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MEGAMIND

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SET AFTER DANGEROUS DISCOVERIES

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THE MEGALOPOLAN IS A GUEST TO THIS WORLD AND FUGGER HOME BASE. his dainty frame finds shelter on the sidelines, planted on a sizable stone like the numerous posters of pokkenger from before his rise to fame. his presence shrinks, unimposing, as the men till the groundworks of their collapsed hideaway.

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he passes the time by tracing an outline of zac’s steelix in his withered notebook. dried out, yellow pages whisper their age every time he drags his black chalk across its surface. the way he holds his utensil show the details of his bony fingers, holding the stick by his finger tips, deliberate in the way he commits to each line.

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“t-thank you,” he stutters, setting aside his journal to accept zac’s hospitality.

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he looks over the sandwich curiously, picking away at the first layer of bread, and pulling apart each ingredient with curiosity. the can of charja-cola and zapsi are ignored in the moment, seemingly uninteresting due to their simple and the one dimensional appearance of their containers.

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“my name is xantho,” he introduces while picking out a slice of cheese from the sandwich. he sniffs it several times before setting it down on his knee.

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“i followed the war front to escape from our world. the soldiers you found were looking for a way back home. when they couldn’t find one they became desperate. i suppose i was just their relief.”

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a piece of spoink hangs over the bottom slice of bread. its pink meat hangs limp between his fingers, splotches of white mayo smeared in between his fingers. he presents it to zac.

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“what kind of food is this? the pink and the white?”

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Zac Ramsay Kazimir Wynter

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MEGAMIND

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SET AFTER DANGEROUS DISCOVERIES

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ZAC’S REVELATION STARTLES HIM. his hand immediately reclines, fumbling the piece of meat carelessly into the air. his lips curl back, a grimace peeking out from his mask like an ill kept secret. they part, slightly, flashing a quick peek at toothless gums.

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“a-ah!”

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abhorrent disgusts weighs down on bread and meat alike as it lands on the dirt floor. the audible plop of wet against dry cuts the moment midspeech. his shoulders slouch in great shame, realizing the extent of his reaction like a childhood regret.

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“a-apologies. u-uh, i didn’t expect you to, um, like, eat pokemon as well.”

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his head leans back as the ultra beast nears. hesitance creates a buffer zone that shows his discomfort, visibly distressed as his legs refuse to move.

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“um, that’s very interesting,” his voice trails off.

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his eyes focus on kazimir’s pokedex, washing away his forlorn expression with small tidbits of the pokemon’s species.

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“do you, perhaps, uh, have food that does not consist of pokemon?”

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like a second conscience, his stomach growls.

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“or human, and, melalopolan as well?”

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Zac Ramsay Kazimir Wynter

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MEGAMIND

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SET AFTER DANGEROUS DISCOVERIES

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BLUE SALIVA POOLS FROM THE CENTER OF HIS LOWER LIP. xantho stares at the assortment of colorful berries, enthralled, nodding to himself as his body rocks back and forth. the authenticity of this food proves much more appetizing in contrast to the packaged square of the dissected sandwich.

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his fingers crawl through the air, wriggling like nihilego tentacles, held back by a momentary lapse in judgement. “many thanks to you zacramsey zac,” he stops, bowing from his seated stance, prostrating himself between his saviors.

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and suddenly, he brings his fist down, squashing the tamato berries into a pulp. the skin immediately bursts, juice imploding in all directions. each strike comes down more furious than the last, a constant thump of flesh against solid earth.

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pools of red juice seep into the dirt. dark spots grow underneath his shadow. the megalopolan known as xantho loses himself in a frenzy, not unlike what kazimir had seen in their home world. the only difference is that there are no teeth or claws. only the curve of his purple tongue lapping up the spilt liquid, pulling at the fruits innards to swallow them without chewing.

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hunger resonates from his every action. his body contorts as his fingers dig into the dirt, searching for any bits or pieces he may have missed. red splotches stain his face with the fruit’s blood, a gruesome image that resonates with the pokkenger’s ultra space adventures.

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“h-h-hottt!!!”

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the alien behavior is rudely interrupted by xantho’s wild howl. his lips are swollen, elongated tongue extended as he pants repeatedly. his chest rises, ribs fading into obscurity when it rises, only to peek back out when he exhales. he labors in an excruciating pregnancy. today, his discovery of spiciness is born.

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“your food is so hot,” he exclaims in alarm.

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again, he slams his balled fist down on the rawst berry, sucking out the juice vesicles with great haste.

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“your food is so flavorless,” he mumbles with puckered lips.

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but despite this, he refuses to spit it up.

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when kazimir hands him the water bottle, he attempts the same. plastic crinkles, eliciting a loud pop, underneath the pounding of his fist. he presents the misshapen bottle back to kazimir, lips pressed into a confused ‘o’. it remains unopened.

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“there is no food where i am from. only each other.”

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his head hangs downward in great shame, lips still curled from the bitter taste of rawst on his tongue. the blue and red blemishes are still wet, adding some well deserved color to his otherwise dark skin tone.

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“i…”

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he readjusts his mask, making sure it fits snuggly over his face. his lips hide behind the white of his visor.

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“i refuse to eat another. so—so i starved.”



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Zac Ramsay Kazimir Wynter

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MEGAMIND

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SET AFTER DANGEROUS DISCOVERIES

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HESISTANCE SURFACES from two near misses. xantho accepts zac’s latest concoction with curious eyes. a ginger shake allows the liquid to slosh around, revealing bits of passho berry chunks peeking out from the otherwise creamy mixture. they float like the the missing parts of their conversation, visible but shrouded in fluff.

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a reluctant sip lights up his eyes. the megalopolan almost coughs up a fistful of flavor, bits of bubbly milk dripping from his open mouth.

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“t-this! this is good.”

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he tosses the container back like a celebratory shot, eagerly swallowing everything and anything that lands into his open mouth. his jaw unhinges in a guzzlord fashion, endless in its endeavors. much of it spills out but he cares little. the need to feast overcomes.

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“cough, cough,” he hacks. once there’s nothing left to swallow he wheezes for air. it seems the need to eat triumphs even their sense of breathing.

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“b-back in my world, i was a historian.”

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rounded fingers dig into the wet spots in the dirt. a noticeable lack of fingernails sticks out, until xantho starts to inhale the smoothie stained pebbles. pieces too large for him to stomach stay within his hands. the rest disappear behind his mask.

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“i…”

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he turns away from them, pulling his legs closer and into a fetal position.

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“i-i’ve, uh, lived a long, and, i guess you could say, humble life. i never, like, thought about it too much.”

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his voice starts to trail off.

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“but one day, o-our expedition team left the city and we were wiped out. the pokemon treated us as food! we, uh, were just another species at the bottom of the food chain.”

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his voice trembles momentarily but he finds the resolve to finish his story.

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“the soldiers who, um, found us, rescued me and took down one of the wild pokemon that had eaten my team.”

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he pauses.

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“food is a luxury in our world. they ate the pokemon. i did as well. but when we cut open its stomach i could still see pieces of my team members.”

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meteor falls echoes with the frantic cry of a scattered zubats. the megalopolan’s horrendous tale fills the empty cave with the same somberness that had filled his belly. the air smells of a foul self reflection.

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“but i couldn’t stop myself. none of us could. we eat so little. so rarely. the hunger pains i feel—i could eat anything.”

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his fingers uncurl from his balled up fist. he flashes his finger tips and the malformed bits of skin that have grown over the nail’s root.

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“and i still feel them. i did the only thing i could do to stop myself! now, i’m harmless.”

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but at what cost? the mask covers the horrors of ultra space but the consequences still bleed from his toothless gums.



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Zac Ramsay Kazimir Wynter