Standing in the middle of the casino lobby were ED Dolan, Mind Dolan, and Robo Dolan. Upon seeing the group walk out of the bathroom, Robo Dolan began slow clapping.
“Bravo, bravo!” he said, his electronic voice ringing out through the empty lobby. “I didn’t think you’d manage to fix that reality shift! Good thing you did, because now we know Todd’s Xarxos must have the Book of Arcane. And he’s an hour away.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Xavier asked, stepping forward. “We had a deal!”
“Why I’m just here to thank you for holding up your end of our little bargain,” Robo Dolan said. “I must say, being able to stop time does some real wonders.” The robot held up his left hand, revealing three rings on his fingers.
“Y-You bastard!” Xavier shouted. “You can’t just steal those rings from me!”
“Can and did. Shame that these aren’t the real things though.”
“How did you know those were fakes?!” Feng shouted. “We didn’t tell anyone that they were fakes!”
“We tested them out once we got our hands on them,” Mind Dolan said. “There was a limited amount of spells we could use, so that kind of gave it away.”
“Now, if you excuse us, we’ll be taking those books from you,” Robo Dolan said.
“Like hell you are!” Rusty growled. “You’ll have to take down four of us to get all the books you need!”
“Oh, I wasn’t talking to you, mutt. I was talking to him.” Robo Dolan pointed at Todd. “Why would we ever bother taking on four book users when we could just take on one and get the same books? The odds are much more in our favor that way.”
“Oh, shit…” Mark said suddenly. “When Prime Dolan said not to tell anyone about your books, he was talking about the other versions of himself…”
“Likely so we wouldn’t get any ideas and try to stab him in the back,” Mind Dolan said. “What a paranoid motherfucker.”
“Fuck…we have to fight?” Todd asked, looking nervously at the three Dolans in front of him. “I-I don’t think I can do this…”
“You’ll be fine,” Rusty said, stepping forward. “Rok and I will help you out.” The Cerberus-morph looked over at the cyclops. “Rok, you take Mind! I’ll take the dragon!” Rok nodded and turned his attention towards Mind Dolan, his eye narrowing.
Mind Dolan smirked. “You want to fight, you one-eyed freak?” he asked. “Then come and get me!” Mind Dolan ran up the stairs to the Body floor, and Rok quickly gave chase.
ED Dolan sighed. “That fool’s just asking to get himself killed,” the dragon said before floating after Mind Dolan and Rok.
“Hey, get back here you damn snake!” Rusty shouted, sprinting after the dragon.
Feng growled in irritation. “God damn it, we shouldn’t be splitting up! Rex, c’mon!” The Kirin and stegosaurus ram after Rusty. That left Todd, Mark, and Xavier alone in the lobby with Robo Dolan.
“Well, looks like you’re outnumbered, you hunk of junk!” Mark shouted. “Why don’t you just back off and leave us alone?”
“Now this doesn’t seem fair at all,” Robo Dolan said, shaking his head. “I propose a one-on-one fight instead.”
“And why the hell would we ever agree to that?!” Todd growled.
“Because if you don’t…” The robot pointed at Mark. “I’ll turn him into nothing more than a pile of dust.” Before any of them could do anything, Robo Dolan shouted “Progression!” Instantly, Mark began to change. His white fur began to dull, becoming more of a grayish silver color. His body began to lose much of its muscle definition, becoming frail and weak.
“Wh-What…What’s happening?” Mark asked, his voice sounding much more hoarse and raspy. “Why…Why do I feel…so weak?” The fox’s legs began to shake as he struggled to take a step forward. He suddenly cried out in pain as his back forced him to hunch over.
“Stop!” Todd shouted. “You’re killing him!”
“That’s the point,” Robo Dolan replied coldly.
The elderly fox began to wobble, unable to keep his balance. Mark started to fall forward, but Xavier quickly caught him before he hit the ground.
“Ah…thank you, young man…” Mark said. “It’s nice to know that today’s youth still cares for old farts like me.” Xavier knelt down and gently set Mark on the ground, and Todd quickly dropped to his knees.
“Mark? Mark, are you okay?!” the younger fox asked, tears beginning to pool in his eyes.
“I’m fine Todd…” the elderly fox replied. “But…I think my time is almost up. I just want you to know that…”
“I’ll fight you, Dolan!”
Robo Dolan lowered his hand. “Finally,” he said. “I thought you were going to just let him die.”
Todd stood up, glaring at the robot. “Change him back.”
Robo Dolan raised his hand and pointed and Mark. “Regression.”
Almost instantly, Mark returned to his normal age. The fox sat up, looking around in a panic. Todd sighed in relief, letting a few tears fall down his face.
“Now then, let’s make a deal,” Robo Dolan said. “I challenge you to a one-on-one duel. I am only allowed to attack you, and you are only allowed to attack me. Your friends are not allowed to fight me. If they do, then you automatically forfeit the fight and die on the spot. Do we have a deal?”
Todd turned and looked at Mark and Xavier. Xavier looked as if he didn’t care about what was going on, which made a bit of sense. The stag had no real reason to root for Todd to win. The fox was going to look at Mark, but he stopped himself. He couldn’t bear to see the terrified expression in his boyfriend’s eyes.
“Alright,” Todd said. “You have yourself a deal.”
Robo Dolan smirked and mouthed something quietly. Then, in the blink of an eye, he appeared directly in front of Todd. Before the fox could react, the robot threw a sucker punch at his jaw, causing Todd to fall backward onto the ground. He tried to get up, but Robo Dolan stomped on his hand. The fox cried out in pain, only for Robo Dolan to kick his jaw.
“Aww, what’s wrong, little fox?” the robot asked sarcastically. “I never specified how we could attack each other. Using spells on you would honestly be such a waste. I mean, in most timelines, you’re dead so early on.” Todd’s head began to slump down, but Robo Dolan grabbed the fur on top of his head and held it up.
“Hey now, I didn’t say you could tap out yet!” Robo Dolan said. “After all, we’re only just getting started!” The robot proceeded to slam Todd’s face onto the hard, marble floor, causing blood to spray out of his nose and mouth.
“Oof! Looks like you could use some tissues!” The robot pulled a tissue out from his pocket and proceeded to press it against Todd’s bloody nose.
“You know the best part about all this?” Robo Dolan asked, throwing the bloody tissue away after he cleaned up Todd’s nose. “It’s the fact that I can make this feel much, much, worse.” As Todd slowly got back onto his hands and knees, Robo Dolan suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye. In the same second, he was sent flying backward a few feet, immense pain in his side. It was as if Dolan had somehow kicked him ten times within a single second! But how was that even possible?!
“Wh-What the hell?!” Mark shouted. “How did he do that?! He was just in front of Todd, but then he was beside him!”
“He stopped time,” Xavier said quietly. “He’s not fighting. He’s toying with Todd.”
“Oh my God…he is like GIO…”
Robo Dolan then appeared next to Todd and kicked him again, sending the fox flying back to where he was initially.
“This is…I can’t watch this…” The stag said, turning away from the fight.
Todd was breathing heavily, his vision starting to blur. This stupid fucking robot was stopping time before he could even do anything. Most of his ribs had to be broken after all those kicks, and his jaw was more than broken after it was slammed into the floor. This…This wasn’t how he was supposed to die. He was supposed to die after living a long, fulfilling life with Mark and Xarxos. Tears began to pool in his eyes as he realized that he was going to die, just like most of the other versions of him.
“We…We have to help him!” Mark shouted. “There has to be something we can do!”
“We can’t attack Robo Dolan, or else Todd loses,” Xavier said. “But then again, he’s already getting his ass kicked.”
Mark desperately tried to think of something, anything, he could do to help Todd. There had to be some kind of last resort…
“Then what if one of us turned into something from the Book of Myth?” Todd asked.
“No, out of the question,” Xarxos responded quickly. “Those spells require a large amount of energy as well, and they’re fairly dangerous. I’d prefer if those spells either go completely unused or are only used as an absolute last resort. Do you both understand me?”
“That’s it!” Mark shouted, making Xavier turn his head.
“What’s it?” the stag asked.
“Give me the Book of Myth!” Before Xavier could even protest, Mark grabbed the ring on his hooflet and pulled it off. He took a deep breath before putting it on. The taste of copper suddenly filled his mouth, but it dispersed quickly.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Xavier hissed, trying to keep his voice down so Robo Dolan wouldn’t notice. “You can’t cast spells on Robo Dolan! You’re going to get us all killed!”
“I know I can’t,” Mark said. “That’s why I’m not using it on Dolan.” The white-furred fox pointed at his lover. He needed to become something fast…faster than Robo Dolan could stop time…and Mark knew the perfect creature.
“Divine Shift!”
…
…
…
But nothing happened…
“Wh-What?!” Mark shouted. “I…I know I said the right spell! Xarxos told me some of the spells in the Book of Myth, and I know that’s one of them!”
“Aww, you tried to find a loophole to help your friend and it didn’t work,” Robo Dolan mocked, giving Todd’s limp body another hard kick to the side. “Too bad. At least he knows that you tried to save him. Well, time to finish the job.”
Todd turned to look at Mark, his face was battered and bloody. The white-furred fox felt tears begin to pool in his eyes just by looking at how badly his boyfriend was beaten. The bloody fox gave Mark a weak smile.
“Thanks…for trying,” he said weakly. “I….I love you…”
As Robo Dolan raised his foot to deliver the final blow, he jumped back just in time as a large bolt of lightning burst through the glass ceiling of the casino, striking Todd’s limp body.
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
A jolting, excruciating pain filled Todd’s body as the bolt of lightning struck him. The fox opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. His body wouldn’t respond to his attempts to move it. It was as if everything inside him had been completely fried.
Then, the pain disappeared.
Shaking slightly, Todd sat up, immediately noticing the absence of pain in his sides. He reached down and felt his ribs. They felt intact. After a few seconds, he realized that the hand he was using to feel his ribs was also the one that Robo Dolan had crushed just a few minutes prior. He bent his fingers and balled his hand into a fist. No pain whatsoever. The fox stood up before looking over at Mark.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“I…I tried to turn you into something from the Book of Myth,” Mark explained. “Nothing happened, then a bolt of lightning struck you, and now you’re…fine?”
“Yeah, no pain whatsoever!”
“That’s good, but I don’t understand why the spell didn’t work.”
“Maybe the spell hasn’t-” The fox was cut off as his body suddenly jumped to the side, effortlessly dodging a punch from Robo Dolan. The robot looked just as confused as Todd did.
“What the hell?!” Robo Dolan shouted. “How did you dodge that?!”
“I…I don’t know…” Todd replied. “I’m not complaining though!” Robo Dolan growled in frustration before throwing another punch that Todd dodged easily. The robot proceeded to throw another, then another, then another…
Punch after punch, the fox was somehow managing to dodge all of them easily, eventually getting to the point where his body started dodging before Robo Dolan even threw his punches. Todd was completely unaware of how fast he was truly moving, appearing as nothing more than a blur to those who were watching him.
“How…How are you moving so fast?!” Robo Dolan shouted in anger.
“I don’t know!” Todd replied. “I just am!”
“You know what? It doesn’t matter how fast you’re going! I’ll just make…you…stand…still!”
Todd wasn’t entirely sure why, but Robo Dolan’s voice had suddenly slowed down significantly. Come to think of it, he’d also stopped throwing punches. The fox stopped moving, only to see Robo Dolan standing completely still. He had stopped throwing punches and was now beginning to extend his arm, one of his fingers beginning to extend slightly.
“Hey…what the hell are you doing?” Todd asked, walking up to the robot and waving his hand in front of Robo Dolan’s face. The robot didn’t respond...or move…
“Uh…helloooooo?” the fox asked. “Earth to robot!” Robo Dolan still didn’t move.
“Hey guys, I think his circuits are fried,” Todd said, turning to face his friends. “What do you…” He trailed off as he realized that Mark and Xavier were frozen in place as well, both with a look of shock on their face.
“What the hell?” Todd asked himself. “What’s going on?”
A strange tingling feeling in his paws made the fox look down, only for his eyes to widen in shock. His paws were beginning to grow bigger and more beast-like, and the fur on his paws was changing from black to a light electric blue color. His claws, meanwhile, were changing color as well. They turned to a dark blue at the base, with the color gradually getting lighter until the tips were white. It almost looked as if he’d had someone paint them.
“What…?” Todd watched as his hands began to change to somewhat resemble his paws, with the black fur turning a light electric blue and his claws changing colors.
The electric blue fur began to spread up the fox’s paws before it began to gradually shift to white. The white fur spread up his body, with slight accents of electric blue appearing here and there. His tail lengthened slightly, becoming slightly furrier as streaks of electric blue fur grew in.
As his fur changed color, Todd’s body began to gain a bit more muscle. He still had a twunkish physique, but his body was now a bit larger. As his shoulders broadened, the male’s muzzle pushed out slightly as his eyes turned a bright electric blue color. Todd had no idea what he was becoming until he saw his reflection in one of the nearby windows.
Staring back at him was a wolf…kind of. He resembled a wolf in body shape and size, but his fur colors made him look like someone’s fursona. The wolf couldn’t help but grin slightly.
“God damn, I look pretty good,” he said to himself. He stopped admiring his reflection and looked back at Robo Dolan. The robot still hadn’t moved. Neither had Mark, Troy, or Xavier.
A clock on the wall suddenly caught Todd’s attention. It was a standard analog clock that read a time of 1:45 AM. However, the second hand wasn’t moving. Confused, the wolf moved closer to the clock. Had Robo Dolan somehow stopped time and made him the only one that was affected by it? No, that couldn’t be the case. Why would Robo Dolan give him a huge advantage in their fight? When the second hand ticked forward, Todd realized what was happening.
He was going so fast that time had slowed to a crawl.
A shit-eating grin appeared on the wolf’s muzzle as he realized what this meant.
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
Todd waltzed into the kitchen of the restaurant on the main floor. He moved around some chefs and servers, peeking in pantries and drawers to find something that would work. Eventually, he settled on a large rectangular baking pan that was sitting on a drying rack. He hoisted the pan down from the drying rack and carried it out into the main dining area, setting it down on an empty table. From there, he walked around every table, opening the napkins that the silverware was wrapped in to take out one particular utensil: the steak knife. After a few “minutes” of walking around, Todd had a pan full of knives.
As Todd picked up the pan, he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Standing near the back of the restaurant was a large, muscular version of Dolan. The wolf grinned and grabbed a knife out of the pan before making his way over to the bodybuilder.
“Now let’s see here,” Todd thought out loud to himself. “I don’t want to kill you…just weaken you so that you can’t fight if one of the Dolans needs to switch with you.” He knelt and aimed his knife at Bodybuilder Dolan’s leg before throwing it forward. He watched as the knife quickly flew forward before slowing down to match the world around it. When time started flowing normally again, the knife would be buried deep in the bodybuilder’s leg.
“Perfect,” Todd said to himself as he stood up. “Now to find the other Dolans.”
After leaving the restaurant, Todd walked around the entire casino, throwing knives at every single version of Dolan he could find. He made sure to throw each knife in a way so it wouldn’t kill its target outright. At most, the knives would severely limit the Dolans’ ability to cast spells. After all, it's hard to cast spells when your body is slowly being drained of its energy.
After finishing his run around the casino, Todd returned to the main lobby and noticed that things were now slightly different. Robo Dolan now had his book in his left hand, and his right hand was pointing at where Todd had been standing. The wolf walked up to the robot and pulled the book out of his hand.
“And that takes care of that,” Todd said to himself. He moved back to where he had been standing before and stood perfectly still. He wasn’t entirely sure how or why, but he knew that this was how time would begin flowing normally again. In the blink of an eye, the wolf’s perception of time returned to normal.
Robo Dolan pointed at Todd and shouted “Freeze!” The robot’s angry expression then shifted to one of shock as he realized that his spell hadn’t worked and the fox was no longer standing in front of him.
“What the hell?! Who are you?!”
“The same guy you were beating the shit out of a second ago!” Todd replied casually.
Robo Dolan’s eyes narrowed. “So the Book of Myth did manage to change you,” he observed. “No matter, I’ll change you into something harmless! Inanimate!”
Nothing happened.
“I believe that you’re looking for this?” the wolf asked, holding up Robo Dolan’s book before throwing it as hard as he could into the nearby fountain. The robot turned to sprint for the book, only for Todd to suddenly appear in front of him.
“What the fuck?! What kind of creature are you?!”
“He’s a Raijū,” Mark spoke up, getting both Robo Dolan's and Todd’s attention. “They’re servants of the Japanese thunder god Rajin. Legends said they were the embodiment of lightning itself.”
“Lightning itself, huh?” Todd asked, getting an idea. Before Robo Dolan could even think about moving away, the wolf grabbed the robot and threw him to the ground. Robo Dolan tried to get up, but Todd pounced on top of him, pressing his hand to the robot’s chest. Then, without any warning, the wolf began to expel volts upon volts of electricity into the robot. Robo Dolan’s eyes went wide as he felt his circuits beginning to fry from the sudden overload of electricity. The robot screamed in pain, the cries echoing through the empty casino.
“E-Error…S-S-System malfunction…BZZT…neural n-n-network f-failing…primary s-systems shutting down…”
As Todd took his hand off the robot’s chest, the light in Robo Dolan’s eyes faded as the machine lost power. The Raijū stood up and looked down at the lifeless machine.
“Holy fuck…” Xavier said as he approached Todd. He looked down at the robot, concerned. “Is he…?”
“His circuits are completely fried,” Todd said. “No need to worry about any Funny Lover shenanigans happening.” The stag cocked his head in confusion.
“Funny…Lover?”
Todd opened his mouth to start explaining but stopped himself. “I’ll explain later,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got a casino to take over.”
TODD VS ROBO DOLAN
ROBO DOLAN - SCRAPPED