not your world;; [o, explosion]

[CAUSTIC.]

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DR. CAUSTIC

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[REDACTED]
TOXIC TRAPPER
MACKENZIE VALLEY WOLF
TANGLEWOOD
"Humanity. It's just a word."

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A final twist of the screwdriver with his teeth, holding the delicate device in place with his paws. Caustic hunched over his work desk, completing the portal maker in the odd hours of the morning. Time was gone to him- hours and weeks uncountable were spent on this project. He pulls the voice recorder over, clicking the red button with a claw and beginning to speak. "It is the morning, approximately between the hours of oh-four and oh-six hundred. I have been trapped in this dimension for eighty days." It's awful to thing about, really. He originally projected it would take him two weeks at most to escape. Weeks have turned into months and months could turn into years. He can feel his tail sink between his legs at the thought. He was supposed to be the one trapping others, killing them and claiming his victory through intelligence and science. "I, with great delight, have finally completed my primary task," Such luxuries were stolen from him, though, for now he was in a hellish trap of his own. He raises the device, inspecting in the morning light.

A cough leaves him, racking through, and he turns his attention to the row of cages to the adjacent wall. There's only eight, in different sizes and makes, procured from abandoned homes and brought to the basement of Caustic's personal hell. Most of them are empty, but a rabbit and a raccoon take population in two of them.  "The Portal Device seems to be in functioning order," All the indicator lights lit in a brilliant green, a good sign. He takes a look at the rest of his so-called lab, now. It's dirtier than he ever wanted it be. Caustic is known for his desire of a sterile environment, clean counters and organized supplies were heaven to him.
He can't quite explain the feeling. Caustic is aware of the mess- he can't bring himself to clean it. The task at hand is far more important, but guilt pangs him when he observes the mess. His eyes glance over the various bins and buckets, tools and machines taken from the junkyard and dragged here to scrap for parts. His jaw aches at the thought, using his teeth for most everything. Grabbing, handling tools, carrying things- an overall annoying process and he was glad it would be over. There's a pile of dead animals inside a sealed bucket in the furthest corner. Caustic's deceased test subjects, and later meals. He can smell it, and the Wolf forces him to give a snarl. It fills his head at the idea of the goodies inside, as hunger pangs him and the Wolf demands the flesh of prey.
It would all be over, soon. Then the wolf's brain could bother him no longer and Caustic could truly see himself again. Eyes cast to the nearby mirror, disgusted by the image of the wolf. As he stands from his seat, its movements follow through. He opens his mouth, sharp teeth and gas greeting him.
[align=center]It's not me.

His brain knows the image is wrong, and it shakes him every day. His hands are paws, his beard is fur, and the only thing linking the two forms was Caustic's brain and the prosthetic fingers. He flips the mirror down with a paw.
He can't stand to look at what he is now.
It was tireless work, but Caustic can feel the relief wash over as the device, repaired, laid before him. Light peeked in from the nearby basement window, opened to allow fresh air inside.
"The device will be momentarily tested on Test Subject R1. If successful, I will send word to Octavio and we will leave this dimension in short order," His tail wags- something he won't miss. Some of the bonds he had formed in Tanglewood, and perhaps the Pitt, were dear acquaintances at most and enemies at best. Maybe, he would miss a few of them, think of them on occasion. He wondered, briefly, if Ivan or any of the other children would live fulfilling lives after he was gone. Contradictory thoughts bother him, filling his head with ideas that pull his brain every which way.
Their lives should not matter to him, they were animals at their core. They walked and talked like people did, but no matter the human qualities possessed, Leroy was still a dog at the end of the day. Animals could not fill the role in society Caustic once did, a leading scientist of his field. Caustic's life was wasted here, deteriorated, for that matter.
A wheezy breath shakes through him.
He had to get out of here. This dimension- this body- would kill him faster than old age ever would. He pressed pause on the recording.
Caustic leaves his desk, sauntering to the raccoon's cage, opening it and grabbing the creature inside with a swift bite. He lets his venom pierce it- just enough to sedate it, if his measurements held true.
Caustic brings R1 to the table, strapping the portal device to its body and placing it in the center of his lab. Caustic moves, turning over a table and pushing it to an empty corner. Just in case, right? He makes one last preparation, unlocking his basement door, in case something went wrong and he needed to escape. From there, he could jump out a window or unlock the front door. He takes back down the stairs, starting the timer on the device, and entering in his home dimension. He is ready for ascension- he can already smell the chemicals and the lava of World's Edge. Caustic takes cover behind the table, peaking his nose out as the device whirs to life. His recorder sits on his workbench- that was fine, visual notes would do for now.
The device shoots a beam of light, opening into a flat circle, and the scientist's pupils bloom, tail wagging, a laugh rupturing through his body.
He can see it, his beautiful lab- "YES!" he cheers, joy filling him. He could go home, he could take Octavio home. They could go back to their normal lives and everything would be better- the device began to beep and snarl, the portal's image flashing and disrupting into pieces. Caustic sees the bright flash erupt from the portal and into the device.

The table stops the shrapnel, but not the shock wave. His body slams against the concrete wall, rendering the wolf unconscious. The house shakes, windows shuddering as smoke pours from the machine, escaping out of the basement window. Caustic's escape is in pieces and the raccoon is in shambles, parts of both scattered around, leftover fur lighting on as the machine erupts into flames. Caustic's lab is ruined, explosion destroying and scattering whatever horrible atrocities he did commit in here.

// made w/ staff permission, as the device was required to break
// TLDR: Caustic gets the portal maker to work briefly, but it explodes. Caustic is unconscious down in his lab, behind an overturned table. The lab is in shambles and his work left in pieces. Caustic's lab is in the basement of his home, the basement door is unlocked, but the front door is not. There's a basement window with smoke coming out, and the house shook from the force of the explosion.

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Original code by lexasperated / artwork by @R_HillPrime

[alaric g.]

    Why was Alaric awake this early in the morning? Truly, there was no real reason. Nightmares had not plagued his dreams that night, nor did he develop some sort of sudden onset insomnia. He simply could not fall into the deep slumber he desired. When he did drift off, it was into a light doze, but he woke up mere hours later, tired and grumpy.

    Frustrated with his circadian rhythm, Alaric decided to depart from his home. There was no need to look upwards to tell what time it was. It was barely light out, which, combined with what his senses were telling him, meant that it was morningtime. He probably could have guessed that anyway, though, since there was hardly anyone around, save himself. The sun’s soft bands of daybreak had not yet illuminated the sky fully, creating a sort of twilight dawn that the tabby could not say he had seen many times before. Seldom was it that he rose this early on mornings that his slumber hadn’t been riddled with terrors. Bored and frustrated, Alaric decided to set out on the quiet town, no real destination or goal in mind. That was, until, he heard an explosion.

    The sound of an explosion invaded his senses, causing him to dash towards the nearest porch and take cover under it. After several moments of hiding, he determined that he was, in fact, not dead, and thusly emerged from his hiding place. Now that he knew he hadn’t been turned to dust by the explosion of another human bomb, he made the decision to locate the epicenter of the sound.

    Maintaining a fast pace, he allowed his instincts and memory to guide him to where the sound had come from. He was astonished to find that it had come from none other than Caustic’s home. Smoke plumed from a shattered window at the base of the house, confirming that the explosion had come from here. Curiosity is going to kill me one day, thought the tabby, alluding to the popular idiom as he approached the front door with hesitation.

    Locked. The doorknob did not succumb to Alaric’s efforts to push the entrance open, prompting Alaric to turn and make for the shattered window. He took a deep breath so as to not breathe in the smoke before approaching the shattered glass proper. The inky gas stung his eyes, but he didn’t care; he wanted—no, needed—to know what happened here.

    Peering inside, the feline found himself stunned. The lab was in various states of disarray from the explosion; mechanical parts were scattered about along with various other junk, a table had been flipped on the far wall, and a fire was beginning to build in the wreckage. Behind the table was the unconscious form of the scientist himself. Before now, he had not quite realized the gravity of the situation. Now, though, he realized that remedying the issue was not a one-man job. ”I need help over here!” the feline would shout, hoping someone would respond to his calls. Someone large or with powers, hopefully. Anyone fitting that description, such as Leroy, Aurum, or even Snarl if she was in a particularly gracious mood, may be able to tackle the door down and remove Caustic. Alaric was powerless and much too small to be able to move Caustic on his own.

    There was one thing he could do, though: make sure that Caustic wasn’t dead. Seeing as how neither Moth nor Selby were present, who did that leave but Alaric to check the wolf’s vitals? Fearlessly (and perhaps stupidly), Alaric would leap down into the basement from the window. He miraculously landed on a patch of the concrete floor that had not been littered with mechanical ruins. He approached the wolf quickly, he would place a paw near the place where the wolf’s left foreleg met his chest. It did not take long for a heartbeat to make itself known. The next thing to do would be to check for breathing; he watched the wolf’s chest rise and fall with regularity, and just to make sure there were no irregularities in his respiration, he would press an ear to the wolf’s sternum. Unlabored breathing sounds. Good. Now that he knew Caustic was still alive, he would only need to wait for someone to arrive that would be willing to offer their assistance. Surely his call from earlier would be enough to convey the urgency of the matter.

♔ don't do love, don't do friends

[suvi.]

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SUVI KIIRA NÍ FAOLÁIN
MEDIC / BETA
TAGS && INFO

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[div style="width: 360px; font-family: palatino; color: #c48d85; text-align: left; padding-top: 15px; padding-left: 10px"]T͏O̴G͠ETH͏ER̕ ÁT̴ ̸T̕H̶E ST͏ART̶ O͏F̀ ̵TI̡M͏E

An insomniac, the petite vixen had been attempting to spend the earliest hours reading.  An old favorite.  One of her father's favorites.  A worn copy of The Hobbit.  The arctic fox, tired, struggled through her current page when the sudden sound of an explosion pierced her ears.

Startled, Kiira jumped, paralyzed for a moment.  The harsh pounding of her heart roared in her ears for several minutes, as she tried to regain her bearings.  Slowly, almost methodically, she closed her book shut, then scrambled for her medical satchel.

Swiftly, she rushed out the door to hear Alaric's call.  Caustic's house, she thinks.  Having never visited, nor even really knowing the wolf, she did not know for sure.  She could see the smoke drifting away from the window.  Antsy, she checked the front door.  Locked.  Then where was Alaric?

Ears fading away briefly, Kiira darted around to the window, taking a breath of clear air first.  Frightful, uncertain, she attempted to glitch intentionally, materializing beside Alaric with a nervous gasp for breath.  Without pause, her mitch-matched hues analyzed the scene.  Not good.

Caustic was too large for her to carry, and they needed to get him out.  There was no telling how stable the building was.  Not to mention the encroaching flames.  "Th-the force of the blast m-must've knocked him out."  Which meant he might have a concussion.

Small and scrawny as she was, she knew she couldn't slam a door down.  Aurum or Snarl... "Al-Alaric, check out-check out the window.  If some- if someone is coming, direct them to the front door.  Someone needs to slam it down and help-help me move him.  Okay?"

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© MADI

[wormwood.]

☆ HUNG PICTURES OF PATRON SAINTS UP ON MY WALL TO REMIND ME THAT I AM A FOOL. TELL ME WHERE I CAME FROM, WHAT I WILL ALWAYS BE: JUST A SPOILED LITTLE KID WHO WENT TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL —

An explosion. The force of it was enough to cause Caustic's home to shudder and shake, groaning and rumbling with the power of the accident that had transpired within. Not only that, but it was enough to cause a roar through the territory, a roar that Aurum was quick to notice when it reached his ears. Aurum had been recovering from his worry based insomnia as of late, now that his children were old enough to know the rights and wrongs of what to do outside. Despite this, the proxy doubted he would ever be able to get past his habit of being a light sleeper, the habit having developed when he was but a young cub. Back then, he had always needed to get up when there was even the slightest chance of danger towards he or his brother. Nowadays, he needed to be hypervigilant in order to ensure that every tangler would be safe, and protected from harm. It was because of this that the lion stumbled forth from his bed before he was even really fully conscious, his jaws parted in an attempt to see if it was some sort of Pittian attack. He had no idea where they would've gotten explosives, but it seemed like just the sort of low down and rotten thing that Kydobi would encourage his goons to do. When confronted with nothing but the usual scent of his home and Tanglewood, however, Aurum's scowl of anger turned to one of worry, wondering what the hell couldve happened. He was swift to descend his steps after that, trying to move quickly but quietly in order to make sure he wouldn't wake his children, young and old. They didn't need to see whatever was going on, especially if it turned out to be something gory.

Once his large paws hit warm, wet ground, Aurum was startled by the smell of smoke hitting his nose, not for the first time even in the last couple of months. His immediate thought was fire, but it didn't seem as though the sky was ablaze, nor could he feel any overwhelming warmth raining down upon him – yet, anyways. A grunt of frustration leaving him at not knowing the situation, the angel launched himself up into the sky, large wings carrying him towards the source of the smoky smell. The moment he saw that it was Caustic's home, he found himself wincing. He should've known that whatever nefarious shit the scientist had going on in his lab would eventually end in disaster. Hopefully, however, it wouldn't end in disaster for the whole of Tanglewood. Swooping downwards, Aurum landed without much fuss near the wolf's home, nose in the air and one blue eye searching to see if anyone else had gotten there before him. The scent of Alaric and Kiira immediately filled his large form with worry, his azure gaze seeking outward until he eventually spotted the window where smoke was pouring rapidly forth. He tried to stick his head inside to see what was happening, but was quickly pushed back by the overwhelming cloud of smog, painful coughs leaving him as he yanked his muzzle out and away. That wouldn't work, it seemed.

Returning to the front door, the proxy pressed firmly against it, a low growl leaving his throat when he found it to be locked. It seemed as though this wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't as if things around here ever were. Taking a deep breath, Aurum drew himself back, wings folding down firmly against his back as lean muscles bunched in preparation. With a roar, the lion threw himself forward, slamming the full force of his weight and power into the locked door. Pain exploded through his front, especially in the scar where he had once been stabbed right through by an archangel. However, his attack succeeded in its goal, the door groaning and giving up from the force thrown against it, lock breaking and door swinging violently inward. Aurum could've nearly collapsed in the doorway right then and there, both from the strain and agony gripping his body, but he knew that he couldn't. Not yet, anyways. Teeth gritted in intense concentration, the angel forced himself forward, large body moving quickly through the house as he made his way to the lab, throwing open the unlocked door and descending downwards.

The scene he came across when he finally reached his goal made him wince, a soft hiss leaving him through his clenched teeth. The lab was in absolute shambles, with a small fire rapidly seeking to grow into something bigger, and three other tanglers in danger. Moving forward, Aurum growled firmly to Kiira and Alaric over the crackle of flames, "Both of you get out of here, now. I'll get Caustic out so that he can be treated." He didn't bother to wait for either to respond, moving over to Caustic's side and nudging the scientist gently. When he received no sign of movement or response, he simply sighed, stretching his neck out to grab Caustic by the scruff of the neck, firmly pulling the large wolf upwards to place him atop his own back, between his wings. The weight of the male was not insubstantial, and once again the angel felt like he could collapse, a wheeze of exhaustion passing through him. He ignored his body's cries for reprieve, turning around and heading up the steps as quickly as he could without jostling or dropping Caustic to the ground.

The trek the rest of the way out was no less difficult, even with the more flat and clear terrain in front of him. Caustic was still heavy, and his body had still taken a fair bit of beating just getting to him. Still, he managed to awkwardly pace the rest of the way out of the front of the house and away from the destruction that dwelled within, heavy pants of effort leaving him. Once they were an appropriate distance away from the chaos that had started all of this, Aurum twisted around to grab Caustic by the scruff again, carefully placing him on the warm ground. As soon as the heavy weight of the scientist was gone from him, the proxy gave in to the exhaustion he had been ignoring, his legs giving out from beneath him before he collapsed beside the other. A low hiss of pain left him at the sudden drop, and he took a deep breath inwards, trying to call out as loudly as possible, "H... Help! Christ, help! Somebody with water elementals... or water... or something. We've got a fire developing!" It was hard for him to even get the request out, his throat tight and his world spinning. As he drifted between conscious and unconscious, the proxy could only manage one thought – Caustic had better be grateful I saved his ass.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #1B1B2F; font-size: 24px;"][color=#44437F]— AURUM

#psychosocial.

[Ivan]

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— Бра́тья Карама́зовы

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Ivan belonged to no other era or world. It was a fact that he could not change about himself even if he wanted to. He knew of course, that one could not long for something that didn't exist. Though he pored through pages and photographs of other enlightened civilizations, he knew that he was just a cat, born to live out his days in Tanglewood. He was not given a choice, but not many others were.

What Caustic did in his basement was just a theory for Ivan. It was never a fact, and it was namely out of basic politeness that he did not pry. He never came into Caustic's house or yard unannounced since the incident with the rabbit. The thought never occurred in his mind that Caustic was trying to leave. If he woke up to the day that Caustic was gone, the world may be a lot less confusing, but there would still be something missing.

That was why, when he smelt smoke wafting through his sensitive and delicate nostrils, Ivan became uneasy. His gut told him it was Caustic. Who else would be capable of such a thing? His cowardly heart wormed inside of his chest as he rose to his feet, albeit shakily, since he had been sleeping previously. The young feline was a streak of black across the ground, his heart sinking further as he came closer to what was Caustic's home.

There was little hesitation in his step when he made a straight line for the home, peering through the broken window. "DOCTOR CAUSTIC!" He screeched into the underground room. The smoke burned Ivan's lungs and he wheezed, eyes tearing up in response to the heat. He whipped his head around, realizing how stupid it was to get close to a fire. In the distance he saw Aurum with a deadweight on his back. Ivan didn't think twice but to follow, ignoring the heed for water elementals. He had none.

Ivan reached the two in no time, crawling forward with his bony shoulders hunched. He reached out a paw to aim to bat at Caustic's own. All professionalism left him, he had the semblance of an idea to back away and give him room, but he was just too worried, his seafood gaze raking the wolf's pelt, while occasionally shifting to Aurum. What happened?

[CAUSTIC.]

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DR. CAUSTIC

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TOXIC TRAPPER
MACKENZIE VALLEY WOLF
TANGLEWOOD
"Humanity. It's just a word."

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His ears are ringing. Caustic’s green eyes blink open in a dull laziness, his house coming into focus. He glances over, noticing Aurum collapsed nearby. He can’t see any other large folks around, so he puts two and two together.

What happened? He inhales, the scent of grass and swamp flooding inside, then... smoke? He glances down, noticing the fire from his basement window. "No," Caustic rolls onto his stomach, bleary gaze focusing on his house. He can’t hear himself speak. He pulls his paws around, dragging his body to face the abode. It’s processing over in his head- that was his house. Something happened. Now he was out here. Aurum was next to him. He looks down, noticing Ivan, then glancing to the other two, Suvi and Alaric.
Caustic lets out a gasped breath he didn’t know he was holding, gas leaving his throat. His head points back to his home, staring at the smoke wisping out of the little window. "No," he says again, exasperated. Caustic’s body is moving without him, pulling him to shaking legs and digging his paws in the dirt. "My work," he coughs, taking a step forward as the ringing begins to leave him.
The wolf’s ears pull back, tail tucking under him. His mind is pulling the punches, thinking about the portal device and it’s safety. It’s their escape, their lifeline, he couldn’t let anything happen to it. He’s inhaling large gulps of air, his lungs attempting to withstand the stress of hyperventilating, but is quickly forced into the submission of a choked cough. "That’s my work, I have to- I have to-" he had to save it, right now! He had to go! He had to move, he had to get it out of there! Everything depended on it- depended on him!
His legs pull him before he can have any second thought, trying to go back into his house in stumbling steps.

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Original code by lexasperated / artwork by @R_HillPrime

[Ivan]

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pixel by tricky

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[div style="width: 300px; max-height: 100px; height: overflow; overflow: scroll; padding-bottom: 5px; margin-top: -5px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 8pt; color: #152232; letter-spacing: 0px; text-align: justify;"]He kept fancying that Ivan was absorbed in something — something inward and important — that he was striving toward some goal, perhaps very hard to attain.

— Бра́тья Карама́зовы

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Sometimes when Ivan has nightmares, he doesn't feel anything. He's just a spectator in his own mind. He'd wake up with his pawpads drenched in sweat, desperately trying to remind himself that only he, only Ivan, has control over himself. He unsheathes his claws and digs them into his toes, relieved when he feels the pinprick of pain. This is reality. There is nothing more, nothing beyond what I'm living right now.

It's the same feeling now, as he sees an emotion he never thought he'd see on the doctor's wolfish face. A sort of icy terror spreads from the marrow of his bones to his bloodstream. He feels like he's standing outside his own body, it doesn't feel real. Maybe the smoke is doing some strange thing to him — he doesn't know. He can't think. What sort of work could Caustic panic about? He has no idea, but what he does know that whatever was there was gone now, and Caustic will only hurt himself further trying to get back.

"It's gone!" He yells, but he doesn't hear himself. Ivan moves, but he doesn't feel the ground under his feet. He launches forward and aims to dig his needle-sharp feeth into Caustic's left ankle, but he doesn't feel anything. If his attack proved successful, he'd dig his heels into the groun, three and a half pathetic pounds of kitten weight desperately trying to stop the wolf from going back to his basement.

[alaric g.]

    Were it not for the circumstances, Kiira's sudden appearance might have caused Alaric to jump in surprise. However, because of said circumstances, he merely regarded her with a slightly-stunned blinking before immediately returning his focus to the situation at hand. Blue hues flicked from the vixen back to the unconscious wolf.

    "I believe your assessment is correct," spoke the tabby, who had also considered the possibility of a concussion. He chose to hope and believe that the blast had not induced, first and foremost, any neural or spinal injuries, and secondly anything else. Internal bleeding was certainly possible with something like this, although it was also possible for that to resolve itself if there happened to be any. Thankfully, the table protected him from any shrapnel that the explosion might have given off.

    Blue eyes looked back to Kiira as she spoke again. He didn't like to be ordered around, but she was right, and she was the real medic here. With a nod, he turned and moved so that he could see the window better, but somehow the smoke had thickened, blotting out most of the light and as a consequence any images that he may have been able to see through the smoke previously had been obscured. He could, however, hear a fit of coughing outside, alerting him to the presence of another creature. Please be someone who can knock the damn door down, Alaric thought hopefully.

    His vain hopes were fulfilled only moments later if the loud crashing upstairs was to be believed. Aurum dove into the room moments later, confirming what the crashing sound had been. He breathed out a sigh of relief, but immediately afterwards the one-eyed lion began issuing commands of his own. With yet another bob of his head, the tabby made his way outside quickly, looking back once he exited to make sure that Kiira had followed and Aurum had rescued Caustic, which he managed to achieve with quite some effort.

    The lion collapsed a decent length from Caustic's home, but not before dropping the wolf onto the ground. Alaric did not respond to the lion's request for water elementals as Alaric possessed nothing of the sort, instead allowing his attention to be captured by Caustic, who promptly woke up upon being tossed onto the ground by the proxy. Caustic attempted to stagger to his feet, and in an attempt to stop him, Ivan dove at his legs and attempted to dig his teeth into the larger male's ankle.

    "That's enough, Ivan," stated Alaric with a shake of his head. He padded to the wolf's side and peered at the scientist with concern—a relatively rare emotion for Alaric—in his eyes. Dr. Caustic, everything there is gone. I'd be surprised if anything is salvageable," he spoke, a slight frown making its way onto his face.

♔ don't do love, don't do friends

[CAUSTIC.]

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DR. CAUSTIC

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[REDACTED]
TOXIC TRAPPER
MACKENZIE VALLEY WOLF
TANGLEWOOD
"Humanity. It's just a word."

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He was so close. His sterile, white-tiled lab was so close and it was gone in an instant.
Caustic wanted to go home, to his human body, his books and bed, his beautiful lab. He can feel the wolf fighting him, grimaces mixing with whines as he steps further still.
There's a bite, and Caustic whips around to stare at Ivan. The Wolf fights him- Caustic is panicking- he bares his teeth at the boy, snarling. His mind reels, stricken eyes turning to star at his home. He shakes his leg, trying to get Ivan off.
What state was the Portal Device in? Was it fixable? It had to be fixable. He couldn't fail; it was failure to himself, to Natalie, to Octavio. Caustic makes his way to his steps, leaning over the stairs and wheezing. His body is racked by coughs, scrambling up his steps as his head wavers from weakness.
Caustic stops, staring into his house through the broken door. He stares at the basement doorway, whisps of smoke brewing from below. He can smell the raccoons burning flesh, the machine's burning wires of copper and plastic in his nose. He holds a paw to his chest, held tilting down then back up and he tried to regain control of his breathing.  "It can't be gone," It couldn't be. He had to fix it at all costs. "It... It was important, you don't understand."

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Original code by lexasperated / artwork by @R_HillPrime

[alaric g.]

    The tabby's patience began to run thin as Caustic continued to heave himself into his ruined home. He could feel the anger and irritation building within him as the wolf ignored his calls and foolishly dragged himself back into the house that Aurum had struggled to remove him from in the first place. Alaric protested, telling the wolf over and over to stop, but it was as if something had stolen his voice before it could reach Caustic's ears. He could not understand why someone in Caustic's state would want to drag himself back to the site of the explosion, especially when the area was not safe and another accident could easily occur.

    Reluctantly he followed the wolf as he drew even nearer to the doorway, stopping only when Caustic did. The tabby hushed himself for a moment to allow Caustic to draw in what he could only assume was the sight of smoke billowing from the basement's open doorway. Until now, Alaric had not allowed his irritation to overcome him, but now, hearing the wolf's words, it consumed his mind.

    "Believe it or not, Dr. Caustic, but I know exactly what it feels like to lose something important to you," the male responded coldly, his words envenomed and his voice in a low tenor. "Trying to go back to that damned basement after Aurum nearly knocked himself out trying to save you, and with the state you're in, too... For someone so smart, right now, you are a fool." His icy blue eyes peered directly at the wolf, conveying, if it wasn't already very obvious, the anger he felt in that moment.

♔ don't do love, don't do friends