Abed believed in their dead gods. They believed that they would return and lead them into the promised lands they so patiently yearned for. They housed festivals frequently and put their hearts and souls into their grand city. From what Nemesis witnessed as he casually walked down the streets, his red eyes watch them all dance and behave like fools. They couldn’t understand that all of this were for naught. The Tree of this continent had perished, and its children with it. He wondered how much it would break their gullible minds and weigh down their hearts to learn of the undisputed truth. Such thoughts brought forth a great comfort deep within the soulless one. He’d think it if he could feast off their misery, it would be a grand course for him. But for now, why not let them live in their fairy tale? It was much more satisfied in the end once they educated themselves with the current events of the world and learn that they had been abandoned all this time.

As for him, he was no longer a slave to any deity- he did not need to follow one any longer. He had learned much from his Mistress, the only one true god and even she fell in time. It was a pity to see such promising light died down, but that was the risk when you strive to be higher than what you should possibly be. He didn’t need to follow the dead gods here, nor of those that reigned currently. None of them had his vision or best interest in mind. They did what those did before them, became little more than fat house cats. And those that catered to them were simply pathetic. Nemesis had promised himself that he would never serve anyone aside from him and he planned on keeping it.

A deep breath was taken before the hooded figure halted in mid step; there was a familiar, savory scent in the air. Beyond that of the treats of the bazaars, even of the curry that started to be a favorite among many of the citizens and visitors alike, there was something that allured him even more. Crimson eyes drifted over to the direction well the scent came from; there was an empty alleyway that felt unsettling for one reason or another. There was hardly anyone hanging out in that area so with a quick pace, he turned and headed down the alley.

The scent grew stronger and more delicious, Nemesis could swear that he could already taste it in the air with his tongue. It wasn’t until his boot hit the splashing sound of blood beneath them did he avert his gaze and saw the liquid and traveled it up with his eyes over to one of many bodies piled up, desecrated and torn apart. It was as though a wicked beast of unparalleled strength and viciousness had done such dirty deeds, and he had to admit that he was very impressed with the work. It was not too much unlike his own, though the different would have to be that whoever did this, must of had a reason to. Nemesis could have easily done this for the hell of it, but there was something strange about it. Picking up a dismembered arm, he observed it with care like a master jeweler would inspect a diamond to truly see if it was flawless before he tossed it careless aside. All he could see here was that the stray animals would have a feast for certain tonight.

Scrubble was not sure why Scrubble had sent Scrubble to Abed. There was apparently some sort of festival going on which Scrubble found very interesting. But the people of Abed worshiped many dead lesser gods this annoyed Scrubble. While Scrubble did not like prayer to lesser gods I.E anyone other than Scrubble. It was beyond Scrubbles comprehension why anyone would pray to dead gods, that's like betting on a horse after it's already lost. Either way Scrubble was in this city on direction from Scrubble for reasons known only to Scrubble. Scrubble decided that the best way to figure out what Scrubble wanted Scrubble to do was eat some curry. After all curry is well known for helping in divination, in Scrubbles mind.

Scrubble wandered around looking for curry, however it couldn't just be any curry it had to be the perfect curry. Eventually a cloaked man approached Scrubble "Are you perhaps looking for some curry" the hooded figure asked Scrubble. "Of course it is Scrubbles will that Scrubble finds the best curry"! The man told Scrubble that there was a place nearby that made amazing curry. Scrubble realized this man must be some sort of curry sage and that Scrubble should follow him. So Scrubble followed the sage through the winding streets of the city into an alleyway off one of the streets. It was here that Scrubble was not greeted with curry but more hooded men. "Scrubble does not see any curry in this place are you lost"?

Scrubbles question was answered when one of the men attempted to grab Scrubble. This effort was ended when Scrubble headbutted the man in the nuts. Scrubble then pulled out the holiest blade of Scrubble and got ready for a fight "YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT SCRUBBLE THE HOLY PATRIARCH OF THE HOLY CHURCH OF SCRUBBLE, SCRUBBLE IS THE FIERY BLADE WHICH WILL PROTECT SCRUBBLE FROM THE DARKNESS OF NOT SCRUBBLE"! The men were needless to say confused by Scrubble's shouting though not enough to stop accosting Scrubble. So Scrubble used the holy magic of Scrubble to set the holy blade of Scrubble alight with righteous flames. This was followed by more shouting which was both in goblin and completely incoherent.

He remained for the longest time, still and poised over the defiled corpses. It had been known to him that certain cultures believed that those that perished yet were not laid to rest in any form would remain in the realm as spirits, yearning to go to the afterlife and after some time of not getting that wish, they would be morphed into vengeful apparitions that lashed out against the living. It seemed as though unless discovered, these miserable ones would fall into such a fate. Nemesis truly cared not for their wish to be buried or cremated- in fact he wasn’t planning on saying a single thing himself about his discovery. Let those that still had a shred of a heart lead by example and help them- it was only serve as a waste of his precious time.  

The calming silence around him was starting to get interrupted by shouts and screams close by, averting his eyes away from the decay and onto the direction of the commotion. Slowly, he paced over towards a group of hooded figures like himself, though something about them felt odd. They certainly didn’t look like the sort that flooded the streets with their partying ways, and they seemed to be fending off against something in the middle. Peeking closer, he saw what had their attention- a strange little being wielding a flaming sword. From what he could make it, the goblin kept on about something Scrubble. Scrubble this, Scrubble that, some sort of nonsense that even left him pondering what he was fussing about. Regardless of what was spewing from his mouth, he may had some knowledge in conjunction of the murders. But first thing to do was to grasp the situation in a better light and as he stepped forward towards them, his face softened into that of a friendly one and called out to them all.

“Uh, hello there? I need some help. I found some bodies down there and I have to know where the guards are…” As soon as his words reached their ears, two of them went out to either side of him to restrain him. The smile remained, though it grew more menace as the one to his left started to feel a great amount of pain in his head, forced to grasp at it as he yelled. The one on the right hesitated when he saw what was happening to the other one but soon he felt Nemesis’ hand onto his own before removing it. The skin off if it started to peel off, layers growing sicker with each one removed. He started to watch in panic as it blackened and rot and rolled up his sleeve to see the seemingly caught disease spread to his arm. Backing away, he fell against a wall and watched as more of him became consumed by the spell.

Nemesis didn’t watch him for long and looked to the remaining members. He suppose that they weren’t the ones that he needed to ask questions, so they were merely expendable as far as he was concerned. “You there”, he called out to the goblin, his demeanor going back to that of a nice stranger’s.  “Tell me, is this Scrubble person responsible for today’s occurrences? I’d be rather happy if you could introduce me to him…”

Scrubble was in a seemingly never ending stand off with these robed men. They had the numbers advantage, but Scrubble had the critical being batshit crazy advantage. The tides were turned in Scrubbles favor when another man entered the alleyway and began talking about bodies that he had found. The men obviously not interested in letting this good samaritan go after stumbling on one of the strangest scenes in Abed. tried to take hold of him Scrubble at this point stopped paying attention to the man who had just entered the alley as Scrubble did not see him as an immediate threat. Instead Scrubble lunged at one of the hooded figures stabbing the holy flaming blade of Scrubble through the robed mans chest.

By this point the man who had discovered some bodies had seemingly dispatched his assailants and the cloaked figures were now surrounded. "HAHA SCRUBBLE GAINS THE UPPER HAND, WHICH SCRUBBLE HAD NEVER LOST"! Scrubble decided to sheath the holy blade of Scrubble for a minute while talking to the corpse finding man. Though this proved difficult as the fire sprouting from Scrubbles most holy blade had caused the now dead cultists flesh to become stuck to the blade. Scrubble not one to falter under pressure simply Sheathed as much of the corpse ladened blade as Scrubble could manage. Which led to a strange picture of Scrubble standing in an alley with a blade sheathed about a third of the way in being blocked by a corpse.

The man who had so easily dispatched two cultists called Scrubbles attention and Scrubble turned to the man. The man was asking about Scrubble not paladin Scrubble but seemingly god Scrubble, which was a rare occurance for Scrubble. "Scrubble did not cause this festival to happen. Nor did Scrubble send these cloaked figures against Scrubbles most holy servant SCRUBBLE. Unless it was meant as a test from Scrubble to test Scrubbles faith and strength, truly Scrubble is most cunning". Scrubble then turned to the two men still standing "Did Scrubble send you to fight Scrubble? You must be honest or Scrubble will strike you down with the fury of a thousand Scrubbles"? Before they could answer Scrubble received a message from Scrubble. "Scrubble, Scrubble did not send these cloaked men to fight Scrubble. But if Scrubble did not send these cloaked figures who did Scrubble? Scrubble you must find out on your own for Scrubble cannot give you all the answers".

 Scrubble now knowing Scrubbles mission unsheathed the holy blade of Scrubble and pointed it towards the men. This also had the effect of dislodging the corpse from the holy blade of Scrubble. flinging it against a wall with a resounding thud. "You will tell Scrubble who you're working for or Scrubble will strike you down with righteous fury"! Scrubble then enchanted the holy blade of Scrubble with the holy powers of Scrubble. The one of men responded "Your innate babbling of your supposed god is nothing compared to the power of ours! We shall see our gods live again and you will be the one struck down by godly vengeance"! Scrubble was not pleased by this answer.

Nemesis would have found this situation laughable had he never seen it with his own eyes; these mysterious and frightening cultists were being outdone by a mere goblin that followed some sort of unfamiliar deity. Still, the friendly look on his face remained as he comfortably stood, secretly watching and waiting to extract any information from these fools. They weren’t as much as a threat as they would like to think they are. The revelation that must have settled into them by now…oh how he wished he could know so he could bask in and take great pleasure from it.

Instead, he looked on to the strange fellow as he gloated gleefully. There wasn’t any telling whether he was mad or not. Nemesis surely could be many times, and yet unadmittingly even he couldn’t understand him or this Scrubble person he kept on about.

His eyes lingered closely as he heard the reply and frowned a little. Perhaps the goblins was indeed touched in the head- he was Scrubble and yet he wasn’t if Nemesis understood correctly. Things were only made stranger as he appeared to converse with himself on the topic but then the conversation became more interesting as he turned attention to one of the cultists. “Dead gods? You poor, delusional fools!” He laughed heartily and with malicious at them and their wish to see deities that were now laid to rest. It was so terrible that he had to actually hold his side.  It was a pity, once a upon a time he too had pined over his fallen goddess as well. But that time had long since died and was left buried where it should be. Once he was able to stop laughing at them and their ridiculous ideal, he pressed forward, taking his leisure as he came over to them with a half-smile. “Now I have no idea who this Scrubble the god is, but surely he sounds more real and alive than your fallen deities that were defeated by mere men like yourself.”

“This vengeance you speak of, it will not happen, no matter how much you dream. You were better off eating curry or something. Pity, you don't have to worry about that anymore…” Before the same man that preached about his gods could even utter one word in protest, Nemesis dashed out right in front of him and grabbed him by the jaw. With some force on his part, he pried the cultist’s mouth open. “Perhaps I should start by ripping out your tongue. Wait, I know. Tell us what these gods have to do with the murders and I might let you live. Fail to comply and you won’t have only that blazing sword of the goblin’s to worry about.”

Looking to Scrubble, he portrayed his earlier facade towards him once more. “Do me a favor and keep the rest of them at bay. I’m sure that Scrubble knows you are capable of that.”