted major, negative interaction with Clark. And not just with Janet, but also with Little Voices and possibly with "adopting" a little of his own. In this world where Amazons taking a Little and making them their surrogate baby/toddler is the norm, most Amazons would just chalk this up to a tantrum, especially since he had just had a "blowout". But Clark managed to strike a nerve with this guy. And I agree, he was justified in doing so, considering all that he's been through. This is all just such an interesting take on a DD story!

Yes! Go Ellie!

112?! O.O Woah... that is dayumn impressive!

Hello and happy holidays to all you wonderful readers out there! I am just so dang happy to be able to bring to you this new chapter! I had a LOT of fun coming up with this chapter and I hope you all enjoy it as well. And keep an eye out for a special guest star! A Mother's Love (Chapter 5) by Panther Cub "Were you seen?" Dante hissed, sealing up the pillow fort. Different pastel-colored pillows and cushions made up the walls and ceiling, expertly stacked and surprisingly sturdy. The bunny boy was wearing a legless blue onesie and matching booties, with a white binky attached to a lanyard to said onesie. The telltale bulge of his Pawpers apparent to any who would look at him. He looked to Jessie, who just rolled her eyes and set down the duffel bag. "'Course. I'm no amateur," the skunk girl said. She was wearing just a pink T-shirt with a glittery rainbow and butterflies on it, and a white Snuggies-brand diaper with pink leg guards and the word 'Princess' going across the front waistband. She also had on pink booties that matched the pink bow tied to the tip of her tail. "Well I kinda had to ask, as we're cutting it close on time here," he said, looking at the colorful red and blue toy watch on his wrist. Jessie unzipped the duffel and pushed it closer to him. "Like I said, I'm no amateur." She smirked. Looking inside, Dante smiled. There were four bottles of chocolate milk, some candy bars, a box of powdered, glazed, and chocolate doughnuts, as well as the purple blankie with blue stars from the crib the two and Rebecca shared. Jessie also pulled out her stuffed bunny, which she chose to ignore was now dressed the same as Dante, yet again, complete with a tiny paci on a lanyard attached to its onesie as well. Looking at his watch, Dante grabbed the remote lying next to him and turned on the TV from the living room that they had pushed off into a corner, behind some potted plants. Considering there were now hundreds of flat screen TV's in the living room, they were correct in figuring that no one would miss it. Jessie fluffed up the big pillow the two liked to lean back up against as Dante made sure they were on the right channel. He smiled wide as his and Jessie's ears both perked up at the theme song starting. Giggling, the two both started to sing along to 'I Wanna Be a Share Hare'! They snuggled together underneath the blankie, both popping their babas in as they avidly watched. After a while of watching their favorite colorful hares and their adventures in the cloud kingdom of Share-a-Lot, and eating some of the doughnuts, Jessie and Dante were now leaning shoulder to shoulder. "I think you're a total Prickly-Hare," Jessie giggled as the commercials started. In the current episode, the blue cartoon hare in question appeared to be trying to enjoy reading a book by himself, but the other share hares kept interrupting him. "Oh yeah? Well... you're 100% a Cuddle-Heart-Hare," Dante said, joining in with his own giggles. "Nu-uh, Puff-Butt," Jessie said, playfully shoving Dante. "Yeah-huh," Dante said with a gleeful squeal, shoving back, "Stinky-Pants". Dante slipped his binky into his mouth and smiled at Jessie while he suckled it. "You are such a baby," she said, popping her own in. "No, you're a baby," Dante countered, sticking his tongue out. So went their little ritual. In the three months that had passed since Mother's interview and Father's return, Dante and Jessie, completely by accident, found that they both shared a guilty pleasure. While it was true that the Share Hares was just one juvenile thing the steadily growing number of babies to the Realm watched, they both agreed that it would still be pretty embarrassing for them if others found out that they secretly both had always loved the show. Unbeknownst to the two, this was pretty much an open secret. Rebecca looked over at their fort and rolled her eyes. She didn't feel put out by those two having their own little ritual together. In the time that they've been in the Realm and exploring it, often researching how to escape back to Earth, the arctic vixen had developed little 'rituals' with Dante and Jessie. She and Jessie would play with dollies, with the skunk threatening to slip an ice cube down the back of 'Becca's diaper if she ever told anyone. And she and Dante would play with a toy police action figure set. Sometimes reenacting real cases they both had been involved in on the job. They both seemed to find a catharsis in this, even if their playtime reenactments sometimes took a darker turn. "Hey, Snow-Butt, you in or out?" A gruff-sounding voice with a classic-sounding Brooklyn accent snapped 'Becca's mind to the colorful plastic table she sat at. She and four others were currently playing poker, with stacks of chocolate chip cookies counting as their chips. The one who asked was a fairly recent arrival, of over a week. He was a gray wolf boy in his mid-teens by the name of Tony. From what 'Becca had been able to glean, he and his brother both used to be low-level street thugs working for a floundering mafia family, as well as human and in their thirties. Said 'brother', Lyla (formerly Lyle) was now a little red panda girl, sitting to the wolf boy's left. The two wore pinstripe suit tops and ties, complete with fedoras. Tony had on Pawpers with cartoon puppies playing on the front. Lyla was wearing a bright pink tutu with rainbow Pawpers on, and was mimicking smoking a cigar with a Twuzzler. In short, 'Becca surmised that the two were more wannabe gangsters than actual gangsters. To Lyla's left was a young zebra girl in a yellow sundress named Mirajaine, who claimed to have been in her late nineties. Her appearance placed her at around seven or eight. She certainly tended to act more like a grandmother than a young girl, though seemed to take delight in being able to run around freely as well as her boundless energy. That being said, she and several others had taken up knitting and there was even talk about forming an Arts and Crafts Guild. Finally for their little table, to 'Becca's left and Tony's right, was a golden dragon boy in just a red shirt and diaper, Wuvs with fireworks on the front. He said his name was Bandile, and that he was from South Africa, with a slight accent that seemed to corroborate that claim. Otherwise, he refused to talk about his life, only briefly ever mentioning he worked in private security. Looking at her hand, 'Becca tossed in another couple of cookies into the pot. She knew how weird it was, to be in the realm of an ancient Goddess and God, a former detective, playing poker with a young granny, two wannbe gangsters, and a possible former mercenary, all dressed like toddlers and babies. Yet, the more time passed, the more used to it she became, and not just with the poker game. Mother and Father would go out of their way to dote one each and every one of them equally, sometimes the two of them seemingly in multiple spaces simultaneously. Whatever slack was to be found was instantly picked up by Nanny Sarah, who 'Becca could see was carrying three teen bear cubs into the playroom. Reflecting on how hard things had been for her growing up, 'Becca actually felt that... it was nice to have someone take care of you. "Alright, I'll call," Tony said with a grin after Lyla, Mirajaine, and Bandile folded. 'Becca smiled back. "Four of a kind, Fluff-Puff," Tony said, laying down a hand with all four nines in it. He was reaching for the stack of cookies when 'Becca waved his paws away. She then laid down her cards, revealing a royal flush. "Sorry, Tony-Baloney, but it looks like I won this round," 'Becca said, knowing her nickname wasn't very good, but still eliciting a giggle from Mirajaine and Bandile, as well as a stifled giggle from Lyla. Tony crossed his arms and pouted. "I used to have folks that disrespected me like that disappeared," he said, trying to sound tough. 'Becca rolled her eyes. "Huh? Since when?" Lyla asked, looking up at her little brother. Tony winced at her. "Remember, Lyle... la? How after working our way up we ran things in our own turf?" Tony gave his technically big sister a nudge, but the red panda girl giggled and shook her head. "Nu-uh. I remember us having to move a lot of crates... oh and drop that car off at the dump Big Gino's cousin worked at to have it crushed. OH! And you getting beat up when you tried to get that masseuse parlor to start paying us protection money." "Lylaaaaa!" Tony whined, now losing his accent, which just made the red panda giggle even more, along with the others at the table. Starting the game over, everyone getting more cookies from a passing Nanny Sarah who was more than happy to oblige, Mirajaine ended up winning with by successfully bluffing a junk hand. Over in the pillow fort, Dante and Jessie's cartoon was over. "Okay, I've been thinking," Dante said during the end credits. Jessie nodded while she drained the last of her last baba. "With these Daycare thingies set up all over the world, that lead to her Realm, we could probably sneak out through one of them." "But Fluffy is keeping a close eye on all of them, now that he's got his network of puppets set up again," Jessie pointed out. "True, but I've been thinking. If we could find a way to distract Fluffy for a while, he probably wouldn't notice us leave." "Maybe... but Mommy will probably just come and find us. She can appear anywhere in the Mortal Realm. Daddy too. They could probably easily find us." "Well... yeah... but we gotta try something! We're not babies, after all," Dante said, sticking his binky back in his mouth. Just then, there was a flash of golden light, and Dante, Jessie, and 'Becca found themselves standing on the carpeted grassy plains of the Playroom, the ceiling no longer visible and now looking just like a real clear blue sky. Off in the distance were some mountains and woods, and more mountains off in the horizon. The three found that they weren't the only ones who suddenly appeared there, looking confused. Then, with another flash of light, Mommy and daddy stood there before the assembled babies. "Alright, everyone's here!" Mother said, twirling with joy in her pink and white sundress. It had a colored egg pattern at the hem. The pink entity beamed down at all her babies, just wanting to scoop each and every one of them into a hug and cuddle them. But she restrained herself. Father was standing next to her, wearing khaki pants and a light blue polo shirt, that went well with his blue glow. For once, to all of the babies, the two were something other than the same species as each and every one of them. Instead, to all those assembled in the Realm, the pair both looked like bunnies. "Does anyone know what today is?" "Uh," a hyena girl in a red dress raised her hand. She looked around five and was blushing at the sudden attention to her. "I think it's... Easter?" "That's right, Sarah! Today is Easter! So daddy and I have gathered you all here in the Playroom for a special game! It's going to be an Easter Egg Huntstravaganza!" She threw her arms wide making a rainbow connected to her palms and arching over her pointed ears sparkle before quickly fading. "I have a feeling that this isn't going to be so simple," Dante quietly whispered to Jessie and 'Becca, who both nodded. "Now, you'll all form little groups, and then Daddy, Sarah, and I will drop you all off to your different starting areas. There, you will find some supplies! Now, this will be a bit different than most egg hunts. Your groups will have a half hour to explore and find a spot to make your team's base, by planting the team flag down in it. There, a big basket will appear. After the time has run out, colored eggs will appear all over the Playroom, and only in the Playroom. Some will be more hidden than others, and some will be special secret eggs. The big basket back at your base is where you will deposit the eggs you find. The game will last until after sunset, at which point, whichever team has the most eggs wins!" "However," Father interjected, a playful grin on his face, "this is not as straightforward as it seems. For starters, other teams can swipe the eggs from you or your base's big basket to take and put in their base's basket. So it would probably be a good idea to leave someone guarding your base while the others are out hunting. What's more, your mother was very insistent on adding in paintball guns. That's right, these paintball guns will have a special effect. If you get hit by an enemy paintball, you will be out for one minute the first time, two minutes the second time, and so on and so forth. However, if you get hit six times, then you are out of the game." Seeing some nervous glances, Father chuckled and scooped up a raccoon boy, and began tickling his belly, making him squeal. "Don't worry, Franz, the paintballs won't hurt one bit, and everyone gets a special prize basket just for playing. And if anyone is too uncomfortable to play, then that is fine as well. Nanny Sarah has organized some other fun Easter activities!" That caused some of the nervous folks to relax. Dante looked to Jessie and 'Becca, who both nodded to him, and shared a smile with them. The three stayed together as others grouped up. Looking around, Dante, Jessie, and 'Becca watched the other children. The arctic vixen spotted Tony and Lyla, both in the same outfits from earlier (although now Tony seemed to be wearing a new diaper that had kittens on the front) looking confident as they were speaking to a rat girl in a blue denim skirt-all and a red cape, and a weasel boy in a set of green shortalls with snaps at the crotch, a blue and yellow striped long sleeve shirt on underneath. Not too far away, Jessie took note of the gold dragon boy, Bandile, with Mirajaine sitting on his shoulders. They were chatting amicably with an alligator boy in his teens, who was wearing a tan sheriff uniform top and hat, with a star-shaped badge on the front of his diaper. Dante looked around, amazed at just how many other 'babies' had entered the Realm. Quickly counting, he realized that there were way past one hundred. It dawned on him that after Mommy's display of power on national television and the promise of basically an eternal childhood, that lots of desperate and more than likely elderly or otherwise gravely ill people had decided to take their chances, each and every day. As Dante saw maybe thirty or forty kids heading over to the arts and crafts area being run by Nanny Sarah, which looked like the colorful wild west town from the very first paintball game Mommy had organized for the three of them; three more of their 'siblings' had approached the trio. On his left, Dante saw a raccoon girl and an otter girl both wearing identical sailor dresses and hats, and both looking in their late teens. The otter girl, who had frizzy red hair bunched up into two pigtails, was tugging at the hem of her dress to try and get it to cover more than the top third of her diaper, quite unsuccessfully, while looking around a bit flustered. An obvious newbie. To his right was a teenage jackrabbit and red panda duo that had become quite well known to everyone in the Realm. "Dante, old buddy, old pal," Jayce said, bulldozing over the raccoon girl opening her mouth to speak. He and Melissa were both dressed up in their sequin suit tops, his blue and Melissa's red, with their matching fedoras and domino masks on. The Snuggies both wore also had the same colored trim as their outfits around the leg gathers. Both of their diapers had a top hat and a wand on the front. "What do you want, Jayce," Dante asked, crossing his arms, "if you've come to ask me to lend you some cookies, you can forget it. You still haven't paid me back from last time!" The jackrabbit boy waved a dismissive paw. "No, this is a separate matter entirely. Although Melmel and I wouldn't mind anymore of those tasty carame--OOF!" Jayce was elbowed in his tummy and pushed aside by the red panda girl. Melissa gave the trio a bright smile. "What my silly baby brother was supposed to ask was if you three would want to team up with us? We could really help each other out." Dante opened his mouth to say no. "Sure thing, Melissa!" He whipped around to look at 'Becca, who was hugging her fluffy tail. "Wait a minute--OUCH!" Dante whined as he felt his ear being tugged. He looked to his right to see Jessie standing there with a smirk on her muzzle. "And what our silly baby brother means to say is 'We would love to have you two on our team'!" Jessie popped a pacifier into Dante's mouth to silence any further protest. He grumbled and crossed his arms in a pout when she finally let go of his ear. 'Becca then took his paw and led him off to the side a little bit while Jessie and Melissa started discussing strategies. It was then that the two new girls approached, the raccoon girl holding the otter's paw. "Hi there, I'm Molly, and this is Saffy! We were wondering if we could be on your team?" Molly asked in a bubbly voice. "Uhm... yeah," Saffy said, hints of an accent from across the pond picked up by Dante as he was led away. "Why'd you guys just say yes to 'em?" Dante asked, stamping his foot with a huff once they were far enough away so that their voices couldn't travel. Dante could see Jessie and Melissa talking to the two new girls, while Jayce sucked on his binky and pulled out a deck of cards from up his sleeve, shuffling them. "Because, in case you hadn't noticed, Chief, we're kinda outnumbered here," 'Becca pointed out, waving her arms in the directions of other teams, some as large as twenty kids. "We need as many players as we can get." "But... fine," Dante said, pouting again and starting to walk back towards their group. "I thought it was just gunna be the three of us," he grumbled around his binky. Returning, he saw that Jayce and Molly were sitting on the carpet grass, the deck of cards between them. "Is THIS your card?" Jayce asked, pulling a nine of diamonds off the top to show. "Nope," Molly said, hugging her bushy ring tail. Saffy stood by Melissa and was looking over Jayce's shoulder. "Oh, really? Hmm... are you suuuuure?" "Yes. My card that I showed to Saffy, Jessie, and Melly was an ace of clubs. Plus, you had me sign it with this marker, remember, Sog-boy?" Jayce stood up and began pacing, stopping before a grumpy-looking Dante, a mischievous smile on the jackrabbit's face. Without a word he leaned down and started unbuttoning Dante's onesie. "H-hey! What're you doin'?!" Dante asked, with Jayce ignoring him and tugging up the bottom of the onesie to show off the front of Dante's diaper. "Is THAT your card, Molly-Wolly?" They all looked to see that the front of Dante's diaper, which had had the design of several Share Hares frolicking on it, was now replaced with the image of an Ace of Clubs playing card, with some writing in black marker on it that read Jayce likes playing tea party and dressing up in pretty clothes. "Wha--I do not!" The girls all giggled as Dante furiously snatched away the flap of his onesie. When he let it go, the buttons all snapped back together, the fabric pulling nice and snug around his diaper. "It sure is my card," Molly said, falling on her back laughing. That was when Melissa decided to chime in. "You do SO like dressing up in a pretty princess dress and playing tea party with me!" "Nu-uh! I just did that... to be nice, that's all! And you offered free cake!" Jayce blushed and looked away. Dante snickered a bit, before both were pulled into a hug by Melissa. "And that's why you're a wonderful baby brother. Both of you are," she said, hugging them tight. "I'm the big brother!" Dante and Jayce said simultaneously. They tried to wriggle away from the soft embrace, before they, along with Melissa, 'Becca, a very worried-looking Saffy, Molly, and Jessie, were all scooped up by Daddy. As the giant blue bunny man started to walk them through the expanded forest, he nuzzled the tops of their heads. "I love seeing you little cuties getting along so well," Daddy said, now giving each of his babies a kiss on their foreheads. 'Becca's tail wagged, and she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. He chuckled as he came to a stop in a clearing. Looking around, the babies saw that they were now in a new section of the Playroom, one that was made to look like some kind of jungle. Jessie took note of a marble statue off in the distance, while the others took more of an interest in the five dark brown wooden crates littering the clearing. "Alright, kiddos. Here's your flag," Daddy said, pulling a purple flag on a retractable metal pole from his pocket, which he handed to Dante. "Now remember, you guys have thirty minutes to pick a spot for your base. After that, the eggs will appear all over the place. Understand?" "Uhm... yes, sir," Dante said, feeling nervous. Daddy smiled softly down at him, and bent down, picking Dante back up. He started to bounce the surprised bunny boy in his arms, making Dante let out reluctant giggles. "There's no need for any of that 'sir' stuff. I'm just Daddy, or Dada, or Papa, or even Pa; okay, buddy?" Dante let out a yes and was kissed again on his forehead, before he was set down again. Dante quickly hopped back out of reach of the giant, a blush on his gray cheeks. With a chuckle, Daddy was off and disappearing through the trees. Dante felt a weird warmth in his chest when he was being bounced like that, and it was fading, almost causing him to let out a whimper. But he shook it off and popped a binky in his mouth instead. He saw that the others were already opening the crates, pulling supplies out and went to join them. All except for Jessie, who had started exploring the jungle a bit, spotting another marble statue, and another, all of anthros in togas standing and pointing in the same direction. She saw a large leaf and a vine hanging down and grabbed them, only to find both were made of some kind of soft cushiony material. Smiling, she moved onward. Waddling a little bit further in the direction the statues pointed, Jessie came to a stop. "Guys!" She called back behind her. "I think I found us a good base!" Footsteps hurrying through the foliage and soon, the others joined the skunk girl. Stopping and staring, the group looked upon what appeared to be an ancient greek temple. There was a white stone path leading up to some large white stone carved steps, with collapsed statues and pillars lining it, as well as partially broken and still-standing ones. At the top of the steps was a structure with more pillars, most of which were still standing, with a faded and partially collapsed red-domed roof. "Woah," Jayce said, walking over to the bottom step that was as tall as his waist. He reached out a paw and pushed on the step. Like Jessie found with the plant life a little bit ago, it was if the steps were made from soft pillows. He crawled, a tad clumsily, up onto the step, and giggled when he found that he could bounce on it like a trampoline. "This is so squishy!" "It's actually pretty hidden by the jungle," Melissa remarked, looking around and just seeing thick copses of trees. "And the top of the structure offers a decent vantage point," 'Becca chimed in, taking that moment to proudly display a long pink paintball rifle with a scope on it. It was a paintball sniper rifle. "With lots of cover to hide behind, making potential invaders pretty easy pickings." "Plus, with the high ground and the walls and only one entrance to have to worry about, that goes a long way towards its defensive capabilities," Dante said. He looked to Jessie. "Good job finding it." Jessie blushed and looked away, saying nothing but smiling. "I can even set up making some walls, to help make this place even more defensible," Molly chimed in, pulling out the plush mallet she had pulled out from a crate. Giving it a squeeze and making it squeak, she caused a blue-transparent one foot by one foot block to appear before her. She moved her hammer, and whatever direction it was pointing in, the block moved with it. She made a motion to hammer the block with it, and POP, where the transparent black was now stood a white stone block. Dante, Jessie, 'Becca, Jayce, and Melissa were all stunned, while Molly giggled. Saffy smiled and spit out the binky she had been pensively sucking on. "And I can make toy gadgets, like automated turrets!" Saffy pulled out a plush monkey wrench and, similar to what Molly did with the block, she made what looked like a see-through plastic legless toy robot appear on a pole, with two automatic paint pistols instead of arms. She moved it around until it was sitting on top of a pillar, and then whacked it with her wrench. With another POP, the turret was real, making a ticking sound as it slowly swiveled back and forth from left to right. "... Okay, that was cool," Jayce said, making Saffy blush and Molly giggle. "Alright then, if everyone likes the idea of using this as our base, I'll go ahead and plant the flag inside it." Dante waited to hear any objections and, with no one finding a reason to voice any, he started hopping up the bouncy stairs, with the others following behind him. Inside the temple were... drawings. Some the bunny boy recognized as ones he made, others he recognized as being Jessie's and 'Becca's, and lots of others. But they were replicas made by tiles lining the walls and going all the way up to the ceiling. He even saw pages from coloring books. "Huh," Jayce said, looking at the mural of drawings, "I guess Mommy made copies for stuff like this, because I know for a fact that mine and Melissa's are still up on the fridges in the kitchen." Dante nodded and wordlessly walked to the center of the room. He extended the flag and got ready to stick it in the center of the temple, noticing that despite the soft cushion that made up the stone floor, his footsteps could still be heard making a partial echo. His and Jayce's ears both perked up and twitched when Dante stepped onto the central dais, and the two shared a look. "That sounds hollow," they said. Hopping down and looking around the base of the dais, it was Dante who found a small, easy to miss indentation. Bending over, and unaware he was filling his diaper as he did so, Dante reached into the indent and pulled. With a loud pop, just as the girls reached the opening to the room, the dais flipped open. There was a ladder heading straight down. All of them looking at one another, 'Becca stepped forward, unholstering a blue paintball pistol while securing her rifle to her back. She then quickly climbed down the ladder. "Can you see anything down there?" Jessie called. "Yeah... there's night light torches down here," 'Becca's voice wafted back up. "Hey! There's more crates down here! And a tunnel!" After a few more minutes of exploration, they found that the tunnel led to a sealed entrance hidden behind a rushing waterfall with a small footpath that blended into the hillside. With the whole team gathered together in the center of the sub-room at the bottom of the ladder, which was as big as the room in the dome up top, and indeed had ten more crates with weapons and ammo as well as what appeared to be blueprints for devices, Dante smiled. He walked over to a little alcove and stuck the end of the flagpole into the soft stone floor. Instantly, there was a POP with a puff of a cloud of purple smoke, that smelled like grape soda, and all of a sudden, right there, attached to the base of the pole was a purple easter basket with green plastic easter grass filling it. "Okay, team," Dante said with a smile, "let's get to work setting up our defenses." The babies cheered and went about breaking open the rest of the crates, with 'Becca and Melissa heading back up the ladder to find some good positions to start watching from, and Saffy and Molly heading up behind them to start shoring up the defenses. 'Becca mentioned that neither Mommy nor Daddy said that teams weren't allowed to have a player or two out hunting for other teams' bases during the base set-up phase, so she was going to keep an eye out for anyone else coming along. While they all excitedly went about their tasks and devising their strategies, not one of them noticed a pair of green glowing eyes watching from the tunnel that 'Becca had explored earlier. The darkened figure they belonged to skittered quietly back down the tunnel, giggling sinisterly, their voice not making an echo. Hehe, sorry to leave you all on a cliff-hanger like that, but this chapter just got so dang big! I would like to thank BabyStar once again for allowing me to use her character, Saffy. I promise to try and get chapter 6 out soon!

I'm on a PC and that's the best I could do. But I likes it, so thanks so much for teaching me how to do it!

I don't see an option to make columns. Also, shift+enter just combines the links all into one link all for the very first linked story.

Gotcha. And thanks again!

O.O Oh wow! Thanks!

Yup-Yup! Hold on, lemmie get a link. I wish i knew how to do that thing where underneath all my posts is a place to put links to other stories of mine. Here it is! https://www.dailydiapers.com/board/index.php?/topic/76358-a-mothers-love-ch-4-now-up-52222/

I'd be lying if I said I didn't love CM (though I always make a point to remember that it is a show and therefore not gospel into the actual minds of serial killers. Unfortunately, after taking some forensics classes, I just cannot watch any of the CSI's, it's just... no, no, and no. That's not how that works! And just do NOT get me started on "Let me enhance the image.")

This made me giggle.

O.O Woah... you are good! A LOT of what you said hits VERY close to my idea around Patrick! (I wanted to actively make him an anti-hero. He truly is a monster, and a Little. And... he is not going to stop unless he is stopped.)

That will be updated after the newest chapter of Mother's Love. Maybe. Depends on what happens when I try to write. For Patrick, it isn't about guilty or innocent so much as "Who is a greater challenge to kill?" While also tying up loose ends. Everything becomes black and white as I drive around in my car, looking at the wastes and wondering what could have been. Noir can be fun!

Hehe, of course. Ash wouldn't let herself get adopted by just any Amazonian couple. Not that Stacy doesn't just love babying her. Ari as well to a lesser extent...

Patrick's not targeting them because they are potential threats to him. He's targeting them because this is his safari, and they are his prey. (The ones actively hunting for a Little are easier to lure inside though...) And he might have a little bit more of an idea about their technology than the average non-native to the dimension Littles. But the friend asking questions, possibly linking her missing friend to him... yeah, that was more him nipping that in the bud. And he does have a plan in mind... but now and again, it's nice to indulge oneself. With that all said... what police in their right mind would believe that a Little boy like him could harm one Amazon, let alone multiple Amazons? Especially when they're, so far, just looking into a missing person's case... but that's after friends and relatives actually realize that they're missing to begin with. ?

Hehehe, well, he had to tie up a potential loose end. And sometimes the prey comes right to the predator. Gotta strike while the iron is hot and all that.

Well now, this suddenly flowing out of my mind was a surprise for me, especially due to all of the drawings I've been doing lately. But a welcome one. I really hope that you enjoy the new chapter, and feel free to leave a comment or review. Little Monster (Chapter 3) by Panther Cub Patrick plunged the blade of the shovel into the freshly upturned dirt of his backyard. The little man stopped to look up at the stars and smiled. Today had been a good day in his mind. "Well howdy there, neighbor!" Patrick turned to the source of the voice to see an Amazonian man looking at him over the top of the tall wooden fence, said man whose head and shoulders only being visible. Patrick looked him over. He was caucasion neatly trimmed brown hair. He had a mustache and was smiling at the little in a friendly manner, his glasses glinting in the porch light. Patrick smiled back at the real life version of Ned Flanders. "Hi there," Patrick said, sticking the shovel into the dirt before walking over to greet this new Amazon. "You must be Patrick," the man said, looking down at the approaching diminutive figure. "My wife Milly told me all about you. I'm Dave, by the way. Dave Olsten." "Milly... Milly... oh, she was the one who brought over that delicious plate of cookies," Patrick said with his laid back grin on his face. He had suspected that the blonde had put something in the cookies, not that he would have eaten them anyways. One always needs to stay in shape when playing such a fun game. "That's correct-a-roony, little buddy," Dave said with a chuckle that Patrick shared. "So whatcha up to? Doin' some yard work at night?" "Just doing what I can when I can. With getting everything all settled in my new home, I didn't have any time to start on some of my other side projects. I just figured that I'd go ahead and see about breaking ground." "I know how that goes. It took me and Mills about a month when we first moved in before we had finished emptying the last of the moving boxes. But then again, we were bein' a couple of lazy bones ourselves. So what's your fun little project gunna be? Some kind of fort?" Patrick chuckled again and shook his head. "Oh no. I was thinking about putting in a fire pit, but I doubt I could get the permits for that. So I'm still debating on putting in some kind of a garden or maybe even see about making the foundation for a gazebo. A nice little quiet place to sit and relax." "Now that sounds like a fun project. If you want, I can come on over and help you with the construction," Dave offered. "Well I sure would appreciate that Mr. Olsten," Patrick said, feeling a sense of excitement that was lost on the much bigger man. "Splendid! How about I swing on over tomorrow and help you figure out what it is you want to build?" "Sounds great to me," Patrick said, looking up at Dave who was oblivious to the fact that, where he was standing, if he had looked down, he would have seen three black heavy-duty trash bags, filled and tied tight. "I'll bring the Missus over then, say, around noon-ish?" "That will be just fine, Dave. And it was a pleasure meeting you." "You as well, little buddy. Good night," Dave said, turning to walk away. "Good night," Patrick said, grabbing a bag and lifting it. He set it down next to the hole, which was a good seven feet deep. In he tossed the bag, walking over to grab another. When the trash bag had hit the earthen bottom of the hole, it split open a little. Poking out of the tear was a large and meaty hand with long red press-on nails. Patrick tossed in the other bags, one after another, smiling at his handiwork. He then set about filling in the hole. "On a gathering storm comes, a tall handsome man in a dusty black coat with a red right hand," Patrick softly sang as he dumped shovelful after shovelful of dirt into the hole, a wicked grin on his face. The Next Day... "Honey, if you don't put your little game down and finish your breakfast, Mommy's going to just have to feed you herself again," Stacy said while walking her empty plate to the sink, planting a kiss on Ash's cheek as she did so. Ash, sitting in her high chair, looked down at the scrambled eggs. She speared some on her fork and popped it into her mouth, before resuming tapping on her tablet. She was wearing her pink footed unicorn jammies. "Mommy," Ash said with a sigh, "this isn't a game. I'm using my tablet to do research for my latest case." "I really wish you'd just let grown-ups handle that, Pumpkin," Stacy said, walking back and sitting at the kitchen table, now holding a mug of tea. "Just because I agreed to be your and Daddy's baby doesn't make me any less of a grown-up," Ash said, absentmindedly grunting and filling her diaper. She ignored that and focused more on her tablet, reading the files she tapped on. Her latest case was a sad one. A Tweener girl named Mia had been off to college. She claimed that she and her parents, who were surprisingly both Amazons, kept in constant contact, even moreso with the upcoming break for classes. She had been so excited to return home and spend some time with her Mom and Dad. They were even mentioning a surprise that had her curious. Then, two days before she was to travel home, she stopped hearing from them. No matter how much she texted or called, all she got was radio silence. When she did arrive back at home, everything was quiet. The doors and windows were all locked, and no one came to the door when she rang. Using the spare key that was hidden under the false brick in the flower garden, Mia had gone inside. She had called for her parents to let them know she was home, but she only heard dead silence in response. Checking the whole house, her parents were nowhere to be found. All of their clothes and belongings were where they should be, nothing out of place. In the garage was her father's convertible, but their minivan was gone. Going over next door and questioning some neighbors, Mia learned that they had seen her mom and dad, driving off in their navy blue minivan, and that had been two days prior. They never returned. After panicking and calling around and even filing a police report. Mia was unable to learn of anything else. That had been a month ago. Final;ly, desperate for some answers, Mia had been referred to Ash. The Tweener was apprehensive about a babied Little private investigator, but with limited funds, she didn't have any real alternatives. Ash felt bad for the younger girl and took the job. This wouldn't be the first time she took a missing person's case. She just hoped for Mia's sake that it would have a happier ending than most of the others she worked, both on and off the force. "That explains why Little Miss Frowny-Face decided to drop by," Stacy said, reaching under the high chair tray to tickle Ash's jammied feet. Ash tried to fight it, but let out a shriek of laughter. "Stoooooooop!" Ash flinched as she shifted in her seat, feeling her mess. She blushed and looked up at the Amazon who beamed at her in pure joy. "There's my special little girl's pretty smile!" Stacy cooed and took a sip from her mug. "You've always had the most beautiful smiles, baby. Even when we were both little together." "Ugh," Ash said. She did not like to be reminded that the woman she called Mommy was one of her childhood best friends, and that she herself was a year older than 'Mommy'. "Look, I'm not frowning, I'm just concentrating. This case is looking pretty odd for a missing persons' case." "Odd how, pumpkin?" Ash exhaled and rolled her eyes, before relaying the details. "And that's pretty much all I have to go on. Well, that and a license plate and vehicle description." "That does sound weird," Stacy agreed, finishing off her tea. She took her mug to the sink and gave it a quick rinse, before unlocking Ash's tray, the Little having finished off her eggs, and took that dish as well. She then unbuckled the diapered detective and scooped her up into her arms. Ash winced as Stacy patted her mushy bottom. "Maybe a fresh diaper and a cute outfit will help get your investigative juices flowing!" Ash rolled her eyes again, something she had quickly become an expert at ever since her adoption, and said nothing, instead choosing to finish her email to a contact she had at the DMV. It was a bit of a stretch that Earl could help, but it never hurt to try. With it sent, Ash winced some more as her sleeper was unzipped and she was laid onto her changing table, wearing just a white cotton tank top and a messy purple night time diaper. She looked over at the daytime one Mommy was laying out for her on the table, and saw a picture of a cute little skunk on it. Leaning over a bit she looked down at the package of Snuggies, amazed to see a smiling Skunk Littlefur gazing back up at her, stacking some colorful rings in just a shirt and diaper. Littlefurs were not too common a sight here, but she had seen a few. Most were adopted, but some were living independently, like a very athletic-looking tigress who, from time to time, could be seen jogging through the neighborhood. Ash only briefly wondered why she was thinking about these Littlefurs when she jumped from the cold wipes, and lost her train of thought. Meanwhile... "Gillian, please pickup," Lily said aloud in a soft but anxiety-laden voice, her phone up to her ear as she dialed her friend's number again. Having not heard from her in the last few days, and none of their other friends having seen her, made Lily nervous. Her phone ringing and only going to voicemail over and over again when Lily called it, only served to make the Amazon increasingly more worried. "Oh, please don't have been arrested, Gillian," Lily said for the fourth time. However, she was starting to hope that that's all that had happened. Even with the prospect of legal trouble or jail time, that was still a far better possibility as to why Gillian wasn't answering her calls and texts. Ever since Gillian had started to put on weight, Lily had been growing more concerned over her health. Gillian's mother's family had a history of heart problems, and the extra weight was certainly not helping in that regard. Thinking back to their last conversation, Lily recalled that Gillian was going to go and meet with the new Little neighbor that had moved in, Patrick. "Well... it couldn't hurt to go and ask him if he'd spoken to her," she thought aloud, walking over and grabbing her coat. She checked herself in the mirror, making sure she looked presentable. The middle-aged brunette smiled tightly to herself, worry lines forming a crease on her brow. She was wearing a lavender coat with a matching pencil skirt. She adjusted her lavender flower earrings before grabbing her purse and keys and heading out the door. Walking down the sidewalk through the neighborhood, Lily looked up. It was another sunny day with a clear blue sky. A gentle and cool breeze was blowing in the air. She saw some neighbors pushing their children, both Amazonian children and Littles, along in strollers. Mr. Mackintosh was playing with his golden retriever, Lucy. And Amy, the tigress Littlefur who lived over in the nearby Little Housing neighborhood, jogged by, giving her a nod. Lily had had her eye on Amy, the cute kitten, ever since she had moved in a few months back. The fact that she hadn't had a Matureosis flare-up as a result of moving somewhere strange in that time was an amazing surprise to Lily. Still, whenever she saw her on her morning jog, Lily made sure to keep an eye out for any accidents. The Amazon shook her head and kept walking, now at a more brisk pace. Despite the pleasant-looking morning, she still felt the hard and cold pit or fear. While she and Gillian fundamentally disagreed on certain aspects of adopting any kind of Littles, Gillian was still her oldest and dearest friend. Where Gillian would make claims that all Littles deserved a loving home with proper Amazonian parents looking after them, Lily felt that only those that proved they needed parents should be adopted. She always stayed up to date on the latest science regarding Matureosis. Hence why she was looking into local orphanages and etiquette schools, as they had an excellent track record with helping Littles that just couldn't handle trying to be adults anymore come to accept their limitations. But Gillian... if she saw a Little that wasn't adopted that she wanted, she would make plans to try and just take them. She'd already had run-ins with some well-meaning but very firm officers from the local department already. Lily started wringing her hands, wondering of Gillian's impatience at finding the right Little who truly needed her had landed her in a world of trouble. Lily slowed as she came upon the Little's house. She remembered old Mr. Mulligan, the crotchety old Amazon had not been a very pleasant man. Still, his house was gorgeous. Lily looked at the tower with its pointed tip and smiled a little. Looking down at the front yard, she saw that a new flower garden had been put in. Lilies and marigolds, her favorites. Walking up the red stone tile pathway, she started to feel a bit nervous again. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the little guy, and so plastered her warmest smile on her face as she rang the doorbell. She didn't have to wait long. "Hello there." Lily looked down at the source of the voice to find a handsome Little man looking up at her. His chestnut brown hair was neatly combed and slicked back. He was wearing a gray suit with a blue tie, looking like he was ready for a job interview. "How may I help you?" "O-oh, hello there, Mr. Maetnab," Lily said, leaning down a little to offer her hand. He shook it as best he could, and Lily was surprised to feel the strength in his grip where he was able to grab. It didn't hurt, but it was a firm, solid grip. "My name is Lily Andrews. I live just down the street. I'm here because I haven't seen or heard from a friend of mine, Gillian Barkley, and I was wondering if maybe you had seen her in the last few days?" Andrew's smile widened a bit, and he chuckled. "Oh yes, me and Gillian had a run-in, I want to say, about three days ago." "Did she... oh gosh, this is awkward," Lily said with a nervous laugh. "Did she... I mean, she said on the phone that she was... well..." "She did attempt an illegal adoption, yes," Patrick said bluntly, but not angrily, his easygoing smile still on his face. "I eluded her attempts and, after a bit of theatrics on Gillian's part, we were able to have a calm talk." "R-really?" "Oh yes. She was a bit more... let's say dead set, on adopting a Little like me. I, of course, feel that I demonstrated my maturity in the situation very well. So we discussed adoption and I brought up the idea of adopting a Little from another country, like over in Voz. From what I've read of their brochures, they take the care and safety of Littles ready for adoption seriously. She thanked me for my time, though didn't apologize for trying to splash water on my pants, and then left, saying she had some things to think over." "I... see..." Lily felt very unsure. If Gillian was going to hop in the car and drive to the border, she would surely have said something to Lily about it. They could have even made a road trip of it. This wasn't sitting well with Lily. "Well, th-thank you, Mr. Matenab. I was just starting to get a little worried about her." "It is absolutely no problem for me, Miss Lily," Patrick said. "She's your friend, it's only natural to worry if she suddenly drops off the face of the world without so much as a word," Patrick looked up at her, and Lily's heart started to melt. His boyish, almost impish smile, the warmth in her chest. She recognized that she was cosseting, and so started to awkwardly step down the stairs. "W-well, I should probably get back h-home, Pa--uh... Mr. Maetnab. It was a pleasure meeting you," she said. "Actually, it's such a nice morning, would you mind it if I walked with you, Miss Lily," Patrick gave her his most winning smile, and Lily's heart melted. "Absolutely! Oh... I mean, if you would like to, then yes, that would be just fine, Mr. Maetnab," she said, internally reminding herself that the Little before her hadn't displayed any signs of immaturity. She watched as he locked his front door, checking to make sure he had his keys first. "Please, call me Patrick.", he said, to which Lily agreed, and soon the two were walking back up the street. "This is mine," Lily said, pointing to the modest two-story house. It was a bright canary yellow with white trim, and a well-kept front lawn. "W-would you like to come in?" "I think that that would be lovely," Patrick said as Lily unlocked her front door. He followed her inside, Lily not noticing the syringe he pulled out from hidden up his sleeve, removing the cap. He kept smiling as the door was shut. "Oh, Lily?" he asked as she set her purse on a coffee table. "Yes, Patrick?" She answered, hanging up her coat. "Do you like games?" Patrick didn't wait for an answer as he, striking like a snake, jammed the needle of the syringe into the back of Lily's knee, having been eyeing a vein there, pushing down on the plunger. Lily yelped and jumped a bit. "What-re youssssh," she slurred, already her vision swarming. She slumped against the wall and slid down. She reached for the door knob, but her hands were clumsy and flopping, her movements sluggish and barely responsive. She looked and saw Patrick standing there, holding the syringe, his smile now much more menacing. "I ask because, I really, REALLY like to play games," he said. Just before Lily's vision turned to black, she saw him pull out some long zip-ties, and then the darkness of unconsciousness took her. At that moment... Dave Olsten silently wept. He sat there, in Patrick's basement, bound to a chair with thick leather straps. His mouth was taped shut, and Patrick had used enough to ensure there was enough to keep his mouth securely covered. Through blurred eyes, Dave looked right across from him. No more than three or four feet, sat Milly. Or rather, there sat her corpse. They had stopped by earlier as promised, both secretly discussing how to convince Little Patrick to come home with them as their baby boy. Milly had had her heart set on a girl, so they also planned on discussing with Patrick, in addition to possibly being adopted, the possibility of a sex change. They had even brought brochures, including one from Voz, which was the leading country in medical tech. Then they had both been offered some of Patrick's freshly baked cookies, only to awakened some time later, down here in the basement, bound to these chairs. Dave looked at Milly, at what the little monster had done to her. Her throat had been slashed, blood flowing all down her front, staining her eggshell sundress, onto the plastic-coated floor. Dave heard her gurgle and gasp, and saw Patrick looking on while wearing a clear plastic face shield and some kind of plastic jumpsuit, a devious and hateful smirk on his face. Then Dave had been forced to sit there, his eyes clamped shut, as he was forced to listen to Patrick using an electric bonesaw. When he was done and left, Dave had opened his eyes and, if it weren't for the tape would have screamed himself hoarse. Milly, his highschool sweetheart, sat there, her chest cavity opened for all the world to see, with something missing inside. The bastard cut out her heart! Dave wept again and thrashed in his seat. But it was secured by bolts and made from a heavy, sturdy wood. He winced a bit. He looked down the best he could, his upper torso also bound to the chair, and saw his own blood dribbling down from his ankles. Patrick had used a butcher knife to cut Dave's Achilles' tendons. With a whimper, Dave sat there in the dark basement, remembering the words he and Milly had awoken to, in a surprisingly deep voice. "I want to play a game." O.O ... Okay, that got a little dark, even for me... I LOVE IT! Hehehe, I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season and has a happy New Year!

Uhm... Who is Kayla? Are you talking about Dawn?

Well... Kana certainly didn't see this coming... and she is REALLY not happy about it. But hey, despite this clearly temporary setback, no one will ever know she was humiliated like this. She's got a reputation as a wandering barbarian of an adventurer to maintain, after all... (Just a heads up, this is the last of the pages I sketched, took photos of, and then started remaking in Paint 3D! I'm gunna apply my newest style going forward with new pages!)

Thank you!

It hasn't been easy for little Mischief. He used to be a "suave" and "roguish" international criminal with a cavalier attitude, and now here he is on another world of talking anthropomorphic animal people, as a baby that has just learned how to toddle, under the loving and ever watchful eyes of his new "Mommy" and "Daddy". He might have an easier time manipulating them, if they weren't fully aware of his previous life. So when he does things like escape from his crib and playpens, swipe wallets, set up a soda speak-easy at daycare, and even hotwired the family car; they weren't too surprised. Not believing in spanking, they have come up with more... "creative" methods for correcting his flagrant delinquent behavior. Like adorable and more "feminine" outfits, or leaving him at the mercy of his slightly older cousin, Emma, who excitedly views Mischief as a surrogate baby sister to dress up, have tea parties with, and even practice using make-up when her Mommy is distracted. (In my quest to better my arting, I drew some inspiration from Reva_the_Scarf 's style! I feel I am getting closer to making my own style something I feel more confident about!) I decided to go back and touch up my pic with my first ever attempt at cell shading! It's not perfect, but I'm feeling proud! ❤️

There's always been a dark undercurrent to the DD shared-verse... sometimes it's not as under as it might at first seem either!