When The Night Crawls

by Hoppa_21

Chapter 10: About Schweinehund, Fluffy Ears and Pretzels

POV: Kurt Wagner

Location: Convention Center, Main Hallway
Time: 13:36

Finally the day arrived! Comic-con here I am, in all my cosplayed Nightcrawler glory! To think that I am cosplaying for the first time, as well as go on a trip to America for the first time. Truly a glorious day. Took me some time to save the money for it. The wage of a butcher is not necessarily a high one. One a side note, America doesn’t seem to have any real butchers, or at least their assortment when it comes to sausages is rather small. But I heard somewhere once that Germany has a lot more sausages than other countries, so I probably shouldn’t be surprised, even if it was quite a shame. But I digress now, right?

So to get back, I finally made it to the Comic-Con. Never thought I might see this glorious day. It was quite a large complex, and the number on square meter’s wasn’t the only high number here.

The convention center was quite full to my dismay. Well, too full. I don’t mind a little crowd, but I also like a little space too. I really don’t need to stand shoulder to shoulder with other people. Especially with guys who have spiky protrusions from their costumes. Don’t want to get my eye poked out after all. Still there were a lot of interesting costumes to see.

For example, I saw Edward from Full Metal Alchemist in all his short glory! There were also a Laharl and Flonne cosplayer from the game Disgaea. Or not to forget the moment I was halted by four individuals. Three of them dressed, while the other seemed to keep record since they had a competition of who had the best costume going on. One was wearing an Oryx costume in knight form, while another wore a General Grievous costume, and the girl was wearing a humanized Zoroark costume. I naturally voted for the girl with her fluffy ears. It was rather interesting, but this encounter was topped by another one. Let’s just say that the award for the most weird cosplayer goes to the dude with the electric blue wig, huge violet glasses, white outfit with skirt and violet tights. Not that I have anything against guys cosplaying as girls, I’m a tolerant guy after all, but it still seemed weird to see a man in a skirt.

But I wasn’t only giving stares, I was receiving a few myself. There were even some people who wanted to take a picture of and with me. I of course couldn’t deny my fans the honor and even threw a few German words into the mix to impress and show my abilities. Some people even said the word Schweinhund to show off their own knowledge of the German language.

Honestly I don’t understand why people think we say that all the time! First off, it is written and spoken with an e! Like that: Schweinehund. Secondly I never, ever heard a German use it like that. It is more used in terms of: Overcome your inner Schweinehund! So they got it all wrong, even if it can be used as a swear. But maybe I should lighten up a little. It’s not like mistakes like that couldn’t happen to me too. Maybe I should just play along and try to use it as a curse from time to time? Might as well try it since it can’t really harm me to at least try it.

But to get back on topic. I should probably take a look around for some interesting merchandise to buy. As I walked I silently mouthed the word Schweinehund over. I don’t know. It felt weird. Especially since it is not that often used.

However in my search it didn’t take me long until I approached a guy dressed as Resident Evil 4 merchant. I viewed his table. He had quite a few good pieces like a state alchemist pocket watch along with a set of impeccable metal automail, which would probably make the mouth of the Edward cosplayer from earlier water. There was also a Yoshitsuna, the strongest sword from the first Disgaea game! But he also had smaller trinkets, like a small steel chain with a mini Dungeon Heart from Dungeon Keeper 2.

“Found something that interests you, Stranger?”

I just looked the creepy looking dude in the eyes, shaking my head.

“Nein, noch nicht. (No, not yet.) Say, do you have any good X-Men merchandise for me?”

A twinkle shined in the creepy merchants eyes. “Oh, I might have just the thing,” He said as he turned around to take something from one of his chests.

Then a hand suddenly grasped my own and begun to tug me softly but insistently away from the stall and merchant.

I questioningly turned my head to saw a girl cosplaying as a cat girl dragging me further away and to a table of a small bistro in the convention center.

Some might now scream at me, why I was following a strange girl I didn’t even know, but since when would any guy question a cute girl dragging them along? Especially a cat girl. Every guy would fall for these ears!

I love fluffy ears. Just in case you didn’t notice yet. They are so fluffy!

…

Come on! Everyone loves them! And you know it!

We quickly got seated opposite from each other and I tried my best award winning smile on her. Maybe she was a fan of Kurt Wagner alias Nightcrawler and wanted me to take a photo with her. A selfie. I certainly wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to her fluffy ears. They just looked so fluffy, I’m gonna die! And real at that. A real A for effort for such a convincing pair!

She looked up at me with a slight smile, and I was wondering if I should try to start up a conversation. I mean, she technically dragged me here, so she probably wanted something.

Before I could open my mouth, she opened hers and responded to my silent expectations.

“You are probably wondering why I dragged you here, but first let me introduce myself. I go under many names, like Madness, Musician, Nightingale or my most preferred one, Essence.”

Oh, mysterious! Also interesting role playing she does there. I didn’t know the series from which character she was cosplaying at, but she certainly was in her role.

I never did any cosplaying or role playing before, so I was quite excited about the prospect of a fluffy-eared cat girl wanting to play a scene with me. The unknown made it probably even more exciting since I can’t begin to comprehend what I had to expect from her role. I wonder if she was the feisty type. Certainly didn’t mind those.

“Grüß Gott! (Hello!) My name is Nightcrawler!” I blurted out my own introduction, while gesturing with one arm to myself, while the other was outstretched. It probably was an exaggerated pose but this fits my role in my opinion. Nightcrawler was a bit of a goofy type, and honestly so was I. Of course it was rather short and pathetic compared to her, but I just couldn’t help it. Excitement and all.

“I’m aware of that, but now listen. This is important.” She made a pause to see if she had my undivided attention. Needless to say that her fluffy-eared self had it.

“Are you familiar with the Multiverse theory?” she asked, adapting a serious face.

I furrowed my brow. “Is that the theory where everything affects and creates a new reality?”

She nods. “That is the short version of it. The Multiverse theory states that every decision we make creates a complete knew reality of itself, creating an indefinite amount of these called realities. Some powerful beings like myself are called Displacers. We dimensionally misplace different beings in different parts of the Multiverse. The creepy merchant back there was my rival, so I just saved you from him. Problem is that he still is the top Displacer among us all, and I simply can’t have it. I need to step up my game. And that’s where I need you. I need you to firstly balance the scale. But the second point is way more important. Interested to listen in?” By the end of her speech she adopted a serious look on her face.

I simply nodded, quite fascinated with her story. She put quite a lot of thought into it, so it was my obligation to listen to that fluffy-eared girl!

Did I already mention her ears were fluffy? I just think that I can’t mention that often enough.

“Good. I have a special job for you. Not too long ago I assigned a soul called Malthael with the task of being some sort of police in the Displaced realm. The multiverse is chaotic and I need to bring things under control. My contact to him however was cut off by forces I’m not going to explain further here. Your job would mainly be, as the title police says to keep order under the Displaced. Another part is that you will keep track of all the Displaced you meet. Equipment will be provided, and I need your answer immedia-”

*Grumble*

“Sofort? (Immediately?) A little forward aren’t you? I would like to make a compromise,” I said as I took out the paper bag with my food. “Let me first munch on this god-like feast of a pretzel, and then I will think about it properly. I mean, it is quite hard to think on an empty stomach.”

She just shook her head, her expression getting even more serious.

“This has to wait. I need your answer now.”

I got a little contemplative at that. Should I really just jump into this complicated role playing mess? It slightly intimidated me to be honest, with all the multiverse, Displaced and other stuff. On the other hand, it might be an interesting experience.

I took a calming breath before looking back to Essence, “Einverstanden. (I agree.) So how do we start this?”

“Easy enough. First the equipment,” she said, as she laid different items in front of me on the table. The first was a trident seal, the second a tome, and the last one was a sleek black phone. I only stared at the random items in bewilderment.

She pointed at the first item. “The trident seal is pretty much your police mark, and you can treat it as such. However, it has a nifty little gadget,” she said as she opened a cap to reveal an USB-Port. “With this port you can access the internet from every location, in case you ever might be in a time of need for information in the middle of the woods, or even if you just want it to use it to spend your free time. It has also another gadget, but this isn’t important now. You will find out soon enough.”

Her hand moved to the second item. “Secondly the tome has a general knowledge of the multiverse and Displaced for you to read, if you need to. It also contains more precise information to your equipment. But one of the most important features is that it will record all the Displaced you meet. It even comes with stamps where you can mark Displaced as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, since not all people you meet might be amiable.”

Her hand moved yet again to the last object. “And the last and most important one, the phone. It will allow you to stay in contact with all the Displaced you meet and allow you to summon them if need be. It has a few additional functions that I’m not going to elucidate. You can look them up in the tome though. It is your best means of communication so take good care of it.”

Huh… A lot of information to take in. Glad it all seems to be written in the tome, so I can reread the given information. I only think that the phone is suspicious. Why give a complete stranger a phone? This is a lot of trust, and I know that I wouldn’t put that much trust in some stranger. I’m wondering if there is something more going on…

Nah! I’m probably thinking too much about it. She is just some nice fluffy-eared cat girl after all, and not some ominous fluffy-eared demon who is going to tear me from my home world.

“Any questions?” she finally asked.

Well, there was one I have been dying to ask…

“Yes. Can I stroke and squeeze your ears?”

Essence seemed to be taken aback by my request, if her jolting in her chair was any indication.

“W-what?” she asked slightly leaning back in her chair. Surprise still written all over her face.

I on the other hand just leaned over the table further as she backed away.

“You know, squeezy squeeze, stroky stroke to those fluffy ears? They seem so real!”

“Uh…I think I should go.”

“Warum? (Why?) I promise to be gentle!”

She started to rub the bridge of her nose as she groaned, “Just no. No to that mental image and no to your suggestion!”

“Aww!” I pouted adorably, since I’m an adorable pouter, “Can I stroke them if I do a good job at this whole Displaced business then?”

She sighed, “Fine. Do a good enough job and I will humor you, but now you have to go.”

As she started to stand up from her seat, I begun to stash the items on the table into my backpack. After that I just took out the paper bag with my pretzel as I continued to peacefully sit there.

“First comes the food!” I declared cheerily, finally glad to still my hunger.

“I guess this will have to wait since you are going on a trip now.”

I just raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “What tri-“

That was as far as I got before the chair underneath me suddenly gave room to some hole in reality, or the void as I later learned. I just looked flabbergasted at the girl that watched me fall deeper and deeper into this endless pit.

A little panic gripped me.

Huh. Something tells me that she wasn’t talking about a normal role playing game.

I took a few calming breaths. Not that I could do anything against the falling. Also wondering what my last famous words should be. Hm…

“And I never got to squeeze those fluffy ears.”

Yeah, this will do.

*Grumble*

“Well at least I still have my pretzel!” I declared much too cheerful if you considered my fall to certain doom, but food always lifted my spirits, so sue me!

Just as I was trying to grab it, I noticed it was missing. I then looked down to see the paper bag with my pretzel falling ahead of me.

“Schweinehund!” I cursed.

Yeah, it still feels weird.

Author's Note:

I have thrown Displaced references left and right from other stories! I'm actually hoping some of the authors of said stories stumble upon this and see said reference to their stories. That would be neat!

Comments

[The A I]

hehehe fluffy ears

[Gotland]

He has done the impossible! Getting displaced by someone other then the merchant!!