shellalana

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Bloody Rose

Chapter 4: Finding Answers

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When the anger is not enough

It takes everything she has not to give in to the deafening screams for bloodlust that filled her ears. Easy to shred the next thief she found into ribbons with her claws and leave nothing behind for his family to identify. Not even a bother to drive an abusing husband’s face into a wall until his eyes became familiar with the back of his skull. Barely an inconvenience to squeeze a mother’s neck for choosing drugs over feeding her child.

None of it would put her out. None of it would satisfy her either.

What she needed... what she craved was something important enough to purge it all from her body.

Claws dug into the brick exterior of the building she clung to, the red rock crumbling beneath her touch. She’d found her way to the city, the Home of the Big Crime and Ne’er-do-wells. Here, she could find release. Here, she could take out all her frustrations without restraint. Here, she could be as ugly and visceral as she needed to be.

Here, she could hopefully find herself again.

Sirens and such wailed far below, more authority chasing figures who hadn’t complied with some law or another. People screamed. Gunfire echoed off the buildings. Couples argued in their apartments. The noise, the stench, the filth of the city clung to her like cigarette smoke to skin, leaving her yearning for the peace of Wakanda. A place that she could barely call home anymore.

Because of him. Him and his selfish threats. His need to satisfy his ego.

The phantom smells of ocean spray hit her like a wall, coating and intensifying her anger with fear. Fear she would not avenge her mother’s death properly. Fear that she was buying into that pretty dream Namor promised of their people working together. Fear that if she gave too much of herself, she was opening herself up to the knife finding its way between her ribs.

"These are uncertain times, not one for solitude."

Shuri sneered at his words as she made her way down the building to the street, taking care to remain in the shadows. Solitude. He was the one who'd assured she would be alone. Alone and vulnerable. Susceptible to his worming words of comfort and friendship. Isolation. That was what he wanted for her. To make her feel so incredibly alone that she would cling to the first person to offer her an ear to listen, to present a place that seemed "comfortable and safe" so that she would look nowhere else.

Ears perked and pupils glittered when she spotted exactly what she'd been looking for. A large group of armed men huddling near the door of a loading dock. They seemed to be having problems cutting off the lock, their tools too inferior to cut through the metal.

Finally, some prey to play with.

She retreated most of her Habit, save for the claws, and made her way to her new "friends," eager to see how they would react to her sudden appearance.

"Looks like you're having some trouble," she called out as she emerged from the shadows, forcing an American accent to keep her native tongue at bay. The alleyway echoed with the clatter of drawn and pointed guns, all trained on her as she walked over to the door. It would be stupid of them to; the din would attract unnecessary attention and force them to give up on their prize. No, they were eager to see what this waif of a woman could do for them.

Shuri scoffed at the primitive lock — this is what was giving them so many problems? — and crushed it in her palm, chucking the dead metal into the dark with a dull metal thud. She threw up the bay door with ease and stepped to one side so that the men could do what they came for.

"How'd you do that?" one of them asked in passing as the rest poured in, ready to bag as much merchandise as possible.

"Would you believe me if I said I'm the one responsible for the Winter Soldier's vibranium arm?" Even the truth would sound unbelievable to them.

"Ha! Next you're going to tell me you're some kind of super."

Is that the word people were using now?

"You want in on this?"

"Take your fill. I'm only here for one thing and it will be nothing of value to you."

The last man shrugged as he finally darted inside, eager to not miss out on what hadn't been picked clean yet.

With a smile, Shuri slowly slid the bay door to the ground behind them and bent the metal tracks around the corners, sealing it shut. The Habit glimmered back to life to cover her face, to hide her utter delight for what was about to happen.

[shellalana]

Bloody Rose

Chapter 3: Heat of the Moment

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Bloody Rose

Chapter 2: Emotional Bribery

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Bloody Rose

Chapter One: Bribery

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The Way Things Were (Or How They Should Be)

Chapter 7: I Walk A Different Path Now

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I don't know how I feel now, wanting to romance Eleanor before I learned about the tongue thing because now I don't want to be one of those people. =T

It's also sad that Quincy ended up at the bottom of that poll. My gut keeps telling me it's because of "reasons" that plague every fandom.

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Misery (1990)

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The Way Things Were (Or How They Should Be)

Chapter 6: A Breath Of Fresh Air

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Umbra, Stalker, Excalibur.

Stalker being the middle child makes so much more sense now.

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Don't Go Where I Can't Follow

He’s supposed to be dead. He’s supposed to be dead and gone. Yet here he sat, an older, paler reflection of his former self. Wizened and wrinkled and greyed. Sera couldn’t help the hovering dance of her fingers over the sparkling blue scar that covered half his face. She didn’t dare touch, in case all of this was a dream she would soon wake up from.

Getting him on the ship and into her quarters was a struggle enough. Umbra’s help didn’t come easy, especially after their past encounters. Respect bound them together, but there was nothing remotely resembling a friendship.

Sera’s fingers curled into a fist as she stood from her seat and stormed off toward the window, the scene filled with fish and undulating seaweed. Serana had kept this from her. She’d kept this secret the whole time, not thinking to share so that Sera could have the piece of mind she deserved. No, she went to the Zariman, through that portal, and into a world where Teshin existed. For what? So that she could gloat about something Sera didn’t have?

Sera slammed her fist against the glass as the heat of anger washed over her. Having her “doppleganger” here was supposed to make everything easier. Four hands were better than two, and though Serana struggled with keeping Warframes in her employ, there were other talents she had, other experience, that kept her afloat and fighting.

And now this. She stared down at the large jagged scar covering her arm, the burn Serana had given her from her Amp. She’d given no reason for the sudden animosity, no explanation as to why she was going around, picking a fight with everyone. Sera didn’t think she’d given her any reason to believe they were on bad terms. In fact, she’d stood up for her on more than one occasion, giving her the benefit of the doubt that she could be trusted.

And now she’d gone and proven all of that wrong.

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Tennotober 2024 Day 31: Concrete

Like a Rock. Wall. Where the Man lives.

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Tennotober 2024 Day 30: Antimatter

A test subject defines perfection.

Trigger warning: drug use, body horror, vomiting, death.

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Tennotober 2024 Day 29: Murmur

Mote finally cracks.

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Tennotober 2024 Day 28: Flip Phone

When fixations take over.

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Tennotober 2024 Day 27: Marionette

There are pulled strings everywhere.

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Tennotober 2024 Day 26: 1999

Stay away from the pizza.