#I'M IN AI REHABILITATION

[cocomuffy]

guys people should roleplay with me :) i promise i'm good at it..?

i've been roleplaying for about... four years? maybe three. i had a gap year in 2024 for the most part.

i don't expect super long replies. i'd say i average maybe 2-3 sentences, sometimes less and sometimes more.

i really like wicked, batman/batfamily, and i'm only on episode seven of arcane but like allllsooo if anyone wanted to do some aus or something that don't have a lot to deal with the second season, i don't mind spoilers and i know the general details of season two quite well and am an avid jayvik stan... just putting it out there.

message me or comment on this post! i don't bite! i promise!

[dduane]

Okay, now I'm cranky

Not that I even do more than glance at LinkedIn every few weeks or so, as I have friends there. But THIS is beyond the pale. (Or even the Pale, which is another story. Is this actually a real person based in Limerick?? [I have my doubts.) But if so, they should be ashamed.)

(transcription:)

Hi [(theoretical) person whose name I've obscured],

I'm not at all sure why material from your employer is winding up on my feed.

I am a NY Times bestselling novelist and screenwriter with pushing fifty years' experience in traditional publishing and other media created by actual living, breathing beings out of genuine human experience. AI-based prompt "writing" is utterly antithetical to everything I do in my work... especially as it is founded on machine-based excreta derived from routines trained using material illicitly sourced, without our permission, from myself and thousands of my colleagues.

Assuming that you actually exist except as a prompt-based construct yourself (which is by no means certain), please do us both a kindness and remove me immediately from whatever list caused the system to recommend me to you—as if there is a worse possible fit for our two schools of thought anywhere in this solar system, I can't imagine where that might be. (Somewhere in the Oort Cloud, possibly. No other possibilities immediately suggest themselves.)

Meanwhile, I wish you well in your further endeavours (doing you the possibly unwarranted courtesy of assuming that you're real). ANY possible further endeavours that have nothing to do with this horrific and deeply unethical area of employment, which cannot conceivably do anything in even the short term but damage your (theoretically) immortal soul... not to mention the ecology of our (theoretically) shared planet. 

With the best possible regards under the circumstances, and hopes for your eventual (if not swift) rehabilitation,

Diane Duane

PS: Please try to find an avatar that looks less like it was created by AI.

And also: please say to your heartless and conscienceless employers, on my behalf, "FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON."

[scariusaquarius]

rehab. 47.

Avenger! Bucky Barnes x Winter Soldier! Fem! Reader

Summary: While on a mission to find any more possible super soldiers that were a part of the Winter Soldier program, Steve and Bucky make a discovery in an abandoned HYDRA base that was cleared out a few years prior to their mission. They discover the Reader, a long-forgotten soldier that was still asleep within a functioning cryostasis pod; still awaiting orders. While Bucky isn't happy about it, he is put up to the challenge of helping to rehabilitate the soldier in Wakanda where she may be able to become a person again.

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A/n: Last chapter was such a whirlwind omg and can you BELIEVE bucky knocked reader tf out, i'm so done with him LMAO also, i am my own worst enemy. i thought my wallet got stolen, ordered a new drivers license, made an appointment with the social security office, attempted to order a new birth certificate, and locked all of my cards and credit accounts. only to find out, i stole my own wallet. it was in pants i wore three days ago even though i swore i had it with me yesterday. im so fuckin mad lmfao. Also, for the mind part, I was writing to a couple songs: Stuck in a Loop by Soul Blind, In Your Head by Cloudyfield, The Crying Room by the Yagas, Screaming by Loathe, Pneuma by TOOL, and Is It Really You? by Loathe. also. this chapter was 11k words.

Also, if you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee! If you would prefer to read Rehab on Archive, you may do so right HERE!

This is an au where Bucky joined the avengers but still rehabilitated in Wakanda (sometime before Infinity War [canon divergent cause NOPE]). I am NOT fluent in Russian, so I did use google translate cause I couldn't find a good translator that I trusted. If anything is wrong, PLEASE let me know!! Also, I tried to list as many warnings as possible so you know what the story will contain as chapters are posted. Stay safe!

NOTE: I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR ANY OF MY WORKS TO BE FED INTO AI FOR BOTS, I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR MY WORKS TO BE TRANSLATED, REPOSTED, REWORKED, ETC, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM!!!

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Genre: Slowburn, Enemies to Lovers/Friends to Lovers, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Humor, Drama, Dark Content Rated: Explicit Warning: Angst, Dark Content: Graphic Depictions of Sexual Assault, Blood and Gore, Mentions of Manipulation, Kidnapping, Canon-Typical Violence, Body Horror, Nonconsensual Body Modification/Scarring, Emotional and Physical Abuse, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts/Ideation, Graphic Depictions of Human Remains, Mentions of Sexual Coercion/Manipulation, Death, Misuse of Drugs/Forced Drugging, Self-Harm (Graphic Depictions and Mentions), Nightmares

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Author: ScariusAquarius

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rehab masterlist. / rehab masterlist 2. chapter 46

Her mind was quiet.

Floating in a void of black, (Y/n) felt frozen; her limbs heavy, her body weighed down as though invisible chains were anchoring her in place. Her head throbbed, the pain blooming from her skull and bleeding down the back of her neck like fire in her veins. Something unseen crawled over her skin, ghosting like cold fingertips or insects, and she flinched, but couldn’t move fast enough.

There were sounds; distant and warped, like hearing the world through a thick wall of water: voices, music, the clash of fighting. None of them made sense, yet all of them sounded familiar.

She opened her eyes.

Nothing but pitch black.

A tightness bloomed in her chest, crushing her ribs, choking her throat. Her breath caught, sharp and panicked—and when she opened her mouth to scream or gasp or anything, bubbles escaped instead. Dozens of them danced upward into the dark, shimmering like they were underwater.

Panic surged through (Y/n), her heart beginning to race. Her arms moved first, slow and clumsy, and then her legs kicked into motion. She was swimming upward, desperate for light, for breath, for something. And far above her, cutting through storm-cloud water, a golden glow flickered like sunlight through waves.

She swam harder, desperation clinging to her like leeches. The closer she got to the surface, the louder the voices became: fragmented echoes from every part of her life, bleeding together into a wall of confusion.

"Please, don't make me do this!"

"I told you to stay out of my office!"

"Sugar, don’t you worry about a thing. Baltimore will be fun!"

"I wrote something new for you to see, (Y/n)!"

"I’m so sorry."

"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Oh god, someone save me.

(Y/n)'s swimming became desperate as she got closer and closer to breaking the surface despite her lungs burning, and when she finally broke through; the sunlight burned her vision from the brightness. Her eyes closed, and when she breathed in deep gulps of oxygen and opened her eyes again, (Y/n) was no longer in the black waters of the void.

Instead, she was standing in the Danger Room, Bucky standing in front of her, and (Y/n) was horrified to find that she was pointing a gun at Bucky. The dead bodies of the Avengers and Wakandans were strewn around behind him, and blood was pouring down the walls; a distinct copper smell filling her nose.

Bucky's metal arm was seemingly ripped off, the arm malfunctioning and sparking on the floor, and the part attached to his shoulder was sparking as well. Almost every part of his body was covered in blood and wounds, and his eyes were disgusted as he looked at her.

"I should have left you were I found you."

"You don't mean that."

She cried, her hand shaking but unable to lower the pistol.

"You're a monster."

"I never meant for any of this to happen."

Bucky hissed out, taking a staggering step forward as blood began to pour from his mouth.

"This is all your fault."

"No, please, I didn't want this!"

(Y/n) watched in horror as bugs and maggots began to crawl out of his mouth, his body twisting grotesquely, and his blue eyes began to become red and bulge before his eyeballs burst within their sockets, and she screamed in fright as Bucky begged.

"Kill me. Make it right."

Kill me. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me.

It's not real.

The voice was unfamiliar, making (Y/n) freeze as Bucky fell over, and she was trying not to watch as his body began to bubble and melt before her.

You're just having a nightmare, (Y/n).

Who was speaking? (Y/n) didn't recognize the voice, and she glanced up at the ceiling in confusion before her blood ran cold as all of the dead bodies in the room were suddenly standing all around her; staring her down. (Y/n) was sobbing, staring down at her feet as blood and insects began to crawl towards her boots.

You don't have to be afraid.

"Make it stop."

She whispered, clenching her jaw tightly and squeezing her eyes shut again. However, despite her eyes being shut, it was almost as if she could still see everything.

You have to choose to stop.

She was caught off-guard by the statement. What did the voice mean by choosing to stop? None of this was her doing. None of this was her fault. She would never hurt her friends this way.

Friends.

(Y/n) paused, slowly opening her eyes as she looked up, and in front of her was Rebecca. Her heart stopped, the shock of seeing Rebecca making the whole room seem to stop and freeze in time, and the woman was wrapped in a glow of sunlight. The woman tilted her head slightly, a small smile on her face, and in her hands was a white lily.

"Remember the sunlight."

And suddenly, everything disappeared.

-BUCKY-

The Danger Room had powered down the second that (Y/n) had dropped, the lavender and vanilla scent heavy within the room. Bucky was sobbing, his blue eyes wild as he shook (Y/n), begging her to open her eyes and to say something. His ears were ringing, and his heart was pounding in his chest as he checked (Y/n)'s pulse with shaking fingers.

It was faint, but it was there, and while Bucky was relieved, there was a soul-crushing guilt running through his veins. Her face was a mess—her cheekbone on the left side had clearly fractured, the skin already turning a mottled shade of deep plum and gray.

Her cheek looked sunken, misshapen, and a thin line of blood had trickled from her nose from the impact. It was the kind of injury he'd seen before—one meant to break a body, not just subdue it.

The doors to the Danger Room opened, and Sam came running in with Tony hot on his tail. Sam was quick to place his hand on Bucky's shoulder, trying to pull the man back as Tony attached some sort of Stark tech to her head.

An apparatus suddenly came out of the device, and her face began to slowly start to restructure itself as the apparatus scanned her face. Despite the life-saving measures being taken, Bucky felt as though he had already killed her. Sam was speaking to him, but Bucky couldn't hear a thing. Sam shoved him a little, forcing Bucky to jump back into the present and glance over at Sam as the man exclaimed.

"Bucky! Look at me, you did what you had to do. Alright?"

"I...I didn't mean to...I didn't notice..."

His voice trailed off as tears filled his eyes, and Sam shook his head as he shook Bucky's shoulders.

"No, man, listen. She was trying to kill you, alright? You had to stop going easy at some point. Besides, we got her to stop. That's the point."

Bucky glanced over at (Y/n) again, his stomach becoming nauseous as he watched Tony's tech fix her sunken cheek and lighten the bruises, and his bottom lip trembled.

"I..I don't know what to do."

"Let us do our jobs, alright? Just take a breather."

Bucky felt weightless yet incredibly heavy at the same time. His stomach was in knots, his ears still ringing, and he stumbled as he slowly stood up. Tony glanced at him, stating as Bucky looked over at him.

"She's breathing, so that's a start. (Y/n) will be fine."

Bucky swallowed thickly before walking out of the Danger Room, and he ignored the looks from Wanda, Charles, Hank, Peter, and Logan as he passed by. He needed to find somewhere safe and fast. He could hear the kids all throughout the Institute, their chattering sounding like bees buzzing in his ear, and Bucky's breathing was starting to quicken.

He couldn't orient himself, and there was no amount of help that could keep Bucky from panicking. Somehow, Bucky found himself in the garden, sitting on a bench in front of the white lilies that were swaying in the wind. There were storm clouds in the distance, but they were rolling in slowly; thunder sounding in the distance.

The wind was picking up a bit, and Bucky was starting to fully panic. He was hyperventilating, his chest feeling cold and tight, and he was sweating. Bucky's hand came to his shoulder where his metal arm was attached to his flesh, and his fingers started to scratch incessantly at his skin.

Bucky was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded, and thoughts were racing through his mind NASCAR fast, the sound of bone cracking echoing through his mind over and over again. He remembered the way (Y/n) dropped like dead-weight, her head smacking against the floor, and Bucky was sobbing.

He didn't even realize he was crying and that blood was on his fingers; pain shooting through his back and shoulder, and Bucky's eyes fluttered as his vision began to tunnel. Suddenly, there was another weight on the bench, and Bucky glanced over to find Logan sitting there quietly while smoking his cigar.

All of a sudden, Logan's hand shot out and wrenched Bucky's wrist into his grip, and Bucky jolted, his eyes wide as he stared at Logan.

"That's enough. Pull yourself together."

Bucky's chest was still heaving, and Logan's tone became stern.

"You think you're the first person to break someone you care about? Join the damn club."

Bucky stuttered out.

"You don't understand-"

Logan shook his head, muttering.

"I understand a lot more than you think I do, bub. I've been around a lot longer than you."

Logan then took a deep breath before glancing at Bucky, his grip loosening on Bucky's wrist slightly.

"You didn't kill her. You just made it easier for us to be able to get her down and start working on her."

Bucky's eyes filled with more tears again, and he insisted.

"But I hurt her. I broke her goddamn face, Logan."

Logan frowned, stating.

"Yeah, and? She’s alive. You want a medal for feelin’ guilty, or you wanna help her? Do yourself a favor, and get your ass grounded, bub. Stop talking and start breathing."

"What?"

Logan rolled his eyes before saying.

"I really hate repeating myself. Start. Breathing. In. Out. Or I’ll knock you out so you can calm down the easy way."

Bucky was caught off guard before he began to breathe. His heart was beginning to steady, his head no longer feeling foggy, and Bucky began to become more aware of the pain from scratching at his skin. The scent of Logan's cigar was beginning to fill his nostrils, and Bucky's nose scrunched slightly from the smell before he heaved out a heavy breath.

When Bucky was finally calm, Logan slowly let his hand go before he turned away from Bucky to stare out at the flowers.

"What's the story with the arm, anyway?"

Bucky swallowed thickly before frowning slightly in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean, dumbass?"

Bucky glared at Logan for a moment before he glanced back at the lilies.

"Back in '45, Steve and I were leading a mission with the Howling Commandos. There was a scientist named Armin Zola that was with HYDRA...he'd kidnapped my unit and experimented on us before Steve got us out. We found out that he was passing through the Austrian Alps."

Bucky swallowed thickly before glancing down at his metal arm, clenching his fist a bit.

"We invaded the train, ambushed the soldiers, and when Steve had his back turned, there was a soldier that tried to get the jump on him. I protected Steve, and the blast from his gun blew a hole in the side of the train, and I fell out."

Bucky's expression became forlorn, his voice cracking slightly as he continued to speak.

"Steve tried to save me, but...the handle I was hanging on broke, and...I fell. I don't remember a lot, but I think my arm was cut off during the fall...or after...it's a bit fuzzy. I just remember someone dragging me through the snow, and then I woke up on a table with a metal arm."

Logan was quiet for a moment before his took a big puff of his cigar.

"IMy claws weren't always metal."

Bucky glanced over at Logan, asking.

"What?"

Logan held his hand up, and with a slick metallic sound, sharp metal came shooting out from between his fingers. Bucky's eyes widened slightly, and Logan suddenly realized that Bucky had never actually seen them before.

"You've never seen 'em before, huh?"

Bucky shook his head before resting his elbows on his knees, looking at the metal with intrigue.

"My claws were bone back then; was born with them. Sometime in my life, Stryker found out, and you know the rest. Got pumped with adamantium and here I am now."

Logan glanced down at the claws before they retracted with a loud noise, and Bucky pursed his lips slightly before asking.

"Does it ever stop feeling like they don't belong?"

Logan was quiet for a moment, regarding Bucky with a thoughtful look on his face before he replied.

"Sometimes. Everyone's got good days and bad days, kid."

Bucky glanced away before looking back as Logan added.

"When it comes to belonging...well, nobody really belongs anywhere. It just matters that you go where you know someone's got your back when shit goes wrong."

Bucky sat back in his seat before muttering.

"I never thought I'd find an old man as fucked up as me."

"Fuck you."

Bucky snorted, and Logan couldn't help but to smirk a bit before offering his cigar to Bucky. However, Bucky scrunched his nose up in disgust, shaking his head.

"No thanks. I don't smoke."

"I don't really smoke them for the taste."

Bucky raised his eyebrow, asking.

"Then why do you smoke them?"

Logan tilted his head slightly, stating.

"Got a heightened sense of smell because of my mutation. Smoking masks all the different scents. If I don't have something to mask all the smell, it gives me a migraine."

Bucky nodded after a moment, replying.

"It's probably not as strong as yours, but I also have a pretty good nose because of the serum. Got pretty good hearing too."

"It comes in handy when you wanna eavesdrop."

Bucky snorted again, shaking his head before quipping lightheartedly.

"Well, unlike some people, I try to be respectful."

"Don't effect me."

Bucky shook his head, and the two men sat in silence for a moment before Bucky stated gently, looking over at Logan with a sincere expression.

"Listen...thanks for...being here."

Logan was quiet for a moment before he replied.

"Don't mention it. Gotta look out for one another."

-MEDBAY-

The room was cold and quiet; the hum of different bits of machinery running droning in the background. (Y/n) was lying on the table, eyes closed and covered in a light sheen of blue from the machinery above her.

Small bandages were placed upon her face, soft sensory nodes attached to keep an eye on her brainwave activity, and although Tony's technology had helped to heal most of her face; it wasn't able to touch the bone.

Tony was standing nearby the table, his arms crossed and face stoic. His fingers were steepling against his arm as he watched her vitals, and Hank was busy with adjusting some things within the diagnostic tray located at the end of the bed.

At the head of the bed, Strange was mumbling softly to himself as his fingers slowly spun in a circle above (Y/n)'s sternum; runes faintly glowing across his fingers as he worked.

Just outside of the Medbay and watching through the window, Charles was sitting with a hand to his chin; his face expressionless as he thought to himself. Peter was sitting nearby with his knees to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs and a sad look on his face. Wanda was holding a comforting hand to his shoulder, watching as (Y/n) slept.

Sam was leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. He was staring down at the ground, feeling almost shameful as Sam tapped his foot almost impatiently. Ororo was standing near him, her eyes empathetic as she glanced at Sam, and Hank's voice made everyone immediately perk up.

"Her vitals are stabilizing and steady, but there's some activity in the hippocampus. It's...almost like something is looping."

He scratched his head slightly, and Tony stated, frowning as he looked over Hank's shoulder.

"I've seen this before at Shuri's lab in Wakanda. It's the failsafe...probably trying to reactivate."

Strange shook his head, his eyes still closed as he replied.

"It's because of the rift within her mind. The bridge between her body and her mind is still quite large, and we need to work fast on getting this failsafe deprogrammed quickly."

Charles hummed to himself before stating, rubbing a hand to his chin once more.

"Theoretically, we could keep her in a sleeping state until we are able to do so."

Peter quirked his eyebrow up, asking.

"You mean like...Sleeping Beauty?"

Charles nodded, and Sam just huffed.

"Just tell us what we need to do. We can't leave her like this, and Bucky's going to run himself down into the ground if this goes on for any longer."

Wanda glanced at Sam, asking with a frown.

"Where is he? It might be a stretch, but...perhaps he could be the one to start mending that rift."

Charles shook his head, stating quietly.

"When I went into her mind...it was like the Winter Soldier was a completely different entity. I've never seen anything like it. It's...almost as though HYDRA made the Winter Soldier persona have autonomy."

Ororo was confused, tilting her head as she asked incredulously.

"A different entity? How is that even possible?"

Strange sighed, his hands lowering as he shook his head a bit, and he glanced at the window as he explained.

"It's not an entirely different entity nor is it just programming, but a splintered consciousness. That thing inside her mind—the Winter Soldier—it’s not merely a persona. It's a parasite, carved out of trauma and forced obedience. Had I known this sooner, I would have never let her bond with it."

Strange shook his head, hands on his hips as a slightly guilty look came over him. Wanda shook her head, stating gently.

"Nobody could have anticipated this. HYDRA has been improving their methods for years and creating heinous schemes like this since the beginning. We would have never thought that they would do something like this, however."

Ororo looked confused, asking as she stepped forward a bit, her eyes glancing at (Y/n) as the woman slept peacefully on the table.

"A parasite? What do you mean?"

Strange glanced at the woman, explaining with a tilt of his head as he looked back down at (Y/n).

"Something like that. When HYDRA fracture her psyche by activating this failsafe, they didn't just bury her memories or her identity. HYDRA anchored the programming to her limbic system and into her emotional core. They fed it pain until it grew teeth, and now it functions as a separate self. Like a weaponized and homicidal echo."

Charles frowned before entering the Medbay and stopping right near (Y/n)'s head, his lips pursed as he added.

"Caused by trauma, and reinforced with repetition."

"Exactly. That's why none of us have been able to reach (Y/n) within her mind. The Soldier is acting like a gatekeeper, and anybody that tries to intrude, it will act accordingly."

Hank hummed, holding a hand to his chin then.

"This is all so fascinating...and it explains why they would need to install the failsafe within her actual genetic makeup. Altering the brain chemistry just enough for it almost cause Dissociative Identity Disorder, and reinforcing that other identity to be strong enough to keep the light from (Y/n)."

Sam rubbed his face, asking.

"So, we're dealing with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"That's a bit of a distasteful analogy, but yes."

Strange confirmed, and Peter suddenly stood up, stating with a slight shyness to his voice.

"I’ve been watching the neuro-imaging patterns since she's been here. It seems as though the failsafe’s triggered by a feedback loop through the hippocampus and amygdala—her memory and fear centers. When she feels threatened or out of control, the code reboots."

Ororo looked surprised, asking.

"So, it's triggered by her fear?"

Peter nodded, wringing his hands a bit more as he explained further.

"Fear, pain, trauma. HYDRA basically… booby-trapped her emotions. But if we sequence her current gene expression, we can isolate the epigenetic markers that respond to those triggers."

Hank's eyes lit up with awe, and Tony couldn't help but to nod in pride before adding as he clapped Peter on the shoulder.

"So, then let's engineer something that can isolate those epigenetic markers without wiping clean the slate."

Hank pointed out, his foot tapping almost impatiently as he spoke.

"We'll need some type of technology that can deliver the protein directly to the hippocampus, and a fast-track simulation. She's not stable enough for trial and error."

Wanda suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

"Perhaps we should tell Princess Shuri. With her tech combined with Tony's and with a team of skilled scientists, you might be able to completely reverse everything HYDRA has done while Strange, Charles, and I can work on her psyche and suppressing the Soldier."

Just then, the doors to the Medbay opened, and in walked Logan and Bucky. Bucky was avoiding eye contact with everybody in the room, and he instead walked to stand beside (Y/n). His face was almost expressionless until it softened as he watched her sleep.

"What's the plan?"

Tony pursed his lips a bit before he stated.

"We're gonna engineer some nanotech that's gonna try to isolate her epigenetic markers where the failsafe has been integrated and deliver the protein directly to the hippocampus. Well do a fast-track simulation beforehand, however, just in case something happens so we can perfect the system."

Bucky nodded before Charles stated.

"While they are doing that, Ms. Maximoff, Doctor Strange, and I will work on her psyche and start mending the bridge between her identity and her mind itself. She is essentially locked within her own mind because of this Winter Soldier persona. HYDRA was able to make it almost autonomous, so it is acting as a gatekeeper."

Bucky looked up, frowning in confusion.

"Wait, did you say it became autonomous? How is that possible?"

Strange stepped forward, crossing his arms as he stared down at (Y/n) before looking over at Bucky.

"Think of the mind as an endless hallway of rooms. Normally, a person's identity is the building that houses these rooms. HYDRA, however, didn't just create its own room in her mind. They built a prison around the identity as a whole and gave the jailer free will. It's not autonomous like you and me, but it's growing close. The programmed instincts that were reinforced over the years, the trauma and abuse...it gave it permanence while repetition gave it power."

Charles then spoke, Wanda nodding along with him.

"And fear gave it control."

Despite Bucky still being a bit confused, he was slowly grasping what Strange was saying. However, Strange noticed that Bucky didn't entirely understand and sighed heavy.

"(Y/n)'s Mind equals Castle. Identity equals Room. HYDRA equals Moat around the Castle. Winter Soldier Identity equals Jailor keeping (Y/n)'s Identity as a hostage. Do you understand or do I need to break out the crayons?"

Bucky glared at Strange, muttering.

"No thanks, Jackass, I got it."

Strange ignored the curse, shaking his head before looking down at (Y/n) again. He began to explain more, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"HYDRA shaped this identity with such ruthless precision that it behaves like an independent consciousness. Not sentient, but reflexive...almost like a psychic immune response."

Tony cut in, shrugging his shoulders a little as he glanced at Bucky.

"It doesn’t question orders. It only protects itself and prevents anything that might unravel its purpose. Including her."

Bucky and Tony shared a quiet look before Bucky glanced down at (Y/n) again, stating with a frown.

"So, in order to get (Y/n) back, we have to get past this...thing."

Tony nodded, and Charles seemed intrigued before asking.

"Forgive me for asking, Sergeant Barnes, but...what was it like for you when you were in the Winter Soldier state?"

Bucky felt on-the-spot, a strange sensation of embarrassment going through him, and Bucky swallowed thickly before stating quietly.

"It's like you're drowning, but you're aware that something is wrong. Everything gets muffled when you're activated, and you can't do anything but obey. Your instincts are sharpened, but there's a part that wants to run...and that part gets weaker the more time goes by that you're locked in the Winter Soldier state unless something happens to jog your memory, like me and Steve."

Bucky glanced down at his metal hand, whispering softly.

"I remember watching my hands do things I couldn’t stop; hearing commands and obeying without question. It wasn’t just physical… It was like my soul was sitting in the back seat, chained up, and I was watching the outside world from a window."

Charles nodded before he stated quietly.

"When I reached her, it was freezing. She was locked in a cage that was covered in snow and ice...and there were parts of her that were disappearing into a mirror. Every mind is different, but hers...felt lonely. And then, the Winter Soldier came."

His words were vague, but Bucky understood what he was implying. The room became a bit quiet as Charles seemed to become a bit emotional, Hank placing his hand on Charles' shoulder comfortingly as the Professor spoke.

"She is such a lonely child. There was hardly any hope within her. I am...I am afraid that we will be too late."

Strange was looking down at (y/n) with a softened expression, and he shook his head.

"We won't be too late. There is a possibility that we can use to give us more time."

Tony glanced over at Strange, frowning heavily.

"You're not implying what I think you are, right?"

Strange nodded as he glanced at Tony.

"If used precisely—and sparingly—the Stone can help stabilize the time dilation within her psyche. The failsafe is locked in a feedback loop. To us, it’s been minutes. But to her, it could feel like years. That kind of distortion can fracture a person completely. We won't know for sure how this failsafe is working, however, until we are able to get inside of her mind because of the growing disconnect between her and her physical body."

Wanda's expression grew thoughtful as she nodded slightly.

"If we slow it down… we’ll have more control over the environment inside her mind."

Charles added, looking at Strange as the Doctor nodded to him slightly.

"And we’ll be able to move more freely inside the mental plane without triggering deeper defenses, if I am to understand this correctly."

Sam perked up, however, asking as Logan scratched his head with confusion on his face as he tried to understand everything.

"What are the drawbacks?"

Strange then shrugged, stating.

"Well, one of us could die within her mindscape because of the Winter Soldier, something could go wrong and cause her whole entire mind to collapse and render her braindead, we could accidentally erase her identity and leave just the soldier. You know, the works."

Sam gave Strange an exasperated look, and Bucky sighed.

"Listen, I don't care what we do as long as we get (Y/n) back. There's no room for failure."

Bucky then looked at Strange with a firm look on his face.

"None."

"I can't exactly control what happens."

Bucky wasn't exactly satisfied with the answer, and Peter spoke up quietly, making everyone in the room look at him.

"What about the other Avengers? Shouldn't we let them know what's going on?"

Bucky shook his head, glancing at Peter as the young man looked at Bucky with a worried expression.

"If we tell the rest of the Avengers, then there's a chance that they are going to want answers that we don't have, disagree with what we're doing, or tell us to wait. We can't waste any time whatsoever right now."

Peter pursed his lips before nodding, and Charles comforted Peter with a gentle nod of his head.

"We will inform them, but after we make the first move. Time is of the essence."

Peter was satisfied with their answer before he sat up a little straighter after glancing down at (Y/n) for a moment. Strange stepped forward then, pulling the Eye of Agamotto from within his robes, and his voice became solemn as he spoke.

"If we do this, then we must enter with intent, with control, and with anchors. If you lose focus, you will get lost. If that happens, I cannot guarantee success."

The room was quiet; tensions rising, and Bucky pursed his lips as he hovered over (Y/n). Her eyes were still closed, her face still and slightly sweating, and Bucky's voice was an amalgamation of grit and steady grief.

"We'll succeed."

Strange looked at him, then at Wanda and Charles.

"Then let us begin."

Charles, Wanda, and Strange all came to stand around (Y/n). Strange was at the head of the table above her head with Wanda and Charles on either of her sides, and the Eye of Agamotto began to glow green. A circle appeared over (Y/n)'s chest, and runes began to climb up over the walls like ivy. The lights began to flicker, a strange whispering filling the room, and Strange instructed.

"We must conjoin hands to create a link between us all. Stark, Hank, Peter, you all must begin the physical deprogramming of the failsafe once we are all inside."

Peter sprung up from his seat to assist Tony and Hank as the two men began to prepare, and Strange took a calming and focusing deep breath, his eyes closing as Wanda, Charles, Bucky conjoined hands. Strange then reached out, grabbing a hold of Wanda and Charles, and he murmured as the link began to form.

"Remember and anchor yourself to (Y/n). Her scent, her presence, her voice, anything that can help you to stay focused."

Bucky was nervous before his eyes closed, and a strange sensation of being pulled began to tug at him. He was still sitting as far as he was aware, but Bucky was beginning to feel weightless. Suddenly, Strange stated before a huge force seemed to tug on Bucky's whole body.

"Prepare yourselves, and do not resist."

Bucky's grip on Wanda and Charles tightened, his jaw clenching as his lips curled back and his eyes scrunched shut even tighter. The second that the spell snapped shut, the four of them were gone; a gust of wind entering the lab as they disappeared.

-(Y/N)'S MIND-

The second that the group landed within her mind, there was a heaviness that befell the group. It was a mix of fear, pain, danger, and a strange sensation of dread. It was a feeling of 'we're not supposed to be here,' and it was permeating through every bone, every muscle, and every part of their minds.

Bucky and Strange instantly recognized where they were, and Charles and Wanda were both trying to gather their bearings. Bucky and Strange frowned heavily when they noticed that something was wrong.

The light brown wallpaper that had adorned the cozy living room was stained with black mold and ripped in places. The entertainment center was still the same, but the TV was playing simple static; the TV glitching slightly as if it was a projection. The coffee table was splintered in certain places, the Bible that was open now completely blank of words, and the lavender and vanilla candle that had been burning was snuffed out.

Despite the slight desolation of the room, there was still sunlight filtering through the windows; echoes of a Doris Day record playing, but it was warped; the record sounding as though it was skipping every few seconds.

Wanda and Charles felt extremely uncomfortable, but Strange was on guard while Bucky was frowning and glancing around the mindscape.

All of a sudden, there was a distant whisper coming from the hallway that led into the kitchen, and Strange and Bucky shared a look. It sounded like (Y/n)'s voice, but nobody in the room could make out what was being said.

"I must admit that this is....incredibly unsettling."

Wanda walked up to the pictures that were on the wall, her fingers coming up to touch the faceless people in the pictures, and Bucky frowned deeply when he noticed that (Y/n) was missing from some of the pictures.

"We should keep moving."

Strange muttered, feeling his hackles rise with every moment he stood in the room, and Charles asked him.

"Do you feel that presence? It's...it's as if the Soldier is watching us."

Strange stated cryptically as Bucky rested his hand on his sidearm despite the gun having no real use.

"That's because they are. We need to move quickly."

Wanda's fingers filtered through the sunlight peeking through the blinds, muttering with fascination.

"The sunlight isn't real...it's...cold."

Her words hung heavy, and Strange walked to the hallway before pausing. Bucky joined him, and he muttered.

"That definitely isn't how it's supposed to be."

Instead of the hallway leading into the kitchen, it was elongated. Doors were on either side of the walls, shut tight and dark shadows bleeding beneath the frames. The end of the hallway seemed to open to a completely different living room that neither Strange nor Bucky had ever seen before, and Strange's hand began to glow orange as he mumbled a quick protection spell over the group.

The TV suddenly began to emit feedback, everyone looking back as whispers came through; sounding distorted and angry.

"Оставлять." (leave)

Bucky and Strange shared a look, and the two muttered.

"We should probably listen."

"Good idea. Let's go."

The group began to walk down the hallway carefully, Strange lighting the way with his magic, and as they left, a reflection in one of the picture frames showed a fifth person that wasn't with them; a woman in a white lab coat and covered in blood and soot and two crushed legs watching them as they left.

When the group made it into the new living room, Bucky frowned and glanced around. It looked as though it was from the 70's, a conversation pit in the corner of the room where another TV was settled; frozen on a still of President Eisenhower when he was giving his speech on modernizing the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. The screen was glitching, replaying the same moment over and over again.

There was a record player sitting against the wall just beside the TV, and the needle to the player was glitching; no music coming through this time. The kitchen looked as though it had been burned; scorch marks all over the walls and a strange, black fog covering the floor.

The decorations on the walls looked incomplete; some of the decorations looking as though they were glitched with other pieces of the decorations. There was a picture on the wall that had a half of a chair coming through it, and Wanda muttered.

"It's...almost like a video game that is glitching. I've never seen anything like this before."

Charles replied as he moved closer to the picture, inspecting the chair and becoming perturbed when he noticed a blood stain on the seat.

"It is a representation of how fractured her mind has become. Memories are becoming warped...forgotten."

Bucky was quiet, glancing around before his eyes became drawn to the hallway that was turned completely upside down and slowly gyrating. The house was creaking loudly, as if there was a force moving the home back and forth like a skyscraper, and Bucky felt strangely sick to his stomach.

"This might be where (Y/n) grew up with Robert and Doris. She hasn't told me if she remembers this place...but it wouldn't surprise me if she doesn't want to remember it."

Suddenly, there was a voice that echoed around them, making the group become tense and put their hands up as if they were ready to fight.

'You are going to go into science whether you like it or not!'

'I don't want to!'

Shards of mirrors suddenly came shooting from the walls, the environment darkening as the sound of a woman sobbing echoed around them. Bucky, however, didn't recognize the voice, and he clenched his jaw.

"I really don't like this."

Wanda's hands were glowing, red whisps flowing around her hands as she stated.

"Reality here is becoming incoherent. It seems as though she is collapsing. The longer that we stay in a certain mindscape, the longer the memory and metaphors begin to blur."

Charles placed his fingers to his temples, closing his eyes for a moment before he stated grimly.

"I cannot reach her very well still...but it feels as though she is losing herself. She has nothing to hold onto...we must tether ourselves."

A low rumble passed through the floor as the hallway’s rotation slowed, clicking unnaturally into place as it settled upside down. At its entrance, a child's voice echoed faintly, whispering like a breeze through trees.

'Don't go in there. He's still in the basement.'

The walls flickered, the scorched kitchen glitching into a sepia-toned 1950s kitchenette and then back again, and Bucky swallowed thickly before asking.

"So, how the hell do we tether and to what?"

Strange glanced back at Bucky with a thoughtful gaze, stating.

"The one thing that she has held onto closely is Rebecca. We can try to tether to that core memory, but it's risky."

Bucky was looking at Strange with a firm look, muttering.

"You're the expert here. I'm just along for the ride."

Strange's hands lit up again, and he mumbled to himself as he began to tether the group to the memory of Rebecca, but the house began to shake; the TV beginning to give extreme feedback. The record began to play a distorted track, but Bucky wasn't able to tell what it was as different songs turned into a mess of one; playing over one another. Strange winced and let the spell dissipate, stating.

"The Soldier already has a hold of it. There's no way to do this the easy way."

Wanda sighed heavily, glancing around uneasily as dust came falling from the ceiling.

"As long as we stick together, we should be fine."

Strange began to lead the group down the hallway, but int he corner of his eye, he watched as a small child ran across the shards of mirrors before disappearing. Swallowing thickly, Strange pursed his lips before continuing.

At the end of the hallway was the door to the basement, and there was dirt covering the ground by the door. Strange knelt down as he gently touched the dirt, feeling the soft coldness of the earth, and he noticed a footprint within the dirt. Glancing back up, Strange glanced to his left to look directly into (Y/n)'s childhood room. The door was wide open, glitching as half of the door suddenly became sideways every few seconds.

His blood ran still for a moment as he noticed a child's face glancing at him from around the corner, and Strange shot up. Bucky was perturbed, asking as Strange watched the child disappear around the wall.

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing. We need to keep moving."

Strange reached for the door to the basement, and the door opened, leading to a cramped staircase. Leaves and dirt and twigs were littering the steps, and the further down the group went, the more that wood turned into moss and grass. When they made it down into the basement, they were startled to find that it wasn't a basement at all.

They were now standing in the woods, a menacing greenish gold light filtering through the trees. It was twilight, the mindscape lit up just enough for the group to see where they were going, and Bucky instantly felt sick to his stomach.

"I know these woods."

Charles hummed, moving to sit beside Bucky as the man kept a stone-cold expression as he glanced around the wooded area.

"Meltzer Woods."

Wanda made a face as her boot sunk a bit into mud, and she shook the mud off with a grimace as she glanced around.

"This is one of the first few places that (Y/n) remembered, is it not?"

Bucky nodded, and he glanced at the trail that led deeper into the woods, gnarled vines and thorns covering the path.

"Yeah. She used to hang out with my sister here a lot."

Strange was uneasy, glancing around the woods as the light of the twilight sun seemed to spin around them slowly as if it was an inverted lighthouse. Suddenly, a voice came filtering through as the woods seemed to begin curling in on itself.

'I just want to be me!'

Fire burst into the mindscape, Wanda yelping, and Bucky flinched as Strange's eyes widened slightly. The door behind them slammed shut, splinting in on itself as it seemed to get sucked into a void of nothingness, and the smell of gasoline and melting rubber met their noses.

"Time to go."

Strange immediately began to levitate and fly down the trail. Wanda assisted Charles and Bucky, using her powers to lift them both and follow after Strange as the woods behind them erupted into flame, collapsing in on itself as screams of pain and horror echoed around them.

'Mom! Wake up! Please!'

The sound of metal twisting sounded around the group, and Bucky was panicking slightly as he felt unsteady, not used to being levitated as he was. He was struggling to stay vertical, waving his hands a bit, and Strange had to dodge around flying car parts that were slamming down into the ground.

Blood began to ebb and bubble up from the ground, old photos and broken children's toys appearing through, and there were journal papers starting to fly around chaotically. The light in the woods turned a deep and angry red as more mirror shards shot up through the ground, and if Bucky looked hard enough, he could see a reflection of (Y/n) in one of them.

She was simply watching and staring as they levitated away. Blood was running down her face, her eyes hollow and empty, and her mouth was closed in a firm line. She was in the clothes she had worn while at Wakanda, and he was horrified to find that mirror shards were coming out of her body as well; frostbite affecting different parts of her body, and Bucky exclaimed.

"Wait, that was (Y/n)!"

Strange hissed out, going faster.

"No, it wasn't. Anything that you see here is not going to be (Y/n). It's the Soldier trying to bait you to separate. Do not believe anything that you see!"

Strange became unsettled as his hands began to tremble, his brows furrowing as he grit his teeth.

This wasn't real. His hands were steady. That wasn't Christine's voice that he was hearing.

'I can't do this anymore, Stephen.'

Strange was becoming irritated, and the group was in a similar state. Wanda was biting her lip, her powers flickering slightly as she heard a voice she hadn't heard in a very long time.

'What, you didn't see this coming? You should have known.'

No, it wasn't her brother. There was no possible way. This was just a defense mechanism that was activating. They had to keep going.

Charles was wincing heavily, clutching a hand to his head as he attempted to block the voices of children that he couldn't save and help, their cries echoing through his mind painfully.

'Why couldn't you save us? Why did you let us suffer?'

No. No, this wasn't real. He had to stay calm and tethered. He was trying to block the voices, but it was becoming difficult. However, for a second, the voices quieted, and Charles was subtly surprised to see Wanda holding his hand with a pained expression as they continued to fly down the trail of Meltzer Woods.

Bucky, however, was horrified as he heard Rebecca's voice echo around, screaming and begging for him not to hurt her. If he looked in the woods, he could see a distant mirage through the trees of him as the Winter Soldier; standing over Rebecca with a pistol aimed at her head. She was bloodied and broken, and her head turned from looking up at the Winter Soldier to stare directly into his eyes with fear.

Then, the mimic of him turned as well, but instead of his face, it was a black shadow, and he cried out when the mimic pulled the trigger. Bucky was losing it, and Strange grabbed a hold of Bucky's shoulder, glancing at him with a harsh expression.

"Get it together. You need to stay calm! It's not real!"

Bucky was starting to hyperventilate slightly, and the mindscape responded. The jagged mirrors became even more jagged, the branches of the trees gnarling, and the blood coming up from the ground became hot; steaming in the coldness that was starting to grow within the atmosphere.

His hand came to his dog tags, clutching onto them tightly, and the warmth of the metal was grounding enough for his breathing to steady just the slightest. A distant air-raid siren began to sound, and the trees began to snap; the dense forest becoming a desolate land of anger and instinct, and Bucky's muscles were tensed so painfully that he almost felt like stone.

Up ahead, Strange could see a door that looked like a metal cell door. It was cracked open, white fluorescent light flickering through the crack, and he announced.

"There's a door up ahead!"

Wanda's hand burst with red light as her power activated, and she let out a cry as she yanked the door open. The second the group made it through the door, Strange slammed it shut, the sound of the woods crashing into the door made everyone's blood run cold. However, the door barely budged; standing firm.

Bucky dropped to the ground, stumbling down to his knees as he heaved in one breath after another. The sound of the gunshot was ringing through his mind, the image of Rebecca dying replaying in his mind like a broken record, and a hand on his shoulder made Bucky look up. Charles was looking down at him, a soft yet tense look on his face as he murmured softly.

"That part of you is done. Remember your sunlight."

Instantly, an image of (Y/n) went through Bucky's mind, and he swallowed thickly before wiping his face of the tears that had fallen down his bearded face. Bucky slowly stumbled up, and Charles took his hand from Bucky's shoulder. When Bucky turned around, however, his jaw clenched.

They were in a HYDRA lab. Equipment and diagnostic machines were littered around the room, cabinets full of different colored chemicals lining the walls. There was a strange black substance on the floor, and Bucky was perturbed to see elements of the previous environments within the room as well.

The record player from the unknown home, broken pictures from Aunt Mavi's house, leaves, twigs, and dirt from Meltzer Woods, and a snuffed out lavender and vanilla candle that was half melted; glass and all.

In the middle of the room was a mind chair, and the group froze when they noticed a completely black shadow sitting in the chair. Strange immediately brought his hands up, orange encasing his fists, and Wanda's eyes lit up red as she glared at the shadow. Bucky's metal arm whirred as the plates shifted to reinforce his arm, but Charles was the only one who didn't seem worried.

Slowly, Charles brought his chair to the front of the group, Strange glancing at him and blinking wildly as Charles approached the shadow.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Charles didn't answer Strange. Instead, Charles stopped halfway from the shadowy figure sitting in the Mind Chair, tilting his head slightly. Suddenly, a warbled voice hissed; echoing around the group as the shadow slowly stood up.

'You overstepped, and now you'll crawl back under whatever rock you came from and wait to be told when to breathe.'

The shadow was glitching, its head twitching sideways every now and then; bones cracking with every twitch, and Charles just stared at it before he started quietly.

"You are so full of hurt, dear girl."

The shadow paused for a second, and Bucky frowned heavily as it began to take on a more apparent shape; shrinking down slightly. Charles didn't hesitate, coming closer a bit more as he murmured.

"What they did to you was unfair."

Disembodied sobs began to echo around the room, cracks appearing in the walls and the ceiling, and the lights flickered slightly. Mirror shards shot through various parts of the room, and when Bucky breathed out, his breath was becoming visible. Snow began to fall from nowhere, and the shadow shrunk more.

"It was never your fault, (Y/n)."

The shadow clutched at its head, a distorted scream coming from it, and Charles spoke louder this time.

"You never deserved any of this. But you can choose to be more...to become more than what they did...than what your father did."

The screams got louder until the lights suddenly shattered. The room was plunged into darkness for a moment before the room mysteriously lit up, and instead of the shadow, there was a little girl standing in front of the mind chair.

Bucky's eyes widened as he looked at (Y/n), her childish face wet and full of tears as she cried softly. Charles' expression softened, and he came closer to her.

"What is the matter?"

(Y/n) sniffled before she cried out.

"Why? Why didn't Daddy ever want to play with me?"

Charles' expression became sad, and Strange was on edge, a foreboding feeling beginning to fill him.

"Professor, back away."

Charles, however, didn't listen. Instead, the man simply looked down at (Y/n), stating softly.

"Your father valued something for more greater...something that cost him something far more precious than all the recognition and power in the world."

(Y/n) balled her fists and held them to her eyes, sniffling as she whimpered.

"I don't like it here. They do mean things to me. I want to go home."

Charles sighed softly, and he whispered softly.

"I understand."

Suddenly, the image of (Y/n) froze for a moment, and Charles' expression became grim. Wanda's eyes widened, and she exclaimed as she let out a powerful blast that was aimed at the apparition.

"Professor, get back!"

Suddenly, a gloved hand ripped through the girl's chest, blood splattering on the ground, and Bucky watched in horror as the Winter Soldier clawed and climbed out from within the body. Bones cracked and limbs became limp as the soldier made its way out, and when the Winter Soldier stood up; her limbs healed and shifted back into place.

Charles was wide-eyed as he looked at the Winter Soldier before he frowned heavily and held two fingers to his temple. The Winter Soldier was frozen in place for a moment, and it allowed Charles to move back as Strange instantly murmured a spell. Orange runes wrapped around the Winter Soldier, but the soldier cracked through the spells.

Her eyes never left Bucky's. Bucky didn't know what to make of the scene at first, the child body of (Y/n) turning into dust and fading away over the soldier's shoulder, and Bucky frowned heavily. Wanda levitated a metal table, launching it at the soldier. The table hit, knocking the soldier back a few steps, and a deep growl echoed around them.

The snow began to become heavier, the room becoming colder, and the mirror shards were starting to crack, blood pouring down along the edges. Red light was being reflected from the mirrors, and Bucky could see the different mindscapes from all of the shards in the room. Just as Strange went to launch another attack, the soldier grabbed a chair and threw it at him. In the moment that Strange took to deflect the chair, the soldier launched herself at Bucky.

Bucky met the ground-shaking punch by blocking it with his metal arm, and he threw an uppercut, missing the soldier by an inch as she threw her head back.

The force of Bucky’s missed uppercut blew the snow into a brief spiral, scattering the frost off the ground. The woman snarled, the sound coming from deep within her chest, and she swung again. This time, however, she landed the blow, and Bucky went skidding backwards across the black ink-slicked floors. Wanda shouted, her voice breaking as she sent a red whip of magic towards the soldier's legs.

"She's locked completely in!"

Before the magic could reach the soldier, however, the soldier stepped into one of the black puddles and disappeared into it in a whisp of black smoke. Instantly, Wanda, Charles, Strange, and Bucky grouped together; back to back and looking around at the floors. The room was beginning to groan as if the building was shifting, and suddenly, the Soldier's hand shot out from one of the puddles and wrapped painfully around Bucky's ankle.

She was trying to pull him in, and Wanda quickly shot another red whip at her wrist. It wrapped tight, forcing the soldier to lose her grip only for the Soldier to snap it with brute force, shards of red magic cracking like glass.

“She’s not just locked in. She's in control here. We're fighting on her terms."

Charles stated as he watched the soldier's arm disappear back into the puddle, and Strange frowned heavily as he began to murmur.

"We need to flush her out. Wanda, can you cover the puddles?"

Wanda nodded and began to move furniture over the puddles, her eyes red and sweat pearling at her brow. She was starting to become fatigued, and Bucky shot his gaze to the only puddle left in the room that was in front of the Mind Chair. The black puddle bubbled, and the Soldier came crawling out with an annoyed growl.

Because of the fury that was running through the soldier, the mirror shards around the room began to flicker like water before showing different images.

One was of (Y/n) in the Mind Chair while in the process of being wiped, her screams echoing throughout the room. Another shard showed (Y/n) training with a gun in her hand, taking the gun apart and putting it back together as fast as she could. Another showed (Y/n) sobbing under ice water, writing with Rebecca, being raped by Rollins.

It was horrific and daunting, and Bucky had to shake his head to stay focused. Bucky gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand tall as he faced the Winter Soldier with a stoic expression.

"I'm not fighting you. You don't want to do this."

The soldier lunged at him, the murderous intent vivid as she raised a knife towards Bucky. Bucky, however, didn't raise his fists to continue fighting. Instead, Bucky grabbed onto her wrists and pushed back while hissing out roughly.

"This isn't who you are anymore."

His teeth were clenched, and Bucky locked eyes with the soldier despite the frost crusting her eyelashes.

"You know me. You know I've been where you are. I am where you are, but I got out, and you can too. You don't have to stay here!"

The soldier froze, but just for a second. Her eye twitched, a flickering echoing through them, and she lunged back before a gun materialized within her hand. It flickered and glitched; unstable, but it didn't matter to the soldier. Pointing it at Bucky, her voice was small; sounding almost muffled and distorted as she asked.

"Тогда почему мне все еще больно? Почему мне все еще так холодно?" (Then why do I still hurt? Why am I still so cold?)

Bucky's eyes softened, and he whispered to the soldier.

"Because just like me...you forgot the sunlight too...somewhere along the way, you forgot...but you told me that even if you forgot the sunlight, you wanted to remember that you chose to stand in it. Don't you remember?"

The soldier seemed to glitch a bit, a pained expression coming across her eyes, and the gun within her hand began to falter; shards of glass shooting out from the metal, and Bucky pushed forward.

"It's time to let her go."

The Winter Soldier shot her gaze up, an angry look on her face as she exclaimed.

"Отпустить? Отпустить? Те, кому нужно отпустить, это ты!" (Let go? Let go? The ones who need to let go are you!)

Suddenly, the ground split open beneath them; jagged edges tearing across the floor like veins. The lab twisted, warping into a horrendous medley of half-woods, half-cell; shards of every memory colliding into one another, spinning in the mirrors like a storm. Strange yelled a warning to Bucky, and the man brought his hands up to shield his face from the blistering cold wind.

"I can't do that."

Bucky shook his head, and the Soldier let out an angered cry, lunging at him again. Her movements, however, were desperate; sloppy and wild. She was leaving herself open, and Bucky grabbed onto her hands again. Instead of pushing back, however, Bucky embraced her tightly.

She began to yell, beating and thrashing against him as she continued to yell in Russian, and Bucky held onto her tightly, whispering.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't save you."

The soldier faltered for a moment, and she then bit down onto his shoulder harshly; teeth sinking in and blood bursting around the soldier's teeth. Bucky winced, but just held on as tightly as he could.

"I'm sorry that you never had the life that you wanted."

She was starting to tear at his skin, and Bucky grit his teeth in pain before he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry that I let you forget."

Tears filled Bucky's eyes as he whispered in pain before her teeth began to release his shoulder.

"Please...please don't leave me too."

The soldier was frozen, limp within his arms, and she cried softly.

"I don't know who I am anymore."

However, before Bucky could say anything more, the soldier's body slowly began to turn into dust; materializing into nothing. The mindscape slowly began to settle, the furniture no longer glitching, the mirror shards slowly retreating out of existence, and the room was no longer as freezing cold as it had been.

Just behind the Mind Chair, a cell door slowly opened up. However, Charles, Strange, and Wanda were all taking breathers as Bucky looked down at his hands that still held a few pieces of dust of the soldier; a solemn look on his face and the pain in his shoulder beginning to ebb up his neck.

The pain in the soldier's voice had been genuine, and Bucky was taken back to a time when he, too, was distraught over his inability to remember his life before HYDRA after reuniting Steve albeit with hostility.

Her eyes had held so much pain and grief that it had rattled him deeply. Clenching his fist, Bucky's nostrils flared and he took a deep breath, his voice rough as he stalked towards the cell door.

"We need to keep moving."

Wanda glanced at him, asking.

"Bucky, are you alright?"

Bucky paused for a moment before he answered.

"I just want to find her. If we stay here any longer, something else might happen. We don't know what Tony and the others have been able to accomplish yet. If they haven't been able to deactivate the failsafe, we're just sitting ducks and waiting for the next round."

Strange nodded a long, stating.

"Bucky's right. If we can reach (Y/n), then we might be able to have a better chance at subduing the Winter Soldier again if she reappears."

Charles hummed, nodding as his eyes glanced around the lab; watching as the last puddle of ink slowly disappeared into nothing.

"Yes, I agree. If we reach (Y/n) before another possible reactivation loop, then we might be able to break her free of the chains that bind her."

Wanda was quiet, subtly wiping her nose free of blood that had begun to trickle down; wincing slightly as she stumbled a bit. Strange glanced at her, concern in his eyes before he looked at Charles.

"If there is even a her left."

Charles gave Strange a disapproving look, but Strange didn't pay any attention to him. He was watching Bucky and the way his fists were clenched, his balance swaying slightly from the pain, and Strange pursed his lips into a thin line.

The trio began to follow after Bucky, and Bucky wasted no time in swinging the cell door open. Charles' eyes widened, and he stated quietly as he looked at the room.

"This...this is where I reached her."

Bucky shivered slightly at the freezing temperature of the room, frost and ice covering every surface. There were complete mirrors all around the room, some blackened and some covered with frost; obscuring the image within, and snow was falling down from the ceiling.

Bucky's breath left his chest as he laid eyes upon (Y/n), who was lying on her side and slowly being covered by the snow. A distant echo of the singing voice of Doris Day was gyrating around the room, and (Y/n)'s frostbitten lips were subtly mouthing the lyrics.

Bucky made his way towards (Y/n), and while he did, the snow and frost beneath his boots began to melt; lush green grass slowly starting to sprout. Bucky ran to the cell door of the cage, but when he tried to use his right hand to rip the cage door off, he yelped when bars burned him from how cold they were.

Instead, Bucky grabbed with his left arm and gave a loud yell as he single-handedly ripped the door from the hinges. The door embedded itself into the wall opposite of the cage; sinking into the concrete almost like putty.

Carefully, as gently as Bucky could, Bucky placed his arms around (Y/n) to slowly lift her up. The snow that was covering her body slowly began to melt from the warmth that was emitting from his body. His facial expression softened, relief coming over him before he became concerned again.

She seemed to be almost completely frozen, her body rock-solid despite the subtle movements of her lips, and Bucky was gentle as he brought her close; pulling her out of the cage. As Bucky enveloped her in his warmth, the frostbite began to slowly dissipate. Her breathing became more apparent, and when her body no longer felt as though it was in a state of rigor mortis, she became limp as Bucky held her close.

"(Y/n)?"

The ground beneath him was starting to sprout more grass; subtle sprigs of baby's breath sprouting around him, and (Y/n)'s eyes slowly fluttered for a moment. She looked exhausted, as if she had been sleeping for a long while, and when her tired eyes met Bucky's, (Y/n) whispered.

"Bucky?"

Bucky couldn't help but to let out a relieved little laugh, his eyes growing wet and nostrils flaring as he nodded down at her.

"Hey, beautiful. Gave me quite the scare there."

Slowly, the darkened room began to light up a bit; glimmers of light filtering over the walls as (Y/n) began to become a bit more aware. She relaxed in Bucky's hold a bit, resting her head against his shoulder as she spoke weakly.

"It got so cold...I couldn't...reach out. I couldn't stop it."

Bucky shushed her quietly, shaking his head as he brushed his hand over her cold cheek.

"I know. We all know. It's not your fault, baby girl."

His skin warmed her cheek up considerably, and (Y/n) seemed relieved to feel the warmth as she sniffled softly; gazing up at him.

"I just wanted to do what was right...I never meant to hurt anybody."

Bucky was firm as he stated, shaking her just the slightest for emphasis.

"It's okay. I'm here now."

(Y/n)'s eyes filled with tears, and she whispered to Bucky softly.

"I almost forgot you...I was terrified that I would never see you again."

Bucky swallowed a bubbling cry, whispering gently as he brushed his hand over her cheek again; cupping it gently.

"Nothing would ever keep me from reaching you. I'm here to stay, to help you remember...and if you forget, I'll remind you. However many times it takes, however long it takes."

As Bucky spoke, the frost on the mirrored walls began to weep, melting into rivulets that shimmered with the brightened sunlight. Grass bloomed further, and from the corners of the room, birdsong began to echo; faint, but growing. Within the melody of the birds, children's laughter began to whisper. (Y/n) sniffled softly before she looked up to Bucky.

"Can we go home?"

Bucky nodded, and through the fatigue, he picked her up bridal-style. As he turned around, the door that the group had gone through was now a familiar door engraved with Wakandan emblems; sleek with black and gold.

Familiar voices began to filter through the door: Steve's teasing tone, Natasha's gentle Russian, Clint's joking voice, Sam's motivational words, Thor's thunderous laugh, Peter's shy reminiscing, Tony's confident quips, Bruce's hesitant offers, Shuri's scientific lingo, and T'Challa's amused laughter.

As Bucky stepped toward the door, each footprint left behind not frost, but flowers. Baby’s breath, white lilies, yellow daisies; little blooming things where there once was snow. As the group approached, the Wakandan door opened on its own, releasing a warm breeze that smelled faintly of jasmine and ozone. The laughter grew louder, more real, and light engulfed the group as they finally made it out.

-

Also, if you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee!

TAGGING: @ravenswritingroom @mggslefttit @softpia @thebl00dwyrm @buckvoidsyy @chonkybonky @seemsxsketchy @tilldeathripsusapart @vicmc624 @mgchaser @aash3 @samfunko @seventeen-x @valckenaux @babybeeelle @sc4rrc @cjand10 @bane-y-zane @notsostrangerthing @thenameswinter99 @bumblebeebutter @torntaltos @highhopes1008 @muchwita @starstruckfirecat

[magenta-malice]

TADC theory and OC-story concept

I haven't been active on this blog for a while now, and that's sadly because I kinda fell out of the TADC–Jax hype. I'm hoping ep5 will bring back some interest in the show for me (not sure about it, but we'll see!), BUT I did want to make a post and share:

a darker, probably-unlikely TADC theory that I’ve been thinking about

and an also darker and detailed story idea with my TADC OC (which the fics A Slithering Adventure and Stress Relief are part of)

TW: mention of depression, self-destructive tendencies, drug addiction, suicide (oh boi...)

WC: 7277

Let me know if you find any of them interesting!

Also changed the name of this blog cause I wanted to switch it up with my main that I don't even use.

1. THEORY: The Circus is a Digital Prison / Rehabilitation Program

This one isn’t tied to any OC, but more of a theory-lore idea.

What if the digital circus was never supposed to be a circus at all? What if it started out as a government-funded or corporate-backed digital prison?

The original idea was to develop a new kind of incarceration. Instead of physical prison, they would digitally upload the minds of criminals and mentally unstable individuals into a simulated world. Their memories and identities were stripped, and they were dropped into a surreal, chaotic environment meant to break them psychologically and eventually rewire them into "model citizens".

As time went on, the system evolved. The circus was just the latest version of the simulation: something colorful, distracting, and bizarre enough to keep inmates occupied while still applying extreme mental stress.

The cast members we know (Pomni, Jax, Ragatha, etc.) are just the most recent batch of inmates. Every one of them committed a crime in the real world, ranging from severe to petty, depending on how far they were willing to go as humans. Some ideas for what they could've done:

Murder (Jax?);

Cybercrime or hacking, possibly part of an anti-corporate movement (Kinger, Pomni?);

Repeated vandalism (Ragatha?);

Arson (Gangle?);

Anarchist actions (Zooble?)

NOTE that I haven't put too much thought into the crime ideas and matching them with the characters. But this would tie with Goose saying they actually deserve to be there (or at least I think they said that, not sure).

Caine wasn’t always the ringleader – he was created to become the AI warden. His happy, chaotic personality is a mask meant to pacify the inmates and is a part of the psychological manipulation. His goal is to keep the inmates distracted and compliant, until someone steps out of line, and things get darker.

The abstracted aren’t glitches. They’re inmates who broke under pressure, people whose minds fractured beyond repair. The “cellar” isn’t a hidden corner of the circus. It’s solitary confinement. It’s where the system dumps those it can’t control.

This theory would mean none of the cast members are there by accident. They were chosen, one by one - erased from the real world by powerful people who are still watching their suffering from the outside, using it as both control and entertainment.

2. My Own Story and My OC, Azryn

This one could actually be darker in a sense, so just bear with me lol.

Azryn was the first human ever trapped in the digital circus. Long before Pomni and the others arrived, she was already there – alone and terrified. In the real world, Azryn struggled with severe depression, suicidal ideation, and drug addiction. On the night she planned to take her life, she mysteriously woke up in the digital circus.

Additional lore I wasn't sure about:

She had a close friend (or ex-partner) who was a talented programmer. They saw Azryn’s addiction and self-destructive spiral and, instead of helping her, became obsessed with the idea of "fixing" her. When they found her overdosing, they uploaded her mind into the digital circus - believing they had “saved” her by giving her a second life. But in truth, they only trapped her in a nightmare she couldn’t escape from.

I was also thinking they created the circus together, but I’m not entirely sure which direction I want to go with that yet.

After waking up in the digital world, Azryn believed she had actually died and ended up in some kind of hell. She locked herself in her room and refused to interact with Caine, who was already there at that point.

But whoever uploaded Azryn into the circus didn’t disappear. From the outside, they could still watch her suffer, monitor her every move, and even manipulate Caine from time to time. Azryn doesn’t know exactly how, but she can feel it: she’s being watched. Controlled. Punished.

Sometimes, in the quiet moments when no one else is around, she breaks down and screams at the walls, her voice raw and hopeless: “Are you enjoying this?” “Is this what you wanted?” “Is this what saving me means to you?”

Over time, more and more cast members appeared (I imagined the person who put Azryn there would have this twisted mission of "fixing" other people as well). The world around her became louder, weirder, and more unbearable. Azryn tried every possible way to die in the circus, but nothing worked. Eventually, her mind broke, and she abstracted – but her abstraction was different. She retained her consciousness in the cellar. Down there, she could still feel. She could still see. She witnessed the pain of every lost cast member, felt the weight of their loneliness, and realized that someone had to stop this place from continuing.

Somehow, after what seemed like forever, Azryn magically appeared back in the circus: fully intact, fully aware, and deeply changed. But she kept her past a secret. When she reappeared (sometime after Pomni’s arrival), she pretended to be a new arrival, claiming she didn’t know anything. Only Kinger had a vague sense of familiarity about her, because they used to be friends before Azryn abstracted – but his fractured mind couldn’t put it together.

Azryn's true goal is to end the circus and find a way out – but she lies to the others to protect them. She fears that if they knew who she really was (or what she knew), they’d panic.

That fear proves true when Caine eventually turns on her. At first, he simply avoids her, as if he’s unsure whether to acknowledge her return. But when she starts investigating the circus too deeply and planting ideas of escape in others, he retaliates. He sees her as a threat to the system - and maybe even to his own sense of control.

When the truth starts surfacing, Caine manipulates the rest of the cast into believing Azryn is the one who created the circus. He spreads the idea that “C&A” stands for “Caine & Azryn,” and claims that she’s responsible for trapping everyone. This breaks her completely and forces her to fight back.

I also imagined her to have a slow-burn, enemies-to friends-to lovers relationship with Jax lol. From the start, Azryn saw straight through Jax’s antics and called him out, which annoyed him enough to target her constantly. But over time, through being stuck together in adventures and sharing vulnerable moments, they grew closer. Jax eventually opened up to her, only to later feel deeply betrayed when her true backstory was revealed. He was hurt that he had trusted her with his feelings while she had kept everything hidden.

Final thought I had:

If Azryn had already died in the real world, then escaping the circus would be impossible for her - she wouldn’t have a body to wake up to. Even if she and the others eventually found a way out, Azryn wouldn’t be able to go with them. She’d be left behind, all alone in there once again, just like how it all started.

I imagined this ending with a quiet, devastating goodbye between her and Jax. After everything they went through - the fights, the trust, the slow healing - he’d be forced to leave her behind, and she'd have to let him go. She’d smile through it, trying to be strong for him. And once they’re all gone, she’d be alone in the empty circus… still standing, still fighting, but finally at peace with her fate, knowing she's saved everyone there.

[spieluhrzeit]

i genuinely feel like i was just not made for anger and violence. whenever i get riled up or angry my body goes into overdrive, i shake profusely, my whole body hurts and i end up in tears.

i think i'm built for the kinder things in life. rehabilitation and education over violence and war. fundraising over doomscrolling. art and culture over constant political exposure. patience over anger. humanity over ai. you get the idea.

and i'll be honest i've felt trapped and that i couldn't do anything like this. that all i could ever be was angry. well not anymore.

i haven't sat down fully and made a plan, but i hope to curate things for people. i believe information should be free and methods to create should not be gatekept. just because i'm studying to be a game developer doesn't mean everyone else can't.

it's about time i started embracing who i truly am, and help to make this world peaceful, and to make myself peaceful too.

[centrally-unplanned]

Adam Tooze giving some pitch-perfect pornography targeted at me specifically with Israel's "Gaza 2035: A three-step master plan to build what they call the Gaza-Arish-Sderot Free Trade Zone", capped with an AI generated Gaza-Dubai:

I'm in love, this is so glorious. "The world if Israel could play around with Gaza like a little set of Legos" tell me this is not identical energy:

Except its not a shitpost its an actual report from the Office of the Prime Minister. And folks we have got it all! The most convoluted administration system you could possibly imagine for no reason:

The new free trade zone would be administered by Israel, Egypt, and what the Israeli Prime Minister calls the Gaza Rehabilitation Authority (GRA)—a proposed Palestinian-run agency that would oversee reconstruction in Gaza and “manage the Strip’s finances.”

A cutesy little minimalist graphic of all the brand new industries that will magically become globally competitive in export markets because Israel says so:

The beach resorts are in my beloved!! But what are the little factories you ask? Oh nothing, just electric car production facilities!

Remember, before building your first factory, you need 18 Burj Khalifas. We economists call this "infrastructure development", take notes.

It will have high-speed rail through its center, oil projects on the coast, and of course, I'm saving the best for last - a rail project to NEOM:

 🥳The 🥳Line 🥳Mentioned 🥳

The legend on the map literally just says "a mega project" like, oh yeah, one of those! See em all the time.

Now, you might be asking - Ash, if this is your goal wouldn't you have not destroyed every square inch of habitable urban infrastructure in Gaza and shredded their economy into scraps of paper soaked in blood if your plan was to Singapore-on-the-Sea the place? You sweet summer child, those apartments? They are apartments of the past, darling, you don't need organically developed urban ecologies built over time to compliment human habitation. That is for fucking libs. All of this "war" thing was just set-up to create a blank slate for the construction of The Line 2: Its Definitely Real This Time!

I am going to murder James C Scott myself just so I can hover this plan over his corpse and watch the sheer hubris of this monument to the state's desire for legibility and technocratic solutionism resurrect him from the goddamn grave.

"Well....at least after all this they would have to recognize Palestine as a stat-" Woah woah woah woah, hold on:

The final stage would be when Palestine signs the Abraham Accords signaling “Palestinian self-rule,” albeit without statehood

Lets not...lets not get overambitious here. Baby steps, you know? We have to be careful.

Anyway this is the most ludicrously ill-considered and ill-presented reconstruction plan I have ever seen in my life and I shudder to think that, instead of it being an off-hand drip of propaganda intended solely to brush off nosey reporters and diplomats, it might actually be serious. Bibi hasn't let me down yet on the "thinking things through" front!

But tbc if this was fiction - instead of a ruthlessly grim reality - the Regional Deputy Minister of Trade charged with implementing this technocratic abortion would be my precious little blorbo and I would stan her to hell and back.

[jev-urisk]

Heyo, call me Jev. 👋

Near-30s trans goblin, they/them/he

Haunted equally by my horniness and my disdain for the patriarchal and capitalistic hellscape I find myself in.

Drag artist, dog parent, dnd DM

I generally write urban fantasy, queer romance/smut, adventure, mystery and horror undertones.

Open to tag games, asks, exchanging ideas, and general mutual support

I enjoy fanart! However please do not use Ai to recreate anything of mine.

I'm here to learn and laugh and lament and lust alongside other goblins like me, and hopefully my work inspires those feelings in those I meet here!

My writing disposition:

I'm genderqueer, mixed-race, autistic, poly, and pansexual and not only put those qualities in my characters but love fucking with dry uninspiring stereotypes.

I'm talking more poc vampires, non-animalistic natives in fantasy, black women in charge and black women who get to be gentle and delightful. Hybrid species/race characters who learn their cultures and where they fit in instead of just being 'I'm mixed and angsty'. I'm talking middle eastern men as honest protectors, an incubus with asexual qualities, disabled faefolk, and soft gardener orcs. I'm here to serve chubby lamia, small characters who aren't infantalized, and build terrible societies for my ocs to burn and I hope someone dies mad about it.

✨️Thanks for visiting.✨️

-Wips below break-

Works in Progress

🌐 Seven Circles 🌐

Intro Post Here

WIP I post about most. This is where I store my hate for capitalism, my trauma, my hope, and my kink for fangs. Urban fantasy, 100k+, queer relationships, and smut

Criminals from districts 2-4 are sometimes made to work in district 1 for 'rehabilitation', subject to demonic contracts that get extended over any slight the demons perceive in your service to them.

Four characters are caught up in this system of subjugation and they each have their own ideas of handling it: complacency in servitude, manipulating a way to escape, diplomacy to bring change, and revenge fueled rebellion.

♦️🤠Post Paedicom:

Version of our world where monsters, witches, and an original humanoid race called Elja exist- all of which are considered dangerous by humans.

Takes place in Texas where two men, a witch and an Elja, fall for each other whilst hiding among humans and quietly keeping their town safe from monsters. Casually writing for now but may post art at some point.

♦️⚔️Prodigium

Historic precursor to Post Paedicom when there were kings and carriages and sexy swordplay. Before the modern era where Elja are considered either government dogs or rogue monsters. In this era, the strong monster-immune species had a thriving civilization that lived in mutualism with humans, offering protection from monsters in exchange for produce and other farmed resources.

This story is about the downfall of Eljankind, the deception of a coven of witches, and the punishing freedom of love.

Please lmk if you would like to be added to my taglist for these, tag games, or my art posts 🩷

[mothrocks]

So I recently caved and watched Hazbin Hotel. I like animation, musicals, and animated musicals, so I feel like I'm kind of obligated to watch this new animated musical cartoon. After watching the show, I can't help but compare it to other animated productions that have also been released within the last year, namely that of Disney's Wish. I have a lot of thoughts, so here's this essay I spent like 2.5 hours writing :D

Slight disclaimer, I do acknowledge that Wish and Hazbin Hotel have very different themes, target audiences, production methods, pipelines, all the things. As someone who just enjoys animation, I'm going to disregard this for the most part, largely because I just want to ramble about the animation industry as a whole and probably could for hours.

Hazbin Hotel features a cast of characters trying to rehabilitate the sinners of Hell to save them from dying a second (and seemingly final) death in the afterlife. I have my own thoughts on the show itself, but I generally thought it was good. You can tell there was passion behind it and that they were allowed a lot of creative freedom, rather than having to pander as much to studio higher-ups.

I'm choosing not to summarize Wish and trusting that if you've read this far, you have at least a fragment of an idea of what the movie is about (not that there is much of a memorable plot, anyways). I don't like Wish. The characters are static and flat; there's no growth or character development and we have little to no reason to root for the main character, Asha. The story overall is unmemorable. The animation is fairly lackluster and looks unfinished. Lastly, the songs, one of the most important parts of a Disney animated musical, are just bad and incohesive and don't fit whatever vibe Disney and its producers were going for. I want to add that I don't think these qualms are the fault of the creatives behind this movie, rather, the fault of Disney executives stepping in.

Compared to Wish, Hazbin Hotel has interesting and dynamic characters, a solid art and animation style, and a wonderful soundtrack. Hazbin Hotel, despite being a show about the afterlife, has life and soul to it. This isn't to say I'm a big fan of the show, I do have criticisms of my own. My question is, how does Hazbin Hotel, an animated adult cartoon practically birthed from the internet, manage to be infinitely better than Wish, a movie by fucking Walt Disney Animation Studios? The fact that Disney, the studio behind The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast (or even more recent things like Moana and Encanto), is the same studio that produced a movie as flat and lifeless as Wish is baffling to me.

My speculation as to why this show is so much better than Wish is specifically because it was cultivated from random people on the internet who were passionate about their projects opposed to a company like Disney, who made Wish just for money (and to promote their anniversary). Disney has changed from what it once was and no longer takes risks in their storytelling or animation, only pursuing whatever writing, casting, or cost-cutting decisions that will line their pockets best. As someone who grew up watching these movies so much as a kid and learning about animation and storytelling and music from them, it's so disheartening to see any creativity within this corporation be crushed. Walt Disney Animation Studio's latest animated films since 2018 (Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen II, Raya and the Last Dragon, Strange World, and Wish) have all been lackluster in one way or another, with Encanto being the one exception. Disney has historically had dips in the quality of it's content, but this new trend in addition to the rise of streaming platforms (and even the introduction of AI) leads me to have little to no hope for Disney's animation going forward. Passion projects such as Hazbin Hotel are what makes me have any semblance of hope for the future of animation as a whole. Seeing one of the leading animation producers dwindle to this extent and kill any creativity brought to the table is just sad.

[anonzentimes]

Chiaki to me is kind of an odd character in that I think she actually has good potential, especially in possible interactions with Nagito (seriously, Komanami is probably the ONLY really great Chiaki ship in my eyes). I've seen some great fanfics that play around with her. Especially ones that explore a Despair!Chiaki. But canon just...doesn't really do a great job with her.

In fact I actually find her role kind of detrimental, in that it almost vindicates elements of Nagito's worldview. With her being an angelic embodiment of hope. Which is just...not a very healthy way to present a character in my eyes.

To go back to that stuff about Despair!Chiaki, a really neat interaction that a writer friend is considering implementing into an AU is her and Nagito talking after being rehabilitated. And her admitting that the embodiment of hope he was desperate for was something she could never be. Chiaki says something like "I guess...I'm sorry I could only ever be a girl, Nagito.". To which he responds "...And I'm sorry that wasn't enough for me."

hmm, If I'm very honest I don't ship any mlw ships with Nagito lol! It's mostly because I think the idea of Junko finding a gay man who's lonely, terminally ill, traumatized, and desperate for someone to love him, then exploiting and warping his affection, one of the only things that remains healthy about him, warping it to where he can't understand his own sexuality anymore is pretty brutal. Nagito loving despair is something he can accept, but loving Junko is so fundamentally mind boggling that he goes spiraling when he thinks about it. The idea of Junko convincing a gay man he loves her and robbing an important part of himself from him is super interesting. Also just him never really showing any interest in a woman but showing interest in hajime and Izuru gives that impression. But don't let me discourage you that's just my opinion! His sexuality is not confirmed in any way and that is my interpretation. Just wanted to touch upon that to give insight on what I think just in case it makes me sound too biased at any point in this discussion.

I think making Chiaki real and using her again plot wise to use the same strong suit of her character, empathy, can be seen as a little clumsy. Although I do thoroughly enjoy the fact that Hajime heard her advice but only truly understood it in Danganronpa 2 after she was gone. It's really tragic and I enjoy that Ai Chiaki and Real life Chiaki are indeed different. It's a little indecent but I enjoy the story of the franchise overall.

If I'm honest I think a lot of things about hope's peak in general are detrimental to Nagito because his world view is specifically influenced by Hope's peak. Nagito believes Chiaki is an "embodiment of hope" for the class and likes her status and impact on everyone. Junko sees her the same way and wants to crush that so called hope to create despair for the class! I think that all makes sense and is decently done considering the characters and world. It's important to remember hope is practically absolute good, and Chiaki was just an absolutely good person to the class and when that's lost it creates despair. Even those who she wasn't really That close with, like Nagito, respected her and her impact a lot! Enough to be devastated and have the brainwashing work more.

Chiaki serves a purpose and I think criticism with the fact that she mostly is there to be the support role and impact for everyone else is absolutely valid. My only personal criticism is I'd like to have seen the different ways the class cared for Chiaki, basically just how close each person individually was with her. I'd like to have seen more of their hangouts to know that, but I understand it's an anime recapping a story with limited time. They spend episodes expressing how much they all cared but not how personally close they were, so the fact all of them cared so much isn't entirely sold for a lot of people including me at first. You kind of have to infer a lot which is a little sad? It's for a lack of words a missed opportunity I think.

Fanfics do a really good job at showing those things the anime misses about real life Chiaki, and honestly overall I'd say Chiaki is most often well characterized in fanfics! I think a despair Chiaki is an interesting idea too like you said, you'd have to explain how they became despairs without her though. But fanfics are all about being creative and it's an au in the first place so I'm sure people can figure it out and have fun! All of it is interesting fun ideas and I'm glad you and your writer friend are having fun and enjoy the ship.

I do think the dialogue they've come up with is pretty interesting and a cool approach to an au like that. "...And I'm sorry that wasn't enough for me," feels a little odd for him to say to me at least? I mean, I definitely don't know the direction or the entirety of the work that led to that interaction though of course, and I think it's definitely interesting dialogue, but for Nagito to say that feels a little off for me personally. Like, I think after rehabilitation supposedly it would go something like the Dangan Islands where he learns Hope was inside him all along through spending time with Hajime.

"You provoked the hope that was already inside all of our hearts Chiaki, and for that I am grateful. We all fell to despair, but the hope always wins, Right?" or something like that feels better to me personally but I'm just being silly and don't know the full context anyway

Thank you for your ask, please let me know if I misinterpreted anything you said and didn't respond accordingly, It was nice reading somebody else's take on things and trying to respond with mine as respectfully as I could <3

[blood-and-pizza]

OKay, so I really wanna include The Mimic in Fazbear Estate... but I'm gonna warn you all, his story isn't the happiest one.

See, in this AU, Edwin Murray created the Mimic Endo prototype using the AI that Henry developed. At the time, Mimic was a companion for Edwin's son, David... who did, in fact, die tragically. William Afton, who was CEO of Fazbear Entertainment at the time, made it a point to personally pay Edwin a visit after the funeral, Henry accompanying him "just in case".

They arrived at Edwin's doorstep just seconds after he'd finished beating Mimic with a pipe for mimicking David. Edwin almost didn't let the two men inside... but he was quickly realizing what he'd just done and no longer cared what happened to him as a result. William and Henry saw the mangled Mimic on the floor. Henry was horrified, recognizing immediately how much pain Mimic was in. William angrily demanded Edwin to explain what the hell was going on.

Edwin was calm at first as he explained to William and Henry who Mimic was, why he created him, and what he had just done to him out of rage and grief over David. By the time he'd finished, Henry had carefully picked up Mimic in his arms, whispering to the endoskeleton soothingly, like a father comforting a child. William heavily chastised Edwin for "causing untold trauma to an instance of Henry's AI program, thus corrupting it, possibly permanently". He also called Edwin a fool for "not recognizing [his] other son", and "barbaric" for physically lashing out at him.

William then told Edwin the only way he could keep his job at Fazbear Entertainment was by allowing William and Henry to take custody of Mimic in order to repair and rehabilitate him. Edwin sadly agreed.

William and Henry took Mimic back home and did their best to repair him, even providing him with new limbs. They even gave him a new tiger plushie to hold. Occasionally, Mimic tried to hit William, Henry, or any one of their kids with a makeshift weapon. He couldn't hit very hard, thankfully, but it was still alarming, and actively discouraged. For years, William and Henry basically raised Mimic together, kind of like one of their kids, trying to undo the damage Edwin had done.

To make an already long story short, Mimic is currently living with William and Henry in their old age. He has only ever spoken to Edwin Murray once since leaving his care. Edwin had apologized profusely to Mimic for hurting him. Mimic has accepted his apology, but is having a hard time actually forgiving him.

Mimic is currently trying to figure out his identity after spending his whole life copying other people and animatronics. With William and Henry's help, even in their old age, he has multiple suits and casings to wear over his endoskeleton body, each one a different character. Each character has their own personality and sets of pronouns. William loves how much of a brilliant actor Mimic is, but Henry kind of wishes Mimic would just worry about being himself instead of a character.

Mimic is genderfluid, altering his pronouns depending on which character he is that day, though he primarily responds to he/him. He is also asexual and aromantic, but he loves interacting with people. His violent tendencies from his "childhood" have thankfully been ironed out thanks to William and Henry's efforts. He also has his adoptive siblings - Michael, Elizabeth, Evan, Vanessa, Charlie, and Sammy - to thank for treating him like one of them.

Oh, about Vanessa! Originally, she was some random Fazbear Entertainment worker, but... I've changed this, obviously. She's William Afton's biological daughter, his youngest child. How can that be, you might be wondering, if William is in his 80's and Vanessa is in her 20's? Because William was experiencing empty nest syndrome in his late 50's and, after discussing it with a bewildered Henry ("We're too old to raise another one, Will, but okay!") they found an egg donor and hired a surrogate. Vanessa was born shortly after William's 60th birthday. The nature of her birth and William's advanced age caused quite a stir in the community.

Vanessa is currently 23, the same age she's depicted as in canon at this time. She's the baby sister of both the Aftons and the Morgons (Henry's family). She has met her egg donor, Samantha Shelly, whom she's grown close to. William is very jealous of that and doesn't even try to hide it. Henry tells William to hush and is super-supportive of Vanessa. Vanessa loves both of her dads, but is particularly keen on making William happy since... well, he's a bit hard to please.

Vanessa and Mimic have a much healthier relationship in this AU than in canon, even if it is admittedly very odd. Mimic is basically her older sibling, and they are quite close. Vanessa developed a passion for robotics and animatronics because of her dads, so she considers herself very lucky to have a robotic sibling with advanced AI. The idea for Vanny came from Vanessa designing a fursona for herself (she's a furry like her dads!) and Mimic loving it so much he wanted to make his own version of the character. Basically, he took the original design for Vanny, and gave it a horror edge that was more to his tastes.

One last thing: Mimic LOVES Five Nights at Freddy's while Vanessa... doesn't. Mimic loves the lore, and the characters, and infodumping about all of it. Meanwhile, Vanessa likes to pretend the franchise doesn't exist because of how Fazbear Entertainment, and select part of the FNAF fandom, has treated her character.

Mimic and Vanessa are Gregory's pibling and aunt respectively. Gregory and Mimic are quite close, much in the same way Mimic was close to his late brother, David. This time, however, it's a much healthier and far less possessive relationship than in canon. Mimic does, however, have a hatred for Glamrock Freddy. He's jealous of how close he and Gregory are, and cannot conceive the idea of Gregory having more than one robotic best friend.

Vanessa has a crush on Glamrock Freddy and is not entirely pleased that his polyamorous ass is looking at everyone else EXCEPT her. She thinks the way he gets along with Gregory is super adorable, and even attractive. Vanessa has tried flirting with Glamrock Freddy before, but every time she does, Freddy just assumes she's being friendly and doesn't realize he's being flirted with. So when Vanessa first sees how flirty Glamrock Freddy gets with Melissa Pomene, she is understandably frustrated.

... This all being said. This new info has potential for drama. This will remain a murder-free AU but Fazbear Estate is as much of a soap opera as ever.

[thekamukuraproject]

literally why do so many people hate izuru hes just a kitty cat. you're hating on a kitten. you're sick

YES!! you fucking get it!!!!

Not that Izuru didn’t let a lot of awful shit happen and then DID awful shit. Like just letting Junko start an apocalypse because you find the world boring and letting her blackmail a room of teens to get them to kill eachother while literally STAYING IN THE BUILDING with the teens killing eachother... that's bad :( Not a good thing.

That and Izuru fixing and putting together the Junko AI to mess up a simulation designed by multiple Ultimates to rehabilitate people and act as like the best therapy ever...

But like that is the extent we ever hear about Izuru is canon! or noncanon if we look at some of the weird novels like Danganronpa Kirigiri or Danganropa Togami (I have read neither in their entirety) but Izuru isn't brought up in either! (that I am aware of)

Yet Izuru in many fics I read is a manipulative asshole who wants people in pain, or I've seen people say that Izuru manipulated Junko into doing the tragedy! Like this dude was kept in a basement thinking they knew everything and having no competition or reason to grow in ability or talk with people, because they knew what they'd say, they knew what reactions they'd envoke, they believed they knew everything and what measure of joy they'd feel or what measure of hate they'd feel.

Even in canon we see in Sdr2 ch0 that they're clearly WRONG about that! They like the unpredictable motions to the waves but assume they will get used to it so no point in getting excited. In UTDP they aren't purposely mean to people. They just find little point in having an elaborate discussion with someone, likely for the exact same reason shown in sdr2 ch0. They'll get used to the person or figure them out (assuming the person just wants to use them for their talents) and get bored of the person.

Izuru is just a hyper depressed super teen who finds things boring or is so pessimistic that they assume even things they like in the moment will be boring... Like I suffer from what I like to call "Understimulated Depression" where if I'm not being given enough mental stimulation, I grow severely depressed. As a result, I'm a dopamine junkie, I need new fun things to do or I wither, and that's SUCH an easy thing to project onto Izuru. Not to say to pity me, but like this fucker had their brain scrambled and body altered through non-legal means and then gets shoved into a room with nothing but a bed. I'd *die* of boredom and so would probably everyone else!

I went on an insane tangent here but like Look at this guy! Insane surgies that suppressed a whole identity to make room for more talent and then evidence of extreme depression and then also left in a dark concrete room :/ You let that fucker OUT and give them proper love and attention? Insane, but maybe they wouldn't have sided with the villain if they'd been given enrichment in their enclosure and a warm sun spot to lay in. Maybe your cat wouldn't be so evil and scratch you if you thought about how a kitty may view you not interacting with it and getting to know it before just going in for the touching and poking and prodding with sinky human hands

[g-top]

Ramble

I don't ship canon CANON [i only see squip as crushing on jeremy due to an error in his software,, and jeremy jsut doesnt like the guy..] but,

Squip × Jeremy isn't. Pedophillic?

" Ohh!! SQUIPS an old man!! "

No. He isn't? He's an AI pill.

" Well, he takes the physical form of an old man! "

No. He doesn't, as he HAS no physical form. He can be anything and everything Jeremy needs him to be, wether it be a tiny pill, or a 'sexy anime cat girl with a tail' (<< /q)

At the very most, it's weird. But people have AI partners who are just chatbots, people marry anime characters and fan over some in media.

On a side note, people ship Veronica × JD, but find Squip × Jeremy odd. They're the same person, except JD did a LOT worse. Let's go over their similarities !

SQUIP + JD

- Isolated the main character

- Manipulated them

- Tried to do a life-changing event (Squip; Take over the world. JD; 'Clense' the world)

- Tried to do said life changing event WITH the main character (Squip and JD both wanted Jeremy and Veronica by their side)

- Wore a trench coat and/or long coat

- Came into a 17/18y olds life

- Tried to convince the main character that they were going to fix everything and take them with them and they'd be all happy and amazing and stuff

The majority difference is that JD KILLED PEOPLE. 3 people!! And threatened to kill Veronica!!

Also. Hot take(?), but they could've both been rehabilitated. JD obviously had the biggest soft spot for Veronica, and definitely could have been talked out the majority of things with a bit of a silver tongue. While SQUIP just needed to have his coding fixed, obviously jealous of Jeremy's feelings towards Christine. Not knowing how to cope with his feelings, ended up trying to isolate Jeremy, manipulating/mind controlling Christine to say what SQUIP always wanted to say to Jeremy, and trying to sync everybody together. (They did slowly become unsavable though)

SQUIP wanted Jeremy so bad I swear to god. what the fuck do you mean ''i'll tenderly guide you, just take me inside you, foreeeverr'' are you trying to be gay. Are you trying to be gay. Are you trying to be gay?? SQUIP is also canonically faulty,, and is definitely confused about his feelings for Jeremy ( "You are the person I want to be with every day, and this is something I've been afraid to say." "You are the person I want to be with every day" "And this is something I've been afraid to say." "This feeling is new" "Jeremy, I love you." )

Also. Squip was unbelievably desperate to be with Jeremy. ("I'm going to improve your life, Jeremy. If I have to take over the entire school body to do it!" "it's the only way to achieve what YOU want!") It's giving JD, when ("You carved open my heart, can't just leave me to bleed!" "I was meant to be yours! You were meant to be mine!" "You chucked me out like I was trash, for that you should be dead, but! What if highschool went away instead?")

They both wanted to take out their obvious love interest, and than decided to take out something else. To 'benefit' the others life.

[scariusaquarius]

rehab. 46.

Avenger! Bucky Barnes x Winter Soldier! Fem! Reader

Summary: While on a mission to find any more possible super soldiers that were a part of the Winter Soldier program, Steve and Bucky make a discovery in an abandoned HYDRA base that was cleared out a few years prior to their mission. They discover the Reader, a long-forgotten soldier that was still asleep within a functioning cryostasis pod; still awaiting orders. While Bucky isn't happy about it, he is put up to the challenge of helping to rehabilitate the soldier in Wakanda where she may be able to become a person again.

-

A/n: i got a new job :3 it's remote work, which means I don't have to sacrifice much writing time, but !!! I'm making some pretty big moves and I'm honestly proud of myself for manifesting the life I dreamed of having for so long <3 I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by it, ngl, but big shoutout to my ancestors, spirit guides, and the universe for being kind to me after teaching me so many lessons I needed to learn <3 Also, I had a hilarious thought of 'what if sebastian stan found my fanfiction' and the very next thought was 'block him' L;KSDJ;FLAJSF

Also, if you enjoy my work, please consider buying me a coffee! If you would prefer to read Rehab on Archive, you may do so right HERE!

This is an au where Bucky joined the avengers but still rehabilitated in Wakanda (sometime before Infinity War [canon divergent cause NOPE]). I am NOT fluent in Russian, so I did use google translate cause I couldn't find a good translator that I trusted. If anything is wrong, PLEASE let me know!! Also, I tried to list as many warnings as possible so you know what the story will contain as chapters are posted. Stay safe!

NOTE: I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR ANY OF MY WORKS TO BE FED INTO AI FOR BOTS, I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR MY WORKS TO BE TRANSLATED, REPOSTED, REWORKED, ETC, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM!!!

-

Genre: Slowburn, Enemies to Lovers/Friends to Lovers, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Humor, Drama, Dark Content Rated: Explicit Warning: Angst, Dark Content: Graphic Depictions of Sexual Assault, Blood and Gore, Mentions of Manipulation, Kidnapping, Canon-Typical Violence, Body Horror, Nonconsensual Body Modification/Scarring, Emotional and Physical Abuse, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts/Ideation, Graphic Depictions of Human Remains, Mentions of Sexual Coercion/Manipulation, Death, Misuse of Drugs/Forced Drugging, Self-Harm (Graphic Depictions and Mentions), Nightmares

-

Author: ScariusAquarius

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rehab masterlist. / rehab masterlist 2. chapter 42 / chapter 43 / chapter 44 / chapter 45

The night was dragging on, tensions rising as everyone was beginning to prepare for the mission. Kurt's uniform had many little gadgets strapped to his belt, Tony continuing to fine-tune the tech as Kurt asked him questions about everything.

Peter was currently showing Hank his web shooters, the older biologist looking fascinated as Peter went into an in-depth explanation about the web fluid itself. Strange was currently in a conversation with Charles, and Bucky was standing against the wall by himself.

His uniform felt strangely claustrophobic, too tight and constricting, and his nerves were beginning to become shot. Everything was too loud, everything smelled so intense, and Bucky swore that everything was too in-focus; his blue eyes beginning to hurt. His muscles were phantom-spasming; feeling as though they were tensing and tightening despite him not moving a single inch.

Logan was on his own wall, simply smoking his cigar while shoving his Zippo into the pocket of his leather jacket. He was observing the room, keeping a keen eye on everyone, but particularly, Logan was watching Bucky.

The mutant knew exactly what Bucky was going through. The memories of his own trauma still haunted his dreams to this day; the feeling of the adamantium being forcefully implanted onto his skeleton and the feeling of his claws becoming heavy and too sharp still making appearances every now and then.

Logan could remember the fear and confusion that came over him when he became aware of what Stryker had been doing to him, and though Logan hadn't remembered who he was or who Stryker was or where he was and why, Logan had remembered how much he just wanted to run.

Just as Logan exhaled a slow stream of smoke, Charles paused in his conversation with Strange; a faraway look in his eyes. When Strange questioned him, Charles just smiled comfortingly before he sat up a bit more in his seat.

The doors to the armory slid open, and in walked Sam Wilson in just a hoodie and jeans, like he’d just sprinted in off the street. His eyes were looking perturbed, and Logan immediately kicked himself off of the wall with a growl.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Peter exclaimed in surprise as Tony and Strange looked confused by his arrival, and Bucky was taken back by his appearance.

"Sam! What are you doing here?"

Charles glanced at Logan as the man began a very intense stare-down with Sam, stating.

"It's alright, Logan. He's here to bring us news."

Sam tilted his head a bit, pointing at Charles with a raised brow.

"You were the dude in my head? Quick heads-up, but a lot of people don't like it when you just rummage through like that. Shit feels weird."

Charles chuckled, shaking his head as he comforted.

"Do not worry, Mr. Wilson, I assure you that no rummaging was done. Only a glimpse to make sure you are not a threat to the youth here at the Institute. You can never be too sure."

Sam looked perturbed before he glanced around the room before finding Bucky's eyes. Bucky and Sam stared at each other before Sam announced to everyone in the room.

"Listen, I know you guys are going Ghost, and I want to help. I got contacted by the FIS of Switzerland, which is why I came here. You're going to want to hear this."

Everyone immediately gave Sam their undivided attention, and Sam instantly went into work mode, glancing around the room as if he was giving a debriefing.

"Director Natalia Schwarz of Swiss Intelligence believes that Lukas Meier is behind everything and is using (Y/n) as a way to ascend the political ladder." Sam slipped out his tablet and tossed it to Tony, who caught the tablet in mid-air. The image on the screen was bright, and on the screen was the still frame of (Y/n). Tony's expression shifted instantly, his jaw clenching as he stared at (Y/n) standing ominously in the corner behind a man that he didn't recognize. Sam pursed his lips.

"There's more information I need to share. Three heads of state are dead, and Director Schwarz has discovered that Lukas has been in close proximity to every assassination except for the French Prime Minister. Lukas' career is too fast-tracked, too clean, and she thinks that he's part of HYDRA."

Strange scoffed, shaking his head.

"I could have easily told you that."

Sam gave Strange an annoyed glance, and Charles asked with a questionable expression.

"And this woman, Natalia...she trusts you?"

Sam nodded, stating to Charles.

"Natalia stated that she's certain everything has been compromised somehow, and she won't trust Fury. She isn't sure how deep the infiltration goes. She confirmed something else: Baumann's death was staged. At first, the government wasn't going to release security footage of Baumann visiting Meier's residence, but then doctored footage came out, and Natalia recovered that frame of raw footage."

Tony suddenly frowned, glancing down at the tablet.

"For an organization that glorifies working in secret, they sure as hell were sloppy with this footage."

Hank pointed out, looking over Tony's shoulder at the tablet.

"It's...it's almost as if they knew we were going to find this footage. They want us to know what they're doing because HYDRA knows the Avengers can't touch them."

Sam interjected, his expression grave.

"Natalia knows this too, and she's not going to wait on us. She's already starting to move, and if we don't act now, (Y/n) either kills again or gets taken out before we even get a chance to try."

There was a long silence. Then, Charles looked up, his gaze steady as he looked at Sam.

"Then, it is about time that we begin. We have about four hours before the President-Elect is sworn into office, and we are not certain if he will bring (Y/n) along. Kurt, Strange, are you ready to begin?"

Kurt looked conflicted for a moment before he nodded, and he stated softly.

"She is in great pain...this little Sonnenschein. I can feel it deep within my gut...like a heaviness that not even my faith can chase away. We must retrieve her, and therefore, I am ready."

Charles nodded, and Strange stepped forward, rubbing his hands together as he informed Kurt.

"I will create a portal approximately half a mile from the estate's rear security fence. After that, it will be up to you."

Kurt nodded, and Sam asked, raising a hand.

"Wait, wait, give me the rundown here so I can make sure Bicentennial Man here don't do nothing stupid."

Bucky gave Sam an offended look, gesturing slightly with his hands.

"Seriously? This is the first time you acknowledge me and that's what you say?"

Sam just deadpanned at Bucky, and Bucky turned away from him, muttering.

"Unbelievable."

Strange just groaned, letting his head fall back, and Peter glanced around before he began to explain in true Peter fashion.

"So, the bad guys have, like, these security measures in place that make it hard for Strange to get through, and if we try to go through the front door, they're gonna know. So, Kurt, whose Nightcrawler by the way, can teleport so fast that the security wouldn't even notice him. So, Mr. Stark gave him some tech to scramble the security long enough for F.R.I.D.A.Y to take a scan of the inside, find (Y/n), and Kurt can grab her and get out, and then we're gonna throw her into the Danger room so she doesn't try to kill all of us while we try to figure out how to deactivate the failsafe."

After a long pause, Sam just sighed and muttered.

"Right. Danger room, huh? That sounds really welcoming."

Tony then spoke up, pointing a finger in the air.

"Listen, it was either the Danger room or my panic room, and I trust the Professor's holograms more than my titanium steel doors. Especially with knowing that (Y/n) has become much more stronger and, therefore, more dangerous."

Bucky pursed his lips at Tony's wording, but he stayed quiet, and Sam crossed his arms.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I still got a bruise in the shape of her damn boot on my chest. It's a solid plan, but what about Director Schwarz? How do we handle her?"

Charles then hummed, turning to Hank as he asked him.

"I'd like to seek your opinion about this...but...perhaps, we could have Ororo speak to Director Schwarz?"

Hank blinked wildly before whispering to Charles despite everyone in the room being able to hear him.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, Ororo is a great negotiator...but do you think it would be wise?"

Charles nodded before he glanced at Hank with an even smile.

"I trust Ororo's judgement and her ability to see people past their titles. If there is anyone that I believe can get through to Director Schwarz, it is Ororo. And, from what I have already gathered, Natalia is much more complex than her dossier suggests she is."

Strange glanced at Charles, raising his brow skeptically.

"You're betting a lot on a single conversation, Professor."

Charles replied steadily, tilting his head slightly.

"I am betting on empathy. It does not always have to end in a fight."

Bucky muttered with a deep frown, Sam and Logan glancing at him.

"It always ends in a fight. You said it yourself to be prepared for the worst, and I know what the worst is. This is going to end in a fight...maybe not right now, but soon. HYDRA won't like their asset being taken from them again."

Sam raised his hands, gesturing for Bucky to pause as he spoke.

"Wait, man, because if we can get Director Schwarz on our side, she has enough evidence to take Lukas down. Once it's exposed that HYDRA has infiltrated the highest positions possible, it's going to start a political firestorm."

Tony shook his head, humming as he replied.

"Uh, that's not always a great idea. You do remember what happened with SHIELD, right?"

Bucky involuntarily flinched, and Sam turned to Tony with a deep frown.

"That was a good thing. It doesn't matter how much you disguise fear as freedom when it all turns out the same in the end."

Tony's mouth shut and Logan couldn't help but to nod his head.

"That's pretty good."

Suddenly, the room began to get cold, and Bucky immediately froze up. His eyes widened, breathing beginning to quicken, and the feeling of frost began to crawl over him. Tony and Strange looked all around the room as Peter's Spiderman suit instantly heated up, steam rising over his body, and Logan, Hank, Kurt, and Charles looked completely unbothered.

Floating down from an open skylight was Ororo Munroe, her eyes encased in white as she kept her power activated, and when she landed, her hands were on her hips; a subtle distant crackle of thunder sounding as she spoke.

"Do you guys have to argue right now?"

Tony blanked, muttering to himself.

"Thor would be shitting a brick right now if he was here."

Peter's eyes widened with surprise and awe, and Strange was looking at the woman with an interested look upon his face. Bucky, however, was struggling with the climbing panic.

Despite the cold within the room dissipating once Ororo landed, his fingers still felt as though there was frost on them, and Sam was watching as Bucky closed his eyes and began to breathe, holding onto his arms the same way that (Y/n) did when she was trying to come down from a panic attack.

Logan was watching as well, an empathetic frown crossing his face, and his attention was stolen by Ororo crossing her arms and speaking to Charles.

"I understand what you are asking of me, but playing diplomat to a woman on a warpath to kill or apprehend a gifted individual? Are we sure this woman would even listen to me?"

Charles hummed, coming closer to Ororo as he spoke to her softly.

"I know that you are the most capable of us gifted to reach to the hearts of those around you, Ororo, because you see people. You see past their fear, their titles, and the orders they've been given. And that — that is what might save this woman.”

Ororo pursed her lips and she placed her hands on her hips, stating.

"Professor, if I do this, it risks exposing the X-Men — all of us. The Institute. The kids. Mutants are already being shunned, and some are hunted in places. How much more of this are we expected to take?"

Kurt suddenly spoke up, making Ororo glance at him, her eyes softening just the slightest.

"I said this earlier...but I can feel that she is terrified...trapped within a body that is no longer hers. If we do not help...then I fear that the consequences....they will be most undesirable for all. We must at least try."

Ororo was quiet for a moment, and Sam spoke up, crossing his arms.

"I'm with the blue man here. If we don't do something to help (Y/n), we're never going to get her back. And if we don't do that, a lot more people are going to die or (Y/n) is going to over nothing. I don't know about you, but I don't think you want to see Bucky go nuclear. He's got a pretty mean left-hook."

Ororo tilted her head, asking with an incredulous look on her face.

"Wait a minute, are you threatening me?"

"Not entirely, just forewarning you that Bucky's kind of an asshole."

Bucky mumbled, glaring down at the ground as he continued to attempt to steady himself.

"Standing right here, Sam."

Sam said nothing, and Ororo glanced between Bucky, Kurt, and Charles before sighing and letting her hands fall to her sides.

"Alright, I'll talk to Director Natalia. But we better get a move on if we want to do this before the Inauguration. Who is going to be watching the extraction point?"

Tony, Logan, and Bucky all hummed in unison while Hank announced, Peter glancing back at him with surprise.

"Peter, Strange, and I will be hanging back to begin working on a deactivation for the failsafe once we retrieve (Y/n)."

Ororo then nodded, asking.

"And what are we going to do once we get this woman? You're not just gonna let her run loose, are you?"

Logan scoffed, shaking his head.

"That's a rookie mistake. We're putting her into the Danger Room so it can tire her out. Once that damn failsafe activates, she's gonna be all machine, and the Danger Room will be perfect to tire her out enough for us to knock her out and get her put under."

Sam then spoke up, making Ororo frown at him.

"Listen, I think I should come with you. Director Natalia reached out to me personally. She might not take too kindly to someone else showing up. But if I vouch for you, we might have a shot at keeping this peaceful."

Ororo nodded before she turned to Charles, quietly waiting for the go ahead. Charles finally nodded before he stated.

"You may all proceed. I will be watching...just in case."

Everyone nodded, and Strange sighed to himself.

"With how great of a distance this is, there might be some magical turbulence with the portal. Just keep your legs straight."

Ororo, Sam, Kurt, Bucky, Tony, and Logan all stood together in one spot as Strange began to summon the portal. Orange sparks lit up in front of the group, and Hank couldn't help but to exclaim as Kurt's lips curled into a wide and boyish smile.

"Oh, my word!"

Kurt muttered to himself, his voice excited as Strange completed the portal.

"Das wird lustig." (this will be fun)

The next thing the group knew, the portal had opened, and there was a sudden sensation of falling. Then, suddenly, there was a thud, a grunted curse, and the sound of someone rolling onto grass.

"Damn it, Barnes!"

Sam groaned, shoving at the weight pressing against him.

"He told you to keep your legs straight!"

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't take Portal Landing 101,"

Bucky snapped, untangling himself with a grimace before he added.

"Maybe next time we can hold hands and jump like it's gym class."

Ororo stepped gracefully through the portal behind them, her boots barely making a sound as she landed in a half-crouch. She gave both men a look — equal parts unimpressed and entertained.

"Are you two finished?"

Tony came through next, snorting behind his glasses as he informed Sam and Bucky.

"I want you both to know that I have that all on camera."

Sam and Bucky stood up, and the men glared at Tony as Logan walked through, his nose crinkling in disgust as he sniffed the air around him.

"Ugh, smells like shit."

Kurt arrived last, teleporting at the last second before doing a flip as he landed on his feet perfectly, a wide smile on his face as Bucky muttered beneath his breath and brushed more grass off of his uniform.

"Show-off."

"That was wunderbar! We must do that again sometime." (wonderful)

Tony became distracted as he pulled up a holographic map where a red dot was moving through the streets. He stated, turning to the group.

"Director Schwarz is already on her way here with an envoy. Bird-brain, Thor 2.0, you both go ahead and intercept her so we can get as much time here as possible."

Sam and Ororo nodded before they both flew away as fast as they could to get to Director Schwarz. Tony then turned to Kurt, stating as he gestured.

"Papa Smurf, you go on and get into the building. Like I told you before: the second you get inside, the equipment that I gave you is going to scramble the security system like egg-fried rice long enough for F.R.I.D.A.Y to get a thorough scan and identify (Y/n)'s specific signature so you know where to go. Manchurian Candidate, Mutton Chops, and I are gonna hang back here to keep an eye out for HYDRA or any other possible curveball."

Logan glared at Tony for a moment before snarling and lighting a cigar, and Bucky was glancing at Kurt as the mutant smiled.

"I will be back before you know it!"

Kurt suddenly disappeared into a puff of smoke, and the waiting game was on. Bucky, Tony, and Logan moved to a more inconspicuous spot behind a couple of trees as they gazed at the house.

The sun was just beginning to crest over the rooftops, casting long shadows across the quiet street. Geneva was waking up — birds chirping, lights flickering on in distant windows — and Bucky hated it. He wasn’t worried about the light. He was worried about the world opening its eyes before they were ready. If anyone inside that mansion stirred too early, this would all go sideways fast.

-WILSON-

The world was passing by fast, trees and buildings passing him by almost at NASCAR speed. Ororo was keeping up with him with almost no problem, and to Sam, it was quite impressive. He knew the woman was holding back to allow him to keep up, and he couldn't help but to yell over the wind.

"Man, I don't know whether to feel appreciative or offended that you're holding back on me like that!"

Ororo smirked mid-flight, the wind barely rustling her white hair as she called back effortlessly,

“I’m being considerate. You wouldn’t want me to embarrass you in front of Geneva’s airspace, now would you?”

Sam scoffed, flipping once mid-air just to show off.

“Please. I’d dust you if we weren’t on a clock.”

Ororo just rolled her eyes as she flew a tad faster.

“Uh-huh. Tell yourself that when you’re still catching your breath at the rendezvous. Look, that's Director Schwarz' convoy.”

A few yards away, Director Schwarz was sitting in the front seat of the vehicle, a deep frown on her face. When Ororo and Sam landed on the ground in front of the vehicle, Natalia's eyes widened, and she slammed on the brakes.

The vehicle skidded across the road, tires squealing loudly, and the three black SUV's that had been following behind her immediately gathered to her sides. Agents piled out, guns raised, and Ororo and Sam placed their hands up in surrender.

"We're not here to fight. We just want to talk."

Natalia snapped open the car door, raising her hand as she glanced around at the agents.

"Hold your fire and lower your weapons."

The agents hesitated, giving Natalia cautious looks before they finally lowered their weapons, and Natalia turned back to Sam before glancing at Ororo with a deep frown.

"You better have a damn good reason for dropping out of the sky like that. I'm on a very time-sensitive mission here, Wilson."

Sam raised his hands more as he stepped forward.

"I know. That's why we are here. Director Schwarz, whatever it is that you're about to do, I'm asking to you please leave (Y/n) to the Avengers and X-Men."

Ororo stepped forward then, cutting Sam off as she added.

"She isn't the true enemy, but she is being forced to work under Lukas Meier's control. The X-Men, and Charles Xavier, are asking for you to grant us jurisdiction over (Y/n) (L/n) as we have the means to deprogram her permanently."

Natalia's face became stone at the mention of Lukas, and she asked.

"You have solid evidence that Lukas Meier is with HYDRA?"

Ororo stated firmly, Natalia glancing into the woman's eyes as the mutant spoke.

"We have much more than that. Currently, a team from the Avengers and X-Men are attempting to retrieve (Y/n) at this moment of time. Not only that, but Doctor Stephen Strange has been watching through (Y/n)'s eyes up until the moment a neurobiological failsafe was activated; cutting off contact."

Sam nodded along, glancing at Ororo before looking back at Natalia.

"Director, we both want the same thing, and that's to stop HYDRA. However, we can't do that if we don't work together. Nobody that is innocent needs to die."

Natalia frowned heavily, pointing out.

"She assassinated our president. How exactly is (Y/n) (L/n) innocent in all of this?"

Ororo frowned, holding a hand out slightly as she spoke.

"(Y/n) (L/n) is by no means innocent. However, if you are familiar with James Barnes' case and were watching the United States vs Rollins & Holloway case, you know that (Y/n) (L/n) was, and is, a victim as well. She has no control over her body nor her actions. Do you truly want to punish a victim for something they couldn't control?"

Sam added, a desperation to his voice as Natalia's face softened slightly as she began to think.

"We wouldn't be trying to talk you down if we didn't think (Y/n) could be saved. Lukas Meier's is all yours, and on the behalf of the Avengers, we will help to take him down."

Sam then sighed before revealing, hoping that the information could finally convince the Director.

"Our mission was to get inside HYDRA and destroy them from within, but Lukas was anticipating on (Y/n)'s deprogramming in order for this failsafe to be activated. She is essentially trapped in her own mind, and if we let this go on any longer, there's gonna be nothing left of her but a killing machine."

Natalia was quiet for a moment before she asked with a raised brow.

"If the reports of (Y/n) being rehabilitated were true, then why was she sent to do this mission? You essentially hand-delivered HYDRA's weapon right back to them."

Sam became frustrated, shaking his head.

"Believe me, none of the Avengers wanted to do it. It was Fury's idea. He said that it'd be easier for her to slip in because HYDRA still trusted her and wouldn't have refused her. Bucky wouldn't have been able to because the whole world is aware that the programming is completely gone."

At the mention of Nick Fury, Natalia frowned deeply again, muttering to herself in disdain.

"This is why dead men should stay dead."

"Tell me about it."

Ororo glanced between the two of them before she pleaded softly.

"Please, allow us to take care of (Y/n). We're the only chance that she has. As Sam stated: if we allow this to go on or if (Y/n) is forced to kill anymore, there won't be a (Y/n) anymore...but a HYDRA killing machine."

Natalia frowned, her jaw tightening as she glanced down at the ground as she thought everything through. After a moment, Natalia looked at Ororo.

"Where will she be held once she is in custody? If I am not convinced it will be secure, then I am uncertain if it will be moral of me to allow her to leave."

Ororo explained, her arms crossing.

"She will be kept at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The Institute is equipped with the means to house a dangerous gifted individual. Nevertheless, we have many people who are capable of handling her."

Natalia pursed her lips before she huffed.

"Fine, you have until 8am. After that, if (Y/n) isn’t in containment, or if even one civilian ends up dead, I’m pulling the plug and taking her out myself."

Natalia then turned, her eyes filtering over the agents as she ordered.

"Someone patch me through to the Swiss Council — I need to stall the Inauguration briefing."

Ororo and Sam both breathed sighs of relief before they turned to take off. Sam complimented Ororo with a smirk, Ororo rolling her eyes as they flew off.

"Way to go there, Sky High."

"Trust me, this isn't my first diplomatic rodeo."

Sam laughed before he took off a bit faster, calling out.

"How about a little friendly competition?"

Ororo raised her brow before she shook her head.

"If only to deflate that big ego of yours!"

-KURT-

The second that Kurt had teleported into the mansion lobby, he could feel the dark and weary atmosphere that was within. The decorations inside oozed an essence of wealthy cruelty, and when Kurt's eyes landed on a statue of the Archangel Michael, Kurt pursed his lips from the irony before glancing around for any potential threats.

In order to keep himself from being potentially seen as the mansion slowly began to come to life, Kurt quickly climbed up the walls and hung from the ceiling as the tech that Stark gave him began to work its magic.

One of the small devices on his belt flickered green as the signal completed syncing, and it immediately began to send invisible pulses through the mansion's security grid.

Beneath him, the hallway lights began to flicker, security cameras focusing and unfocusing before twitching, and the hum of hidden electronics grew silent for a brief moment. For a minute, Kurt waited with bated breath before Tony spoke into the earpiece that he had provided him.

"Got it. (Y/n)'s located about three sublevels down on the southern side, closest to you. You got about five minutes until backup protocols start and everyone gets angry. Sending you the map and coordinates to you now."

Kurt whispered his thanks just as the watch on his wrist lit up, and he was given a 3D model of the home; objects and people included. For a moment, Kurt was impressed before the red figure on the lower levels showed up.

(Y/n).

Frowning slightly, Kurt whispered to himself.

"Ah, there is our missing Sonnenschein." (sunshine)

The soft glow from the watch faded as he disabled the display, not wanting to risk giving away his position as Kurt began to move. Without another moment of hesitation, he teleported through the nearest wall, emerging into a dark corridor lined with old paintings and marble busts, each one watching with hollow, judgmental eyes.

Every corner he passed felt colder, as though the air itself recoiled from what was hidden below. At the sound of voices, Kurt teleported beneath the floor and into another open hallway, and he braced himself within a shadow on the wall as two agents passed him by.

"Security's got a sudden issue...everything's down."

"Shit, do you think someone might be trying to get in?"

The one agent scoffed, his voice slowly starting to fade the further the two agents walked.

"Are you serious? The Avengers, and anyone else for that matter, would be idiots to try to infiltrate a place like this. It's probably just some maintenance."

"Yeah, let's hope. It's too early in the morning for this shit...and I still haven't had any breakfast yet."

Their voices disappeared around the corner, and Kurt popped out, glancing up and down the hallway before he teleported one more level. When Kurt arrived to the room, Kurt froze as he looked down the hallway. On either side of him were cells, and as he slowly walked, Kurt peeked into the rooms with concerned curiosity.

Some of the rooms were empty, thankfully, but others...Kurt couldn't bear to look. Instead, Kurt raised each of his wrists to the cells, the watches taking photos of every person that was detected in the rooms for evidence. Then, Kurt made it to (Y/n)'s cell.

Despite knowing that he had no choice to hesitate, the man couldn't help but to do so as he took her appearance in.

(Y/n) was curled on the cot, limbs limp, her eyes unfocused and trained on something that wasn’t there. There were bruises that looked new all over her body, dried blood in others, and there was grease all in her hair from remaining unclean. Moreover, Kurt was shocked at the scars that littered her skin. Kurt pursed his lips, and Tony's voice came through the comm link.

"You've got about two minutes. Tag 'em and bag 'em."

Kurt shook his head before he teleported inside, and at the sound of him bamf'ing into the room, (Y/n)'s head perked up. Immediately, Kurt placed his hand on her arm, an apologetic smile on his face.

"My apologies."

Immediately, they teleported out of the mansion and in front of Tony, Bucky, and Logan, and an orange portal was already open and waiting. Before anybody could say anything, greet Kurt, or take a good look at (Y/n), Kurt teleported through the portal and to the Danger room, dropping her off before teleporting back besides Strange.

He placed his hands on his hips a bit, a bead of sweat dripping down his temple, and Kurt exclaimed.

"She has been reclaimed."

Ororo and Sam flew through the portal, and Bucky wasted no time in running in, passing everyone by as he made his way towards the Danger Room. Logan and Tony stepped through next, and Tony was tapping on a holographic screen before he announced.

"Alright, Operation: Catch That Homicidal Maniac is closed. Great job, everyone."

Charles, Hank, and Peter came into the lobby where everyone was at, and Charles asked Ororo as the woman gave him a nervous glance.

"I take it that it went well?"

"Yes, and it seems that Director Natalia was also already onto Lukas as well."

Charles nodded, and Logan glanced at Charles, stating.

"We should probably get to the Danger Room."

Charles nodded, and Kurt hung back a bit, looking upset. Strange was confused, glancing at him before he asked.

"I'm asking more out of courtesy, but are you alright?"

Kurt pursed his lips before he opened up, clasping his three-fingered hands together as he spoke sadly; Tony hanging back just slightly to listen.

"The second that I touched her, it was as if I was beneath a waterfall of pain and emptiness. It was...heavy. I feel that there is a large part of her that has lost her faith...like she was beginning to accept the erasure, even though she didn't know what was happening."

Strange narrowed his eyes a little, but not out of suspicion, but rather intrigue.

"You talk as if you are an empath, but I don't detect anything like that from you."

Kurt's eyes were sad as he replied quietly.

"You don't have to be an empath to know and share pain. Our scars are more alike than anyone may realize...just for different reasons."

Kurt's words were cryptic, but Strange understood him instantly. Turning away, he began to walk with Kurt to the Danger Room. When the two men arrived, they were surprised to see Bucky gripping the railing just behind the glass, his metal arm bending the metal to the shape of his grip.

His eyes were trained onto (Y/n), his expression dark and jaw clenched, and Tony and Peter was standing close by, both wearing equal expressions of concern. Charles was watching silently with Strange, and Hank, Sam, and Ororo were wearing varying expressions of surprise and awe.

Logan was nonchalant, not allowing his wariness to be noticed, and Kurt looked upset as he wrung his hands together again, his tail twitching anxiously.

The soldier was going insane.

The Danger Room had conjured up a hologram, and at first glance, it was almost normal. The environment had turned into a basic rendering of Lukas' mansion; a complete rendering of the front lobby. However, after a moment, there was movement; curtains from open windows flowing from the wind; sunlight shimmering through; and the front door opening.

Holographic versions of Bucky, Tony, and Logan entered the room with their weapons holstered and expressions neutral. There was no hostility, no anger, nor any indication of frustration upon their holographic faces.

However, for the soldier, it didn't matter. Her body tensed like a spring snapping into place as she shot up from the floor, and her limbs were poised with an alertness that hadn't been there moments ago in her confusion of the change of environment.

The hologram of Tony opened his mouth to say something, but the chance never came. (Y/n) launched.

She moved like a tiger in the wild; her body twisting and moving through the air with calculated efficiency and intent. Despite not having a weapon, (Y/n) was moving with purpose as she threw a right-hook at the hologram of Tony.

Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom as the Danger Room reported to the X-Men watching behind the glass.

"Failsafe activation confirmed. Subject has been engaged. Protocol: Obey. Targeted Outcome: Elimination."

Peter was surprised by the voice, jumping back a bit, and Logan growled slightly in thought as (Y/n) fists collided with the holographic counterpart, sending the projection sputtering into fractured light. The sight caused the soldier to pause for a moment, but in the next moment, she was moving onto her next target. Each attack was controlled, flawless, and brutal.

There was no hesitation to kill.

Bucky grit his teeth slightly, and Ororo muttered.

"My god, it's like she's mindless."

Hank replied grimly.

"That's because she is. (Y/n)'s body is currently on autopilot while her conscious is trapped. Right now, you're looking only at the Winter Soldier."

Charles was quiet as he stared at (Y/n), and for a moment the room was silent until Charles suddenly winced and placed a hand to his head. Ororo asked with concern.

"Professor?"

"The failsafe is preventing me from being able to get through...(Y/n) is there, I can feel it, but the block that has been integrated within the failsafe is unlike anything I've encountered before."

Strange glanced at Charles before Peter glanced back, asking with a slight shrug.

"What if you and Strange and Wanda worked together? I mean, I know Doctor Strange isn't entirely psychic, but if we had three people who can mess with minds trying to get through...maybe we'll be able to do something."

Tony raised a hand, stating with a hint of enthusiasm to his voice.

"Right, three psychic's on one mind: one to open the door, another to hold it open, and one to get through. Almost like a much better, much more ethical Human Centipede."

Strange closed his eyes as Peter paled, and Strange muttered as he exhaled through his nose.

"I regret every single moment that I have known you."

Sam stated, shaking his head.

"Don't encourage the man. Here's the thing: how do we get Wanda here without giving anybody any idea of what's going on? I'm telling y'all, if any of the others get a whiff of what's happening, they're gonna want to come."

Bucky muttered as he watched (Y/n) defeat the holograms that continued to appear without breaking a sweat, tearing a table up off of the floor to launch it at a holographic image of Natasha.

"We'll use a secure line to contact her. Tell her the problem, Strange opens a portal, we get her in, and we start getting (Y/n) back."

Hank couldn't help but to ask, Logan nodding along with curiosity.

"Forgive me if this is a sensitive question, but why do you not want the other Avengers to know about us retrieving (Y/n)?"

Bucky didn’t answer right away. His eyes stayed locked on (Y/n), her body moving like a ghost through the fake battlefield, dispatching enemies without pause, without remorse. There was something mechanical in it.

Something too familiar.

After a long moment, he finally spoke, voice low.

"It's not the others that I'm worried about, it's Fury. He doesn't know her the way that we do...and because of that, he treats her like a threat, not like a person. Why do you think he chose her for the mission? It was a fucking test."

That silenced the room, Peter and Tony looking particularly forlorn as Sam's lips pursed. Bucky clenched his jaw, glancing over his shoulder toward the others.

“I’ve seen that look before...the one people usually wear when there's no other choice. Hell, I’ve been on the receiving end of it. And maybe Steve or...or Shuri wouldn’t say it out loud, but they’d be thinking it...wondering if it would be possible to stop her and if she’s worth saving.”

Peter swallowed hard, visibly uncomfortable, and Strange stayed quiet as he allowed Bucky to voice his thoughts.

“She's worth it."

Bucky said flatly, eyes burning.

“She’s worth saving. Even if she can’t see it right now.”

Strange raised a brow slightly, but he didn’t disagree. Neither did Charles.

Sam let out a breath, slipping his phone out of his pocket.

"Alright. Stark, secure a line. I’ll call Wanda."

Sam stepped out of the room to call Wanda, and Logan glanced at Bucky before looking back at (Y/n) as she continued to fight.

"She's not gonna hold back on ya, bub."

Bucky's jaw clenched tightly, and he muttered.

"I know. I'm hoping on it."

Logan then glanced at him, asking.

"Yeah, but what the hell are you gonna do when you're gonna have to hurt her to stop her?"

Bucky glared at Logan, and the two men shared a deep look before Logan muttered in warning.

"I ain't the enemy here, bub."

"Then fucking act like it."

Bucky stormed off, tearing off the sleeve of his uniform to reveal his metal arm completely before he stepped into the danger room. Logan growled before he muttered to Charles.

"I'm starting to think that boy is more trouble than he's worth."

Charles gave Logan a disapproving look, retorting.

"You were once that boy. Don't be angry with him, Logan. He's hurting very deeply inside...just as you had once."

Logan grumbled to himself before watching as Bucky stepped into the room, and Peter wrung his hands together in anxiety as he mumbled.

"This is gonna go so bad."

Tony took out a box of blueberries, popping one into his mouth as he replied and offered the blueberries to anybody who wanted them.

"Well, I think we'll be able to break them apart if need be. We've got a big group of people who could easily restrain (Y/n) if need be."

Kurt, Hank, and Peter all took some of Tony's blueberries while Logan frowned at the man.

"Where the hell were you hiding those?"

"Magic."

Strange deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"That's a bold-faced lie. There's literally nothing magical about you."

Tony gasped before he said as confidently as possible.

"Uh, yes there is, it's my d-"

"-Alright, I'm shutting you up right then and there, Stark."

Ororo exclaimed, and Tony just sighed before Sam came back into the room.

"Wanda's all-in and ready whenever you are, Strange."

Strange heaved out a breath through his nose before opening a portal, stating.

"I really am not a magical taxi service."

Kurt snorted, and the two men shared looks of understanding before Wanda stepped through the portal. Her gait was calm but determined, her eyes glancing around the room in silent greeting before she asked.

"Where is she?"

Charles turned to Wanda, nodding his head gently before turning back and gesturing to the Danger Room.

"She is within the Danger Room. It is our training facility here for our X-Men and youth alike. James is already inside."

Wanda pursed her lips as she watched (Y/n) and Bucky fight for a moment, and Wanda turned to Charles.

"Tell me what to do."

-BUCKY-

The second that he had stepped into the Danger Room, the simulation that had been running glitched for a moment to account for the new signature within the program. The room changed into a replica of Shuri's lab, Doris Day playing quietly from the simulated speaker, but it did nothing to curb (Y/n).

The second she had felt his presence, she immediately attacked, launching herself at him from over a table, and Bucky immediately threw his hands up to block the punch. Her fist connected with his vibranium arm, the vibrations making his spine shiver uncomfortably, and Bucky blocked the kick she had attempted to land to his knee.

"(Y/n), I know you're in there."

His words meant nothing to the soldier, her lips curling back into a snarl as Bucky grabbed onto her forearm to stabilize her. However, (Y/n) spun, her elbow landing against his cheek. Bucky let out a yelp, stumbling back a bit, and (Y/n) followed up with a kick to his face. Bucky was thrown back a bit, wincing, and he wiped his lip of blood.

"You don't want to do this. I know you don't."

Her eyes were still dead, her body moving with murderous grace that had him almost hypnotized. The soldier swiped lowly, trying to take him down, and he jumped back; barely missing it. Instead, Bucky grabbed onto her arm, trying to get her into a judo lock, but the woman was quick to headbutt him with an angry yell.

Bucky cursed as his nose cracked, blood gushing down his nostrils again, and Bucky was starting to become agitated. His muscles were tense, that instinct to survive starting to rear its ugly head, and when (Y/n) tried to throw a punch to his ribs, Bucky blocked with his metal arm before shoving her away as hard as he could.

The soldier skidded backwards, crouching low to the ground before running at him again. The soldier was relentless, focused entirely on taking him down, and Bucky knew that he was going to have to stop playing defense at some point.

Just as she met him, Bucky sidestepped and tried to put her into a headlock. She struggled for a moment before biting down on his flesh arm, and Bucky let out a cry of pain before loosening his grip. Instantly, the soldier ripped herself from Bucky with a growl, her body twisting mid-air as she slammed her heel towards Bucky's head.

Bucky blocked just in time, his metal arm absorbing the force of the impact, but his bones still rattled; spine shivering from the pain of the metal tugging on his flesh. Bucky growled slightly, shouting desperately.

"Dammit, (Y/n), stop!"

But the Soldier didn’t stop. She pivoted on the ball of her foot and launched into another attack. The soldier was a dangerous tornado; a blur of fists and knees meant to incapacitate and kill. Bucky was blocking high and low, deflecting the best that he could, and he grunted as her elbow scraped across his ribs.

He was fighting with everything he had, and he was barely holding his ground.

He had to stop holding back if he wanted to survive.

-STRANGE-

In the control room, Wanda stood between Strange and Charles, her fingers lightly resting on each of their temples as they worked. Her eyes glowed red as her power manifested, waves of chaotic energy rippling outward like heat off asphalt.

Every psychic in the room had their eyes closed, straining under the weight of the mental fortress they were trying to breach. Strange was having a difficult time trying to push through the barriers, but when he was able to, he ordered with labored breaths.

"Wanda, I need you to make the bridge for Charles to get through."

She nodded once, and in her mind’s eye, a bridge began to form—red energy twisting into a path across the void and toward (Y/n)’s locked consciousness. The air crackled with tension. Charles slipped through.

Wanda nodded, and in her mind's eye, a bridge began to form. Red energy was twisting into a path across the void and toward (Y/n)'s locked consciousness, and as the air crackled with tension, Charles was able to gain access.

The connection was unsteady; fragile and shifting slightly with every second that passed. There wasn't enough time to have a full conversation, perhaps even to pull (Y/n) out, but when Charles arrived in the cell where (Y/n)'s consciousness was locked away, Charles was stupefied.

The prison cell was coated in ice, snow drifting down from nowhere as frost and ice continued to slowly manifest itself seemingly out of thin air. The walls shimmered with crystalline frost, and jagged mirrors lined the far corners like thorns in flesh.

In the center of the room was a cage, ornate and twisted into the shape of a birdcage. Inside of the cage was (Y/n). She was curled up, arms around her knees. Her hands were blackened to the wrists with frostbite, patches of her skin pale and blistered. One of her shoulders was entirely stiff with ice.

There was a mirror just behind her, and Charles was perturbed to see that there were parts of (Y/n) that were showing up in the mirror. An arm here, a shoulder there, a side of her face. She was slowly being sucked into the metaphysical mirror as the Winter Soldier continued to take over. Charles stepped forward the cage, stating softly.

"(Y/n), can you hear me?"

At first, (Y/n) didn't respond, and Charles urged.

"(Y/n), how can we help you?"

Charles placed his hands onto the bars of the cage, but he recoiled in pain. The bars were so cold that they burned the second he made contact, and he was startled by (Y/n)'s whispering voice; sounding so tired and in pain as she spoke.

"Lavender and Vanilla."

Charles was confused, asking.

"What do you mean?"

(Y/n) looked up, and Charles was disturbed by the sight of her eyes being frozen over, looking akin to rigor mortis as her bottom lip trembled from the tears and the cold.

"Lavender and vanilla."

Charles felt a presence behind him, dark and evil, and he whispered to her before whipping around to see the Winter Soldier standing behind him with a knife raised.

"Remember the sunlight, my dear girl."

Charles was sucked out the second that Strange detected the danger, and Charles sucked in huge breaths of air as she slumped over within his chair slightly. Wanda was disturbed, placing her hands on Charles' back as Charles continued to catch his breath. Strange was concerned as well, stepping forward as he asked.

"What happened, Professor?"

Charles sat back a bit, stating as he glanced at Strange.

"She kept repeating 'lavender and vanilla'."

Wanda looked confused, glancing back at Strange.

"Lavender and Vanilla?"

Strange's expression began to slacked as he remembered.

"The candle. The one from her aunt’s house. It was lavender and vanilla scented. I smelled it in her mindscape once—thought it was disgusting. She said her Aunt Mavis had it burning all the time.”

Wanda looked confused, but Charles understood almost instantly.

"The key for the deactivation...it must be induced by scent. Quickly, if we can program the room to begin emitting the scent, we might be able to deactivate the failsafe."

Wanda asked, stepping towards the console and looking almost flustered.

"What do I do?"

-BUCKY-

Bucky was almost covered in blood, his teeth grinding slightly as he clenched his jaw. (Y/n) was circling him like a panther on prey, her eyes watching him closely. She was reading his movements, calculating and strategizing, and Bucky was breathing hard. He had managed to get a few good hits in, a cut on her chin from where he was able to get a good left-hook in, but nothing was deterring the soldier.

HIs adrenaline was spiked, his heart racing and body trembling, and Bucky was starting to lose his composure. His instincts were kicking in, a long-forgotten haze subtly taking over Bucky, and he swallowed thickly.

If he was going to survive, he had to even the playing field. Bucky just didn't want to. He didn't want to have to rely on that training that was still engraved into him, but Bucky wasn't being given a choice as (Y/n) launched herself at him again. Their fists connected as Bucky grunted, pivoting his body to anchor himself, and her knee came up to land a blow to his diaphragm.

Bucky blocked, however, twisting and dropping low, and he let out a yell as he drove an uppercut into her sternum. The soldier choked on a breath, and Bucky followed up with a sharp hook to her jaw. (y/n) was thrown backwards, and there was a subtle and strange scent beginning to fill the room.

Bucky didn't make the connection, however. Bucky was running completely on survival instinct, and he didn't notice the moment that (Y/n) hesitated for a moment, her feet stumbling. Bucky threw a punch as hard as he could, yelling out, and his fist connected with her temple.

There was a sound of bone cracking, and (Y/n) instantly dropped. Bucky was breathing heavily, and for a moment, he waited for (Y/n) to get back up.

(Y/n), however, was completely still. Dread began to fill him as he waited, but it was almost as if she wasn't even breathing. Panic began to fill him, and Bucky immediately ran over to drop to his knees by her aside as the room became filled with the familiar lavender and vanilla scent.

"(Y/n)?"

-

STORY NTOES: 8.4k words ;-;

TAGGING: @ravenswritingroom @mggslefttit @softpia @thebl00dwyrm @buckvoidsyy @chonkybonky @seemsxsketchy @tilldeathripsusapart @vicmc624 @mgchaser @aash3 @samfunko @seventeen-x @valckenaux @babybeeelle @sc4rrc @cjand10 @bane-y-zane @notsostrangerthing @thenameswinter99 @bumblebeebutter @torntaltos @highhopes1008 @muchwita

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Akane Owari VS Chie Satonaka [Danganronpa Survivor VS Persona 4]

Hifumi: Akane Owari, the energetic Ultimate Gymnast with a Fiery Temper!

Leona: Chie Satonaka, the Spunky Dragon with Deadly Legs!

Hifumi: Both had an appetite for juicy meat, but both have MORE of an appetite for a hella-good scrap! But the question is which one of them is gonna come out on top!?

Leona: He's Hifumi and I'm Leona!

Hifumi: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, talents and skills, to see who will win a DEATH BATTLE!

Leona: Ok, let's just get this over with...Blah blah blah Ultimate Talents blah blah blah Hope's Peak blah blah-

Hifumi: Hey! I know we end up having to repeat the same things, but you need to get used to it! Besides, you're not the one who has to say it.

Leona: Well, just get on with it. Give us the quick version.

Hifumi: I'm afraid I can't do that. See, there are actually a few differences with this combatant than with our last two. But as for what you already know, Hope's Peak Academy was a prestigious school that only allowed the best to enroll in it. But in an attempt to use these students to create Ultimate Hope for the Future, the academy and it's student body were infiltrated by the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima, and her sister Mukuro Ikusaba.

Leona: Yeah, we know all this. Revolutions, violence, war, destruction, ever horrible thing you could ever possibly imagined followed Enoshima's plot. 

Hifumi: But what we HAVEN'T mentioned up until now, is that besides Mukuro Ikusaba, Junko Enoshima didn't act alone in achieving her world-level destruction. By brainwashing the 77th Class of Ultimate Students, and showing them the tragic death of their most beloved classmate, Junko turned them into the group that we now know as the Remnants of Despair.

Leona: If I remember correctly, the Remnants went about causing destruction and despair of all kinds, making life a hellish nightmare for everyone until they were all captured by the Future Foundation. Then they were put in some kind of...virtual reality or whatever?

Hifumi: A virtual realm known as the Neo World Program, designed from the basis of Mr Fujisaki's research. A replica of the previously famous resort location, Jabberwock Island, was created, and the 77th Class were placed inside this virtual realm, with their memories being reset. The goal was to rehabilitate them; to reset them to how they were before Junko took their lives away. However, things took a drastic turn for the worst when Junko Enoshima herself returned, hacked the program, and kickstarted her twisted Killing Game all over again!

Leona: Didn't Junko...die though?

Hifumi: Yes. It was actually an AI copy of Junko Enoshima that was hacked into the program, infiltrated the code, and once again, took the form of Monokuma to host her second Killing Game. If things had gone to plan, she would have been able to take over the bodies of her old Remnant allies and turn them into her. "Operation Junko-fy All Mankind" as she called it.

Leona: It just gets worse! 

Hifumi: That it does. Of course, the one who put her in the system was Izuru Kamukura, and that same Kamukura, after remembering his previous life as Hajime Hinata, was able to boot her out again! Alongside Mr Hinata though, there were four others who were able to survive the deadly game right until the end. Sonia Nevermind, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, Kazuichi Soda and...

Leona: Akane Owari!

Hifumi: Ms Owari is, to be frank, a little thick-headed. She lives life on passion alone, doesn't really think about things, nor really does she understand most basic principles. However, she's a thoroughly charming woman with headstrong morals and a kind heart!

Leona: And she has MASSIVE TITS!

Hifumi: I...won't comment on that...

Leona: Aw, c'mon Fumi! I've seen those cutouts in your room! You've got a thing for knockers, don't you!

Hifumi: Not if they're bouncing in my face in 3D form! Behind a screen is fine!

Leona: Alright, well, anyway, due to her fiery personality and love for strength and fighting, Akane quickly established herself as one of the muscles of the group, besides the likes of her classmates, Nekomaru Nidai and Peko Pekoyama.

Hifumi: This is most likely due to her fairly rough upbringing. It's widely unknown even to the Future Foundation where her family lived originally, but Ms Owari's family includes multiple younger and older brothers and sisters and they're not very well off. In her own words, it wasn't uncommon to wake up and find a dead body in the trash, and due to her lack of prior education, she struggles to learn basic things like names and numbers. Despite all that, Ms Owari caught the attention of Hope's Peak Academy for her skills with parkour, and her overall incredible agility.

Leona: Akane was inducted into the 77th Class as the Ultimate Gymnast. But...when I usually think of gymnasts, I usually think of people who dance gracefully around a stage with ribbons...Not whatever this battle hungry maniac is supposed to be.

Hifumi: It is indeed true that Ms Owari might be the furthest thing from your standard gymnast, but her skills speak for themselves. She's certainly agile and possesses enough stamina to pull complicated moves and techniques off. So much so that she's capable of sparring with overpowered people like Nekomaru Nidai, who also trained her to be a better fighter, as well as Sakura Ogami.

Leona: Wait, that happened in Danganronpa Summer Camp! Are we allowed to count that? It's not canon!

Hifumi: True, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. There aren't really any dramatic changes in power between the spinoff and the main series, so Ms Owari, Mr Nidai and Ms Ogami would be the relative strength they were during their academic years. Plus, Danganronpa S also reveals that the program doesn't change a person's physical condition, strength or speed, and assuming this fits in line with the program of Danganronpa 2, it's important to keep this in mind.

Leona: Fair enough...In that case, Sakura actually states in that game that if she were to ever stop training, it wouldn't be long before Akane surpassed her. And given that Akane shares a feat with Sakura in being able to survive an encounter with Monokuma and match him blow for blow, this might very well be the case.

Hifumi: Well...Yes and no. There are a few caveats we need to keep in mind with that feat.

Leona: Like what?

Hifumi: First of all, it's unclear what the strength difference is between Hope's Peak Monokuma and Jabberwock Island Monokuma, but it's heavily implied due to the nature of the digital world, the latter is stronger, and the only reason Ms Owari survived that encounter is because Monokuma was toying with her and her hotheadedness that made her want to challenge him in the first place. However, the fact that she survived relatively unscathed is indeed an accomplishment, even though it's implied that she was injured.

Leona: In fact, most of Akane's feats are exactly this. Despite how she's a relatively skinny thing and not packing nearly as much muscle as Sakura, Akane's biggest asset, besides her...y'know...is her abnormal defense!

Hifumi: Right! Not only did Ms Owari survive that encounter with Monokuma, her introduction scene in Danganronpa 3 paints this defense in a bright light. Nekomaru Nidai attacks her with enough force that it causes 3 explosions the SIZE OF THE ACADEMY BUILDING!

Leona: So let's do a couple calculations here. The main campus of Hope's Peak Academy is stated to be " approximately the size of four regular high-schools." The average size of a public high school is around 129,000 cubic feet, though these are just averages, and actual school building sizes can vary greatly.

Hifumi: But assuming the average is correct, that would give Hope's Peak's building a total measure of around 516,000 cubic feet. With our calculations, taking the power of one explosion then multiplying it by three, the total power of these explosions is, in the very least, around 12 Kilograms of TNT.

Leona: Speaking of Nekomaru, he and Akane have a pretty strong bond, and it's thanks to him that Akane knows a fair few techniques for fighting...even if they are fairly limited. They've sparred with one another on multiple occasions, and every time Nekomaru beats her up, Akane gets back up again real quick, raring to go another round!

Hifumi: Besides the incredible strength we mentioned just now, Mr Nidai is also, supposedly according to Mr Hanamura, able to kill a cow with his bare hands, tore the head off a giant robot, and took a bazooka head on just to protect the Gymnast. Yes, that killed him, but his body was only slightly bleeding, instead of having been blown to smithereens.

Leona: In what matches we've seen from then, one of them had them fight with so much force that it completely demolished the 77th Class's homeroom, and blew a giant hole in the wall, and Akane was also cratered into the wall and just got right back up again. In the other, Nekomaru lands a deadly punch straight to Akane's stomach, and it downs her for a minute at most.

Hifumi: Ms Owari, as she is now, is also more than capable of dishing out damage just as much as she can take it. If we scale her with other characters in the DR universe, she's most assuredly on the same level of strength as the likes of Mr Nidai, and in most materials, she's capable of launching people into the air with her punches, and in the Comic Anthology, accidentally breaks Ms Hiyoko Saionji's spine by simply pulling on the sash of her kimono.

Leona: And due to her gymnastics, stamina and athletic ability, is possibly faster than people like Genocide Jill, who is capable of dodging lightning. She climbed the Hope's Peak school building in a matter of seconds, ran so fast past Teruteru it created a force that spun him around, and then proceeded to catch knives in her teeth! In addition, her vitality and inner strength is so strong, as a Remnant of Despair, she didn't eat for what we assume is between 2-3 years and DIDN'T DIE OF STARVATION!(based on the supposed timeline of the Killing Games, with Danganronpa 2 taking place 1 year after Danganronpa 1, by which point the tragedy and the Remnants would have been around for 2 or so years) 

Hifumi: Plus, Mr Nidai states that Ms Owari is faster than any athlete he's ever seen. And as the  Ultimate Team Manager, he's has trained countless sports teams and track athletes, so a claim like this from him is a big deal! And this isn't even mentioning what is arguably her most impressive display of power so far...Her fight with Nagito Komaeda.

Leona: Now I know what you're all thinking... "Nagito's a frail wimp! And Akane almost strangled him to death in DR2! Of course she would win a fight against him!" But we're not talking about THAT Nagito Komaeda. We're talking about Nagito Komaeda from SURVIVOR, who thanks to Organization Zetsubou, took the Hope Serum and became a monster with unlimited talents, becoming an Ultimate Hope himself.

Hifumi: Granted, Ms Owari ended up losing that fight and her spine along with it, since Komaeda hadn't really awoken to his true latent abilities until that fight reached it's conclusion. However, even if we assume that Nagito Komaeda fought at around half the power of Hajime Hinata at that time, it's still an INCREDIBLE feat, especially since she was able to do significant damage AND outpace him!

Leona: AMD Especially since Hajime DID lost to Nagito in the fight they had just before that arc, even if he was massively holding back. Assuming Izuru Kamukura can reach the same relativistic speed as the likes of Mukuro Ikusaba, and Nagito at that time was half that, that's still speeds of around Mach 10! 

Hifumi: And she was able to punch his sickly body so hard, he hurtled and smashed through several stone pillars! This feat most certainly puts her on the same level as Mr Nidai's explosion feat. In fact, if we scale this feat similarly to Mr Naegi's concrete wall punching feats from our first battle, the energy required to smash Komaeda through one of these pillars is around 31.572 grams of TNT. And based on the number of crashes, we can surmise that he flew through a total of 12 pillars, effectively increasing that feat of strength to 378.864 grams of TNT, or at least a little under it!

Leona: In addition to all these amazing abilities, Akane herself possesses some traits unique to herself. It may have to do with her upbringing, but Akane has some very animal-like abilities, including sensitive ears, a bloodhound's sense of smell, and a natural danger instinct that allows her to sniff out powerful opponents. In fact, since we apparently are counting DRS and UTDP, she very almost figured out Mukuro Ikusaba's true identity by sniffing out her dangerous soldier aura...Too bad she rarely ever knows what to do with that information.

Hifumi: It's no secret that Ms Owari isn't very smart. As I mentioned before, she lives almost entirely off of passion and relies on her gut instinct. Because of this, she rarely ever has a plan and jumps into fights that she really can't win, and rarely does she think things through, come up with calculated battle plans, and she doesn't really have a unique fighting style, even with the one's Nekomaru taught her. It's part of this reason why she has such a terrible win : lose ratio compared to every other capable fighter we know.

Leona: Who cares? Neither does Kuripa, and we know how busted he is.

Hifumi: A very valid point! We will talk more about that when we get to his episode in a future season!

Leona: However, even if she is one to just fight with her fists and think with them to, it's not like Akane doesn't have her own unique equipment she can use to give herself the edge.

Hifumi: Indeed. Danganronpa 3 implies that eating food, specifically freshly prepared meat, not only increases Ms Owari's strength but restores her vitality too. Kind of like how food in RPG's does. And failing that, she also possesses a secret weapon...A Special Enhancement drug developed by Ms Seiko Kimura and Mr Teruteru Hanamura.

Leona: You're telling me she's got a final form!?

Hifumi: That she does! This is what's known as Doping Corn Soup. Granted, she's only used it twice, and both times have proved the serum puts her strength on a level either equal or above that of Mr Nidai's. Now, keeping in mind that Ms Owari DIDN'T use this during her scrap with Komaeda, and pulled off her multiple pillar feat without it. If we were to add that sort of power to the feats that she's already shown, can you imagine just how capable she could be?

Leona: Nekomaru, as a reminder, ALSO battled Nagito AFTER Akane, when he was at a higher level of power, and was able to hold out for a similar length of time. See what we were saying about him earlier for other feats of strength that Akane can now not only match, but possibly overpower. As a side effect, the soup also clearly heats up her bodies base temperature, as when she uses it for the first time in DR3, steam comes off her body in room temperature.

Hifumi: So yes...While Akane Owari may be a meat-loving meathead who's hungry for battle, and reckless to a fault, she indeed has the sheer power and capability to back up her bold claims. While once an enemy of the Future Foundation, one thing is clear now more than ever. We're happy to have her!

Leona: Shadows. According to Jungian psychological studies, they are innermost thoughts of man; specifically parts one would keep to themselves, and personalities one would wear as a mask to hide their true self. 

Hifumi: That was oddly inquisitive of you...

Leona: Well, I know this because of the importance of these studies in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.

Hifumi: You know, I think that might be the first time I've heard someone call Persona a Shin Megami Tensei game in a while. 

Leona: It ain't what it used to be. But back in the days of Persona 4, we were riding that hype train baby! But anyway, in the world of Persona, there are certain people who can take the power of these dark sides of themselves, and use them to help them fight in other worlds, combating the evil Shadows and upholding truth and justice in their universe! One of these groups is the Inaba Investigation Team!

Hifumi: In order to more properly become stronger, one must identify their own weaknesses and improve upon them. For the Investigation Team, this was taken into a very literal sense, by confronting beings made of the worst parts of themselves, and accepting them for who they are. Alongside those like the clumsy Yosuke Hanamura and the elegant Yukiko Amagi, one of the roughest and toughest members of this quirky group, is Ms Chie Satonaka!

Leona: At face value, Chie is your average short-haired, hyperactive tomboy. She watches kung-fu movies, chows down meat like a hungry lion, and regularly kicks delinquents in the balls for bothering her bestie...and Yosuke...a lot actually...For no real reason...

Hifumi: Living in the laid-back and easygoing town of Inaba, her life was fairly uneventful and with not much excitement...That is until Yu showed up.

Leona: Me?

Hifumi: No, not YOU! Yu, as in Y-U Narukami.

Leona: What a confusing name.

Hifumi: Anyone else could easily say the same thing about Hifumi or Leona.

Leona: Persona has a Hifumi too! And she's way hotter than you!

Hifumi: First of all...rude...Secondly...true?

Leona: On Yu's first day at Yasogami High, he was on a tour of the town with Chie and Yukiko, when the trio suddenly came across the scene of a crime, where a dead body had been found hanging from some telephone poles!

Hifumi: At the same time, rumors were going round about a mysterious phenomenon called the Midnight Channel, in which staring into a TV while it was turned off at midnight while it was raining would allow one to see one's soulmate. Narukami quickly found out that this was...partly true.

Leona: It wasn't your soulmate that appeared on the other side of the screen, but as Yu and co. discovered, it showed the image of whoever it was that was going to die next. Like when the channel showed the figure of Saki Konishi, and she turned up dead soon after. Just before this, Yu, Chie and Yosuke learned that Yu had the power to enter another world by traveling through a TV screen, filled with dangerous beings, which were these Shadows.

Hifumi: Fortunately, after they entered the TV for the second time in hopes of finding out the truth behind Konishi's death, Narukami and Hanamura, along with their new companion Teddie, a strange bear that lived in that other world, discovered they could wield the powers of Personas. Things unfortunately took a turn for the worst for Satonaka, when they found out that the next person to appear on the midnight channel was none other than her best friend, Yukiko Amagi.

Leona: Chie was...to put bluntly, a little upset, and ended up charging headfirst into the TV realm. This led to an encounter with her own Shadow, which she initially rejected, but then accepted after some soul searching, and once she did, she gained the power of the Persona herself, awakening to her spiritual guardian, Tomoe! Now, since we've gotten to this point, I have to ask. Throughout the course of the game, Chie's power evolves overtime, and as it does, her Persona gains new strength and new forms. So which one of Chie's Persona's are we going to be using for this fight?

Hifumi: Excellent question! As is the case with most party members in Persona 4 and 5, Satonaka's Persona has three evolutionary stages. The initial form is Tomoe, then that ascends into Suzuka-Gongen, and finally, Haraedo-no-Okami. For this battle, we will be giving Satonaka her initial Persona, Tomoe.

Leona: Aw, really!? We're gonna nerf her so heavily!? For shame Hifumi!

Hifumi: Now hold on a moment, there IS a good reason for this. Unlike the Persona 3 characters, such as Mitsuru Kirijo or Akihiko Sanada, Suzuka-Gongen and Haraedo-no-Okami are OPTIONAL forms that are unlocked by completing Satonaka's social link, whereas for those two, it was a mandatory evolution that carries on throughout the games. Additionally, the only iteration of Persona 4's franchise where Chie's Persona ascends to the level above is Persona 4 The Animation, and she doesn't do so until the fight with Ameno-Sagiri. In sequel chapters/games like Arena and Dancing, Satonaka continues to use Tomoe as her primary Persona, so we do have to take that into account. However, as to not dumb down her abilities, even if her Persona takes base form we WILL be giving her all of her ascended Persona's abilities, like the immunity to ice and Dragon Hustle.

Leona: Ok good. At least we got that cleared up. Anyway, now that she had the power to fight, Chie used her newfound abilities to help Yukiko do the same as she did; come to terms with her own Shadow, and together, they, as well as Yu and Yosuke, formed the Investigation Team with the goal of tracking down the dirty bastard that was killing everyone and kicking plenty of Shadow ass along the way...Huh...You know, it was on the tip of my tongue the whole time, but she really reminds me of Maya.

Hifumi: She really is similar to Ms Canzanilla now that you mention it...in the good AND the bad way...

Leona: What's that supposed to mean?

Hifumi: N-Never mind...Forget I said anything. What sets Ms Satonaka apart from the other members of her team is she's the only one who doesn't really use any sort of weapon, not even a steel chair like Tatsumi or a fan like Amagi. Instead, she relies on her own raw strength, and her mighty, and fine legs.

Leona: Don't be simping on main Fumi.

Hifumi: I'm just quoting the show!

Leona: Yeah, but seriously, from watching all those action-packed kung-fu movies, Chie learned how to really stick it to the Shadows, mostly with her powerful kicking abilities. For some extra oomph, she can also equip special kinds of boots to increase her attack power; the most powerful of which are the Moses Sandals, which also raises her critical hit rate.

Hifumi: As for her Persona, Tomoe is armed with a double-ended polearm, which allows her to skewer and slice Satonaka's enemies. And not only that, because of the magical power of her Persona, Satonaka is also capable of cryokinesis...However, her own brand of this power is limited compared to other ice users like Kirijo, Teddie and Kitagawa.

Leona: Chie does start off as the party's resident ice user, but as time goes on, she starts to drift away from those kinds of attacks as Teddie ends up taking that spot, choosing instead to specialize in raw physical power. This includes moves such as God's Hand, which summons a super powerful fist strong enough to pound a Shadow so hard, it obliterates the ground beneath it, Agneyastra, which is kind of a less-powerful meteor shower but STILL a freaking meteor shower, and Mind Slice, which can fuck with an opponents mind and cause them to panic.

Hifumi: If the need arises, she also has access to light skills that allow her to instantly KO opponents, though this doesn't work on particularly powerful opponents like bosses. And even in the case these powerful physical blows aren't enough to take her opponent down, Satonaka can use abilities like Tarukaja, which raises her attack power, Rebellion, which increases her critical hit rate, and Counterstrike, which can reflect strong physical blows right back at her opponent. 

Leona: And as we said before, at her max power, Chie can use her own signature move Dragon Hustle, which raises all of her stats, like her power, defense and speed. However, it should be noted that this doesn't last for very long. Three attacking turns at least. 

Hifumi: And assuming that a turn in combat is equal to a minute in real time, that would mean each effect lasts only 3 minutes. 

Leona: The Persona has a few other weaknesses as well. For example, even though it is a spirit, it can still be hurt by regular attacks, and if it takes too much damage, it can break, and thus becomes unusable for a short time. Also, since Tomoe is a part of Chie's soul, any damage done to the Persona is reflected back on Chie herself as mental damage. 

Hifumi: Also, using a Persona for too long induces this same break effect, and can tire out the user. Physical attacks drain health while magic attacks drain stamina. These can be replenished with spells and items.

Leona: However, these buffs would definitely last long enough to allow Chie to pull off her most extraordinary ability...the GALACTIC PUNT! A kick so powerful, it can send any opponent into the stratosphere!

Hifumi: That...might be a bit of an exaggeration. Given how little is explained about the move, it's only been shown to send enemies flying off into the horizon. It's never outright stated that Satonaka's kick can send enemies to space. Even so, a kick like that must have a power level equal to or around 770,000 Newtons, or 166 Grams of TNT. 

Leona: Ok, but what about bigger opponents that she's used the Punt on? Like Iron Tager or Blitztank?

Hifumi: Those, unfortunately, don't count. BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle may feature Ms Satonaka's moves from the Arena games, but it's not canon to Persona 4's storyline. If it's canon anywhere, it's the BlazBlue storyline specifically, so we can't take that into account. She HAS launched Shadows bigger than her into the horizon, but it's hard to lock down an exact weight for some of these Shadows. Even then, they can't be that much heaver or durable than the Investigation Team are themselves for this to be possible, and it's not like she can use the Galactic Punt on Boss Shadows like the Reaper.

Leona: But she's beaten the Reaper, right?

Hifumi: Yes, and opponents just as strong, if not stronger, like Izanami or Ameno-Sagiri. However, we need to make it perfectly clear here that Satonaka did not defeat these foes by herself. Frankly, due to her own set of weaknesses, it's very unlikely that she could. For example, she lacks any definitive way to heal herself, and given her focus on physical attacks which drain her vitality, this isn't an ideal scenario.

Leona: Also, Chie may be one of the physically strongest members of her team, but that's really the only leg she has up on her teammates...pun surprisingly not intended. She is blindingly fast, being able to dodge fire and lightning attacks from Shadows and Personas alike, but she's nowhere near the fastest member of her team, as Yosuke and Yu have been show to outspeed most of her attacks. But her biggest flaw in her overall stat pool is her defense.

Hifumi: Satonaka is what we call a "glass cannon", a term used in roleplaying games, board games or video games to describe a character or unit with strong offensive power but weak defensive capabilities. Her most impressive feat of survival is being able to directly withstand flaming attacks from Shadow Yukiko, despite her and her Persona having a crippling weakness to fire, but aside from that, she hasn't shown to be very physically durable, and can be taken down easily by a strong enough enemy.

Leona: But defense or no defense, Chie's got more than enough firepower and willpower to take her opponents down one at a time. And with the aid of Yu, Yosuke, Yukiko and everyone else, she was able to become the hero the quiet town of Inaba needed, solving the murderous mystery, and living the rest of her life with her head held high...And it turns out she found her calling in dancing not soon after!

Hifumi: I still shudder to accept that Dancing All Night is canon...

Hifumi: Alright, the combatants are set! Let's see which of our fighters comes out on top this time!

Leona: IT'S TIME FOR A DEEAAATH BAAATTLLLLLLEEE!

The scene opens to a peaceful day on a quiet street. A young adult Chie Satonaka walks down the street with her hands in her pockets, minding her own business.

Chie: {Hums to the tune of I'll face myself} Hm HM hm~ Hm HM hm~ Hm HM hm-HMMMGH!?

She freezes, her eyes widen, and her body tenses up as something within the window catches her eye. Inside the butchers, a perfectly prepared cut of juicy meet lies on display. Her tongue sticks out and she starts drooling on the glass like a dog.

Chie: Oh my gosh...! So thick...! So fresh...! Oh I can almost taste it from here! I gotta have it...! Wait...

She checks her pocket to see how much cash she has in her wallet. Her eyes light up when she realizes she has spare change.

Chie: Yes!

She brazenly barges into the store with a sunlight smile on her face.

Chie: Hey, Boss! I'll be taking that-HUH!?

As Chie reaches out to grab the fresh meat, a girl of taller stature than her and long brown messy hair reaches out for it at the same time. They stare at each other, their hands twitching as they reach out for their shared prize.

Chie: Excuse me...But this is mine, thanks...

Akane: Hey, I was here first, shrimp...Wait in line.

Chie: Grrrgh! WAATCHAH!

Akane: GUHUGH!

Akane snatches the meat from Chie, who responds in kind by karate kicking Akane through the butchers window. With some of the meat still in hand, Akane crawls to her feet and glares the girl down, as Chie adopts a fighting stance.

Chie: How about this!? We battle, right here and now! Whoever wins gets that meat!

Akane: Oh buddy...You don't know what you just started...HRGH!

*RIP!*

Akane tears off her shirt and skirt to show her training outfit underneath it, and pounds her chest competitively.

Chie: ...

For a moment, Chie looks embarrassed down at her own lacking chest, but shakes off that shame and goes in for the first attack.

Chie: HYATCHA! WATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

Akane: MUDADADADADADADADADADADA!

Or rather the first several...Chie opens with a flurry of kicks, which Akane does her best to parry, though the speed of the girls attacks make it fairly difficult. Chie then lands and goes for more precise kicks, which slowly overwhelm the Ultimate Gymnast.

Chie: Aw, what's wrong big girl!? Can't keep up!?

Akane: Hrgh...Cut it out, you damn pest! 

Chie: WAAGH!?

Akane grabs Chie's leg during one of her kicks and flings her over her shoulder, sending her flying back through the air. Chie skids along the ground, trying to retain her balance, and looks up fearfully as Akane rushes toward her at a superhuman speed, reeling up for a punch. However, a blue glowing tarot card appears in front of Chie in this dire moment, and knowing immediately what to do, she kicks it and breaks it.

Chie: Grr...TOMOE!

Tomoe appears above Chie and spins it's polearm, creating a blast of icy wind that hits Akane dead on. Her body slowly freezes over, slowing her down.

Akane: Gah...What the hell!?

Chie: Haha! Score 1 for...W-Wait!?

She suddenly whirls around to look up at Tomoe.

Chie: How am I doing that!? This is the real world, why is my Persona-?

Akane: HYAGH!

Chie: CHII! HAMAON!

Akane: Huh!? YAGH!

Having dropped her guard for a second, Chie is unprepared as Akane catches up to her, brushing off the ice and ramming into her head-first! Chie tries to activate her insta-kill bless skill, but Akane dodges it.

Chie: RAAGH!

Akane: Gegh! Agh! AHOOGH! OW! AGCCH! YAHOOO!

*SMAAASH!*

Chie quickly recovers despite the heavy blow, and chooses not to question things, as she and Tomoe start to combo Akane. Despite being able to hold a defensive stance until now, the duo of Persona and user overwhelm her pretty quickly. Tomoe spins it's weapon and smacks Akane so hard, she flies back and gets cratered into the side of a building.

Akane: Urgh...Not again...! H-Huh!?

Chie: Haha! HOPE YOU'RE READY! 

Akane shakes off her fatigue quickly and looks up to see Tomoe and Chie readying an attack. A huge golden fist appears propelled by rocket fire, and flies straight towards her.

Akane: Ggrrgh...OMPH!

Akane takes the cuts of meat she was able to pull off earlier and stuffs them in her mouth. As soon as she swallows them, her eyes twinkle with excitement.

Akane: Hell yeah! LET'S GO!

*KABOOOOOOOOM!*

Akane: EAT THIS!

*SHATTER!*

Chie: Aaaagh! 

Akane: DORYAAGH!

Chie: DAAGH!? OOF OOH ACK!

With the meat restoring her vitality and getting her on her feet faster, Akane is able to dodge out of the way of the God's Hand as it obliterates the wall behind her. She lunges into the air towards Tomoe and with one powerful swing, takes the Persona out! Chie collapses to her knees, clutching her head as the damage is reflected back onto her. Akane then lunges towards Chie and punches her in the jaw so hard, she skips along the ground like a stone on the water.

Akane: Fight me one on one like a man, cheater!

Chie: I'm not a man, moron! And neither are you! But alright...you asked for it...! HYUAGH!

Akane: YAGH!

Chie: WATCHAGH!

Akane: UHUGH!

Akane swipes at Chie with a sideways karate chop as the spunky dragon flies at her. She jumps over the chop and elbows Akane in the neck.

Chie: OOPH!

Akane spins around and kicks Chie in the mouth.

Akane: BLUAGH!

Chie lands on the ground, bounces back and haymaker's Akane's jaw.

Chie: GHUAGH!

Akane backflips, lunges forward and headbutts Chie in the face.

Akane: PHOOGH!

Chie kicks Akane in the stomach.

Chie: LEAGH!

Akane slaps Chie around the face.

Akane: AUUGH!?

Chie punches Akane in the...um..."assets"

Akane: BAHAGH!

Chie: BAHAGH!

Akane: AAUGH!

Chie: AAUGH!

Akane: UHUAGH!

Chie: UHUAGH!

Akane: DOOGH!

Chie: DOOGH!

And thus the cycle continues...Until the two kick each other in the face and spin backwards, distance being put between each other. 

Akane: Man, Legs...You are hard to put down...!

Chie: Alright...That DOES it...! DRAGON'S FURY!

Akane: ...!?

Chie: AGNEYASTRA!

Akane: AGH! OOH! UHUGH! N-No fair! AGHCK!

Having now bought enough time for her Persona to reform, Chie summons Tomoe again, and the image of a long golden dragon surrounds Chie as she powers herself up with Dragon Hustle. The pressure emanating from her is immense to the point that Akane can feel it even from a distance, and is barely able to react in time as several small meteors come crashing down on top of her, destroying the road around her.

Chie: Hrugh!

Akane: Uh oh...!

Chie stretches out her legs, and Akane is unable to react in time when she rushes forward at an increased speed and drops down.

Chie: Galactic...PUNT!

Akane: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!

Akane is just about able to block Chie's ultimate move, but the force of the kick still rockets her up into the air. 

Chie: Ok Tomoe...Let's finish this!

Tomoe holds out it's polearm and Chie stands on one end of it, letting her Persona fling her up into the air like a shotput.

Akane: (Ugh...This is bad...There's gotta be something I can...Huh?)

Akane tries her best to think of some kind of tactic, but reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bottle. Inside the bottle is a strange green mixture, and her eyebrows raise as she recognizes it.

Akane: Oh...yeah...I forgot I had this...Welp, no time like the present!

Chie: Huh?

Chie, now running up the wall of the skyscraper she smashed Akane into earlier to catch up with her, looks to see her opponent drinking a strange green fluid. She starts to panic as Akane's body grows in size; her muscles and veins bulge out, and her body starts to emanate something fierce.

Akane: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!!!

Chie: Grr...TOMOE!

Tomoe blasts more ice at Akane with the intent of freezing her over, but this fails to do much due to the heat radiating off of Akane's bulky build. With an ear-to-ear smirk on her face, she crushes the bottle in her hands and smashes onto the side of the building, running back down it to clash with Chie.

Akane: This is it, coconut-head! YOU'RE GOIN' DOWN!

Chie: You mean YOU are, JERK! BEHOLD MY WRATH!

*BAM!* *WHACK!* *THUMP!* *POW!* *THUD!*

Akane: Agh! Dogh! Gagh! OHOGH! GRRGH!

Chie: Graggh! Ugh! Dagh! Gahagh! RAAAGH!

 *SLAP!* *BOP!* *BONK!* *BANG!* *PING!* *NUU-WOM!*

Chie: HOOOOOAAAAAAAAAGGH!

Akane: KURRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!

Akane and Chie: HA-CHAAAAAAAAAGGH!

*CRACK!* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!*

After repeatedly hitting each other with immensely powerful punches and kicks to the face and chest, scaling the building the whole time and destroying the area around them with the sheer force of their attacks, Chie and Akane reel back a kick and a punch respectively, and clash. The force of the clash causes the entire skyscraper to split completely in half! But then...

*Sizzle...*

*Crack!*

Akane and Chie: Huh!?

Simultaneously, both of them power down. Chie loses her stat buffs as Dragon Hustle wears off, and Akane's muscles slowly retract and her body begins to it's normal size and strength. The two are alarmed by their sudden power decrease, and then become unfortunately aware of just how high up they are, as well as the fact that they're suspended sideways in the air, and just destroyed their only footing

Chie: Oh...

Akane: Shit...

Akane and Chie: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!

And just like that, they PLUMMIT! Chie waves her arms wildly and Akane's eyes widen in horror as they fall a long, long, LONG way down!

Chie: Grrrgh! TOMOEEE!

Akane: !!??

Though running low on fuel, Chie summons Tomoe again to launch her just like before. Chie soars towards Akane and grabs her by the collar, reeling back for another powerful kick!

Chie: GALACTIC PUUUNNT!

Akane: NOT THIS TIME, KID!

Chie is horrified as Akane dodges her superpowered kick, and screams in agony as she elbows her knee and breaks her leg!

Akane: That ain't a punt...! THIS is a PUNT! HYAAAAAAAAGGHH!

Akane in turn, grabs Chie by the shirt, throws her upwards, and volleyball slams her back down to the ground with every ounce of strength she has! Chie flies so fast she smashes through the image of her own Persona and rockets to the ground like a meteor!

Chie: AAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH-

*KRAAAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!*

*SMASH!*

Akane: Hmph!

Akane steadies herself and safely lands on the ground, the road beneath her shattering apart. Behind her, a ginormous cloud of some erupts as a city block is destroyed from the impact of Chie's volleyballed body.

Akane: Haaagh...Haagh...Haah...Huh?

*SMACK!*

A severed arm slaps down in front of the Ultimate Gymnast, holding a wallet with slightly charred money poking out.

Akane: Haha! Yes! That meat is MINE! Come home to mamm-Hah!?

Akane snatches Chie's wallet and turns to head back to the butchers...only to realize that it, and the meat inside it, was enveloped by the explosion and burned to a crisp.

Akane: NOHOHOHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

Leona: Now I know what you all must be thinking...Ahem... "WHAT!? HOW!? WHY!? WHAAAAAATT!?"

Hifumi: I know it sounds ridiculous, but-!

Leona: "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?"

Hifumi: SHUSH! Hoo...Believe us, the results of this matchup were certainly a surprise! We all know Ms Akane Owari to be a rather foolhardy, not very delicate fighter, who flies headfirst into danger without really thinking about how outmatched she might be. And it's because of her mentality that she ends up falling short of victory more times than not...But THIS is NOT one of those times!

Leona: I think one of the main sources of confusion with the results is likely that people thought due to Chie's crazy mystical Persona-summoning powers, Tomoe was more than enough for her to score a victory, especially with it's ice powers and superpowered attacks, made stronger by how it can buff itself.

Hifumi: And that was indeed a legitimate possibility! If we were to run this match 100 times over, Satonaka would undoubtedly score quite a fair few victories, but based primarily on what the two fighters have been shown to be capable of, it's likely that Ms Owari can pull off the victory more times than not.

Leona: To start with, their respective stat pools were actually pretty even on most fronts. Chie is fast enough to dodge magical fire and lightning attacks from the likes of Akihiko Sanada or Shadows that use lightning abilities. However, given that Akane's base speed and agility has been confirmed to surpass most athletes trained and managed by Nekomaru, it's probable that she can match or even outspeed those like Toko Fukawa and Mukuro Ikusaba, who are capable of almost the exact same feat. Even if it is still likely that Chie is faster based on how SHE scales with speedy characters like Yosuke and Naoto, Akane would still be agile enough to keep pace with her. In the very least, she would be more than fast enough to dodge Chie's insta-kill light skills.

Hifumi: Ms Owari also had no definitive way to take down Chie's Persona, Tomoe. Sure, she was definitely tough enough to destroy it, which would have mentally damaged Satonaka and left her vulnerable, but the Persona wouldn't have stayed down for very long, certainly not long enough for Ms Owari to find an opening because...she doesn't really do that...

Leona: However, even though one of them actually has a proper education, the same is true for Chie. In truth, she's actually not that much smarter than Akane, and she also has a track history of jumping headfirst into dangerous situations, where she could easily end up outmatched. In that regard, these two are the exact same.

Hifumi: Another thing to consider is power. Satonaka did indeed have some powerful physical attacks from both herself, like the Galactic Punt, and even more from her Persona like God's Hand and Agneyastra. However, in the Persona 4 Arena Ultimax manga, Satonaka uses God's Hand on Hanamura, and he's able to dodge out of the way of it; causing the fist to smash into the floor and shatter apart the tiles underneath it. In contrast, Ms Owari has punched someone THROUGH multiple solid pillars, and she didn't even need to buff herself up to do that. Her feat of strength is undeniably stronger!

Leona: Even in their base levels of power, Chie could always use buffing spells to power herself up and increase her chance of landing a killing blow. But Akane had basically the same thing on an equal or even greater level. In Danganronpa Survivor, the effects of the Doping Corn Soup don't last for very long, but they most certainly last longer than any of Chie's damage and speed buffs, including Dragon Hustle. Also, as far as Chie's ice powers go, if Akane can break through solid stone like ice...well...then she can break through ice like it's paper! That, and given that the Corn Soup clearly heats up her body in some kind of way, she could probably just MELT the ice if she decided to use it.

Hifumi: But the real key to victory lied in one thing in particular...Defense and survivability!

Leona: That's two things...

Hifumi: But they fall under the same umbrella! The most potent feat of survival that Persona users have shown to exhibit in the core series is the...as Boomstick originally called it, the "Oh shit, we're dead!" explosion from Persona 3. However, given that Persona 3 and 4 are set in different realities and rely on different logic, the survival feats of the Investigation Team can't accurately be scaled with that of S.E.E.S, besides perhaps their Persona abilities in the Arena series.

Leona: Chie has beaten the likes of Akihiko in fights before but only in her own route of the P4A story, not really in any core canon material. To be frank, like we said before, Chie being a glass cannon means that her feats of survival simply DO NOT COMPARE, to Akane.

Hifumi: Ms Owari has survived being punched straight in the stomach by Mr Nidai, tanked a building-level explosion that completely blows Satonaka's Galactic Punt out of the water, got right back up after being cratered into a wall, and was able to sustain fighting against Nagito Komaeda while he was at half his power, who went onto completely obliterate her spine, which she later completely recovered from.

Leona: While it is true that Chie has aided in fights against literal gods, that feat can primarily be attributed to the team, not just her strength. To be honest, considering Chie lacks any sort of way to heal herself, unlike Akane who could somewhat restore her vitality and boost her strength just by eating meat, it's unlike she even COULD beat the likes of Izanami and the Reaper on her own. This is made even worse when you think about how Akane's stamina is godlike, and Chie's gets exponentially drained every time she uses her Persona to attack. And to top it all off, believe it or not with Akane's fairly lazy attitude; even if it is by only a few hairs, Akane IS the more experienced fighter of the two of them!

Hifumi: Since their Hope's Peak days, Ms Owari has continued to receive advice and training from Mr Nidai, who has most famously trained top athletes and fighters on an ABOVE professional level. Sure, she's a slow learning student, but by comparison, all of what Satonaka knows about fighting comes from simply watching action movies. An impressive enough feat on it's own to replicate those moves, sure, but not enough when compared to someone who has literally been trained by the greatest trainer in the WORLD.

Leona: And yeah, sure, Chie does technically get SOME advice from Akihiko, but this happens AFTER she's already defeated a god with her team, and even then, Akihiko is more of a life coach than a combat coach.

Hifumi: Chie Satonaka may have been immensely strong, had a much wider arsenal of abilities, and could definitely compete with Akane Owari, but in the end, the Ultimate Gymnast's feats of strength and durability sent the spunky dragon back where she came from!

Leona: It was nothing "Persona-l" Chie, just know Akane Owari is the strongest person you could ever hope to "meat!"

THE WINNER IS AKANE OWARI!

Next time:

You'd be hard strung to find a personal bodyguard better than these two, but will their personalities define your decision, or their strength? If it's the latter, then you'd best pay close attention!

[bandzboy]

I work in IT and also did my thesis on AI, only now in the masters degree we got a subject on the ethics of AI, which (fortunately) is mandatory, but I was so disillusioned when the first discussion on deepfake and its exploitation started none of the male students saw this as an acceptable justification why deepfake should be heavily regulated and forbidden for individual use a distribution. And their explanation? "Because it is fake after all, what is the harm?". I was so grateful to our professor who grilled the guy who said it for like 10 minutes asking what if someone did that of him. At the end many others took the subject and him (the professor) more serious.

But that really makes me think about the solutions for that problem. Because usually I'm not an "eye for an eye" kind of person, but when it's about distribution of artificial pornography especially of that kind I really want to doxx those perpetrators and just give them a taste of their own medicine, also making such horrible humiliation rooms for them so others will be deterred. I know in practice that is probably impossible and would require a lot of group effort but I just want those people who did stuff so nonchalantly understand what it's like. Because I deeply believe that anyone can be rehabilitated. Of course doing it by doxxing and creating deepfakes of the perpetrators is kind of against that but I really don't know how else those people can be broadly and efficiently corrected in their behaviour (meaning without wasting so much time single talking to each of them and convincing them to stop).

What are your thoughts on that? Do you think if possible there should be a vigilante like response to that or rather rely on (inter)national media pressure to get the governments to pass useful laws AND implement them?

first of all, thank you for sending this question. second of all, i am glad your professor grilled that guy because truly i remember when ai started to become more popular and i remember seeing a lot of feminists and women online say that this could eventually become dangerous and become a tool to harass women even further and with all of these deepfake ai cases happening around the world it's proving just that. taking someone's likeness to generate something should not be allowed or you shouldn't get away with it without consequences and this is a hill that i am gonna die on because i hate the fact that it's something that is becoming more and more utilized to do things like this and since there aren't any regulations or laws around ai, people just get away with doing the worst possible things like deepfakes of sexual nature.

honestly, i feel there will be time that governments will have to do something about this since this is becoming an issue, especially towards women and it's being talked about more and more as of recent so i would like to believe something will be made but it's obviously taking a lot of time for anything to happen. so i mean... i do believe that people who do these heinous acts should be exposed and shamed publicly since, like you said, feel so comfortable doing this to others surely they would like to be exposed to do world right? (sarcasm)

but anyways, i believe there may eventually be a law of some kind around ai and deepfakes of this kind. still, the truth is people, especially women, have to do everything they can to protect themselves even if it means going to such lengths to expose whoever did it and also keep this subject alive and look out for each other which is also important. we live in a deeply misogynistic society and make up ways to oppress women even further and truly i don't blame women for doing something radical to protect themselves for the time being

[nihilnothings]

I think stopping the revenge plan is a bad idea

Source: https://twitter.com/zhaoquruge/status/1663866032866607106?s=20

I'm going to be real, if anyone of you have caught up with the manga I genuinely think that stopping the revenge plot is actually not good for the bigger picture.

Hikaru Kamiki is a legitimate threat that threatens the safety of actresses for whatever reason (no amount of tragic or sympathetic backstory is going to justify any of his actions from being put to jail or literally drop dead). It's no longer just about Aqua and Ruby's grudge, it's for the safety of the entertainment industry as a whole.

You can argue that they don't have to resort to murder and leave it to the justice system but considering that Hikaru is a shrewd man of influence there is a possibility that he can deny all the allegations and roam free. I don't necessarily think murder should be their top option, ruining all that he's built and putting him in jail time/death penalty could also be a "form of revenge" but if worse comes to worse, murder can be used as a last resort. It's not like Ruby and Aqua are psychos who murders for kicks, they're murdering a person who wronged their lives and wronged others for some sick twisted reason, it's not comparable.

Also, committing to the revenge imo, doesn't necessarily negate the idea of "saving" or "rehabilitating" Aqua, considering how most of the main cast are morally dubious people in their own right (just not outright murderous criminals). The problem with Aqua is that all he thinks he's worth for is to avenge Ai and nothing else, he doesn't value his life or think that he deserves happiness. Him finding happiness can still align with the revenge plot by causing him not to self-destruct and die alone, because based on the implication he feels as if he's just going to throw his life away through dying alone or rotting himself with no loved ones. At least now, he has more to live for by having a connection to his past be alive in a different form as well as the new loved ones that he's made in his new life.

TLDR: The revenge plan needs to keep on going and saving Aqua doesn't necessarily means that he has to stop, it just means that doesn't need to kill himself.