Sheen has a minion!

Epidemic the Poxed Pink Snake

What happened?

---

That day started out like most any other day. I woke up, had some breakfast, made sure my white fur was mostly pristine. I lounged around a little, taking in the fresh morning breeze from my balcony overlooking Delphi beach. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was in a pretty decent mood. Eventually I looked at the clock and, sighing, grabbed my bag and headed out the door to work.
"Gotta keep the sP coming in to afford your beachside loft," I reminded myself out loud.

I had decided to leave a little early so that I could take my time, strolling through the marketplace and carnival stands before finally coming to my work building. I looked up at the sign above the entrance that read 'Subetan Worldwide Delivery Services' and wondered, as I entered through the front doors, what sorts of deliveries I would make today. It wasn't always a fun job, but one could really meet a variety of characters along the way. I walked through the lobby and into the back room. After I punched in I walked even further into the building to the package room where my boss, a large Dusk Dillema, was busy sorting and organizing packages that had arrived that morning. She looked up as I entered the room and stopped what she was doing and set down her clipboard.

"Oh good, you're here. I have a special package that needs delivering today. It's perishable so you'll need to go straight there, no other deliveries." She waddled over to her desk on the other side of the room and picked up a medium-sized brown package wrapped in string. My eyes widened a little. My boss waddled back across the room to me and handed me the box. I quickly turned over the address tag and read it.

"Oh no...Shadowglen?" I muttered out loud, looking at my superior with nervous expectation. She held my gaze for a moment before a look of realization crossed her face.

"Oh, no dear. This one came in by itself. I don't think it's going to be anything like that mad rush of pastries we had to deal with last year. I think it's just a lone gift for someone. But it is going to Shadowglen, so you may want to take a mask with you. I'd have the new guy deliver it, but he happens to be on a week cruise to Arctic Frost. Sorry, hun."
She turned around and shuffled back to the pile of new arrivals and picked back up her clipboard. It was my cue to get moving.

I sighed, turned around, and walked over to the corner where an old box of masks had sat since before I had started work at the agency. I picked up the mask sitting on the top of the pile and blew off the dust that had accumulated on its face. It was a grey color with red veins and what looked like bows or butterflies on the edge. It seemed harmless enough, but hopefully it would keep the undead at bay while I made my run.

-----
I stepped off the boat and onto the shore of Shadowglen. I looked back at the boat captain with a nervous glance. He smiled and waved his hand in a shoo-ing manner, as if to say ‘It’s alright, you’ll be perfectly safe’.

“I leave here to go back to Riverside at noon, youngin’, so just make sure yer back ‘fore then,” he said, still smiling. I nodded and he went about preparing his boat to dock while he ran his own errands in the area. I sat down and took off the satchel that hung on my shoulder. I reached into it and pulled out the mask. I gave it one more look over before I sighed and placed it on my face. The eyeholes seemed a little small and I had little to no peripheral vision. It smelled old as well. I carefully swung the satchel back over my shoulder and set off determinedly toward the heart of Shadowglen.

As usual the streets of Shadowglen seemed deserted. Every once in a while I jumped at the sound of some creature skittering by in the shadows or a rock crumbling somewhere in the distance. The few residents I did see took one look at my mask and shiny white coat and colorful jewels and, with a look of disgust, would slink away back into the dark corners of their homes and workplaces. Only one or two of them seemed to pay me no mind at all and strolled about, attending to whatever business they had.

I had decided against bringing a map with me so that I could look a little more like I belonged in this place. I had run so many pastries back and forth from Shadowglen to other places last year that I figured I remembered enough of it to get by. I had never been to the address on the box before but I had decided it shouldn’t be too hard to find. I turned left around a corner I believed would take me straight through to the street I was to deliver to and was startled to discover a pitch black alley way instead.

“Huh. It must be the next street down, then,” I muttered to myself. I began to turn around when an ear piercing shriek froze me in my tracks. I barely saw it coming, a blur of green and blue and grey, but I heard it as it barrelled toward me, yelling at the top of its lungs.

“RRRRAAAARRRRRGGGGAHHHHHHHHH!”

Apparently one of the residents of Shadowglen was not pleased that I had stumbled into their alley. It slammed into me, hard, and I stumbled to the ground. My mask twisted around behind my horns and I felt the delivery satchel come free from my shoulder. I did not have time to worry about that, however, as the angry undead on top of me scratched and clawed and yelled what I assumed to be obscenities I couldn’t understand. I tried to cover my face with my front paws and kick out at it with my back legs. For a creature that seemed so thin and light it was definitely strong. It grabbed one of my horns and bent my head into an awkward position before biting my ear. I yelped in pain and swung out with my tail. This finally seemed to do the trick. I landed a hard blow to the side of its face and it stumbled backward. It seemed stunned for a moment, but soon recovered and ran from the alley still wailing and flailing its scraggly arms.

I sat in shock for a few moments, my breath heavy and my mind fuzzy. It seemed almost as if the bite and scratches were tickling, and they made me feel woozy. Dazed, I looked around for the fallen delivery package. During the scuffle it had been shoved over to the wall of stone lining the alley. My heart fluttered as I saw what kind of shape it was in. The box was wrinkled and the string had managed to come untied. The lid of the box was pulled partially open. I limped over to it to see what I could do to put it back in order. However, when I reached the box I was momentarily distracted from the pain and dizziness I felt from the attack as well as the disheveled container by what I saw inside. I reached out and turned the box carefully so that more light would fall on its contents.

Inside were what appeared to be cupcakes, but they were unlike any I had seen before. They were sloppy and gooey, and I could swear that one on the right had an eyeball on top. I was pretty sure that if I didn’t already have white fur I would have blanched at that moment. I did cringe, though, and quickly shut the lid back down. I pulled at the sides of the box to try and straighten it back out as best I could, and I wrapped and tied the string back around it. When I was done I imagined the box probably looked better than I did. My fur was now matted and dirty and my mask had a slight tear in it. I put it back over my face and, ignoring the pain in my ear, crept slowly out of the alley way. I started back down the street and peeked slowly around the next corner to the left. I let out the breath I had been holding when I saw the cut-through I had been looking for when I stumbled into the alley before. I checked once again to make sure the package was securely in my satchel and limped down the street. When I got to the end, I took a right and there, three doors down, was the address for delivery; The Zombie Den. ‘If only I had remembered the way correctly before,’ I thought to myself bitterly. I sat down in front of the door for a moment. I pulled the satchel off my shoulder and placed my mask inside. Then I pulled out the box of baked goods and, after a deep breath and a last check on the condition of the box, knocked on the door.

After a few moments of scurrying and scuffling, the door opened. I stepped back a step or two as I saw the undead that answered. He was scraggly thin, with minty green skin that was missing or stitched up in places. He was missing one arm and the other ended in a giant claw. He only wore a scrap of a shirt which didn’t hide the worms and leeches crawling about on him. His hair was messy and dark green. The worst bit was his face. He seemed to be missing a lot of his skin around his mouth, and his pointy white teeth appeared to always be in a smile. His long green tongue was hanging out of the back of his jaw, and the one eye I could see was barely even in a socket. He looked terrifying. I froze. I couldn’t get the words I was supposed to say to come out of my mouth.

“SKITTERS ONLY SELL TO ZOMBIES,” he hissed after looking me up and down. The sound of his voice jarred me from my daze.

“Oh, no sir. I’m not here to purchase anything. I um...Hello, I’m with Subeta Worldwide Delivery Services and I’ve a package for one Mr. Skitters?” I finally stuttered out. His eye seemed to widen in recognition and he held up his claw to indicate I should stay there a moment. He disappeared into the shop and within seconds was back and handing me a pre-written note.

Hello! I've been expecting you. My friend was talking to me on BetaChat and informed me that my girlfriend, Fantine (you might know her, from the Bake Stop?), had begun trying out some new recipes and had given my friend a batch of cupcakes for me to try. Isn't that sweet? I can't wait to try them. I'm sure it has been difficult getting them here without devouring them, what with the delicious aroma right beneath your nose. You are welcome to try one if you would like!

I remembered the unsavory look of the contents of the box and quickly shook my head.
"Uh, no thank you. I wouldn't want to um...accidentally eat the one that might be your new favorite?" I said, and tried to force a smile onto my face.

The zombie looked thoughtful and then gave what appeared to be a smile. I held out the box to him, hoping it didn't appear to be too beaten up from the earlier fall, and he took it excitedly. Or at least, I thought he was excited. He was a little hard to read. I decided to get the job finished as soon as possible and get out of there.

"Thank you for using Subetan Worldwide Delivery Services. We hope that your experience with us was over and above expectation and that we may serve you again soon," I rambled rather hurriedly. The zombie nodded and, with an enthusiastic wave, turned into the shop and closed the door behind him. I closed my eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, when I opened them again I realized that I was still standing on a street in the heart of Shadowglen. I decided my mask wasn’t worth the effort, and I began to run full speed back the way that I had come. A few residents were startled as I flew by them but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get back to the boat. It had been different last year when the mass pastry deliveries had happened. The natives hadn’t been pleased to see us but there had been so many of us having to make deliveries that no one had been bothered beyond a snarl or two. While Shadowglen was said to be better than the Underground, where the living simply did not enter, the residents clearly still were not fond of many living visitors.

Eventually I made it back to the boat. The captain had returned and seemed to just be waiting for me to arrive. He looked at my disheveled appearance and smirked.

“You alright, lass?” he asked, his amusement showing through more than his concern. I nodded silently, out of breath, and sat down in the boat. I wrapped my tail around my legs and sat in silence as the boat made its way back to Delphi.

-----
I walked slowly back into the delivery building, my tail dragging on the ground behind me. I was tired, dirty, sore, and in a rather grumpy mood. My shift still had another two hours on it, but I was determined to just go home. I trudged into the stock room where my manager still sat marking inventory. She turned absentmindedly when she heard me, but her eyes widened in surprise when she actually saw my appearance.

“Great Shinwa, what happened?!” she exclaimed, dropping her clipboard in alarm. She started toward me and then paused with indecision, her large body tottering for a moment where she stopped.

“One of the undead in Shadowglen attacked me while I was on that delivery. I’d like to go home now, please,” I said with annoyance in my tone. My manager nodded uncertainly.

“Of course, dear, of course. Although, you’ll need to fill out an incident report first. Company policy and all that.” She shuffled over to her desk in the corner and rummaged through some papers. Finally she pulled one out from under a messy pile and held it out for me. I sighed heavily and sauntered over, taking the paper from her hands. It seemed to be short enough aside from the section requesting the full details of the occurrence, so I grabbed a pen from my manager’s desk and walked quickly to the break room to fill it out. I made sure to write out everything clearly and in detail before returning to the stock room and handing the form over to my manager. Without another word I turned, clocked out, and headed for the door. I could hear my manager clicking her tongue in mock concern as I left. The scratches on my body and bite on my ear were tingling still, and all I wanted to do was get cleaned up. I practically ran the entire way back to my loft, only stopping long enough to let myself in the door.

After I bathed and cleaned my wounds, I slumped over to my bed and curled up. I hadn’t really eaten all day but I didn’t care. I wasn’t hungry. I was itchy, though. I lifted my back paw and started scratching at one of the jewels on my front shoulder. All around it seemed to itch. Suddenly I felt something shift, and then I heard it.

TINK. Tink. Tinktinktinktink!

I froze. Slowly I turned my head in the direction that the sound had stopped. Across the floor in the opposite corner lay what appeared to be the jewel from my shoulder. I stared at it. I don’t even know how long I started at it. Then, my vision blurred momentarily and I blinked.

“No. Of course that didn’t just happen. I’m just really tired because today was so crazy. See, I’m even talking to myself! Just go to sleep. Everything will be fine in the morning.”

I nodded, as if to respond to myself. My vision blurred again and I closed my eyes. I thought it would take me forever to go to sleep, but it didn’t. I was in a dreamless sleep within moments.

-----
I woke up slowly, but didn’t open my eyes. I tried to remember everything that had happened the day before, and wondered if it had all been some sort of weird dream. I didn’t seem to feel ill or unusual. I concluded that it had just been a vivid nightmare and sighed with relief.
I began to roll over, but suddenly felt several sharp pains in my side. It felt almost like I was lying on rocks. Still without opening my eyes, I reached around with my front paw and felt one of them. It was smooth, but with sharp edges and bends in it. Like glass. Like a jewel.

Panic set in. My eyes flew open and I was confronted with searing white light from my balcony door and windows. I yelped and covered my eyes with my paws. I wondered what had happened, why the sun was so bright? I stumbled over and blindly pulled the curtains closed. Slowly, I peeked open my eyes. It was still bright in the room, but more like normal daylight and not as painful. I remembered what had caused my panic and rushed back to my bed.
There, covering my bed in sparkling color, were dozens of jewels just like the ones that freckled my body. I swallowed. I reached up to my shoulder, the one I had been scratching before I fell asleep, and felt where my jewel should be. It was there! I felt it! Small, rough, chalky...’That’s not right... I thought to myself.

Confused, I held my forearm out in front of me to look at the jewels that should have been decorating it. Instead, there were small pastel objects protruding from their spots. I squinted and tried to make them out. They looked like...candy hearts? Only then did I realize it. My white fur was pink. Pink.


I screamed.
This isn’t right, this can’t be right! I thought to myself in a panic.

I ran across the room to my grooming mirror and froze. There, staring back at me open mouthed, was my reflection; I was pink, with dark pink swirls, completely white eyes, and covered in candy hearts.-----
At this point, Sheen stops and looks up at her best friend Tiesi, the Graveyard Dragarth, and lets out a sigh.

"And...that's how I wound up here in Shadowglen for good. I went to the healer the next day, and she sent me to get the cure but I seem to be immune to it. My boss said she couldn't have a zombie working there as it could be a danger to the other employees so I got transferred down here to this branch of SWDS. I do miss my beachside loft sometimes, but it isn't as bad here as I always thought it might be. Plus, I met you."

Tiesi smiles at Sheen.
"I'm glad you finally told me the story. And I wouldn't have had it turn out any other way."

---

Overlay by User not found: kirk || layout coding/image by Confection || Everything else was done myself

Pet Treasure

Heavy Duty Theatrical Concealer

Mostly-empty Vial

Your Changing Body: An Introduction to Undeath

Apprentice Patissier Toque

Z Coalition Poster

Rottie

Glowy Green Bug Lantern

Suspiciously Normal Zombie Cake

Questionable Green Ooze

Darkness Luchador Mask

Ferocious Luchador Mask

Flaming Luchador Mask

Icy Luchador Mask

Earthen Luchador Mask

Legendary Luchador Cape and Mask

Nacho Muerte Plushie

Splittifish

Pounding Heart

Octello

Raw Obsidian

Volcanic Ash

Deaths Cap

Pink Lemon

Purple Celestial Flask

Fleece Zebra Throw

Dream Coda Caves Crystal

Radioactive Snowball

Bottled Moon Sand

Dying Leaf

Serious Shoppers Tied-Back Ponytail

Medallion of Warding

Charm of Shield-Breaking

Undead Chattering Teeth

Blue Liquid-Filled Glass Beaker

Blue Liquid-Filled Glass Flask

Blue Liquid-Filled Rounded Flask

Green Liquid-Filled Glass Beaker

Green Liquid-Filled Glass Flask

Green Liquid-Filled Rounded Flask

Orange Liquid-Filled Glass Beaker

Orange Liquid-Filled Glass Flask

Orange Liquid-Filled Rounded Flask

Purple Liquid-Filled Glass Beaker

Purple Liquid-Filled Glass Flask

Purple Liquid-Filled Rounded Flask

Red Liquid-Filled Glass Beaker

Red Liquid-Filled Glass Flask

Red Liquid-Filled Rounded Flask

Yellow Liquid-Filled Glass Beaker

Yellow Liquid-Filled Glass Flask

Yellow Liquid-Filled Rounded Flask

Stone Skull Totem

Bottled Antilovirus

Empty Glass Beaker

Empty Glass Flask

Empty Rounded Flask

Ecks Pin

Skitters Pin

Zombie Chess Set

Bindi Bite Zombie Plushie

Brain Rot Zombie Plushie

Naughty Nip Zombie Plushie

Heartburn Zombie Plushie

Blistered Hearts Zombie Plushie

Faceworm Zombie Plushie

Dolly Dreadful Zombie Plushie

Lobster Face Zombie Plushie

Crack Head Zombie Plushie

Pinkie Patch Zombie Plushie

The Baker Zombie Plushie

Hazmat Suit

Guidebook for the Newly Dead

Zosi Plushie

Zombie Fantine Plushie

Weeper Plushie

Elsie Plushie

Rachelle Plushie

Bug Guy Joe Plushie

Benjamin Plushie

Bubbles Plushie

MechaCat

Poxed Pink Snake

Dreadphul

Stained Rag

Root Forest Sample

Zosi Beanbag

Weeper Beanbag

Zombie Fantine Beanbag

Rachelle Beanbag

Elsie Beanbag

Bug Guy Joe Beanbag

Benjamin Beanbag

Bubbles Beanbag

Dead Flesh Fisher

Budgon

Stone Pup

Fallen Stalactite

Rally Cocktail

Not So Useful Cover Up

ZWE Replica Championship Belt

Xodent

MechaDog

Undead Minion Tuft of Hair

Doxx

X-Marks-the-Spot Knife

Happy Flesh-Eating Worm

Rotted Scraps

Brainless Fwubbles

Variety

Bakers Blob Kitty

Gross Apple Core

Pet Friends