#im taking requests btw slide into my inbox

[falling-star-cygnus]

First time asking for a request...uhhh if you're still doing em. Have Billy angst of being trapped somewhere (my mental thought is under a building and some rubble keeping him pinned) and waiting for rescue, in a hollow. Make him wait a long time before help comes and debate morbidly what will kill him first: the corruption or the crushed body parts ;))

i am still doing requests!! honestly my inbox is always open to any kind of question, or thought, or request you want to share! -> i love interacting with you all, even if i don't respond right away

this is a great idea btw, yet another fantastic trope i wish was exploited more

im taking several liberties with the process of corruption :D -> brief references to Dismemberment in the beginning

All things considered, fighting an Ethereal inside a.. relatively small building was not their best idea. Neither was fighting four stories off the ground, but... well.

Nicole had taken on a client that had insisted on going with them- to make sure the Cunning Hares didn't 'pull the wool over his eyes' or whatever. Billy hadn't really listened to his tirade.

He probably should have, considering then he might've caught on to the fact that the client's Ether aptitude absolutely SUCKED.

Corruption was never a pretty thing to watch, sickening in the way stalagmite and geode petal like appendages forced their way through bone and skin and downright painful to hear the tortured wails that ripped through the air. Their former client clutches his- its?

"...Look.. if it'll make you feel better, I'll return it to you. Er- it's parts anyway."

-his newly orb shaped head and bashes it against floors and walls. Each crash spiderwebs across the feeble foundations and shakes the Hares up like a children's toys. The android's back hits the ledge of a window.

This wasn't good, if the fight lasted any longer it'd send all of them crashing down to their deaths. Billy couldn't even find stable enough footing to shoot! Which- normally wouldn't be too much of a problem, but he absolutely would not risk hitting the girls in this sardine can proximity.

He lines up a shot.

And is immediately knocked off center when Nekomata is flung towards him. Billy yelps and catches the small Thiren as softly he can, thankfully avoiding firing his gun directly into her back.

...that was going to keep him up later.

"ACk... sorry Billy," Nekomata yips out, leaping right back into the fray after getting steadied. Her cat paws navigate the crumbling floor deftly, even if her attacks don't do much damage.

None of their attacks did.

What the hell.... we need to get out. Billy takes aim once more.

"Billy!" Nicole scolds, struggling to keep her footing and bludgeon the Ethereal, "why aren't you doing anything!?"

"What? I'm trying, Boss!" he snaps back, uncharacteristically waspish in the face of their... situation, "do you want me to shoot one of you??"

Billy refocuses on the Ethereal as it lunges towards him, missing the way Nicole cringes and sputters out a cowed rebuttal. It- he was finally close enough that the android didn't have to worry about... less then friendly fire.

He slides into a dodge, lining up his shot just right as time seems to slow down and-!

The floor gives out under his foot.

The bullet goes wide, just barely glancing over the Ethereal's sickle like limbs. Thankfully it doesn't hit anybody, but Billy's head cracks into the edge that his foot fell into.

His vision sensors go white, blanking everything out in an awful burst of static.

The next thing he remembers is calloused- small- hands tugging at his jacket, raised voices, ringing, and then...

....ow..

Billy powers back on, very much against his will.

He doesn't remember powering off, ever, sure, but the bliss of unawareness had to be better than- whatever this was. His limbs hurt, and there's a crack over the right glass of his eye- and it hurts.

Heavy, heavy weight pins his lower torso down, and he can vaguely feel something stabbing between the plates of his stomach, but it's hard to make out what exactly it was in the dim surroundings.

Where was he anyway? Wasn't he just-

Awareness jackknifes through him.

The building. The building had crashed, the building had crashed and Billy was underneath it. The building had crashed and Billy had no idea if the girls had made it out okay. The building had crashed.

He could be rebuilt, if it came down to it, he could be repaired like nothing had ever happened, but their human skin couldn't. Circuitry sputters into a higher power under the wrecked metals of the android's body, a mimicry of the way a heart accelerates under stress.

The rubble refuses to budge no matter how much he scrabbles at it.

Not good... Billy thinks, giving the ground under him one final shove like it might dislodge the cement blanketed over him. The wires exposed on his arms spark in protest before deciding to fail entirely and send him back to the floor.

This had been... the worst mission the Hares' had taken.

How long had he been here already? How much longer did he have until he turned into an Ethereal? Billy had never been the best at sitting still, even when he was powered off- and he did even worse in cramped spaces. And now...

This was hell, the android was sure of it. A liminal space of torture just for him. He wanted to go back to being offline.

Why was he always getting the short end of the stick when it came to the Cunning Hares', anyway?

Billy swats that thought away as soon as it forms, feeling guilt settle into whatever was left of his wiring. It was a good thing that he took more blows than the others, he could handle it better.

He could be put back together better. Like nothing had ever happened. He could withstand Ether corruption longer, even if it made him feel sick and sluggish.

This was nothing.

...Are they even looking for me? A traitorous part of Billy's mind whispers. A seed that takes root.

But- of course they were! The android was an integral part of the team!

...wasn't he?

Green- like Anby's hoodie, or Nicole's eyes- flickers to life between the lines of his plating.

He was good firepower, at the very least. Even if Nekomata could hit twice as hard, twice as fast. Free labor? None of them really got paid to be a Cunning Hare.

...their- friend?

"Meeting Billy Kid increases my chances of survival by over 67.8%. I'm glad you're ok, Billy." "It wouldn't hurt him if he's wearing a thick sweater"

"Billy-!" Nicole had sounded worried... "Can't you be more like Nekomata?"

Metal creaks as black buds sprout between his joints.

The Cunning Hares' cared about him right? Sure- they didn't let him join in on hugs or affectionate leans or high fives, but that's just 'cuz he was metal! It was uncomfortable to touch his unyielding make.

That didn't really stop them from hitting him though, even if it didn't hurt. Much.

Physically.

...they weren't going to come for him.

The buds bloom into hauntingly pretty geometric flowers.

[nikeswift]

- L O V E R - 

3/18

day 1/6