CHAPTER 206

"Well?" Beth stepped back from Opal, a roll of duct tape in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other.

"That still doesn't look right." Reggie stroked his chin as he contemplated Opal's jiggling body. The slime stood in the living room wearing a pair of leggings and boots. The boots had been duct-taped to the leggings to keep them from sliding free when Opal took a step.

"I'm doing my best here." Beth frowned at Opal's legs. They unwound a bunch of metal hangers and bundled them together to make a skeletal structure for Opal's body to adhere to. However, her feet kept popping out of the boots whenever she walked, so Beth had improvised.

"C'mon, like this." Lily was leaning off the back of the couch, her face inches from Opal's. She wore Beth's face, only patches of it were translucent like Opal's. "You need to set that bottom layer, otherwise you look like a porcelain doll."

Opal's face rippled as one layer turned pink while the other turned white. Lily had been using Opal's color shifting to replicate Beth's skin tone.

"Good, now harden that outer layer." Lily held up Beth's makeup palette. "Now are we thinking some fall colors, or full blown whore?"

Opal gave Lily the finger.

"They're being weird again." Kisa was keeping watch through the front window.

Lily groaned in exasperation and held the palette against her chest. "Is it a circle jerk?" she asked.

Kisa snorted. "Nah, they're spreading out and looking into the fog."

"I really could have used five more minutes." Lily pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her cleavage and stuck them to Opal's face. "You're the kind of girl who is hot, but only from a distance."

"That's still my face," Beth protested.

"I've always liked you better from behind." Lily winked. "You pack ass like a goddess. A couple hundred years ago, your butt would have had its own religion."

Beth's cheeks felt hot as she took a step away from Opal. The slime's butt looked fantastic in leggings, though she was wearing three pairs. One pair by themselves had been too porous, causing Opal to ooze outward. Luckily, Opal's control of her upper body was much better, meaning she was able to wear a shirt and sweater combo.

"Uh..." Kisa pressed her face against the window and turned it sideways. "Those fuckers are up to something. They're at the sides of the house now. The fog out there looks like it may be thinning."

"Then we might be out of time." Beth pulled Opal's sweater down. On close inspection, it was clear that Opal was not human at all. However, she was betting on the fact that the horsemen would be out for blood and would kill first, ask questions later.

"So run this by me again?" Lily turned into Beth, only her butt was unusually large. "Because I'm still not sure how I don't get blasted into dust."

"They don't know that Opal is still with us." Beth picked up a book they had drastically altered to look like the Grimoire and handed it to Lily. "Her shape shifting capabilities are an unknown quantity. So when they see two of me, they will assume one of them is you."

"But one of them is me." Lily pouted.

"Right. They know you can't hurt Murray or the angel, so you aren't a threat. So one of you two must be me, and therefore both of you will be taken out with extreme prejudice. But Mehkhkahrel's busy holding Death down with those blasts. If Murray, or Neferisfet, or whatever the fuck they're calling themselves doesn't want an ass-beating, they can't call off the angel to disintegrate you."

"I hate this plan."

"You don't have to like it." Beth slapped Lily's ass, causing it to pop into her normal shape. She handed another fake Grimoire to Opal. "You can handle a stabbing or two, but I can't."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Size queen here is worried about being stabbed," she muttered under her breath.

"Look, you two will be a diversion, and I will blast the fucker with the Grimoire." She had dug through so many spells until she had found one that was intended to disrupt dimensional shifts. It took almost twenty seconds to cast, and that was if she didn't screw up the pronunciations. "If the book is right, this place will become dimensionally locked for at least a few hours, which should buy Mike more time."

"Romeo better come through," Lily said, licking her lips. "If he does, I'm gonna blow him until he can't see straight."

"You and me both," Kisa added, then flushed. "I...didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Ah, it's okay, kitten." Lily moved next to Kisa and stroked her cheek with the back of a finger. "We could make it a team effort. Do that thing where our tongues run across each other, it'll be hot."

Beth cleared her throat. "If you are done distracting everyone, we should get to it. Opal, you ready?"

The slime held up a thumb, then stumbled forward. Beth caught her and held her up.

"Kisa, grab Tick Tock."

"On it." She picked up the mimic and slung it over her shoulders. Beth walked behind her and stuffed the duct-tape and scissors into the bag. She doubted she would need them, but if she was walking into the end of the world, she wanted access to duct-tape.

Besides, it wasn't the only weird thing she had tossed into Tick Tock for their fight. She didn't know if the mimic minded the eclectic mix of objects she had fed him, but it was hard to know what they might end up needing.

"Reggie, you're our backup for when everything goes wrong."

"I know my role." The rat king bowed his head. "I genuinely hope that my services are not needed."

"I know." She patted Reggie on the head, then picked up Jenny who stood nearby. "And you've got my back?

Jenny giggled. Your packed ass is protected.

Beth frowned, but knew better than to state how much she disliked that term. "All right, so let's do this. Plugs and places!"

As one, everyone but Opal stuffed cotton plugs into their ears. Kisa stood by the door, her hand on the latch. Reggie moved to the window and picked up a pair of binoculars. Lily stood at the door, followed by Opal.