AnnouncementYou know what day it is? New fanfic day!

  A friend of mine just released her first chapter on Friday. A delightful little story about what happens when the Antithesis get between a baker and her bread. Please go support her, I'm sure she'd appreciate it.

  A song of Cinnamon and Spice (by ThisIsMyFateNow)

  Read on [RoyalRoad] or [Scribble hub]

  Ambrosia is a small town baker who’s only goal is to make the best baked goods she can. When an incursion show up to wreck her day, they learn that she can do more than just bake tasty treats. She'll have to grapple with a snarky AI, a dual life, and what to bake for tomorrow.

  “Sit your ass down, girl!” Mudfp yelled over the whipping wind. “If you get thrown from my bike right now, nothing in the world is going to save you!”

  I twisted back around and slowly sank down behind the old man. “Those Antithesis just ate my enzyme-dispersing bushes! They shouldn’t even be able to do that without melting from the inside out!”

  “They probably are,” he growled. “At those numbers they just don’t care!”

  I bit my lip and gnced back over my shoulder at the literal wall of ravenous alien invaders. When the first pods nded, I had wanted to rush out and engage the horde directly; the only thing that had kept me from doing so was Mud.

  It was a good thing he did, because the drops didn’t stop after one or two--there were hundreds. They weren’t limited to the small ones either, there were a couple absolutely colossal pods which shook the ground when they impacted.

  When I contacted the Family they told me, in no uncertain terms, that reinforcements were incoming, but we’d have to hold on as long as possible.

  Even though I knew they were doing their best to help us, and it wasn’t the poor call center agent’s fault, I had some choice words for them when I heard that.

  “Hold on!” Mud yelled as the bike lurched, crunching through a small tree, and emerged back on the main highway. As soon as we were in the clear, he gunned the engine and quickly put some room between us and the pursuing swarm.

  If we’d been riding a more traditional bike, instead of Mud’s monstrous Css Two vehicle, we probably never would have made it out of that forest. Its monstrous tires were taller than me and could run over almost anything we ran into.

  It was just unfortunate that he was so tied to the vehicle, because a good hover vehicle would have been much faster and more manoeuvrable. That st escape had been far too close for comfort.

  “So, do you have any other ideas?” Mud asked.

  “Like what? Purchasing an artillery battery? Because that’s the only way I see of us even slowing that horde down,” I shouted angrily. “I honestly thought my bushes would at least be able to slow them down, kill the scouts, and blunt the main assault. I didn’t expect the entire swarm to come rolling out of the trees. There must be thousands of them!”

  “Yeah, and considering how many pods came down, I expect that wasn’t much more than a scout team,” Mud replied.

  “Then what are we supposed to do? Reinforcements might only be half an hour out, but at the rate the Antithesis are advancing, they’ll be at the town walls by that time!” I yelled. It was a good thing I had a helmet on, and the sound of wind was distorting my voice, because I felt like crying. Everyone in Grand Falls was relying upon us, and right now it looked like we were going to fail them.

  “We still have the bushes you pnted around the outer wall, and North Star did station a decent-sized Private Military Company in town to protect their interests. They can man the walls to help slow the Antithesis down.”

  I took a deep breath. “Right. We just need to dey the Antithesis for a couple minutes, and even if they hit the walls, they probably won’t be able to break through before reinforcements arrive. We can do this.”

  “Gd you agree,” he growled, “because it seems our uninvited guests are already getting a little impatient.”

  “Pardon?” I asked just before the small turrets on either side of the bike’s back wheels swiveled around and started firing skyward.

  I cranked my head around, only to witness an ominous sight. It was a cloud of model ones so thick that it obscured the sun. Although it was hard to make out individual creatures, there were some rger shadows within the swarm. That either meant particurly thick groups of Ones or, far more likely, Elevens.

  “I don’t suppose you have any tricks to deal with that lot, do you?” Mud asked.

  “I’ve got one,” I replied. “Sylph, is there any way I can unch some pollen poppers right into the middle of that cloud?”

  [Your so-called ‘Pollen Poppers’ can be fit into any number of dispersal devices. To deal with a swarm that rge, I’d recommend some ground-to-air empcements, but considering your current circumstances, the best option would probably be a handheld grenade uncher,] my AI replied.

  “Then give me one, without the pretty wrapping, and keep reloading the weapon until I tell you to stop,” I shouted. I held out my hands and let the heavy weapon just fall into my grasp. It was a rge, heavy thing with an oversized rotating cylinder in the middle. There was no way that I’d be able to fire it with one hand.

  “Mud, I’m going to need to borrow your back…” I shouted.

  “Then you’ve got it, ss,” he replied. “Do what you need to do!”

  I cmped one hand on Mud’s shoulder and the other on the back of the seat, then swung my left leg over the bike. It wasn’t until I was sitting sidesaddle, watching the pavement flying by, that I realized how stupid I was being, but I couldn’t stop now.

  Throwing my right leg back over the bike, I slid back into my seat, backwards, and stared up at the approaching swarm. “Let’s hope this works.”

  I put my feet on the bike’s fender, leaned against Mud’s back, and started unloading the grenade uncher towards the Antithesis. When the grenades reached the right height, they burst open, but with a gentle pop instead of a massive boom.

  Out of the grenades floated thousands of oversized dandelion-like seeds, which dispersed into the heart of the swarm. Although the spores looked harmless, they were deadly to the Antithesis. Whenever they touched one of the Model Ones, they burst, spraying an enzyme-dissolving acid that was only effective against the Antithesis.

  It wasn’t much; a single puff probably wouldn’t kill a model three, but against the smaller gull-sized flyers, it was devastating. Those that weren’t killed immediately were crippled as the acid ate through their leathery wings. Within seconds the swarm started to fall apart.

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to kill them all before we reach the gates,” I told mud.

  “That’s fine. As long as you thin out that horde, the automated anti-air weapons should be able to take care of the rest,” he replied. “We’ll be in range soon.”

  He gunned the engine, causing the bike to lurch forward. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the sporadic pnt cover fall away as we entered the clear-cut kill zone around the town. I’d always thought that clearing all the foliage around the town and then chemically keeping it from regrowing was a barbaric practice. Killing pnts just on the off chance that Antithesis came for the town seemed extreme. I didn’t think that now.

  Although I couldn’t see the town gate, I could hear it cnking open as we approached. Mud didn’t slow, instead choosing to slip through the slowly widening gap. It was close--if we’d been even a second faster, the heavy doors would have scraped the paint off the bike.

  As soon as we were through, it began closing again.

  “Why haven’t the guns opened up yet?” I asked as I slid off the back of the bike.

  “I don’t know…” he muttered. “Let me call the commander.”

  I watched as his expression went from gruff to confused to angry, all within a few seconds.

  “He’s not answering, and the command staff doesn’t know where he is,” he growled. “They’re trying to bring the grid up now.”

  “Trying to bring it up? They’re crossing the walls now!” I replied in horror.

  The light dimmed as the cloud of Antithesis approached. The Model Elevens finally started to split off from the rest, climbing into the air so they could dive down for massive damage. The sound of thousands of fpping wings filled the air, drowning out all other noise.

  Well, almost all other noises.

  A high-pitched whine filled the air from the opposite direction, and before I could register exactly what was happening, something that looked like an APC came flying out over the town and dove directly into the cloud of Antithesis.

  Something fshed on the vehicle, almost like a strobe light, and every time it went off another Model One died. Less than a second ter another vehicle dove into the swarm, and another, until the sky was filled with armored vehicles. The swarm didn’t st long after that.

  While most of the vehicles spread out, securing different parts of the wall, one came down directly next to us. The hatch on top popped open, and an aqua blue teddy bear popped its head out. It looked over at us and grinned.

  “Hey, did someone call for reinforcements?” it asked in a feminine voice.

  “Uh, yeah…” I replied. It wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but my brain was still trying to process what was happening. “Thanks?”

  “Oh, no problem,” she replied. “We’ll establish defensive positions along the walls, but don’t worry, there’s more reinforcements coming!”

  Mud appeared to be as fbbergasted as I was, but it seemed like he recovered faster. I watched as a small grin crept across his face. “We can’t wait.”

  TheWackyWombat

  SCS Fan Fiction DiscordIf you'd like to join a slightly more active discord, try the SCS Extended Universe (i.e. Fanfiction) discord.

  A bunch of authors in the community frequent it, so come sign up for updates from your favorite authors, or just chat with other SCS afficinatos.

  Here's the link: https://discord.gg/bxPhAYJWcs

  Check out my Stories:

  Teddy Bears On Brigade

  Evelyn "Teddy" Cire is a street kid just trying to make ends meet, in the slum deep under Calgary Megacity. That is, until the Antithesis attack, and she's given the power to fight back.

  Avaible on: [Royal Road] or [Scribblehub]

  Duelling Dungeons

  A story about Talia, an Arachne girl, finding her pce as a floor boss in a competitive dungeon. Half cozy slice of life, half action.

  Avaible on: [Royal Road] or [Scribblehub]

  Imaginary

  A young girl's attempt to find her pce in a world where superpowers come with severe downsides.

  Avaible on: [Royal Road] or [Scribblehub]

  Tarnished Honor

  Reina and Skyler, long term girlfriends, fight Alien invaders in the Cyberpunk City of Vancouver.

  Avaible on: [Royal Road] or [Scribblehub]

  The Wicked Witch of the Wild West (ON HIATUS)

  A young outcast witch tries to find her pce in the world by traveling the remote wilds in the wild west

  Avaible on: [Royal Road] or [Scribblehub]

  Unexpected Guests (TBoB x DD crossover)

  Evelyn (From Teddy Bears on Brigade) ends up in the world of Duelling dungeons and needs to find a way home.

  Avaible on: [Royal Road] or [Scribblehub]

  Support me!

  Join me on to gain full access to my backlog (Currently 10+ chapters ahead!)

  If you don't want to support me, or don't have the cash, you can join as a free member and gain access to my other, unreleased stories!

  Here's the link: https:///c/wackywombat

  Buy the shirt!Want to wear your favorite bear loving samurai? Get a shirt! Commissioned by RavensDagger himself, and hosted on the official SCS webstore you can get the Teddy T now! Sorry, no bear hoodies... yet, but if you show your support who knows what might happen in the future.

  Teddy T-shirt: https://litrpgforge.com/products/scs-secret-merch-teddy

  And if you don't feel like supporting me, you can still take a look around at the other Fan fiction shirts, or even official SCS merchandise here: https://litrpgforge.com/collections/stray-cat-store

  Finally: Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!