burner002

[burner002]

★ ARC 1 (snippet)

dawg dont ask me for context i just need to post this to send to my girls. hai guys :3 not proofread towards the end and im eepy

"...do you want some?"

"no."

"are you hungry? i can buy another one for you."

"no."

chewing his slice of pizza that he bought, jared thought to hold out the bag of doughnuts he had also gotten, but thought better of it. maybe his grandparents would like it instead. don't eat while standing up," his grandma had told him when he was younger. "it will give you gas, make your stomach have air inside.

eating while walking in the streets didn't save him any dignity, either, but he wanted to get back to HQ as quick as possible, trailing after the girl in front of him who walked swiftly.

the lieutenant, as they called her, was hard to read. she reminded jared of those class presidents at his school, tight-lipped and perpetually bent down at whatever writing materials they held; however, if it was possible for someone his age to be even stiffer, that was what the lieutenant was.

at first, he couldn't believe she was actually a lieutenant. was it a code name? a pseudonym? if there was a whole worldwide organization of these "invocators", they would be secretive. maybe quinn wasn't her actual name? the girl did seem to look irritated when the general called her that. yes, that was probably it.

the general, the man with the clever eyes and the one who laughed at jared's comment about his last name ("yes, i'm a retired drill sergeant"), he could believe that was an actual general. he looked old enough to have a child about jared's age, sporting greying hairs and battle scars. he had this air of superiority—maybe smugness, too—along with this warm prickly feeling that would caress jared in a way that would make him shudder whenever he looked at him.

"that's the patron deity watching you," the general explained. he took jared's hand and traced something on the back of his palm, something that felt complex and didn't involve letters, numbers, or basic shapes. "you're a newcomer. and as the general, i'm its eyes. it sees you through me."

jared had run out of time to ask what exactly what was watching him. by the time he had gotten his hand back they were descending into the subways and running their hands along the storage room wall looking for a latch.

after that, they had entered the headquarters, a twisting, untamed area under the earth that had people of all kinds scattered around. it was quiet aside from the occasional rumble or shout. the floors were stone and marble. the walls were of the same material, but jared found that if he looked at them for too long the many grooves in the cold surface resembling ants' nests would twist and convulse, giving him a pinching migraine and disorienting him for a good few minutes.

there were tunnels here, desks laid out there, flashes of light in one corner and something writhing in the other. it didn't seem like a very organized or definite space, yet people there acted like it was. jared couldn't comprehend it at first, and he was starting to get dizzy from swivelling his head around so much.

he nodded along as antonio laguardia led him through the headquarters, explaining about entities and invocations and eldritch gods and whatever else he said was involved, until he got to this one ominous-looking wooden door. it was black and had several important-looking symbols carved into it, and it seemed to suck all the light out of the hallway despite the panels of what looked like glowing glass above their heads.

the general told jared to wait outside. he did as he was told as laguardia entered. when he came back out, he introduced the boy to this...child. that was a child. out of the office came a little girl almost a head shorter than jared, stony-faced and bundled up in layers of clothes.

the same little girl was now leading him down the first alley they had come across; opposing jared's prepared route to go back to the subways.

"follow me," she had said, overtaking him. she was very hard to read, indeed, like a robot, she displayed a very small range of emotions, if she showed any at all—she spoke quickly without bias in her statements, and she had this tone that made her sound like she expected nothing but immediate action to every command. was this really a lieutenant or an arrogant young girl?

she had her back turned to him as he followed her into the alley. she stopped about twenty steps in and waved a hand in the air as jared waited.

she always had her back turned to him, so he couldn't get a proper glimpse at her face. but she seemed to have olive skin and a permanent glare. her skin on her hands and face, which was all jared could really see, had a tinge of gray to it; either she was sick or just lacking in sunny days. he had only met her eyes once, and she looked at him with eyes that held an intensity that should have belonged to someone that was general laguardia's age. jared could tell she knew things. but he couldn't believe she was of a high rank. not yet, at least.

"hey, how old are you again?" he asked, putting the crust of his pizza in a nearby overflowing trash bin. "uh, lieutenant."

"it doesn't matter." she stepped forward, and then she was gone. the air rippled where she had been.

jared blinked. that was definitely magic or something of the sort. he stood frozen in place, his head twitching as if his body was torn between moving to look for her or being paralyzed with panic. okay. fine. magic was real—yes, of course this supernatural shit was real, what else could explain the shadow watching him for a month already—and the lieutenant explained when asked, but if she didn't explain something as bizarre as disappearing, that meant something was going on, and jared was involved in that something, maybe he should follow immediately—

he stepped through, and for a terrifying moment he was weightless and soulless and nothing— and then he was back on solid ground.

he assumed the lieutenant had transported him to some kind of training room; after all, that was what the general said he'd be doing after he had gotten a snack and the basic introduction to the league.

he couldn't tell whether he was underground or somewhere high up. fog loomed around both him and the girl, and the ceiling seemed impossibly high, growing dark as jared squinted upwards. he couldn't see any walls as the space faded into nothingness, only pillars stretching up here and there, and it was quite dim. he had no idea where the light came from, but he could see.

he was still holding his bag of doughnuts. he didn't want to put it down. the ground looked like gray slushy marshland except for where he stood; it felt as hard as marble under his feet. his head swam with confusion.

the lieutenant stood a few feet away from him, arms at her sides, a blank expression on her round face. she looked at him as if she was expecting something from him. "go ahead," she said plainly.

jared blinked. "and...do what?" his voice sounded hollow in this strange nowhere, like he was in a sealed box.

"show me what you can do so i can build up your abilities."

jared adjusted his grip on the paper bag. "i, uh, don't know how to do anything, ma'am, i was never taught."

"it will come naturally. put that down," the lieutenant said, eyes flitting to the paper bag. slowly, hesitantly, he put it down. it didn't sink into the ground with a wet noise as he thought it would, but the ground turned solid under it, perfectly flat and level. no mystery liquid seeped into the paper as far as he could tell.

it was a bit unsettling how her eyes bore into him. she wasn't as childish as he thought she would be. her gaze was so intense; jared half-expected to hear her stiff voice in his head. she was so quick to answer, so quick to act, like a busy working man. jared decided he wanted to stay on her good side. was she patient? he hadn't tested that yet, but it seemed she didn't like staying idle.

he raised his hand. "how old are you? i'd just like to get to know my, uh, mentor, you know? to have a proper, ah, student-teacher relationship—"

"you don't need to know my age to be taught."

fair enough. he would believe she was lieutenant if he saw her in action. he would find a way to make her prove it. a title is just a title and he had time to kill.

jared let out a sigh and pushed his hair away from his eyes. "i've never done anything like this before. can you teach me? what're the basics, at least? i need a starting point, you know."

the lieutenant stretched a hand out to the fog. tendrils of it snaked around her wrist then slithered down to her feet, where they flashed orange. suddenly there was a fire in front of them, but instead of crackles of wood or any source of fuel it was whispers of humans and something else that jared heard. it was hot, and then it was gone. the orange faded and retreated into the fog.

next, the lieutenant murmured something jared could and also couldn't understand—the words were unfamiliar but he somehow knew it was a calling. something scaly and indefinite was curled around the girl, its hundred legs bent all the wrong ways, some of it was dissipating rapidly, some of it was grabbing onto the girl's clothes like weak pincers, it had no mouth nor eyes but jared felt it look at him and knew it was smiling, or baring its teeth—yet the lieutenant seemed unbothered. jared couldn't exactly see what it was; if he tried to look it was gone, but he could feel its presence and its outline in blood-red lines. as quickly as it had gotten there, it disappeared.

jared shuffled his feet uncomfortably. he had started to feel clammy. "i saw that."

"because i let you see it. do it now."

jared stared hard at nothing. then he shut his eyes, holding his palms out. this is how all the movies do it.

no. you look ridiculous.

he furrowed his brows and sighed. "i won't know where to start. give me instructions. please?"

the girl was awfully still; jared found the silence uncanny, like he was the only living thing in this endless room. without blinking, she spoke. "the gods are always watching. this space exists under their watch. headquarters is an extension of their power. they are from another realm. you are an invocator like the rest of us. essence from their realm can exist in humans, as well, and once those two mix you are born with abilities beyond human comprehension. most languages cannot describe it and naked eyes cannot see it. so feel it. you start by letting the building take you."

"letting—what?"

"do not think of anything else. just allow it to."

jared blinked rapidly as he saw fog curl around his shoulders. that was probably the building waiting for a signal, waiting for his consent. that's polite, he thought. okay, come in. please don't kill me.

he thought he heard a chuckle.

he tried to push his doubts away and shut his mental mouth, pictured giving into whatever was in the fog. and then he was weightless again.

he couldn't see anything but twisting and writhing and transforming and whooshing and he didn't know what it was but there was movement and sound and a third thing that was so vast and so complicated he was sure he had blinked out of existence. he was being thrown around. he was being squeezed. he was being killed, then reborn, then he was light, then he was dark, and then he was being stretched across galaxies. none of it hurt, but it was still too much. too little, he was too heavy then too light and then both at the same time. he wanted to scream. did he still have a mouth? he tried, he looked for his lips and then his tongue and then—

he was back in the dim foggy room, the lieutenant standing a bit closer to him now.

he retched. "i'm gonna vomit!"

nothing came out.

when he was done heaving, he got up, dusting nonexistent dirt off his jeans. he cleared his throat, looking down at the lieutenant. "what's next?"

up close, she still looked younger. she was probably malnourished. she had bags under her eyes and her hair was stringy and brushed the top of her shoulders. she was wrapped up in clothes that didn't look her size—jackets, sweaters, a scarf, worn socks and pants that had started to fray. he wondered how she could stay so still under all those layers while he felt a bit suffocated in the airless room.

he saw no pity not humor nor disappointment in her eyes. her lips were pale, he made a mental note to offer her water afterwards. "that's just a glimpse into the realm of the eldritch gods. as an invocator, you're permanently connected to both the human world and theirs. go back into it. take some of that power and bring it back here."

"how?"

"you should know how."

jared couldn't find it it him to get frustrated. after all, he was used to independence; he taught himself how to live a fair amount. but this time he had no other teacher to observe from, no metaphors to help him picture it. was there a door? or was he treading a line like a tightrope? was there something in him like a gateway? or could he picture himself as a shapeshifter?

he put those possibilities aside and saved it for another day. he cursed in his mind and tried again.

movement. so much movement and so many things around him. not things; not really alive, not dead, either. they existed as concepts that were yet to be put into words. he had no hands. no voice, maybe not even a mind because somehow he felt the absence of a brain. he tried to reach out. no response. were these things supposed to respond? did they feel him as he felt them? he couldn't tell.

he tried the first idea that came to mind: to coax them. he tried to lie.

come here, he tried to signal them, send a message with whatever he had left of his being. i have what you want. i have what you need. i'll take you somewhere.

he wasn't sure if they had desires. not sure if they could understand him. did they care about the empty bargains he offered? he felt a sensation similar to the one he felt around the general, except he had no physical form to receive it. did they see him?

he regained his physical form, crouching with his hands over his ears. he stumbled back, the ground of the foggy room soft like memory foam against his elbows. he was back on earth with the lieutenant. she was standing where she had always been. the air beside her twisted and shrieked like metal being crushed. the lieutenant was watching it closely.

when whatever jared did wore off and the threats of reality went still, she turned to him. "do it again," she ordered. "with intent this time."

and he did, again and again and again. at first he started off unstable, failing multiple times from breaking focus and fear of never coming back to where his physical body was. but that fear was what kept him going. he didn't know what he was facing, what he was reaching out to or what else could have been on the other side of things, but now that his interest was piqued there was no going back.

most of it was a haze. things that human eyes couldn't process and shapes that didn't really make dimensional sense. most of it was felt by jared instead of seen; it was a strange state to be in.

jared did as he was told, collecting bits of what he could take from the other realm and bringing it back to the room his other self was in. he tried shaping it or giving it form. eventually he sped up, having only flashes of those incomprehensible beings and then coming back immediately after. he was able to warp one of the pillars scattered around the endless room, and he succeeded in shrouding himself in darkness (useful only when he was doing it to others and not cutting off his own sense of sight).

the lieutenant watched him like a hawk throughout it all, crossing her arms after a while and then uncrossing them minutes later. otherwise she stood still, only following jared when he strayed too far from her. she said nothing but short, straightforward sentences whenever he kept repeating mistakes, pointing them out so he could correct them.

she really didn't act like a person. she didn't fidget. jared wasn't sure if she breathed, or if she needed to. something about her was just gloomy and unsettling. he started to wonder if she was just some doll or hologram that general laguardia conjured up.

over the hours that had passed, jared had three points made about the lieutenant.

one: her name was quinn. that much he could get out of her, but it didn't really count since he only heard laguardia say it earlier.

two: he cared about her age so much because of his reluctance to believe she was in such a position. she was surely younger than him, but probably knew a lot more and had a way older mentality. that he could be sure of. maybe she was just short. the world was wide and while jared had the advantage of being slender (thank your mama for that, hm? his grandfather had said once he hit a growth spurt in 4th grade. she was tall, too. long legs. your baba would have wanted you to join races in school.) for his age, he knew that some people were really just vertically challenged.

three: if he had the honor of having someone as special and significant as the lieutenant of a unit as his mentor, he would have to get comfortable before he started trying his best. and to get comfortable, he would have to at least try to ease up the girl, make her see that he wasn't just some fumbling clueless boy. she was his best chance at a friend in this organization; and they'd likely be stuck together in jared's future visits, too.

indeed, the lieutenant was a tough nut to crack, but jared couldn't help but pick people apart.

curiously, time seemed to be immeasurable in the foggy room. jared didn't grow tired, either. not physically, at least. he would have loved something to lean on, but that only crossed his mind once. he was too busy trying to master whatever it is he was doing—invocations, they called it. when the lieutenant called him out of nowhere, though, she told him time was up.

he was both weightless and impossibly heavy again, and then he was back at headquarters, this time back in front of the big wooden door which he assumed to be her office. his paper bag of doughnuts for his grandparents was back in his hand, and the most he got as an aftereffect from his previous activities was a buzz in the back of his mind and another feeling of being watched.

"let me know if you're going to pledge to this house," the lieutenant told him, before retreating back into her room. that was it. no "meet me here next time" or "good job today", nothing. guess she had a lot on her plate.

jared wandered the tunnels for a while, trying to figure out the layout of the place. everyone there seemed to be working or training, holding papers or odd-looking items. they all dressed in mostly dark clothes, heavy looking pendants resting on their chests or rings with intricate patterns adorning their fingers. they spoke english, but sometimes if jared listened hard enough he'd hear then speak another language to some invisible force. a lot went unseen here, he realized.

he bumped into general laguardia. he seemed a bit disheveled, so all he did was pat jared on the back and point him to the nearest exit. "you're welcome any time," he called out, digging in his pockets as he spoke. "just ask for quinn, she'll take care of it!"

an hour later, jared found himself at his grandparents' dinner table, staring at the wood, both peckish and a bit shaken. he half-expected the table's surface to start moving like the headquarters' walls.

"are you going to eat some of this tonight?" his grandmother asked, holding up a container of yesterday's dinner.

he nodded and stretched. "yeah, i'll take the rest of it back to the dorm, is that okay?"

"all of it? you can eat it before it spoils?" his grandfather cocked a brow as he put a pot away.

"i'm a growing boy," jared said matter-of-factly.

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 25

after everyone gains the strength to get up, eat, and shower, they get moving, all patched up and with food in their stomachs. they review what they know, try to form a plan. everyone is on edge and even though sami is their most valuable asset right now no one can look him in the eye. the room is too still without elize. 

when they get to the place he talked about, they almost leave him right then and there, because the old amphitheatre overgrown and shut off from the main roads does have hidden rooms, but they're all empty and strewn with broken glass, ropes, and leaves. they're crushed when they realize it looks like no one has been here for a long time. 

right as they're all about to break down into sobs, arden finds a trace of activity. a piece of paper that was probably left behind in a rush since it was deemed unimportant. but what matters was that there was a keyword (dimethyl kethane) on it that sami recognized, and he was sure it was alfonso's writing as well.

arden uncovers a passageway, it's a tunnel that they assume leads to the lab. sami volunteers to go to it and see where it leads. no one objects. 

sure enough, he's at the lab. he's almost seen by creatures, though, so the rest of them follow him and pull him out of the canal. there they make a plan.

DISCLAIMER THIS IS SO STUPID I THINK.... BUT I JUST WANNA GET IT OVER W HELP 

1. dimethyl kethane is what's in the creatures' blood. it's the clear stuff that doesn't mix with their blood, it's their fuel and sustains their life. confirmed by sami and the paper that they found earlier. they had also heard of tanks earlier, so the plan was to shatter the tanks where the substance was being created, seal doors and set the room on fire so it would evaporate quickly. that's why creatures disintegrate; dimethyl evaporates quickly so as does their bodies. 

2. mia goes to climb a tree, millard goes to spy on things. they say the tanks have latches and tubes connecting to each other, but they worry about them being too many.

3. the kids soak ropes in gas and millard goes and attaches them to the tanks. they anticipate for someone to make a distraction later by pushing something off a ledge, and then someone lights the ropes which are connected to one rope so it's easier yk. all of this should be done when the doors are sealed

4. millard is supposed to seize alfonso and the rest are on standby. 

in short, the plan is to lock the doors, pull open the latches (theres a small crack for the ropes) and then burn everything.

renren joins millard and sami to see if there's anything more to see. while the rest are off, however, alfonso catches them, corners them, and goes into his little villain monologue which turns horrifying when the three boys mentioned earlier shows up because he turns to sami, changes his face to match his, and then tells sami that he started out on a group of 7 people as well. he mocks sami, asking if he notices anything familiar. 

diana interrupts and mentions the things they saw at his fake lab and things they've figured out, claiming that they're not stupid but she gave them all away, so the scientist goes "oh now i really have to kill you all" and something worse.

beatrice and millard defend them saying not to threaten their children like that but alfonso grabs beatrice and says "this here is a traitor, did you know that?" and even jeers at her, showing the corpse of ophelia, the girl from the beginning who was supposed to locate the lab. she was alfonso's spy. now she bears no use to him, so he has her killed and had taken her suul (peculiar soul) to use in his experiments.

renren pounces on alfonso, he releases a horde of creatures and a new attack breaks out, distracting the kids again and forcing them to fight for their lives. 

arden and mia find the control room. they shut the doors to the room with the tanks and shout that everything is ready. 

tdv; part one; part two; previous ch;

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 24

when they get far enough, they stop somewhere along the side of the road. diana throws up. the rest are either unresponsive or crying. millard and beatrice interrogate sami, trying to get him to calm down as well. he tells them he doesn't know where the actual lab is, only where files are kept. it's in san fernando, la union. tomaszewski has been using not only animals, but peculiars for his experiments. even he himself was used, even if he wasn't a peculiar. that's why he walks with a limp. 

in the lab, there's a substance that the creatures are fed, a substance that is basically their life source. that is what they are targeting now. 

beatrice tells the kids to get some rest, if they can. she can't, not at all.

aerron is on edge. he has a horrible feeling about all of this. he lashes out at diana when she tries to talk to him, and she screams back. they end up fighting like little kids, and it takes a lot of crying before they can be separated. elize meant a lot to both of them. 

to make matters worse, aerron and philip manage to pry it out of sami that he had a deal with beatrice—both beatrice and he had been leading the group via tomaszewski's plans like lambs to the slaughter.

tdv; part one; part two; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 23

they have a debate on whether to save sami. diana, elize, arden, philip, and renren say yes. mia and aerron say no. they don't know what he's up to, but his letter sounds desperate. at the same time he could be a spy for tomaszewski. but he has valuable information, information that he's giving up in exchange for his safety. 

in the end, they decide that the result of tonight's event will determine whether he's worthy or not.

samuel, who introduced himself as sami, told them to meet at the events place that night. so they all dress formal, try to blend in. it's a sort of celebration for one of the sister companies of the cafe from earlier, since of course tomaszewski needs something to cover up his actual business.

the plan was to lure him away from sami to get sami alone, find out where his lab is and then go there to destroy it while the rest of the group create a decoy. however their plan goes south when one of the kids freak out and get confused when tomaszewski CHANGES HIS FUCKING FACE after noticing the kids; kids who are not supposed to be at that event. mia is in charge of sneaking around, so when she tries to pretend like she didn't see anything, tomaszewski locks her inside a room. 

millard comes across tomaszewski as he's walking away from mia, but elize is not fast enough when trying to rescue mia. tomaszewski tackles elize, and he is tackled by millard. tomaszewski pulls the fire alarm and locks the other two in another room as he tries to flee. 

meanwhile, sami is being interrogated by beatrice, diana, philip, as arden and renren keep watch. when the fire alarm is pulled, sami says he knows the nearest fire exit, but they refuse to leave without millard and the other girls, of course. 

to make matters worse, creatures are set loose in the building, trapping the kids in a maze of conference rooms and offices. tomaszewski hits an electrical box, which makes the lights flicker, disorienting everyone. 

when they all reunite, however, they round a corner and come face to face with tomaszewski himself, holding a shotgun. sami is nowhere to be found. they barely have a second to skid to a stop when a blast fills their ears—and elize is on the floor. 

everything is a blur, from screaming over dragging elize's body to sami appearing and hitting his father over the head with a pole as he reloads his gun, from the dash to a random utility van to the screaming and hyperventilating on the way back to the inn.

tdv; part one; part two; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 20-22

some more fillers, yk, more card games, more stories, maybe a dance battle or two. just the kids bonding. later on they're in baguio after confirmation from the birds. nothing much happens on the journey itself but when they're on their way to another inn, they get attacked again by another horde of creatures. 

from a corner comes a boy holding a bat as a weapon, he offers help for them. arden is suspicious but is too shy to speak up, aerron and mia also want to refuse help but the rest are desperate so they accept. the boy takes them into a hidden-away little cafe where they have hot chocolate and are able to rest for a bit. there's no one else except sami and the cashier at the cafe, so they don't have much to worry about.

aerron notices his and philip's notebook is nowhere to be found. they realize they probably left it at the cafe, since they were writing in it when millard confirmed the lab was nearby, and didn't have time to put it back inside their bags when they were ambushed. 

they go back to the cafe. the boy is still there, he introduces himself as sami and gives back the notebook. however they find that inside he left a letter, saying that he was on their side. he was the scientist, tomaszewski's adopted son, but he had been waiting for them to come so he could run away and stay with them. they were his hope; because he couldn't stand and watch and be a literal tool for tomaszewski as he killed civilians with his experiments, even worse that sami was an experiment himself. anyway, in short, he was asking if he could run away with them, especially since he knew things, valuable information as the adopted son. unfortunately, he gets caught and before anyone can make any decisions, creatures are released and they're forced outside as they fight for their lives again.

the fight worsens and the fight gets bigger, they're overpowered by the amount of creatures and they're better bred this time so some even have half-working tentacles. millard goes to grab a weapon but trips and loses his sense of direction in the winding roads of baguio, slipping down a slope. he's collected by the cashier at the cafe—tomaszewski himself. when he's knocked out, the scientist throws a jar of something and everyone gets dizzy and disoriented. 

sami tries to help, but in sheer desperation beatrice hits him, blaming him for all of this and drags the kids away, trying to bring them back to their inn.

everyone drops unconscious at the steps of a school—everyone except aerron and diana who just manage to fight off the world spinning beneath their feet. they break into the school and get ammonia from the chemistry lab. 

they try to wake everyone up, but they've already wasted too much time looking for the lab and millard is still out there hostage. aerron has the crazy idea to hijack a car since the van is too far away. they go back to the cafe, but it's empty. however there's a trail of something; coffee and pages ripped from aerron and philip's notebook. the two follow it into a hidden space behind a row of buildings. millard is being kept there, he's freed by the two and sami, very shaken, apologizes profusely and tells them to meet him at an events center.

millard drives the car back to the school, where they collect the rest of the gang and walk back to their inn.

tdv; part one; part two; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 18-19

they stop somewhere in a small municipality to eat dinner, beatrice leaves for the bathroom and the kids continue to eat. renren eats with too much ketchup, diana likes the same absurd amount of onions in her sisig. later on, they take out a meal for millard, who can't eat in public since they'd catch stares, and look for beatrice before they get back into the van. she's not anywhere near the bathroom shed.

she appears from under a tree, emerging from the darkness, looking a bit shaken. she tells millard she can drive for another hour or so, and when he insists on letting her rest she says there's been news from devil's acre. they need to reroute to quezon province. her tone is urgent and she seems a bit jarred. diana wonders why it happened and if rerouting was so bad that it had to send beatrice into such a state.

for reference, they were heading north, but now they had to spend i think a 4hr's worth drive southeast due to the change of plans.

it's around 8 at night now. the van is quiet as they still have four more hours before arriving at quezon province, but arden notices something outside—renren shines a phone flashlight and the kids gawk at the hybrids. they're huge, and they've spotted the van. 

millard is forced to pull over and the kids clamber out of the van, bracing themselves for a fight on the side of the highway, among the transmission towers and road lights. diana's terrified she might accidentally hurt one of her friends.

these creatures are 8 feet tall, with necks too long, muscles that bulge too much under their leathery brown skin which has hexagonal shapes etched onto it, hooves as big as the kids' faces and a sloppy excuse for a face. clearly their mad scientist had been experimenting.

one by one the kids had been thrown to the side; these new creatures were huge. diana had been kicked in the head and blood streamed down from her forehead. elize shoved a large rock into its mouth while it was bellowing at diana and the two killed it. 

the last one was finished off by millard launching himself off philip's locked palms and stabbing the head. renren had an injury at the back of his neck, but brushed it off, leaving beatrice worried.

moving on, they had gone back into the van, unfortunately, some time later diana overhears millard and beatrice tlaking about the mission possibly being called off since another reroute was announced. after a bit more discussing, they had agreed to stop somewhere in the city for a proper night's rest before continuing.

they arrive at an inn where they kind of rented the whole house for a night, just one night. they patch up their wounds and sleep immediately after changing cothes. the next morning, they eat breakfast and millard tells them about the whole rerouting thing. 

there's this friend of theirs who has prophetic dreams. he saw them standing at a beach, and jduging by the placement of the sun they were in the north. that was their initial plan.

when they were eating dinner, beatrice got a call telling them to go to atimonan, quezon, and they had faith in that since it was near a beach. diana frowns and doubtingly points out the philippines is an archipelago and there are beaches everywhere. millard says that now, they're waiting for confirmation from the ymbrynes to actually get back on the road. beatrice tells them to rest for the time being.

philip is stressing, so they wait for him to end the call with his dad to go buy snacks outside. cheese sticks and soda. mia teaches them to play egyptian rat-slap, and elize wins a round with an ace of spades, collecting the entire deck.

tdv; part one; part two; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 15-17

the kids all assemble at arden's uncle's house since it's big. it's around 8 in the morning and most of them are still sleepy. they're waiting in the backyard, trying to ignore the hot rays of the morning sun in their eyes. elize has her headphones on. aerron is sleepily chewing on some bread. renren has fallen asleep with his head tipped back and his mouth open. mia is stirring the pool with a stick. philip watches her anxiously. 

philip is just asking about the possibility of any creatures being around when one jumps over the fence—arden stating that they're in a closed neighborhood now serve useless. they fight it after scrambling for their weapons, hands bumping together as they search. diana leaves a gash between its eyes. aerron distracts it while elize finishes it off. 

there's a second one that knocks philip into the pool—diana and mia kill it this time, but aerron has dove into the 6ft edge saying something about philip not knowing how to swim. 

millard and beatrice find the kids fully awake, with a soaking wet philip and aerron, the former still heaving and coughing up pool water. the creatures have turned to dust. diana lies to arden's uncle that they spilled juice in the pool, after philip says he should clean it soon. 

they depart, riding their 9-seater van into the highway.

mia names the van sandra. the kids quickly get bored, and ask millard where they're going. they give each other glances when they find out they're sort of aimlessly heading north, because their "eyes" back at devil's acre, ophelia, is finding it hard to pinpoint the exact location.

since it's a filler chapter it's a lot of nothing. they talk, point out animals, tell stories, play charades. occasionally millard and beatrice chime into the conversations.

tdv; part one; part two; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ to die victorious: part two

the road trip itself—the field trip of doom!

chapters 15-17

chapters 18-19

chapters 20-22

chapter 23

chapter 24

chapter 25

tdv; part one

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapter 14

diana shows up at circle park where the rest of the kids are hanging out. she's pissed, because aerron accidentally deleted the group chat. when she snaps at him he's unbothered, but at the sound of philip's voice asking her what the matter is, she's calmed down. but quickly her mood is turned sour when elize and renren bring up diana's parents not letting her go to the school dance. diana goes home, fighting tears.

on the night of the school dance, diana is out walking by herself (surprisingly her parents let her) along a long, dark street to soothe her pains. her tears had stopped a long time ago and now she was just looking for leaves to step on that weren't dampened by the rain that fell earlier.

a slimy sound comes from the bushes along the sidewalk, and diana makes a run for it seeing the giant leech-goat combination that emerges. in the kids' opinion, it's a very strange mash up, and definitely ineffective. but diana has nothing on her, so she runs.

and she keeps running, until she bumps into someone and falls onto the street. the same person pulls her back onto the sidewalk and to her astonishment it's philip.

he looked very unkempt for a boy like him. his bowtie was hanging out his pocket and the top of his collar was unbuttoned, and the blue suit jacket he wore was creased. in his hand was his sword, which looked out of place. and he was frowning. 

the creatures caught up to them, and after a small scuffle they got out of it. diana however started to cry again, as the weight of the previous events caught up with her and she decided that she hated the slimy feel of the leech against her skin and the helplesness of having no weapon on her. 

philip takes out his phone and tells diana not to worry because she can ride with beatrice, who he's asked to pick him up from school. she still thinks he's at school, so he's gone to text her about his current location.

philip tells her that he didnt have a fun time and left the bathroom he was hiding in after some kids took over the place to smoke, and his dad would ask questions if he was home too early so he texted beatrice. he then tries to comfort diana, which makes her scream internally, and before she can faint a white van pulls up in front of them and beatrice and millard bring them to a fast food chain. diana and philip get their first look inside the van and see that it's brand new and they wonder if they got it just for this mission. 

the night ends with the two kids eating away at ice cream to numb the pains of a school dance they didn't enjoy.

tdv; part one; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapters 12-13

aerron accompanies diana and lawrence to tondo, manila, where there are many junkshops. diana mentions how dry renren (lawrence nickname) can be and how him and philip stand out, since the rest of their group are loud, impulsive, and are most likely to offend a teacher.

aerron takes them on a few jeep rides and then shows them this junk shop. he switches to an american accent and out comes a middle aged white man, blue eyes, white hair and everything in a stained sando. aerron shuts off any questions and they go home with a big knife for renren from the friendly guy known as "uncle eddie", aerron's tito, apparently. he talked a lot and isnt close with aerron, but tries to be. aerron seems a bit embarrassed. he tells the two that he's half american on his mom's side and they go home.

however they do receive a text from mia calling for them, followed by another one saying millard and beatrice came to their aid. after that, neither philip nor mia nor elize answered their calls. when they show up at philip's street they see them surrounded by hares with horns and clawed feet. diana gets a long gash on her arm, but philip gets the worst of it and gets stabbed in the thigh by a horn. they finish them off, renren testing out his new weapon, and they go inside philip's house to patch each other up. beatrice helps, and when they're all gathered in philip's room millard is doing a head count on everyone.

they tell him they all agree to go and are thanked by the two peculiars. philip says he'll find a way to explain the blood around the house and the wound to his dad, yet mia seems miserable that she couldnt prevent philip's injury. he's not bothered at all and tries to console her and then says he's changed his priority: he'll keep up this thing of fighting Creatures for as long as he needs to, like elize did.

that night in the groupchat they discuss what will happen on the trip; what to pack and what to expect. showers in gas stations, hiding weapons and millard forging a reply slip for a "retreat" from each of their schools to excuse their absences, then using the money their parents will pay for houses they might have to rent to sleep in.

diana has her cousin arden over at her house. they're having their little meetup when diana gets a call from aerron, and she teases him at first because he mentions being with elize and she thinks they'd be good together as elize likes him and diana is supportive. but he gets serious and asks for help. diana has a little crisis on whether to bring her cousin or not, but arden overhears the call and wants to help. and so she tags along as diana tries to explain the situation. they are met with elize and aerron inside, millard washing elize's arm over the sink. she's fine, but aerron is worried her elbow is dislocated (it's not). 

when they settle diana realizes she left arden outside, but to her surprise she's holding diana's knife and beatrice is behind her saying they missed one Creature and arden took care of it well. arden says she wants to join and go on the mission to help other people, which the others allow. 

they go on call with mia and philip and renren. philip is otw to the doctor to get his leg checked. anyway millard tells them they have to leave by april, and tells arden she's part of a secret now. aerron also welcomes her and pats her head, the gentle gesture shocking everyone including aerron himself. he tries to play it off but is clearly flustered.

on the way home arden voices out her worries to diana, that she'll disappoint the others or mess up their mission, but diana reassures her that they're just as nervous as she is. arden has good intentions, but she just has to build confidence and sureness for herself as she faces these strange mutants.

tdv; part one; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapters 10.6-11

beatrice and millard are waiting at circle park. beatrice is a young woman with auburn hair and a confident smile, amd millard is there beside her, invisible and naked. philip has the courage to greet them first, shaking their hands and marvelling at millard's unseen hand grasping his own. he introduces himself as philip kwon and then diana does, then the rest of her friends. beatrice shows off her peculiarity of chromokinesis and says they expected older kids, but tries to get them to warm up to her anyway. they reluctantly tell the couple about what theyve been dealing with, and they listen.

beatrice seems like she's holding something back. when she does tell it, though, she gets the reaction she expected. there's this man raised by wights—hollows or monsters turned back to human once they've eaten enough peculiar eyes who were killed in a war some years ago—alfonso tomaszewski, who wants to bring their creations back, create his own hollows once again, to continue where they left off. if they'd let them, they'd bring the kids to his lab because devil's acre (the place where peculiars in europe are currently staying) is already low on reinforcements after the battle for the library of souls.

millard tells them they call the hybrids Creatures w a capital c because the word in old peculiar is hard to pronounce, and that's coming from someone who is fluent. beatrice also reveals that she is diana's online friend she talks to, and that's how they found the kids. they got to the philippines by using the panloopticon (a building full of portals to places around the world basically) to get to a loop (time loop where peculiars stay) in quezon. 

after all this, the kids' minds are reeling, and diana and philip are having an intense discussion and exchanging even more intense looks that even diana has forgotten to be flustered by the eye contact, so the adults give them time to think. they make an excuse to go home, and they do, after beatrice tells them they'll be in contact with mia and diana.

that night, in the groupchat, all of them agree to go.

from lawrence in the groupchat, since the others don't know some terms

"Okay so from what I've gotten from google, peculiars are basically people with superpowers,

and they stay in loops. Loops are literal time loops in a place where it happens, every day the loop is reset so when that happens that means the peculiars also don't age.

Jacob is the main protagonist of the series Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children which explains why Diana and Philip were connecting with each other so well because they read it or something, idk. Jacob has powers to see the Hollowgast, invisible monsters who eat Peculiars. If they eat eyes they'll become wights which are your "whites"”

tdv; part one; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapters 3-10.5

at school, a month later, diana finds elize, philip, and aerron playing badminton, they're quickly interrupted, however, when a strange bird, bigger than what's supposed to be normal, flies through an open window and attacks them. elize's face is scratched and they take refuge in the bathroom, and then quickly devise a plan to take them out, seeing as they're definitely not normal birds. philip says he'll go down to the school office to pretend to talk about something important, to cover up him pulling a plug on the computer that's connected to cctv recordings of the school. diana is taken aback and flustered when he asks for her number, but is brought back to reality when he uses his phone to call her and communicate with his companions while he does the job.

when the coast is clear and philip has gone down to the principal's office, ducking away from the birds, elize runs out of the bathroom to deliver her best blows onto the birds, killing them. diana takes a few pictures while the others aren't looking, but she's not exactly sure why she did it. 

aerron has the idea to call the others for a meeting at mcdonald's. when he brings up lawrence, diana makes a sour face and the others are left to wonder what happened between the two.

the following days at school diana refuses to talk to lawrence, bugging philip and aerron to do it instead. she gets into a stare-down with aerron, the known big scary guy of his grade, and it makes her embarrassed and angry. at home, she tries to talk to her friends online but no one replies, so she goes to talk to her online friend, one she's never met in real life before. she brings up the strange birds and dogs, calling them "peculiar" because of how she and that friend met because of a fanfiction of a series. after the friend asks a few questions, they go offline, leaving diana with herself again. 

the next day, diana's at lawrence's house for his sister's birthday party. he's shown the pictures diana took of the birds with pincers and scorpion tails, and this time he's a little less skeptical, yet still hesitant about it all. he's tense when he hears about aerron's planned meeting. he hears about elize's katana from her grandparents, and then finds out about all of them saying they need weapons after that second incident. 

elize, aerron, and diana are waiting for philip to finish a make-up quiz. the girls decide to leave earlier and pick up mia, though. so they test out elize's katana and mia's butterfly knife, which she had dug up from under her bed. they work well, and then practice some more at an abandoned structure near mia's house, empty and overgrown by plants. diana joins and practices with the sheath of elize's katana. mia tells the two to check their phones that night.

they get attacked by a cross between a money and a bear, and mia gets a head injury but no concussion. they go over to aerron's house, because mia requests it and she gets along with him. they find the boys there, and theyre horrified to hear about mia's head injury and diana willingly using her entire body to throw a hybrid off mia. 

philip holds up two fingers and says they're all hybrids, something blended in with something else, in one body. they discuss weapons there in aerron's house, because the mcdonalds will take too long. lawrence will go to a junk shop, diana will get her dad's, which she says is hidden somewhere in their garage.

they question how long they'll keep this up. philip says until they know everything they can about it, diana says until things are set right. lawrence wants reinforcements and to know where the things came from. aerron wants them all gone. elize, with a grin, says until as long as they'll need to and for as long as they can.

when they check their phones last night as mia told them to, they see that she's added them to a group chat. there she tells them about this pair named beatrice and millard, who are about 20 years old, and then drops the bomb that she's told them about the hybrids and this sets the gc on fire.

apparently mia was going home when her knife fell out and the girl beatrice stepped out of a van and asked her why she had one. she was about to run when she saw floating clothes. they explained their situation to her, and it was so strange mia felt compelled to tell about her experience with the hybrids as well. afterwards she was told to go home and she did.

the others had a normal reaction, but diana and philip were especially shocked beacause the floating clothes seemed too familiar...millard as in millard nullings the invisible boy? maybe they were going crazy. but anyway they tell mia to tell millard and beatrice to meet them at circle park. beforehand they'll figure things out and what to say at mcdonalds.

at mcdonalds, they decide to tell beatrice and millard all they know about the hybrids and what they've done. make the two wait for questions. when the others leave to order food, aerron tells lawrence and diana to hide or at least go away, and since he was hissing orders at them, they follow. aerron does it because friends from school bumped into him and he told them he was on a date with a girl. this earns stupid guffaws and punches, and it enrages both diana and lawrence so bad they reconcile from their argument about the hybrids.

when aerron's other friends leave, diana is quickly onto him. elize finds them and breaks up the fight, which is pretty bad. philip tries to cheer aerron up, saying he's just cranky and hungry. he doesn't have to explain the part where aerron was trying to keep his ego safe.

tdv; part one; previous ch; next ch

[burner002]

★ tdv: chapters 1-2

diana alberts and lawrence fernandez, best friends since fourth grade, currently in sixth are doing their regular rounds through their hometown, along with their classmate, mia. the latter is shorter and petite compared to the other two, who are growing into their pre-teen bodies yet still have some of that baby fat on. they bicker and tease each other as they walk through the streets. it's around sunset, about an hour before dinnertime, and they're trying to make the best of the humid air. 

entering a street that's closed off on one side, they continue on their conversation. to diana's horror, her crush and his best friend appear, playing basketball. mia ducks out of sight. diana, unable to escape, tries to hold some small talk, until, again, to her horror, growling is heard. from the trees in the sidewalk emerges a dog, a sort-of dog? it looks half lion. diana gets nervous. she was never one for any kind of animal, much less dogs. 

it begins to chase all of them, despite being unprovoked. they grab their bikes and start running, and even the boldest and bravest of them, lawrence, refuses to fend off the strange dog-things due to how large and bizarre they are. on the way they meet elize, another friend from school, who is on her way home from running errands. blushing as her crush, aerron, offers up his bike for her, they set off and make a dash for it, going wherever their feet would take them. aerron catches a ride on philip's bike.

eventually they get cornered at Circle Park, a platform that rises up off the ground, dotted with benches and is surrounded by houses in a circle at the side of the street, like a greek omega. surprisingly the boys trust each other; they're a grade level apart and the other two transferred to their school the year lawrence left for homeschool. the bunch skid to a stop and diana earns a scraped knee.

the older boys, aerron and philip, appear with short but working blades, swords, and start to hack at the dog-hybrids, more of which have started to appear. mia throws rocks, elize uses a random discarded plank to shove them away. the two boys fight like theyre not used to it, though, tripping over untied shoelaces and holding the swords with unsteady hands.

a grunt leaves aerron and he calls over diana to take his place, shoving the knife—one she know recognizes as a bolo knife—in her hands. a dog lunges at her and she gives it a smack with the flat side, but then it goes back to bite it and in her panic diana shakes the blade, hard, and as a result buries the knife into the dog's neck.

eventually the last one is killed off by philip. diana's ankles feel like lead, lawrence is in disbelief, philip is panting and sweaty and aerron is bleeding from his knuckles and a gash on his arm. elize and lawrence won't stop arguing, and that makes philip drop his friendly mask of cool-temperedness and throw down his shiny long sword and he kicks it, the clatter calling their attention. 

they start to argue, about the swords and the dogs and the possibility of being framed as animal abusers and where and why and how with philip and aerron's bolo and hwando (korean sword) came from, and then are even more bewildered with the strange liquid leaking out of the dogs. it's clear, but there's also red blood. like two separate substances that refuse to mix.

with the help of elize's stern snipes to get everyone to listen and stop bickering, bespectacled aerron makes it final that they're all going to forget what happened that day with a firm voice and a deep frown. that everyone will keep silent, keep it a secret, not share it to anyone in case they were all mad. but then when they all turn to go home, they're shocked to find out that the carcasses of the dogs were gone. as if they were never there, fueling their suspicions that they had a mass hallucination. except for a few bones at the side, which they all flinch at. they all go home right after, to freshen up then forget.

however on the way home they meet again, diana, lawrence, philip, and aerron, in front of one of their houses. lawrence snaps at the other pair while aerron hands diana his bolo without context and then tells her to dig a hole. then he tosses a towel at her, where white dust falls out and scatters in the december wind, flaky and dry. 

diana and lawrence are disgusted and demand an explanation. philip, looking like an excited child who finally understood what 2x3 was, explains that that was probably how the dog carcasses disappeared, disintegrating and then scattering in the wind, just as those bones he collected and were supposed to bury did. 

a week later at school, diana isn't feeling too well. she's grumpy about an argument she had the previous day with lawrence. she was always more on the imaginative side, reading books and watching movies and always believing there was some hidden fiction in the nonfiction of reality. diana is curious and brings up the dogs, which irritates lawrence, who wants to forget. lawrence doesn't want to live with the paranoia, diana is offended with how quickly he shut her down. philip and aerron seem unaffected, not even meeting diana's eyes when she passes them in the halls or visits their classroom, laughing as if they were never there at circle park. this makes diana even more bummed.

tdv; part one; next ch

[burner002]

★ to die victorious: part one

jacob portman said his life was divided into two parts: Before and After. for these kids it was the same; Before they went on the trip, and After they all boarded that van. here is Before.

chapters 1-2

chapters 3-10.5

chapters 10.6-11

chapters 12-13

chapter 14

hi hi hi the chapters are in clumps because i've published a few chapters on wattpad and if oomfs are reading this, hi :D ive summarized the chapters and revised a few bits that's why it's like that. then again this is just an archive so no need for formalities

xx, al

tdv; part two

[burner002]

★ to die victorious: cast !!

wow the tdv kids are so funny i wish 12 year olds were real

diana alberts; elize shimazaki; arden rowe; beatrice warren; mia navarete; aerron dela cruz; philip kwon; lawrence fernandez; sami; alfonso tomaszweski

[burner002]

wow yay i love connor stoll im gonna eat him

⋆·˚ ༘ * spider-boy, king of thieves!!

warnings: none

pairing: spider-man! connor stoll x gwen stacy coded! reader

summary: your friendly neighborhood spider-man pays you a visit

studying was boring. but if you wanted to fulfill your dream of being a biologist and get into a good college these were the consequences you had to face, unfortunately. a book was open in front of you but no work was being done, why can’t you just know stuff? that would be much easier.

and of course the moment you decide to actually study you hear a knock on your window, causing you to close your book (oh no! you’re so sad, you might even shed a tear) and make your way to your window

when you look through the glass you’re met with a spider mask, belonging to the one and only spider-man (under the mask known as connor stoll, aka your boyfriend, how cool is that! whenever you remember this you start giggling like a school girl)

“you’re relentless, truly” you shake your head

“hello to you too, smartie pants. were you studying?” he asks, climbing through before you can give him permission to do so and you close the window behind him

“attempting to”

he nods and takes off the mask and for a moment there’s silence before you speak again:

“what do I owe this visit?”

he pretends to ponder his thoughts for a moment before smirking “a kiss!”

you roll your eyes but kiss him, nonetheless.

“was that to your liking?” you ask

he nods with a large grin “let’s go upstairs”

when he says ‘upstairs’ he means the top of your apartment building, a spot the two of you pay frequent visits to

you allow him to drag you there now, and you’re thankful it’s dark otherwise you might have been caught

connor lets go of your hand to shoot his webs. what a show off he is. you suppose, though, if you had spider powers you might have done the same

he stops on a pole, legs around it. he hangs upside down

“get over here smartie pants!” he yells, and you follow his orders

“what’re you up to bug boy?” you ask skeptically

he smiles mischievously “nothing. why do you assume I’m up to something?”

“because I know you”

his smile turns into a fake look of anger “I want another kiss”

“I should have known” you laugh and cup his face in your hands, then granting his wish

and it was the best upside down kiss he could’ve ever asked for

[burner002]

hi again to connor stoll nation consisting of like 17 people. i decided i dont wanna owe my writing to any of you because i don't have that dedication or time with me anymore. but since i saw ai generated content under our boyfriend's tag i will upload one last oneshot out of spite because what do you robots know about connor "nonoy" hererra m. stoll . thats right. nothing.

after that i'll uhhh keep my blog to myself......as an oc archive and nothing more...