Everything was dark and silent, some of Bob's senses were seemingly closed off, with his vision and hearing being affected most profoundly. Thankfully his sense of touch was still functioning normally, or he would have been in a state of panic. Bob had been unconscious, and now his mind had returned, he could feel a constant, intermittent dripping of water splash across his face. From landing in his unseeing eyes, to rolling down his unhearing ears, the drips gradually covered his face, as he moved his head around in confusion at his predicament.

  Then without warning, his vision and hearing both came back at the same time, unfortunately they came along with a splitting headache and a dry mouth. Opening his mouth wide and sticking his tongue out, the water droplets were not wasted as he stared at a filthy dark ceiling. Lay on his back, he could tell from the sensation and smell that he was in one of the many sewer pipes that connected to his and Marlo's home.

  "Eurghh, what the hell happened? Where even am I??"

  Bob attempted to sit up, but realised a weight was on his chest. Confusion plagued him, so he tried to turn his head and see what was stopping him. That was when he saw something was on his chest and stopping his head from even turning properly. The confusing elements kept on coming when he understood his arms were actually wrapped around the thing on his chest, and holding it tight, in a pseudo lovers embrace.

  Within his mind, a resounding chain of thoughts kept repeating.

  Oh god, please don't be Marlo, anything but Marlo...I can't bear the shame.

  In a single explosive movement, Bob released his grip on whatever was lay on top of him, and proceeded to launch it off and into the sewer pipe wall. Sitting up, the first thing he did was look down at his crotch to make sure little Bob had not been out, the sight made him praise the heavens. That was when he remembered the object he had just casually slammed into the wall, and then thought he might of killed Marlo with the force he used.

  "Oh shit, sorry Marlo! I panicked"

  Looking to his side, the sight that graced his eyes did not register with him fully at first, with his brain only understanding the most basic concept.

  "You're not Marlo?"

  As Bob was staring at them, they were also staring at him, but whereas Bob's eyes contained confusion, their eyes were full of fear. Even so it was dark, the lack of light did not hamper Bob's ability to see in the slightest, and that was why he knew what he was looking at, a crocodile.

  An 8ft long crocodile, with filthy dark green scales was stood staring at him, the person who had been abusing it for an undisclosed period of time. What that abuse consisted of, only the crocodile knew.

  "Why is there a crocodile here?....Ermmmm, hey little guy, it's me, your cousin Bob"

  Bob tentatively reached out a hand, as if he wanted to pet a stray dog that he met at the side of the road. Unfortunately for Bob, like most fearful animals when backed into a corner, only one option is left to them, extreme violence. Without warning, the fearful look in the reptilian eyes, changed to one of primal rage in a split second.

  The crocodile opened its mouth wide and lunged for Bob's throat. Razor sharp teeth lined the beasts mouth, ones that had only been stained with the pitiful blood of rats for too long a time. Now in a state of kill, or be killed, the crocodile could not help but harbour a slither of happiness at the expected meal in front of it. It was almost like it had forgotten had tragically weak it was in front of the drugged up monster.

  Its short term memory was truly lethal.

  Bob looked at the attacking crocodile with disdain, and casually thrust out his hand, with his fingers extended outwards. The sharp claws on his fingers landed squarely on the beasts flank, and owing to the incredible musculature and strength of Bob, his hand penetrated deep inside the crocodile. The flesh gave way as if it was paper, the squishy innards were obliterated from the force, and the weak heart withered and died on the spot.

  The light in the crocodiles eyes went out and it dropped down, completely devoid of life and motionless. The dead crocodiles head had softly come to rest on Bob's thigh, in the process of its demise. Gently patting its head, Bob spoke to the deceased animal.

  "There, there little guy. You have a good rest, we're family after all"

  At that moment, Bob noticed a shadow in his peripheral vision, situated directly on his shoulder. Adding into the shock from its appearance, an unusual feeling ensued, as well as a sudden high pitched noise. Turning to look at it, he instinctively launched himself backwards, showing more fear than when he has about to be bitten by an 8ft crocodile. Of course, the unknown is always feared, no matter if a person claims otherwise.

  Now away from the dead crocodile, his back splashed in the shallow waste water of the sewage pipe, with his head banging against the side, and to his shock, the shadow on his shoulder was still there. In a fit of panic, Bob squealed like a girl and grabbed what ever the thing was and launched it.

  Now only a dead crocodile and the mystery shadow knew of his shameful display of cowardice. The shadow quickly made itself known again, and indeed it was not some scary monster, or unseen and insidious enemy, but just an extremely ugly rat.....That was dead.

  The undead rat had landed on the dead crocodile, and was staring at Bob. As to why Bob immediately knew that it was an undead rat, that was owing to the discarded toe claw skewering its body. The rat was perfectly impaled by the claw, with it sticking through one side and coming out the other.

  It was several seconds into the staring contest, when Bob understood that he had a connection with the undead rat, that was when he realised that it was in fact, one that he accidentally created. As to how he created it, he did not have the foggiest idea.

  "Hmmm, do you want to come with me? You can play with uncle Marlo when he's being annoying!"

  Immediately the undead rat, ran up his body and perched itself back on the shoulder it had originally appeared on. Before he could say anything else to his new follower, he locked eyes with the dead crocodile, and for some reason, the crocodile blinked as it looked at him.

  "Eh?...Are you, as well?"

  Bob was not as shocked by this scene as he was when he first saw the rat, with his mind slowly coming to expect the dead to come back to life. As with the rat, he felt a connection, but this one was much larger, to the point he felt like he could become one with it, if he only tried hard enough.

  Seemingly understanding that its master wanted to leave the place they were, it walked behind him and shoved its head between his legs, forcing him to take it as a mount. Now seated atop the undead crocodile, with an undead rat on his shoulder, Bob pointed forwards and gave a command.

  "Onwards my noble steed!....Hmmm this is pretty comfy actually, crocodile skin upholstery"

  After about an hour of riding atop the undead crocodile, Bob understood one thing, he was lost!

  "I knew it, we went down this sewage pipe ages ago! Damn it Mr Crocs, how can you not know the way home!?"

  Just as Bob was about to begin seriously berating the undead mount, a series of squeaks came from the rat atop his shoulder. Through their connection, Bob seemed to understand the meanings behind their animalistic utterances.

  "If you knew the way all along then, why didn't you say anything?...Tsch, maggots for brains"

  Ignoring the insult, the loyal, little undead rat, jumped down and took up a position in front of the crocodile, acting as a guide.

  Bob was sat cross legged on the crocodile, his eyes closed as if he was in deep meditation. In his mind he was trying and failing, to understand his necromancy ability. So far each time it had activated, he had not done so intentionally. So at this moment, he was not aware how to activate, or deactivate it. Another thing he was not aware of, was the limitations of the ability, if it could only work on freshly deceased beings, how intact they had to be in, if there was a maximum rage, or time frame they were animated for. All of these questions were unknowns.

  "Thinking about it, I don't feel tired, or as if my energy is being drained. I need to find more dead things to animate, and see if I notice anything....Hmm, I wonder if Marlo is dead yet?"

  Whilst he was in deep thought, he felt the crocodile turn right, into a different sewage pipe. Concentrating, Bob tried to see if he could see though the eyes of his undead rat, or crocodile. To his pleasant surprise, an image appeared within his mind, and it seemed to be quite easy to enable that portion of his ability.

  "Maybe I'm a genius?"

  Through the rats eyes, he noticed an accumulated pile of rubbish at the side of the pipe, and on top of it was a dry newspaper. A treasured find inside of a sewers, something that acted as bedding, reading material, housing and toilet paper, a veritable multi-purpose material!

  Opening his eyes, he leaned to his side and claimed the battered paper, before proceeding to read it on his travels. The crumpled, yellowed paper was not due to age, but through being soaked in urine and then dried, a point that did not even register as a concern.

  On the front page of the paper there were several articles, ranging from a drug epidemic, a missing idol, a tax increase and a Dungeon incident. The last article immediately grabbed Bob's attention, as he realised that the Dungeon in question, was his home, and the incident would be his escape.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  His fingers could not turn the pages quick enough to find the article, so much so that his claws ripped holes in the paper numerous times. When he saw the full article, he reread it several times, not daring to miss a single word. From the article, he understood that no one else survived apart from him, and the Dungeon ultimately collapsed.

  Not even Bob was aware of what happened to a Dungeon when it collapses, if the people inside it die, or survive.

  Tapping on a certain portion of the article, Bob frowned as he thought about it, knowing they were either wrong, or deliberately lying.

  "This says all the Adventurers died and a single one escaped, but is a fugitive. It doesn't mention anything about me....So did they think I was a Human?"

  Bob then noticed a small description at the end and it immediately made his eyes go wide.

  "Wearing a black cloak with a golden sun emblem on the chest......Wait, where's my cloak!?"

  Looking down, Bob saw he was naked and not wearing the cloak that he had stolen from the Adventurer, and had been accompanying him ever since. A wave of regret washed over him, in case he had lost it in his drug fuelled escapades, instead of it just being back with Marlo.

  "That blind stick insect better have my cloak, or I'm feeding him to Mr Crocs and Mr Squeaks"

  Outside of the sewage pipes, the large circular basin was quite a lot quieter than usual, without Bob and Marlo's constant bickering. Now that Marlo had been left without a foil, he found himself rather listless and counting the days, like a lover awaiting his wife's eventual arrival.

  Stood at the edge of the basin, on the raised platform where his home was, Marlo had his pants around his ankles, and was in the process of relieving himself. While he stared at the usual blackness, all he could hear was the noise of urine splashing against the concrete below him. That was until a new noise slowly entered his ears. At first he was unsure of what he was hearing, then he was praying that he was wrong.

  A distinct noise was emanating from down one of the pipes, a noise that he had come to fear, and had made his body freeze up. The noise of four distinct footsteps, monotonously making their way through the shallow water, could be heard getting ever closer.

  Marlo was aware there was one existence in the sewers that he feared, and that he also used as a burial service. It had been over a year since it came this close, but could never forget it. The monster that stalks the sewers, would never take the opportunity to come into the basin anymore, or even near it, as to the reason why its behaviour changed, he could only guess.

  But right now, Marlo could hear that same monster approaching.

  Scared to move a single step, he could only mutter under his breath.

  "Shit, shit shit, damn monster coming my house....Why don't it go find Bob, I'm too good looking to die, and I ain't got no meat on my damn bones"

  The noise was still coming closer, and Marlo could tell it was nearly at the point of exiting the pipe and entering the basin. He knew at that point, it would definitely lay eyes on him and he would likely have a tragic end.

  "If I just stay still, it might not see me....Yeah, like with dinosaurs"

  On the opposite side of the basin, inside one of the several sewage pipes, Bob was sat idle while not thinking of much, just spacing out atop his undead crocodile. With the little rat at the forefront, it entered the basin and stopped, seemingly confused at what was in front of it. The strange action of the rat made Bob perk up.

  Bob finally made it back home and stepped several footsteps into the basin, stopping just behind the undead rat. Now it was not only the rat, but the crocodile and Bob himself that was bewildered. Inwardly, only three words came to Bob's mind.

  What the fuck!?

  Bob's eyes were squarely fixed on Marlo who was stood, statue still, with his pants around his ankles, and holding his retreating member. All of his body was completely still, to the point that he could have been mistaken for an ultra life like statue, depicting extreme poverty. But only for one fact, Marlo's two skinny legs that resembled twigs, were vigorously shaking in fear, with his bony kneecaps constantly knocking together, and filling the basin with the constant noise.

  Bob pointed forwards and gave a mental command to the undead rat.

  Marlo had heard the monster make its way into the basin and then stop, proof that his plan was working and it could not see him. Now he wondered how long the monster would stay for, and if he would have to stay like this forever.

  At first when the monster came, Marlo could of swore that he heard the noise of a rat scurrying about just ahead of it, with him guessing that maybe the monster was chasing it. Now though, both were silent. Marlo's heartbeat quickened even more when he heard the noise of the rat again, sending him panic stricken that it would make the monster notice him. The noise of the rat came closer, until he could swear it was directly below him.

  Through the fear he was feeling, Marlo was not even aware that his knees were knocking, nor that the noise of them was now drowning out the rats footsteps, so he could no longer locate it. Before he could think anymore on the matter, an indescribable pain registered with Marlo's brain and made him scream out.

  "ARGHHHH MY DICK, SOMETHINGS BIT MY DICK!?!"

  Completely disregarding the fact that he was supposed to be being silent and still, he screamed and tried to run away, only to fall backwards from the pants around his ankles. Clasping his hands to his crotch, he could feel the rat was no longer there, and it had only bitten it and let go. Tentatively feeling for blood, he felt a liquid and brought his hand to his nose to see if he could smell what it was. Immediately a thankful expression came over his face.

  "Eurgh that stinks. But it's only piss. Good, good"

  The noise of a familiar laughter echoed all around the large basin, with it filling Marlo's ears and finally registering with him. The noise intermediately filled him with two feelings, one of relief that lasted for less than a micro second, before it turned into the other feeling, anger! Marlo sat bolt upright and started to pull his pants up, while wiggling his hips and legs in a shameful display.

  "Bob you ugly bastard!...Where the hell you been the last three days!?...And why you been walking on all fours like a damned monster!?.....You lucky I don't whoop your ass boy!"

  Bob ignored the string of insults and made his way over, helping his blind friend back to his feet. After Marlo had managed to calm down, his legs were stable and his heart was as normal as it could be, they sat down to talk, with Marlo taking the lead.

  "I knew you wasn't dead, cause I ain't dead....I figured you was drugged up, naked, and running around the streets up top.....I've done it before, so I guessed an ugly moron like you would as well"

  Bob looked at Marlo with a look of disbelief, his mind playing the scene of what he said, and making him vomit internally. At that moment, the undead rat brought over his cloak, slowly dragging it by his teeth. Bob proceeded to adorn his only item of clothing while he replied.

  "Tsch, and you call me stupid!...Anyway, was I really gone for three days?"

  Raising his hand in front of his face, Marlo extended three of his fingers, one at a time.

  "Three, yeah three days!...And you ate all my damn crystals! I had to wait a whole damn day for new ones to form, you stupid addict!......Anyway, how the hell did you train a sewer rat, and why the fuck was you walking round the sewers on all fours, acting like that monster?"

  Bob was wearing a look of confusion at that point, his expression being formed from near every word that Marlo had uttered. He was about to speak up and tell him about the undead rat, until he focused on the monster part of what he said.

  "Eh? On all fours like a monster?"

  As soon as he said those words, the pieces clicked within his mind and he quickly spoke again.

  "You mean the crocodile! I found a crocodile and rode it back, that was what you heard.....Hey Mr Crocs, come and say hi to uncle stick insect"

  The moment Bob spoke those words, the noise of four feet padding along the concrete, reached Marlo's ears. This was a noise that he had long associated with the monster that brings only death, and so he slipped into a panic, and began repeatedly opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish.

  Bob was genuinely concerned he would have a heart attack at this rate, so he immediately spoke again.

  "Don't worry Marlo, it's just a crocodile and it won't hurt you"

  Bob's words were partially effective, that was until the crocodile placed its head on Marlo's lap, and put the fear of god into him. After nearly a minute of nothing happening, Marlo slowly calmed down and started to believe in Bob's words. As it stood, the crocodile had listened to Bob's orders, and not killed him, or acted aggressively.

  Reaching out a shaking hand, Marlo gently stroked the crocodiles head, with his fingers gliding over the contours of its rough skin. Not long had passed until he was treating it like a kitten. He quickly snapped back to his senses though, realising he had not said a word, only continuously stroking the monster on his lap.

  "Wait....What the hell am I doing? Tsch, only a crocodile, no one would say that! Maybe someone at a zoo, like look at that there, oh it's only a crocodile...But not when its directly in front of you in your house!......Damn it Bob, this is a man eating monster, whys it listening to what you say? Why aren't I dead yet? You're obviously too ugly to eat, but me!?"

  Pursing his lips while his tail gently swayed back and forth behind him, Bob pondered if he had told Marlo about his powers yet.

  "Hmm whatever....I have the power of necromancy, so I can control the dead. I killed the crocodile and brought it back to life, same for the rat that bit little Marlo. Ha ha"

  Marlo instinctively tensed up, upon the reminder about the rat biting him. The stroking of the crocodile ceased, and he stared down at it, imagining a zombie crocodile with half its face and most of its bones on show. Within his mind, a brand new image of Bob was appearing, from one of an ugly guy, to now an ugly, evil guy surrounded by skeletons.

  A torrent of cold sweat forced its way onto Marlo's face and made him shiver. Bob saw it and could only imagine what the idiot in front of him was thinking. Bob slammed his tail on the ground, the short, sharp noise shocked Marlo out of his delusions.

  "Huh, what...What was that noise!?"

  Bob and the undead rat looked at one another, before both of them shook their heads, whereas the crocodile only wanted for the petting to stop.

  "It was the crocodiles tail. Now stop what ever stupid thoughts you're having. My power is no different from yours, apart from mine actually works and is useful"

  Hearing the insult of his powers, Marlo was angered and tried to stand up, only to be unable to, due to the crocodiles head on his lap. Giving up on that idea, he opted for aggressively pointing his finger at Bob while he shouted.

  "Damn ugly bastard, my power is useful! It's better than your creepy ass, voodoo crap. I swear you better not kill me in ma sleep and control my body!? If you do Bob, I swear...Hmm, I swear I'll haunt your ass!"

  Letting out a breath of exasperation, Bob could only internally groan as he stared at Marlo's hands.

  "That sounds kind of.....Err, whatever. Anyway Marlo, why would I waste valuable time and effort controlling your corpse? The only use you'd have is, lay down in front of a door as a draught excluder....And we don't even have any doors here!......But, Marlo....What are you doing with your hands?"

  Marlo's finger pointing had morphed into him using both hands, and forming a cross with his fingers. The impromptu defence against evil was aimed squarely at Bob.

  "I'm protecting myself obviously!"

  At that moment, Bob seriously considered if he should tell the crocodile to just bite his fingers, but that idea was quickly discarded, as it would definitely lead to Marlo's death. Leaning over, he claimed the rolled up newspaper he had put down earlier.

  "I'm not a vampire Marlo.....Here read this, I picked you up a newspaper on my travels. It's got some good stories and pictures for you to look at"

  Bob tossed the newspaper into Marlo's lap, and then watched his face to see how annoyed he would get from his words. At first Marlo smiled, then he looked confused, before he frowned and then ultimately snarled.

  "Read it, look at it, if someone turned the damn lights on I would! Cheeky bastard. Or you tranna tell me it's one of those ultra rare, Braille newspapers that DON'T EXIST!?"

  Bob fell about laughing, happy that he managed to rile Marlo up and make things slightly more even, in their never ending game of insults. Reaching across, he reclaimed the newspaper from Marlo and unrolled it.

  "Okay I'll stop now. Here I'll read it for you"

  Marlo wanted to string another line of curses, but he relented and replied, before muttering the final part of his words.

  "Tsch, I'm not a baby who needs a bedtime story reading....Start from the front page"

  If anyone could of seen this scene, they would of believed they were in the midst of a fever dream. In the depths of the sewers, an elderly blind man was sat on the ground, with a zombie crocodile leaning its head on his lap, while he idly stroked it. A Lizardman sat across him wearing a cloak, with a zombie rat on his shoulder, all the while he read a newspaper aloud for the blind man.