{"sf1_id":1697993,"sf2_id":"k1V9r4Dn","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 18)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":2103,"posted_at":"2021-03-21T23:19:43.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Alternate Reality","Anon","Boy","Brother","Bunny","Classroom","Couple","Emo","Fight","Girl","Green text","Greentext","HMOFA","Halloween","Heterosexual","High School","Hmofa/","Human","Kissing","Plot Development","Rabbit","Siblings","Slow burn","Young Romance","anthro/human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1697993-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-18","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/k1V9r4Dn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/a5/4e/a54e7185-ba3d-4538-a084-dd0734155942","description":"You've never really 'fit in' with the heavily divided Ranchview High School crowd. Jock, Goth, Prep, Cheerleader, Nerd... you were never any of these. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start happening, and a dark ritual begins with the finding of a curious red book. It's a race against time for you and your friends to stop a group of students from ushering in an age of darkness, and to also figure out just what the hell is wrong with that rabbit.  \n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  \n  \nAbout this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.  \n  \nCover: [https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q](https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q)  \nSam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) [https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT](https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT)  \nFan art collection: [https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv](https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv)  \nAccompanying playlist (WIP): [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J)  \nAlternative link: [https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078](https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078)  \nTotal word count: 147,552 words","content":"\\\u003eThe hallway that leads to the lunchroom (and then gym) presses up on all sides, as if it became narrower in some portions and then wider in others  \n\\\u003eYou wipe your brow of sweat as you lead your gang down the empty halls  \n\\\u003eThe heat snuck up on you at first — a slow and sweaty rise in temperature  \n\\\u003eYou're reminded of the metaphor about the frog being boiled alive, never noticing a thing  \n\\\u003eOnly, you know, it's more literal than that this time  \n\\\u003eAnd you do notice  \n\\\u003e\"I think the janitor left the heat on.\" Alex slumps over a bit as you continue down the hall  \n\\\u003e\"No stopping,\" Mike breathes, drawing on the sweaty, humid air  \n\\\u003eMore than a frog metaphor, you're reminded of last Friday, up in the annals of the school  \n\\\u003eIt was so hot you all collapsed  \n\\\u003eAnd you can guess why  \n“God this is a long hallway,\" you wheeze  \n\\\u003eYou should have asked Vanessa to make you athletic and not brave  \n\\\u003eNot that it matters now anyway — that buff left you Tuesday  \n\\\u003e\"Shouldn't we at least see someone out here? Like in the halls?\" Jenna says, leaning up against the lockers in her bee costume. I find it very hard to believe everyone is in the gym right now and STAYING there.\"  \n\\\u003e\"After all you've seen with us, that's what you have the hardest time believing?\" Mike says  \n\\\u003e\"You're lucky you're cute, Sapone.\" Jenna half-assedly waves her holy water squirt gun in Mike's face  \n\\\u003eIt looks like everyone is melting there in the hallways, like plastic army soldiers put to the blowtorch  \n\\\u003eThe gradual rise in temperature is going to do you in yet again  \n\\\u003eSam draws her baseball bat and stands alert, taking the lead away from you  \n\\\u003e\"I-I-I-I hear s-s-something,\" she whispers  \n\\\u003eHer whisper is useless  \n\\\u003eA hysterical voice booms from the ceilings  \n\\\u003e\"OF COURSE YOU HEAR SOMETHING, DARLING!\"  \n\\\u003eYou groan  \n\\\u003eNot this bitch again  \n\\\u003e\"YOU HEAR THE STORM. AND THE STORM IS…\"  \n\\\u003eThere's a rattling behind the group  \n\\\u003eCeiling tiles fall and clatter onto the floors like glass plates  \n\\\u003eAnd then  \n\\\u003eThreading down on a line of rope like a corpulent Spider-Man(Woman) is none other than than Stella the janitor  \n\\\u003eAh, yes, the crazy crystal badger  \n\\\u003eThe one who assaulted you on Tuesday  \n\\\u003eShe plops down like a sock filled with yogurt, landing unceremoniously in a big pile of fur and psychosis  \n\\\u003eShe's dressed in… oh god  \n\\\u003eLike a sexy nurse  \n\\\u003eHow did the spill of her rather impressive cleavage and the deep cut of her shirt ever make it into a school?  \n\\\u003eDidn't the other staff see th-  \n\\\u003e\"THE STORM IS ME.\" She wheezes and stands upright, arms wide, claws bared  \n\\\u003eHands down the shittiest iteration of Solid Snake yet  \n\\\u003eThanks Kojima  \n\\\u003e\"That's right you thieving fucks, I've been waiting for you to show your face again.\" Even in the darkness you can see her face screwing up with madness, froth dripping from the corners of her mouth  \n\\\u003eHer rose quartz earrings dangle from her ears, strung up in gold  \n\\\u003eHer eyes settle on Sam, who shrinks away from her manic gaze like a dog flinches away from beatings  \n\\\u003e\"I should have never trusted you. Your betrayal was revealed to me in a dream, and yet I chose to ignore it. I never thought my own minimum-wage employee would betray me, and yet here I stand, half-naked in a dark hallway on Halloween, prepared to assault a bunch of teenagers.\"  \n\\\u003eShe lurches forward, still winded from the titanic effort of sitting upright  \n\\\u003e\"I taught you EVERYTHING you needed to fight off the Glowing Ones, (((them))), Grays- and you threw it all in my face, Sam.\"  \n\\\u003e\"Y-You didn't teach me any-anything e-e-except how t-t-to make c-c-chlorine g-g-gas and e-e-eat crystal p-powders,\" Sam blurts as she nervously reaches for her baseball bat  \n\\\u003eYou tense up, and your heartbeat quickens  \n\\\u003eIf you need to, you will throw yourself at this crazy bitch  \n\\\u003eSam's defensive stance does nothing to deter the badger   \n\\\u003e\"You can ignore dreams,\" Stella froths, “but you can't ignore destiny. And tonight, your destiny is-\"  \n\\\u003eAlex steps between Stella and the group, his lanky, striped-suit-clad form like a pillar of sanity in the face of Stella's unhinged madness  \n\\\u003eAnd thank fuck Alex is going to take the hit for this, maybe he'll belt her one in the-  \n\\\u003e\"I'm sorry, but how did you know about the Glowing Ones?\" He says  \n\\\u003eF U C K  \n\\\u003eStella comes to an abrupt halt, and you swear you see her eyes fill with the sharp light of clarity  \n\\\u003e\"How do you know about the Glowing Ones?\" Alex presses her, his hand inside his suit jacket, as if her were concealing a pistol  \n\\\u003eWhich isn't ENTIRELY wrong, you just know what kind of pistol it is  \n\\\u003e\"You're one of them, aren't you?\" Stella takes a tactical step backwards and assumes a low, combat-ready stance. “Well try all your mind zog on me, it won't work. I've swallowed enough red pills to piss blood.\"  \n\\\u003e\"Comrade! Please! We mean you no harm. We are no Glowing Ones, Grays, Jews or anyone else in the NWO cabal.\"  \n\\\u003eStella snarls in reply. “Exactly what a deep state operative would say.\"  \n\\\u003eYet she hasn't thrown her impressively large, scantily clad body at Alex, who is standing firm — the barrier between the gang and Stella  \n\\\u003eSoon, though  \n\\\u003eIn a matter of seconds, Stella will snap like a brittle twig, and assault Alex  \n\\\u003eYour muscles ache from all the tension  \n\\\u003e\"I assure you, we are no friends of the deep state or the CIA. I share in your struggles against imperialism and oppression, comrade. Please, lower your claws. We are no enemies.\"  \n\\\u003eThe badger hesitates  \n\\\u003e\"Imperialism? What are you talking about?\"  \n\\\u003eOh God, here we fucking go  \n\\\u003eStella does not lower her claws  \n\\\u003eOr wipe the froth from her mouth  \n\\\u003eBut she hasn't lunged at anyone's throat yet, and that's a good sign  \n\\\u003eYou can only see Alex's back, but you can tell, just from the context of the conversation that he's wearing the most obnoxious, holier-than-thou grin  \n\\\u003eStella is about to get a crash course in poorly-researched history and conspiracy theories  \n\\\u003eActually, wait  \n\\\u003eThis might be a good thing (not only because Alex will finally have someone to talk to who is 'woke')  \n\\\u003eYou take a step back  \n\\\u003eAnd then another  \n\\\u003eYou tap Sam on the shoulder  \n\\\u003eShe jumps a little, but seems to get the message, and takes a quiet step in sync with you…  \n\\\u003eAs do Mike and Jenna  \n\\\u003e\"Let's start with the 50s and 60s.\" Alex shoves his hands easily into his over-sized pockets, adopting a casual lean. “Ever heard of a little thing called MKUltra?\"  \n\\\u003eStella gasps. “How did you know?\"  \n\\\u003eWIKIPEDIA YOU STUPID BITCH  \n\\\u003eShe sounds as if Alex is the only other person on earth who knows about the CIA's actual attempts to devise a truth serum, which only serves to further spike your blood pressure  \n\\\u003eAh Christ, okay, now's the best time to take your leave before you call them both retarded  \n  \n\\\u003eYou turn tail (in Jenna's case, literally) and throw yourself into a run down the hall, aiming for the gym  \n\\\u003eEr, it's more like a shamble in your long robes, but you get the picture  \n\\\u003eTHE POINT IS you're making a quick getaway, and the gym is so tantalizingly close  \n\\\u003eYou lift the hem of your robes as you break into what could only be called a gallop  \n\\\u003eJenna hobbles alongside you in her bumblebee costume, while Mike sprints ahead in a leather blur  \n\\\u003eH-HE'S FAST  \n\\\u003eWhen you look behind you, you see Alex still standing there, explosively gesturing at Stella, while the badger explosively gestures back  \n\\\u003eYou can only catch little shards and fragments of what they're saying  \n\\\u003e'Bourgeoisie'  \n\\\u003e'The Glowing Ones'  \n\\\u003e'Class-Consciousnesses'  \n\\\u003e'Muh crystals'  \n\\\u003eThe stream of weird bullshit recedes into the sounds of your feet pounding against the floor  \n\\\u003eAlex, the brave solider that he is, will have to deal with Syliva himself  \n\\\u003eYou sneak quick peek at your phone  \n\\\u003e11:00 p.m.  \n\\\u003eOne hour left  \n  \n\\\u003eThe remaining four of you post up outside the gym's double-wide doors  \n\\\u003eFrom the window slits on the doors you can see… a lot of fog… and a lot of strobe lights  \n\\\u003eYou hear the pulse and thrum of bass-heavy music, no doubt some PG attempts at making a banger a bunch of horny high school kids can attempt to grind to  \n\\\u003eNot that there probably aren't shit load of chaperones in there, obscured by the industrial fog machine, waiting in the wings to curb stomp any hormonal urges  \n\\\u003eMike places a palm on the door and looks to you  \n\\\u003e\"You guys ready?\" He grips his water blaster close to his chest  \n\\\u003eCome to think of it…  \n\\\u003eYou pat your pocket where the Book of Rite is. You shove it back down  \n\\\u003e…Yeah  \n\\\u003eYou're ready  \n  \n\\\u003eYou take one last look over your shoulder at Alex…  \n\\\u003eWho is no longer there with Stella  \n\\\u003eIn fact, the whole hallway is empty  \n\\\u003eOh boy  \n\\\u003eNo time to stop now though, not with the clock ticking  \n\\\u003eYou give Mike an affirmative nod, which is returned to you by your co-conspirator  \n\\\u003eJenna draws her water pistol  \n\\\u003eAnd the doors open  \n\\\u003eAnd…  \n\\\u003eChunky clouds of fog roll out and blanket your feet in a slow parade  \n\\\u003eAn impressive wall of sound hits you  \n\\\u003eFirst, low bass  \n\\\u003eThen high shrieks that sound unnatural to you  \n\\\u003eAnd murmurs  \n\\\u003eAnd the smell of sulfur and and bodies and sweat  \n\\\u003eFlashing strobes pulse against the obscuring clouds of fog  \n\\\u003eYou can see shapes and shadows veiled behind the wall of mist, but nothing more  \n\\\u003eMike steps first into the gym  \n\\\u003eThen Jenna  \n\\\u003eAnd then you  \n\\\u003eAnd then Sam, her baseball bat at the ready  \n  \n\\\u003eYou see… almost exactly what you expected  \n\\\u003eThe massive gym has been 'transformed' by the concentrated efforts of an insane badger and the school faculty  \n\\\u003eLong, cloth-covered tables burdened with candy and drinks are pressed up to the side of the gym, each table draped in spiderwebs and spewing gallons of voluminous fake fog from beneath the draped cloths  \n\\\u003eThe center of the gym hosts a DJ table and several sizable loudspeakers  \n\\\u003eBehind a MacBook, with chunky headphones on, is a rat who looks far too small next to the impressive loudspeakers on each side of the table  \n\\\u003eYou can't place why, but she looks somewhat familiar  \n\\\u003eFrom above strobe lights and stage lights flash and pulse like spotlights on the hunt for someone in the crowd  \n\\\u003eAnd surprisingly, there's a lot of students here  \n\\\u003eAt least, more than you thought  \n\\\u003eBut you can only see their faint outlines as they're traced against the fog by the pulsing strobes and stage lights  \n\\\u003eIt IS Halloween, shouldn't most of these kids be out at crazy parties like Braydon Smith's last night?  \n\\\u003eGuess only the losers are here  \n\\\u003eWhich makes you…  \n\\\u003eNever mind  \n  \n\\\u003eYou move deeper into the gym, your only real goal being the equipment storage room against the walls  \n\\\u003eMike, very slowly, brings his water gun around the room  \n\\\u003e\"Where the fuck is everyone? I thought there would be more resistance than this.\"  \n\\\u003e\"I don't trust this,\" Jenna adds as the four of you make it deeper into the gym  \n\\\u003eThe center of the gym is… too clear  \n\\\u003eAnd the shapes in the fog are starting to shift and move, which draw your eye  \n“Just keep moving. Sam,\" you don't look down at her. You keep your gaze spinning around the fog-cloaked gym, watching as the shadows in the fog shift and move. “Do you hear anything?\"  \n\\\u003e\"J-Just the music!\" She strains to be heard above the thrum of the music. “B-But i-i-it sm-smells like… w-w-warm bodies.\"  \n\\\u003e\"No kidding,\" Jenna adds. “I can't get a bead on anything in particular. There's too much going on in here.\"  \n\\\u003eWell, if they're here, you wouldn't know it  \n\\\u003eThey might have done a great job of cloaking their presence from the two anthros in the group  \n\\\u003eOr it's entirely unintentional  \n\\\u003eYou just can't take your eyes off the silhouettes in the fog  \n\\\u003eThey're all around you as you reach the center of the gym and emerge from another bank of fog  \n\\\u003eFuck, you're already halfway to the equipment room  \n\\\u003eYou approach the DJ table cautiously  \n\\\u003eThe rat pays you no mind  \n\\\u003eShe continues to jam away, bouncing her head to the pulsing electronic music  \n\\\u003eThe music is painful for you at this distance, you're sure it's almost deafening for Jenna and Sam  \n\\\u003e\"Christ!\" Mike turns around and shouts. “There's no way it should be this easy!\"","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1696965-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-17.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1699521-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-19.json"}}