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Jak & Daxter: Safety

Chapter 8

by Tempo & Sillyneko

The ottsel trio addresses the eco shortage, though they make a surprising discovery about the effects of dark eco.

Note: This is set after Jak X.

~ ~ ~

Weapon fire echoed around Tess as she stood atop the spherical bomb, hitting it with a hammer. While she generally discouraged people she liked from hitting bombs with hammers, this one hadn't lined up just right with the traces of the old mine elevator. They needed the shaped charge to point down when it reached the bottom or it would never reach the crystallized layer of eco far below.

To her left and right, Daxter and Jak blasted Metal Heads. Dax stood atop the hover shuttle they'd used to ferry the bomb here, while his green-haired companion stood on the far side of the bomb.

Jak blasted a skittering stinger into goo, then snapped a fresh clip into his morph gun. "How's that bomb comin', Tess?"

"Uuugh!" Bringing all her strength down in one blow, she clanged the hammer against the stubborn bracket. With a metal ping, it popped onto the elevator's guide rod. She coughed a victorious laugh. "I got it, guys!" With a surge of adrenaline, she tossed the tool aside and unslung the gun from her back. Then the one-ton ball of explosive eco shuddered under her paws. With a yelp of panic, the female ottsel flung herself off the piercer bomb as it dropped from under her.

A steel clatter of increasing speed echoed up from the mine shaft as the device plummeted.

Scrambling up from the slime-spattered dust, Tess hit the controller on her belt. A beep signaled that the bomb would detonate on impact. At least that worked right. "Jak! We can totally leave right now!"

He grunted, edging back around the mouth of the elevator shaft. His gun rattled on, unleashing volleys of eco into the gem-faced horrors that clawed out of the ground around him. A week ago, he'd have tripped on his own tail, but now his posture bore the confidence she'd seen time and time again in their fight to free the city.

Clods of dirt burst up beside her. She sprayed shots into the pod spiders that emerged. Their skull gems shattered with a spray of sparks.

Daxter popped off a few shots from the top of the air train shuttle before hopping down into the open cockpit and firing up the engines. "I got no problem with you two screwin' around, but could ya do it when we're not over a giant bomb?"

Tess scampered up the door-ramp at the open back of the shuttle. She yanked the remote control from her hip. The small screen flashed through the feet remaining before impact. "Jak!"

The greenish ottsel ducked through the curls of dust rising around the shuttle's engines. An enterprising hopper bounded around the side and clamped metal jaws down on his morph gun. Jerked to a halt by his gun harness, he wrestled the blaster back and forth with the creature for precious fractions of a second before finally unsnapping the weapon.

The shuttle shuddered up, hovering a couple feet above the ground. Tess threw herself prone, reaching an arm off the back of the ramp. In her paw, the countdown flashed from triple digits to doubles--

With a scowl of determination, Jak bounced onto the squat Metal Head and toward her extended hand.

Her grasp closed around his. She hauled him up enough for his other hand to seize on the edge of the ramp and called over her shoulder. "Hit it, Dax!"

The engines flared to full power. The ground retreated beneath them, a swarm of Metal Heads converging on their former landing site, growing smaller and smaller.

A cheery beep tittered from the remote as it tumbled out the back of the craft. The screen flashed to single digits.

The mine shaft exploded.

Light shot in a column from the opening, followed an instant later by a sound so deep it vibrated her whiskers. Along the earth, a shock wave rolled out in all directions, flinging packs of Metal Heads aside like toys in a child's tantrum. The shuttle rocked and threatened to tip. Then, with a crash like the greatest ocean wave, a gurgling geyser of dark eco gushed skyward. Globs of the viscous ichor splattered against the hull, along with the odd crystal of the stuff.

As the black matter fell around them, it shimmered and twinkled into a wide array of colors. It vaporized into puffs of familiar green, blue, red, and yellow haze, which drifted on the breeze. The eco geyser, still surging upward, shifted in hue and texture, becoming a font of radiant color that danced with the winds like a single great flame.

"Yahoo! Look at it go!" Dax pumped a fist in the air from the cockpit as eco splattered on the windshield.

Jak, meanwhile, gripped Tess's paw so hard his claws dug into her pelt.

Laughing, she hauled him up onto the shuttle deck. He tumbled onto her, but he wasn't laughing. In fact, it sounded more like a growl.

Upon patting his flank, her hand came away sticky. She yanked it away, though she found not blood, but a thick layer of dark eco. Tess swallowed, nervous, and glanced to the cockpit. "Daxxie?"

"Yeah, babe, I know: we're awesome." Barely looking back from the controls, her little whisker-puss hit a button and closed the back door of the shuttle, sealing them inside.

Above her, Jak's eyes gleamed, pure-black orbs set against ashen grey fur. Little crackles of purple energy played along his ears. His teeth nibbled down the side of her neck.

Her whiskers tingled as residual dark eco trailed down from his cheek ruff.. She cleared her throat. "Daxter, sweetie? Are we clear?"

"You betcha, hot stuff!" His gaze flicked to the rear display. "We've got a lovely mushroom cloud in our rear-view, gettin' further away by the second. We'll be sipping cocktails in our own bed by lunchtime."

Daxter's voice had gotten Jak's attention. The transformed ottsel loosened the protective hold he had gotten on Tess enough to twist and glare to the other male with a whimper, clearly torn.

She cleared her throat. "Actually, snuggle-fluff, I think you'd better find someplace to land."

The shorter ottsel glanced back. "Whaddya mean--whoa! When'd he go all scary?"

"It was right at the end, there. I think he was working himself up for a daring escape and now he doesn't know we got away." She stroked a finger along Jak's brow, watching anger and worry war on the unnaturally-elongated muzzle. Keeping her voice soft, she spoke to Jak, eyebrows raised meaningfully at Daxter. "Shh, it's okay, Jak. Everything is all right. Daxter just needs to land the ship and then he can come over here and you won't have to worry about keeping him safe anymore."

This was blunt enough for even Daxter to understand. No sooner had the orange male brought the ship to a rough, skidding landing than he was out of his seat, and no sooner was he in grabbing range than powerful arms had yanked him into a possessive embrace. Jak sat on the floor, both his lovers crushed to his chest, eyes locked on the hatch as he growled.

Daxter looked pretty freaked out, but Tess wriggled until her upper body was free and went back to petting the feral male. "Aww, look at him. Poor guy is so scared!" Bending to look him in the strange, wild eyes, she tried hard to project calm and reassurance. "Jak, listen to me, okay? We made it, Jak. We're all okay." She held him close, and after a moment those steel cable muscles began to unwind, the labored breathing beginning to slow. "Theeeeere we go. That's a little better. Daxxie, how long does this usually last?"

"Usually? About as long as he wants it to." Her other lover was struggling to get the same kind of freedom of movement she'd achieved, but Jak's grip on his best friend was a little more insistent. "Used to be he could flip it on and off like a light switch. I guess maybe it hits harder in the new body?"

"He didn't stay transformed long last time." She kept her tone pleasant and soothing. "Should we just wait it out?"

"Last time he wore himself out fighting the bugs, remember? If he's not with it enough to turn it off on his own, we're gonna have to find some way for him to burn up all that dark eco, unless we wanna be here all day. And I gotta tell you, I don't like our odds in a sparring match."

Tess leaned in to kiss the base of one of Jak's horns, grinning at the little confused noise it drew from him. "Oh, I think I can come up with a better way." She lifted Jak's chin up to kiss him and got to watch the big male's pupils narrow to slits and snap into focus on her. Acting on instinct, he pushed back against her lips. She returned the pressure, slipping her tongue into his muzzle, feeling his elongated fangs with a thrill as she urged another, older fire up to replace Jak's battle-frenzy.

"Whoa, Tessie, grabbin' the stinger by the tail." Despite the words, Daxter grinned, already caressing Jak's chest and drawing a pleased rumble from him. "You sure about this, babe? He's crazy-strong like this, and not exactly with it, you know?"

"Tsk." Tess pulled her lips from Jak's to answer, and even that brief privation made the grey ottsel growl and pull her back in. After a moment she managed to escape under the pretense of kissing down along the line of Jak's chin and throat. "Look at him, Daxter. He loves us so much. He's not going to hurt us." The fur on Jak's neck had gotten longer and thicker, and his altered scent filled her nostrils when she buried her nose in it. "Besides, we just saved, like, the entire world, and I could use some victory sex. Now help me get his clothes off."

They set upon the poor boy. The half-feral ottsel squirmed and whimpered, bewildered by the sudden change of momentum and unable to decide where to direct his clearly-growing need. With licks and nibbles and teasing caresses, they bounced his attentions between them, keeping him distracted while they slid him out of his battered clothing. Tess felt a surge of giddy anticipation when his straining member came into view, the same way she always did when she knew one of her boys wanted her. She ground her thighs together as wetness welled between them.

Jak was beginning to get a handle on the situation, pulling both of the smaller ottsels against him, keeping them in kissing range and limiting their ability to tease him. Daxter caught her eye, heavy-lidded and grinning as Jak lavished attention on his narrow chest, purring thunderously. "This... this was your idea, Tessie. You want him first?"

She did. She really did. When next Jak turned his attention to her she rushed to meet him, capturing him in the longest, hottest, deepest kiss she could muster, grinding her suddenly-constraining shorts against that glorious cock as she tugged him down towards the floor.

And Jak, faced at last with a single target for his lusts, pounced.

She fumbled with her top and managed to get the clasp undone just as the fabric was beginning to strain between Jak's teeth. The garment sprung free to hit the inside of the windshield and fall to the console as his tongue descended on her breasts.

Hot gasps escaped his muzzle, heating her fur. Dax snuck in between them and uncinched her belt.

She wiggled out of her shorts and kicked them down her tail. Legs spread, she purred a wordless invitation. She massaged his sheath, feeling an unfamiliar bulge. A glance down revealed a swelling at the base of his shaft, throbbing with his heartbeat, eager to be buried in her soft, warm folds.

The sleek head of his cock pressed in, filling her with lovely heat and texture. With a wet sound, he sank fully in, that knot a speed bump on their road to pleasure. His hips bucked to a steady, then an urgent, then a frantic pace.

With a jostled moan, Tess lay back and let him pound away. Her legs rocked in the air as he thrusted into her. His balls bumped the base of her tail as she reached unsteady fingers down to massage her clit.

Grasping her shoulders, Jak plowed into the moaning ottsel under him. His ears lay back flat. Each time his cock hilted, he grunted with pleasure as his knot popped inside. Hot juices from them both mixed inside her.

Tess found herself squeaking in delight every time that bulge of flesh tugged free--until finally it couldn't. Every heartbeat swelled it larger, filled her further. Her hips tied to his by the base of his cock, she felt her tail lift off the deck plating. Desperate paw pads rubbed circles around her clit, faster, faster...

With a series of short, frantic thrusts, Jak jostled his throbbing dick around inside her. That first squirt of heat painted her passage with pleasure.

Tess cried out in ecstasy. Muscles tensed. Nerves fired wonder through every inch of her body. Breath trailed from her lungs in a protracted yowl of delight.

Atop her, Jak growled and ground his hips against hers. Wave after wave of thick heat sprayed against her walls as he claimed her as his own. His knot swelled, stretching her to her limit.

As his thrusts slowed, she, panting, crossed her ankles behind his back. A flicker of vulnerability chased across that toothy muzzle. Through waves of passion, she smiled.

He buried his muzzle in the fur of her shoulder and thrust as much as he could. In a fierce acceleration of breath, he clutched her close and snarled in bliss. His balls twitched on her tail as fresh blasts surged into her.

At last, shuddering, she slumped back to the floor. Her passage still fluttering around his knot, she followed the direction of Jak's gaze. Daxter was slumped against the bulkhead, pants discarded, his eyes squeezed shut, pumping frantically at his sleek pink cock. A glimmer of precum collected at the tip, hidden several times a second by his fuzzy knuckles. A low, yearning sound rose from Jak's chest and he licked his chops.

Smacking her lips to find her voice again, Tess stretched languidly. "Daxter, sweetie, I think you have something that he wants."

The masturbating ottsel looked up, ears lifting, just in time to see Jak's powerful paw close around his tail. With a squawk and a flail, he slid across the deck and toward his companions. "Whaaa!"

Eyes gleaming with desire, the ashen-furred ottsel gripped his friend by the thighs and dove between them. His tongue slathered saliva up and down the tender shaft before his lips even closed around it. He sucked with hungry abandon, strong paws toying with delicate furred orbs, squeezing at his sheath.

Daxter's scrawny hands seized the two little nub horns that poked from Jak's hairline, clutching tight for leverage against the unexpected pleasure. His tail flopped and shook against Tess's leg as his words failed to materialize.

Tess gasped at the tug of the cock knotted within her. Her lovers' every movement twisted and turned it against her walls. At first she thought she'd gotten used to his size, but then that heavy bulge of flesh started to slip free. She peeped at the unfamiliar sensation.

With a foggy look, Daxter glanced her way. Shaky breaths echoed against the bulkheads as Jak sucked off his best friend. Curvy hips rocked back and forth and up against the hungry attentions. Through gritted teeth, he groaned in climax.

A thick wet noise accompanied Jak pulling free to better lap up the juices running down his friend's sheath and balls. No longer stretched by his lovely girth, Tess's passage constricted on the double shot of fluid he'd left behind. The brain-muddling musk of sex hung thick in the air.

Jak prowled halfway to standing, his length stiff and dripping once more. He pounced to where Daxter lay limp and grinning to take him by the tail again.

Dazed and dripping, Tess lay on the deck of the shuttle. Hot ottsel seed leaked from her slit and down her tail base, which had been filled to the brim, first with Jak's cock, then with two climaxes worth of his cum. She watched as the ashen-furred ottsel lifted her snuggle-muffin up by the hips, slamming his cum-slick cock deep into his tailhole.

"Ooh-ooh! Ooh-ooh! Easy, big guy." Daxter squirmed, bumping his tail against Jak's shoulder, fuzzy toes barely touching the deck. Biting his lower lip, he glanced to Tess. "Is it just me, or has he gotten...bigger?"

As unsteady fingertips traced her tender entrance, she nodded. "He has a knot. Like a crocadog or something."

"A whaaaaat?! Ahhhh!" The smaller ottsel squeaked in surprise as the bulge sank fully inside him. "Sweet Precursors!"

Jak's roar of orgasm shook the tiny craft, his hips grinding against his smaller partner's as he claimed him, just as he had her minutes before. With each growled grunt, he bucked another load into his stunned partner.

"What the heck was that?" Dax jerked his head back at this rump, tried to move, and found himself held fast. "And why are we stuck?!"

Through a dreamy fog, Tess watched her boyfriends tie. The scent of ottsel sex hung thick the air, leaving her voice to carry on without her. "Male crocadogs have knots to keep their seed in the female after mating."

"Well, I ain't exactly a female." He wiggled, but stopped as pleasure and discomfort mixed on his face. "Actually, ya know what? That can stay right where it is."

Jak, silent, just nuzzled the underside of his best friend's tail. Then, with a soft crackle, the last of the dark eco dissipated, allowing the color to return to his pelt and eyes. As his once-again adorable erection slide free, a generous dollop of Precursor cum dripped from their balls and pattered to the grey steel floor plating. His ears dropped in modesty under the weight of a sudden blush.

The next instant, Daxter, deprived of phallic support, collapsed to the sticky deck with a splat and a squawk.

Tess couldn't help but grin.

~ ~ ~

As daylight faded, the three ottsels toweled off after another shower. It'd taken more than a few lathers, rinses, and repeats to get the various nastiness out of their fur.

Wrapping her ears and hair up in a hand towel, Tess sat on the lip of the tub, legs swaying. So this is what it felt like to actually go on adventures. She watched as the boys smoothed their ruffled, drying fur.

Jak rubbed the nape of his neck, looking between them, then at the floor. "Guys, about the dark eco... I--I'm sorry."

"You kiddin'? I'm gonna keep a pump bottle of the stuff on the nightstand from now on." Dax slapped him on the back. "If yer really sorry, though, I'm sure I can think up some kinda payback..." His lewd gaze trailed down Jak's front and back.

The hero stammered.

The soap dish rattled.

A massive rumble shook everything in the bathroom.

Tess looked around. Loofahs tumbled from the bathroom cabinet. An earthquake? One of the eco reactors malfunctioning?

Daxter bounced up to the edge of the tub, then to the window sill, wiping steam from the panes. Outside, white light surged above the clouds, setting them aglow. The sound grew until the window itself shook in its frame. The business ends of powerful engines split the clouds, plasma blazing forth to stabilize the craft above.

Still seated atop the tub, the female ottsel found her mouth hanging open. "I think that's--"

Stepping beside her, Jak placed a paw on her shin. "--a Precursor space shuttle."

"Looks like it's landin' out by Spargus." Daxter hopped down from the window and into his pants. "What're we waitin' for? We gotta roll out the welcome wagon!"

~ ~ ~

Twenty minutes later, they skidded their fastest zoomer to a stop outside the Spargus arena. They pushed their way through the gathering crowd of onlookers, which was more dangerous than it sounded given the Wastelanders' penchant for spiked knee pads. When they finally navigated the carved tunnels that led to the seating area, they saw the lumpy orange hulk of the Precursor shuttle towering above. It settled on a gladiatorial platform over the rocky streams of lava.

An large armored figure stood on the platform, waiting to greet them. The ottsels skittered over the railing and hopped from between the platforms to reach Sig's side. Tess clutched the Precursor staff they'd brought with them and tried not to look down.

The hulking cyborg glanced down at them. "Well, if it isn't the peck of chili peppers. Good to see you in my arena this time."

Daxter crossed his arms. "Yeah, nice how we don't have to fight to the death this time!"

Sig studied him with his organic eye for a moment. "You saying you never figured out we only put you through that because we thought you were only good for cannon fodder?"

"What?!" That put Daxter's dander up.

"Most people who get kicked out of Haven City are dangerous criminals." He shrugged. "If you'd looked more like a electrical engineer, we'd have given you a written exam."

Jak buried his face in his paw. "You gotta be kidding me."

The big man offered the greenish ottsel a chuckle. "You didn't think your old man was stupid enough to waste resources like having people fight to the death at random, did you?"

A loud thrum interrupted any further conversation. The port on the craft's side irised open, projecting a series of gangplanks. A chubby ottsel leapt out with a battle cry, spinning his staff like a weapon. A taller one bounded out an instant later, karate chopping the air. Loud clanking announced the arrival of a third, clad in plump, bug-eyed power armor with a long sensory snoot.

Tess waved at them. "Hi!"

The Precursors straightened from their dramatic poses. The tall one lifted the last of his karate chops to smooth back his ears. "Hey, dudes! We detected a mondo eco disturbance in your planet."

The elder ottsel tapped his staff against his fingertips. "We came to offer our assistance."

Daxter examined his claws, leaning on Sig's leg. "Oh, that little ol' world-ending catastrophe? Yeah, we took care of it. That was sooo this morning's new."

The leader scratched his beard. "Oh, well, in that case, I suppose we're here to offer..."

With a whir, the faceplate of the power armor flipped open to reveal the hopeful face of an ottsel. "...snacks?"

The wizened elder shook his head. "I was going to say our infinite, interstellar wisdom, but sure. I could use a snack."

~ ~ ~

Towering and well-lit, the interior of the Precursor spacecraft loomed several stories tall. The upper levels featured rings of walkways where Tess caught the occasional glimpse of movement. The main floor was surprisingly well-appointed: plush davenports, supple beanbags, and some kind of multi-level cat perch, plus heaps of throw pillows. Everyone took a seat, except Sig, who crushed one. The tall ottsel wheeled in a hovering tray of treats.

Daxter took a massive bite out of what looked like a chocolate tart, scattering crumbs with every syllable. "So you guys got time travel; why didn't ya just go back and fix whatever you thought was wrong?"

The pudgy ottsel nibbled at some kind of translucent space eggplant. "Because we didn't know what was wrong yet."

"Plus, we can't mess with time if it erases our reason for needing to mess with time, since that erases our messing with time." The bucktoothed Precursor made a complicated looping gesture.

"Using it to mess with people, on the other hand..." Jak smirked and elbowed his boyfriend.

A tiny orange drone buzzed in to start sweeping the crumbs off the cushions and got into a fight when it tried to do the same to Daxter.

"So dude, how'd this even happen?" The tall ottsel gestured up and down Jak's body. "When we left, you seemed pretty set on staying a human."

"Oh!" Tess sat up and grabbed the staff from beside her chair. "He found this thing and it zapped him into being even cuter than before." She cast him an adoring glance.

His inner ears blushed a darker shade of pink.

"Ah yes." The elder Precursor nodded. His own version of the implement glowed, causing hers to levitate and rotate. "That's one of many things it can do. We call this device--" He swept a dramatic paw toward it, speaking with reverence: "--a 'multi-tool.'"

Jak lifted a finger. "Did you know dark eco would still let me transform as an ottsel?"

"We had hoped." The Precursor leader summoned another small robot, which began filling the cracks in the staff's gem with some kind of sealant. "We...guided the development of your species to channel large amounts of eco, far more than we could safely use ourselves."

Daxter scoffed, batted away the cleaning drone, and snagged another choco-tart, gesturing with it pointedly. "Ya mean you dumped a bunch of it on our planet and waited to see what would happen."

Sig shifted atop the ruins of a tiny sofa. "You don't care that your experiment took hundreds of years?"

"Our species ditched aging a couple generations back. So time isn't as valuable as, like, our lives." The tall Precursor crossed his ankles on a padded ottoman. "We're not warriors, though, just radical dudes, so we've been ducking the Dark Makers for centuries now."

The Precursor elder stroked his beard. "In fact, the experiment worked out better than we could've hoped. Kor is defeated, the Dark Maker mothership is destroyed, and the Universe back in Precursor paws." Steepling his paws, the older ottsel gave them a serious look. "It is impressive, Jak, that you're still able to channel eco now that you're in our form. The Dark Makers found only their undoing."

Jak cleared his throat. "Speaking of undoing, it it even possible to change me back?"

"Of course." The elder Precursor took the now-repaired staff from the hovering robot. "It's the second button from the top. For security, the buttons are inside these tiny grooves, just wide enough for ottsel claws." He raised a digit in demonstration. "But, take care: if you change back to human form, you'll never be able to use it again... unless you have a ballpoint pen or something."

Tess accepted the staff and held it gingerly. "What do the other buttons do?"

The tall ottsel counted off on his fingers. "Those are, like, tractor beam, healing, pants creation, communicating with our mothership."

"All the basics of life!" The daft Precursor cheered around a bunch of faintly-glowing grapes.

A purring Daxter seemed to have made peace with the cleaning drone, which had switched to grooming mode and was, at present, brushing between his ears.

Sig paused mid-sip at a cup of tea, steam gathering on his cybernetic eye. "Wait, you have a ship bigger than this?"

"Well, yes." The elder Precursor spread his paws. "With the fall of the Dark Makers, we're free to move about the Universe. We have a number of other colony worlds..."

Tess spotted a blaze of orange fur a couple levels up. Ottsels in white jumpsuits walked around with computerized tablets, sliding sliders and pressing buttons on vast control panels. Leaning over one railing, a scruffy little ottsel watched with wide blue eyes. Tess gasped at the undiluted cuteness: a baby ottsel! Well, not a baby--clearly a little kid. But still!

Noticing she'd been noticed, the little girl dropped her ears and offered a shy wave. She wore the same plain white garments as the adults, but carried a small plush creature, yellow with brown stripes.

Below, Tess waved back, shock blunting her movements.

With a bounce, the little Precursor smiled wide and peered a little further over the railing. Standing on her tiptoes, she was just tall enough to angle her nose down at the strangers. Gossamer whiskers sprung straight with interest.

Tess had never really given much thought to young ottsels, but clearly Precursors reproduced much like humans. She'd never thought much about being a mother either, but a rush of nesting hormones radiated through her brain. The sudden desire arose to nurture the heck out of the little tyke.

~ ~ ~

About an hour later, Tess stood with Sig and the boys outside the craft, watching it from a balcony. With a thrum and then a shudder, the ship thundered skyward and tugged her heartstrings after it. Odd, since she really knew so little about them, but the Precursors had left their mark on her life in as many ways as they had on her planet. Her paw closed around the little orange memory card they'd given her, packed with elementary history lessons on a people who were now her own.

Jak patted her shoulder, watching the shuttle shrink to just another point of light in the endless sky. Who knew what exotic mission they were headed off to next? The Universe was big, after all, especially to an ottsel, and her planet was just starting to truly get an idea of the majesty, danger, and wonder that lay beyond their fragile, hurtling sphere.

"Well..." Smile gleaming the in the torchlight, Daxter slapped the repaired staff against his palm. "...who wants to see what Samos looks like with fur?"

~ ~ ~

Okay, so we've discovered this probably needs just one more chapter. X)

Art: Zetht

Additional contributions: Slate

Edits: Kohaku Nightfang

~ Tempo