#to be clear i do NOT blame the clone in this situation. that is my...sibling? maybe? my kid?

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

sick of clones who are "fake" or "evil" or "imposters." clones exist in real life and are simply unusually genetically identical to their parent/genetic donor. here is the evil clone you are looking for:

"clones" identical twins? you are describing identical twins with a birth delay

[zachsreaderinserts]

sleepy boys inc x gn!teen! reader headcannons

trying something new! i like bbs and all, but i wanted to write for other youtubers! lemme know if yall wanna see more content like this lol.

this takes place in a minecraft au!!! also, mentions of bad parenting/abusive parents

wc: 2,319

okay the sleepy boys

chaos incarnated, all of them. you can’t deny it

so, when tommy invites a friend from a local village, at first, everyone else is skeptical. since when has tommy made a friend who didn’t hate him within 20 minutes from all the screaming and insults he spewed?

unlike his friends, phil is more excited than anything. though he isn’t tommy’s dad, he feels like it sometimes, so he really wants to meet this new person who has caught the youngest’s attention

techno is very much not on board. he has a hard time trusting people at first glance and having been friends with tommy for the longest, he knows that tommy readily jumps the gun and attempts to befriend literally anything just because he can

and wilbur? indifferent for the most part. yes, he feels the need to make sure tommy is protected and cared for, but he also recognizes that this situation is out of his hands. the best he can do is hope that their friend isn’t an absolute asshole

so, it’s saturday. all three men are sitting on the couch in phil’s cottage, talking amongst themselves as they wait for tommy to come back. techno makes a joke about murdering them, which leads to phil scolding him about his violent tendencies

“you haven’t even met them yet, techno, what the fuck.”

wilbur is simply adding fuel to the fire, making little remarks here and there and watching the whole thing escalate to phil lecturing the piglin hybrid.

because of this, not one of them had noticed that tommy returned, with his newest friend. they both stopped at the sight of phil in dad mode, tommy considering just turning around and taking his friend as far away as physically possible

too late, since techno’s sixth sense made him whip around and stare at the newcomer. this made phil stop lecturing and wilbur quit giggling long enough for tommy to introduce his friend

after saying their name, the friend lifted their hand shyly, face burning from slight embarrassment. their other hand was latched onto tommy’s, feeling intimidated.

can you blame them? the fucking blood god looks like they wanna skewer them and cook them over a campfire.

tommy took notice of their shyness and cleared his throat, “we were planning on going to the carnival in their village if you three assholes feel like tagging along.”

like there was any way they were gonna let tommy and his friend go out without chaperones.

tommy turned back to his friend, “give me a second, i’m gonna go grab my sword just in case.” and proceeded to run up the stairs and towards the guest bedroom in phil’s house that he claimed.

the millisecond he was out of earshot, techno grabbed his friend by the front of the shirt.

“what are your intentions with tommy?”

the friend blinked once, twice, then bit back a smile. “you’re asking that as if i’m about to date that motherfucker.”

this time, it was wilbur who bit back a grin of his own. who would’ve expected the originally shy kid to have replied like that????

techno’s brain short circuited and his grip on their shirt loosened slightly. did.... did this kid just brush off his question???

“can you put me down? you’re gonna stretch my shirt.”

techno’s brain blinked back into focus and he gripped the kid’s shirt harder, shoving them against the nearest wall. “i asked a question, kid.”

“you know, tommy told me something like this would happen. i’m glad i came prepared.” and then, tommy’s friend sucked in a deep breath. techno leaned back, expecting the worst...

“MWISTER TECHNWOBWADE, PWEASE PUT MWE DOWN BEFWORE I SCWEAM”

oh god, this was far worse than anything he thought of.

he dropped the teen out of disgust more than anything, reeling backwards. if there was one thing that haunted his dreams, it was uwu-speak.

phil started howling of laughter, clutching his stomach and hunching over. originally he was going to stop techno from threatening a literal child but this outcome was so much better than anything he was anticipating

wilbur was no better, already tearing up from how hard he was snickering. he started choking on his own spit at one point, smacking his arm against the couch.

tommy was so fucking confused when he came back down the stairs, seeing the mayhem that was, for once, not caused by him. he glanced at his friend, who had the world’s biggest shiteating grin.

yeah, they were gonna fit in just fine.

and they did! phil took them under his wing (both physically and metaphorically) and allowed them to come visit his home whenever they wished. and whenever they did, phil was the first to ask how they’ve been and what they were up to

to phil’s surprise, the kid was overall calm in their choice of activities. things like playing soccer or drawing or figuring out how to learn instruments in their free time. it seemed like they were desperate to get their hands on anything and everything just to learn

he found it funny, though, when their chaotic side shone through. they easily were on tommy’s level when they got into that headspace and it was so hilarious to him.

his favorite memory of the kid was when they walked into the house and marched right up to where techno was reading idly in the corner. planting their hands on their hips, they spoke.

“if you were to fuck a clone of yourself, would it be masturbation or would you be considered gay?”

phil, who was washing the dishes six feet away from them, just about crumbled into a ball on the floor from how hard he was laughing and sobbing.

of all questions, that was the one that came out.

but he had no idea that the chaos was a coping mechanism. he just thought they were naturally like that in their free time.

he soon found out the truth when they came home with tommy, who was cursing up a fit, visibly angry. his friend was slumped over, as if trying to hide themselves from the world

when phil asked what had happened, tommy exploded.

“their fucking dad took all their money from their savings! said he needed it more than them and when they asked for it back, he called them a fucking disappointment! that fucking bitch--”

phil can count very few times when he felt true anger and he can confirm that when tommy had told him what had gone down, he saw red.

but he knew better than to outwardly show it. judging by how hunched over and defeated the kid was, what they needed was a stable support system

so he walked over and shut tommy up with a hand on his shoulder, “why don’t we take the rest of the night to build up that game room you wanted in the basement. i’m sure if we knock it out before techno and wil are supposed to be back, we can all play something like monopoly.”

seeing where phil was headed, tommy nodded and brushed away his anger. he knew that what his friend needed was a serious cheering up. tommy ran towards his guest bedroom, claiming that he was going to find his blocks.

phil crouched in front of the teen, tilting their head up to look him in the eyes. “you’re not a disappointment. you’re an amazing person with a chaotic joke machine going 120 kilos over the speed limit in your head and you are talented. your dad doesn’t know shit about what you’re capable of doing.”

oh boy, the kid’s crying. those are tears, full on tears.

that night was one of the best nights of their life, however. they enjoyed the entire three hour long game of monopoly where they watched the light leave everyone’s eyes. it was funny when wilbur lunged across the table when he landed on a railroad, out for phil’s blood.

speaking of wilbur, he enjoyed every minute in the kid’s presence. they often asked creative and random questions and went along with the abstract jokes he made, the two of them laughing heartily the entire time.

when the kid first mentioned wanting to learn how to play the guitar, he practically burst through the wall of the room next door, breathing heavily and exaggeratedly.

“did someone say guitar”

yeah, he’s feral. that’s canon.

they proceeded to spend the entire day in phil’s garden, each of them equipped with a guitar. despite their outwardly smooth brain and stupid demeanor, the teen was a fast learner and could play the most basic chords by the time the sun was setting.

wilbur’s favorite moment was the first night they met, when they went to the carnival. there was the game where you shoot the water and fill up the balloons and the kid was going head to head against techno and tommy.

it was when techno won that the teen turned to techno with murder in their eyes and spoke in a deadpan tone of voice,

“you’re lucky you won this time, you gentrified mayo monkey.”

wilbur’s jaw dropped, as did techno and phil’s. tommy was already in hysterics, smacking his hand against the counter that held the guns.

needless to say, wilbur found his favorite, not-quite sibling in a heartbeat.

techno was the last to come around with the child. can you blame him? every time he tried to threaten them or had beaten them at something, they would respond in a cryptic threat--

“i’m going to pee your pants if you don’t let me win”

or just brushed him off. without a second thought.

“anyways, i was murdering a chicken the other day, and the fucker had the audacity to ribbit at me.”

to say he was confused was an understatement. he was terrified of the fact that a literal child held so much power and disinterest in things like their own life. so for the first few months, he avoided them.

but he had seen past that when it was around midnight on a weekday. tommy was hanging out with tubbo and ranboo in their village miles away from the area. wilbur was out drinking with schlatt, niki, and fundy, and phil was already asleep.

techno wasn’t too far behind, sitting in front of the fireplace and staring out of the window that showed the front yard. it was only then when he saw the flash of a familiar face and looked closer as the teen walked up to the house quietly. their head was down and they carried a small bag with them.

techno opened the front door with a long creak as they reached the porch steps. it was only when they jumped and looked up in surprise that techno had noticed a deep bruise on their left cheek in the moonlight.

despite the fact that he kept away from them, techno was very protective and territorial of tommy, phil, and wilbur. and since they were attached to the teen, he became protective of them as well.

so all the voices in his head went quiet for a second. before exploding into a mixture of screams and threats, all leading back to protecting the child in front of him.

without thinking, he reached forward and cupped their face for a better view of the bruise. at the warm and soft touch, tears slipped down the kid’s cheeks and they sniffed pathetically.

the voices quickly took a 180, all screaming to take care of them. make them feel better. so, techno led the kid inside and let them spend the night in his room, with them falling asleep on the bed and him falling asleep on the rocking chair in his room.

phil did not hesitate to officially declare himself as the teen’s official father, saying that their biological father was a “little bitch”

now somewhat living with the teen, techno found an appreciation for their quieter moments, when they were reading or simply daydreaming. it was cute, in his eyes. but he also grew to enjoy when they were absolutely feral, especially toward tommy.

his favorite moment with them was when they had gifted tommy a music disc for his birthday. it was sweet and sentimental and tommy just about burst into tears when he saw it.

all of the sappiness quickly vanished when tommy put it into a jukebox.

“FUCK THIS PUSSY, BOY, FUCK. FUCK IT RIGHT, BOY--”

tommy had let out the most terrified scream and it practically engrained itself into techno’s brain. it was the first time he ever laughed at something the teen had done and the teen felt proud of themselves.

and finally, tommy. he was already happy to call himself a friend of the teen’s. they were like peas in a pod, working together.

tommy came to them when his insecurity felt heavy and they came to him whenever their dad’s words got to them. they had a nice system of dependency on one another and neither of them would trade it for the world.

tommy’s favorite moment of being friends with them was during their first birthday living in phil’s house. it was a birthday befitting their personality, with brightly color streamers hung and confetti all over the floor. he knew that they enjoyed it severely and once the cake was cut, the kid turned to phil.

“phil, where’s the big tiddy strippers i requested?”

tommy was GONE

he all but choked on his slice of cake and walked away, shaking his head while trying to stifle his giggles. but when he heard phil’s scream of “WHAT”, he just lost it.

all in all, his friend had made a fine part of the sleepy boys. they were a happy face in an otherwise somewhat bleak and dangerous world. and all four men appreciated it.

[eyayah-oya]

A Bit of Hope to Keep You Safe

Clone Ship Week | Day 7 | Armor - @cloneshipweek

Bacara/Rex

Rating: G

Warnings: none

Ao3 link

           Rex walked through camp with two cups of caf in his hand, looking for Commander Bacara.  They had time to relax before the next big push of the campaign, and Rex wanted to spend at least a few minutes with Bacara before they had to be a Captain and a Commander again.  It was so rare that they even got to see each other, let alone outside of a professional setting, that Rex was willing to take whatever they could scrounge together.

           Eventually, he found his way to the edge of the camp, overlooking a vast violet sea.  The boulders of ancient ruins littered the ground, and Rex found Bacara leaning back against the boulder on the seaward side.  Rex kicked a pebble to let the Commander know that he was there, and Bacara looked up.

           For the first time in a long time, Rex got a good look at his boyfriend.  Bacara looked exhausted.  The eyes that held so much warmth during ARC training now were shattered with grief and the burden of forever remaining strong for his men.  Bacara was the bulwark holding back the tide of the entire Separatist army from his men and the rest of the Republic.  When Bacara realized it was just Rex, the line of his shoulders slumped just slightly, and the man behind The Marine peaked through the cracks in his armor.

           “Rex,” Bacara breathed.

           With a small smile, Rex sat down next to Bacara and handed him one of the cups of caf.  “How are you?"

           "I’m holding up, tat’ka,” Bacara said.  He took a long sip of the caf and wrinkled his nose adorably much to Rex’s delight.  “Did you put any sugar in this?”

           “I gave you the allotment of sugar, same as every other damn cup of caf in the Republic,” Rex said, holding back a snicker.

           Bacara hummed and drained the caf as fast as he could before setting his cup down on the ground next to him.  With a languid stretch, Bacara leaned his head back against the boulder and closed his eyes, drinking in the rays of the sun.  His skin was paler than other brothers, a testament to how rarely he took his bucket off.  Rex scooted a bit closer to Bacara and pressed against his shoulder. A shudder ran through his body before Bacara leaned into the touch.

           Rex wanted to weep at how touch-starved and lonely he was. How many nights did Bacara spend alone while his men sought comfort amongst themselves?  How many times did he stand guard while the Marines shook apart and put themselves back together just to fight and die in another battle on a planet the Republic had all but forgotten?  There was not a single clone ever created that did well with being isolated. From the time they were decanted, they spent every second of their day with brothers.  But the Marines were isolated and Bacara even more so.

           There were few things in life that Rex wanted more in that moment, than to take Bacara and his men far away from the war and keep them safe and loved.  He wanted to hold Bacara every night, and tell him how loved he was until he stopped flinching at every touch.  Rex wanted to have the freedom to be there for Bacara since he refused to allow anyone else close enough to take care of The Marine.

           In the middle of a galactic-wide war, however, there wasn’t much Rex could do for any of those desires.  He could care for Bacara for however long this campaign lasted, and then they’d be separated once again with little to no contact.

           As Rex ran his fingers over the gouges in his thigh plate from an exploding tank, an idea struck him.

           “Bacara—” Rex began, then stopped.  How did someone even ask something like this?  Maybe he should have paid more attention to Kix and Jesse’s courtship.

           “Hmm?”

           For several seconds, Rex tried to figure out what exactly he wanted to say.  There were just so many different ways it could be taken, and Rex wasn’t even sure if the Marines were isolated enough from their brothers that this custom hadn’t reached them yet.  Giving a piece of himself to a brother, especially one from a different battalion, had certain meanings.  Rex fell in love quickly and loved deeply.  Bacara loved just as deeply, but he was also slower to trust and slower to love. It felt awful to even think it, but Rex really wasn’t sure how his suggestion would be taken.

           “Rex, whatever it is, I’m sure it will be fine,” Bacara sighed.  “Talk to me, tat’ka.”

           With a deep breath, Rex undid the clasps of his left vambrace, the only piece of his armor that he thought might be able to fit Bacara. Without a word, he turned and offered the piece of armor to his boyfriend and held his breath.

           Bacara didn’t say anything.  He stared at the vambrace, face carefully blank, and Rex was terrified that he’d pushed too hard too soon.  The shattered look in his warm brown eyes seemed to clear, some of the cracks healing, just a little bit.  They were silent, only the distant waves crashing against the base of the cliff and the calls of local seabirds could be heard.  Not even the camp was close enough to hear the everyday chatter of soldiers reconnecting.  After a minute, just long enough for Rex to get anxious, Bacara reached out and took his vambrace, his fingers trembling slightly.

           Rex let out his breath in relief.  Bacara understood what Rex hadn’t managed to find the words to express what was in his heart.  This was important, for both of them.  Vod’e traded pieces of armor with only their closest brothers.  It was a promise to return.  A promise that they had someone watching their back.  A promise to always be there for them. Some, like Echo and Fives, it was a gift between siblings.  Fives still cherished the piece of armor Echo had given him before the disastrous mission to the Citadel.  Others, like Jesse and Kix, treated it as a courting gift.  In either situation, the two who shared armor formed a connection that was unbreakable.

           “Rex—” Bacara whispered, his voice rough and broken. “Rex, are you sure—”

           But he refused to let Bacara finish that sentence.  Rex surged forward and pulled his wonderful, kind, gentle boyfriend into a deep and passionate kiss, though he kept every movement gentle and loving.  Everything he felt for Bacara was poured from his heart and into the kiss.  Every time Rex only managed to keep going because he knew he needed to come back to Bacara.  Every time he thought about his boyfriend fighting alone on far-off planets, surrounded by enemies.  He gave Bacara everything, his whole soul.  And Bacara welcomed every touch, every lick, every bite with the desperation of a man dying of loneliness.  A man dying for the love of his cyare.

           Bacara eventually took control of the kiss, pulling Rex into his lap and cradling his face in his large, warm palms.  The callouses scratched over his skin, sending tingles down his spine and curling his toes in his boots.  Rex sighed into the kiss.  He wrapped his arms around Bacara’s shoulders and let him find what he needed with every shared breath and every suck and nip.  Rex could only hold tight and refuse to let go.

           Since the first time they kissed, Rex had always fallen apart when Bacara kissed him.  There was a depth and a passion, building up heat until Rex was panting and hazy-eyed in his arms.  With every kiss, Bacara told Rex how much he loved him.  How much he meant to Bacara.  How desperately he needed Rex.  And this time was no different.

           Rex had no idea how long they’d spent trading kisses with him straddling his boyfriend’s lap, caf cups and vambrace left forgotten in the dirt next to them.  When they finally broke apart to simply rest their foreheads against each other, the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, turning the pink sky a gorgeous red and purple.

           “Rex?” Bacara murmured.

           “Hmm?”  He couldn’t gather up the scattered cells of his brain to come up with a more intelligent response than that.

           “You really want to exchange armor?”

           Rex idly slipped his fingers into Bacara’s curls, playing with the longer hair on top and scratching through his beard.  “Of course, Cara.  I love you.  I can’t do much to be there for you while we’re still fighting this war, but I can promise to always come back.  It’s not much—”

           “No, it’s perfect,” Bacara interrupted.  “I would love to exchange armor with you.”

           “Good.  I’m really glad.”  Rex nudged Bacara’s nose while his hand scrabbled to find his forgotten vambrace.

           Bacara huffed, amused, and grabbed the vambrace from where it had fallen on the opposite side of where Rex was searching.  “Is this what you were looking for, tat’ka?”

           Rex gave his best Tubie scowl he could, the one that never failed to make Ponds melt into a puddle, and nuzzled Bacara’s face.  “Not my fault you hid it,” he grumbled.

           “Of course.  It’s perfectly reasonable to start losing your mind when dealing with the Jedi.  No one would blame you for forgetting the little things.”

           “I can and will bite you,” Rex threatened.

           Of course, that had a slightly different effect on Bacara than Rex had been expecting.  His dark eyes turned black with desire, and he leaned forward to leave a sharp bite on Rex’s swollen bottom lip.  Rex gasped and his heart skipped several beats.

           “Cara,” he gasped.  “That’s not playing fair.”

           “Who said anything about fair?”  Bacara ran his hand along Rex’s arm, until he reached the empty space that his vambrace normally occupied.  “Can’t have you going into battle without a full set of armor.  That would be unprofessional.”

           “Yeah?  Are you going to do anything about it?”

           Bacara hummed in response.  With deft fingers, he quickly undid the clasps of his own left vambrace and pushed Rex back far enough that he could easily access both of their arms.  They were all clones, so the vambraces looked to be the same size.  It wasn’t cost-efficient, after all, to provide custom sizes of armor for the entire GAR.  But the padding inside might be different for Bacara and Rex, since the Commander was built a bit bigger than Rex.

           “Rex of Torrent,” Bacara started, his voice rumbling thick and low.  “I give you my armor with the promise that I will always watch your back.  I will always support you in everything you do. I will always love you.  And I swear I will return to you as best as I can. Do you accept?”

           Blinking away sudden tears, Rex leaned forward and captured Bacara’s lips in a soft kiss.  “I accept your armor and your promise.  Bacara of Nova, I give you my armor with the promise that I will stand by your side.  I will treat your men as my own, and I will support Nova in every way I can.  I will be your rock and your anchor.  I will love you as long as I have breath and I will always do my best to return to you.  Do you accept my armor and my promise?”

           “Yes,” Bacara breathed.  He shuddered and gripped Rex’s bare arm as tight as he dared. Rex wrapped his other arm around him and brought their foreheads together again, their lips brushing with every breath.  He held Bacara until he was steady once again.

           “Can I put my vambrace on you?” Rex asked once the shudders had faded to only the occasional tremor.

           Bacara nodded and with sure fingers, Rex slid the vambrace into place and clicked the clasps closed.  They both sighed when the armor settled into place and then Bacara was reaching for his vambrace.  He returned the favor and soon, they were both fully armored again, minus their buckets.

           “Thank you for letting me do this,” Rex murmured softly.

           “No need for that.  I’m glad you thought of it.  I wasn’t sure—”  Bacara trailed off.  There were a number of things that he could say, but neither one chose to acknowledge any of them out loud.  He wasn’t sure if Rex would want to wear his armor.  He wasn’t sure when they’d be able to see each other for the exchange to even be possible.  He wasn’t sure if either of them would live long enough to talk about exchanging armor.

           None of those concerns ended up being founded, and Bacara relaxed as much as he could against Rex.  Rex easily accepted his weight and held onto him as tight as he could.  It wasn’t the same as being on board a ship, where they felt a bit more comfortable removing their armor, but it was good enough for now.  Now was all they had, with the war pulling them across the galaxy from each other, and Rex intended to make the most of it.

           (Later, his men would send Rex knowing smirks and pointed observations, carefully out of hearing range of Commander Bacara.  While they teased and prodded at him, Rex knew that every single one of them were happy for him.  They all needed a little bit of love and comfort with the war weighing down on them.  Especially Captain Rex and The Marine.)

This is inspired by Soft Wars by @thefoundationproject . You should all go read it because it’s amazing!

[tact-and-impulse]

Star Wars AU for the sci-fi prompt, @shepherds-of-haven!

fugitives

Out of all the planets she’s visited, she’s grown rather fond of this one. Nights on Zarros are long, yet bustling with activity as the inhabitants emerge to barter and sell their wares. The shops emit warm light, reflecting upon one of the many rivers cutting through the town. A flock of long-tailed birds passes overhead, flying for the distant mountains breaking the horizon. One indigo feather falls into her palm, and she smiles. This world is alive, and it’s beautiful.

“Remember to keep your hood up.” The low voice at her side warns.

She glances at Blade, who has that slight crease between his eyebrows again. He definitely isn't comfortable in this open market, but they need supplies before continuing their travels. She adjusts the cloth over her hair, murmuring. “I will. Thank you.”

“The Empire doesn’t have a heavy influence here, but we still need to be careful.” His dark eyes survey the surroundings, taking in every detail. As expected of the former general, famous for his battle prowess and command of his troops. She remembers watching his communications, in what seems like another life altogether.

“See anything yet?”

“No, but let’s be quick.”

“Alright, understood.” Before entering the main street, she tucks the feather into the little satchel at her waist. It’s been mended and patched over the years, but it’s enough for money and a little extra. Sea glass from her home planet. A ceramic bead, gifted by a respected Lore Keeper. The short loop of her Padawan braid.

She had to cut it off, but she never underwent the trials, since her master insisted there would be time after the war. And then, they were betrayed, in transit to Saleucami. The clones who had been their comrades were trying to kill them. Knowing they were outnumbered and ignoring her pleas to stay together, Master Rho had shoved her into an escape pod. Before the jump into hyperspace, her window was filled with the red glow of blasters, then the split-second image of his slumped body. She felt their connection break, the psychic shattering causing her to black out. In the haze of grief and shock, she hadn’t realized her lightsaber was damaged. It was functional in the initial weeks, then flickering erratically, and now, she didn’t dare to draw until another kyber crystal could stabilize it. 

In the meantime, she uses the Force in other ways, and it led her to Blade. They sensed each other’s presence on one of Naboo’s moons, the first time she’d encountered another Jedi in over a year. He had always been composed in his hologram appearances, but he was about to crumple with relief when he saw her face. Since then, she hasn’t given up hope that others had survived the purge.

“You said Zarros had crystals?” Blade prompts, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Yes, from the records I copied. There’s a good success rate, it’s just that not many were willing to make the trip out here.” She speaks in oblique terms, carefully choosing her phrasing.

He nods. “It’s close to the Outer Rim, and the closest temple was abandoned over a century ago, when our kind had to defend Coruscant. There’s some irony in returning now.”

“Yes, but I have a good feeling about it.” She smiles, and after a month of traveling together, she can tell that his expression softens.

A trio of children rush past, and they sidestep out of instinct. His hand lands on her shoulder, pressing firmly. “I trust your intuition. There were many I fought with, who didn’t have your strength of connection.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” She laughs nervously. It must be the lingering Padawan in her, that is buoyed by the praise. They continue on, and she changes the subject. “Where did you build your weapon?”

“On a mission, with my partner years ago.”

“A partner?”

“My brother.” He clarifies, in the monotone he adopts when he’s closing off.

That’s unusual, not only for siblings to be inducted, but to work with each other as well. She turns to ask further and nearly bumps into a droid that must have floated over. It’s spherical, except for a dome that could be considered its head.

“Hello. How may I assist you?” It’s a service droid, somehow locked onto their presences.

Blade smoothly steps in front of her. “No assistance required.”

It beeps. “I provide directions to all visitors. I am at your service.”

She can’t see his face, but Blade’s posture is incredibly rigid. His fingers drop to his belt, in a familiar gesture. He’s ready to summon his lightsaber at a moment’s notice.

She peers around his side, focusing on the droid. With a little wave, casual to any onlooker, she says with intention. “We don’t need directions. You can leave us alone.”

“You don’t need directions. I will leave you alone.” The droid repeats, then slowly drifts away.

Blade looks down at her, with a frown of admonishment. “You used the Force.”

“It’s easy on droids; people are a little more stubborn. Haven’t you used mind tricks?”

He folds his arms, his knuckles whitening as he stiffly answers. “My training has sufficed so far without it.”

The implication is clear, and she wonders how many he’s killed to survive, for it to become second nature. “...I see. We should keep going then.”

Water and rations are simple purchases, but Blade doesn’t speak again until they’ve left town. “Thank you.”

“Hm?”

“For preventing a situation. I was...overthinking.” He grimaces.

“It’s not like I blame you. You’re more seasoned than I am, and considering what happened, it’d be stranger if you weren’t vigilant.” She pauses. “But I’d be happy if you trusted me a little, even though I’m only a Padawan.”

“I already do.” By now, they’ve reached their small ship, camouflaged and docked on a rocky shelf. It’s cozy within, and he finally relaxes when the airlock clicks into place. “Once we find a crystal for you, we’ll practice combat forms.”

“I’m rusty, but I’m looking forward to it. Also, you can try mind tricks.”

“On you? That would be difficult.” He gives a short laugh, and his gaze is surprisingly fond. “Get some rest. We’ll start searching the mountains when day breaks.”

“Sounds good.” She settles into her cushioned cockpit seat and closes her eyes. She’s sure that the Force has led them to this planet for a reason, and when she dreams, it’s of silver light, glowing deep underground.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Mominette: Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year! Have some angst!

After Red Arrow’s explanation of being the mole and what happened to the League, Conner’s thoughts immediately went to Ladybug and Chat Noir. They weren’t technically with the League, but they were still known figures who had interactions with them. It was fully possible the Light may have targeted them as well. Especially considering the matter of Ladybug being Superboy’s other parent had become known to members of the League.

Mom could be in danger.

Despite his friends’ warnings and insistence that they at least go with them, Conner took off to Paris alone. He hadn’t even made it to the Bakery before he was blindsided by waves of distress from his siblings.

Please no.

He wasted no time with the front door and just jumped to Marinette’s center window. She always kept it unlocked and this time was no different. Sure enough, he looked through the glass to see a clearly agitated Chat Noir talking to someone unseen. But no sign of Mom or the Dolls.

Please. Please no.

Chat snapped to alertness when Conner entered, only to relax once he recognized him.

“Superboy.” He sounded eerily calm. Conner was immediately unsettled by the other male’s presentation and use of his official hero name.

But if he was taken over...

He nodded in greeting.

“Chat Noir. Where is Mom?”

The other hero hesitated. Waiting for something. Despite himself, Chat’s eyes slowly slid to something beyond Conner. The clone tensed, preparing for an ambush. Hearing a shuffling from behind, he spun around.

Minimice. Tons of them. Some hiding. Some pressed up against wall enough that he hadn’t seen them when he first entered. All of them watching him warily.

Several squeaked.

A good many nodded to Chat.

But none hissed.

And Chat Noir...Adrien seemed to slump in relief. “They didn’t get you then?”

And behind Chat, a worried Tikki came out of hiding, floating forward and looking happy to see him.

And Conner released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “No. They tried but we received warning just in time.”

“Good. That...that’s good.” Adrien smiled, clearly anxious and worried but happy for whatever small fortune they could get.

Several of the Minimice moved forward, hugging Conner’s legs to either give or receive comfort. But the rest seemed to vanish from sight as they returned to hiding. They were getting rather good at that. He couldn’t even see them.

“What happened?” Conner demanded. “Where’s Mom?”

Adrien gestured to the bed. A quick scan showed she was laying on the bed as herself. As Marinette. She seemed all right. Unconscious but uninjured. Chaton and Littlebug were both with her. Curled at her sides. For comfort? They hadn’t even reacted to his entry. And they seemed to be...doing something?

He looked to the blond for an explanation.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair. “We were patrolling. Then one of the League showed up, Green Arrow, I think? He asked Ladybug to go with him, saying it was urgent. She hesitated. Something was off but we didn’t know what. Then suddenly Flash was behind her and she fell to her knees. He put something on her, some kind of chip? The next thing I knew, she was attacking me.” He let out a breath, almost a laugh like he couldn’t believe it.

“It’s a Starro-tech control chip. The Light is using it to control the entire Justice League.” Conner explained.

“Nice to know they wouldn’t be this way normally, at least.” Adrien said, still sounding slightly bitter. Conner couldn’t blame him. He certainly didn’t want to have to fight Mom either. And he knew that Adrien love her greatly.

Mom had told him of several instances where Chat had been controlled or manipulated by the enemy to fight her. How hard it had been. This had to have been a first for Adrien to be on the receiving end. Chat was usually the one taking the blows for Ladybug to protect her from things like this. It was clearly killing him inside to have the roles reversed this way.

“They would have gotten me if not for Minimouse being with us at the time. She multiplied and drove off the two from the League, though she hasn’t been able to calm down enough to reform since. Though that may be the better choice right now. With her helping me, we were able to knock Mari out.”

There was a growl at that. Conner started when he realized it was coming from himself as well as Chaton.

Adrien rubbed his head. “I know. I’m sorry. But it was the only way to keep them from taking her.”

A whine from the bed before Chaton returned to focusing on Marinette.

“We were able to force her to detransform, but Tikki said we have to keep her like this until whatever’s happening is over.”

Conner glanced back to the bed, concerned. “She still has the chip?”

Chat’s ears lowered. “I can’t Cataclysm it without risking Marinette.”

“We’re going to face the League. The Team is, I mean.” Conner stated. “They’re making something to counter the chips and free everyone. Once we do, we’ll free Mom, as well.”

Chat frowned. “Are you sure about this? Your team is good but this is the entire Justice League. Can you really take on all of them?”

Conner nodded, resolution clear. “We have to. It’s down to us.”

“I see.”

There was a pause.

“Then I wish you luck.”

And Chat backed away.

“Hang on! You can come with us!” Conner exclaimed. “We could use everyone.”

But Chat shook his head. “I need to stay here. To keep watch over her and Paris. The Dolls are also helping me. We’ll keep her safe until you can fix things.”

The black-suited man walked away from Conner and moving towards the strange phonograph Mom kept in her room but never used.

It felt...strange...the amount of faith Adrien was putting in him. No reluctance. no hesitance. He didn’t just believe Conner could succeed, he WANTED to believe in him.

“However...”

Conner started in surprise as Adrien returned, phonograph in hand. A strange smile lighting up his face.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t help you another way.”

Adrien tapped a side panel, revealing a set of buttons. With a couple presses, something clicked and the phonograph moved. But not to play music. Instead it opened. And inside revealed...

Conner gasped.

It was the Miracle Box. Mom’s Miracle Box.

“Conner Kent Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien intoned. “You’re Ladybug’s son not only by blood but in every way that matters. If there was anyone she would trust with this, it would be you.”

“But...is it really okay?” Conner asked.

He...he wasn’t ready. Mom had let him use a Miraculous now and again. Sometimes for fun or training. More often out of need. And she always seemed to know the exact one to draw upon for any situation.

To have that choice suddenly in his hands.

To be trusted with this responsibility...

Adrien smiled.

“Mari and I have talked about this. Contingencies and all.” He shrugged. “But one thing was clear.”

Adrien held out his fist to Conner.

“If you ever needed it...”

His hand opened.

Two red and black earrings sat in the palm of his hand.

“She wanted it to be available to you.”

For a moment, Conner forgot how to breathe.

Superman’s sigil was something he’d had to take for himself.

Luthor’s heritage was something he’d had to reject.

But Ladybug...while she had supported him...even let him use other Miraculous...he’d had thoughts at times but never considered taking on her role.

He hadn't thought she would give it to him.

To be honest, given the nature of the Miraculous only having one user at a time, it wasn’t something he’d thought could be done.

Touching the earrings. Being given her earrings...

This was a legacy in his hands. And it was being passed down to him.

Something swelled in his chest. If the situation weren’t so dire, he may have allowed more time to process it all. But the League was still in danger. Mom was still in danger.

Mom, who trusted him even if she wasn't there to see him.

He took the earrings.

There was a giggle.

Tikki floated before him.

“Hello, Conner. My name is Tikki, the kwami of the Ladybug Miraculous.”

He blinked, somewhat confused. “But I already know who you are. We’ve met. I’ve fed you cookies.”

She just giggled and held out her little arm to him. “It’s our first meeting as partners. We have to make it official!”

He smiled.

“Hello. Tikki.”

And took her arm with his fingers.

“My name is Conner, Ladybug’s son.”

_____________________

A portal opened in their hideout. The Team was wary, but being aware of the Miraculous (and due to Ladybug’s tendency to use this method of travel to meet them or bring gifts for Conner), they were prepared to see Conner come out of the portal.

They were not prepared, however, for his new look.

He’d often worn red and black, with the black being the more prominent and the red in the form of Superman’s insignia.

Now he was wearing a somewhat armor-like red suit with black spots. Black boots and gloves. A spotted mask. And what they had thought looked like a cape on the back that upon closer inspection appeared more like a shell.

Or wings.

Kid Flash whistled, impressed. “Showing off whose kid you really are. Not like we didn’t already know.”

Artemis nudged him. Hard.

“Hey guys.” Conner greeted.

He held up the Box for them to see.

“Mom and Dad can’t come. But they gave us something to help.”

He set the Box on the table. With a tap, it opened, revealing several pieces of jewelry.

“So...what’s your favorite animal?”

[razorblade180]

Cold confrontation

Strength is all that matters in a fight. Physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual. All of these were classified as strength. To have them all would make you a true threat. It’s what made Carmine a true threat, yet here she was, on death’s door. She gripped her pounding head and gritted her teeth from the sharp pain going through her pain, her body curled up on the numbingly cold marshlands that robbed her the pleasure of a warm end. Just the bitter cold and two pairs of eyes watching with interest. One set was the foe she so foolishly tried conquering, Shiva. It was a tall order. Carmine thought she had worked it all out. Apparently not. The proof was in the second set of eyes watching die. Her eyes. The cold warped eyes of a rose clone watching the original perish. A rose clone made from Diamond Dust.

xxxx

Warmth invaded her body like a wave. Carmine’s nerves jolted all at once and the girl sat up quickly, gasping as if she almost drowned. Her headache was replaced with haze as she her mind came to grips with the fact she was no longer in danger. She was on a couches. A warm one at that, wool covers and all. A fire place glowed nicely inside of a log cabin where several of her Interdimensional friends and siblings stayed. The ones that didn’t leave or was forced to not intervene anyways. Footsteps made Carmine look behind the couch to see Lucas walking with two mugs. He handed one to her and sat on a warm rug safely away from the fire, but close enough to give him warmth from the blizzard outside. He took a sip of his tea and looked at their girl, who was still a little blue.

Lucas:So....how does it feel to freeze to death?

Carmine:Never again.

Lucas:Yeah? Sounds about right. What happened out there?

Carmine:Your future vision didn’t show you?

Lucas:I wasn’t there. All I saw was me dragging your body through the door and when you’d wake up. Whatever went down in those marshlands is your story to tell.

Carmine:Then I rather keep it unspoken. Just know making a clone out of the dust Shiva creates when she conjures ice is a very stupid move. I guess that’s a given. Using an unknown weapon against a foe who clearly knows how it works was doomed to blow up in my face. *holds head* Ugh....crap...

Lucas:You okay? I found you holding your head.

Carmine:Did you see a clone of me with white hair and eyes with a light blue glint?

Lucas:No, Just you. Shiva saw me but didn’t seem bothered that I showed up or left with you. Didn’t hear anyone else besides her either.

Carmine:The clone must’ve vanished then. I can’t sense it. Good. Looking through their eyes and sharing info in more or less real time has always been seamless, effortless too.

Lucas:But?

Carmine:I...don’t know. That clone, it wasn’t me mentally linking with myself. There was feedback or something. It was more Shiva than me, and then traced that mental link backwards to me. Shiva, she got in my head. H..how the hell did she do that? How does Summer cope with that?!

Lucas:Discovering a new found respect for the girl? Wouldn’t blame you, but I think “cope” would be giving too much credit. Whatever the case, did you find anything else worthwhile? Watching you go off to die or comeback empty handed is very discouraging for Yujin and Tenzen.

Carmine:Not you?

Lucas:Oh you know me. I’m pretty good at knowing what’s a good attempt and what is a bust.

Carmine:So why do ask?

Lucas:Had to get the topic rolling somehow. Knowing the answer doesn’t do much without discussing the actual fruit of your labors.

The front door opened and Jacquelyn came walking in with her daughters. All three of them shook snow off their clothes and immediately went to the fire. Tenzen and Yujin must’ve heard the door open because they came from upstairs a few seconds later. Now the entire Lasting Embers crew was here. People from Shiva’s world were strictly forbidden from interacting with the beast and Carmine had sent her people away for their own safety. Between Lucas being a loner and everyone else, Carmine had no ground to stand on when it came to giving orders. They didn’t want to leave, so they didn’t.

Sienna:So how’s dying?

Carmine:Better then repeating myself.

Lucas:She didn’t enjoy the experience.

Jael:I would hope not.

Yujin:You all we’re out awhile. Learn anything?

Jacquelyn:Nothing I didn’t know before. The longer Shiva stays, the colder it gets. It either ends eventually, or we have to make it end. A test if there ever was one.

Tenzen:Shiva is like the main problem in a universe, right? How are we suppose to deal with a problem that grand? With no help from the residents either. Nick must know tricks.

Jael:He would’ve said so before leaving, or hinted. The fact that he doesn’t must mean he’s stumped. Like you said, grand problem.

Sienna:In his case maybe. Here, murder is a viable option. Killing her long enough to revert her back to Summer is an option.

Yujin:Ummm killing a friend-

Sienna:She’ll live.

Yujin:Yeah, and I’ll feel disgusted. I’m positive Summer wouldn’t appreciate being killed either. I wouldn’t.

Jael:Yeah but you’re soft and emotional about every-ow!

Jacquelyn:*pinching her arm* Be nice. Even if we down that route, whose to say we’d succeed? The Void has the benefit of allowing us to go all out but it might not be enough.

Carmine:It wouldn’t. You don’t think I tried a more lethal approach to Shiva. If I attacked to observe movement, then she did the same. It’s clear this is entertainment for her and allowing her opponent to learn what they’re doing is a flaw she happily lets show. However, murderous intent is met with more murderous intent. Her power is used to overwhelm, until you’re left helpless.

Sienna:Isn’t that you’re forte? Your style is based on overwhelming power and visual overload.

Carmine:Completely different. I am a high quality fighter that can create a quantity that doesn’t sacrifice the performance grade. Shiva’s power is based on raw nature. You ever hear of an army beating an avalanche? Some things just don’t scale.

Lucas:If that’s how we’re looking at this then that would mean to beat her would mean to endure. Running or prevention isn’t an option for this avalanche.

Tenzen:Enduring doesn’t sound like one either! Does anyone have the stamina?

Jacquelyn:Doesn’t matter. Her attacks more often than not will bypass aura because of the cold. Then there’s the actual environment. We’ll be cold while she’s barefoot on freezing water. A battle of attrition is the last thing we want.

Yujin:So the goal is speed and power. Okay, we have those in spades. Not to mention I stand the best chance when it comes to taking a hit if it comes down to it, so endurance isn’t completely out of the wheelhouse.

Lucas:We also have knowledge, current and future, to be accurate. Though acting on the the future events is another thing entirely.

Jael:How the hell is this chick contained!? Who’s putting her back in the metaphorical bod in her world? Nick survives this, regularly?

Sienna:Temperature is a factor. As well as the time she’s free. We unfortunately have her out for a long time and in constant frigid weather. We do however have a magical person to help. None of the technology though. Frankly our resources are limited.

Lucas:Talk about a troublesome situation. I’m not made for situations like this. *lays down* Insane odds, all of them pointing to ruin. It’s ridiculous. Nick sure is the real deal, smiling with a looming threat like that never far. Sibling or not, he must be terrified.

Jael:Really, I don’t think so. So what if he has a sister that’s dangerous, life threatening even? That doesn’t erase the love. It makes you wanna reach out more.

Sienna:Is that so? *smiles*

Jael:Don’t get a big head and assume things. *nudges her* Back to the matter at hand...

Carmine:What the hell is our plan exactly?

Yujin:You’re the one who said she’s a force of nature. I mean what beats that, besides a natural disaster?

She chuckled at her own words. For some reason she found them more than a little crazy, so it can as a shock to Yujin when she realized everyone was looking at her with wide eyes, like she’d solve the problem. Then, it clicked. She did provide an answer. All eyes shifted to their own force of nature, Jacquelyn, who was a little unsettled by the attention.

Jacquelyn:Hey now, don’t go getting any wild ideas.

Yujin:But can’t you literally change landscapes? Instead of of focusing on Shiva as an individual, we should focus attention on what’s around her. You can change that!

Carmine:No problem for a full fledged maiden right?

Jacquelyn:Is everyone forgetting the part where y’all are also participating the fight? You’d get swept up in whatever chaos I bring. Not only that, but doing something grand takes effort and concentration. I doubt I’d be able to back you all up faithfully, or protect myself well if Shiva puts her sights on me.

Lucas:Oh that won’t be a problem.

Jacquelyn:What?

Lucas:It won’t be a problem. *stares at fire* I have ideas. No idea how they’ll end, and I’m trying to see for once.

Carmine:That’s concerning.

Lucas:No, it’s perfect. Knowing would mean the plan is either to simple, or not chaotic enough.

Tenzen:Or you’re having performance anxiety and actually aren’t using your semblance.

Lucas:That’s neither here nor there. Alright, everyone listen carefully.

xxxxx

Snow blew ferociously around Shiva’s humble domain. The girl herself sat comfortably to watch a frog hop by. The little creature casually hopped in the cold water and then hopped onto her leg. Shiva gave it a gentle smile, then put nudged back to ground. The approaching body heat behind her gave her no sense of unease, even as a bullet flew passed her head and into a tree. In fact, Shiva found it a bit humorous. She finally rose up to lock eyes with Carmine, who stood with seven clones made from flame dust.

Shiva:Wow, you are a different breed entirely, aren’t ya? I think it’s roughly been a day at best, yet here you are, ready to scrap. Freezing to death would make a regular person filled with fear and think harder about preservation. Or least that’s what I would assume if you know, a person lived through freezing to death. Can’t till if you’re fortitude is immaculate, or your mind isn’t all there.

Carmine:I’ve been known to be a little on the intense and hardheaded side. You’ll have to do more than kill me to keep me down. That being said, no way in hell am I experiencing that ever again.

Shiva:Well good to know it fazed you. I was beginning to wonder who was the real beast here. Carmine Rose, an entertaining individual for sure. Not to mention clever. So....what’s the trick here? *looking around* is it hidden among the trees, or below my feet I wonder?

Carmine:Not sure what you mean. What you see is what you get. (I’m not only Clever one here apparently....)

Shiva:Tsk tsk, let’s not insult intelligence here. We’ve fought to often to do that. I studied you in the same way you’ve done me. Fire clones, obviously I’d sense them along with you, but you know this. You want me sensing them, focusing on it intently. If I had to make a wager, then I’d bet there’s more clones I can’t since from body heat, ice clones. Perhaps rock as well if they dig far enough. No different from slight of hand.

Carmine:Can’t you be dimwitted like a majority of people who love the sound of their own voice? Even if you are right, knowing slight of hand is happening doesn’t mean you can find what’s hidden right before you. Ice, rock, five, or maybe one, you don’t know scope of the plan, or that it’s already accomplished.

Carmine’s words left an air of mysterious. What was already accomplished? Shiva had no time to ask when the ground began to shake and a thunderous boom rattled the air again and again. Explosions throughout the marshlands were set off in sequence. The fire clones around Carmine darted into the trees at breakneck speed, leaving the original to run full force at Shiva.

Shiva conjured a pike of ice to run Carmine through. The attack was pointless however. Before making contact, Carmine bursted into petals. Yet another clone. The real one was never around to begin with. Somehow, the huntress managed sneak explosives around, most likely fire dust, undetected through the marshlands. The assumption about ice or rock clones was beginning to become fact. Not that it mattered at this point. Puny flames in blizzard didn’t bother her. It would take far more heat to hinder any of her moves. Still, Shiva now understood her opponent’s move.

“Her clones are among the flames, but I can’t sense where.” Shiva thought, realizing the heat from the flames was a smoke screen, masking the body heat movements. “Clever, but useless. Snuff the flames and-” a sudden surge of heat made Shiva turn around and get hit right in the face, knocking her to the ground out of nowhere. Shiva sprang up and looked around. Nothing, then boom! A strike against her spine. Again, she did not see it coming. Just a flash of heat before a strike. She sensed it from the left and put up an ice wall. The heat rushed at her, then made a sharp turn around the wall, hitting her gut. It wa still fast, but the detour not only lessened the blow, but was slow enough for Shiva to see the pink electricity left in its wake.

“Tenzen.” She growled, “Why didn’t I sense him before? It was just Carmine’s clones earlier.” The boy landed another blow to her head and tripped her before darting back into the distant trees. He was also using the flames to hide, choosing to attack from seemingly random locations. “He must’ve waited from afar entered after the explosions.” Shiva froze the water around with a stomp of her foot into the soaked ground. Tenzen would be in for a rude awakening on his next run by. That was the plan anyways.

Shiva felt the heat speed by again but from above this time. Back and forth, left and righ, Tenzen bounced the tree to tree. The speed of his movement brought a wind with him that spread the flames from tree to tree. Shiva sent out a wave of frost from a swat of her hand to put them out , but Tenzen was quick to light another. Shiva had to change tactics. She stomped her foot again which caused the ice to spread all throughout and up the trees near by. The ice then stook out like jagged spears.

Tenzen let out an auditable gasp before diving to the ground to avoid getting impaled. “Gotcha!” Shiva shouted, firing shards of ice from her hand in his direction.” The achievement was short lived when Yujin dropped in from above enveloped in her trade mark white flames, sword ready to strike.

“Sun slice!” An intense white flame flew at Shiva’s ice, making it weaker and hitting her directly. Yujin immediately took Tenzen’s hand then was sped off to hide.

Shiva waved of the bother attack. While hotter than the rest, Yujiin’s flames were only agitating. Still... “Okay, now I’m pissed.” Hot and run wasn’t her idea of fun. Neither was not knowing anything. At this point it was smarter to believe everyone was in the forest. Only one way to know for sure. Shiva started running to towards flames and blew them out with a breath. More were to her right from above and below. Weak or not, the flames had to go.

She raised her right hand out to send another blast of ice until a chain wrapped itself around her wrist and yanked her away. Shiva recognized it as Sienna’s and sent ice up it. “Bad move kitty!” She pulled hard once the chain went rigged, a heat signature still on the other hand. Long ice nails formed around her free hand for a counter attack. However, Sienna was not who she pulled in. It was flame clone of Carmine. “What?”

“Surprise...” the clone blew up in a fiery explosion that sent Shiva sliding into a tree. At the same time, dozens of chains shot from the flames to restrain Shiva against the tree; followed by the force of gravity to make it harder to move.

Yujin appeared once again from the flames. This time with a Carmine that held an identical flaming weapon. “Once more with feeling! Sun slice times two!” They both set flames that washed over the ground and set the trees ablaze before they rushed away from Shiva’s building anger.

Shiva’s body naturally froze the chains until they snapped, setting her free. Weighed down by gravity, Shiva grit her teeth and unleashed an immense pressure of sheer cold that would’ve frost bitten and freeze anything living within several feet. Even the white flames went out like candles. More chains came flying out to meet their end by Shiva. A mighty scream let a beam of ice fly from her mouth, shattering the attack.

“Carmine didn’t just clone herself. She cloned herself with her friend’s weapons!” Gravity around began to go back to normal. The flames on the marsh had spread in greater range, giving more room for everyone to attack. Shiva double backed to where she froze the trees. Quickly she conjured more ice and created pillars that were as cold as glaciers. Flames still only remained on the ouskirts and barely moved in. Shiva smiled and created Nick’s blade from diamond dust. “If this is the game you want to play then come on, try your luck!”

They must’ve been waiting for the invitation, because Lucas and Carmine appeared in a flash of pink lightning before her, charging with their blades ready. Ice particles built up to form shards that Shiva fired head at the duo. Carmine slowed her pace to get behind Lucas. “See this coming?”

Lucas chuckled, “Duh.” His eyes darted at every shared coming his way. Each position, distance, speed, target, nothing was unknown from his eyes. He brought his sword up to shatter two aiming at his forehead, then swung down to intercept four at his chest. He spun his katana left to block another seven and then tossed it his right hand, blocking another eight. He swung his blade forward as he transformed it into a blade whip that he used to hook a pillar. “All clear.” His blade reeled him up at out of Carmine’s way.

Carmine smiled, “Show off.” Her body lunged forward. Stamen was swung down to meet Shiva. An ice wall shoot up between them but was cleaned into by Carmine’s attack. Her blade met Shiva’s and th two looked at each other with a shared sense of anger and excitement.

“Awwww, someone needed help?” Shiva mocked. “I guess I should feel honored.”

“No need. Just feel pain...” Their swords separated briefly before clashing again. Carmine refused lose ground. Her blade countered a strike to the face, then returned the attack with a strike to the torso that was blocked as well. The slightest raise of Shiva’s foot made Carmine back step, striking the ground to send a shockwave that met forming ice spikes. A raise of her hand made Carmine grab Pistil and fired a slug shot before an icicle could spear her.

The recoil slid her back because of the ice. Range was the last thing Shiva needed to have. Another, more charged icicle was fired. Carmine shot the ground to launch swiftly into the air. The air around her became colder until ice itself formed into thin sheets as sharp as knives around her. “Lucas!” Carmine shouted. “I know!” The boy sent his whip her to grab and yanked her out of harms way and back to the ground. “Stay close!” He swung her at Shiva.

Carmine used the whip as a tether to slide herself back within melee range of Shiva. Her weapons merged to form her scythe and then was sent right at Shiva’s legs. Carmine overreached to shoot the scythe, causing it to pull backwards, sweeping both feet. Shiva was crafty though. The witch made a platform of ice that raised her just in time.

“Your mother loves that move.” Shiva looked up at Lucas and jumped at him. “Can’t leave you to your devices either!”

Lucas clicked his tongue and jumped as well. The two clashed blades midair with Lucas using his leverage to knock her back to the ground towards Carmine. They had to keep the pressure up a little longer, and Lucas knew just how to do it. He dropped to the ground and bolted towards Shiva. “Carmine! LADYBUG!”

Carmine immediately launched her forward and the two rapidly slashed against Shiva’s defenses by hitting her from both sides with alternating lunge attacks. Carmine would be lying if she didn’t think using this team was cool. She had to remember to try it with Kovu potentially.

Again and again, ice and Shiva’s blade barely deflected the onslaught of slashes. She made the mistake of jumping back to escape and was met with a pull of gravity that tugged her back into the blades, giving her opponents two clean strikes that made her knees buckled. “Gah! Son of a-” she hit the ground. Ice shot up like spikes that ended the team attack. A deep breath calmed her senses, focusing them on the heat. Her eyes locked on to a spot in front of her. “There...” Shiva channeled a large amount of diamond dust and shot it in that direction, causing an explosion of ice. The attack forced none other than Jael to fly up and out of the way.

“Shit, she found me.” Jael could sense the atmosphere around her become lethal and quickly dove back into the tree line. It didn’t stop ice daggers from forming inches from her and getting closer. She was finall met with no choice but to face them head on with her blade. It was by the grace of luck that a chain got her, yanking her up out of serious danger. And of course, it was her sister’s.

“What would you do without me?” Sienna smirked.

Jael smirked back. “Have less hair to clean out of the shower. Now let’s keep going!” They both went their separate ways and continued with the plan. Jael continued watching from the shadows with her sister and the ice clones while Yujin, Tenzen, and fire clones spread the flames as far as possible. “Just a little longer, then it’s all on you mom.”

Lucas was being put through his paces. Micromanaging every event was beginning to wear on his mind and it was starting to show when Shiva bombarded him with a flurry of attacks until one slash to his stomach sent him flying towards a tree. Fortunately, Jael’s semblance made the impact way softer than it should’ve been.

“Lucas!” Carmine shouted. She trued to run to his aid but was cut off by a wall of ice. “Damn!”

“You should keep your focus on me!” Shiva took Carmine head on with overpowering sword swings that cascaded ice shrapnel and air pressure that sent the huntress’s feet sliding back. Carmine’s eyes remained locked onto Shiva like a predator hunting prey. Her teeth were clenched and stance was solid, blocking with all her strength. Still, Carmine was only human. Lucas watched from the other side, stumbling up. His semblance reared its dual sided nature again, showing a glimpse of the silver eyed warrior falling to Shiva’s sword running her through.

He gripped his frost bitten stomach in pain. “Come on body, don’t fail me yet!” Adrenaline and an unknown passion to continue fighting pushed him forward as he ran towards the ice wall. Without having to ask, Lucas felt Jael make his body lighter right as jumped. He went right over the wall and was sent downward in front of Carmine as her block gave out; just in time to block a lightning quick thrust. Lucas slid his blade under Shiva’s at the handle then swung it up, separating the weapon from wielder.

Carmine didn’t squander the opening and made a b-line for it. She reverted her scythe back to a sword and put all of her strength into swinging it down on the ice blade, shattering it. Carmine then whipped her body around and blitzed Shiva, practically vanishing from sight before reappearing behind her to deliver a crushing hit against her ribs that sent her airborne.

Shiva rolled into her landing, head raised with anger. Blue dust flowed from her pores being like steam. The bone white color of her hair glowed with her eyes and her breath shudder out like a final breath. “Die...”

It was instant. One second there was nothing, then a moment later, the ground beneath them glowed with the pillars. Without hesitating, Lucas kicked Carmine outside of the pillars before ice enclosed it like a dome. Inside, hundreds of ice shards formed from every possible angle around him. How could power like this exist? It was too much, Shiva was too much. His eyes couldn’t find a way out, or a way to survive.

“I...can’t escape this.” Fear began to settle in, but before it could consume him, a miracle happenend. A rose, right at his feet. A clone burst into existence with its sword at the ready and back against his. What was once inescapable death in his eyes was changed the pattern of attacks shifted. The fear inside of him gave way to relief as he smiled. “You are just full of surprises. You knew I’d get you outta harm?”

“Don’t need future vision to know you’re the sacrificing type. Can’t have you saving my butt all the time. Better keep up.”

“That’s my line.”

Without another word, hell began to rain down on them. Lucas’s blade switched to whip mode for only a second to perfectly deflect eight before switching back to a blade. There wasn’t a moment his sword wasn’t carving through the and his feet pivoting in a small radius as Carmine swung her her blade just as fast, to the point the both of them became a blur of colors. The constant shattering of ice against steel echoed like broken glass. Neither Shiva or Jael could understand what they were witnessing. It was almost like a dance.

With every ice deflect they saw, there was at least fifteen they didn’t. Lucas and Carmine, constantly flipping and pivoting around each other to block an attack the other couldn’t. The relentless assault chipped their blades to the point of cracking, but they were not worried. At the same time, their hands reached for baton and sheath respectfully and continued their absolute defense. Silver and gold eyes never lost pace. Carmine’s pure athleticism protected Lucas while he did the same for her with his semblance. Seeing and predicting an attack like this was impossible, so he didn’t. Lucas was only looking at one future event, Carmine. Her moves, position, even what way she looked. All of this in just under a second, until, finally...

“She’s distracted...” He muttered.

“Yeah... just catching my breath. You kick hard.” Carmine took a glimpse at Shiva and smirked. A second later the real Carmine dashed by and swung her blade like a bat right into Shiva. The girl’s entire body was sent rolling across the ground and through several trees. Finally, the rain of ice stopped and the clone caught a fatigued Lucas that was rightfully out of breath. They had survived just long enough for Tenzen to come back with good news.

“We’re done!!!!!”

“Get us out then!” Lucas gasped. He was then swept away away along with the real Carmine to outside of the marsh. Yujin and Sienna awaited them. They were covered and ash and drenched in sweat. The sight of Jael flying straight up and out meant they were all clear.

The girl flew as fast as possible out of range towards her mother, who was also in the sky. They looked down at the blazing inferno that engulfed almost the entire marsh

Jacquelyn’s eyes glowed intensely, “she in the middle?”

“Several feet to the right of those pillars. That good enough?”

“Perfect, let’s see her snuff these flames.” Jacquelyn let a rather menacing smile show as she let the wind rage and swirl around the marsh stoking the fires. “Burn!” The wind transform the fire into vortex as wide as Amnity itself, and as tall as communication tower. “Jael, you’re up sweetie”

She nods, “right!” Jael extends her arms forward. Taking a deep breath, she exhales slowly as she focuses on pulling gravity to a single point above the vortex. Jael soars a bit closer to gain more control to the point where a small, dense orb forms. She then lowers it carefully along with her, drawing the down towards it like water rushing to fill a hole. She keeps lowering the point of gravity until the mass of flames have been compressed down to a closed sphere around Shiva.

Everyone begins to close in on the spot, ignoring the crushing hit and terrible ash of the incinerated forest. It didn’t take long to follow the heat of a contained wildlife fire. Somehow, they had done it. Shiva stood inside, firing ice in vain. Nothing was coming out, then she dropped to her knees with her hands pressed on her chest as she tried to breathe.

“H-How is...what is...?” She gasped, not understanding. The flames were indeed hot, but not enough to do this much this fast. It wasn’t the flames at all hurting her. Shiva couldn’t simply breathe.

Carmine sighed, “As much as I would love to explain this like it was my idea, I’m not the one with an A in science.” She looked at Lucas, but jealous.

He had finally caught his own breath and more than willing to pay himself on the back. “It’s not that amazing. The flames might not be hot enough to hinder Shiva directly, but they’re more than enough to mess with Summer, or anybody. It doesn’t matter how strong anybody is if they can’t breathe. That fire prison you’re in? It’s burned all the oxygen and moisture inside. No air. No ice. No problem.”

Shiva fell completely on the ground. Her vision began blurring the faces of her proud opponents. With the last of her strength, she sighed. “Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. About time I leave anyways. ”

xxxxx

“Summer?” A voice called through darkness, bringing light. The girl’s eyes opened to see many ash covered faces and tired eyes blinking at her. She sat up and looked around, confused. “Ummmm why are you all filthy and smell like smoke.” She caught whiff of herself. “Ugh, why do I smell like nature hobo who lit on fire?”

Carmine could and the others could only smile on relief as they fell to ground from exhaustion. “It’s been a long month....”

[c-atm]

Jambudweek 2: Lion (Connverse Crossover verse)

Key: Mister: Steven (Fighting flirty) Heart Berry (HB): Connie (Fighting flirty) Witchy: Connie ( Witchanddemon) Dapper: Steven (Witchanddemon

Lion (Connverse Crossover verse)

It's been about ten days since the event happened.

  LHW R&D finally crossed the line and began to experiment with the idea of alternative universes or maybe they always have been doing so, and finally decided to field test a true attempt at moving across dimensions, via Universal warp pads.

  They look like your average warp pads, but their stream looks more like the bifrost from that superhero movie.

  Regardless, they kind of succeeded. They didn't travel to another universe or an 'AU', They brought people from one to theirs, and as if fate decided to play a joke on them all, the accidental sliders happened to be two very familiar faces, just younger than usual. 

  Everyone was shocked and bewildered, when 21-year-old diamond hybrid; Steven Quartz Universe  and 20-year-old part time college student, and member LHW R&D; Connie Yasha Maheswaran met experienced demon hunters, 16-year-old demon familiar, Steven Diamond Universe and 15-year-old witch and Steven's contractor, Connie Maheswaran.

  Moving the two into Connie's little Homeworld residence was easy enough, but they quickly found out that the witch/demon pair was a bit more impulsive, A bit more guarded, a bit more outwardly hardened, a bit more...Independent, than themselves,  than they should be. Which really, no one could blame them given the situation and well their lifestyle. Still, they showed that they are as kind, warm and open-hearted as their adult counterparts. 

  It was a shock for the demon and witch pair as well.

Magic and beings that seemed familiar but not. People who were long passed or just not around for one reason or the next, were now there in person, treating them with the same love and affection as their counterparts.  

  It was especially emotional for 'Dapper', a name for the younger Steven coined by the older Connie. Partly because of his clothing style, partly to tease her own Steven; and 'Witchy' a playful nickname from the older Steven to the younger Connie; met  the Maheswarans and Greg.

   A night of tears that was for all involved.

  It took a bit for everyone to get settled into the fact that there was a second, younger jambud pair in their universe, no matter how temporary the stay would be. Except for Mister and Heartberry, the older jambuds; who seemed to take the fact that they now each had a younger 'sibling' in a strange stride. 

  "They're not clones and they have not tried to kill us." No one could argue with their logic.

  All in all the younger two was able to find a groove within this new world, and soon found themselves settling in, getting used to everything and everyone.

  Until this evening …

  The two pairs were resting at Connie's LHW residence watching old under the knife reruns and exchanging information about their worlds. Deepening their siblings like bond and such, when Mister asked a simple question.

  "So, what's your Lion like?"

  "What?" The witch and demon paired retorted. "What do you mean?"  Witchy added questionably.

  "Lion? Big cotton candy fluff ball of a cat." HB joked.

  "It's just me and my lady at home. We're out too much to care for a pet." Dapper stated as he wrapped an arm around Witchy's shoulder, who despite blushing, didn't remove it.

  "It's kind of hard to call Lion a pet." Mister chuckled. "He's more like a partner or adopted rebellious teenage son."

  "So what, he's an outside cat who just stops by every once in a blue?' 

  "Maybe for Mister, here." HB snickered her counterpart question, before squealing at the playfully nuzzling retaliation from her Steven. She tapped his chest to get him to stop, causing the two demon hunters to shake their head at the duo.

  HB cleared her throat before answering. "For me, he's more obedient," She grinned cheekily "and Mister is jealous of that fact." 

  "See how she's messing with me." Mister pinched HB hip, getting a peep out of her and pointed stare out of her. 

  "She is telling the truth though about him being more obedient."

  "You two wanna meet him?" 

  The demon and witch pair shrugged before nodding. They saw no reason why they wouldn't. It was just a cat, right?

  The older pair looked at each other before HB stood up and stepping through the front door. Putting her left index and thumb in her mouth she whistled towards the setting sun.

  "He's coming." Mister reassured the two, who looked a bi smug.

  "Ah there you go! My fluffy boy, Daddy and mommy got someone for you to meet.."

  Witchy bit back a snicker at the sweet talk as Dapper looked on teasingly smug towards Mister, who said nothing, but looked on in knowing indifference. 

  That soon turned to cheeky glee as he watched  the younger Dapper take Witchy in his arms protectively and leap behind the couch, as HB walked in with Lion in toll.

  "That a Lion! A real live honest to god lion!" Witchy exclaimed as the demon hunting duo looked at their older counterparts as if they lost their mind as they playfully scratched and rubbed the pink jungle king, who just mewled in appreciation of the attention.

  "Yes and he's such a good boy. yes he is." HB swooned as Lion nuzzled his snout against her chin. 

  "Still gotta work on his  parking though." Mister joked as Lion nudged his head against the gem hybrids own, growling gently, before licking his chin, getting chuckles out of him. " Ok, ok you've gotten better."

  HB turned to the two with a smirk. "Come on over here. He won't hurt you."

  Dapper shook his head, unconvinced.  "You're kidding..right?" 

  "Why would we? He wouldn't hurt…." HB had to pause for a second. " Actually,he would hurt someone, badly...If they were a threat to Steven or me and by proxy, you two."

  "Yeah,he's a battle cat for sure." Mister praised rubbing Lion's belly 

  "My trusted stee, yes he is." HB followed, getting pleasurable yips from the big cat.

  Dapper was still unsure, when Witchy climbed out his grasp, and walked cautiously towards the three. 

  The older jambuds got out of the way and stood back as Lion stood up looking at the younger version  of his mistress, seeing the uncertainty in her eyes. He moved his snout closer to her, smelling the heavy, yet oh so familiar scent. 

  When he was done with his assessment of the younger mistress, Lion stared for a few moments...Before nuzzling his snout against her jaw, giving it a gentle lick and resting his head on her shoulder.

  The response was instant!

  "Oh! I love you! Such a sweet boy!" Witchy announced as she hugged the beast around his neck kissing it on its skull.

  "I know, right!" HB exclaimed as she joined in giving the big cat attention.

  "Kind of figured this was gonna happen." Mister stated with a smile towards Dapper who still looked unsure as if he was trying to figure out something.

  "He's dead." 

  Dapper heard in his ear before turning to Mister, astonishment on his face. 

  "I don't know when or how, but Lion died and was resurrected by my mother. It's why he's pink and can do all he can do."  Mister stated cooly, arms crossed as he and his counterparts watched the girls and Lion play together a smile on his face.

  "What can he do?"

  "Alot." 

  The demon elbowed the diamond, chuckling slightly. "Cryptic doesn't fit you at all, Big Bro."

  Mister ruffled his younger 'brothers' hair "Yeah, yeah." He scoffed a laugh  watching him slick his hair back. "Seriously, you want to know what Lion can do. He'll show you."

  Dapper arched an eyebrow at that statement as Mister walked up to  his Connie, whispering in her ear. She nodded with a smile before standing up. 

  "You know, it's a nice evening. You guys should take Lion out for a bit of a...Adventure. " 

  At the sound of an adventure, the pink beast climbed to its feet, almost excitedly. HB gave the beast  a kiss under its jaw, before whispering in his ear. Lion turned to HB giving her an affectionate rub with his skull before bending down in front of Witchy.

  "Ummm?" 

  "Go ahead. Get on. " HB assured her 'sister'.

  Witchy didn't need any more coaxing as she climbed on the beast back.

  "Whoa." She giggled as Lion stood to his full height. feeling a bit of vertigo over how tall he was. She turned to her partner with a smile. "What are you waiting for, you dapper demon? Get on."

  "Listen to your lady." The flirty fighters sang before he could say anything in refusal.  

  Dapper just shook his head conceding. With a gentle hop he landed upon the beast wrapping his arms around his lady. 

  "So what, gonna take us around the town big cat?" Dapper teased, getting an almost offended look from Lion.

  HB chuckled knowingly as she opened the door. " Something like that."

  "Wait..gotta check on Lars." Mister said before giving HB a quick peck on her cheek. He turned to Lion, who dipped his head low towards his master.  "You two have fun." 

  The two younger jambuds jaw dropped when they saw the older Steven disappear into the mane of the beast, completely.

  "Wait, what the hell just happened?" Dapper yelled as Lion roared towards the door creating a portal right outside the house. "What...What?!"

  "Show them a good time Lion, but don't keep them out too late."  HB laughed as the jungle cat ran towards the portal. The last thing she heard before it closed was Dappers screaming  and Witchy excitement filled laughter.

  With a sigh HB sat down on her couch only to hear a text come to her phone. She turned to her messaging  app, reading the new text. Quickly she hopped off the couch, grabbed her sword and ran out the door, heading to R&D.

[reluctantly-plus-ultra]

Rei

Totally random thought here, but can we consider how absolutely crazy the LOV plot could’ve been if they’d taken in Rei? Like, total crack theory, but there are so many fun ways that could’ve been spun.

-It all just starts off with them trying to take out the new number one hero, and nobody’s really sure who mentioned that Endeavor’s wife had been hospitalized (not exactly common knowledge), but it seems like a pretty easy way to take a hostage and lure him in

-Dabi’s kinda pushing against it, but that’s not super shocking as he’s always been a pretty grey-area villain, and if any one of them are likely to have doubts about kidnapping mentally unstable women and putting them in potentially life-threatening situations, of course it’s this crispy dude

-So they take some time planning this whole thing out, and when the time comes around to actually pull it off, it works without a hitch. In and out, nobody notices a thing- particularly not Rei’s caretakers who can’t tell the difference between the real Rei Todoroki and one of Twice’s clones (which is saddening in and of itself)

-They all get back to the base and are putting on this whole evil production, trying to really play up their front and frighten their captive a little bit, but part-way through Shigaraki’s speech about how she’s going to be the bait that helps bring down Endeavor, Rei just...Cuts him off?

-Everyone’s kind of a little taken aback, because nobody does that unless they have a death wish, but here’s this frail wraith of a woman looking completely undaunted while literally tied to a chair, helpless and surrounded by villains

- And she looks their leader dead in the eye and tells him that if they’re looking to take down Enji, there are better ways of doing it 

-LITTLE DID THEY KNOW they kidnapped a literal powerbank of info on their number one target, yes, but they also kidnapped a broken woman who has a story to tell, an army of skeletons in her closet, and more than a few grudges to settle.

-And so, this is how the League of Villains become the first group to hear the truth of what went on behind closed doors in the prestigious Todoroki household, and the facts churn more than one stomach. After all, they might be villains, but for the most part they’re not total monsters, and not a single one of them present can deny that the whole situation is ten variants of fucked up.

-If Dabi had to leave for a cigarette or two when Rei started talking about her children, well, that was his own business.

-When the whole tale is said and done, it doesn’t take long for the league to come to the consensus that hell, if Rei wants to join their cause and crush her husband’s career, they’re not in any position to stop her. They were on the hunt for new recruits anyway, this is really just a win-win situation.

-Things are different with her around; Rei might be part of the cause, but she’s not a true villain like the rest of them. She sets the ground-rules pretty early on; what she doesn’t and doesn’t agree with, what she will and won’t help accomplish. None of them really argue it, because it’s not like they can truly force her to become an evil-doer, and in some ways, it’s nice having a motherly figure around and knowing she wasn’t cleaning blood off the knives in the kitchen earlier.

-And with time, she does gradually become the den mother of sorts, in an odd, peculiar way. It was to be expected, as many of the LOV lacked parental figures, and Rei had a hole in her heart where her children had been stripped. That doesn’t make it any less strange to walk in on Rei patiently braiding Toga’s hair while the teen chatters on about boys and blood like the two subjects were interchangeable, but Rei missed the opportunity to have bonding time like this with Fuyumi, and she’ll be damned if she passes it up again.

-Eventually, this compassion spreads throughout the other members of the league, though, and it’s evident in all kinds of little ways. Compress is meticulous about finding her pretty objects and flowers every time they go out, something to brighten the woman’s day, especially after years of staring at the same four walls. Twice is particularly good at finding new rom-coms for him and Rei to binge when time allows for it. She and Kurogiri know how to make everyone’s individual favourite kinds of tea (and stronger drinks as well, with the exception of Toga)

-She sews Shigaraki a pair of gauntlets that cover one finger and leave the rest of his hand exposed so he can touch things and not have to worry about destroying them, and ooh boy, emotions are high that day.

-They often give her “progress reports” about how Shouto’s doing too, tell her about how strong he’s getting and what new tricks he’s learned from whenever they encounter her son in combat situations. Nothing will ever top the time that Twice came back with three missing teeth and a broken nose, and proudly told Rei Todoroki about how well Shouto could roundhouse kick

-Is it weird to be keeping a special eye on up-and-coming heroes, and be proud when they kick your ass? Probably. Most of them don’t care though, because that’s Rei’s son, look at the little squirt go-

-Poor Todoroki becomes doubly confused when a few of the LOV visibly perk up whenever he uses his ice, which makes no fucking sense, and you can guarantee that he and Midoriya theorize the hell out of it like the true conspiracy theorists they are.

-Dabi’s relationship with Rei is oddly strained, and nobody seems to understand how the typically mild woman manages to put their sarcastic edgelord into extreme defense mode. It’s remarkable to him that none of them have made the connections between Rei’s son Touya and the fire-wielder who they see every damned day, but he can’t tell if it’s worse or better that Rei herself hasn’t seemed to pick up on it either.

-and hAWKS, DEAR LORD HAVE MERCY HAWKS

-Of course, upon doing his undercover work in the league, he’d expected to come across a few surprises, but finally convincing Dabi to let him meet the league and immediately running straight into Endeavor’s wife was not anywhere on the list. It’s something he knows he should be reporting to the Commission as soon as he’s clear, but there’s just... Something not right about how this is sitting, and it causes him to wait things out a little bit.

-And then, upon getting to know her, and finding Rei to be surprisingly sweet and kind for the people she was affiliated with, some red flags were bound to go up. Like, he was confused as hell to begin with even seeing her in the League, but seeing her there and knowing that she’s helping take down Endeavor without being a complete nutcase? Not a good sign.

-So when he too finally gets the whole story, it completely rattles the entire world he stands on. Everything he’s thought of this man he’s looked up to his whole life, everything he thought he was surefooted in putting his faith in, has been completely shattered. It’s devastating and horrible, and a really hard pill to swallow.

-But beyond that, and despite whatever airs he puts on, Hawks is one smart chickadee and it takes him all of 2.36 seconds to figure out that the brooding 20-something-year-old with a vendetta against this same man and a fire quirk too powerful for his own good is none other than Rei’s son Touya without a doubt. He doesn’t blame himself for missing it before, but knowing Dabi and knowing the whole story of what went down suddenly brings things into a whole new perspective, and it unfortunately makes a lot of sense.

-Eventually, after about a month or so and neither Dabi nor Rei seeming to make any move to reconnect, Hawks intervenes a little, pulling Rei aside to nudge her towards the struggling young man. It’s a surprise to find out that she’s known all along, has known since the day they took her from the hospital, and she first laid eyes on him. “He’s different, older,” She says with a small smile, patting the winged hero’s arm, “But I’d recognize my son anywhere.”

-Hawks chooses not to mention how Endeavor had faced Touya in person and not even come close to the same conclusion, but the knowledge of the thing still simmers in his gut.

-She says she’s waiting for him to come to her and tell her himself, but Dabi’s a stubborn little shit, so when things get a bit too overwhelming for the fire-user one night and Hawks has to bring an absolutely drunk-off-his-rocker Touya Todoroki back to the league or risk him passing out in a gutter somewhere, he takes him straight to Rei. He’s a mess, has been for the last three hours since he first broke into Hawks’ apartment just after midnight and began info-dumping his story to him then and there, scuffed knuckles and bleeding scars indicating that he’s already had some trouble earlier in the night.

-Of course, Dabi isn’t in the mood to chat and takes one look at Rei before trying to walk right back out the door. But the strain is becoming too much for Hawks too, and it’s time to lay some old demons to rest.

-It’s a little uncomfortable, being a bystander to their reunion, but Hawks can’t honestly trust that Dabi won’t flee if he’s not blocking the way and tracking him down again would be an absolute pain in the ass. So instead, he tries his best to be a mute fly on the wall as Rei approaches her rigid prodigal son, and gently raises one hand up to his cheek, using the sleeve of her sweater to carefully wipe away the blood trails.

-”I knew a boy just like you once.”

-Hawks can’t deny that his heart breaks a little as Rei tells this unmoving statue of a man about her Touya, how kind and gentle and loving he was, how he played so well with his younger siblings, and always put them first. How much she loved him, how much they all did, how she’d treasured his crayon drawings and cried in secret when he burned, and the slowly crumbling look on Dabi’s face is something he never wants to see again.

-”What happened to him?” Dabi asks, voice wavering, and it’s devastating that he’s still trying so hard to keep that mask on, to hide behind a scarred face and dyed hair like he doesn’t already know who he is, like he wasn’t admitting it all in Hawk’s living room an hour beforehand, pacing a hole through the carpet.

-“Nothing that was his fault,” Rei answers quietly, finally letting the unshed tears roll down her cheeks, even as she smiles, “I’m just glad to see he’s still alive.”

-It takes half a second for both of them to be embracing in a crumpled heap on the floor of the warehouse, and damn it, even Hawks is crying when he hears Dabi call Rei “Mom” for the first time in twelve fucking years, both of them sobbing, though the tears aren’t all sad. There’s a relieved look on Rei’s face as she combs through Dabi’s hair soothingly, saying his name over and over again until it finally doesn’t feel strange to associate it with the broken man Hawks has come to know.

-Things are better from then on. Explaining this revelation to the rest of the league the next morning was… Something, but Dabi’s smiles come easier after that night, and Hawks is learning to appreciate how simple it can be to make him laugh. There’s a light in his eyes that wasn’t there before, and while Hawks knows he shouldn’t be making these kinds of promises, not with the orders he’s under, he swears he won’t let it flicker out again. Damned hero instincts and all that.

Honestly, I have a lot more ideas to run with this prompt, but I don’t want to make this unbearably long- let me know if y’all are interested in a part two!

[jacensolodjo]

First of all, thank you again to the recent anon message that gave me the push to finally write this down to be able to put Jaster into the mix, not just Sheres, as I wasn’t really sure if I should or if it was best left unsaid for the time being. The Alphas are my domain and will be forever more but sometimes I worry about going a tad too far and whatnot with weaving my OCs into ‘canon’ story. (Seriously I wish I could express how much it means when people show an interest in my OC stuff or even just stuff in general. I know it is starting to sound silly but gosh. I like knowing I'm not just using my blog as a notebook lol mi blog es su blog, please pick up a fun goodie bag on your way home)

I apologize for the chunky-ass paragraphs and the rambling.

So, a quick recap for people who either don’t have a lot of knowledge about the comics or just Legends stuff in general:

In ‘Legends’, the story of Grievous, clones, Asajj, and others is entirely different from the story we now have. In the original story, Grievous and Asajj fought against clone troopers (and Jedi of course) on a planet far different from the planets they were on in the new canon. The former grievously (haaaaaaaaa) wounds Alpha 17. Asajj is also injured in the fight (not by Grievous tho which yes I have to make that clear because they have fought each other before lol) and considered to be nothing more than a corpse. And someone had the bright fucking idea to put the two of them in a shuttle back to Republic space (even if you really do believe she’s dead why the FUCK would you put someone who literally tortured another someone in the SAME TRANSPORT with said tortured someone. Since 17 is not dead and may or may not have been unconscious so waking up to Asajj would not be a fun thing). The very last thing we see where A17 is concerned is... Asajj taking control of the shuttle by killing off the pilot and so forth. This puts an already possibly paralyzed Alpha 17 in some dire straits. This is unfortunately the last we hear about 17 and so he is presumed dead, killed by his literal torturer so many months after their initial meeting. 

Now that we have that out of the way.

In my slightly happier fun time idea for 17 regarding this, I decided anyone with even half a brain cell would realize putting him on the same shuttle as Asajj Ventress is the worst idea in the history of the galaxy, dead or NOT. MAYBE if he wasn’t fucking paralyzed now (but would still be really gross to do w/ his history where Asajj is concerned). I change nothing else about this end of the war for him (because it IS the end of the war for him). The only other thing I decided was that his injury needed to be elaborated on, to be narrowed down to WHAT exactly did Grievous’s saber hit? And so I decided, L4/L5 spinal severance which means he cannot walk. He’s alive. But he can’t walk.

This is where I have to really decide where to bring Jaster into the mix, since I already decided it takes a few months post O66 for Sheres and 17 to buddy up. Jaster has the personal touch going for him, but Sheres has the medical. Next to that, I have managed to get myself firmly planted into the ground when it comes to having Jaster and 17 as an ‘item’ and no you can't change my mind.

Jaster during O66 is kinda in a maelstrom just like everyone else just with different conflicting thoughts since his orders actually have nothing to do with the Jedi. He is trying to figure out which orders to follow, which ones to not. Next to trying to figure out how to keep his young charges safe. But the fight with Grievous isn’t during O66 (since Obi-Wan is involved). So where is Jaster when 17 is getting his spine severed? In the interest of ‘might as well go all the way’, I feel like he may have picked up on the chatter about Asajj and Grievous and whatnot and managed to meet 17′s shuttle halfway to Coruscant. He was likely on a ship with a group of young clones who were freshly graduated, simply so it makes sense for him to be able to slip away to find 17. If he had been with actual cadets, he would have been conflicted about leaving them for 17. “You could have saved yourselves” is one of the important lines that 17 has when the cadets try to thank him during the Defense of Kamino. But Jaster was explicitly told by Jango that the cadets were his number one priority. And they are for 17, as well. Just in a different way. Jaster cares because they’re young vode. 17 cares because they are alive for one purpose: to fight for the Republic. But Jaster then knows that 17 would bite his head off for leaving the cadets during the death throes of the Republic/Clone War. One of the few things the Alphas all agree on is that Jango’s orders are paramount (even IF 17 is a hypocrite because he scolds the Nulls for listening only to Kal for the most part but that is... way more to unpack that we don’t have time for lmao needless to say he’s an asshole about it and there’s little defense for it). 

So, through sheer coincidence one could be forgiven for blaming the Force for, Jaster is in the right place at the right time. He is once again saving 17's shebs, a fact that 17 will never be okay with. (like just in a general ‘no i was gonna be JUST FINE’ but he is actually thankful and when all the planets align just right he even says thanks.)

Since all clones have basic first aid (as does pretty much any soldier for obvious reasons), Jaster is at least able to stabilize 17 and keep him fed and hydrated and in as little pain as possible. Because unfortunately through my own first hand experience, I know spinal damage doesn’t mean no pain. 

This is actually a lot better for 17 than the idea of him kinda drifting, falling through the cracks, before and after O66. In the original ‘rewrite’ of this part of the war, 17 essentially barely survives until Sheres finds him. But having Jaster there, even if he still has to keep doing his job until O66, means a lot for 17. His heart doesn’t grow like the Grinch, it’s more of a House situation where he softens. Still ‘a little rude for a clone’. But not a complete 180* of his personality. I mean he was already kinda softening anyways. He was learning, he wasn’t ignorant of what happens to his siblings like Tavo. He cares. In his way. 

[karmathecat]

Firewhiskey is Not the Best Mixer Part 3

The third part to my Next Gen time travel to the Marauder era! Thank you for reading guys!

Part 1 | Part 2

AO3 | FF

The halls of Hogwarts were the same James noted. He glanced over at his siblings and saw that they were both standing close to him, himself and Al on either side of Lily. The Marauder’s were oddly silent, sharing glances that James could only assume was a communication that he was not privy to. 

Sirius watched as the three new teenagers stopped at Lily’s behest. She bent over to take off her high heels, using Al’s shoulder for support as she did so. Once at her true height, Sirius noticed that she was quite a lot shorter than the Lily that he knew, coming up to perhaps his chest. She was complaining about her shoes hurting her feet now that the cushioning charm had worn off and there was no point recasting it as her feet already hurt. Sirius watched as one of the boys gave Lily his suit jacket to cover herself and was warmed by the clear love that was shared by the group, and once again wondered about their relationship to each other.

James’ attention was drawn to the group in front again as his grandfather cleared his throat as they reached a tapestry of a tall tower which reminded James of the princess stories that their dad read to Lily when they were younger. 

“This is the Heads’ dorms, there’s a guest room there with a double bed and we have a coach in the common room so you can decide who sleeps where. Evans will either be in her room or in the common room and I think that I might be best explaining what’s going on rather than ambushing her with her clone.” James smiled at the younger redhead as he said this in an attempt to reduce the tension that was not diminished on their journey from the Headmaster’s office. 

Lily pulled her brother's jacket closer around her as they entered the Heads’ common room. It was similar to the Gryffindor common room, which was unsurprising considering both of the Heads this year were lions. Lily wondered if the common room would be altered depending on the house of its occupants. Her grandfather bounded up the steps when the common room was clearly devoid of Lily Evans, and silence fell among the group. Lily let her breath out as a heavy sigh and thought about the current situation that she found herself in: forty years in the past, with her grandparents, Teddy’s dad, and a future traitor. Not only were they in the past, but she couldn’t reveal her true name without upsetting the progression of a relationship between her grandparents that clearly hadn’t begun yet. The more she thought about it, the more she realised how ridiculous everything was, and her attitude was completely backwards. She was meeting people that she had only heard stories about, she could ask questions and have an adventure, is that not what she was truly about? Why were her and her brothers being so closed off? 

With a short huff of a laugh, Lily decided that enough was enough, and yes the situation was strange but she was going to make the most of it, and sitting in silence was not the way to do that. With a new purpose, she walked over to the coach and sat next to Sirius and turned to face both the dark haired boy and Remus who was sat in the armchair next to him. 

“So, have you completed the map yet, or is that still in development?”

Two shocked eyes snapped to hers, and she smirked, “Yes we know about the map, Padfoot and Moony.” 

Hearing the conversation, James and Al also came to join, James sitting on the arm of the coach next to Lily, and Al sitting in the armchair beside him. 

“Yes that map has kept all three of us out of trouble on a number of occasions!” The three marauders grinned at each other delighting in the map being passed down to the next generations, they started asking them questions about how much they knew about the Marauders’ adventures, when a cry of alarm was heard from upstairs. 

“I guess James got to the interesting bit, I wonder how Evans will react.” The group fell silent and tried to distinguish the voices from upstairs. When they heard the door open and the voices became more clear, Lily felt a wave of anxiety come over her. She was about to meet the woman she was named after, she knew so little about her and was desperate to know as much as she could. 

James Potter descended the stairs and into the common room looking incredibly nervous, from behind him appeared Lily Evans, her bright green eyes only previously seen in their dad and Al surveyed the room rapidly, once they fell on Lily her mouth opened as if to speak. 

“If I can interrupt what is surely a very entertaining monologue,” Lily Evans’ eyes snapped to James Sirius and widened in surprise, but did close her mouth to stop her rant, “We are from the future, James is telling the truth, no it isn’t a joke, yes my brother and I are related to your James Potter, yes Lily is related to you, we’re from about forty years in the future. I would let you rant but we’ve already been through this and I really can’t be bothered doing it again. So if it’s alright with you I’d like to skip to the part where you’ve accepted that we are from the future because it’s been a really long day.” 

Lily bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at her brother, and saw Al roll his eyes, but she really couldn’t help agreeing with James, it had been a long day and if they skipped the rollercoaster of not believing to accepting that would be very beneficial. 

Lily Evans opened and closed her mouth several times before looking at the Marauder next to her, “That speech was so like you, and I don’t think anyone would choose to have that fluffy hair. Also Dumbledore sent me a message, so for fear of this blowing up in my face, I will accept that we don’t all need to be shipped to St Mungos immediately.” 

Lily was surprised that she accepted the events so quickly, but the word of the Headmaster clearly carried a lot of weight in this time. Lily Evans came and sat on a cushion in front of the fire directly opposite Lily, and was eyeing her with a great interest that was mirrored in the other redhead’s face. 

Lily looked over towards her brothers and then back at Lily Evans, “The pictures don’t do it justice, we do look oddly similar.” The two girls laughed at each other, and Lily saw the other girl square her shoulders and try to relax. 

“So, you’re my daughter?” 

“Granddaughter.” Lily corrected, and the other girl nodded and then looked at the two other time travellers, “And your James’ grandsons, do I dare ask for your full names?” Lily could see the battle playing on the Head Girl’s face, she clearly wanted to know her future and Lily couldn’t blame her, if she was faced with this situation she wasn’t sure she would be able to hold back her questions. 

“I’m not sure that would be the best idea.” Al looked around the room from his siblings to the marauder’s and his grandmother. 

“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” Remus looked put out that the main question wasn’t going to be answered, “how do you know each other then? How was it that you ended up here together?” 

“We were at the ball together, all the wizarding families were invited.” James dodged the question well in Lily’s opinion, but the dodge was clearly noticed by the group.

“You all seem really close, and that you knew each other well. Especially with a prank war?” James Potter eyed the three newcomers with intense interest, he was desperate to know how close they were, hoping that his life was intricately linked with the love of his life. 

James Sirius laughed nodding, “Well it was actually Lil that started that, it started small I guess at Christmas, using the invisibility cloak to move all my stuff an inch to the left so I kept walking into stuff which was incredibly annoying, so I got a rain cloud to follow her all of New Year’s, and that escalated to me being naked on the roof and then to a de-ageing potion gone wrong, and here we are.” 

Everyone was laughing by the end of James’ speech. “So I see that the desire to cause trouble is genetic!” Lily Evans laughed smirking at James, eyeing the Head Boy with amusement as he ruffled the back of his hair. She truly could not believe the situation that she had landed herself in. If a patronus from the Headmaster had not arrived as James attempted his stuttering explanation of who she would find in the common room, she would have never believed it. But her sense of adventure was peaking, she was a Gryffindor afterall, and she knew that this opportunity was something she couldn’t pass up. 

“Would I be able to get changed? This dress isn’t as comfortable as it is fancy I can assure you!” Lily laughed smoothing out her green dress, she was starting to feel more comfortable with the situation she was being presented with. She had her brothers, yes they’d have to be careful to not reveal too much, but she wasn’t alone and she was technically with even more family. She was going to try and make the most of it. 

Lily followed her grandfather up the other set of stairs and into his room. She walked in and looked around as he searched through his drawers. She smiled at pictures of the Marauders on his bedside table, as she sat on the edge of the four poster bed she picked up the frame watching as the four boys laughed as they sat under a tree down by the lake. 

“Here you go, I always find that quidditch stuff is the best to sleep in.” James smiled as he handed her what looked like a practice top, jumper and a pair of jogging bottoms. 

“I agree, I stole James’ all the time before I went to Hogwarts and he was home, and then once I made the team it was literally all I wore!” Lily laughed, and was slightly surprised when James sat on the bed next to her, appraising her with interest. 

“You play quidditch? Evans has never been too into flying.” 

Lily nodded, and decided that the information wasn’t too revealing and found that talking to James was just like talking to her brothers, “Yeah both my parents played at school, but my mum was a professional she played for the Harpies she retired when I was young. So I couldn’t not play! I’m a chaser for Gryffindor, and I’ve been told I’m just as good as my mum, I’d love to play after I finish school but I want to do it off my own back, rather than because of who my parents are.” 

They continued chatting easily for a few minutes, James voicing his excitement about her mum playing professionally, and encouraging her to play herself. James was surprised by how much Lily was talking to him, she seemed so calm and comfortable in his presence, something he could only dream of achieving with Lily Evans. But if this Lily was so connected to the Potter boys, maybe all was not lost after all when it came to his relationship with Evans. 

He stood and gestured to the other door in the room, “That’s the shared bathroom, feel free to use anything, but maybe not my toothbrush.” They two laughed and Lily thanked him before walking into the bathroom. James made his way downstairs and smiled as he watched the two Potter boys gently teasing Lily and to his surprise Lily was laughing and teasing back with equal intensity. As he entered the group again, he sat on the floor next to Lily and told the two Potters that he had left some clothes on his bed for them. 

As Lily reentered the common room in her new comfortable clothes, pulling the sleeves of the familiar knitted material over her hand and taking comfort in the feel. She could feel several sets of eyes on her, and the conversations ended slowly. She eyed them all in question, before James Potter cleared his throat. 

“I guess I didn’t think how weird it would be to see ‘Potter’ written across your back.” 

Lily frowned and then realised, to these boys and Lily that she was not a Potter, she was an Evans or some undescipt surname. 

Lily Evans viewed her granddaughter and had to admit that seeing another girl, family or not, with James’ quidditch jersey on gave her an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. She had to admit that in the presence of the James who was not her Head Boy, she felt slightly flustered. The new James was clearly a few years older than them, perhaps 19 or 20, and if that was the case James Potter was only going to get more attractive, and she didn’t think that was possible. She could imagine her James becoming more defined and more mature in the coming years, and she had decided during her sixth year that she wanted to be around to see the developments. The proof that her and James’ lives were going to be linked to the point of their grandchildren knowing each other was thrilling to her, but the idea that she didn’t know anything about these children’s relationship bothered her. She wanted James Potter for her own, she knew that in herself, he wasn’t the immature bully that he was three years ago, he was a mature man who had strong morals and a loyalty that she had not witnessed in anyone else. And here in front of her in the form of a girl who could be her twin lay the answers to whether James Potter was serious about a life with her. She could ask all the questions she wanted without fear of losing a friendship with someone she wasn’t sure was romantically interested in her anymore. In that moment a plan formed in Lily Evans’ mind. 

“Lily, why don’t you come and share my room? The bed is big enough and that way the two boys can have the spare room. It would save you sleeping on the coach.” 

Lily looked up into the welcoming eyes of her grandmother and was thrilled by the idea of spending some alone time with the Head Girl, and quickly agreed.

James and Al quickly ran upstairs and got changed and met their sister before she headed up to bed. The Marauders watched in amusement as each of the boys kissed Lily on the cheek goodnight before retiring to the spare room. 

Xxx

Lily watched as her grandmother entered the room from the bathroom and pulled back the covers on her four poster bed. The room was exactly the same as James’ had been, and Lily had looked at the photos that littered the room as she waited for the other girl in the bathroom. She had been intrigued by the mix of muggle and magical photos, and spent extra time looking at Lily Evans’ parents so she could tell her Dad about them once she returned home. 

Once she was sitting in bed next to her grandmother, the light was extinguished. Lily could tell the older girl wasn’t going to sleep, she could feel the tension in the air, so wasn’t surprised when Lily Evans rolled over to look in Lily’s hazel eyes. 

“Are you related to James, my James I mean.” Lily was surprised by the phrase my James, as far as she could tell her grandparents were not in a relationship yet so she knew that she had to tread carefully. 

When the younger girl didn’t respond but continued to look at her, Lily steeled herself to plough on, “It’s just, if you were, that might mean that James and I could be in touch after Hogwarts. And if you aren’t related you just happen to be super chummy with his offspring then I know that I’m wasting my time right now and I need to get over whatever it is I have for James. So if you could help me not waste my time I would be incredibly grateful.” 

Lily watched as her grandmother’s pleading emerald eyes bore into her own, she could see how much bravery it took for her grandmother to admit to her feelings. Lily blew out a huge breath and made the decision. She wasn’t sure if she would regret it, and she definitely knew that she should ask Al his opinion, but Al wasn’t here. 

“You’re right, we are related, I share the same name as my grandmother, my name is Lily Potter.”

[cheetahsprints]

Title: Fresh Flowers

Prompt: April Showers

Summary: Amy gets the opportunity to grow closer to her crush.

Words: 1400

Rain is relentlessly pounding the window. Amy groans and holds a pillow over her head. She’s totally bored. It’s the weekend, she should be bouncing off the walls with no college courses to attend. She’s run out of steam with possible binge watches and all of her usual friends have something else going on. Specifically, her often reliable roommate is off at some NASA nerd convention with her buff girlfriend. What Amy wouldn’t give to have a significant other to smother her. 

Amy doesn’t blame any of them. Their lives don’t revolve around her. She had her chance of course, maybe, but she wimped out. She stuffs her hand in her pocket and pulls the crumpled note. She was supposed to pass it in class.

To Dot: Wanna Hang?

It could be a date or whatever

No pressure

Yes | No | Just friends

-Love, Amy

She rubs her eyelids with the heels of her hands and groans again. She flinches when a light thunderclap is accompanied by the sound of something crashing into the door. A swift series of knocks shortly follows. She flops on her belly, not caring how it squishes her in awkward places. She doesn’t have the mental energy to drag herself from the bed.

“Come in, weirdo, it’s unlocked.”

“Er - are you sure? Perline told me you were here, but - but I don’t need to come in,” a nasally, nervous voice answers that she would easily recognize in a crowd.

Her eyes widen. Immediately, her heart races, her mouth dries up, and her palms sweat. She has it bad. Her despicable roommate knows this and sent her here just to torture her. She clears her throat, “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Why did she say that? Why couldn’t she tell Dot she has a cold or something? She has no idea what to do once she’s inside. She buries her face in her pillow and waits. She’s surprised when the bed frame squeaks. She moves the pillow to take a peek. Dot is kneeling on the bed, violently shaking. Her green-tinted glasses are askew. Amy squints. Her hair and clothes look damp, as though she ran straight here through the rain. Wait no, she has a motorized scooter thingy. Somehow, that seems worse. 

Through chattering teeth, Dot explains, “My roommate went on a camping trip!”

“And?”

“She usually plays her tambourine really loud to soothe me during thunderstorms,” Dot says in a rush. “I know I sound like a baby, but I don't know what to do! I need comfort!”

Awww, she’s like a scared kitten. Amy decidedly does not remark on that out loud. It would probably seem patronizing at the moment. She searches for a response - a reasonable and rational way to handle the situation that’s been thrust upon her. 

“Uhh…” Instead she blurts, “Wanna cuddle or some junk?”

“Yes!”

Dot puts her arms forward, making grabby hands. Well, that’s unexpected. Amy takes a deep breath. She doesn’t need to get further ahead of herself. She softly says, “Should get you out of those wet clothes first - er - that is haha, you should change. I have something you can borrow.”

Amy digs through her drawers for clothes to fit Dot’s short, slight frame that won’t look completely ridiculous. Once found, she raises them in the air like a flag with a noise of accomplishment. Just then, there’s another clap of thunder. Dot squeaks and falls to the floor in a pile of limbs. Oh boy. Amy makes to show her to the bathroom, but Dot promptly rips the clothes from her hands and starts undressing. 

Amy covers her eyes and throws herself back on the bed. Oh hell. She’s soon graced with Dot wriggling underneath the covers beside her. This doesn’t have to be weird or awkward, Amy tells herself. She can be a friend, and that’s fine, great in fact. An odd mixture of fresh flowers and citrus suffuses their space, and it takes willpower to keep her breathing steady. 

“Hi.”

“Hey there… you.”

Dot whimpers. Taking her cue, Amy wraps her in arms and blankets alike. “There, there, I’ve got you. You’re safe from the big, bad storm.”

Dot sniffs. “Thank you. I know the science behind storms, that it’s not going to hurt me… but I hate this season! The allergies! All the rain and storms! I was so disturbed I ran headfirst into your door!”

Amy listens closely to keep up with Dot’s distressed, rapid fire speech. It’s more attention than she ever pays in class. “So that’s what that noise was.”

“Sorry. For that and… and this. You barely know me but…”

Amy rubs her back and hopes that Dot can’t tell she’s blushing. “It’s okay. Really.”

It’s mostly silent with the background noise of the storm. Ironically, the thunder seems to have ceased. Amy isn’t eager to give this up though, and luckily, Dot doesn’t seem keen on that either. Dot nuzzles the shoulder of her hoodie and makes a contented noise in the back of her throat. There’s the crinkling sound of paper that takes a moment for Amy to notice above the rain hitting the glass and pavement.

“Ooh what’s this? Lovey dovey notes to your special friend?”

“Actually I’m single - wait what?”

Dot extracts herself, somehow ending up with her bare feet at the head of the bed while she flops onto her back. She raises her arms toward the ceiling, clasping a small note. Amy freezes. She must have left it under the blanket and not returned it to her pocket! She attempts to snatch it, but she has to dodge Dot’s foot almost nailing her in the face. Amy squeezes her eyes shut as Dot reads it aloud to herself.

She finishes with - “Oh. Um.”

Amy clenches her teeth. “Sorry I. I was going to - but I - it’s stupid.”

Dot brings it to her chest and bites her lip. She looks at Amy with eyes wide as saucers. It reminds her of Perl’s godson’s obnoxious cat Lion when he watches birds. Also, Amy curses that Dot is so adorable it makes her stomach do somersaults.

“Can I have a marker?”

Amy swallows and nearly chokes on nothing. She doesn’t dare speak. Instead she trudges across the carpet. She rummages through Perl’s desk - she’ll get yelled at for it later, but she’s used to that - and grabs the utensil. She offers it to Dot, then crawls to the headboard. She sits with her arms around her legs staring at the Netflix home screen still displayed on the television. She wants to sink through the pillow and hide in pillowland forever.

There’s the noise of a scribbling marker. Amy doesn’t look, can’t look. Then there’s a soft bap as the note is shoved against her chest just below the collarbone. Dot has her head turned, a few hairs loosening and falling into her eyes. Their fingers brush when Amy takes the note back. Dot’s fingers are still a little cold, somehow, but that isn’t the cause of Amy’s slight shudder. 

To Dot: Wanna Hang?

It could be a date or whatever

No pressure

[Yes] | No | Just friends

-Love, Amy

P.S. YOU’RE SO COOL

SINCERELY, DOROTHY P. W.

She lowers the paper to see the lovely sight of Dot grinning ear to ear, her hands folded under her chin. Amy’s heart is pumping so hard, and she wonders if it’s the same for Dot. Chuckling happily, she lunges and embraces Dot. She giggles into Amy’s neck. The rain slows to stop. Dot lifts her head. Amy can’t resist tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ear. The brightness she feels inside makes Amy feel like they’re snuggling in a field of sunflowers rather than her half messy half neat apartment after a rainstorm.

“The storm is probably over… is it okay if I stay here for a little while anyway?”

“Sure! But don’t touch Perl’s stuff or she’ll spray the whole place with lysol. Ugh, it makes me sneeze.”

Dot grasps her nose and gives it a wiggle. “No problem, I won’t be nosy!”

There’s a round of jokes and laughter. Eventually, they find out Dot hasn’t seen a series that Amy loves - Magnetic Peaks, about siblings and puzzles. She can’t wait for Dot to be shocked by the reveal of the clone. The series is thrown into another exciting light to be shared with someone new.

[cyb-by-lang]

Ocean Stars Falling Chapter 20 Preview

Working on four different things at once has a tendency to turn actual progress speed into a mess, so here, have a reward for your patience!

Eventually shit hit the fan, because of course it did. Or the midden hit the windmill, or whatever other old-timey variation anyone around me would have understood. The point is that, much like a world populated by ninja and samurai rather than everything under the sun (and a few that were not), peaceful days never lasted among an oceangoing world of pirates. Back in Konoha, managing to get three or more months’ reprieve from the rigors of random S-class threats wasn’t uncommon, because it was an established village and ANBU didn’t need to yell “Constant vigilance!” in the Hokage’s ear when he was at least as wary and watchful as they were. The village’s reputation generally did the rest, which meant most Konoha shinobi could generally expect to still be able to go home at the end of a mission and have the apartment still there. I knew I did.

Now, Whitebeard was more widely feared than the Yellow Flash, even if he hadn’t personally visited death upon many of the people who trembled at his name. Their world was just too big for that kind of personal touch, and shinobi were basically confined to one continent on ours. Harming a Whitebeard Pirate was verboten, and the authority people would answer to was the man himself.

This did not stop complete assholes from causing trouble. Namur was the one to ask about it, after the fact.

Because the Whitebeards were in a town under their protection, they tended to spread out and act like tourists as much as anyone else did, with the bonus that they were effectively pickpocket-proof by virtue of also being a bunch of scoundrels. With escorts from an older and more powerful crew, the Straw Hats and the Cobalt Lionesses had effective free reign as long as they were courteous. Some of Yugito’s followers may have forgotten a few of their basic manners due to their time in prison (like remembering the buying power of beri as opposed to a grasping hand), but a few quick reminders from the locals and their pirating senpais smoothed the way. There weren’t as many punches as one would expect.

The Straw Hats fanned out all over the place. While Zoro was busy challenging Vista to a fight—because of course he was—Nami, Sanji, Gaara, and Brook went shopping, and Robin took Fū, Usopp, Franky, and Chopper to find the Poneglyph, only Luffy stuck by the Moby Dick at all. Part of it was that Ace was introducing Luffy to all of the Whitebeard Pirates. The other consideration was a very protracted (and distracted) discussion of crew strength relative to the challenges of the New World. As guests of the Ryugu Kingdom, we hadn’t technically wandered back into the nastiest ocean on the planet just yet. Luffy, as the Straw Hats’ captain, had to make the call for his crew in the end. I was still concerned that, aside from Gaara and perhaps Fū, none of them were really ready for the nearly vertical difficulty curve that awaited them past the Red Line. Actually explaining that to him, though, was going take all day.

Then Ace threw Luffy hard enough to put a crater in the seafloor, which I considered an issue between siblings and left alone.

Jinbe disappeared, taking Koala along with him to meet the Sun Pirates when they docked a few hours after “dawn” broke. Sabo followed, with a token reassurance to Ace and Luffy that he wouldn’t get lost or kidnapped or set on fire again—or at least not without them to either act as backup or point and laugh. The rest of the Revolutionaries decided to spread out, with Ivankov at the head, and descended on the highest-end fashionable shops they could find. I wasn’t sure if they expected a discount or not, but perhaps it was just as well that they explored.

Anyway, that was the gist of the situation after breakfast. It seemed peaceful enough. With the Tailed Beasts floating around, even after their second and then third Bubbly Coral purchases, Fishman Island was effectively our new field trip destination.

As a result, Yugito, Naruto, Utakata, and I all decided to travel together. With no pirates (other than our friends) to worry about, we could go as fast or slow as we wanted, with no concern for anyone else being able to keep up.

“What’ll happen after this?” Naruto asked, after we’d stopped our meandering around Coral Hill for a little bit.

“After what?” Utakata didn’t appear to be paying particular attention, more preoccupied by the fraying of his coat sleeves, but none of us were fooled. Naruto had a way of worming into people’s hearts.

“After whatever we’re doing here.” Naruto lifted both his arms to effectively encompass the entirety of Fishman Island, or perhaps the world. “Like, Kei-sensei told me we’re gonna help you with your revenge, and once we meet up with Mom and Octopops, it’ll be a piece of cake. But no one’s found the Four-Tails anywhere and we’re still running with pirates and Revolutionaries and stuff.” He let his arms drop. “And I think the Straw Hats are gonna need to take a training mission for like a year if they wanna keep up with the rest of us. That means Fu and Gaara aren’t going to be doing much if we don’t go home.”

“And to be honest, it was only ever a theory that we would go home once our task was completed,” Yugito remarked, in a tone that was rather grim.

Not that I blamed her. “Or a hope,” I agreed, looking down at the tops of my shoes. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “I still miss everyone back home too much to feel like Gaara and you do, Yugito, but…”

“It’s not worth worrying about now,” Utakata said firmly. When I looked at him, his level stare gave way to something deliberately cold. He broke eye contact first, saying, “We’ve left an imprint here, but until we progress further, there is no way to know what the result may be. And I refuse to panic until we have something real to fear.”

Spoken like a textbook veteran shinobi.

I didn’t believe him for a second.

“Kei-sensei,” Naruto interrupted after a second, “isn’t that the place?”

Thatch had said something about a Madame Shyarly and her famous prophecies while handing out fritters at breakfast, and I was enough of a nerd that I wanted to hear the second major oracle of my life in person. Gamamaru was accurate, but vague, and I wanted to know if the mako shark mermaid was any different. Unfortunately, that meant we’d be visiting a hostess club during peak hours, so who knew if we’d ever get a chance to see her.

There was a line going around the block by the time we got there. Naruto craned his neck and stood on the balls of his feet, making a token attempt to see over a crowd that was mostly taller than him or floating in convenient bubble rings if they didn’t have feet for locomotion. Utakata, despite having gotten his customized bubble wand from Usopp a few days ago and being more than capable of outperforming the Bubbly Coral devices we’d seen, left our group’s sole genin to struggle. Yugito looked like she wanted to at least ask how long the wait was going to be, but couldn’t lower herself to actually asking anyone.

I hung back and was going to wait, and then things happened.

“I must lodge a complaint,” Matatabi’s voice said, ringing out across the entire city directly below her. She’d apparently followed us from the Moby Dick, accompanied by a miniscule clone of Shukaku as a passenger.

As everyone looked up, she lifted a rear leg past the bubble ring around her ribs and kicked behind one of her ears, dislodging something the size of a human torso. It crashed into the ground hard enough to imbed itself in the stone, and Yugito was the first to investigate after the crowd cleared out and the dust settled. No one wanted to be in the immediate area if the fire-cat got pissed off enough to put her size and strength to good use, after all.

Yugito, with her eyes flashing Matatabi’s colors for just a second, tore the weapon out of the ground with all the effort she’d displayed when using Minotaurus’s club. She hefted the oversized battle axe one-handed, testing its weight, before saying aloud, “She didn’t see where it came from. Did any of you?”

[dummerhummer]

#Dolly i love you i loved you so much. A hero amongst sheep.#sci fi gets it so wrong tho#'here is a person whose body is identical to yours which is automatically creepy and terrible'#um identical twins exist?#and time and differences in lifestyle and personal style and the little details of being a unique human being...make us unique?#in appearance and in many other ways. but also no matter how similar they look one could get a haircut and BAM! no longer identical#literally it is so easy to differentiate yourself from an identical twin if you want to.#i went to school w/ twins who looked almost identical but apparently they hated it#(they had similar tastes in hair/clothes and both refused to change for the other. but also their parents were very controlling)#so one drew a fake mole under her eye every day before school. for YEARS. worked like a charm.#they got to have distinct identities & friendships from then on (though i'm sure there was plenty of other drama because. Adolescenthood.)#ANYWAY back to the sci fi thing: what if this person is not actually your twin...but your DOPPELGANGER?#ok well first of all what does that mean. in this setting. where specifically did this biologically identical organism originate?#supernatural origins? lex luthor stole my dna? are they magically encoded with my memories or is it more a blank slate situation?#grown in a vat for 18 months but they're biologically a teenager? i have so many questions and ethical concerns#(none of which are about how 'scary' this confused new person is. and most of which hinge on gene theft and bodily sanctity)#to be clear i do NOT blame the clone in this situation. that is my...sibling? maybe? my kid?#definitely my family member if i so choose to view them that way.#piss off that's my little clone-sibling they're chill im taking them under my wing

"clones" identical twins? you are describing identical twins with a birth delay

[oojamaflip-whatchamacallit]

#Dolly i love you i loved you so much. A hero amongst sheep.#sci fi gets it so wrong tho#'here is a person whose body is identical to yours which is automatically creepy and terrible'#um identical twins exist?#and time and differences in lifestyle and personal style and the little details of being a unique human being...make us unique?#in appearance and in many other ways. but also no matter how similar they look one could get a haircut and BAM! no longer identical#literally it is so easy to differentiate yourself from an identical twin if you want to.

#i went to school w/ twins who looked almost identical but apparently they hated it#(they had similar tastes in hair/clothes and both refused to change for the other. but also their parents were very controlling)#so one drew a fake mole under her eye every day before school. for YEARS. worked like a charm.#they got to have distinct identities & friendships from then on (though i'm sure there was plenty of other drama because. Adolescenthood.)

#ANYWAY back to the sci fi thing: what if this person is not actually your twin...but your DOPPELGANGER?#ok well first of all what does that mean. in this setting. where specifically did this biologically identical organism originate?#supernatural origins? lex luthor stole my dna? are they magically encoded with my memories or is it more a blank slate situation?#grown in a vat for 18 months but they're biologically a teenager? i have so many questions and ethical concerns

#(none of which are about how 'scary' this confused new person is. and most of which hinge on gene theft and bodily sanctity)#to be clear i do NOT blame the clone in this situation. that is my...sibling? maybe? my kid?#definitely my family member if i so choose to view them that way.#piss off that's my little clone-sibling they're chill im taking them under my wing

"clones" identical twins? you are describing identical twins with a birth delay

[my-t4t-romance]

#Dolly i love you i loved you so much. A hero among sheep.#sci fi gets it so wrong tho#'here is a person whose body is identical to yours which is automatically creepy and terrible'#um identical twins exist?#and time and differences in lifestyle and personal style and the little details of being a unique human being...make them unique#in appearance and in many other ways. but also no matter how similar they look one could get a haircut and BAM! no longer identical#now what if this person is not actually your twin...but your DOPPELGANGER?#ok well first of all what does that mean. in this setting. where specifically did this biologically identical organism originate?#supernatural origins? lex luthor stole my dna? are they magically encoded with my memories or is it more a blank slate situation?#grown in a vat for 18 months but they're biologically a teenager? i have so many questions and ethical concerns#(none of which are about how 'scary' this confused new person is. and most of which hinge on gene theft and bodily sanctity)#to be clear i do NOT blame the clone in this situation. that is my...sibling? maybe? my kid?#definitely my family member if i so choose to view them that way.#piss off that's my little clone-sibling they're chill im taking them under my wing

YES you get it. that's just Some Guy who shares your dna. forgive me for making everything about my ocs but I have Thoughts so I am putting them under the readmore (it gets kinda long)

my sith inquisitor in swtor, Kalon, was already having some insecurities about Who He Is being taken away (his boss tried to manipulate him into a ritual for her to take over his body and impersonate him to prolong her own life. it was a whole Thing), so he uhhhh didn't react well to an unauthorized clone of him being made. especially since that clone was meant to impersonate him for political leverage (and hopefully his force abilities too).

he broke into the lab, destroyed all the materials (and scientists) required for the project, and nearly killed the clone too. he was kind of torn between "OH GOD THAT GUY HAS MY FACE. he doesn't have my scars and cybernetics and other evidence of having lived my life but they can fake all that. they're going to push me out of my own life. what if no one notices the difference" and "hey that guy isn't really… doing anything. he's sleeping. he looks kind of peaceful" so he instead made the split-second decision to alter the clone in a way that would be immediately obvious to anyone who saw him and also couldn't just be perfectly undone by a surgeon. which meant slashing his nose off with a lightsaber. total dick move if you ask me. anyway Kalon just kinda ran off victor frankenstein style after that, and the clone just. got up and left. not like anyone was there to stop him lol.

anyway long story short her name is Benni now (her thought process: "oh shit what's a common nondescript name… uhhhh Ben. my name's Ben" and then her new friends nicknamed her Benni and it stuck) and she's found a home in the goth & punk scenes. at first he harasses Kalon for answers, because it's pretty fucked up that you found someone who was Today Years Old and the first thing you taught her was pain, but Kalon straight up does not know why he did it. it bothers them both a lot. Kalon hates being reminded that Benni exists, and kinda views her body as an extension of him in the same way an overbearing parent might, but this surprisingly lessens when Benni goes "ok being a girl is swag. I'm bigender 👍" and starts transitioning. they have a fair bit of open vitriol for each other, so Kalon's response is basically "now I can call you my least favorite sister >:)" ("oh, so I'm your sister now?" "NO.").

their rivalry eventually goes from "WHY DOES THIS BOTCHED COPY GET TO BE HAPPY AND I DON'T" to "ugh my evil clone is at it again :/" to "oh that's my evil twin lol" — that is, actual hatred to playful teasing — as Benni continues to differentiate himself and to understand Kalon better, and they turn the combined power of their haterism on the corporation that did all this in the first place. she pretty much just goes "oh dude you got Issues. you're kind of pathetic. I got my own life to worry about" and just like that she achieves better mental health than Kalon could ever dream of. again kind of like coming to understand what shaped an abusive parent into who they are and going "oh you're just a person. I don't need to obsess over why you hurt me actually." she's chillin.

anyway it's wild how a hypothetical storyline to explore Kalon's issues with identity (he's also got impostor-syndrome-but-like-as-a-defense-mechanism for being a sith because he hates the sith empire and all it stands for. a ramble for another post but it does share the common thread of him identifying himself as being emphatically Not what he hates. this does not stop him from also hating himself) turned into a whole new character I love so much

oh! and since op's tags mentioned the difference a haircut makes, here's some recent picrews of Kalon and Benni for comparison!

I had to approximate Kalon's sith robes as best I could, and leave out Benni's big black trench coat entirely, but as you can see, Kalon's style is more midwest emo and Benni's is pretty much identical to Trinity and Neo from the matrix (a similarity I didn't even notice until this week lol). Kalon favors tight pants, a tight wrapped undershirt, heavy robes, and utilitarian boots; Benni prefers wide-leg/bell-bottom pants, a small top, cool-looking coats with big shoulderpads, and big stompy goth boots.

if I had to psychologically profile each of them by fashion sense alone, I'd say that Kalon really wants a hug and Benni isn't afraid to take up space or catch people's attention. and it's true! pissing off Kalon just by existing was formative, and she still likes to weaponize loudly and sincerely enjoying herself against judgemental assholes. Kalon, meanwhile, wishes he could be so open with everyone (especially since that's been his first instinct all his life and it takes an active effort to hold it back), but the sith see emotional vulnerability as a weakness to be taken advantage of, so he's stuck with all this love in his heart and like 1 person (his droid, 2V-R8) to vent it to.

and when it comes to haircuts specifically — Benni dyed his black and shaped it into liberty spikes; Kalon had a mullet until he was a teenager and had to shave it because of the horrible conditions after the treaty of coruscant. he's growing it out again now, but having his hair long is associated with freedom to him, and he doesn't feel that'd be appropriate while he still belongs to the sith. (people talk like the sith "freed" him when they took him for training. he knows he was only transferred to a new master.)

anyway here's the rest of the Celsius family: Kalon's little sister Maya and their mom Lillii

he's been separated from Maya since the sith empire took over their home planet and enslaved a portion of the population (the Celsius family included), and from Lillii since he was shipped off to korriban shortly before the beginning of the game storyline, but they're both doing what they can to resist imperial oppression. it'd just be nice if each of them knew that the others were alive yknow. don't worry they get a little family reunion eventually :) oh I forgot their dad Korbin but he left pre-treaty to support the war effort + make some extra money to send home and then died so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"clones" identical twins? you are describing identical twins with a birth delay