The Graveyard Duo

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Mortis's PoV

It was late night, and I was playing chess with Frank in the living room of our wooden house. Frank is a bulky dude and an artificial being. He's made of parts of dead people, and due to some technical issues, he sometimes can't say complete sentences like "I'm hungry"; instead he would say something like "ME HUNGRY." in his coarse and booming voice.

But, to my surprise, he's super good at chess. This is my 50th lose streak against him, and I'm only counting matches played tonight. I mean, I'm one of the best chess players in Brawlville, but I feel like I'm completely wrecked whenever I play Frank.

I couldn't believe I'm so weak. I challenged him to another match. But he positioned his pieces so well that I had to resign at the start of the endgame.

"Hey Frank," I said.

"GRR?" He replied.

"You're such a frickin monster at chess, why don't you join in chess tournaments? That's free gold for you!"

"THEY HATE ME. THEY SAY ME IS MONSTER." Frank growled. "THEY THROW STONES. THEY HIT ME WITH STICKS. SOME EVEN POINT GUNS."

"How about I go with you this time? At least I'm not hated in Brawlville," I asked him.

"HRRRMMMMM...." Frank submerged himself in deep thoughts, but soon some knocks on the door interrupted our talk.

"Who's coming here? It's like twelve A.M. in the midnight," I complained. But still I stood up, dashed to the door, and opened it. Frank also stood up in case that's an invader.

Poco's PoV

Hmm, I wonder who's inside. Is this the undertaker's house? Or is it a bad guy's lair? Oh, if only I had my memories...

The door creaked open. Out came a pale-faced man with short purple hair. He wore a black shirt with a purple bat symbol, and a pair of black pants. His oddly pale face reminds me of a stereotypical vampire, but it doesn't matter -- I have no blood, after all.

He looked annoyed at first, but then he seemed surprised as his eyes widened for a bit.

"Ah, an animated skeleton," he said. "I've never seen one before, actually. Who are you, though? Can you talk?"

"Oh yes," I replied. "But I'm suffering from memory loss. I don't even remember who I am!"

"Alright, come on in. Maybe we can help you," the vampire guy welcomed me warmly. "I'm Mortis, by the way. The undertaker of Brawlville."

I followed Mortis into his house, and soon I found myself in the living room. There was a chessboard on the table, and some portraits were hanging on the walls. A few magical orbs were lighting up the room. A pale bulky dude was standing beside the chessboard, and Mortis said that's his friend Frank. Mortis invited me to sit down on the sofa around the table, and I did.

"So... Can you tell me what happened, Mr.... Skeleton?" Mortis asked quite politely.

"Well, tonight, just now, I found myself in this skeletal body, and a woman claimed she's my wife and she revived me. Her name's Nancy. And she said my name's Poco Richards, which I found true on the tombstone."

"Ah, Poco Richards. If that's you, then you're one of the most famous in Brawlville. You're the lead vocalist and guitarist in Buffalo Brawlville -- that's the name of your band. It was one of the most famous band in the whole Asteria, and you've been to some big cities like New Clash City for concert tours."

"Hmm, interesting. Maybe I should go to Brawlville, then?" I asked Mortis.

"Yes, but not now -- I suggest you leave after sunrise. A bright walking weaponless skeleton is an easy target for bandits, after all."

"Okay, then," I replied. They soon went to sleep in their bedrooms, and I slept on the sofa.

The next day, I woke up to see Mortis inviting me to have breakfast with them. He offered me some bread, which I ate with a bit of hesitation (since I'm not sure if I have to eat in this kind of body.) The bread had no taste at all, but when I swallowed it, I felt my inner energy was replenished by a bit.

"This is interesting," said Mortis after I told him how I felt after eating the bread. "I guess the food is directly turned into pure energy by some kind of spells?"

I shrugged and then ate some more bread. After that I said goodbye to the graveyard duo and headed for Brawlville.

Mortis's PoV

"See? Not everyone hate you," I said to Frank after the skeleton left. "Those guys just don't understand what you are."

Frank growled. "MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE HE'S A MONSTER TOO," he replied. His speaking ability sure is becoming better.

"Anyway, Frank, there's a chess tournament coming in two weeks, and I'll go there with you. We both will join the competition. And we'll tell everyone what you really are, alright?"

"HMMMmmmmmmm... Okay," said Frank with some hesitation.

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Author's Notes: Hey guys! Sorry for the very late update. I'm not good at writing stories, especially arranging the conversations. I've already finished the worldbuilding, but the rest is the real challenge. 😥

By the way, do you guys think Rosa is nerfed enough? In the leaked notes a few months ago, her ult was 50% damage reduction for 5 seconds. Comparing it to the 60% damage reduction for 4 seconds, which one do you think is more balanced? Or should she be nerfed more?

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