He had finished up lunch and was still tingling from his first ever prey with his new toy, but Nkosi was still hungry for something else. Upon the street side televisions broadcasting, a replay of a tournament recently concluded, showcasing the fresh victory of a local celebrity. Rex Raptor, runner-up winner of the national championship tournament that preceded the Duelist Kingdom event. Never quite a world champion, but a skilled enough duelist to gain some fame. And he was in this town.

Nkosi never particularly liked his attitude, but he was a handsome boy still, and that was just the combination he needed to push for it. He recognized name of the arena in the footage, it was just a few skips across the downtown area. Nkosi wadded up his wrapper and made his way in that direction. And like magic, he hadn’t even made it to the duel hall before he spotted him, Rex Raptor, in the living flesh, outside at a cafe table sipping on a coffee and enjoying some celebratory confections.

Nkosi’s heart skipped a few beats in a row and his knees became like jelly, weak and wobbly. But he took a deep breath, and the growing shadows in his heart spurred him onward. He was hungry. The Shackle was hungry. His heart raced more with each step he took, and the shadows within writhed eagerly. He was really about to do it. Just earlier that morning, he wouldn’t have been able to walk on the same side of the street as him, and now, he was making a steady beeline right for him. More of a bumble bee line, really. To the news stand to the left, then to the trash can to the right. To the food cart across the side walk, then to the front door of the cafe before turning back around and approaching his target, awkwardly grinning.

Rex looked up at Nkosi. Eye contact established. Nkosi just about fainted right away. But Rex spoke up first. “Hey, can I help you? You look about ready to pass out.” He said to the shaky Nkosi. He gasped in response before speaking up. “H-hi! Um... You’re Rex Raptor, aren’t you?” He asked anxiously.
“Sure am.” Rex replies, smirking confidently.
“Gosh... I’m uh... I saw your duel today, on TV. I saw your duel at the Nationals too. I um... I just-ahhhh... “ He took a deep breath and let it back out, sweating. “... I’m just a fan.” Nkosi stammered out. It wasn’t entirely a lie really. He didn’t like Rex’s cocky personality and dueling style, but at the same time, it made his bouts fun to watch. Engaging to listen to, and particularly fun to watch him lose when he did.
“Well well, it’s not that often that fans come up to me. Good to see that I actually have some.” He responded. Nkosi’s expression fluttered between happy and scared. He was talking to someone he perceived as a celebrity, after all.
“Uhm, would-would you be willing to sign a card for me? I modeled my dueling style after yours, you inspired me!” Nkosi said, louder than necessary. He looked around awkwardly as he got a few glances. But Rex smiled. “Sure dude, do you have a pen?” Nkosi fished around in his messenger satchel and produced a marker he had in his doodle kit. “Ooh, thank you sir!” He said quickly, pulling out his deck. He looked through it and pulled out a monster card, and gave both the card and the pen to Rex.

“Evilswarm Salamandra, eh? That’s a good choice. What’s your name?” He asked as he began to sign.
“N-uh. Nkosi. Nkosi Amon.” He muttered.
“Nkosi? That’s interesting. Is that African?” Rex asked.
“Uhm, Egyptian actually. It means ‘law’. D-dad was a policeman.” Nkosi replied.
“Neato. Here ya go!” Rex said, handing back the signed card and the pen. He was no calligrapher. His signature was not elegant, rather brutish really, like a fourth grader just getting his style down. But it fit his persona really.

Nkosi began having second thoughts now. Briefly, his urges subsided. Rex was actually being nice to him. He approached him expecting hostility and arrogance. Maybe it was not worth pursuing after all... But as that played through his mind, his wrist began to ache slightly. It felt as if the Shackle was tightening slightly around his wrist. And his hunger returned. He looked back at Rex. “Thank you. Means a lot to me.” He said with an air of confidence finally. He looked back at Rex expectantly. “Hey, umm... Would you... Would you do a fan the honor of a duel?” He asked quickly.

Rex’s expression turned a bit. It was something like a mix between cockiness and disapproval. A face that almost looked like it said “you’re not worth my time.” Or so it was interpreted by Nkosi. What Rex actually said was, “Well... Maybe another time kid. I’m a bit bushed from winning that tournament.”

It was time to push a few buttons. “Well... it’s not like you’d be ending the day on a low note, right? I’m just a fan, not a prize-fighter. Not like I stand much of a chance, I don’t see why you’d have to be afraid of me, n-not that I’m s-saying that, but... Ah, um... Ah, words... uhhh, its, it’s just that I dunno if I’ll ever get this chance again. Do you do this a lot?” Nkosi spoke quickly, not giving Rex much room to respond, only process. Pride, pity, and reason. Three things at once, surely something had to land.

“Well... I dunno. Sorry Nkosi, I’m just not sure I have the time, I gotta catch a train in a few hours and I wanna just unwind a bit.” Rex responded. It wasn’t unreasonable really, but rejection stung a little more than it should have, even if Nkosi had darker intentions for this day. He looked down at Rex’s coffee. Blue Eyes Mountain, the most overpriced and obnoxious coffee on the local market. Prize duelists aren’t exactly swimming in cash if they’re even a step below top tier. And every major-league tournament Rex has been in, he’s ultimately lost. “What if I paid for your drink, and took you out for Takoyaki afterward?” Nkosi offered.

Almost on cue, Rex’s stomach growled a bit. Coffee and a muffin wasn’t a particularly filling thing, and he’d skipped breakfast and lunch both in favor of sleeping in before the tournament. Rex finally relented a bit. “Ya know what... You really do seem eager. You got yourself a deal. I could go for takoyaki now that you mention it.” He knew full well that the celebratory douche coffee was a bit of a splurge. The more of his prize money he got to keep, the better.

Nkosi’s eyes lit up in excitement, and underneath it, rage and lust. “Heheee, yay! Thank you Mr... Rex.” He said, unable to bring himself to utter a complete formality to him. Nkosi went inside with Rex to pay for the coffee. The price tag on that was truly absurd. He could have easily gotten ten better coffees for that price, what idiot pays this much for a cup of bean juice? Nkosi, apparently. As they left, Rex asked him, “So ya wanna do this old-school, or like a pro?”

Nkosi raised up his duel disk. “L-like this.
Just like this. I bought me a duel disk with my birthday money a little while back. I’ve not actually gotten to take it for a run much recently. There’s a good spot over in the alley there. Friends of mine used to duel there when I was in middle school.” He said, pointing to his desired spot. It was a fib, he didn’t have friends, it was just a good spot out of the way of prying eyes.

Rex didn’t much like the idea of following a socially awkward fan through an alley and behind a building, but he did agree and could just run if he had to. But he followed, keeping Nkosi in front of him. It was for the ‘yaki. Nkosi took his place by a dumpster. There were walls on three sides, and a fence and hill on the other. It was just an empty lot dedicated for garbage, and apparently used for street duels if the tattered cards here and there meant anything. They fired up their duel disks, and shuffled their decks. Nkosi’s heart pounded like a drum in power metal. This was the sharpest thrill he’d ever felt. Stronger than confronting the bully earlier. Stronger than the one roller coaster he nerved up to ride. Stronger than the one time he lied to his dad about his browser history. Dueling a person for real, a celebrity no less. His arm began to tingle beneath his Shackle, and it began to sparkle as the duel stage roared to life. 4000 life points, and five cards for both players. It was on now.

“Wow, th-thank you for this.” Nkosi shouted anxiously, nearly hyperventilating. “You can go first if you want!” Nkosi always preferred to go second. He didn’t much like playing blind, he preferred to respond rather than lead. Or so it was in his many virtual duels. It was even stronger here. He definitely didn’t want to screw up the real deal, especially not when he didn’t know what would happen exactly if he lost instead of his victim. Rex agreed promptly, and started off the duel with a face down in the spell zone, and a dino in attack mode. “Go, Two-Headed King Rex!” The two headed beast stood up from the hologram projector and roared fiercely. Nkosi tingled the sight. Like in his previous duel, seeing these projections in real life was like a magical dream becoming true. Or a nightmare. It was hardly whimsical sight. “And I’ll bolster him with a Raise Body Heat, and end my turn!”

Alright. This wasn’t too bad. All he had to deal with right now was a monster with 1900 attack and a face down, which he predicted to be dinosaur themed from the duels he’d watched with Rex. Reasonably, Rex was the only one Nkosi would be willing to go after right now, of all the duelists he’d heard about. Rex may have been a pro, but Nkosi’s methods were a direct counter to Rex’s. He wasn’t lying when he said that he modeled his own style around Rex’s. It just wasn’t what it sounded like. He drew his card and prepared his motion. In his hand, Nkosi had just what he wanted. A Wall of Disruption, a Draining Shield, and a Trap Jammer, all of which he put face down. Rex grumbled a bit at that, but remained patient. The other cards were monsters. Exarion Universe, Red Lotus Knight, and Ancient Gear Knight. The Red Lotus was over leveled and couldn’t be summoned yet. Ancient Gear didn’t have the attack necessary right now, but Exarion had the defense. Just enough to deal with the Two-Headed King that Rex had put out, at 1900 defense points. Nkosi puts the Universe in defense mode face down and ends his turn. “Alrighty, how’s that!” He says nervously.

“C’mon dude, where’s your energy?” Rex shouted from across the field.
“S-sorry, I’m not used to this!” Nkosi replies. “You’ll get there, I’m sure. My turn, and I start with this guy!” He says as a black dinosaur pops to life in the field. “Black Veloci!” A monster with 1800 attack. Nkosi calmed down a bit, that wasn’t enough to pierce him yet. Battle phase. He sent the Black Veloci out to attack. Nkosi remained calm, it wasn’t enough to take out his defense. “Chomp ‘em, Veloci!” Rex yelled. Booom! Exarion Universe exploded into pixels as soon as it was revealed. Nkosi frowned. “I’m sorry, what? How did that work?” He stuttered out.
“When Black Veloci attacks a monster, he gains 400 attack.” Rex replied cockily. Nkosi started to panic. And it got worse as Rex launched a direct attack from there. He’d thought about using one of his traps, but during his silent debate, he took the attack. Nkosi shook with fear as his life points dropped from a clean 4000 to 2100. This wasn’t like the virtual duels. He didn’t have time to think too much, he needed to either throw the trap or not. Rex ended his turn. “Your move buddy.” His cocky side was showing now, and so was Nkosi’s eagerness to smash it.

He drew his next card. Chiron the Mage. Nkosi frowned some more, but composed himself. He still had a line of traps. But it wasn’t the card he needed. Right now he needed an equip card or his Dark Core card at least. Chiron was good for getting rid of traps, but he needed a spell to sacrifice for that. He thought to himself on what to do, checking his opponents field with his duel disk card reader. Black Veloci was a problem the last turn, but less so during his own. He took a last deep breath and summoned his Ancient Gear Knight in attack mode. “Battle phase, go get ‘em Knight! Attack the Black Veloci!” Nkosi half-shouted. He sounded a bit like an inexperienced voice actor airily faux-yelling into a microphone. He and Rex cringed simultaneously. Black Veloci’s attack normally matches Ancient Gear Knight’s at 1800, but its negative side effect makes it lose 400 points when attacked by another monster. The dino burst into pixels as the machine drove his spear-arm into its abdomen, and Rex’s life points finally teased down some to 3600. Rex nodded and looked Nkosi in the eye. He had expected that eventually, but managed to take it a bit personally watching his digital dino get dusted. Nkosi licked his lips a bit, then said. “Alrighty, your go Rex.”

Rex drew his next card and examined it. He wasted no time in putting it right down. “How ‘bout this then! You’re playing in my jungle now. Jurassic World!” He yelled as virtual trees and rainforest floor sprung up around the back alley. “The rules are simple here. All dinos get 300 attack and defense. And joining in now is Crawling Dragon #2. Overlook the name, he’s very much a dino like the rest of ‘em.” Another dinosaur roared to life on the field. 1600 attack points raised immediately to 1900 with the field spell in place. Meanwhile beside it, the Two Headed King Rex’s power had jumped up to 2200. The battle phase began, and he threw his first attack with the King Rex. Nkosi didn’t want to wait this time around, and flipped up a trap card. “Wall of Disruption!” It was a dirty card that knocked down opponents monsters attack, 800 points for every monster they controlled. The King Rex’s attack plummeted from 2200 to 600, and so did regular Rex’s life points, from 3600 to 2400. Rex scowled. “Now that was just a dirty one! Is that card even tournament legal?” He shouted at Nkosi. He wasn’t fond of being shouted at, but couldn’t help but be amused by the brief outburst. “Fraid so.” He replied. Rex responded by flipping up a trap of his own. “Fossil Excavation, I discard a card to bring back my King!” He discarded the remaining card in his hand, and the Two Headed King Rex had returned like that, as quickly as he’d left and back at full power, though only charged to 1900 now that Raising Body Heat had gone from the attack. “Let’s try this again, attack once more!” The beast attacked again. Nkosi had not meant to sling it so soon, but he acted on reflex, flipping up another trap card. “D-Draining Shield! It stops your attack and gives me life points equal to it!” Nkosi’s life points jumped back up to his original 4000. Rex groaned impatiently and ended his turn. It was ultimately just a cockblock though. But that was nothing new to Rex.

Nkosi now was left with only one trap remaining, and not one immediately beneficial. It was but a trap jammer, and he’d questioned himself why he didn’t use it to stop Rex’s excavation. He cursed himself for yet another careless mistake, and then he drew his turn’s card. Man Eater Bug. A handy living trap to take care of stubborn powerhouses. But he decided to save it for now, and do something with his Red Lotus Knight. He tributes his Ancient Gear Knight to summon the Red Lotus Knight in its place. “I summon Red Lotus Knight in attack position, and activate his effect. He can special summon a normal monster from the graveyard.” He explained as the Ancient Gear sprung back onto the field.

“Wait! Ancient Gear Knight is an effect monster though, how is that working?” Rex protested.
“It’s true that the Ancient Gear is kind of an effect monster, but he’s a Gemini monster. That means he’s a normal monster while in the graveyard.” Nkosi explained. Rex shut up and let him do his thing. “So like... Battle phase then.” Nkosi wasted little time. He sent his Red Lotus to attack the stubborn Two Headed King Rex, destroying it and dropping Rex’s life points by 200. He followed up with the Ancient Gear attacking the still weakened Crawling Dragon. It burst, and Rex yowled bitterly as his life points dropped further to 700. “W-wow, I’m actually winning. I end my turn!” Nkosi said cheerily. He was happy, sure, but he really had said it to annoy Rex. Which it did.

“Grrrr, not yet you’ve not. My turn!” He drew his turn’s card, and threw it right down. “Alright, time to get serious. Black Brachios, attack mode. When he’s summoned, he smacks one monster right into submission. Switch Red Lotus Knight to defense position!” He said loudly. The Red Lotus was forced into defense mode by the dino’s effect. Battle phase commenced, and Brachios destroyed him easily, it’s bolstered attack of 2100 crushing its defense of 1800 easily. “And that’s all I got for now. Your go.” Rex said a bit uncomfortably, ending his turn.

Rex’s dueling method was inelegant, but effective. He didn’t rely too much on effects or traps, but pure primal power. And with Nkosi not drawing his spells, it was working. His traps had only served to stall while he kept drawing monsters. He drew again, hoping for a Mage Power or an Axe of Despair to end it with. But it was another monster. “Nooo, not another mon... Well, actually.” It was Evilswarm Salamandra. The very card he had Rex sign earlier. How poetic would it be to finish him off with that one? He should have just enough attack to end it, since it would benefit from the field card too. He grinned and summoned it right away. “Alright, let’s finish this!” Nkosi cheered. Rex scowled as the Evilswarm monster came squalling onto the field. 2150 attack points right out the gate. “Look familiar? I now banish Red Lotus Knight and Exarion Universe from my graveyard to give Salamandra a boost!”

The monster’s attack jumped to 2750. “And now we attack, get ‘em Salamandra!” The monsters tussled on the field for a moment, and the Black Brachios was defeated, and Rex Raptor’s life points dropped to... 50?! Nkosi’s sphincter clenched as his OCD began to finger him. Rex shouted angrily. “Noooo, no no! I was going easy on you cuz you’re a fan! You’re lucky I didn’t get my best spells and monsters! This stupid deck didn’t carry me past the finals, that’s what my Jurrac deck is for. And it bricked here too! Just end it already, I’m hungry.” Rex complained. Nkosi thought on it for a bit longer. Would he go ahead and finish the duel, and claim his prize? Or risk one more turn and finish him off with the card he’d signed?

He got greedy. Nkosi ended his turn there, not finishing him off with the Ancient Gear Knight after all. “Huh? Why didn’t you finish it? I don’t need your pity!” Rex shouted.

“No pity, I just wanna finish it with Evilswarm Salamandra. The one you signed. How perfect would that be!” Nkosi said tauntingly. Rex drew a card and stuck it down in defense. “Well I’m not letting ya now, that’s not how it works around here. You’ll regret it as soon as I draw the next card I need! Now it’s your go.” Rex said, neither happy nor scared. Nkosi didn’t like that. He immediately felt like he’d ruined it, but he swallowed it and drew his card. Alexandrite Dragon. A regular powerhouse in its own right, and the only monster in his deck without effect because of it. 2000 attack points and no tribute. If only it was a dinosaur. He looked at the face down monster and thought on what Rex said. He predicted that there was a tough wall of a reptile there. And his Salamandra wouldn’t be able to pierce. So he put the Alexandrite Dragon face down in defense. Not in spite of its near non-existent defense, but because of it. He was determined to finish with Salamandra, and its effect might be necessary.

The battle phase commenced. He had life points to spare. He attacked first with the Ancient Gear, and as predicted, it was a beefy boy. Black Stego, with a field-bolstered defense of 2300. Nkosi lost 500 life points, and thus 50 minutes of fun. That made it sting. He was particularly frustrated now, he’d gotten overly ambitious and it was now ruining things. Nkosi gritted his teeth behind closed lips and ended his turn.

“You’re gunna regret that, kid.” Rex said indignantly as he drew a card. He growled a little bit, but not in frustration. “I play the spell card, Earthquake! All face up monsters go to defense position!” He shouted. Both of Nkosi’s monsters were switched to defense, and both boasted a bit of a weak one. “But that doesn’t stop me from this.” He changed his black stego into attack mode. Nkosi’s heart jumped. Rex had no cards in his hand and had a monster with relatively uninspiring attack power now out exposed. But his heart fell again when he read the effect on his duel disc’s scanner. It would switch to defense automatically if it were attacked. And while he was reading that, his Evilswarm Salamandra burst right in front of him. Rex had launched his attack and ruined Nkosi’s plan. He became livid. Both with himself and with Rex for ruining his flashy finisher. “Shouldn’t have spared me, huh?” Rex taunted.

“Gahhhhh, I knew I shoulda just ended it!” Nkosi yelled. His antics were costing him everything. Rex chuckled at his little outburst and ended his turn. “Life’s a series of hard lessons, ain’t it? Your go.” Nkosi drew his card. Ultimate Providence, and all-around versatile negation trap. He put it face down and then normal summoned the Knight after turning it back into attack position, giving it its Gemini effect, which would suppress spells and traps when it throws an attack. He ended his turn, knowing that it would be pointless to attack the black stego with its effect still in place.

Rex’s turn was unremarkable, he didn’t say much since he was on the brink of defeat, and he’d only drawn a trap card, which he put down. He left the black stego in attack mode however, just to taunt Nkosi. This would prove to be his undoing though. Nkosi drew his card. Wall of Illusion. An effect monster. He thought for a moment, and smirked. He had a checkmate now. He looked at Rex and went to throw his final attack with Ancient Gear Knight. He had the trap card handled with both the Knight and a trap jammed in case something stupid happened.

“Have you forgotten what Black Stego does, already?” Rex said with hostility. He reached down to turn his Stego into defense, but Nkosi flipped up his trap. “Nope! I got this!” He flipped up Ultimate Providence, tributed the Wall of Illusion he’d drawn. Black Stego’s effect was negated, and that was game. Rex was unsurprised by that point, but yowled bitterly, looking down at the ground.

“Gaahhhhhh! ...Well, ya did it kid... Good game I guess...” he admitted, sounding quite defeated. As he spoke, he’d notice the shadows at his feet getting abnormally dark. He didn’t think anything of it until they grew and spread all around him. His pupils went narrow and he looked up at Nkosi, who stood there with a menacing grin, a twisted expression like a starving beast having cornered prey. The day had turned to night right before his eyes, the sun above blotted dark as if behind a smoke stack. The only bright light source was coming from the Shackle on Nkosi’s wrist.

“H-huh?! What’s... What’s happening? Nkosi! What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that, that’s creepy!” He stepped back, tripping on his heel and falling backwards into the ground.

“Did I forget to mention something? This was a shadow game, my man. A game with more stakes than you’re used to, I’d imagine. You lost, now you’re my plaything.” Nkosi said, standing taller than he ever had before. Rex panicked and whimpered. “Wha?! You freak! Get away from me, I never agreed to this!” Rex screamed, trying to scramble up and run off. But he barely even sat up. He looked around frantically, finding himself now having sunk into a shadowy murk, a goop that held him down like glue.

“What’s wrong? Can’t move? ...Dino boy fall into a tar pit?” Nkosi teased with a wicked sadistic tone. This kind of power was just over stimulating to him, and he loved it.

“H-h-HELP! Someone! This guy’s a maniac, heeeelllllp!” Rex called out in all directions. But no one would hear him in the shadow realm.

“Awww, quit your growling, Raptor. No one can hear you here. No one but me. Why not laugh a little instead? C’mon, I’m good company.” Nkosi said, as goopy tendrils slithered up into Rex’s shirt. He gasped and trembled, yelling out loudly as the tendrils slid across and prodded at his tense body. “If I understand correctly, then by my calculations, we have nearly six hours to play here. I had 3500 life points if I recall. I would have had a perfect 4K if you hadn’t messed that up!”

“S-six hours?!” Rex sputtered out, wriggling at the touch of the spindly goop snakes. “Th-that wasn’t my fault! YOU tried to be show off!” More tendrils slid up from the hazy purple swamp, and some went onto his belly, and some up under his arms. He shrieked, and protested loudly. “Ohhh, Rex. Lay back, relaaaaaax. I won’t hurt ya. I’m just gunna tickle ya a little for a while.” Nkosi mocked, flirtatiously. As he said “tickle”, Rex’s protests turned to panicky laughter, as if it finally clicked that the weird teasing he felt was tickling.

Nkosi stood along an ersatz shore for a bit, watching the living murk go at it. Rex squirmed and pulled on the muck, but was just stuck like a tortoise on its back in a tar pit. Because that’s effectively what he was. After a long bit, and some largely incoherent back and forth with his laughing victim, Nkosi decided to wade into the thick pool himself. Kinda surprisingly, but not really, the tar gave way for him like clear water. He strode over to Rex and knelt down to pull off his shoes.
“Wh-What are ya doing ya freak! Gimme outta heeere!” Rex hollered through sputters of tickled laughter. Nkosi wagged his finger playfully at him like he were but a lad. He looked at the supple pinkened soles now bared, pinkened in the face himself. What a prick, what a chump. But what a cutie Rex was. Just since yesterday, Nkosi went from ogling pictures of feet and tickling online, to personally nibbling on the toes of a small time celebrity he’d effectively kidnapped. So to speak. Rex shrieked girlishly at Nkosi’s nibbles, and continued to laugh like a helpless child while Nkosi ran his fingers along Rex’s warm feet.

He personally tended to Rex’s feet for well over two hours. Nkosi had the tentacles take it easy on him for a while, he wanted that honor for himself. His feet were plenty sensitive enough to wear him out there alone. Rex had long given up pleading, now just wriggling around in a stew of ticklish stupor. Rex finally got a break when Nkosi decided to take some time to simply sniff and lick at his feet, entertaining his less aggressive fetish. But it didn’t take Rex long to gain enough composure to snap at him. “F-freak! Creep! How-why-h-how are you doing this?! Why are you tickling me?! This is torture! Lemme gooooo! Quit licking my feet, that’s so weird! You’re messed up, man, completely nuts!” He shouted in rapid succession, hoarse and nearly out of breath. It was obvious enough that he was shouting whatever popped into his mind and wasn’t prepared to win an argument. He just needed to scream. And Nkosi didn’t appreciate it. He grinned wickedly and dropped Rex’s feet into the grime, where they stuck.

“Now see, I was being nice there. Giving your feet some love after all that playtime, and then you just gotta go and holler at me. Fine. We got about three hours left I think. Why don’t I just let the shadows finish it up here, hmm? Unlike me, they don’t care about your screams. And I’m happy to just enjoy the show. I got ways to amuse myself over here.” Nkosi said, stepping backward. His form faded into the shadows around him. Rex looked panicked, preparing for it all to start up again. And indeed it did just that. The tendrils poked about his midriff and scratched at his armpits, and now, so did the tentacles at his feet. Rex wailed out a sobbing laugh, long and shriek-like. His belly, his pits, soles, toes, all of it was now under fire. The sticky mess he could only barely stretch around served to escalate his torment.

Rex Raptor, a haughty cocky dino looking for a meal, now helplessly stuck in a tar pit, humiliated and tortured. A champion now prey to a humble, awkward fan, who’d never spoken to anyone popular, much less known by way of screen and billboard. A shut-in once trapped in his own mind, now a trap unto others’ minds and bodies. And for three hours more, a lustful heaven for one, and a bizarre hell for another persisted. A demented dinner for two. And the prey feasted upon the predator. His shadow cloaked heart was fed by the shaky laughter and feeble struggles. Tickled tummy, tortured toes, the ticklish terror tapered as the clock struck seven. The shadows began to fade as the sun above pierced through them.

Rex slumped to the ground, flat now, looking up at the afternoon sun before passing out right there on the concrete. Nkosi’s watch, which had been just a bit past 7 in the evening, had reverted back to a bit after 1:00. Rex’s shoes had returned to his feet, and his tendril tattered clothes had mended. All that was different from before was that Rex was now unconscious and sweaty, and Nkosi’s body was stained with lust and newly realized rage.

He smiled to himself, deeply proud of what he had done. Any remorse he’d had lingering was squashed by the overpowering lust and schadenfreude he was experiencing. And he was satisfied. But he knew it wouldn’t last. Like any hunger, it would return eventually. But who would feed him next? Rex would surely never duel him again. Who else had he seen on TV that was worthy of his ire? He thought about it for a bit, but became distracted by the zonked out Rex. Nkosi giggled and knelt down, unlacing Rex’s shoes...

He walked off now, leaving Rex behind to sleep it off, having just stolen his socks as a souvenir. The vengeful hunger of his heart had quelled. As has the hunger of the Shackle. But his tummy grumbled again, despite still having remnants of sammich in him. Just a snack would do really. He was feeling like takoyaki now. He knew a place that made it real good. And on his way out of the alley, his thoughts wandered back to Rex and another meanboi he’d seen. The day was still young, and surely he’d not have to stretch too far. For where there was a dinosaur, there would be a bug riding his underbelly, a parasite sneaky and greedy. He would show himself in time, and dinner would come later on. But for now, it was snack time again.






Yes, don’t say it, it’s half past March and here’s the first drawing. This story has proven a bane to write, but goodness was it enjoyable. I’ve got the other parts in the draw-works, but I may need to drip-feed those too. Because story. I respect writers, and lament that I have a short attention span and get stir crazy from reading. Cuz my goodness writers work a lot harder than people think. Turns out painting with words takes about as long as with a brush. I’m done with excuses and quietly loathing myself for my continual failures. I’ll still do the self-loathing thing, that’s my graduate-major, but let’s just have fun and look forward to bigger and better things. I’ll get it right eventually. =‘p