HOME | DD

Description

Since I took some inspiration from the old 70’s movie, Mad Max, to build the future world that Dax and Sylvie came from and even used it for Dax’s name, It finally occurred to me to use some of that inspiration on this villain character. ToeCutter is the name of the first Mad Max movie villain. I roughly based—key word being “roughly”--the hair and clothing, name, and role as a personal villain, on ToeCutter—ugh, I hate his name. I did change up the light blue eyes to light green tho. But the idea to spicen up Dax’s story by giving him an enemy who followed him from his past life was actually suggested by , so a big thank you to Magshi, for the idea! ^^

And also a little credit to for the idea of using the future evolved animals from the program, “The Future is Wild” as Mobian (Sonic FC) characters.

For along while now I had a good idea of how his story was gonna go, but I was stuck for a name and design until I decided to look back at that Mad Max movie again for even more inspiration, but thats the reason I had taken so long to finish him up.

Cutter the Deathgleaner

Name: Cutter

Type: Flight/Power

Age: 21

Species: Deathgleaner bat, found only in future Earth

Sex: male

Likes: Control, power, being “special”

Dislikes: anyone who fights him on anything. He’s always in the right, therefore no one has the right to argue against him on anything. Also Shots, needles, pills, nurses, and doctors

Skills: Emotional manipulation, when his own emotions arent making him act crazy

Physical Features: Deathgleaners are big, big desert bats, live and hunt during sunlight hours, and so have large eyes to see in the glaring sunlight and large noses to help vent the heat from their bodies, but they also have smaller ears, probably to better keep sand out. They tend to sport long, lanky arms that may seem a tad disproportional with hands that end in long tappered claw like fingers. They have long tails. They also have a mouthful of sharp teeth and fangs.

Setting: Initially, its a far off post apocalyptic future where the area that Dax and Cutter came from is now a vast desert and rocky wasteland and was once known as central North America in an area that was once named Illinois. But this setting was also described as one of many possible futures of our current Earth.

Dax’s Profile starts this story-- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Sylvie’s profile continues where Dax’s profile story stops— www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Brenda becomes important to Dax and Sylvie’s modern day survival--- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Mesprit’s Profile-- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Rook’s Profile-- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

BIO: Cutter got what he wanted, control of the Deathgleaner colony, as the new leader. But things did not stay that way. There is such a thing as too little, too late; so by the time the colony had gained its senses, realizing that the only thing Cutter cared about, being in power, and not the well being of the colony, of its people, all its little ones and elderly and their need for shelter, food and stability. By the time that realization had come, they had already ousted the true leader and the handful who had stayed undyingly loyal to him.

The only thing Cutter had succeeded in was dividing the colony, which had stayed that way. With Cutter flexing his win and his new position as leader, the rest of them struggled. There was not enough food. Their old and young were falling ill because of all this in-fighting keeping everyone distracted. It was a disaster. Cutter kept the most loyal close to him instead of putting them to work. Those not loyal were kept under close watch, which made it harder to go and search for food.

Even though Cutter had gotten what he had wanted, the in-fighting had started up again. There was great discontent in how things were being run, that people were being allowed to become ill and starve. At long last, a strong, young one stood up, and said to hell with the order they had, the tradition of following the leader, because this wasnt even their leader—their chosen leader had been his older brother, Fyrs, and Cutter just temper tantrumed and bullied and lied and cheated and snuck his way into being the new leader. If Cutter could convince people to side with him, this young upstart thought to do the same, and he did. It was easier than first realized because no one had really wanted to follow Cutter. Their former leader, Cutter’s father, had chosen his older brother, Fyrs, as the new leader. Thats who their true leader was, it was never Cutter.

This little upstart went above and beyond to remove Cutter from the position. He actually went out to look for the actual leader, Fyrs. Cutter ahd banished him to the wastelands, so he was out there, somewhere. But because in all that time, Fyrs had never actually strayed very far, the young one was able to find Fyrs and his still loyal followers and bring them back to the colony! It seemed they had stayed close because Chief Fyrs had planned to take back control of the colony. He couldn’t just leave, his people needed a leader who cared about them, and that wasnt Cutter.

With Fyrs in tow, the young upstart was successfully able to convince the colony to once again honor the tradition of accepting the chosen leader, because their former leader was wise and chose Fyrs over Cutter for a reason. The colony was bullied into giving in to Cutter and look what happened—the colony was about to collapse!

With Cutter only caring about his own goals and desires, the support for Fyrs to come back and gain control was huge. Fyrs was actually just like his father, the former chief, because he did care about the people here, even when they turned on him, though that wasnt exactly all their fault. Cutter had gained a handful of loyal supporters who bullied them into supporting him, and thats how that mess got started.

Under Fyrs, the colony rallied together, and Cutter found that he could not bully or scare them to his ways anymore. Unlike Cutter, Fyrs let the handful of loyal supporters who followed Cutter the option to chose, giving them one last chance. They could go follow Cutter out to the wastelands or they could stay, but they would live with the stigma of being traitors if they choose so. They choose to stay. And just like Cutter did to him, Fyrs banished his brother to the hard, wild, unforgiving death trap that is their desert home.

The colony was in shambles, many were sick from the lack of food. Fyrs promise to work hard to restore the balance and order they once had. He was going to try to repair as much as he could. He was truly worthy of being a leader, but now he had a very sick and potentially dying people on his hands. Still, he wanted those who were able to search the desert, for one of their own who was cast out in frustration by his own handful of loyal supporters. He was never found, and the search eventually had to come to an end, and they were certain that Dax had been lost to the colony forever, claimed by the harsh unforgiving wastelands.

Cutter, however, didn’t care about the damage he had cause; what he cared about was that he lost his precious leadership, the spoiled brat that he was. Even his loyal lackeys turned on him, because it really was all his fault. Few though they were, they left him and stayed and beg for forgiveness, because that was better than being cast to the wasteland. Cutter was left behind. He wondered the wasteland, angry and unrepentant. And being the pampered son of the former leader that he was, he struggled quite a bit. He wasnt apt at hunting or gathering likethe other members of his former group because he usually didn’t have to partake in that responsibility. But somehow, he survived long enough to at least improve some of these skills, even if marginally. Enough that he managed to survive to wonder far and wide enough that he found himself in a most curious place.

Curious not for where it was, but what was there. Two strange people. One, a white billed crow and the other a rook, two Mobian species that Cutter would not have recognized in this future time, or have been able to recognize the bright, colorful clothing they wore. This was Mesprit, an unscrupulous collector of magic artifacts and his lackey, Rook.

Mesprit had found a strange item here—a grandfather clock that had been dug out and apparently had expended most of its magic power. He was complaining, but not about anything Cutter could understand. Something about the clock only being able to be used one more time, and that it could take years to gather enough energy to work again, and something about how he hated time travel, and that this venture wasnt even worth the trouble.

Cutter, being careless as he was, approached and demanded to know who they were and were they came from. Mesprit immediately saw something interesting in this young male bat, and so introduced himself as a wealthy “traveler of time” out here searching for this very object.

Of course, Cutter did not know why this strange object was so important but he had hoped these two had food on them to steal. Except that he didn’t have to go that far. Mesprit opened this strange looking bag called a suitcase (which was really a portable pocket dimension--) and was able to pull food out if—lots of food; strange looking food that Cutter had never seen before!

He was eager to eat as much as he could—it was so delicious! Strange and new, but still delicious. Then this “traveler of time” named Mesprit told Cutter, that if he liked, he could send him to a place that has food like this everywhere. Why stay here with nothing but the prospects of an early death when he can go to a place that has everything he can ever want? Of course Cutter was all ears and didn’t even question this very strange stranger.

The “traveler” explained that the grandfather clock was a magic artifact and so it had power in it, and its power was to open doors to different times. The more he listened, the more intrigued Cutter became. He knew of magic artifacts, but only as bed time stories. And so he agreed with not much thought. What the “traveler” had told him was too good to resist, and so the stranger in bright clothes started to play with the hands on the face of the grandfather clock and spun them ‘round and ‘round in circles until both hands pointed up at the number 12, and then a swirling vortex of dark colored clouds burst forth! In the center of its swilrs was an image of a city---Cutter didn’t know what a city looked like but he knew of them from old stories. T’was but a few seconds before Rook, the lackey, pushed the dumb but greedy Death Gleaner bat into the portal--

Why? You might ask. Mesprit likes to create chaos, either directly or indirectly, supposedly out of curiosity to see what results come about, but mostly to mess with people. He was that sort of foul person.

Even after a few days time, the shock and awe could not wear off. Cutter wondered the modern day city, taking in all the sights, sounds, smells, the people, places, and food! It was strange that he even had this thought but he wanted it all, as if this was something he could actually take and own, he was that in awe of the grandeur of it all. But how? There had to be away! If he was able to steal control of the whole colony, than surely he can pull that feat off again! (Of course, he was not thinking of how much different this was—an entire city full of mixed and independent people was not at all like a small colony of bats living together for survival.)

To get by, Cutter just took food whenever he wanted, not that he realized that he had to pay for it, but because he did not want to ask. As he thought about his new dream of owning all that he saw before him, he found something so very, very surprisingly familiar when he ran into a face from his old life---here! In this different time and place!

It was Dax, the one that Fyrs’s supporters had turned on, the one he had tried to find out in the desert. Cutter hadnt even bothered to wonder how Dax had gotten here, all he saw was a chance to spread his control over others again; since Dax as a member of the colony, he had to follow the leader and Cutter was the leader, or was, but Dax didn’t know that was past tense now.

Cutter excitedly hurried to catch up to this fellow Death Gleaner. As they were a species that only existed in a future setting, these two were the only Death Gleaner bats in the entire world as it was. Surely, Dax would follow him!

While Cutter was overjoyed for this opportunity, Dax was….horrified. The last thing he ever thought he would find here was the person who ruined his life and nearly destroyed his colony—what on this good green Earth was he doing here!? Why?! How!?? What kind of sick, twisted joke was this now!!?

While Dax’s head was spinning from the horror of it all, Cutter acted oblivious to all the offenses he committed both to Dax and Dax’s former colony, going on and on about this amazing new world, how big it was, how colorful, how beautiful, and the thing that snapped Dax back to this reality was hearing Cutter saying he needed an aid to help him navigate this new life, he needed someone familiar here (Which at that point, Dax was still relatively new and had only had a year to get familiar with this place called a city.) And that he wanted it, he didn’t know how, but he wanted it!

Dax took a step back, seeing Cutter so alive with both wonder and with….greed, I suppose is what it seemed like it. Just pure greed. As he blabbed on and on, Dax finally had to sputter out that he was not going to help Cutter—in any way. No!

This...well, this surprised Cutter. He was so full of himself, so entitled, that it never crossed his mind that a lower member of his colony could or would ever say no to him. It took a moment for the anger to start registering in Cutter’s over excited little brain. He flexed that he was the chief (A lie.) and that Dax had no right to turn him down.

Cutter was soley relying on their positions. He was the son of the former chief, he was the “current” chief, and Dax was just one of the low lever hunter-gatherers who stayed in line and preferred peace and order to confrontational meetings. He was just a “worker drone” to Cutter’s “queen bee” position, for lack of a better phrase. Cutter thought he could just bully him into submission and somehow failed to see the advantages that Dax did have.

Sure, Dax didn’t like confrontation, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t and wouldnt step up to the plate when it was needed. He was slightly older but not by much, but that also meant he was slightly bigger. He was experienced in a lot of things. He had some tactical knowledge and know-how in hunting, tracking, conserving energy, and surviving, but over all he was just naturally hardier at both receiving and giving damage. It was like confronting a deer; we think of deer as being peaceful and gentle creatures, but in reality they can cause a lot of damage since people don’t tend to think of them as 500 pounds of power and wild instinct. Dax was a lot like that. As Cutter would slowly realize in time.

Cutter started to shout and demand and scream, and Dax was aware that it was calling unwanted attention. He bit his lip, hoping this would some how turn out in his favor. Brenda, his lady friend, had sort of prepped him for this kind of encounter with “rowdy street people”. When Dax refused to give Cutter the answer he wanted, he became even angrier and threw the first punch, which is what Dax had wanted. Cutter tried again, and Dax dodged again. The way Brenda explained it, fighting was really allowed but if you were attacked first, you could defend yourself and that was called “self-defense”. Thats how Dax had understood it and thats why he needed Cutter to throw that first punch—it would let all the people there see that Cutter started this fight, so he was the “bad guy”.

At this point, two youngens stepped in to help, two teen boys. Dax was surprised that strangers of another species would help him, and he was very grateful, but at the same time, he couldn’t let them get hurt—they you were kids! When Cutter started screaming at them, Dax thanked them and told them to please keep from getting hurt, that is to say, to step away before they got hurt.

Things only escalated from there, when Cutter, unable to control his anger, rushed passed them and at Dax! The two started grappling, locked at the arms! Cutter was young and strong, but so was Dax! People around them started panicking, and screaming at them! (Well, at Cutter-) Dax managed to break the armlock by bringing a foot up to Cutter’s chest, sending the brat sprawling backwards from the force! It was all frightening for the onlookers—Dax and Cutter were big, tall fellows for being bats, and that was something no one here was used to. Tho Dax did have the advantage of being a friendly, familiar face around here.

Finally, the sound of sirens came rushing up to the crowd—the guardsmen were finally there. We know them as the police, but guardsmen was the term that Dax was familiar with. As far as anyone here knew, he was a foreigner from a very barren, very underdeveloped country, and so the many things and words he was unfamiliar with were no longer strange to these people because he had lived among them for awhile now. And he knew by now that if something was happening, people were likely to call these guardsmen, and thats what he was waiting for.

As the guardsmen/policemen tried to intervene, Cutter grew more and more angry and aggressive. The more they tried to subdue him, the more he wanted to go at Dax—Even with three of them in his face, Cutter managed to break free and go at Dax again! This time, though, Dax clocked his lights out with a well aimed fist to the face. It was the most impressive punch he had ever pulled in his life, and of all people, Cutter fittingly deserved it.

With Cutter finally down, the guardsmen/policemen set about handcuffing him and securing him in the back of a cop car. They hardly had a chance to get to Dax before an avalanche of strangers started shouted at them that the crazy guy had started the attack ,“unprovoked”, and that Dax was the victim here. So with all that being yelled at their faces, they approached Dax a bit more gently to get a retelling of what happened, as well as statements from the many, many witnesses there and from the two boys who tried to help.

Dax’s heart was beating a mile a minute, but he managed to tell them that he was coming back from a job cleaning an old woman’s gutter, he was going home to his daughter to have dinner with her and their friendly neighbor, Brenda, when this wild man started demanding that he follow him to god knows where and that he wanted someone to work for him as a servant and got angry when Dax said no and refused to follow him. In truth, it actually was a pretty honest telling of what happened—there wasnt any part of that that was a lie. And the Police treated Dax accordingly, since he was scratched up pretty bad, which only now he was able to feel it. He was bleeding from scratches so deep, they were more like cuts and they burned like the dickens. His sprained wrist and hand were also swelling up pretty good by that point. Cutter really was trying to hurt him.

But he knew Cutter was going to be locked up for awhile, now that the guardsmen/policemen understood that he was the victim and Cutter was the perpetrator. But it was still all so unsettling. Even more so when they insisted on escorting him home to make sure he was going to be okay. Dax didn’t want them to know where he lived, but he had no choice. He knew them meant well and understood that he was “not from around here” and they were aware that he “easily misunderstood things” because of that, but still, he didn’t want them following him home and scaring Sylvie and Brenda. It was bad enough as it was, but now they were going to be involved.

Of course, its not like Dax could hide the telltale signs of a short, but big fight even if had been able to come home without the police escort. Cutter’s claws had done a lot of damage, and tho he had managed to keep them away from the vital areas, he was still bleeding plenty from them. Brenda was from this time and place, so if anyone could help sort Dax out of this mess, it was her, though he felt bad causing her this trouble.

In between the talking and explaining, Dax’s policemen escorts were urging his “girlfriend” to take him to the ER to get his wounds treated, and thats how the night ended. With Dax sitting in the ER for much of the night. Of course, Brenda and Sylvie were worried for him; they still hadnt had a chance to talk to him alone and find out what really happened.

It had been such a wonderful day. Dax had spend the day earning money from his many numerous odd jobs, and even being rewarded with little treats like cookies and slices of pie from the many old womenfolk he helped with these jobs. He really liked that part of the odd jobs because cookies and pie didn’t exist where he was from. Brenda would be proud to see him working hard, and it helped get the things that Sylvie needed for her new life here. And then, it all came crashing down like a nuclear apocalypse. How? Why?

Dax was just drowning in his thoughts, so much so, that Brenda wasnt sure if she should shake him out of it or let him have some time to process things. Maybe that deranged attacker really scared him that bad, or maybe the police had scared him--Whatever happened must have been so severe, that Dax was just quiet for a long, long time. Well, he was always rather on the quiet side, but the look on his face told them that something was definitely wrong. Brenda was just grateful that psychopath wasnt armed with something like a knife or gun! Of course, she hadnt been there to see for herself how crazy and deranged the attacker actually was--

But until he told her so, only Dax knew what was really going on. How did Cutter get here? How? He said he wanted everything that he saw—Dax’s mind tried to reason that he couldn’t just take this city, its not like taking control of their tiny, little colony. These people have everything they need and so much more, and they have a leader—he’s called a president. How he managed so many people was beyond Dax’s understanding for the time being, but the point is there was just no way Cutter could just take it all. There was no way. Was...there? What if he found a way? There was no way Cutter could have followed him from their future desert home, and yet here he was!

The thoughts just kept repeating over and over again. He saw the chaos Cutter caused, all because he was a selfish, greedy little prick who never grew up. And Dax still didn’t know if his colony had survived or not. Maybe they all died, starved because Cutter didn’t care about them. That would explain why Cutter was out wondering by himself, but still didn’t explain how he get here. Did he find that old grandfather clock, too? Dax was so troubled by all these questions and thoughts that he asked Brenda to please keep Sylvie and let him have some time alone tonight to pull himself together, which was all so strange. Sylvie had never spent a night away from Dax ever since she had met him. He was her parent now, so he always kept a vigilant eye on her, and he trusted Brenda to care about Sylvie as much as he did. It was scary for Brenda and Sylvie. They had never seen Dax like this. It was gonna be a super long night for all three of them.

The thing for Dax was that Brenda still didn’t know where he and Sylvie really came from. And now he was going to have to tell her the truth in order to explain who Cutter was and how he knew him. He was….afraid she’d be angry at him. Because it was kind of like he had been lying to her the whole time they had known each other. And he had already been turned on by his own kind—twice in the same day. The possibility of it happening again made his heart ache so much, he couldn’t even eat.

And Sylvie, she still didn’t know the details of how Dax was ousted from his colony either, but more important than that, he had to tell Sylvie to beware of Cutter, the damn fool was practically unhinged by now! And that meant this beautiful, peaceful, new life that he and Sylvie were still building together was going to change, and that wasnt fair to her. He thought they had left these dangers behind with their old life, and now Cutter was here, trying to gain control of everything he saw. It was all different now. And the worst part is that Dax knew the best case scenario was that Cutter puts his focus on getting even with him and punishing him, because, at least in that way, he’s focusing on one person rather than on trying to take control of this entire new world. Its not that Dax wanted to be his target, but he knew it was a possibility now. Cutter was not used to having no control at all, so this was something that could make him that angry and that obsessed. Dax was a familiar face, someone he could blame, someone he could punish for his own failings. It was really bad either way.

Dax just didn’t know what to do! He knew the guardsmen/policemen might not hold onto Cutter forever. But he did know that he had to talk to both Brenda and Sylvie together, and preyed that Brenda was truly the kind and understanding woman he had come to know her as. The idea that she could kick them out of their new home was sickening. It had happened to him before. But it was also terrifying to think what was going to happen to them when and if people started finding out that he and Sylvie came from another time. What was he gonna do then, gods, what was he gonna do?! What would they do to him, and to Sylvie?!

He spend the night tossing and turning and just dreading the sunrise. Because peak of dawn meant it was now the next day, and it was time to take Brenda and Sylvie somewhere quiet, maybe the park, and tell the truth of where they came from and the situation with Cutter. And he still didn’t even know if he could do anything about Cutter or if there really was a way for Cutter to actually get that power and control that he coveted so much. How much of a threat was he, really? Maybe he wasnt….but maybe he was! After all, Dax initially didn’t think he could ever get a foot down in this new world and now he was pretty stable—or at least he was up until today. So what if Cutter could do the same? It was just all an awful lot to swallow all at once.

It was the longest night of Dax’s life.

Character and design belong to me.

Description

Since I took some inspiration from the old 70’s movie, Mad Max, to build the future world that Dax and Sylvie came from and even used it for Dax’s name, It finally occurred to me to use some of that inspiration on this villain character. ToeCutter is the name of the first Mad Max movie villain. I roughly based—key word being “roughly”--the hair and clothing, name, and role as a personal villain, on ToeCutter—ugh, I hate his name. I did change up the light blue eyes to light green tho. But the idea to spicen up Dax’s story by giving him an enemy who followed him from his past life was actually suggested by , so a big thank you to Magshi, for the idea! ^^

And also a little credit to for the idea of using the future evolved animals from the program, “The Future is Wild” as Mobian (Sonic FC) characters.

For along while now I had a good idea of how his story was gonna go, but I was stuck for a name and design until I decided to look back at that Mad Max movie again for even more inspiration, but thats the reason I had taken so long to finish him up.

Cutter the Deathgleaner

Name: Cutter

Type: Flight/Power

Age: 21

Species: Deathgleaner bat, found only in future Earth

Sex: male

Likes: Control, power, being “special”

Dislikes: anyone who fights him on anything. He’s always in the right, therefore no one has the right to argue against him on anything. Also Shots, needles, pills, nurses, and doctors

Skills: Emotional manipulation, when his own emotions arent making him act crazy

Physical Features: Deathgleaners are big, big desert bats, live and hunt during sunlight hours, and so have large eyes to see in the glaring sunlight and large noses to help vent the heat from their bodies, but they also have smaller ears, probably to better keep sand out. They tend to sport long, lanky arms that may seem a tad disproportional with hands that end in long tappered claw like fingers. They have long tails. They also have a mouthful of sharp teeth and fangs.

Setting: Initially, its a far off post apocalyptic future where the area that Dax and Cutter came from is now a vast desert and rocky wasteland and was once known as central North America in an area that was once named Illinois. But this setting was also described as one of many possible futures of our current Earth.

Dax’s Profile starts this story-- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Sylvie’s profile continues where Dax’s profile story stops— www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Brenda becomes important to Dax and Sylvie’s modern day survival--- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Mesprit’s Profile-- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

Rook’s Profile-- www.deviantart.com/luckyladyxa…

BIO: Cutter got what he wanted, control of the Deathgleaner colony, as the new leader. But things did not stay that way. There is such a thing as too little, too late; so by the time the colony had gained its senses, realizing that the only thing Cutter cared about, being in power, and not the well being of the colony, of its people, all its little ones and elderly and their need for shelter, food and stability. By the time that realization had come, they had already ousted the true leader and the handful who had stayed undyingly loyal to him.

The only thing Cutter had succeeded in was dividing the colony, which had stayed that way. With Cutter flexing his win and his new position as leader, the rest of them struggled. There was not enough food. Their old and young were falling ill because of all this in-fighting keeping everyone distracted. It was a disaster. Cutter kept the most loyal close to him instead of putting them to work. Those not loyal were kept under close watch, which made it harder to go and search for food.

Even though Cutter had gotten what he had wanted, the in-fighting had started up again. There was great discontent in how things were being run, that people were being allowed to become ill and starve. At long last, a strong, young one stood up, and said to hell with the order they had, the tradition of following the leader, because this wasnt even their leader—their chosen leader had been his older brother, Fyrs, and Cutter just temper tantrumed and bullied and lied and cheated and snuck his way into being the new leader. If Cutter could convince people to side with him, this young upstart thought to do the same, and he did. It was easier than first realized because no one had really wanted to follow Cutter. Their former leader, Cutter’s father, had chosen his older brother, Fyrs, as the new leader. Thats who their true leader was, it was never Cutter.

This little upstart went above and beyond to remove Cutter from the position. He actually went out to look for the actual leader, Fyrs. Cutter ahd banished him to the wastelands, so he was out there, somewhere. But because in all that time, Fyrs had never actually strayed very far, the young one was able to find Fyrs and his still loyal followers and bring them back to the colony! It seemed they had stayed close because Chief Fyrs had planned to take back control of the colony. He couldn’t just leave, his people needed a leader who cared about them, and that wasnt Cutter.

With Fyrs in tow, the young upstart was successfully able to convince the colony to once again honor the tradition of accepting the chosen leader, because their former leader was wise and chose Fyrs over Cutter for a reason. The colony was bullied into giving in to Cutter and look what happened—the colony was about to collapse!

With Cutter only caring about his own goals and desires, the support for Fyrs to come back and gain control was huge. Fyrs was actually just like his father, the former chief, because he did care about the people here, even when they turned on him, though that wasnt exactly all their fault. Cutter had gained a handful of loyal supporters who bullied them into supporting him, and thats how that mess got started.

Under Fyrs, the colony rallied together, and Cutter found that he could not bully or scare them to his ways anymore. Unlike Cutter, Fyrs let the handful of loyal supporters who followed Cutter the option to chose, giving them one last chance. They could go follow Cutter out to the wastelands or they could stay, but they would live with the stigma of being traitors if they choose so. They choose to stay. And just like Cutter did to him, Fyrs banished his brother to the hard, wild, unforgiving death trap that is their desert home.

The colony was in shambles, many were sick from the lack of food. Fyrs promise to work hard to restore the balance and order they once had. He was going to try to repair as much as he could. He was truly worthy of being a leader, but now he had a very sick and potentially dying people on his hands. Still, he wanted those who were able to search the desert, for one of their own who was cast out in frustration by his own handful of loyal supporters. He was never found, and the search eventually had to come to an end, and they were certain that Dax had been lost to the colony forever, claimed by the harsh unforgiving wastelands.

Cutter, however, didn’t care about the damage he had cause; what he cared about was that he lost his precious leadership, the spoiled brat that he was. Even his loyal lackeys turned on him, because it really was all his fault. Few though they were, they left him and stayed and beg for forgiveness, because that was better than being cast to the wasteland. Cutter was left behind. He wondered the wasteland, angry and unrepentant. And being the pampered son of the former leader that he was, he struggled quite a bit. He wasnt apt at hunting or gathering likethe other members of his former group because he usually didn’t have to partake in that responsibility. But somehow, he survived long enough to at least improve some of these skills, even if marginally. Enough that he managed to survive to wonder far and wide enough that he found himself in a most curious place.

Curious not for where it was, but what was there. Two strange people. One, a white billed crow and the other a rook, two Mobian species that Cutter would not have recognized in this future time, or have been able to recognize the bright, colorful clothing they wore. This was Mesprit, an unscrupulous collector of magic artifacts and his lackey, Rook.

Mesprit had found a strange item here—a grandfather clock that had been dug out and apparently had expended most of its magic power. He was complaining, but not about anything Cutter could understand. Something about the clock only being able to be used one more time, and that it could take years to gather enough energy to work again, and something about how he hated time travel, and that this venture wasnt even worth the trouble.

Cutter, being careless as he was, approached and demanded to know who they were and were they came from. Mesprit immediately saw something interesting in this young male bat, and so introduced himself as a wealthy “traveler of time” out here searching for this very object.

Of course, Cutter did not know why this strange object was so important but he had hoped these two had food on them to steal. Except that he didn’t have to go that far. Mesprit opened this strange looking bag called a suitcase (which was really a portable pocket dimension--) and was able to pull food out if—lots of food; strange looking food that Cutter had never seen before!

He was eager to eat as much as he could—it was so delicious! Strange and new, but still delicious. Then this “traveler of time” named Mesprit told Cutter, that if he liked, he could send him to a place that has food like this everywhere. Why stay here with nothing but the prospects of an early death when he can go to a place that has everything he can ever want? Of course Cutter was all ears and didn’t even question this very strange stranger.

The “traveler” explained that the grandfather clock was a magic artifact and so it had power in it, and its power was to open doors to different times. The more he listened, the more intrigued Cutter became. He knew of magic artifacts, but only as bed time stories. And so he agreed with not much thought. What the “traveler” had told him was too good to resist, and so the stranger in bright clothes started to play with the hands on the face of the grandfather clock and spun them ‘round and ‘round in circles until both hands pointed up at the number 12, and then a swirling vortex of dark colored clouds burst forth! In the center of its swilrs was an image of a city---Cutter didn’t know what a city looked like but he knew of them from old stories. T’was but a few seconds before Rook, the lackey, pushed the dumb but greedy Death Gleaner bat into the portal--

Why? You might ask. Mesprit likes to create chaos, either directly or indirectly, supposedly out of curiosity to see what results come about, but mostly to mess with people. He was that sort of foul person.

Even after a few days time, the shock and awe could not wear off. Cutter wondered the modern day city, taking in all the sights, sounds, smells, the people, places, and food! It was strange that he even had this thought but he wanted it all, as if this was something he could actually take and own, he was that in awe of the grandeur of it all. But how? There had to be away! If he was able to steal control of the whole colony, than surely he can pull that feat off again! (Of course, he was not thinking of how much different this was—an entire city full of mixed and independent people was not at all like a small colony of bats living together for survival.)

To get by, Cutter just took food whenever he wanted, not that he realized that he had to pay for it, but because he did not want to ask. As he thought about his new dream of owning all that he saw before him, he found something so very, very surprisingly familiar when he ran into a face from his old life---here! In this different time and place!

It was Dax, the one that Fyrs’s supporters had turned on, the one he had tried to find out in the desert. Cutter hadnt even bothered to wonder how Dax had gotten here, all he saw was a chance to spread his control over others again; since Dax as a member of the colony, he had to follow the leader and Cutter was the leader, or was, but Dax didn’t know that was past tense now.

Cutter excitedly hurried to catch up to this fellow Death Gleaner. As they were a species that only existed in a future setting, these two were the only Death Gleaner bats in the entire world as it was. Surely, Dax would follow him!

While Cutter was overjoyed for this opportunity, Dax was….horrified. The last thing he ever thought he would find here was the person who ruined his life and nearly destroyed his colony—what on this good green Earth was he doing here!? Why?! How!?? What kind of sick, twisted joke was this now!!?

While Dax’s head was spinning from the horror of it all, Cutter acted oblivious to all the offenses he committed both to Dax and Dax’s former colony, going on and on about this amazing new world, how big it was, how colorful, how beautiful, and the thing that snapped Dax back to this reality was hearing Cutter saying he needed an aid to help him navigate this new life, he needed someone familiar here (Which at that point, Dax was still relatively new and had only had a year to get familiar with this place called a city.) And that he wanted it, he didn’t know how, but he wanted it!

Dax took a step back, seeing Cutter so alive with both wonder and with….greed, I suppose is what it seemed like it. Just pure greed. As he blabbed on and on, Dax finally had to sputter out that he was not going to help Cutter—in any way. No!

This...well, this surprised Cutter. He was so full of himself, so entitled, that it never crossed his mind that a lower member of his colony could or would ever say no to him. It took a moment for the anger to start registering in Cutter’s over excited little brain. He flexed that he was the chief (A lie.) and that Dax had no right to turn him down.

Cutter was soley relying on their positions. He was the son of the former chief, he was the “current” chief, and Dax was just one of the low lever hunter-gatherers who stayed in line and preferred peace and order to confrontational meetings. He was just a “worker drone” to Cutter’s “queen bee” position, for lack of a better phrase. Cutter thought he could just bully him into submission and somehow failed to see the advantages that Dax did have.

Sure, Dax didn’t like confrontation, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t and wouldnt step up to the plate when it was needed. He was slightly older but not by much, but that also meant he was slightly bigger. He was experienced in a lot of things. He had some tactical knowledge and know-how in hunting, tracking, conserving energy, and surviving, but over all he was just naturally hardier at both receiving and giving damage. It was like confronting a deer; we think of deer as being peaceful and gentle creatures, but in reality they can cause a lot of damage since people don’t tend to think of them as 500 pounds of power and wild instinct. Dax was a lot like that. As Cutter would slowly realize in time.

Cutter started to shout and demand and scream, and Dax was aware that it was calling unwanted attention. He bit his lip, hoping this would some how turn out in his favor. Brenda, his lady friend, had sort of prepped him for this kind of encounter with “rowdy street people”. When Dax refused to give Cutter the answer he wanted, he became even angrier and threw the first punch, which is what Dax had wanted. Cutter tried again, and Dax dodged again. The way Brenda explained it, fighting was really allowed but if you were attacked first, you could defend yourself and that was called “self-defense”. Thats how Dax had understood it and thats why he needed Cutter to throw that first punch—it would let all the people there see that Cutter started this fight, so he was the “bad guy”.

At this point, two youngens stepped in to help, two teen boys. Dax was surprised that strangers of another species would help him, and he was very grateful, but at the same time, he couldn’t let them get hurt—they you were kids! When Cutter started screaming at them, Dax thanked them and told them to please keep from getting hurt, that is to say, to step away before they got hurt.

Things only escalated from there, when Cutter, unable to control his anger, rushed passed them and at Dax! The two started grappling, locked at the arms! Cutter was young and strong, but so was Dax! People around them started panicking, and screaming at them! (Well, at Cutter-) Dax managed to break the armlock by bringing a foot up to Cutter’s chest, sending the brat sprawling backwards from the force! It was all frightening for the onlookers—Dax and Cutter were big, tall fellows for being bats, and that was something no one here was used to. Tho Dax did have the advantage of being a friendly, familiar face around here.

Finally, the sound of sirens came rushing up to the crowd—the guardsmen were finally there. We know them as the police, but guardsmen was the term that Dax was familiar with. As far as anyone here knew, he was a foreigner from a very barren, very underdeveloped country, and so the many things and words he was unfamiliar with were no longer strange to these people because he had lived among them for awhile now. And he knew by now that if something was happening, people were likely to call these guardsmen, and thats what he was waiting for.

As the guardsmen/policemen tried to intervene, Cutter grew more and more angry and aggressive. The more they tried to subdue him, the more he wanted to go at Dax—Even with three of them in his face, Cutter managed to break free and go at Dax again! This time, though, Dax clocked his lights out with a well aimed fist to the face. It was the most impressive punch he had ever pulled in his life, and of all people, Cutter fittingly deserved it.

With Cutter finally down, the guardsmen/policemen set about handcuffing him and securing him in the back of a cop car. They hardly had a chance to get to Dax before an avalanche of strangers started shouted at them that the crazy guy had started the attack ,“unprovoked”, and that Dax was the victim here. So with all that being yelled at their faces, they approached Dax a bit more gently to get a retelling of what happened, as well as statements from the many, many witnesses there and from the two boys who tried to help.

Dax’s heart was beating a mile a minute, but he managed to tell them that he was coming back from a job cleaning an old woman’s gutter, he was going home to his daughter to have dinner with her and their friendly neighbor, Brenda, when this wild man started demanding that he follow him to god knows where and that he wanted someone to work for him as a servant and got angry when Dax said no and refused to follow him. In truth, it actually was a pretty honest telling of what happened—there wasnt any part of that that was a lie. And the Police treated Dax accordingly, since he was scratched up pretty bad, which only now he was able to feel it. He was bleeding from scratches so deep, they were more like cuts and they burned like the dickens. His sprained wrist and hand were also swelling up pretty good by that point. Cutter really was trying to hurt him.

But he knew Cutter was going to be locked up for awhile, now that the guardsmen/policemen understood that he was the victim and Cutter was the perpetrator. But it was still all so unsettling. Even more so when they insisted on escorting him home to make sure he was going to be okay. Dax didn’t want them to know where he lived, but he had no choice. He knew them meant well and understood that he was “not from around here” and they were aware that he “easily misunderstood things” because of that, but still, he didn’t want them following him home and scaring Sylvie and Brenda. It was bad enough as it was, but now they were going to be involved.

Of course, its not like Dax could hide the telltale signs of a short, but big fight even if had been able to come home without the police escort. Cutter’s claws had done a lot of damage, and tho he had managed to keep them away from the vital areas, he was still bleeding plenty from them. Brenda was from this time and place, so if anyone could help sort Dax out of this mess, it was her, though he felt bad causing her this trouble.

In between the talking and explaining, Dax’s policemen escorts were urging his “girlfriend” to take him to the ER to get his wounds treated, and thats how the night ended. With Dax sitting in the ER for much of the night. Of course, Brenda and Sylvie were worried for him; they still hadnt had a chance to talk to him alone and find out what really happened.

It had been such a wonderful day. Dax had spend the day earning money from his many numerous odd jobs, and even being rewarded with little treats like cookies and slices of pie from the many old womenfolk he helped with these jobs. He really liked that part of the odd jobs because cookies and pie didn’t exist where he was from. Brenda would be proud to see him working hard, and it helped get the things that Sylvie needed for her new life here. And then, it all came crashing down like a nuclear apocalypse. How? Why?

Dax was just drowning in his thoughts, so much so, that Brenda wasnt sure if she should shake him out of it or let him have some time to process things. Maybe that deranged attacker really scared him that bad, or maybe the police had scared him--Whatever happened must have been so severe, that Dax was just quiet for a long, long time. Well, he was always rather on the quiet side, but the look on his face told them that something was definitely wrong. Brenda was just grateful that psychopath wasnt armed with something like a knife or gun! Of course, she hadnt been there to see for herself how crazy and deranged the attacker actually was--

But until he told her so, only Dax knew what was really going on. How did Cutter get here? How? He said he wanted everything that he saw—Dax’s mind tried to reason that he couldn’t just take this city, its not like taking control of their tiny, little colony. These people have everything they need and so much more, and they have a leader—he’s called a president. How he managed so many people was beyond Dax’s understanding for the time being, but the point is there was just no way Cutter could just take it all. There was no way. Was...there? What if he found a way? There was no way Cutter could have followed him from their future desert home, and yet here he was!

The thoughts just kept repeating over and over again. He saw the chaos Cutter caused, all because he was a selfish, greedy little prick who never grew up. And Dax still didn’t know if his colony had survived or not. Maybe they all died, starved because Cutter didn’t care about them. That would explain why Cutter was out wondering by himself, but still didn’t explain how he get here. Did he find that old grandfather clock, too? Dax was so troubled by all these questions and thoughts that he asked Brenda to please keep Sylvie and let him have some time alone tonight to pull himself together, which was all so strange. Sylvie had never spent a night away from Dax ever since she had met him. He was her parent now, so he always kept a vigilant eye on her, and he trusted Brenda to care about Sylvie as much as he did. It was scary for Brenda and Sylvie. They had never seen Dax like this. It was gonna be a super long night for all three of them.

The thing for Dax was that Brenda still didn’t know where he and Sylvie really came from. And now he was going to have to tell her the truth in order to explain who Cutter was and how he knew him. He was….afraid she’d be angry at him. Because it was kind of like he had been lying to her the whole time they had known each other. And he had already been turned on by his own kind—twice in the same day. The possibility of it happening again made his heart ache so much, he couldn’t even eat.

And Sylvie, she still didn’t know the details of how Dax was ousted from his colony either, but more important than that, he had to tell Sylvie to beware of Cutter, the damn fool was practically unhinged by now! And that meant this beautiful, peaceful, new life that he and Sylvie were still building together was going to change, and that wasnt fair to her. He thought they had left these dangers behind with their old life, and now Cutter was here, trying to gain control of everything he saw. It was all different now. And the worst part is that Dax knew the best case scenario was that Cutter puts his focus on getting even with him and punishing him, because, at least in that way, he’s focusing on one person rather than on trying to take control of this entire new world. Its not that Dax wanted to be his target, but he knew it was a possibility now. Cutter was not used to having no control at all, so this was something that could make him that angry and that obsessed. Dax was a familiar face, someone he could blame, someone he could punish for his own failings. It was really bad either way.

Dax just didn’t know what to do! He knew the guardsmen/policemen might not hold onto Cutter forever. But he did know that he had to talk to both Brenda and Sylvie together, and preyed that Brenda was truly the kind and understanding woman he had come to know her as. The idea that she could kick them out of their new home was sickening. It had happened to him before. But it was also terrifying to think what was going to happen to them when and if people started finding out that he and Sylvie came from another time. What was he gonna do then, gods, what was he gonna do?! What would they do to him, and to Sylvie?!

He spend the night tossing and turning and just dreading the sunrise. Because peak of dawn meant it was now the next day, and it was time to take Brenda and Sylvie somewhere quiet, maybe the park, and tell the truth of where they came from and the situation with Cutter. And he still didn’t even know if he could do anything about Cutter or if there really was a way for Cutter to actually get that power and control that he coveted so much. How much of a threat was he, really? Maybe he wasnt….but maybe he was! After all, Dax initially didn’t think he could ever get a foot down in this new world and now he was pretty stable—or at least he was up until today. So what if Cutter could do the same? It was just all an awful lot to swallow all at once.

It was the longest night of Dax’s life.

Character and design belong to me.