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themurphyzone · 4 years

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PatB Nova Ch 7

Ch 7: Perturb

AN: This chapter’s somehow got long so a lot of stuff I wanted to originally place here’s going in the next one.

FFN Link

Terran Date 2015.4.23

Since I currently lack access to my regular equipment, I’m making do with an audio recording program from a Terran computer. I must admit it’s not nearly as efficient as my usual method, but it will have to suffice.

Pinky is an…interesting host. I won’t deny that he’s rather generous, and the delicacy he identified as cream cheese is surprisingly palatable. I’ve also taken up residence in his cage which he also kindly offered for my use as a safe place to sleep. The sponge bed has been moved to the cage per my request.

Objective assessment of Pinky: his species is a lab mouse, his eyes have to be some odd mutation because it cannot be possible for them to be that blue, and he’s an amiable idiot. As I’m recording this, he’s currently scolding two inanimate objects for their failure to keep the cage clean in his absence.

Today’s goal: Pinky is planning for a trip to the local mall to obtain a hat to wear for the Derby. Once again, it’s an illogical custom I am unfamiliar with. I’ve agreed to accompany him for two purposes. The first, clues on Snowball’s whereabouts. And the second, to gather intel on Terran habits for world domination purposes. Snowball and I will be able to put my information to good use when we’re reunited.

Signing off for now, the Brain.

o-o-o-o-o

Getting lost, losing communications, and the unrelenting solitude were the major dangers of setting foot outside of Penumbra. Only the first two conditions applied now.

Pinky leapt through the mail slot and danced along the pavement. He wore a lavender blouse that left his shoulders exposed, his shorts made of a Terran material called denim. Apparently, this excursion was also an opportunity to make a fashion statement. But Brain didn’t see the practicality of Pinky’s clothes. The silly Terran stepped on an odd rock here and there, but his twirls didn’t slow down. Just looking at him made Brain slightly dizzy.

Thin, white clouds drifted lazily in the vast blue sky far above them. Brain looked up, one hand on his brow to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight. New Selene and the stars weren’t visible, though they were somewhere much higher than the sky.

He squinted and lowered his gaze to the ground, dark spots forming in his vision and making everything rather blurry.

Brain had switched his jumpsuit and gloves for a Terran disguise, a simple red shirt and another pair of denim shorts, both items borrowed from Pinky’s large collection of outfits. But since Pinky’s legs were longer, the shorts technically functioned more like pants, and the shirt was knee-length. Though it was comfortable, so he went along with it for now.

Besides, Pinky had been shockingly adamant about the jumpsuit and gloves needing a wash. Brain had protested at first since the material had anti-olfactory functions built in, but Pinky insisted and Brain agreed if only to shut up the Terran.

Procuring formal clothes for conquest would just have to wait.

And there was another issue he hadn’t anticipated.

Everything was so colorful and loud. He was so used to everything being muted and dark. Already he missed the ever present hum of the lab technology, and he’d barely set foot outside the door. Brain stood on the coarse welcome mat, on the border between safety and the unknown.

He was just grateful his accelerated healing kicked in overnight, and the bandages were no longer necessary.

“Come on, Brain!” Pinky shouted as he skipped along the pavement, careful to avoid all the cracks. “The sidewalk is great! Just don’t step on the crack, or you’ll break your mama’s back!”

Brain scowled. “My mother is on a different planet entirely, if she hasn’t already fallen victim to the many dangers of the natural world. Stepping on a cracked rock here on Terra will have no effect on her skeletal structure. The two actions are entirely uncorrelated.”

“The corals are related?” Pinky gasped, hands flying to his mouth in genuine surprise. “I knew they looked similar!”

There was absolutely no reasoning with him, was there?

A large, sleek metal structure roared down the large stretch of pavement in front of them, a cloud of smoke trailing behind it as it rounded a corner and disappeared. It wasn’t his first time seeing one of those vehicles, since they’d been peppered throughout the satellite images he’d viewed back on Penumbra.

A car. One of the forms of land-based transportation on Terra, Brain recalled from the file on Terran technology. Highly practical for traveling long distances.

Cars were much larger in person. The images made them seem so tiny.

And once again, he found himself woefully lacking essential information. Did cars function similarly to a rover? How did it zoom by so quickly? What was the power source?

He looked up at the sky again, but the sunlight had somehow gotten stronger during his pondering, and he quickly averted his eyes.

“Poit. Your eyes are so squinty, Brain!” Pinky lightly tapped Brain’s head, breaking him out of his thoughts. “Don’t look directly into the sun. It’s bad for your eyes and you’d need to eat lots and lots of carrots to fix them and then your fur will turn orange!”

“A side effect of all this light,” Brain replied, making a mental note that carrots were an edible item that caused orange fur. He’d have to avoid them in the future. “I’m fine. Let’s depart for this…mall.”

The word felt strange on his tongue. But his feet wouldn’t leave the safety of the welcome mat.

“I’d love for you to come along, but if you’d rather not, that’s fine too,” Pinky said. There was a slight tinge of disappointment in his voice though, but he still seemed as sunny as the actual star. It was somewhat unsettling.

“Won’t you join my little expedition, Brain?” Snowball wrapped an arm around Brain’s shoulders. Fine mist trailed from the aisam’s claws, surrounding them with an icy chill that traveled up Brain’s spine and settled into his fur. “The road to Eclipse Lab is awfully barren and I could use a little company. Perhaps we could test our skills with star identification along the way.”

Brain shoved him away and Snowball clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“For the last time, I’m n-not interested in visiting that horrible, scrik-ridden m-mess of a lab, Snowball. If you wish to leave New Selene sometime in the next cycle, you will allow me to fine-tune the propulsion system in peace,” Brain retorted, hating the tremor in his voice caused by a brief yet violent case of the shivers. He picked up a wrench and examined it for overuse damage, turning his back on Snowball so he wouldn’t see Brain’s hands tremble.

Whether it was from the cold or the mere thought of setting foot in the place where he’d been prodded and restrained by long, claw-like fingers, he couldn’t say.

“You can’t be an invertebrate, Brain,” Snowball grumbled. His disappointment was palpable, and Brain’s fingers tightened around the wrench. “Our combined intellect is unparalleled and far superior to those imbecilic Terrans. Whatever it takes to rule, whatever it takes to wear the crown, we must seize it by any means possible.”

Then he was gone, and the Conquistador’s silent frame became Brain’s steadfast companion.

“Earth to Brain! Oh sorry, should I say Terra to Brain instead? Come in, Terra to Brain! This is Lieutenant Pinky reporting in! Over!”

Pinky was suddenly in front of his face, and Brain leapt back in surprise. He must’ve been lost in his ponderings again. Pinky held something behind his back, something bright and yellow poking out near his tail.

“Yes, Pinky. I hear you,” Brain sighed. Then Pinky showed him the item behind his back, and it turned out to be the oddest pair of safety goggles Brain had ever seen in his life. The star-shaped frame was yellow and provided little protection for the nose, and the lens were tinted dark instead of clear. “These goggles are highly impractical for technical work.”

“They’re sunglasses actually. Slipped inside and grabbed ‘em while you were pandering. I use these if I’m playing movie star-slash-chiropractor! Try them on!” Pinky said. Deciding it was best to humor him, Brain slid on the glasses, and his vision became a shade darker. The colors were still there, just not as bright. The headache that had threatened to form dissipated into nothingness.

“This is bearable,” Brain said. Pinky was slightly darker as well, though the tinted lens did nothing to diminish his shining blue eyes.

Pinky clapped his hands in glee. “Exactly! Also works for grizzlies and honey bears and teddies! And now you’re a movie star too!”

Brain rolled his eyes, sweeping his antennae back so they didn’t get in the way. “That’s not a classification of any star. Despite your questionable logic, and I use that word in a fairly liberal sense, the color spectrum of your planet is no longer a strain on my eyes. So…thanks.”

“Aww! You’re welcome, Brain,” Pinky said. “And really, you can wear them in the lab too. I don’t mind.”

“No, Pinky. I’m coming along. I have goals to accomplish during this trip,” Brain said. Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the welcome mat, then hopped off the step and onto the pavement.

It wasn’t as difficult as his mind made it out to be.

Pinky laughed, and Brain barely got out of the way in time before several ounces of idiosyncrasies could crash into him.

Brain wouldn’t get anything done by sitting around and being too afraid to leave the lab’s safe haven. Somewhere underneath the massive sky, Snowball was likely planning his own day’s activities. And today, they’d be taking the first steps to conquer Terra.

Through any means possible.

o-o-o-o-o

Brain prided himself on his keen observation skills, something that would serve him well when he and Snowball finally exploited the inhabitants’ many weaknesses. Pinky considered it a ‘a blousery, blustery, beautiful day’, whatever that meant, and skipped to and fro in every direction to take in the sights of the city. Brain kept him in view at all times, not wanting to be left alone in this strange world.

He quickly found that the word ‘Terrans’ failed to encapsulate the biodiversity of the planet, in addition to individual differences between members of the same species. Humans varied greatly in size, shape, and appearance, though even the tallest ones weren’t nearly as large as a Selenian. Some had their heads buried in their devices with cords going into their ears and were oblivious to their surroundings, and Brain had to keep an eye out for those dangerous folks since they didn’t seem to care about anyone in their path.

While inconvenient for him, their failure to pay attention could easily be turned into an advantage.

Several humans walked alongside quadrupedal creatures that sniffed the ground and had collars and ropes around their necks that led to a handle in the human’s hand. Pinky called them ‘dogs’ and ‘leashes’. He was more than happy to clarify anything Brain didn’t understand, and while he figured that he would have to research Terra more in-depth later, Pinky’s happy explanations were sufficient for now.

Brain firmly held Pinky’s hand as they passed by a human and a golden-furred dog with large paws and a long, panting tongue. The dog sniffed them curiously and made a ‘groomph’ noise, and though it didn’t seem hostile, Brain dragged Pinky away before the dog had the opportunity to slobber all over them.

But even the ‘goldy’, as Pinky called it, was more preferable to the tiny, yappy thing that Pinky identified as a ‘Chi-wa-wa’. At least it was yanked back by its leash before it could give chase to them.

Pinky called himself a mouse, and his friend Pharfignewton was a horse. Two species down.

The flying creatures were pigeons, crows, and sparrows. They ate whatever they could scavenge on the ground. The tiny things that scurried around his feet were insects, and Pinky yanked him back from stepping on a sidewalk crack filled with red and black ‘ants’.

“Fire ants will make your feet itchy and tingly!” he warned. “And not the pleasant kind either!”

Brain committed his warning to memory.

Cars crawled by slowly on the street, packed closely as far as the eye could see. They made odd screeching noises from time to time, the humans inside grumpily slamming their palms against their steering devices.

Lights on every corner controlled the flow of cars. Everyone became furious with red and brightened when it was green. He wasn’t exactly sure what yellow was supposed to do since some cars sped right past and others came to a stop. Regardless, humans were dependent on those lights in their vehicles. It was an interesting observation.

There were plenty of additional rules too, which Pinky was adamant on teaching. Only cross at the white strips at the lights, and only when the red hand changed to the green human. Look left, right, then left again before crossing. Pat your head and rub your belly if you see an out-of-state license plate…well, Brain was pretty sure that wasn’t a safety rule since none of the humans were doing it. Just a Pinky thing then.

Everything was alive, from the structures that creaked on the highest buildings to the scattered pebbles underfoot. While he’d known the planet’s atmosphere carried sound far better than New Selene’s, experiencing it for himself was nothing short of fascinating. He’d have to research the exact composition that made it all possible later. Energy flowed towards him in all directions, though the daytime thankfully masked his glowing orbs.

Blending in wasn’t difficult either. Humans were more oblivious than he thought.

“Last corner, Brain!” Pinky exclaimed, twirling happily as they waited for the signal to cross the busy intersection. “Then we’re at the mall! You’ll love it! There’s food and clothing and perfume and toys and-“

“Pinky, what exactly is the purpose of a mall?” Brain asked. Pinky had been rather unclear on that. Mostly he’d just been gushing about all the fun things they could do.

“To do fun fun silly-willy things with your friends and look at stuff you can never afford on a lab mouse’s salary, of course!” Pinky replied.

The signal to cross finally appeared, and Pinky skipped merrily across the white strip, nimbly avoiding getting trampled by several humans walking in the opposite direction. Brain walked at a normal pace, keeping his tail close to his body. He didn’t trust the distracted humans to watch where they were going, especially since their handheld devices seemed to hold more importance than avoiding getting run over heavy wheels.

As Brain stepped onto the sidewalk, an odd texture struck him on the head, knocking his sunglasses askew. Several drops of a lukewarm liquid splashing onto his fur. It didn’t hurt, but it was still an unpleasant surprise. The human next to him didn’t notice. He was too busy yelling into his device and gesturing wildly, then stomped off in a huff. He almost trampled Pinky, who barely managed to pull his tail out of the way before the man’s large foot crushed it.

“Well, he was certainly rude. He littered and didn’t say sorry for dropping the cup on your head!” Pinky complained as he helped Brain to his feet, his blue eyes narrowed at the man’s back as he disappeared into the crowd. He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted in the man’s general direction. “Hey, litterbug! I bet your mom’s older than you! Narf!”

He gave a firm nod, satisfied with his ludicrous and underwhelming insult.

A furious Pinky. That was an interesting concept, yet anger and Pinky somehow remained mutually exclusive in Brain’s mind.

“Not to worry, Pinky,” Brain said, wiping the liquid away from the base of his antennae. He returned his sunglasses to the proper position. “He’s long gone. I’ve suffered worse.”

Pinky took a deep breath, then took a sniff of the cup’s opening and wrinkled his nose. “Maybe he wouldn’t be so grumpy or litterbuggy if he put more sugar in his cappuccino,” he sighed. “Styrofoam too. Can’t recycle that.”

Dragging the cup over to a nearby garbage can, Pinky hoisted it over his head and trying to stick it through the hole on top. The cup was barely over the rim, Pinky clinging to the metal with one hand and scrabbling for a foothold. He wasn’t giving up without a fight, so Brain grabbed Pinky’s ankles to give him the extra boost needed to push the cup in.

Pinky climbed down once he heard the dull thud from inside the can. “Thanks,” he said gratefully, though he still seemed unusually morose.

Brain walked into a section lined with vegetation and dirt that separated the street from the mall. But Pinky didn’t follow. He was looking into the direction they came from. “The cup’s in the proper place now. Let’s go, Pinky.”

Instead of following Brain, Pinky moved to the curbside, looking down at his feet. Really. Pinky came to the mall for a purpose, however inane it was. He needed to commit to that goal.

Brain growled in frustration, grasping his wayward companion’s wrist and pulling him in the mall’s direction. Pinky stumbled, but hardly budged otherwise. “Quit being stubborn, Pinky. The sun will burn out before you twitch a finger at this rate.”

“But the rest of it…“ Pinky whimpered, pointing to the street.

The road was filled with cups like the one Pinky had just thrown away. Filthy, damp, and unreadable papers lined the curb. A plastic bag tumbled in the wind. There were even a few objects that might’ve been clothing at one point.

Some people passed them by without a care in the world, others clicked their tongue at the mess but hurried on their way. Two people on the other side of the intersection were clothed in white from head to toe, picking away at the garbage with long sticks and depositing them into large bags.

From the sheer amount of garbage that lined the streets, Brain thought it was a futile effort on their part.

This was one of Terra’s downsides. Its inhabitants were destroying the very planet they lived on. It was one of the few observations the Selenian scientists were accurate about.

Pinky reached for a mass of papers, a revolting yellowish-green grime covering its surface, but Brain pulled him back before he could touch it.

“Don’t touch that with your bare hands, Pinky,” Brain scolded. “It’s unsanitary.”

Pinky pouted. Now obstinance. He shifted moods rather quickly, didn’t he? It was baffling.

“We gotta take care of Mother Earth, Brain!” Pinky protested as Brain dragged him into the vegetation. “Or there won’t be any pretty flowers to sniff and the acorn and pinecone elves won’t ever set aside their differences to sign that peace treaty!”

“The databank contained many details regarding the pollution of Terra, Pinky,” Brain admitted. “So I’m aware of the issue. But cleaning this one street would take time we can’t spare. You’re being sidetracked from your goal, and I can’t achieve my own objectives either.”

“Wait…” Pinky murmured. “You’re gonna rule soon, aren’t you? So you can definitely protect the world! That’s wonderful, Brain! I know you can do it!”

The sudden shift in mood caught Brain off-guard.

I can? Brain almost said, but the hope shining in Pinky’s eyes quelled that uncertain response. There was nothing but sincere admiration in that pool of blue, a massive surge of electrons flowing from Pinky’s chest into Brain’s antennae.

He would dare describe the electrons as a positive charge. How? Electrons were supposed to be negative! What kind of anomaly did he have the terrifying pleasure of knowing?

Brain cleared his throat, focusing on the enormous sprawling complex in front of them. Pinky’s blind faith was off-putting, and it was much easier to disregard it. “Of course. I will have unquestionable power in the near-future. Solving these issues will be easier than calibrating an auto-navigation interface.”

Pinky blinked.

“And…I’ll oversee those peace treaty negotiations between the elves.”

Pinky brightened immediately. “Thank you, Brain! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Long arms snagged Brain and lifted him off the ground in an enormous hug. Brain’s feet kicked out, but the warmth Pinky emitted had the strangest subduing effect. Brain’s antennae weren’t obstructed either, just swept back. Apparently, Pinky learned from last time.

Brain’s chest was oddly warm. Or maybe it was Pinky’s. It was hard to know for certain.

“Your orbs are so glowy,” Pinky said in awe.

And they weren’t achieving anything from this display of sentimentality! With some difficulty, Brain reclaimed his right arm and bopped Pinky on top of his empty noggin.

Pinky immediately let go, stumbling around dizzily and startling a nearby sparrow with his loud giggles. Brain landed on the base of his tail, a brief painful twinge travelling up his spine. In hindsight, he didn’t plan that well. At least there wasn’t another kink.

“That was jolly fun, Brain!” Pinky exclaimed upon recovery.

If he ever had the spare time, he was definitely researching the differences between actual Terran phrases and Pinky-isms.

“I’m sure,” Brain sighed, though he wasn’t sure and never would be, but Pinky didn’t need to know that.

They walked into a large, multi-level structure that Pinky called a ‘parking garage’, which housed a large amount of dormant vehicles. It was similar to the traffic they’d passed earlier, but the drivers were elsewhere. They were packed close, almost touching, and Brain wondered how anyone could possibly get in or out in these tight quarters.

Another few inches closer and the drivers would be completely trapped. That idea had potential.

Pinky hopped onto each yellow marking on the ground, arms flailing as he tried to avoid the gray areas in between. Brain followed at a more sedate pace. Then Pinky gasped and straightened up just as he landed on the last yellow marking before the mall entrance, Brain nearly bumping into him.

“Look, Brain! Somebody’s dropped their wallet!” Pinky gasped, hurrying over to a black object lying against the curb. He undid the zipper and glanced inside. “Egad, that’s a lot of money!”

Brain peeked inside. A wad of folded green paper was tucked inside one of the pockets. “A currency-based economy? Selene and its colonies utilized barter systems,” he said.

Which could be an issue. Brain had originally planned to trade the Conquistador’s spare parts for useful items.

“Oh no, Brain. Currants would get squished in your pants. Then you’d need a really strong stain remover,” Pinky replied. “Besides, this man’s very lucky he can buy so many hats! That’s what I’d do if I had any money!”

He must’ve misheard that. Surely.

“Pinky, tell me you brought the monetary value required for your hat.”

Pinky dug his hand into a fur pocket, but only came out with a piece of fluff. “Hmmm, well, I have some dryer lint! Only money I have is Nicholas the Nickel, and he’s cleaning the cage with—oh.” His ears and tail fell limp under Brain’s glare.

Brain kicked a loose pebble, and it ricocheted harshly off the base of a metal sign. Of all the native species he could’ve chosen for a guide, it just had to be the one individual whose head was denser than a neutron star.

“Sorry, Brain,” Pinky murmured. “I’m not very good at this goal-setting thing, am I?”

He said ‘sorry’ a lot for placation’s sake. But no matter the context, he always sounded sincere. Brain pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Somehow, he couldn’t find it in himself to be irate with Pinky anymore.

“You require more practice,” Brain replied. He glanced at the strange, valuable green papers in the wallet. Funny how they came across the commodity needed at this moment. “However, it’s most fortunate that we should stumble on the item required in trade for your hat.”

The money was all in 20s and 50s, and while Brain was unfamiliar with this currency, he figured there would be enough to spare. He took the money out of the pocket and tucked it under his arm. Then he flipped his sunglasses down, but Pinky tugged the money out of his grip before he could walk off.

“No, Brain! That’s stealing!” Pinky protested, slipping the money back into the wallet. “This rightfully belongs to a Mr. Joe Lamont! We have to take this wallet to Lost and Found now!”

Pinky’s stubborn side came out randomly, it seemed.

“The money is here at your convenience, Pinky. You have to use every asset possible to achieve your goal,” Brain said.

“What if Mr. Lamont needs this?” Pinky tapped a card that displayed a human’s photo along with other identifying information. Then he pointed to a small picture of a man and woman. “What if he needs this for anniversary or birthday presents, or else his wife won’t be happy and he’ll be sad cause he left his wallet somewhere and what if someone picks it up and won’t give it back? Cause that’s just mean!”

“Then he should’ve been more careful with such a valuable item,” Brain snapped. Pinky made a noise of disbelief and turned his back to Brain. “So take one or two of the papers for yourself and give the rest back.”

While he’d prefer to keep the entire wallet for future use, it seemed he would just have to compromise with Pinky.

“He won’t notice.”

“NARF!” Pinky retorted.

His assumption was wrong. Pinky wouldn’t accept a compromise either. It was a losing battle, and as much as hated conceding defeat, no other options presented themselves.

“Fine! Do what makes you happy! See if I care!” Brain shouted at Pinky’s back.

He was only presenting the most logical solution. It wasn’t his fault this idiot wasn’t taking the opportunity! And none of this was helping him find Snowball or conquer Terra either!

“Returning the wallet would make me happy, Brain,” Pinky said with conviction.

“Why?” Brain asked. This wasn’t the type of goal-setting he’d pictured at all.

“It feels right.”

Tasks should be performed with efficiency in mind, not for emotion’s sake. But it seemed that keeping Pinky in his normal euphoric state would be in Brain’s best interest for now.

“Alright, let’s return that wallet. Neither you nor I shall use any of the money for personal reasons. We’re heading to the…Lost and Found?” Brain said reluctantly. He took a deep breath, reminding himself to keep Pinky in a good mood. “You lead the way. I’m not familiar with this locale.”

Pinky faced Brain, and the bright smile was back. Brain looked away. He wasn’t doing this out of altruism, and Pinky needed to learn that.

“Yup, it’s like the Island of Misfit Toys, but for car keys, jackets, and other things too!” Pinky exclaimed, hoisting the wallet above his head. “And now it’s for Mr. Lamont’s wallet!”

The satellite images never pinpointed a geographical location named the Island of Misfit Toys. Probably situated next to a more prominent landmass then.

“Welcome to Macy’s, Brain!” Pinky cheered as they entered a pristine white building. “For all your expensive brand clothing and Thanksgiving Day needs!”

The store was brightly lit, so Brain kept his sunglasses down. Numerous bottles of varying colors were on display. Women shouted from behind their counters, urging passersby to purchase their products. Most people walked by quickly, looking rather uncomfortable and twitchy until they were far from the display area. Only two women seemed interested at all, spraying misty clouds on tiny strips of paper and sniffing them curiously.

“What are they doing?” Brain whispered as he shuffled closer to Pinky for protection’s sake. There was a predatory gleam in those workers’ eyes, and he didn’t like it one bit.

Even Pinky with his near-perpetual cheer seemed uncomfortable, his fingers anxiously drumming against the wallet. “Poit. Selling perfume. All sorts of lovely scents, but this is definitely why online shopping is more popular these days.”

Before Brain could respond, one of the workers suddenly rushed towards them with a manic smile that showed way too many teeth.

“Hi, you wanna buy some perfume buy one and ya get another half price ‘til May!” she shrieked. Without giving them a chance to respond, she sprayed perfume directly in their faces.

Pink mist engulfed them and obstructed their vision. A pungent scent clogged Brain’s nose, trickling its way down his throat, and he let out a hacking cough to expel it. Pinky’s wheeze suddenly turned into a yelp, and by the time the mist cleared, the woman was walking away with the wallet in hand.

Pinky clung to the wallet desperately, his legs kicking out as he was hoisted into the air. “Please, miss! Brain and I—ehem—Brain and I need to give this wallet to Lost and Found so Mr. Lamont can buy his wife nice presents!”

“Oh, it’s a sizeable wallet you’ve got there too!” the woman exclaimed. Brain found her pitch highly grating. “Let’s see, with money like that you can get lilac, honeysuckle, eau de escargot, a perfume that smells like wet goat hair sponsored by Gwenyth Paltrow-“

“I’m sure they smell lovely, but-“

“Very lovely indeed!” the woman spoke over Pinky, who could only dangle helplessly.

Brain gritted his teeth and hurried after them, shaking off his earlier disorientation. When she stopped to jabber about perfume again, he slammed his tail onto her bare ankle and administered a quick shock. Startled, she dropped Pinky the wallet. Brain darted between her sandals just in time to catch Pinky, who clutched the wallet to his chest, slightly dizzy from his sudden fall.

The perfume bottle was aimed in their direction again.

Brain took off with Pinky in his arms, running as fast as he could when those dreaded sandals got too close for comfort. He allowed Pinky to safekeep the wallet, since he was already so protective of it.

“Relentless scrik!” Brain panted as the woman hurled various sales pitches behind them. Pinky wasn’t heavy, but the wallet was a different story. And Pinky made it look so simple!

Well, Pinky was simple in general. Perhaps it was a distributive effect.

“Brain, go into the carpeted area!” Pinky shouted. “She can’t follow us out of her department!”

Deciding to trust Pinky’s word, Brain ran straight onto the carpet, barely dodging someone’s shoe in time, and his foot caught on the raised border between the carpet and tile. He fell onto his face, one of the sunglasses’ handles digging into his fur on impact. Pinky and the wallet tumbled across the floor, coming to a stop a short distance away.

As Pinky predicted, the woman stopped chasing them.

“Annnnd there goes my bonus,” she muttered dejectedly. She slammed the perfume bottle onto a nearby counter, startling a sleepy coworker who toppled off her chair in surprise and plastered on a fake smile for a passing customer. He glanced at her briefly and walked away with a grimace.

“Sooo…welcome to Macy’s?” Pinky laughed nervously. “On the bright side, we smell like radish roses now!”

Brain threw a button at him.

o-o-o-o-o

They kept to the corners after that fiasco, hoping to avoid drawing attention to a moving wallet. Pinky marveled at the various styles advertised by a human-like object he called a ‘Manny Kin’. He prattled on about the models and clothing, and Brain tuned him out to better observe the humans.

The younger ones appeared restless and bored out of their minds. The adults often stopped to admire an article of clothing, checked the price, and shook their heads before moving onto the next item. Everyone was dressed in a far more casual style than the clothing on sale.

“Oh, here’s the mall center! It’s where all the real fun happens, Brain!” Pinky said, his tail wagging in excitement. “Plus, the Lost and Found is just beyond this store. We’ll make Mr. Lamont happy in no time!”

Instead of a back wall, there was a large, doorless opening that led out of the store. Pinky danced his way across the boundary with a cheerful goodbye to the Macy’s sign. As Brain stepped into the wide open space, he was astounded by the sheer scale of the mall center.

He’d expected a plain corridor that connected different sections, not a massive space with a roof that appeared to touch the sky. The population density was much higher than in Macy’s, humans loudly chatting among themselves, shouting at consumers to purchase wares, and swinging large bags from their arms.

There were two floors above their heads, connected to the ground by staircases and escalators. The escalators seemed by far the popular choice for people moving between floors. Brain felt dizzy just looking at that open space above them, and he decided to focus only straight ahead for now.

Dozens of smaller stores lined the walls. Most of them sold clothes like Macy’s, and Brain couldn’t fathom why humans needed so many stores just to sell clothes. A fresh, rich scent wafted through the air, and though it was much more pleasant than the perfume, it made him somewhat famished as well.

“Look, Brain! The cookie shop! Don’t they smell divine?” Pinky asked with a dreamy sigh. “They taste delicious too!”

“Another one of your foods?” Brain asked, though it fell on deaf ears. Pinky had gone over to the display case, practically drooling on it as he admired the cookies inside, the wallet leaning against his side.

Brain stood on the other side of the wallet, just in case anyone had any ideas about stealing it.

At first, Brain thought the cookies were classified by ingredient, but one of the groups was labelled ‘snickerdoodle’ and Brain was of the opinion that no sane planet in the universe would ever call anything by that strange moniker.

“Let’s be on our way, Pinky,” Brain said, because there wasn’t anything productive he could do while his Terran guide was staring longingly at cookies. “That wallet won’t return itself.”

“Okay, Brain…” Pinky said forlornly. His hands squeaked sadly against the glass, but before he could pick up the wallet, a woman came out from behind the counter, her dark hair tied back in a bun. She approached them with a napkin in one hand.

Brain grabbed Pinky’s hand and the wallet, tensing up in case he had to yank them away at a moment’s notice.

But the woman made no move to snatch the wallet. She only squatted next to them and held out the napkin, revealing two small pieces of cookies. “Free sample?” she asked. “They’re fresh out of the oven.”

“Thanks so much...Laura!” Pinky read the name tag pinned to her shirt, then snatched up one of the pieces and shoved it into his mouth. Crumbs stained his muzzle. “Narrrrf! That was dee-lish!”

Cautiously, Brain took the second piece and bit into it. Sweetness flooded his taste buds, and he quickly finished his portion, the cookie melting in his mouth. If anything, Pinky had understated how delicious it tasted.

“It’s exquisite,” he said to Laura, who beamed right back.

“Glad you enjoyed it!” Laura said. She provided them with wet napkins so they could rid themselves of the remaining crumbs, and they left the cookie shop behind.

“She was so nice, Brain!” Pinky said, safeguarding the wallet once again. “Sugar cookies are my favorites! Well, after chocolate chip and macadamia and snickerdoodle-“

Brain nodded. “She didn’t steal anything while our guard was down. Count that in your definition of ‘nice’.”

Thankfully, they didn’t have to walk far to get to the Lost and Found. Brain hoped to put this wallet nonsense behind them in the next half hour. They had objectives to fulfill.

The Lost and Found was in a hallway that led to an exit from the mall, and Brain made a mental note of its location. He refused to set foot in that Macy’s ever again.

A podium was situated in front of the doors, and the worker behind it nervously held out a box to an irate man in a formal suit similar to the merchandise at Macy’s. He snatched the box and threw several articles of clothing and various lost items to the ground.

Pinky lifted the wallet above his head, his feet tapping in excitement. “That’s the man! He looks exactly like his pictures!”

Mr. Lamont was practically tearing the box apart without any regard for the other lost belongings, and the worker’s eyes were wide with fear. That didn’t bode well. Brain grabbed Pinky’s tail, but it slipped out of his grasp. The idiot had no sense of impending danger and walked right up to the belligerent man.

“You’re hiding it, aren’t you?” Mr. Lamont snarled, slamming his hand against the podium. The worker cowered behind his chair. “Hand over my wallet this instant, or you’ll be out of a job.”

The worker paled.

Brain rushed over to try and pull Pinky back. Mr. Lamont hadn’t noticed them yet. There was still a chance they could slip the wallet among the other items and leave without detection.

“Hi, Mr. Lamont! You dropped your wallet in the parking garage!” Pinky greeted. “Me and my friend here were just taking it to Lost and Found, and what a coinkydink we’d find you here too! Isn’t that great?”

Pinky held the wallet up expectantly, that silly smile never leaving his face.

Mr. Lamont snatched the wallet out of Pinky’s hands, wrinkling his nose haughtily.

“You’re welcome!” Pinky chirped, then happily turned to Brain. “We did it!”

Pinky had done most of the work, but if he wanted to share credit, Brain chose not to correct him. “Yes. Now we may return to what we originally-“

Mr. Lamont’s foot slammed into Pinky’s side, too fast for Brain to shout a warning. Pinky yelped as he was thrown into a wall. There he laid in a crumpled heap, hands wrapped around his abdomen for protection.

“How much did you take, thief?” Mr. Lamont spat. He cast a looming shadow over Pinky, who whimpered in pain, tears forming in pitiful blue eyes.

It was such a foreign appearance for the idiotic but kindhearted mouse.

A strange fury overtook Brain, one that was much different from dealing with troublesome ships, arguing with Snowball, or frustration with his current predicament. It brewed in the depth of his stomach and spread through the rest of his body.

Brain whipped off his sunglasses, placing himself firmly between Pinky and the ungrateful reprobate.

“He stole nothing from you,” Brain growled. “Count the money yourself, you repugnant excuse of an organism, unless your mind has degraded far beyond the ability to perform simple arithmetic.”

“And just who do you think you are?” Mr. Lamont sneered.

Brain crossed his arms proudly. He refused to cower before the Terran. “A genetically enhanced Selenian mos seeking dominion over your world.”

And when all was said and done, Mr. Lamont would be bowing down to him.

But that glorious fantasy was cut short. Brain saw the black sole of a shoe, there was a forceful pressure against his body. His limbs refused to cooperate. He couldn’t reach his tail for self-defense, his heart pumping faster and faster until it couldn’t compensate for the lack of electrons anymore-

The crushing pressure vanished.

Faraway voices blended together, one angry, one meek, and one familiar.

Someone lifted his head, a gentle hand moving his antennae aside, then slowly pushed his head down until he rested against soft fabric. Brain’s fingers twitched. His full mobility would take several minutes to return, but this wasn’t a terrible position to wait it out.

A drop of moisture fell on his face, followed by several more.

Rain?

He’d heard of that particular climate pattern, but had never seen it in action before.

Brain opened his eyes, craning his neck to see this curious phenomenon. But he was met with Pinky’s tearful gaze instead.

He’d learned much of Terran culture during this expedition, but was it really worth all these ridiculous emotions?

“Stop dampening my fur with your lacrimal ducts, Pinky,” Brain said, his voice hoarse.

Pinky managed a giggle, inanity that was far more preferable to all this crying. “Sorry, Brain. I don’t have any milk. But are you okay? P-p-poit.”

“I’ll need several minutes to recuperate. Then I’ll be ready.” Brain felt his cheeks heat up from the proximity. Mobility returned to his right leg, and he couldn’t wait for this mortifying close contact to be over. “Where’s Mr. Lamont?”

Pinky scowled at the name, an expression that looked odd on him, but not wholly unwelcome. “Mr. Lameany called you vermin and left with his wallet. But you’re not vermin, Brain! You’re my best friend!”

A childish insult. He’d have to teach Pinky about using more sophisticated language.

“And you…are Pinky,” he sighed, patting Pinky’s arm.

Pinky smiled brightly. At least Brain could strive towards one of his objectives. They weren’t quite through with business at the mall though. He’d have to tough it out.

But for now, he settled back against Pinky, who happily taught him the age-old Terran method of settling arguments known as rock-paper-scissors.

AN: FINISHED AT LAST.

I am not making stuff up as I write I totally had a plan for this fic y’all can’t prove nothing.

Brain gets to learn good and bad stuff about Terra, poor Pinky gets hurt. These mice can’t even go the mall without something happening, can they?

#pinky and the brain #patb fanfiction #patb nova

16 notes · View notes

fucking-zawa-sensei · 7 years

Note

Since Aizawa is an underground hero he almost never runs into Mic anymore. That is until he’s follow a lead in a shady bar and in walks the dj. Bright yellow hair that Aizawa would notice anywhere. Mic does secret dj stuff on the side and they end up doing a case together since Mic knows most the bar patrons. Or something like that I guess??

Title: Drop theBeat

Word Count: 10,000+

Pairing:Erasermic – Shouta Aizawa|Eraserhead/Hizashi Yamada|Present Mic

Rating: T

Notes: I tooksome liberties with this, since I wasn’t sure on the details. I’m sorry if itgot too far away from what you’d anticipated, but I hope you like it! I’mmaking this take place pre-canon. So, they’ve graduated U.A. and have been outand doing hero business for several years now, each with their own gig/Mic withhis side gig. I figure they’re around 23 years old here? This totally went fromwhat was going to be a 3,000 word fic to a nearly 11k story but I justcould not stop myself. I had a lot of fun with this prompt.

Please feel free to send more requests and I’ll get to themwhen I can! I can’t promise they’ll all be this long, though!

Read it on AO3 here

Drop the Beat

Aizawa could feelmore than hear the music emanatingfrom behind the sticker plastered door of the club. The whole building seemedto vibrate with the loud bass.

Why did this have tobe their favorite place to hang out? He thinks, grumpily.

The door swings towards him and he catches it right beforeit smacks into his face. A girl in a leather jacket full of patches, some plaidpants, and blue hair gives him a once over, raising her eyebrow, before shovingpast him and out of the building. Immediately upon stepping inside, Aizawafeels a sharp temperature rise. The air feels dense and humid inside thebuilding, and there seemed to be an actual light fog. He wasn’t sure if it wasfrom the cluster of people smoking to his right or a lingering effect from anearlier performance.

He scans the bar, keeping to the wall and out of peoples’way. He’s dressed down, in dark wash jeans and a v-neck black shirt. He’s stillgot his capture weapon and goggles hidden beneath it, but it can pass as ascarf. Being an underground hero, he didn’t have to worry about many peoplerecognizing him in his hero costume, but he didn’t want to risk it tailing thisvillain. His penchant for black in his wardrobe is paying off now, surroundedby similarly dressed people.

There’s a large rap around bar towards the back of the room,bartenders tending to the crowd surrounding it. He doesn’t see who he’s lookingfor right away, but it’s hard to tell with all the people. He looks over thefew high top tables around the edges of the room, then to the large open spacethat must be the dance floor, also filled with people. They’re all starting tolook like a patchwork blur.

Why is it so crowded?I thought this was supposed to be a rundown bar. Is some cult-hit playingtonight?

Aizawa leans forward to get a glimpse of the bulletin boardtacked full of band posters, the lineup for the week, but there’s no bandsslotted for tonight. He looks up at the stage and sees a DJ station set up, butno one’s at it. There’s just a computer, playing whatever song is blasting throughthe speakers.

I’m not going to findthem standing over here, he thinks, pushing off the wall and headingtowards the bar. He’d have to sort through the crowd without bringing too muchattention to himself. He sidles up to the counter, looking like he’s waitingfor a drink, but not actually putting much effort into dragging the bartenders’attention away from the more rowdy patrons on the other side.

He’s looking at the faces of the people across from him whenhe notices the bodies immediately surrounding him begin to turn around in hisperiphery. He leans away from the bar and does the same, wanting to see whatthe commotion was about. He follows the man next to him’s gaze up to the stageand sees someone walking across it. He’s glad he didn’t get a drink because hewould have spit it all out at what he was seeing.

A bright, vibrant point of color in all the smoke andshadow, cascading down a pair of leather clad shoulders and a back he’d seen somany times before.

Is that fucking Hizashi?

Should he even call him by his given name anymore? They hadbarely exchanged more than a few passing conversations since graduation.

Here he was, though, right in front of him, taking his placebehind the DJ station, slipping a pair of headphones over his ears. He had hissignature orange sunglasses, but he’d grown his hair out, a lot. It was incredibly long, worn down, and Aizawa couldn’t helpbut think it looked really pretty like that. He was so used to seeing Yamadawith shorter hair, gelled up. He thinks he remembers seeing Yamada dressed inhis hero costume on the media in passing, but he hadn’t paid it much mind, forsome reason thinking the man would look basically the same way he had in highschool. It was ridiculous, Aizawa certainly didn’t look like his old baby-facedself…well…except when he shaved. Aizawa absently tucked his own hair behind hisear. Okay, maybe he hadn’t changed his own look very much…or…really, at all.

Unless he counted also growing out his hair, but notanything nearly as impressive as what Yamada had accomplished. The blond was alot taller, too, though that might have a lot to do with his elevated stateabove the crowd. He wore tight black pants and boots with many clasps, a greyheather t-shirt, some fingerless gloves, and an open leather jacket with somepatches and pins scattered all over it. There was a huge piece of cloth sewn tothe back, but Aizawa couldn’t really tell what was on it when Yamada walkedout.

He’d grown a mustache, too.

Aizawa scratches at his scruff, feeling a lot distracted andvery much like he should bail on this whole mission.

No, I’m a hero, Ican’t do that.

“Heyyyyy everybodyyyyy,” Yamada shouts from the stage.Aizawa’s eyes widen. How long had it been since he’d heard that voice? Hisheart picks up a bit in response. He is tempted to push through the crowd ofpeople, get closer to the stage.

“You ready to partyyyyyy?” Yamada asks, moving some knobsaround on the board in front of him. The music starts winding up behind hisvoice, like the way movie trailers do right before the money shot. People in thebar clap and holler.

Is he a regular DJhere?

Aizawa looks around, trying again to pick out the face ofthe villain he was looking for, but almost everyone was facing away from himnow.

“Then let’s do this!” Yamada shouts, dropping the beat.People start moving with the music on the dance floor. It’s some sort of remix,a mix of electronic, pop, and rock. Aizawa is nearly 100% sure it’s a Yamadaoriginal. He remembered spending many nights listening to Yamada’s demos at hishouse when they were in school.

Focus, Shouta, Aizawaberates himself. Someone taps his shoulder from behind and he spins aroundprobably way too fast for someone trying to pretend they aren’t on edge.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asks.

“Gin and tonic,” Aizawa says. The bartender nods and grabs aglass, quickly filling it with his order and sliding it on a napkin over tohim.

“Want to open a tab?”

“No,” Aizawa says, handing over some cash, not really payingthe bartender much attention. He shouldn’t be drinking at all, not while onduty. He’d keep it to one drink. Plus, he didn’t really want to leave anytraces of himself in the bar.

He takes his drink and begins picking his way through thecrowd of people. He intentionally, “unintentionally” bumps into a few groups,getting them to turn around so he can see their faces. He apologizes while helooks for the red nose stud on their left nostril and the small pink scarrunning parallel to their right eyebrow. None have the distinguishing markings.

The beat changes, shifting to something with heavy guitar.He looks up to the stage, unable to resist watching Yamada as the blond swaysand moves to the song. He’s tall, lean, and his body moves like it’s made ofwater, swirling around the stage in sync with the music.

Aizawa thinks this whole investigation is going nowherefast, but maybe Yamada could help out. A lot of the people in the crowd seemedto recognize him when he’d walked out. Maybe Aizawa could ask him to help pointout the villain.

Then again, he really wanted to avoid the whole what have you been up to since graduationtalk.

As Yamada looks up from the switches on his station and upinto the crowd, Aizawa realizes avoiding that particular conversation was goingto be impossible. Yamada locks eyes with him. There was no way Aizawa stood outwith his black hair and dark outfit, not the way Yamada’s shock of brightyellow and exuberant personality did.

Still, Yamada finds him.

There is no chance he is focused on anyone else. Yamada’smouth is slowly opening and his hand is rising up to push down his sunglasses.His green eyes widen. He leans forward across his station, as if he’d forgottenit was there. Aizawa shakes his head quickly, not wanting Yamada to sayanything dumb.

Like his name.

Or his hero name.

Did Yamada even know his hero name?

Did Yamada even know he’d managed to become a hero aftergraduation?

Sure, every kid goes to U.A. to become a pro, but not all ofthem actually manage to do it once the training wheels are stripped away and theiraccess to internships, costumes, and agencies galore are gone. If you haven’tmade a name for yourself in your years at U.A., you’re not going to make it outin the world of pros.

Aizawa hadn’t particularly stood out.

Not compared to Yamada.

But that was okay, because he wasn’t aiming to join a flashyagency. He didn’t want his name to be known. The less aware people were of hisexistence, the more likely his missions were to be a success.

So he jerks his hand up quickly underneath his chin andmakes a cutting motion across his neck. He mouths the word “don’t.”

Yamada’s mouth snaps closed and a huge grin sprouts acrosshis face. He slides his sunglasses back up and goes back to messing with the DJstation, shifting the song seamlessly into something new again. Yamada looksback up in his direction and Aizawa holds the hand that’s holding his drink upso the back of his wrist is facing the stage. He taps on it, where a wristwatchwould be if he were wearing one.

Later.

Yamada nods. It’s slight, not noticeable if you’re notlooking for it, but he nods nonetheless.

Aizawa takes a sip of his drink and slips out the back ofthe crowd, deciding to lean up against the wall and observe the crowd fromafar. He was making no real progress. He might as well wait until Yamada couldpossibly help.

He watches the blond on the stage, shouting things into thecrowd of people, riling them up. He hops around, dances, changes the song,messes with the light effects, and repeats. Everyone eats it up.

Aizawa finishes his drink and sets the empty glass on a nookin the wall where other people have piled their empty glasses.

He sighs, closing his eyes. He rubs absently at his rightone, temporarily satiating the constant itch he feels there.

Aizawa isn’t sure how much time passes between when Yamadanext takes a break from the station. He’s pretty sure it’s at least half anhour. Yamada starts a playlist and waves, announcing he’ll be back up later,and practically bounces off the stage and down the stairs.

A number of the crowds’ eyes follow Yamada’s path towardshim and Aizawa immediately panics.

No, no, no, no.

He should have known interacting with Yamada would instantlyblow any sort of cover he had.

You’re an idiot,Shouta.

Aizawa quickly moves to the bar, hoping this won’t draw asmuch attention to them. It was normal for the DJ to get a drink between sets,right? It was normal to strike up a conversation with a patron at the bar.

Right?

Aizawa wasn’t sure. Besides for work, he didn’t typically goto these kinds of places. He glances over his shoulder as he slides onto a barstool, seeing that Yamada has gotten his hint to stop making it so obvious theyknow each other and is making small talk with the other patrons on his way tothe bar.

The blond waves at some man with deep purple, almost blackhair and finally slides up next to Aizawa, sitting down on the stool next tohim. Aizawa watches Yamada’s boot find the foot bar underneath the counter topand immediately start bouncing.

Is he nervous? Aizawathinks.

“Shouta! It’s been so long!” Yamada says, leaning closer,making their conversation more private.

So we are still usinggiven names, then.

The bartender comes over and places a glass of some darkbeer in front of Yamada. The blond smiles and nods, says a quick thanks, andturns fully back to Aizawa.

“You want anything? I’ll pay,” Yamada offers.

“No, I’m working,” Aizawa says, keeping his voice low.Yamada’s eyebrows rise up a bit.

“Working…as in…?” Yamada asks.

Aizawa tugs his capture weapon down enough so Yamada can seethe bright yellow goggles underneath. He’d had several pairs made sincegraduating U.A., but the design was still the same from when he was a student.Why change what worked?

Yamada’s mouth pops open, then shuts and grows into a smile.

“Way to go, man!” he says, slapping his hand on Aizawa’sshoulder.

Aizawa’s whole underground hero identity was built on beinga secret. No one was supposed to know he was a hero. It was good that Yamadadidn’t know.

So why did it feel so distinctly bad?

Aizawa shrugged his shoulders, not necessarily to getYamada’s hand off, but it had the added benefit of doing that too.

“Yeah, so, I need your help finding someone. You come here alot, right?” Aizawa asked, nodding towards the crowd behind them. Yamada lookedat all the bodies with a frown.

“Yeah…I do a lot of DJ and MC work on the side. You thinkthere’s a villain here?”

“I know there’s avillain in here. I’ve been tailing them all night, but they’re a shapeshifter.”

“Couldn’t you just find them by the clothes they’rewearing?”

“No, they’re good at changing quickly. Their outfits alwayshave multiple layers and can come apart easily.”

“Yikes,” Yamada shudders. “So…how can I help?”

“They have a red stud in their nose,” Aizawa whispers,leaning in toward Yamada. “They don’t take it out. It’s small, but alwaysthere. There’s also a scar above their right eye. I don’t know why that skindoesn’t change…maybe because it’s damaged. It’s not very noticeable unlessyou’re up close.”

“The stud…it’s on the left side?”

Aizawa nods.

How did he know that?

Yamada turns away from Aizawa to grab his drink, swirlingthe liquid around in the glass, but not taking a sip. He sets it down andstares at the bar top for a few seconds.

“I think I know who you’re looking for.”

“Really?” Aizawa asks, surprised Yamada knew straight away.Yamada nods, and then lifts his head up with his chin pointed out, andscratches his neck. At first Aizawa thinks he’s spending an awfully long timeitching his neck, before realizing the blond is trying to subtly point with hischin. He follows the signal, looking across the bar and landing on one of thebartenders’ backs. He turns around from taking someone’s order and Aizawa zerosin on his nose. Sure enough, there’s a small red stud there. As the bartenderturns more fully toward them, one of the dim overhead lights shines on thebartender’s forehead. A thin pink scar glistens above his right eyebrow.

Oh shit, Aizawathinks, breath quickening, looking down at his hands on the bar top. It’s them.It’s definitely them. It’s also the bartender who gave him his drink earlier.

He does a quick inventory of himself, trying to sense ifanything is off, if he’s been poisoned, but his heart has honestly been racingsince he saw Yamada, so it’s hard to tell. He slides his arms off the bar topand into his lap, in what he hopes comes across as a casual shift of posture.He presses his pointer and middle finger to the wrist of his left arm, takinghis pulse.

Elevated, but notalarming.

Yamada grabs his arm below the table, yanking him gently offthe bar stool.

“Hey, come on, let me show you where the cool kids hang outand we can catch up!” he says, loud enough for a few people nearby to notice.

“Where the cool kids hang out?” Aizawa asks.

Yamada nods, pulling him back towards the stage.

No way in hell I’mgoing up there, Aizawa thinks, panicking a bit, but Yamada doesn’t go upthe stairs, passing them and stopping in front of a very well built womanstanding guard by a door painted black with the words “Emlpoyees Only” spraypainted on it. Like all the other surfaces in the bar, it was covered instickers and logos from various bands and artists. Yamada waves at the womanand throws his arm around Aizawa’s shoulders.

“This is my friend from high school! Can you believe it?”Yamada says, happily, to the woman. Aizawa feels his grip tighten on hisshoulder. “I wanted to bring him in so we could chat before I go back out. Thatcool?”

The woman looks Aizawa over and nods, stepping away from thedoor.

“Have fun,” she says.

Yamada shoots her a wide grin and says, “When don’t I?”

Aizawa is pulled inside theroom and the door shuts behind him. They go down a short hallway with a fewmore doors, one marked employee bathroom only, and one he’s pretty sure is afilthy broom closet if the gross looking mop and bucket propped outside it areany indication. Yamada opens another door with his name on a piece of papertaped to it and locks it behind them.

“Are you okay?” he asks assoon as the door is secured.

Aizawa shrugs. “I think so.”

“You think you werepoisoned? He made your drink earlier, right?” Yamada’s voice is getting fasteras he walks across the room and grabs a water bottle from a small pack on atable. He tosses it at Aizawa, who catches it easily.

“Yeah…but I feel okay.”

“How’s your pulse? Youchecked it at the bar, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, uh…a little high,but…”

“But?”

“There’s just a lothappening. I think it’s normal.”

Yamada bites his lip andtakes off his sunglasses.

“Shit, I never thought Gigawould be a villain,” Yamada says, running his hand through his hair.

“Giga? Seriously?” Aizawa asks. “How could he not be?”

Yamada flops back onto aplaid couch that’s pushed up against the wall. The room isn’t very large.There’s a long mirror propped up in the corner, and some speakers on the floorwith an attachment for an mp3 player, but besides the table and couch, it’spretty empty.

“You sure you’re okay?”Yamada asks.

“For now,” Aizawa says,walking over to the couch to sit down.

“You think he even knows youfollowed him? I mean, your whole thing is stealth right?”

My whole thing?

“That’s a pretty rudimentaryway to put it, but sure. Yeah. I’m big into being sneaky,” Aizawa says, smilinga bit when his sassy remark gets a laugh from Yamada.

“You haven’t changed onebit, Shouta!”

Actually, he’d changed alot…but…whatever. He wasn’t about to start going over all the years Yamada hadmissed.

“You too,” Aizawa says,reaching out to lightly brush his fingers over a chunk of Yamada’s long hair.It trickles out between his fingertips and back against the leather jacket.

“Oh, yeah. You like it?”Yamada asks. If Aizawa didn’t know better, he’d think the blond actually lookeda little self-conscious, but Yamada exuded so much confidence on a regularbasis, Aizawa was pretty sure it was some kind of secondary quirk.

“It’s not bad,” Aizawa says.Yamada smiles in return, shifting to turn towards Aizawa.

“So what did Giga do?”Yamada asks.

“Mmm…he’s selling somemodified chemical weapons to some villain gangs in the downtown area.”

“Chemical weapons?” Yamadaasks, incredulous. “That sounds intense.”

“It’s nothing too serious,not yet, but it’s getting more advanced. It started with small things likesmoke bombs and knock out gas, but the last thing he made was a small blow dartthat paralyzes its target for several minutes. The injection is almostuntraceable,” Aizawa explains. Yamada nods along.

“We lead pretty differentlives, huh, Shouta?”

“What?”

“You, taking out guys likeGiga, me…” Yamada gestures widely with his hands. “Showing off?”

“You’re not a show off,”Aizawa defends, thinking of a number of heroes who most certainly were. Yeah,sure, he’d heard people talking about Present Mic on the streets. He’d evenseen a few pieces of merchandise cropping up in the past month. Yamada wasmaking waves in the pro scene.

Aizawa couldn’t picture anyreal “show offs” doing DJ gigs in dumpy bars for crowds of misfits like Yamadawas, though.

Yamada was grounded. He hadroots. His hero career wasn’t the only thing important to him. He hadn’t let itgo to his head.

The blond shrugs.

“What’s our plan?”

“Our plan?” Aizawa asks.

“Yeah, you asked for myhelp. I’m involved. Let’s do this,” Yamada leans forward, elbows on his knees.

“You have a show to finish.”

“After I’m done, then?”Yamada asks. “The bar closes at 2.”

Aizawa looks at the clockhanging on the wall. It was 1:37 AM.

“Sure.”

“Great, I’ll go out thereand give these people something nice to walk out to.”

Aizawa smiles at that.

“Sounds good.”

“It better, it’s my job.”Yamada jokes, getting up off the couch. “If Giga is a shape shifter, we need tomake sure we don’t make our move until there are minimal amounts of people inthe bar…”

Aizawa nods. “How will Istick around without seeming off?”

“Hmm…maybe you shouldn’t? Gooutside and bum around like the other stragglers. I’ll initiate. Giga willexpect it less coming from me.”

That sounded like a goodplan, but…

“Are you alright with allthis? It sounds like you know this guy pretty well,” Aizawa asks. Yamada frownsa bit, pulling at his jacket sleeve.

“Not too well. He wasworking here before I started DJing. He seemed like an alright guy. He gave mefree drinks like all the other bar tenders, but he mostly kept to himself. Ididn’t really get to know him like some of the other staff here. I’ll be fine.”

Aizawa nods. Good. It’s goodnot to have attachments. He stands up and walks closer to Yamada.

“I’ll head out after the barcloses with the rest of the crowd. I’ll stick around, act like I’m waiting formy ride,” Aizawa says.

“I’ll approach Giga, ask himhow he thinks it went, get him talking about peoples’ reaction to the music andif anyone talked to him about it at the bar. There’s a window you should beable to see the bar from on the side of the building. I’ll give you a signalwhen everyone has left the bar,” Yamada explains his part of the plan.

“What’s the signal?”

Yamada uses the back of hishand to flip his hair over his shoulder.

“That work?” the blond asks.

“Sure.”

“Great, I’ll give the signaland you come back in the door, act like you lost your phone or something.”

Aizawa nods, “I’ll look forit behind the bar, whichever side he’s not facing. I can erase his quirk frombehind his back. You incapacitate him.”

“If I scream, I’ll damageyour ears,” Yamada says, frowning.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.” Yamada walksover to beside the couch, bending over to search through a backpack. Hestraightens up with a pair of headphones in his hand, offering them to Aizawa.“Put these on, they’re part of my hero costume. They block out sound reallywell. They should protect you.”

“And you?” Aizawa asks,taking the head phones. Yamada pulls some small inner ear plugs out of his jeanpocket.

“I wear these when I’mDJing. They don’t cancel out everything, but they’ll dampen it. I won’t be inthe direct path. You will be. I’ll be okay.”

“Okay. I’ll use my captureweapon to tie him up. We have to be careful about any weapons he might becarrying. We have to be fast. Don’t let yourself get hit by anything. If heuses anything that creates smoke, hold your breath.”

“Got it!” Yamada says,smiling. “This is exciting! Working together again reminds me of when we wereteenagers.”

“Yeah…” Aizawa says, tryingnot to think about how much he’d missed that. He moves past Yamada to get tothe door. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!” Yamada calls,stopping Aizawa before he opens the door. Aizawa turns around. “What’s yourcode name?”

Aizawa feels a littleembarrassed. Most people keep their code names from high school. Yamada had,Kayama had, but some didn’t.

He had.

It was understandable,normal, to keep your name from high school. Aizawa hadn’t kept his code namebecause people knew him by it, though. Clearly, he hadn’t even made a name forhimself in the pro hero scene, so it would hardly matter if he’d changed it. Hehadn’t, though, because Yamada had given him his name.

And every time someone usedit, he thought of his old best friend, standing up in class, shouting out hisname, and pointing at him.

Now here he was, right infront of him, and Aizawa kind of wanted to have a different name. He didn’twant an awkward reunion to be the new memory he associated his hero name with.

“Eraserhead.” he said asemotionless as he could manage, watching Yamada’s face carefully. Just likebefore, back when he’d first spotted Aizawa on the stage, Yamada’s face shiftedslowly. First, shock, then…then…

Then his mouth was explodinginto a grin, his cheeks pushing his eyes into little happy crescents. Yamadalet out a laugh and with two quick strides, he was standing in front of Aizawa,throwing his arms around the erasure hero’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug.

“I can’t believe you keptusing it!” Yamada says. “That’s awesome!”

Aizawa’s heart is racingwhere it’s pressed against Yamada’s chest.

This was also a kind ofpoison.

Yamada pulls back, stillsmiling, and lets go of Aizawa.

“Thank you,” Yamada says.“I’m glad.”

Aizawa’s tempted to say hedidn’t do it for Yamada, but that’s a lie.

He did.

They were both to blame forgrowing apart, losing touch, and Aizawa admits there are times he feels likehis memories with Yamada are somewhere far away, lost in another time. Now,though, they’re all flooding aback anew. Now, he feels kind of terrible.

Now, he misses that time.

He misses Yamada.

The man is standing right infront of him and Aizawa misses him.

“Okay, let’s do this!”Yamada declares, opening the door. The blond walks confidently through thedoorway and down the hall, Aizawa trailing behind him. As the door to the restof the bar opens up, it creates a wind that blows Yamada’s long hair briefly upoff his back.

Aizawa finally sees thelarge piece of cloth pinned to his jacket. He can’t stop the gasp that leaksout between his lips.

When they were sixteen,they’d often hang out at Yamada’s house to work on assignments together,eventually moving on to video games or listening to Yamada’s endless supply ofmusic or aimless conversation. For a few months, though, Yamada was obsessedwith comic book characters. Even more so, he was obsessed with creating hisown. Aizawa was a better artist, though, so he’d be the one sketching outYamada’s crazy ideas on paper.

One of said ideas was a herothey’d named Smoke Screen. They wore a pair of black goggles over their eyes,allowing them to see heat signatures in the dense fog they created. Aizawaremembers the entire backside of his hand getting covered in graphite afterdrawing all the smoke surrounding their stealth specialized hero. They had long,crimson hair, and what were really disastrously impractical boots with way toomany buckles. Their whole outfit was heavily inspired by a mixture of Aizawa’sand Yamada’s tastes, with lots of black and red, with splashes of white. Theywore a yellow utility belt.

Smoke Screen, in what wasobviously a professional artist’s rendition of one of Aizawa’s old sketches,was on the back of Yamada’s jacket. The smoke was billowing around them. Theirhair was blowing in the wind. They were striking a hero pose. They lookedamazing. They didn’t look like some weird mish-mash of clothes and gearanymore.

But they were still SmokeScreen. They were still Yamada and his childhood creation, pinned to Yamada’sback.

“Hizashi…” Aizawa whispers,but Yamada was already out the door, back where everything was loud and therewas no way he could hear Aizawa’s small voice.

Aizawa bites his lip andfollows the blond out. Yamada waves him off and goes up the stairs to take hisplace behind the DJ station and start playing more of his original remixes.

Aizawa slinks his way backinto the crowd, avoiding the bar, and any obvious suspicion.

Fuck. Guess I can’t kid myself into thinking I don’t still have feelingfor Hizashi now, Aizawa thinks, his stomach doing little flips as he continuesto think about their drawing on Yamada’s back.

Aizawa wonders how oftenYamada thinks about him. The blond hadn’t really said much about how they’d grownapart, rather, he’d seemed to fall right back into his old habits. Yamadahadn’t hesitated at all to get back into Aizawa’s space. Aizawa was a littlejealous. He’d felt hesitant about approaching Yamada to even exchange words,let alone a hug.

Aizawa sighs, backing out ofthe crowd to make his way off to the side and wait out the rest of the night.He makes sure to make a few laps of the space so it’s more believable he’d losesomething. It doesn’t take long for Yamada to finish up, announcing at the endof the last song that the bar is closing and everyone has to head out. Thereare some noises of dissent in the crowd, but everyone starts finishing offtheir drinks and making their way to the different exits. Yamada tinkers withsome things at his station, folding up wires, flipping switches, and closing uphis laptop. Aizawa follows a group out, making sure not to look in Giga’sdirection.

Once outside, he notices ithas gotten kind of chilly. He shivers, breaking away from the group to standnearby the window Yamada had told him about. He rubs his hands together, tryingto warm them up. Some people linger outside the building, smoking and chatting.Most make their way into cars, taxis, or start walking down the streets. Aizawaglances down the street a few times, playing his role of someone waiting for afriend to pick them up. He looks over his shoulder and through the window.Yamada’s chatting with Giga as planned. Aizawa steps back to lean against thewall, keeping an eye on Yamada’s hand, waiting for the signal. As it starts to riseup from where he’s got his arms casually crossed against his chest, Aizawa patshis jean pocket, acting panicked.

“Shit, where’s my phone?” he mumbles under his breath. A woman whowas smoking nearby gives him a once over and says, “Bummer.”

He pats his other pocket,looks into the bar, and sees Yamada brush his hair over his shoulder. He walksback to the entrance and into the bar. Both Yamada and Giga turn around as hewalks in. He holds up a hand, “I think I left my phone somewhere in here. Is itcool if I look around?”

Giga shrugs, “Yeah, whatever.”

Yamada turns back around tocontinue his conversation with the bartender, who’s absently wiping off a glasswith a rag.

Some other staff member isusing a broom to push trash into a pile on the dance floor. Aizawa makes hisway around the perimeter of the room, glancing around like he’s looking for hisphone. He feels a little uneasy about the person cleaning the floor. Who knewif they were friends with Giga or just a bystander? They could have a uselessquirk or an incredibly dangerous one.

Those weren’t great odds.

Aizawa bends over to lookunder some tables, moving around some glasses, and continuing to play his part.He glances over at the bar to see Yamada waving his arms around, telling Gigasome story. The other man seemed relatively unimpressed.

Shit, we need to hurry.

Aizawa walks around to theback of the bar, behind Giga. He looks back to the front where the other staffmember is still paying attention only to the floor. Aizawa makes eye contactwith Yamada for a brief moment, slipping his hands under his capture weapon topull the headphones he’d stashed around his neck over his ears. He thinks aboutpulling the goggles on as well, but that would be a pretty big give away.Yamada blinks and looks back at Giga.

Aizawa takes a deep breath,closes his eyes, and feels the familiar rush of power and tingle of pain behindhis eyes that always comes with activating his quirk. He feels a rush of airand a fuzzy static energy around his head as his hair lifts away from his face.He opens his eyes and focuses on Giga’s back.

Quickly, it starts changing,his broad shoulders start caving inward, and Giga quickly tenses, making tospin around and look at Aizawa, but Yamada’s arm snaps out first. The blondquickly grabs Giga’s arm and yanks him forward. Yamada unbalances Giga, and hestarts falling towards Yamada just as the voice hero is sucking in a deepbreath. Aizawa keeps his eyes trained on Giga’s back, focuses on not blinkingas all the bulk on the shape shifter’s figure starts melting away. They shiftinto a much smaller man, almost boney, with dark brown hair and pale, tintedgreen skin. Yamada belts out a window-shaking scream.

Several glasses shatter onthe bar counter. The headphones are enough to knock the scream down to atolerable level, but not enough to deafen it completely. Not like this, notwhen Aizawa was taking it head on. He feels the sound vibrating in his chest,his legs, and his arms. Everything is shaking. Aizawa’s eyes twitch as hefights to keep them open.

Giga’s one arm is trapped inYamada’s grip. The other is pressed tightly against his ear, his head boweddown as if it is going to protect him from the voice hero’s shout.

Yamada’s yell dies down ashe takes another breath, this time to yell something much quicker, softer, butstill loud enough to get through Aizawa’s headphones.

“ERASER!” Yamada yells,getting Aizawa’s attention.

Shit, right, I’m supposed to restrain him.

Aizawa grabs his captureweapon and unfurls it, throwing one end forward and towards Giga’s body.

Yamada’s shout seemed toalso snap Giga into action, though, recognizing the name. He throws his wholebody backwards and onto the bar floor, pulling out of Yamada’s grip. Yamadafalls forward with the force, catching himself before he smacks face first intothe counter top. Giga is out of Aizawa’s line of sight. Aizawa quickly yankshis goggles over his eyes and pulls his capture weapon back to him. He sprintsfor the bar, hopping onto the counter to look down at where Giga should be.

But he’s not.

“What!?” Aizawa yells. Helooks up at Yamada, who is also standing on the bar counter, looking down at theempty floor. Yamada points to his ear. Aizawa lifts one side of the headphoneup.

“To what extent can he shapeshift? What if it’s not just his appearance?” Yamada asks, speaking quickly,combing the ground with his eyes. He points at a small beetle crawling on thefloor. “What if he can turn into other things, like –” Yamada starts, but it’stoo late. Between them, Giga goes from a tiny beetle on the floor to anenormous ape. Aizawa is unprepared for the rapid transition. He hadn’t seenGiga transform into anything but other humans.

Aizawa has never been hit bya giant ape before. Really, who had? He has only enough time to throw his armdown to help cushion the blow to his ribs before he’s hurled off the bar topand into some tables and chairs across the room. The headphones go flying offhis head somewhere and he’s too busy trying to remember how to breathe to findthem. Even with his block, the punch takes all of the air out of him.

That’s okay. He doesn’t needair to use his quirk.

But Yamada does.

Aizawa gasps against thefloor, but manages to push himself up on shaking arms. Giga’s new form is hardto miss. He activates erasure and brings Giga back to his sallow true formbefore the fist he’d had flying towards Yamada has hit its mark. Giga is thrownoff, obviously having expected Aizawa to be down for the count after the hit.

This guy doesn’t have a lot of experience fighting pros. It will take alot more than that to put either of us out.

Yamada uses a small shout todisorient Giga further, before twisting him around to secure his arms behindhis back. Aizawa gets a few more shaky breaths in before he pushes himself offthe floor, rubbing his side tenderly while keeping his quirk activated on Giga.

Aizawa sees Yamada’s adam’sapple moving slightly, as well as his lips, but doesn’t hear any noise as heapproaches. Giga is wincing, though, in reaction to whatever Yamada is sayinginto his ear. Aizawa knows Yamada can alter his pitch to alarming lows andhighs. He’s probably speaking on such a high pitch Aizawa can’t hear it fromwhere he’s walking over, but with the blond’s close proximity to Giga’s ear,Aizawa is sure it’s doing a number on the villain’s ear drums.

Aizawa yanks off his captureweapon and walks around Giga. He pushes the villain to his knees and secureshis hands and ankles together so he won’t be able to get away. That is, fornow, at least.

Aizawa’s not sure how longhe’ll be able to keep his quirk activated. Now that they know Giga can shiftinto a bug, it will be near impossible to keep him restrained. The second the,now small, irritation behind Aizawa’s eyes becomes unbearable, Giga will bewell on his way to escaping. While Aizawa is sure Yamada will be screaming atthe bug, quirk or no quirk, he’s not sure it will have much of an effect.

Aizawa presses his foot intothe small of Giga’s back and pushes him gently to the floor, so he’s lyingdown. He places his knee in the middle of his back and holds his arms downwhere they’re tied together for extra measure. Yamada leans over to whisper inAizawa’s ear.

“How long can you keep thatup?” the blond asks.

Aizawa shakes his head andfrowns, squinting and opening his eyes again and again, halfway blinking, butnever actually closing them.

“I’ll call the police. Thisisn’t the best part of town, so they already have a pretty high profile aroundhere. It shouldn’t take too long,” Yamada assures him, stepping away to pullout his phone and make the call.

Aizawa nods, keeping hisfocus on Giga. The villain’s head is sideways on the floor and he’s staring upat Aizawa from the corner of his eye. Aizawa sees his confident smirk and itannoys him more than he’s willing to admit.

It also drives him, takesthe edge off the dry, grainy feeling building in his eyes. He’s starting to seered in his peripheral vision, a clear sign he’s using too much power for toolong, but he ignores it. He’ll have a migraine soon enough, but he can go homeand turn off all the lights and take his medicine and it will be fine.

It will be fine, so long ashe doesn’t blink.

He hears Yamada come upbehind him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“They’re on their way. ETA15 minutes…”

Fifteen? Aizawa feels his throat close up for a second. His ribsthrob. Aizawa bites his lip.

“Search him. See if he hasany weapons,” he instructs Yamada. The blond quickly starts patting Giga down,looking in his pockets, under his pants’ legs, if he has anything attached tohis belt, or taped under his shirt. Yamada comes away with two knives and threepods of something. Aizawa assumes they’re the knock out gas explosives. Hehopes they’re not something worse.

Aizawa’s eyes are becomingunbearable. He’s squinting. He feels his eyelids trembling. The red glow at theedges of his vision has started creeping in closer to the middle. His headfeels fuzzy, which it always does, right before the pain really starts.

How long had he been staringat Giga? It had to be several minutes now…

Yamada is tapping his footon the floor. Giga’s smile is growing.

“How long can you keep thatup for, Eraser?” Giga asks.

“E-excuse me?” a voice toAizawa’s left says. He almost turns to look at them, shocked to hear someonebesides Giga or Yamada.

“Oh, shit, Mai! I thought Itold you to get out of here!” Yamada explains. Aizawa sees Yamada’s tall legsand boots walk out of his field of vision and towards Mai. “Are you okay? Howare your ears? I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay. They only hurt alittle…” the woman says. She was pretty far behind Yamada during the fight, nottaking the brunt of his screams, but anyone in the building without protectionwould have still taken some damage from the volume he’d been using. Aizawafeels terrible. He’d seen her when he walked in…he should have thought to warnher.

He hadn’t been thinking ofanything else but their plan.

Maybe we can ask Chiyo for a favor.

“I’m so sorry, Mai. I’m sosorry,” Yamada keeps repeating himself. Aizawa hears him walk her away fromGiga, his voice fading out as he tries to explain to her that they’re heroesand Giga was a villain in disguise and for the millionth time, he’s so sorry.

Aizawa takes a shudderingbreath and tries to still the tremble he feels starting in his muscles.

“Getting tired, kid?” Gigaasks.

He’s not a kid, but now thathe’s closer to Giga, he sees gray mixed in with the deep brown hair. He seeswrinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth. Giga was older. Aizawa wastwenty-three; he’d only been on the pro scene for five years. To Giga, heprobably did seem like a kid.

And he was getting tired.

He didn’t think he couldtake another hit from a gorilla, or an elephant, or who even knows what else.Were Giga’s transforming abilities limited at all? Could he turn into thingsthat were extinct?

Aizawa tries not to thinkabout a mammoth storming the building.

Fuck how long has it been? He thinks, heart racing. His hands areshaking. His head has started the splitting feeling that comes seconds before anintense migraine. His eyes feel like sandpaper. His vision is nearly entirelyred.

He can’t keep his quirk activemuch longer.

He’s got seconds left.

He needs a plan.

They need a pla –

“Mai?” Aizawa hears Yamada’svoice tick up a few octaves. “Mai!”

Fuck it, Aizawa thinks. He can’t hold his quirk any longer anyway.He tightens his grip on Giga’s arms and turns to look at Yamada and Mai. Hisblack bangs come floating down and settle between his aching eyes as he blinksfor the first time in who knows how many minutes.

He’s glad he turns away fromGiga, because Yamada’s standing with his hands up, outstretched in theworldwide symbol of “please don’t hurt me” and Mai is holding a gun andpointing it at his chest and her body is glowing a deep purple color.

Aizawa doesn’t know what thepurple glow means, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to find out, so heactivates his quirk again.

Or, at least, he does for amoment. He does until Giga’s body disappears underneath him and he falls ontohis elbow and he’s still staring at Mai, who has stopped glowing, but hasn’tdropped her weapon. Then Giga’s arm is three times its normal size andcolliding with his chin and Aizawa’s vision goes spotty as he falls backward,breaking his focus on Mai.

Then the whole building isbathed in a purple light and all Aizawa sees is the ceiling boards slowlydisappearing as the light engulfs it. Aizawa turns his head to try and look at Maiagain, but he can’t see anything but purple. As far as he’s concerned, he’s ina purple room, surrounded by nothing but purple. He can’t see anything. Hecan’t make out the toppled over bar stool he knows was inches from his facewhen he fell.

It’s all just purple.

Is everyone seeing this? Is this her quirk? What the hell?

Aizawa tries to activateErasure, twisting his head in every direction, hoping at some point he’llcoincidentally focus on Mai. It doesn’t work.

Aizawa feels very stupid andvery much like he underestimated everyone involved in this situation and hisown abilities to work alone.

He also feels a lot of pain.His chest, his arm, his head, his chin, and his eyes all are complaining to himsimultaneously.

“Mic…” Aizawa tries softlyat first. Then, yelling, “Mic!”

Aizawa rolls onto his leftside, the one he knows should be facing where Yamada was last standing.

“Mic! Present Mic!”

Nothing.

Panic starts slinkingthrough his veins. His heart picks up.

“Eraser?”

Aizawa lets out a relievedsigh.

“Eraser?! Where are you?”

Aizawa doesn’t know what tosay. He knows Mai and Giga were working together. That should have been obviousby the way she hadn’t left when Yamada had warned her. It should have been moreobvious by the way she didn’t call for help or scream or do anything reallywhen they started to fight.

Aizawa knows Giga is longgone. He knows Mai created this empty world and he knows it will fade at somepoint when she thinks Giga has gotten far enough away.

The question is, is Mai alsoon her way out…or is she planning to end them here while they’re blind anddisoriented?

“Er…Eraser…” Aizawa hearsYamada whisper, closer now. He knows they must still be in the bar. This isn’tsome sort of dimensional quirk. It’s just one that stops them from being ableto see anything but the bright purple film in front of their eyes. Aizawa hadspecifically trained himself to fight without his sight, knowing his eyes werehis biggest target and the first thing anyone fighting him would go after. Withtheir hearing still intact, if Mai came at him, he’d have a pretty good shot attaking her.

Then again, she’d also had agun.

They had to get out of here.They had to get out of range of her quirk.

“Mic,” Aizawa saysinsistently, keeping his voice low. “Mic, listen to me.”

Aizawa hears shufflingnearby that he hopes is Yamada. Mai has probably trained herself extensively instealth and silence.

“Mic, scream. Scream as loudas you can.”

“No! Are you kidding? I’llblow out both of our eardrums!”

“Do you want to die here?”Aizawa asks. “We need to disrupt her. All quirks have limits. This haze she hasgoing can’t last forever.”

“So we’ll wait it out,”Yamada says, closer now. It sounds like he’s only a foot or two away. Aizawamoves his arm out, reaching.

“And wait for her to shootone of us? We’re sitting ducks.”

“If she can see us and shewas going to shoot us, she’d have done it already,” Yamada says, closer again.

“Wait…”

Aizawa hears the rustlingstop.

“If she can see us…? You’reright. Why hasn’t she attacked? Maybe this isn’t psychological…maybe it’sphysical. Maybe she’s just made the air so dense we can’t see anything, butit’s affecting her too!” Aizawa says, sitting up. He looks down at his knees,but can’t see them. He holds his hand up, but can’t see it. He brings it closerto his face, almost touching his nose. He can barely make out his fingers, buthe can tell there’s a form there.

“It’s like fog…” hewhispers. “It’s really dense, purple fog.”

Aizawa jumps up to his feetjust as something bumps into his leg and quickly recoils.

“Eraser?!” he hears Yamadayell from below.

“Yeah! We need to move,now!” Aizawa says, reaching down and blindly grabbing. He’s thankful when hishand meets leather and something that feels distinctly like hair. He yanks upand Yamada yelps a bit.

“Watch it!”

“Come on!”Aizawa whispers,running his hand down the leather until he feels an arm, wrapping his handaround it. “We have to get out of here before she attacks. She knows where wewere when she activated her quirk.”

As if on cue, a gunshotrings out. It’s close by, to their right. Aizawa jumps and feels the arm he’sholding do the same.

“Mic, listen. This is fog.Hold your hand up to your nose; you can see your fingers. You can move it withyour shout. You can blow it away,” Aizawa whispers.

“Okay, but not a big one.Cover your ears,” Yamada says. “It’s going to give away our position. I thinkfrom where I saw you fall, that we’re close by the front of the building.”Yamada grabs Aizawa’s hand and much like Aizawa had done to Yamada secondsearlier, uses it as a guide to find Aizawa’s shoulders. Yamada turns him toface a new direction, one Aizawa assumes Yamada thinks is the front of the bar.“There should be windows here. I’ll shout loud enough to blow some of the fogaway and we’ll sprint to the windows, okay? I’ll break the glass. We’ll jumpout.”

“Okay,” Aizawa says. “Okay,do it!”

Aizawa hears Yamada take adeep breath next to him. He lifts his hands up and covers his ears, and then hehears the shrill sound of screaming. The fog in front of them is pushed away inan arc around ten feet. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough for Aizawa to see his ownbody again and see Yamada standing next to him.

It’s also enough for Aizawato see Mai, at the edge of the newly dissipated zone, eyes wide, body glowingpurple, smoke emitting from all her pores. Aizawa activates his quirk and thesmokes stops. It can’t get rid of what’s already in the air, but at least shecan’t make more.

She holds up the gun.

Aizawa presses his handstighter over his ears.

Yamada sucks in anotherbreath and screams at Mai. She opens her mouth and Aizawa assumes she’sscreaming as well, but it’s drowned out by Yamada. Immediately, blood startsoozing out of her ears. Both of her hands go flying up to cover them. Aizawasprints those ten feet and into the fog, hoping Yamada is behind him.

Mai is formidable.

He’s hurt, he can barelysee, his ears are ringing, and Mai has a gun and a formidable quirk.

They need to get out. Theyneed to run.

There’s no shame in runningwhen it means you get to fight another day. Aizawa thinks this is a lesson theU.A. teachers really should have spent more time on. Maybe one day he’d go backthere and tell them a few ways to improve their curriculum.

He keeps his hands pressedto his ears as he continues running towards the front of the building. Anothershout comes from behind, clearing more of the fog in his way. He looks over hisshoulder to see Yamada tailing him.

He doesn’t see the windowsYamada had referenced, but does see a door with a lit up “Fire Exit” above it.He shoves through the door and an alarm starts. Aizawa’s concerned about howquiet the alarm sounds to his ears now, but doesn’t dwell on it, darting outinto the parking lot. He keeps running, looks back again to see Yamada isn’tfar behind him.

So is Mai. She’s running outof the entrance toward them.

Aizawa runs out of parkinglot and looks up to survey the best places to use his capture weapon and scalethe nearest building, when five police cars, sirens flashing, race into thelot. They circle around the small group. Aizawa turns around to see Mai hasstopped running. He’s ready to activate Erasure, but she’s not even trying touse her quirk.

I guess it’s not very useful out in the open air.

She drops her gun to theground and holds up her hands as the police get out of their car, guns trainedon her.

Smart. She can turn over Giga and get herself less time.

As several officers approachher with handcuffs and quirk restrainers, Yamada walks over to Aizawa. Theblond is panting, as is Aizawa, who groans and leans over a bit now that theadrenaline is beginning to wear off. Aizawa rubs his hand up and down his sidewhere Giga had hit him.

Aizawa’s ears are stillringing, though it’s fading a bit now. He’s feeling a little woozy, the way youdo when your center of gravity is off. Yamada’s boots enter his vision where he’s staring at the asphalt.

“You okay?” Yamada asks, andit sounds only a little louder than a whisper.

Aizawa shakes his head.

No.

“They brought an ambulance,come on, let’s go get patched up.” Yamada says, gently pulling his arm. Aizawafollows him to the ambulance willingly, but Yamada continues holding his armregardless. He thinks they should probably stop and debrief with the police,but Yamada waves at one of them and shoots them a smile and they wave him offwith a returning one of their own. Aizawa is reminded that these officers areprobably well aware who Present Mic is if Yamada’s regular status in the bar isany indication. Moreover, half the city seemed to be well aware who Present Micwas at this point.

Aizawa doesn’t think it willbe too long before Yamada has that radio show he’d always wanted back in highschool.

The doors to the ambulanceare already open and Aizawa and Yamada step up inside with the medic’sinstruction.

Yamada says, “Every time Iget hurt I’m tempted to just call Chiyo.”

Aizawa laughs. “Yeah, metoo. Old habits die hard.”

“Maybe I’ll just get a jobat U.A. so she has no choice but to put up with me again,” Yamada jokes.

“Pfff…what would you teach?How to iron patches on a jacket?”

Yamada bursts out laughing.The medics close the door to the ambulance and Aizawa feels the vehicle startmoving beneath them. As the medics start asking them questions about theirinjuries, Aizawa thinks about how he missed that laugh, how easy it is to fallright back into their old banter.

How much worse it will feelto lose this again.

—

Aizawa and Yamada getseparated at the hospital to be treated for their injuries, which, all in all,are pretty minor and easy fixes. Aizawa’s not sure he remember anyone evenlanding a punch on Yamada the entire time. He’s pretty sure the only damagethat occurred to the blond came from the voice hero himself.

Aizawa didn’t really haveroom to talk, though. The doctor gave him some pain meds for his migraine, somedrops in his eyes, some well worded recommendations to not overuse his quirk,and some instructions to stay off patrol until his bruised ribs and elbowhealed. The only thing that remained a problem was his hearing. While the painhas mostly subsided, and his ears were feeling a little less like they werestuffed full of cotton, he still felt like everything around him was dullersounding than he was used to. They insisted the ringing would ebb and he’d getused to the slight reduction in his hearing. It was a lot like going to aconcert, standing too close to the amplifiers, and screaming at all yourfriends for a few hours after the show was over while your ears adjusted.

Aizawa couldn’t help butwonder how many times Yamada had done this kind of damage to his ears. One timetaking Yamada’s shouts at point blank was not great for Aizawa’s hearing, butit wasn’t detrimental.

Yamada had been doing this formany years?

The nurse hands him somedischarge papers and steps away, allowing Aizawa to get off the exam table. He’scareful with his chest while stepping down and thanks the nurse for their help,following them out into the hall. They point him towards the front desk andwalk away to tend to another patient.

Aizawa looks down at thedischarge papers, frowning at the x-ray listed on the bill.

He’d really been planning onthe compensation he’d receive from turning in Giga…he wasn’t in dire need ofcash, but his pockets were definitely not as well lined as some of hisclassmates’ had turned out. He absently wondered how much information theywould get from Mai. Would he ever be able to find Giga again?

His weapons were gettingmore and more dangerous.

Aizawa didn’t particularlywant to see more villains on the streets with Giga’s creations.

He was halfway down the hallwhen he saw Yamada pop out of another exam room, waving happily to his nurse asthey walked away. Yamada turns and Aizawa and he make eye contact. Yamada’sface instantly breaks into a grin.

“Hey!” the blond calls, alittle louder than probably necessary. “You all clear?”

Aizawa nods, walking up tohim, waving his discharge paper.

“How’s the damage?” Yamadaasks more quietly, pointing to his ear. Aizawa sees the way his smile wavers.

He feels guilty.

“It’s fine,” Aizawa assureshim. “Worst part was the hit to my side. How about you?”

They start walking down thehall towards the front desk together. Yamada slips his hands into his jacketpockets and shrugs.

“Same old, same old.”

“Same old?”

Yamada smiles sheepishly athim and Aizawa stops walking.

“Hizashi…” it’s the firsttime Aizawa has called him by given name to his face all night and suddenly hischest hurts worse than it did when he had the wind knocked out of him. He’dbeen planning on saying something like youhave to be careful, or, don’t brushthis off, but instead he says something that he’d been thinking all night.“I missed you.”

Yamada stops walking a footor two ahead of him, turning around, his mouth pops open.

“Huh?” Yamada asks, andAizawa’s not sure if he honestly didn’t hear him, or if he was just assurprised as Aizawa was at what he’d said.

“I missed you. It was nicegetting to see you again tonight. It was nice working together,” Aizawarepeats, louder, just in case.

Yamada’s eyes widen.

“I missed you too, Shouta,”he says, smiling. Yamada walks closer and pulls Aizawa’s uninjured arm sothey’re standing closer to the wall rather than in the way of potential passersby.

“I don’t want this to be thelast time I see you for another five years…” Yamada says, looking down.

“I’m sure we’ll bump intoeach other again,” Aizawa responds.

“I don’t want to ‘bump intoeach other,’ I want to hang out. I want to see you on purpose. I want to beclose to each other again,” Yamada insists, his tone serious.

Aizawa’s heart is hammeringagainst his bruised rib cage.

Me too. Me too. Me too. Me –

“Me too.”

Aizawa feels his mouthspread wide in sync with Yamada’s grin. Yamada pulls his other hand out of hisjacket and jerks forward like he’s going to hug Aizawa, but stops himself.Aizawa thinks now is a weird time to stop being touchy, after all, Yamada hadbeen draping himself all over Aizawa all night at the bar. That’s okay, though,he can take initiative sometimes too.

He leans forward and wrapshis arms around Yamada’s chest, pulling him into a hug. He feels Yamada’s armsdrape across his shoulders, his hands press against his upper back. Aizawa’shearing might not be the best right now, but he still hears Yamada’s deep,content sigh right next to his ear.

They pull apart at the sametime. Aizawa’s still smiling. He feels a familiar warmth spreading through hisbones, like stepping outside of a chilled, air conditioned room and into thesoft summer heat on a long, golden day.

How could they have let thisgo?

How had he gone this longwithout this feeling?

“Is your number still thesame?” Yamada asks. Aizawa nods. “Wow, so is mine! We’re just terrible.” Yamadalaughs, rubbing the back of his neck.

Aizawa’s not sure how to endthis. He wishes he could ask Yamada to catch up over dinner, but it’s past 3AM.

“Do you want to getbreakfast?”

Yamada’s eyebrows shoot upand he laughs again. “Now?” he asks, pulling his phone out to check the time.“It’s nearly 4 in the morning.”

“Perfect time forbreakfast.”

Yamada snorts, “Pfff, okay,whatever you say.” He grabs Aizawa’s hand, though, despite his sass. Aizawa feelsYamada’s grip tighten around his fingers before he starts pulling him down thehall. They check out of the hospital together and Yamada calls a taxi. They sitoutside on the bench waiting for their driver to arrive.

Aizawa sinks down furtheronto the bench to rest his head against the back.

“What’s happening with Mai?”Aizawa asks.

“The police are taking herin for questioning. They’ll give me updates. I’ll relay to you. We can huntdown Giga together,” Yamada suggests.

Aizawa nods, still staring upat the stars above the hospital.

“Hizashi…” Aizawa starts,turning his head to look at the blond. Yamada turns his head to face himtoo. Aizawa lifts his hand up to pointat his ear, like Yamada had done earlier. “How bad is it?”

Yamada smiles and shakes hishead, then looks at the ground.

“I know we just startedtalking again today, but I’m here. I’ll listen. You don’t need to be PresentMic around me,” Aizawa says. Yamada gives him a small smile. “You can be secretshady bar DJ Zashi if you want…” Aizawa jokes, smirking. Yamada laughs, pushingAizawa’s shoulder lightly.

“Screw off, Shouta!” Yamadasays around his laughter. “I thought we were having a moment!”

Aizawa shrugs, smiling.

“Thank you,” Yamada says,once he’s calmed down. “It’s not so bad now, but it’s just going to get worse.Kind of an inevitable side effect…”

“Yeah,” Aizawa says,remember the splitting feeling he’d had behind his eyes earlier that night.

Yamada leans over, layinghis head on Aizawa’s shoulder.

“So there’s something Icouldn’t help but notice about your outfit,” Aizawa starts.

“What’s that?”

“Smoke Screen.”

Yamada’s off his shoulder inan instant, waving his hands, laughing embarrassedly.

“Ah…uh…yeah…uh…” the blondrambles.

“I like it,” Aizawa says.

Yamada pauses his outburst.“You…you do?”

Aizawa nods.

“They look really cool. Waybetter than what I drew.”

Yamada shakes his head.

“If I hadn’t lost thosedrawings, I would have pinned one of them on my shirt. I love this version, butit’s not better than the ones we made together.”

There it is again, that summerday feeling.

Aizawa slides his handacross the bench until it his pinky finger is touching the leather of Yamada’sfingerless gloves. When Yamada doesn’t pull away, he intertwines their fingers.

“I am so glad you DJ invillain infested bars,” Aizawa says, smiling.

“I’m so glad you recklesslythrow yourself into situations you’re woefully unprepared for.”

“Whoa, hey, if you’re goingto talk to me like that I’ll leave.”

Yamada pouts, “Nooooo. Neveragain!”

“Ah, fine. You’ve convincedme,” Aizawa laughs. “Looks like I’ll never leave.”

Yamada smiles, placing his headback on Aizawa’s shoulder, saying, “That sounds good to me.”

240 notes · View notes

lil-crossing · 7 years

Text

What I want to see in the next Animal Crossing!

Okay, so ever since the talk of the switch I have been ever so hopeful of an Animal Crossing title for it, and not just a crappy spinoff, either. Especially after the release of the switch I feel like this is something very likely to happen, given the villager icons you can choose from on the switch profiles and other hints. Anyways, here are what I feel like would be some entertaining additions to the next Animal Crossing title. This is a looooong list so pls bear with me.

Way way WAYYYYYY more slots to hold patterns like in HHD, like I am so amazed HHD was the first AC title to have this.

The ability to place PWPs wherever they will fit, also like the placement used in HHD.

Get a notification from Isabelle when you start the game that informs you of a new villager wanting to move in, you can then choose the location of their house so it doesn’t interfere with paths or anything.

I think it would be really cool to be able to edit the layout of our town as an alternate option to filtering through random ones. Similar to the acnl editor, but in the initial startup of the game. Choosing where streams, ponds, beaches, buildings, etc. are instead of having to settle on one.

Be able to choose your native fruit.

Similar to HHD, you can unlock special items from encountering certain villagers and they can be placed in your catalogue. Like how some have the sloppy series, etc.

A bigger campsite, like the RV one that was introduced in Welcome Amiibo, but has tents as well as more RVs that are not just specials. Like, have 2 RVs there that rotate everyday, one being a special character and the other just a normal villager, and of course spaces available for use with amiibo cards.

MORE THAN 1 PWP A DAY. I get SO MAD having to time travel just because I want more than one streetlight in my town.

Also, NO MORE RANDOM PWPS!!!!!! I played for YEARS with only a couple of suggestions from my villagers, I never was even suggested the police station!!!!!!! If we have to unlock them based on time played or town status or pay bells to unlock them, sure, that’s cool, BUT NO MORE RELYING ON SUGGESTIONS!!!!

Shops have way more items available to purchase, and on top of a bigger in-store selection, I think it would be cool to have kind of like a revolving catalogue where you can order things (like maybe have whole series in there or something) that also changes everyday along with the store’s inventory.

LARGER MAIN STREET!!!! I thought the town in HHD was a really good size for a main street for the next AC title. Also, the ability to choose the exteriors of the buildings on main street like in HHD.

More specialization of the shops on main street. Like, instead of just having the typical ones we have had for AGES maybe introduce some new ones, like a pet store (more on this later) or a restaurant like what there is to choose from in HHD

Possibly link your HHD catalogue with the new AC title? That way you have items unlocked and it gives you a little head start on items you can choose from.

BE ABLE TO DESIGN PANTS!!!!! Maybe there is a reason this isn’t a thing yet that I am completely ignorant about, but I WANT TO DESIGN SOME DAMN PANTS!!!! There are hardly any to choose from in the game so I am blown away that this hasn’t become a feature yet in all of the AC titles. Also, being able to design shoes and socks would be cool, too. But if anything, pls just let us design some pants.

Ability to have pets!!! So we can have some uninvited cockroaches roaming around but lord forbid I have a cute lil kitten or puppy??? You have no idea how much I loved the little hamster cage, but it can only do so much. I think it would be neat to get rid of the cockroaches and be able to purchase animals from a pet store on main street that can roam around in one (or all) room(s) and if you leave the game unattended for a length of time, you would come back to PEE in your FLOOR and you would have to clean it instead of stomping on cockroaches.

Either pick from different sets or create your own set of beginning villagers with amiibo cards for when you start up a new town. More often than not, my villagers starting out are all uggos.

Be able to automatically access your bank account without having to go to an ABD. Like maybe we have a device similar to our TPC that acts kinda like a smartphone or something and we have an “app” for our bank that we can use.

This device could also let us talk to villagers like the HHD phone or order items or talk to other players online if we have their FCs.

Be able to choose the town hall and train station exteriors during the startup of the game instead of having to wait and get a perfect town rating in order to do so.

MORE CUTE FURNITURE SETS!!! Idk about you but I loved the sloppy series and alpine series and I wish there were more cute pale series to choose from, like maybe have a whole pastel series that goes with the pastel table introduced in HHD.

More expensive home expansions, but they also expand faster. This doesn’t have to be the replacement for the current situation, but just to have as an option I think would be cool.

Be able to design furniture with Cyrus not just remodel it. Like we could start with a base item, but redesign it using something similar to what we use to design clothes and patterns. AND we could create QR codes for these like we would be able to for outfits and stuff.

A “global store” where people could post items they don’t want anymore kind of like an online flea market that we could access by either going to Re-Tail or on the TPC device. People could also sell their designed items on here if they didn’t want to do QR codes.

Train Station allows you to travel to ANY town with gates open and accepting random visitors. Kind of like how club tortimer pairs you up with random people on the island, you could go to a random town. No FCs necessary and it would be a fun way to make more friends to play with in the future!

Also, with having people visit your town, you should be able to select the level of access they have to it. You should have a little menu while there are people visiting that shows who all is in the town and also what level of access they have. This can be adjusted at any time and there would be about 3 levels:

Restricted: Can only WALK around and talk to villagers and observe the items in your town. (how each visitor would start out)

Intermediate: Can buy, pick up, do anything in your town, but a notification will pop up on your screen anytime they want to do something and you will have to approve their action.

Unrestricted: Can do anything (like how it is now) without needing approval.

When having visitors in your town, you can also see them on your town map in real time like you see yourself. Instead of little people icons, though, they should be like numbers based on who got there first, #1, and so on. I feel like they would make it easier to tell who is who. But who even knows if we will have a map like the one we’re used to with the switch. I feel like the Wii-U might have been better in the whole dual screen aspect of the game.

We can also choose to see villagers on the map in real time.

Have other parts of town that we can access. Like maybe there is a little hill that leads up to the neighborhood where all the “special” characters live and stuff like that.

Ability to work at more shops than just the cafe. Have the jobs be more like mini games though.

Ability to demolish or move home without destroying your town.

When selecting “give me something” from an amiibo villager, their catalogue should pop up so you can choose what item you want.

MORE SANRIO ITEMS!!!!!!! The sanrio sets are so dang cute I love them!!!! Either collab with sanrio some more or make some more items that going along with the cutesy themes they have! Or maybe some san-x related items, like bring in rilakkuma etc.

A music shop!!! I think KK should have his own little record store where he performs during the day and it closes at night when he goes to the club B)

GIVE CELESTE BACK HER OBSERVATORY!!!! I cannot STRESS this ENOUGH!!!!! Not only was it such a cool idea, I MISS MAKING INAPPROPRIATELY SHAPED CONSTELLATIONS!!!!

Able Sisters have a section in their shop for QR codes from all over the world via internet. If not connected, then it could just be empty or maybe you could only access it by talking to mabel or sabel or smth.

A Hotel!! This could be where people who are visiting your dream address start out, they could go to sleep there too and start a new day or something.

Possibly upload your HHD buildings to your town to replace the ones on main street.

This whole “smartphone”/TPC replacement thing:

Cell phone: call and talk to your own villagers and amiibo villagers

Email?: maybe. Could replace mailbox for letters only, not deliveries.

Initiatives can still be viewed on this

Timmy and Tommy “online” catalogue

Online Flea Market from players all over.

Bank Account: can access everything you’d be able to at an ABD

Music: could change background music to a KK song if one so chose

Can contract out Leif for a sum of bells to landscape your town. Select from some different colors, themes, flowers, if you are not very talented in the ways of landscaping.

Can get paths from Nook’s homes! It would be cool if Nintendo made some paths that actually matched up with the grass and stuff that you could purchase from Nook.

Where multiple face items like glasses, bandages, binkie so long as they don’t interfere with each others’ placements.

Be able to wear accessories over “makeup” I think our miis would look really cute with some of the accessories in the game!

Be able to hold more than one mii mask at a time.

Be able to start the game by choosing the villager’s appearance like in HHD, no more random appearances based on weird questions

Instead of just a couple exterior house choices, there should be more in a catalogue at Nook’s, but some are only available after you have upgraded your house x amount of times.

Furniture collections with more items. Rooms that are upgraded are really big and it kinda sucks when some series only have like 10 items in them.

Be able to see what an item is while it’s in our pockets!!!! I hate having to go home and display it in my home to see what it is and whether or not I want to keep it.

ALPACA VILLAGERS!!!!!!! So many of the special characters are so cute I wish we could have regular villagers that are that cute who are able to move into our town. Also walruses like wendell would be really cute.

Ability to access the time from within the game, maybe with like a special clock or something similar to the way we can have a fortunes told to us through the lovely phone, but only that phone.

Access to our storage room and regular inventory when we are in the “room editing” mode. It would save so much time if we didn't have to exit out of it every time we needed a new item.

More villagers in the town!!! Like maybe 14 or 15

Kick out unwanted villagers at the town hall and accept requests of certain ones wanting to move in. Like see which villager it is and either accept them and pick a spot for their house or deny them.

Able to change camera angle for more diverse screenshots like HHD

PLEASE BE HD LIKE THE COURSES IN MARIO KART PLEEEEEASSSSEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A town hall with a room that is able to be reserved for events that you can set up, like harvest festival dinners, toy day party, bday parties, etc. And with these events all the villagers have to show up. You can also decorate the room with items from your catalogue or choose from different pre-made themes.

So as you can see this list is long as heck. Feel free to add to it and let me know what you think, I always love seeing ideas and talking about Animal Crossing with people!!!!!!!!!!

#animal crossing #animal crosing new leaf #animal crossing switch #nintendo #nintendo switch #thoughts #new animal crossing #animal crossing improvements #animal crossing list

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allebooklover · 8 years

Text

aa:p4 weaponry

I was thinking about it and maybe Pearls is the weaponsdealer this time round. Ok, to expand on this - I was thinking of giving them an item that would allow them to see clearly in the shadow world. A personal object that would, through spiritual energy, allows them to see clearly through the fogs in the shadow world like teddy’s glasses do for the p4 cast. Something like that.

I mostly got the idea from when Pearl imbued the magatama with spiritual energy, which allowed him to see Psyche Locks. I was wondering how to translate Pearl’s role here, since she’s an adorable little kid and I don’t want to leave her out, and this - spiritual sight clearing device! Which helps them channel certain powers, like Apollo’s Sight, Athena’s Hearing, Phoenix’s Psyche Locks, Miles Logic Chess etc., or help summon their personas. Or both.

My original thoughts were for Pearls to transform the Weapons into the form of their Personal Object, but small innocent Pearls getting access to weapons didn’t really sit right with me, so I changed it to Sight Clearing Object. I think it works better that way tbh.

Weapon dealers could be the detectives (at least for the first part - see this cool post by onyourwings for more details! Although nothing is set in stone yet haha :’D), but idk. hmm. I was kind of hoping to see them as support charas who have to go through their time in the tv world, but I think they could be the Real World Investigation Party Supporters or something. Again, not sure.

I wonder if I could get the Judge to be the Weapon dealer… but in terms of storyline he’s like Igor so… nggh I’ll just leave the slot open for now I guess.

Below lies their personal sight-clearing items and possible weapons Possible (not sure but here just in case) Spoilers for AA1-5.

DEFENCE ATTORNEYS

- Phoenix Wright -

Sight Clearing Object: Magatama | Weapon: Shield (mb with sword)

Magatama because that’s how he’s able to see all those psyche locks (like the fog!), which get him close to the truth. Plus, it is canon he gets his powers from the Magatama, leaving it out would be a gigantic travesty in my opinion haha.

Shield since I vision Phoenix as a very defence-based fighter, due to his ridiculous luck at escaping accidents. Seriously, coming out of a car crash with only a sprained ankle? A raging devil riverfall with only a cold? This guy’s stamina’s and defence is ridiculously high. Also, he just, I dunno, seems like someone who’s a really defensive fighter? Not the type to go all out attack straight off the bat, unlike some prosecutors we know. Not sure why I think that way tbh. So I gave him a shield.

But since he’s the original character, giving him a sword also works, since its unique in that he’s the only one who can switch into another stance, and gives him the chance to go more on the offensive. His defences would go down, but the boost in attack power should help cover for that. So his primary weapon is a shield, while his secondary weapon (which is admittedly not used much) is the sword. Preferably a guan dao or a sabre, since both can be used effectively in one hand and with a shield.

Darkness more than light, fire, ice, electricity, wind, the Wild card has all and protects them and humanity with his shield, sword hidden near his hip for the few cases when a defensive approach is no longer needed, when the time to attack is right.

- Apollo Justice -

Sight Clearing Object: Bracelet | Weapon: Bow

Bracelet! Because his bracelet is actually what he uses to concentrate his focusing power so eyy, too good to pass up. Also, its clearly very important to him. And aa5 proves that he’s unable to really turn it off so in this au I can just pass it off as a side effect that just revealed what was already there or something haha. So much plots I can use it for mwahahaha.

As for why the bow - Originally, it was gauntlets, but it didn’t feel right, and he has pretty much average strength. @onyourwings and @worldbeyondtheworld agreed and provided the perfect alternative - the Bow! Which fits ridiculously well considering that the God Apollo uses a bow. It’d put his sharp eyesight to good use too, and we definitely need more far-ranged members on this team. Pfft imagine him using his Chord of Steel to tell others to get out of the way while he shoots from a distance - it’d be both cute and badass!

Wind that carries his shouts to afar, that caresses his cheeks and ruffles his hair and guides his arrows directly to home, blowing back the enemies in a gale that is as determined as the hurricane of determination in his soul.

- Athena Cykes -

Sight Clearing Object: Widget | Weapon: Gauntlets

Ok, I chose Widget as the SCO because she often uses it to figure out the emotions she hears, which in turn helped her find the truth - and it’s important to her, as well, due to it being a memento from her mom. Plus, Widget is an emotional-measuring device, which can come in pretty handy to detecting emotional distress and helping people accept their shadow selves without another freakout. So Widget it is!

As for why she’s given gauntlets, well, canon states she’s got self defence training, and I still remember that scene where she body throws Apollo over her shoulder in AA5 (lol rip Apollo). She’s strong, pretty aggressive when angered and she’s also got a reaction gif of her smacking her fists together, like she’s preparing to punch someone, so. Gauntlets.

Bright, like fire and energetic, like the electricity that crackles around her body, sparking out of her fists as she slams them together in anticipation, thrumming and humming a tune so fine that only her ears can hear.

- Raymond shields -

Sight Clearing Object: Pink Notebook | Weapon: Hammer?

Ok, I know he only appears in AAI2. But he’s still kinda important (definitely more important than the Payne Brothers even though they appear nearly every game) and he’s a good guy. He’s definitely a key player, much like Sebastian and Kay. Plus, the defence team needs more people and I like him (I like all the charas in this game actually). And so here he is.

I chose the Pink Notebook as his SCO because its the only thing he had with him during the past and the present.

As for the hammer, well. We kind of needed one, and I couldn’t think of what would suit him well enough. So I just went with the hammer.

PROSECUTORS

- Miles Edgeworth -

Sight Clearing Object: White King Chess Piece | Weapon: Spear

Ok, the reason for the White King Chess Piece is because of the Logic Chess Sequences. In it, Edgeworth takes the white part of the chessboard, which is why his piece is White. And the King represents absolute authority and is the most important part of the game - without him you lose - So I figured that a King Chess Piece would work due to the symbolism. As the head Prosecutor and leader of Good on the Prosecuting Side, Miles more than deserves the White King Piece.

As for a Spear, well, I admittedly got the idea from aa1 case 5, the really long one that first introduced Emma Skye. The prosecuting award had the Spear so I thought ‘eyy, why not’ and thus, Spear. Plus it also serves as a good parallel to the Shield of Phoenix Wright - unbeatable Spear vs unbreakable Shield, which is alluded to in the awards in AA1 C5. Also! I forgot to add but World came up with the idea for Spear first - didn't include that bit because I was tired and forgot, sorry!

light and dark, intertwining with each other like yin and yang, centering around his spear and placing his soul to rest, driving him towards the truth.

- Franziska Von Karma -

Sight Clearing Object: Brooch |Weapon: Whip

I had trouble thinking this one up, but while I was looking over her character pictures I noticed a similarity - that blue brooch she wears at her neck. It appears in every single one of her sprites. Not even joking - official art, AA2, AA3, even AAI2 she has that same brooch at her neck. Clearly its an important part of her daily attire, so it serves pretty well as her SCO, I think.

She uses the whip in game as a tool of subjugation, so its pretty much canon for her already. Nine-O-Cat tails is probably the ultimate whip for her to unleash her wrath on the foolishly foolish shadows, although I don’t think she’d unleash that wrath onto people while holding the Nine-O-Cat tail whip. That thing was used as a torture weapon during the middle ages - its pretty brutal. I pity anyone who earns her wrath while she’s holding her normal whip, though.

Ice, so cold that it burns deep inside her heart like true fire, causing frostbite and ice to form wherever her whip struck.

- Sebastian Debeste -

Sight Clearing Object: Baton | Weapon: Knives

Sebestian uses the Baton in his animations, which is good enough for me. It’s probably pretty important to him, and somewhat iconic for him.

As for the knife, well. Originally I thought sword, to rival Edgeworth, but we’ve already got Simon as the Swordmaster. So I tried thinking about something similar to a baton in terms of length and maneuverability, and I came upon Knives. Around the same length as the baton, and serves as a good close-range weapon- although Sebastian with a knife is.... well, he’ll have to go straight up to fight them close range. And he seems a pretty scaredy guy. I dunno. But hey - he ran straight to the dumpster to dig up evidence! And stood up to his douchebag of a dad! So kid’s got guts.

Or alternatively chakra sticks! They’re like sticks, but held in both hands and used for attacking. That could work.

Fire spreading across the blade, heating it into the bright red that comes from the forge, held out determinedly in front of him with one hand like his baton, flames flaring out like the swell of a crescendoing orchestra, like his dad’s lighter, and spreading up and around him like a protective blanket before going for the kill. Alternatively ice, frost freezing onto the sticks and burning everything cold, freezing spots into ice that shatter at the next blow he delivers.

- Klavier Gavin -

Sight Clearing Object: G-shaped necklace | Weapon: String wires

Klavier has a lot of love for music, and since he’s associated with guitar - dude even plays a riff on air guitar when its epic enough in court - it should probably be something related to music. But I also wanted it to be associated with something he wears or is able to carry around easily, like the others, and a guitar is not easy to carry around. Especially when fighting. So I grabbed a look at his appearance, thought for a bit, and chose the necklace around his neck. It’s noticeable and what he wears, and I’m fairly sure its merchandise for his band The Gavinners (nice self promotion Klavier haha), which means its related to music, and so G-shaped necklace it is! An alternative was the chain he’s wearing around the belt, but since I can’t see if its still there in AA5, eh. I’ll stick with the necklace.

As for why not the rings he wears on his fingers, well, its a part of his weapon. Since it is no longer two am in the morning (its 1am in the morning! Good enough!) I’m awake enough to come up with a different weapon for this guy that still fits what I wanted to include - usage of music and range, really. Wire strings are ranged weapons that slice through opponents or trap them, and require strategic and creative thinking - something Klavier has in spades. Ranged, because he seems non-confrontational physically, preferring to hang back and smile it away instead, which would translate into fighting as attacking from afar. They also require deft hands - again, something Klavier has due to years of experience playing guitar for his band - and strings are often used to produce music with the sound of the string’s vibrations. Related to music, requires intelligence and deft hands, ranged - Suits Klavier pretty well, I think.

Heat emininating from deep within him,umming a couple of tunes from the Guitar Serenade as he lifts his hands as if he were thanking a crowd, twitching his fingers as if they were on guitar strings, smiling beautifully as flames pour down the strings like a spiderweb on fire, charring anyone in its snares into ashes.

- Simon Blackquill -

Sight Clearing Object: Taka Feather | Weapon: Katana

FINALLY CAME UP WITH SOMETHING! Granted, it was actually really obvious once I figured it out but eh. So, Taka’s feather, because Taka is important to him.

I do know that he used the same sword to intimidate people. Which totally works, you japanephobile. I mean, he probably attacks with Taka too, but I think he loves the Hawk a little too much to let her lose on dangerous Shadows... but I could be wrong. So he attacks with both? But uses the sword most of the time because he doesn’t want to rely on Taka too much and continue to seem intimidating.

Imagine a katana, intricate designs of darkness curling delicately around the surface of the blade, shadows weaving a delicate pattern and bringing everything dark. Alternatively, imagine that same sword crackling with electricity, the energy jolting up and down the blade like a live thing desperate to be unleashed, thrumming with the desire to electrocute the shadows into oblivion.

-Sahdmhadi-

Sight Clearing Object: *shrug* | Weapon: Rosary

I’m not even sure I’ll ever include him due to how new the game is and that I haven’t even watched SoJ finished yet, but leaving him out would be pretty crappy to those who’ve watched SoJ. So. Here he is!

TBC

#AA:P4 fusion #So tired #screw staying up late #Finally completed this tho #Sorry for making you guys wait so long #Shoulda done this when I was more awake.#Let there be light

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