#Like it could send people on a wild goose chase to find the child but without any leads how could anybody find the kid

[moongothic]

You know I wasn't going to post about this, but the more I think about it the more it drives me up the walls

So when Luffy and co release Crocodile from jail, it's specifically under the threat that if Crocodile tries anything funny, well, Iva-chan has a trick up their sleeve to put Crocodile back in-line.

So what the fuck was that actually about? What is Crocodile's secret weakness? I'm specifically looking at the way this is phrased in the manga, because the anime's added dialogue kinda messes with what's implied here. But what Iva specifically says is that Ivankov in particular holds the key to one of Crocodile's weaknesses, but they'll stay quiet about it as long as Crocodile behaves himself ("Vataashi wa koitsu no yowami wo hitotsu nigitteru", a very clunky but literal translation could be "One of his weaknesses is within my grasp". The way Viz translated the line is a bit different so I'm not bothering with getting a cap of the panel, you wouldn't be able to tell how these lines were phrased in Japanese based on Viz's translations anyways) (The dialogue Toei added was Crocodile furiously shouting at Iva-chan, telling them to not say anything and Iva-chan reminding Croc to watch his tone or else they'll reveal Croc's past to everyone. A lot of people don't remember this was in-fact added by Toei, hence I wanted to clarify/remind what happened in this scene originally)

And now. Obviously. When Oda went out of his way to introduce a brand new character whose entire personality is being queer and their power is giving people magic HRT. And then like five chapters later re-introduces Crocodile. And tells us that these two have Secret Beef. And never proceeds to fucking tell us what the hell that was about. Yes, the natural conclusion one would come to would be that Crocodile is stealth trans. That is basic, good storytelling. You (re)introduce two characters, tell us they have beef, one has a very specific ability; you're supposed to connect these dots in your mind. So that now, if Oda revealed to us tomorrow that Crocodile was canonically trans, it would not surprise anyone because it's already been set-up in the story, by this very scene. It's a logical conclusion.

But. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Iva-chan's blackmail might actually not be about Crocodile being trans.

Like the general fandom assumption for the past 15 years has been that Crocodile's stealth trans, but we actually don't know he's stealth. He could be openly trans, and between that being a borderline requirement for Crocodad to be real (since he would've been a Shichibukai for years before Luffy was even born) and the possibility that his earring could specifically be a gay earring, like. Yeah. Crocodile could be openly trans. If Crocodile's perfectly happy to let the whole world know he's gay, then him being trans shouldn't have to be a secret either. We the readers could just be unaware of it because it wasn't relevant information to us, and his transition would be old ass news in-universe and not worth bringing up.

And thus, if Crocodile isn't stealth, then Iva-chan can't blackmail him by threatening to out him, becaus he can't be outted.

Now for a while I did considder that Iva-chan could've been actually threatening to detransition Crocodile if he tried anything funny. Surely he would hate that, so much so that he might not have wanted to even hear Ivankov suggest it. But thinking about it. Unless Iva-chan can use Armanent Haki or get Crocodile moisturized, they shouldn't be able to hit Crocodile actually. Like Croc's Logia makes him impossible to hit unless he specifically allowed himself to be touched. So even if Iva-chan tried to surprise attack Crocodile with Estrogen, Croc should just turn to sand automatically, the attack should not land.

Meaning Iva-chan shouldn't be able to detransition Crocodile against his will, at least not without Haki and we don't know if they can use it, so that can't be Crocodile's weakness either.

And so we have to ask the question. What the fuck is that weakness then that Ivankov mentioned?

All we really know is that Crocodile doesn't want this weakness to be brought up, it's a secret. And for all we know Iva-chan might be the only person in the world who knows about it.

And I just. Like.

There is one weakness, kind of a universal one that many people could have, one that has been brought up time-and-time again post-timeskip, one that has become more and more relevant in the story, especially now at the begining of the Final Saga.

A secret weakness.

If pregnancy is what cracked Crocodile's egg and he transitioned immidiately/soon after giving birth, then it's entirely plausible Iva-chan could know Crocodile had a secret child. And surely he'd want nothing more than for his child to be safe, not end up in trouble because of him. And Ivankov most certainly could put that child in danger, especially now that Crocodile was officially no longer on the World Government's side, there'd be no protection for the baby. All Ivankov had to do was leak the information out, that Sir Crocodile had a child, and anybody who had beef with him could get their revenge by attempting to find the child.

Like I'm just saying. This could line up nicely, actually

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 3: #E3 vs #E1

#E3: Sending us penguins will NOT fix our terminally ill sister, but thanks anyways.

#E1: Forcefully mixing the old and the new. Hilarity and disaster ensues.

Details and poll under the cut!

*Text in green indicates that something has been changed.

#E3: Mawaru Penguindrum

Summary:

For the Takakura family, destiny is an ever-spinning wheel, pointing passionately in their direction with equal tides of joy and sorrow before ticking on to the next wishmaker. With their parents gone, twin brothers Kanba and Shouma live alone with their beloved little sister Himari, whose poor health cannot decline any further.

On the day Himari is given permission to temporarily leave the hospital, her brothers take her out to the aquarium to celebrate, where the family's supposed fate is brought forth with her sudden collapse. However, when Himari is inexplicably revived by a penguin hat from the aquarium's souvenir shop, the hand of fate continues to tick faithfully forward.

With her miraculous recovery, though, comes a cost: there is a new entity within her body, whose condition for keeping her fate at bay sends the boys on a wild goose chase for the mysterious "Penguin Drum." In their search, the boys will have to follow the threads of fate leading from their own shocking past and into the lives of other wishmakers vying for the Penguin Drum, all hoping to land upon their chosen destiny.

Propaganda:

Do you like weird artsy stuff? Do you love magical girls? How about weird, messed up character dynamics? Then boy oh boy, Mawaru Penguindrum is the show for you! The show starts out funny enough, but will quickly spiral into an intense and intricate plot, involving fate, the mafia, magical destiny-rewriting spells, and penguins. Which yes, before you ask, the funny penguins are in fact plot relevant.

Penguindrum isn’t really a show about all that stuff though, even though it is. It’s a very symbolic story, about living under the crushing heel of capitalism, and the quiet poison of the societally expected nuclear family dynamic. I could write an essay on each and every single one of the characters, as they’re all given a lot of depth and time to grow. Every character has their own baggage that, one way or another, ties back to someone else. Everyone in this show is connected in some way shape or form, and that’s really highlighted when everything starts to fall apart. Be warned: this show is NOT a light watch! If you’re the type of person who gets really into deciphering symbolism and creating your own meaning from pieces of media, then this show is for you!

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Flashing Lights/Flickering Images, Gender Identity/Sexuality Discrimination, Guns, Incest, Kidnapping, Nudity, Pedophilia, Rape/Non-Con, Smoking, Suicide, Bomb Threats/Attempts and Terrorisim

It’s a very major plot point. This show is HEAVILY based off the 95 Tokyo Sarin Gas Attacks, so if content like that is triggering to you, tread lightly.

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

Summary:

People from the modern world transmigrating into the ancient Chinese fantasy world has become a common and everyday occurrence that the royal court in the latter has decided to moderate them. If you’re a transmigrator, you must report your existence to Lou Zhu, the master of Best Tower. Once you pass his test and prove that you are indeed a modern person, you can then be assigned to work in different areas of the government and be given a high salary.

Because of this promised benefit, many impostors have showed up before Lou Zhu. And one day, Zuo Yunqi takes this test as well. Is he an impostor, or is he an actual modern person?

But some transmigrators also choose to hide their existence out of distrust in the government. Where are they? And with their advanced knowledge on science and technology, what are they planning in the dark?

Elsewhere, other transmigrators find themselves in all sorts of situations—an art student is detained and forced to come up with a recipe for a poisonous meal, while another is stuck sharing a body with the original soul and fighting for its control. Meanwhile, unrest rises in the Jianghu and a storm brews in the palace. Can our transmigrators’ modern knowledge save the day? Or will their lack of understanding in the current world lead to their downfall?

Propaganda:

Often in transmigration stories, the locals are portrayed as “backward” and “ignorant” to make the modern characters seem intelligent and progressive. The latter are then hailed as geniuses or pioneers, but in You Yao this isn’t the case. 

You Yao deconstructs the transmigration genre and explores its possibilities. The system that moderates the transmigrators really puts them in their place and curbs their arrogance. And when in Rome, do as the Romans do. No matter how “smart” they may be, they are still subjects of the Emperor.

Besides, modern knowledge doesn’t always prove to be useful. An educated man like Lou Zhu is considered illiterate because he cannot read Traditional Chinese. His assistant has to first translate them into Simplified 😂

Moreover, this world they’re in has elements of wuxia (martial arts with superpowers). How can a modern person who grew up in a safe environment protect oneself in such a setting? They can only ask the locals to protect them. 

So, transmigrators are not necessarily superior to the locals—which I like because it lets us look at the locals’ strengths and appreciate them as well. 

You Yao features an ensemble cast, by the way, and all of them, both locals and transmigrators, are endearing. There are also several canon BL couples, with each pair marking the different sub-plots of the show. Just don’t expect any explicit gay confirmation because it’s limited by Chinese censorship, after all. But even then, it managed to be as fruity as it could be (the S1 ED is literally an angsty love song about the second gay pairing).

In regard to setting, it’s a genius mix of ancient Chinese fantasy and modern technology. Best Tower looks like a traditional Chinese pagoda on the outside, but on the inside it’s like a mall, complete with different entertainment venues and even a milk tea shop! It even has an “elevator,” but since electricity hasn’t been invented yet, it’s just powered by different men (in fancy uniforms) on bicycles. 

You Yao is really creative in presenting what could happen when you forcefully mix the old and the new. This allows a lot of hilarious situations, but it also highlights the dichotomy of tradition and modernity, making viewers question which changes are actually good and bad.

Can the Emperor really be that benevolent when plenty of people with knowledge beyond his keep popping up? And how can all transmigrators be content in following this world’s backward laws? What happens when one side tries to dominate and eradicate the other?

You Yao may give off that silly sitcom vibe, but it’s actually so much more than that. I don’t wanna spoil anything, so all I can say is that it’s gonna make you laugh a lot, and once your guard is lowered it’s gonna sucker-punch you in the gut. Vote You Yao.

Trigger warnings: Guns, kidnapping, and imprisonment. Nothing too dark, though.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[walkthroughtheword]

Reading for August 20th Psalm 74

Today we read another lament of Asaph. This finds us possibly reading the words penned after the destruction of the sanctuary by the Babylonians (v 3) It is a commentary of intense rejection felt by the people of Israel. Rejection, bewilderment and despair. Verse 1 asks the question, “O God, why have you rejected us so long? Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture?” The psalmist expresses two very intense emotions in the situation.

Then we find him professing his faith in the God of Israel in verse 2. “Remember that we are the people that you chose long ago; the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession.” In the midst of the devastation, the psalmist is asking God to re-member (put back together) this nation of people that were distraught.

Many years ago, we went through a challenging time in our family and ministry life. We were endeavoring to hear God’s voice and follow His leading as we longed to serve Him in Urban’s calling of pastoral ministry. How many know when you are trying to follow and obey the Lord, it is sometimes vague and can get messy? Well, if we could draw a map for you, it would look a little like the wanderings in the wilderness. We started in Belleville, then thought we heard Him tell us to go to Oklahoma for Carrie to go to ministry school. Finding out we were pregnant with our 4th child and were living on a shoestring income, we quickly realized this wasn’t remotely possible if we wanted to pay rent and eat. Where would we go next? We needed family support, so we moved to Jacksonville, Illinois to be near family. After a time, we sensed an urge to move on but weren’t sure where so we thought, well, let’s try Mount Vernon, Illinois and start a church, only to uproot and find there was basically a church on every corner. At a very low point, Urban cried out to God, counseled with our pastor at the time, and realized that God had not forsaken us. We thought we were being destroyed, that God was sending us on a wild goose chase to find our place in His plan for ministry. What our pastor reminded us was that God's love was perfect, and our eyes and hearts needed to be fully submitted and engaged with Him. Very long story short, we ended being called to a church in Missouri not long after.

The point of our story? We can feel torn down by the enemy, by circumstances, by even our own frail attempts to hear God’s voice and have the best intentions. God knows all this. He knows the plans He has for us and that is peace and not evil, of hope and an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11) No matter what seems to be falling down around us, let’s remind ourselves that we are His chosen treasures and His own special possession. With that eternal perspective, we are more than conquerors!

For You Are A Chosen Generation

By Chosen Generation

But you are a chosen generation

A royal priesthood, a holy nation

A peculiar people, that should show forth the praises of Him

Who has called you out of darkness,

Out of darkness, out of darkness

Into His marvelous light

Into His marvelous light!

Selah

[hermits-that-craft]

Homebound - Deya’s childinnit au

This oneshot is for the amazing @deyageka ‘s hotel arc childinnit au! Go check it out, please! This is long, 8 page or 2,641 words, long, please note!

Sam walked home that day, humming to himself. Really, he wasn’t going home per say - just to the small house that Puffy, Foolish and himself had built after they found Tommy. Sam was calm as he could be, he walked instead of using his trident in an attempt to calm himself down after how long the day was. Dream has pulled at his strings early in the morning, and Ranboo sent him on a wild goose chase the second he left the prison. 

Sam hoped that Ranboo’s alright, his message didn’t sound right, even in chat. Why would Ranboo need a totem?

Sam walked into the house, and felt mounting dread as lights didn’t turn on. They should have already been on, the only reason why they would be off is if Puffy had taken Tommy out, but she had sent him a message asking him to come home as soon as possible. They weren’t in danger, she had said, Tommy had just wanted him back.

“I’m back!” Sam called. He smiled as he hoped that the pair were just napping as he shut the door.

False hope can only last so long.

“Puffy!” He screamed, looking at the woman as she lied on the floor. Blood ran down her face, unconscious. Almost like she was dead.

Sam doesn’t remember much of what happened next. Of course, he knows what happened. 

Dream escaped, stealing Tommy. At least, thats the basics. He knows Ranboo was there, he knows that Ranboo was - is - possessed. He knows that Tommy woke up as he was teleported away. He knows that some of the toys that Tommy had were taken.

He knows that Puffy hasn’t woken up yet, even though it’s been three days.

Phil and Techno came around, Techno helping Sam track down Dream and the boys. Tubbo moved Micheal into Sam’s base, hoping that it would be safer. Quackity, Karl, Sapnap and George also joined the search party. The groups split up, scouring the land. Tubbo joins, looking through places he knows Ranboo frequents.

Sam has been banned from searching after Phil found him, half dead, in the snow. 

Ponk helps him heal, but it isn’t enough. Sam can’t - won’t, he’s too much of a coward - voice why he won’t rest. It’s his fault that Tommy’s gone. It’s his fault that Dream got out. He is - was - Tommy’s father, and his was - is - the warden. He failed his jobs. He let not only Tommy, but the entire server down by letting Dream out.

Dream was right, Sam can’t protect anyone, let alone Tommy.  This is his fault.

“Hey, Sam.” Ponk says softly, carrying in some warm soup. “You up to eat now? I’ll eat some too, it can be a real date.”

There’s kindness in Ponk’s eyes, love and sympathy and caring in the brown eyes. Sam doesn’t deserve it. Sam’s hurt too many people, Ponk shouldn’t-

“You’re thinking too hard.” Ponk smiles, handing Sam the soup. “Stop blaming yourself for Tommy’s kidnapping. You couldn’t have known.”

“He’s gone because my prison failed.” Sam whispers. “I failed everyone. I was supposed to be the warden, I was supposed to protect-”

Sam breaks, sobbing. He can’t keep being strong, he can’t keep up this facade. It’s dragging him down, pulling him under the water. Vines wrap around his throat, squeezing the life out of him. The void would be a kinder death, he’s falling apart and-

And Ponk wraps his arms around Sam, letting the creeper hybrid sob into his arms. He holds Sam together, as the world falls apart.

----

“Tommy, settle down.” Dream rolls his eye, not that Tommy can see under his mask. The child is still annoying, but he follows orders easily.

“I want Papa.” Tommy protests, clinging to the Sam Nook toy that Ranboo had stolen for him when Dream took him. “Where’s my Papa.”

“I’m right here.” Dream says, cooing at the child.

“No you’re not.” Tommy glares, tears forming in his tiny eyes. “I want my Papa and Big Q and Karl and Foo’ish and Mama Puff and Sap and George!”

George.

“Do you like George?” Dream asks quietly, shock filling his chest. He could have George back, his best friend.

“Yeah! He reads to me and is safe.” Tommy smiles, tapping the Sam Nook toy around. “Makes me sleepy, though.”

“How would you feel if I asked George to come around?” Dream offers, taking out his communicator.

“Will he?” Tommy looks up, happily. 

“I’m sure he’d love to.” Dream says, and Tommy cheers, throwing Sam Nook to the side as he gives Dream a hug. “But now you need to go to bed.”

Tommy whines, but doesn’t struggle as Dream picks him up. The small child - only two or three years old at most - yawns, snuggling in to sleep as Dream places him in the bed. Dream smiles from under his mask, shutting the door slightly as he leaves. Dream walks down the stairs, watching through the door as Ranboo tidies up the living room. 

Dream whispers to Georgenotfound: Would you like to come around, I haven’t seen you since I left prison. Dream whispers to Georgenotfound: You can bring Sapnap as well, I guess. But I’d like to catch up with you - and tommy’s missing you i guess :/ Georgenotfound whispers to Dream: What are your co’ords? I’ll come now. We can bring Sapnap once he’s calmed down.

Dream smiles, sending through the coordinates without a second thought. Of course George would agree to come around. George is his best friend, he’s Dreams other half. George - and Puffy, a traitorous part of his brain whispers - would do anything for him.

Ranboo stops cleaning for a moment, looking up the stairs. Dream frowns, following his line of sight. No one is there, but he notices the small sobs that emit from the higher floor. Tommy. The child must be crying, maybe a nightmare. He’s too young to remember L’Manburg, the disks or the wars. He only remembers some people, after all.

Sam is one of them. Tubbo was not. A child's mind is a strange place.

Dream walks up the stairs, pausing outside Tommy’s room. He knocks before he enters, warning the boy. Dream turns on the light, not knowing what to expect. 

Tommy sits up in his bed, his eyes screwed shut as he sobs. Tommy hugs Sam Nook close, but no words fall from his lips. Dream sighs, scooping the boy up and gently rocking him. Tommy blinks his eyes open before he screws them shut, crying again. Dream frowns, sinking to the ground as he tries to settle the boy.

“Please stop crying.” Dream mumbles, rocking Tommy. He’s so small, so fragile. Dream can feel every shake of Tommy’s tine body as the child cries himself back to sleep. 

Dream sets the boy back into bed, tucking him in gently. He’ll wait with the boy until Ranboo is done, and then he’ll go to greet George.

----

“Dream sent me a message.” George says, casually leaning against the doorframe. “I have his coordinates.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Eret gasps, covering their mouth. Bad and Phil stand up, looking over George with carefully concealed confusion. “How long ago did you receive the message?”

“About fifteen minutes?” George frowns, checking the time. “Yeah, around fifteen minutes ago.”

“And you didn’t tell us until now?” Techno glares, an axe summoned into his hand.

“I couldn’t find you until now. Are you guys coming or what?”

“Have you told anyone else?” Phil asks, pulling his wings out of his cloak.

“Quackity, Karl and Sapnap are halfway there.” George says, walking towards the coordinates.

“Sam?”

“Doesn’t need the stress.” George says. “He’s too sick.”

“What’s the plan?” Bad asks quietly.

“Karl, Sapnap and Quackity stake the house out from a distance. I go in, distract Dream and Ranboo, and then grab Tommy and run.” George says.

“Where do we come in?” Techno asks.

“I dunno, we didn’t think that far ahead.” George shrugs. “Work it out when we get there.”

And with that, they walk.

----

Dream stands in the kitchen, watching the kettle boil as he waits for George to arrive. He’s boiled the kettle twice so far, waiting for his friend, but he doesn’t want the water to go cold before George can have some tea.

A knock sounds at the door, and Dream cautiously walks over, opening it. White clout glasses and brown hair appears, and Dream relaxes, opening his arms for a hug. George hesitates for a split second before he sinks into the hug. Dream doesn’t - wont - think about it. The hesitation.

“Hey.” Dream breaths, and George smiles. 

“Hey yourself. How are you?”

“Good. I’m a father now.” Dream smirks, and George pulls out from the hug. “Do you want some tea?”

“The gosip type or the good type?” George jokes, and Dream steps aside, showing George the kitchen bench, where two cups are laid.

“Guess.”

----

“Why did George hug him?” Techno whispers to Eret.

“They’re best friends, he’s keeping up the persona.” Eret replies. “Letting Dream’s guard down.”

“Will it work?”

“Well, we won’t know unless George either gets Tommy.” 

“Or he starts screaming.” Phil says darkly, his wings fluttering nervously behind him.

“Dream wouldn’t-” Bad shakes his head. “No, this Dream isn’t the same one who played with Sapnap as a kid. Dream would hurt George, wouldn’t he?”

----

“Is Tommy sleeping alright?” George asks, trying to sound casual. “Sam used to complain that he’d only ever sleep peacefully if I was there.”

It’s a lie, but George and Sam had both noticed that Tommy would sleep easily in George’s arms. Nightmares would still happen, but Tommy would calm down faster.

“He’s been having so many nightmares.” Dream admits. “He also cries a lot, even during the day. I think he needs you around. Familiar faces and all that.”

“What about Ranboo?” George asks, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Ranboo hasn’t been Ranboo since I escaped.” George can hear the self centered smirk in his voice, the proud lilt of admitting that he’s controlling the teen. “I think Tommy can tell that. It doesn’t seem to bother him all that much, he’s seen my face and isn’t scared.”

George’s stomach drops at that, fear lacing his insides. There’s a reason Dream wears the mask. He doesn’t look safe to be around, he looks like if the void had a neon green eye and a glowing, neon green hole gaping where his mouth and nose should be. But George knows better than to mention that, only raising his eyebrows with surprise.

“I would have thought that would make him cry.” George jokes, lightly elbowing Dream. “Is he sleeping?”

“I hope so, do you want to check?” Dream cocks his head to the side, not too unlike a puppy. George nods, and let’s Dream walk him up the stairs. 

Now’s his chance.

---

Sapnap nervously paces, the treeline hiding him from Dream’s watchful gaze. He’s far enough away to see everything, but not be able to hear anything. It’s safer this way, watching from a distance. Karl and Quackity won’t get hurt if he’s caught, this way. He doesn’t trust the silence, and from the nervous looks on his fiancees’ faces, they don’t like not being able to hear either.

An ear piercing scream tears the silence in half as Karl makes eye contact with Sapnap.

“GEORGE!” Sapnap screams, running towards the house. Snow melts under his feet, he can’t contain his anger. “George!”

Sapnap slams open the door to the house, his hand melting the door handle. George lays on the ground, his glasses under Dream’s foot. Blood. There’s so much blood. Too much blood. George is curled around Tommy, who wails at the top of his lungs. George isn’t moving. Why isn’t George moving? Why isn’t he struggling.

Duck.

Ranboo’s punch misses.

Sweep your opponents leg out from under them.

Ranboo falls to the ground, his head cracking painfully.

Keep your eyes on the room.

Blood pools under Ranboo’s head. Dream laughs.

Don’t let your guard down.

“Did you really think that George could take Tommy from me?”

Don’t let your opponent see any fear.

“I trusted you both. You’re my friends. I can’t believe you would betray me like this.”

Focus on the fight.

“I thought you cared about me, all I wanted was for us to be a family again.”

Dream stands on George, and Sapnap can hear the pained weaze that George breaths out. He’s still alive.

“Eyes on me, Snapnap.” Dream taunts, and Sapnap’s eyes jump back to his once-best friend. “You’ve got to work on that.”

Don’t make the first move.

“Not going to talk to me?”

Go on the defensive.

“That’s rude.”

Duck.

“Let’s dance.”

Duck. Sidestep. Block. Jab. Punch. Duck. Owch, was that his eye? Duck again, keep focusing. Get to the door. Duck. Open the door. Punch. Step outside. Block. Run backwards. Duck. Throw a punch

Sapnap is thrown through the air, landing with a scream on the ground. Snow melts around him, and he lets out a gasp of pain. There’s blood underneath him, staining the snow red. It’s pretty, almost.

Sapnap can see Phil and Techno fight Dream, out of the corners of his eyes. Eret and Bad run into the house, carrying out Ranboo, Tommy and George. They’re safe. Everyone is safe now. Sapnap did good.

“Stay awake Sap.” Karl says, and Sapnap forces his eyes open - when did they close - to see his fiancee’s. Quackity cradles his head in his lap, and Karl fumbles with his pockets. “Keep your eyes open, yeah, that’s good. Keep it up.”

Sapnap groans as Karl pours a healing potion directly onto his torso. It wont help much, there’s something in his back, but he can’t speak. It hurts too much.

“Open your eyes.” Quackity says, and Sapnap feels warm fingers on his cheek. “Open your eyes. BAD! BAD SAPNAP’S-”

----

Sam watches out the window of his room as birds flit around tree branches. Ponk had left the room half an hour ago, just after he served breakfast. Ponk hadn’t said much, simply kissing Sam’s forehead and telling him to relax.

Sam can’t relax. He shouldn’t be allowed to, pneumonia or not. Not while Puffy suffers, while Tommy suffers. 

“Hey Dad.” Quackity’s voice doesn’t surprise Sam, who sees his son every morning.

“Hey duckling.” Sam smiles. “How are you this morning?”

“Good. Sapnap and George are in a bad shape though. Bad kicked me out of their rooms.” Quackity laughs wetly, tears in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Sam says, opening his arms out for Quackity. The man smiles, but shakes his head, wiping away tears. 

“There’s something you need to see.” Quackity says, and apparently thats a cue for something, because Jack opens the door to his room.

Niki wheels Puffy into the room, the woman sitting on a wheelchair, her hair falling down over her shoulders. She’s still got a bandage on her head, but there is colour in her cheeks and a knowing smile on her face.

“Puffy.” Sam gasps, happy to see his friend better, if not up and running. Sam tries to stand, to give Puffy a hug, but Quackity just pushes him back into his bed.

“If you’re that happy to see me, you’ll need someone to hold you back with who Foolish has.” Puffy jokes, though her voice is hoarse.

Foolish walks into the room, gently holding a wiggling Tommy. Sam gasps, and true to Puffy’s prediction, it takes Quackity and Jack to stop Sam from getting out of his hospital bed. Foolish passes Tommy to Sam, and the man holds onto Tommy gently, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he’s here. He’s safe, finally.

“How-”

“We’ll explain later.” Quackity says. “Just relax for now. Everyone is safe.”

[queeenpersephone]

What are your top 5 Mulder moments ?? Love your blog 😍❣️!!!

omg thank you!! and oh lord. okay i'm going with moments that aren't at their core msr bc that's probably a separate list, but they might sneak in here.

1. "you got nothing to fear if you're righteous people." "just in case we're not, we could use a little righteous help here." (signs and wonders) this is the only xf moment that was so funny to me i literally laughed aloud for like 10 minutes, and it’s 90% dd’s delivery. mulder's one liners are one of the best parts of his character, thinking about that one post about mulder stepping onto a crime scene and starting his comedy routine because it's so true! obviously wholesome and tragic and serious moments are also great, but txf can be very funny, and mulder's lines are a huge part of keeping the show light enough that it doesn't always take itself too seriously.

2. "hey now... none of that." (existence) this moment sends me to another plane of existence (lmao get it?) but seriously we focus a lot on scully's journey with children (rightfully) but mulder's arc involving what in the end will make him happy is so poignant. from ivf to getting together with scully knowing that children can never be, to coming back from the dead to find that's not the case, this culmination where we see, no, mulder wants to be a father, is almost more satisfying than the kiss that follows. he wants william. the superb acting from dd gets me so hard here because the writers give us no explicit conversation about it!! but we know anyways, from the way mulder holds his child for the first time, quietly telling him not to fuss, because he'll be used to being held in these particular arms in no time and then the show ends.

3. "i did, i liked it." (pilot) "mmm no, not skinner." (redux ii) okay, i'm cheating just a bit but i love love love what both of these moments represent about mulder. for a man who has lost everything, been left by everyone who's proclaimed to love him, who has every reason to have trust issues, he's so eager to believe in people. he's so relentlessly hopeful, not just about aliens, but about the people in his life. an agent most certainly sent to spy on him? instead of nitpicking her whole background until he's so paranoid he scares her away, he reads her thesis. and guess what? is open enough to the idea of her that he likes it! everything (including his trusted dying partner) pointing to his boss being dirty? no, he wants to trust him. god, even when his hope and faith is being used against him (see: diana) i still have to appreciate it. he's a beautiful human for going through so much and still having that capacity to believe in others.

4. mulder killing roche. (paper hearts) god. GOD. i love when episodes reflect the entire show in a way, and that's what paper hearts does to me. roche essentially leads mulder on a wild goose chase, dangling his sister as the reward. and of course, in some ways, mulder falls for it. but when it counts, when it's the life of an innocent on the table, mulder knows when to end it. despite the turmoil in his eyes on that bus, he shoots roche point blank for no other reason than because he's good. he's a good man. the show doesn't need to tell us that too often because it shows us. also s/o to mark snow because the music here is almost too good.

5. "the man was abducted. we all know it. everybody in this room knows it!" ... "then what can i say?" (fallen angel) there's not much gushing i can do about this line, because it speaks for itself. there are a bunch of moments that reflect this idea, but i love this one a lot. even at the beginning of the show, he understands how corrupt the government is. he suspects the truth might be irretrievable. but what we see (what scully sees, why she remains) is his relentless pursuit of it. at times that pursuit is frustrating, selfish, draining.. but it's a pursuit for the honest truth. and mulder will never pass up an opportunity for to remind those in power that he is after them, even if it means being humiliated. an absolute icon.

[wordsfromthesol]

Avengers or Justice League (2/2)

Author: @wordsfromthesol​ Taglist: @zphilophobiaz @malfoys-demigod  @pricetagofficial @anousiemay​ Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader Word Count: 1.2k

Part One

You woke up several hours later, still in the passenger seat. It had definitely been longer than 2 hours. How were you not in New York yet…Before you could ask, Jason spoke up.

"So…welcome back. It's been a while. A lot has changed."

"I can see that. What happened?"

"Well I met the spider thing. Very helpful, definitely a child. But he said Bats was about 3 hours north of here. In a small town called Croatoa."

"Seriously?"

"I couldn't believe it either. Couldn't even find it on a map…but the kid gave me directions. Should be there in…now." Jason commented as he turned onto a dirt road. You had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

**

You had been in this weird town for a few hours. All you had done was sit on the roof of the hotel and listen. The conversations…something was just off. You couldn't put your finger on exactly what. You were so zoned out that you didn't even hear Jason come up behind you.

"Something is off here. Right?" His voice broke your trance.

"Definitely." You nodded, reassuring him that he wasn't crazy.

"There's no crime here. At all. In the last 10 years. Not even a speeding ticket."

"Well the town is all dirt roads…" The comment was meant to put your minds at rest. It didn't. "Should we even be staying here? Crime does tend to follow us." Jason's bellowing laugh cut through the tension.

"I've already got us another room. About an hour away. It was the closest town to here." You moved to get up but stopped when you noticed Jason wasn't following you.

"Is there something else?" A look of concern graced your features.

"Why am I here? Good ole Bruce doesn't need me. Never has. I don't fit into the mold of his superhero gang. I shouldn't even be alive. Who thought I was worth saving?" It was as if someone dosed him with a truth serum. All the insecurities he felt began to pour out.

"Honestly…I have no idea why you were saved. Then again, why was I? Why didn’t that blast kill me? Why did Tony create something to save me? And why did Bruce teach me how to control the catastrophic energy inside of me?" Now you couldn't stop. There was something about this place. "We need to leave." You were barely able to muster up the words.

**

You still weren't sure how the two of you made it out of town, but as soon as you did it was like a switch flipped.

"By the way, Bruce's way of doing things…it's not always right. You don't need to fit into his mold." Even though the effects wore off, you still remembered everything Jason had said. Everything you had said. Those fears and uncertainties, you don't think you'd ever actually said them aloud. You could tell Jason hadn't either.

"Do you think he's there?"

"It's a pretty small town, I would've heard him…unless there was some underground bunker…" You turned towards Jason, realizing that that was an actual possibility. The rest of the drive was ridden in silence. Neither of you wanted to talk about the things that were said.

You had no idea where Jason went, but it had been hours. The two of you had to come up with a plan. It didn't take long for you to find him in an alleyway wailing on some drug dealer.

"Hey, Hood." You casually walked up next to him, leaning against the adjacent brick wall. He sent one final punch towards the dealer before turning towards you. "Don't you think we have more important matters?" Jason just stared at you, confused. You scoffed and starting walking back to the hotel, as you reached the end of the alley you called out, "If you want a lecture we'll have to find your dear ole dad."

You weren't surprised to hear Jason's footsteps quickly behind you. "Well do you know where to begin?"

"Kinda…I was thinking. And the power to affect people's minds like that has to be constantly going. Especially since it affected us."

"Yeah but that could be anything. A sound, emitting something into the air, even widescale mind control." You let out a defeated sigh as Jason continued. "I can call Miss Martian. If it's the latter."

"Alright, get her on standby. I'm going to call Tony. Maybe he has something we could use if it's a sound or air thing." You stopped dead in your tracks and turned towards Jason. "I just don't get why they would have Bruce. I get that he is inherently violent…but he still helps people. And they wouldn't need him if there was no crime…"

"I…" Jason started walking again, not wanting to think about the answer. "I'll get Tim on it. Just don't go back there until we know more."

Your eyes widened, "Yeah no, of course not."

**

Once you were sure Jason was asleep, you flew just outside the town limits and began circling the town. There had to be something you missed. It took almost 30 minutes for you to notice the sound. You stopped, hovering about 30 feet in the air, as you focused in on the noise. The next thing you knew you were plummeting to the ground, yet you couldn't stop yourself. It seemed as if Jason was at your side as soon as you hit the ground.

"Y/N! Are you kidding me?!"

Your eyes fluttered open to examine the damage around you. "I thought you were asleep."

"And I called bullshit the moment you said you wouldn't come back here." You didn't protest as he scooped you up and gently placed you in the car.

"It's sound." You mumbled as you fought off the headache.

"Guess I'll have to talk to the tin can again." He rolled his eyes, but his expression softened as he watched your face contort in pain. "You okay?"

"Just karma for not listening to the all mighty Jason Todd."

**

A week had passed and it seemed the mission grew stagnant. Tony had developed a device that blocked the sound, which you had already tested, but there were still too many unknowns. Every meeting consisted of hypothesizing different situations and possibilities that could be encountered once everyone was inside.

"Enough already!" You shouted at the arguing heroes. "We could do this for months. It's pointless. We need to go now. Batman may not even be there anymore."

"Oh, uh…he is." Spiderman chimed in.

You furrowed your brow, "How do you know that?"

"I put a tracker on him. It's still there…" As the whole room burst out in laughter, Spiderman just looked around, confused. "What?!" His voice broke through.

"Oh…sweetheart." You began as you regained your composure. "There are three reasons that tracker works. One, he was brainwashed and actually didn't know it was there. Two, he put the tracker on something useless to send you on a wild goose chase. And three, he put the tracker somewhere he wanted you to go."

"Considering the creepy town, I'd rule out the second one." Dick chimed in.

"So do we just split up and find the entrance to the tunnels?" You could tell that Tim was ready to get this mission over, so you started doling out responsibilities.

"Tony starts at the north end, Nightwing and Robin at the east, Red Robin and Spiderman, the west. Red Hood and I will start at the south. We can't go in costume though. It will be too obvious."

"So we must reveal our identities to these inane people?" Damian was not happy with the situation, especially having to work with members of the Avengers.

"Just don’t say your name? We're trying to find Batman, this is more important than your secret identity."

**

You prayed that the sonic dampeners Tony developed would hold for the duration of the mission. You had no idea how long this would take. This situation seemed much more involved than some low level, one-off criminal. It was a demonstration, a practice round.

The town was small enough, so one of the groups had to stumble upon this entrance. The only tricky part was not drawing attention to yourselves. Seven strangers come to town at once…you were hoping whatever brainwashing protocol overlooked this fact. And you were right. No one gave you and Jason a second glance as the two of you strolled down the street. It had been almost an hour before you stumbled upon a potential entrance. As discreetly as possible, you opened the hatch and lowered yourself through the hole.

"So which way do we go?" Jason commented as he followed in suit.

"Left?" You figured you had a 50/50 shot, so you went with your gut. After all, if you went right, you wouldn't be in town for too much longer. "You should probably call the others. Have them rendezvous here, in case we run into trouble."

"Trouble from who? The townies?" You shrugged off his condescending tone. The two of you had been walking for a few minutes when you started to hear footsteps. People were running towards you.

"Uh, Jason…we need to move." Jason didn't bother to argue, as the urgency was pasted over your face. The two of you raced down the corridor until you saw something. "STOP! There's a room. There." You pointed towards the concrete block to your right.

"And does this room have a door?" You could tell by his tone, Jason wasn't afraid to make one. Your eyes scanned around the area until you found it. Not bothering to answer his question, you rushed towards the opening.

"And it's locked."

"Not for long," Jason smirked as knelt down to work on the lock. It was opened in seconds. Your eyes searched around the room in awe. There was video and audio of the entire city. Even inside people's homes.

"How do we --" Your question was interrupted by a loud banging against the door. "Just subdue, don't maim or murder." The comment was a reminder to both yourself and Jason. These were innocent unsuspecting townspeople, not criminals.

"Didn't need to be said!" You shoot a glare his way, to which he responds with a shrug of the shoulders. Just as the two of you braced for a fight, the banging stopped. Seconds later, Tim swung open the door.

"In a bit of a bind?"

"Does it look like we know how to operate this?" You pointed towards the various machines behind you. Tim nodded and got to work.

**

"So, no evil mastermind or Batman." You had convinced Jason to come back to the hotel with you and let the rest of them deal with the groggy and confused townspeople.

"Guess not."

"There's probably going to be more towns like this. You'll have to keep an eye out…"

"Oh. So you're leaving Earth then?" Jason's chest sank at the thought.

"Is there a reason I should stay?" You knew the answer, but you wanted him to say it. You wanted to make sure you weren't imagining everything.

"I can probably think of a few…"

[dreamescapeswriting]

Living Hell ~ MYG [Request]

↬↬↬Word Count: 4.2K

↬↬↬Genre: Angst, fluffy ending

↬↬↬Pairing: Min Yoongi X Gender Neutral Reader

The internship of a lifetime is what everyone was calling it but you called it your living hell, every day was a whole new way for Min Yoongi to torture you and make you want to quit doing the things you loved but you kept pushing on despite the feeling of wanting to give up. You weren't going to let someone push you aside like that even if it was every day. 

"Y/n!" You looked up from your pad of paper in front of your face to see Namjoon and Yoongi walking towards you, Namjoon had a smile on his face as he walked towards you questioning you on how your song was coming along. Every week BigHit set a task for the winners of the internship to work on songs and present them at the end of the week, 

"Really well," You kept it brief since Yoongi was giving you a death glare that you're sure would kill you given half of the chance but then again you were sure Yoongi would kill you given half the chance. The first time you met him you were sure it was just because you were new to the team and he wasn't sure on you but as time passed and he grew colder to you the more you realised he actually just hated you. 

"Did you hear me?" Namjoon questioned waving his hand in front of your face, you were staring off down into the hallway as though no one had been standing right in front of you. 

"Stupid little child," Yoongi mumbled pushing past you and walking towards his studio, you looked at Namjoon. 

"Sorry I was just thinking of some lyrics." You lied trying to pretend you hadn't heard Yoongi mumbling under his breath, it was something you were used to by now. 

"They have a competition coming up in a few days, they're going to select a few of you to do some work within a limited amount of time. I'm not supposed to tell you but I figured you could use the heads up." You thanked him while he walked off to his own studio, you stayed in the hall jotting down some lyrics to a song you'd been working on in the back of your notebook. Nothing that was ready to be heard yet but it was there if you ever needed something to work on.

"Y/n?! Are you done?" You glanced over at Yoongi who was standing with his head in the door of his studio, 

"Yes." You whispered walking over to him to see what he wanted this time, 

"Good. I need you to go and get all this for me, you'll be able to find it easily enough." He handed you a sheet of paper with a bunch of useless items on it, it looked like he was just trying to send you on a wild goose chase. 

"Why can't you do this yourself-"

"I'd be nicer to me if I were you, I'm the one that's going to be judging your work next week." He licked his bottom lip as he watched you stand up straight at the mention of him being one of the judges for the competition, 

"Then you understand that I need to work on my own things instead of yours..." You were doing your best to be kind to him, you'd been brought up to be kind to everyone you met. Treat people the way that you wished to be treated but Min-Fucking-Yoongi made that extraordinarily difficult for you to be nice to him with everything he was putting you through. 

Since day one he'd made it clear he had a strong dislike for you but you had no idea why. You'd been nothing but kind to everyone that worked in BigHit and Yoongi had been one of your inspirations so it was difficult to have someone you'd idolised for so long hate you without truly knowing who you were. 

"Listen, if you want to make it in this industry I suggest you do what I ask of you." He pushed the piece of paper into your chest and you hurried out of his studio, going to get your car keys from the small office you had been assigned on your first day.

"I'm sure you're all aware by now that there is a competition coming up. This will be the final test for the interns." Bang PD was speaking clearly as he looked over everyone in the room, all of the interns were sitting in front of the room watching him closely and listening for what they had to do. 

"I expect to see work from each of you by next week. People will be leaving us so let this be a warning if your work is anything less than what we expect you'll be forced to leave and your contract will be terminated with us." Swallowing the lump in your throat you wrote down what he was expecting from you all, the types of songs he wanted and how many. You were sure if you put your mind to it you'd be able to get everything he wanted from you and more, the thought of losing this opportunity physically hurt your chest when you'd done nothing but work towards it for years. It had been your dream since you could remember to work with music and BigHit was one of the leading companies that you'd wanted since you were 16. Nothing was going to stop you from working hard to keep this job.

A week passed and you'd tortured yourself trying to keep up with everything, Yoongi had you running around after him like you were his own personal maid. Treating you like a coffee maid instead of a producer who was working within the same industry as him. The only time you got to work on your own music was when it was late into the night and you were locked up in your studio, forcing yourself to stay awake until the unholy hours just to get at least one song done. You were ahead of an intern you knew but you didn't feel it was enough.

Today you were supposed to be working on the final song that would make your work stand out, a song about hardship and pushing through everything someone was throwing at you - you hadn't even noticed you'd written the song about Yoongi, as far as you saw it it was just a song about someone else going through a hard time. Your phone buzzed from beside you as you were about to lay your vocal track down,

[Yoongi]: Need your help in the studio, please.

The emoji he'd sent wasn't like Yoongi at all, a pleading face with a please at the end? It wasn't like Yoongi at all. Yoongi never said please, ever. Maybe he'd finally realised how much he'd pushed you this week and was trying to say sorry for it. You locked your desktop up taking your phone with you towards his studio, it was just up the hallway from yours so you wondered what the big deal could have been when you heard a crash coming from inside his room. 

"Yoongi?!" You panicked pushing open the door to see him standing in the corner of his room with a look of fear across his face, you glanced over at the shelves that were now hanging from the wall, one of them still swinging as it held onto the bracket in the wall. 

"What happened?" Your voice came out shaky and nervous as you stared at them in horror, everything looked like it was broken but repairable or in desperate need of a trip to the trash cans. 

"I was working and they just fell- You didn't do a good job on them!" He snapped at you pointing his finger in your direction, you turned to him. He was bringing this around to you? How had this been your fault when it was his office?

"Yoongi I didn't even install the shelves so would you like to explain how it's my fault?!" You lost your temper for a second but squeezed your thumb between your middle finger and ring finger to try and calm yourself down, bring yourself back to reality where he was your boss and not someone you should talk to that way. Even if he had done nothing but belittle you all week into doing stupid tasks for him. Monday it was running around stores for him to look for a certain writing paper, Tuesday he had you working on his tracks as well as cleaning his shoes, Wednesday he wanted the shelves cleaning so that's what you had done, Thursday he wanted you to take his car to get details and the list went on until today, Friday, the final day you had to work on your own things and you'd done nothing but run around after him like his own personal assistant - who he had you fire because she was 'incompetent' and he couldn't stand her working for him anymore. 

"I asked you to clean everything up there the other day so it's clearly your fault." He spat at you, you looked down at the floor to see shards of broken glass everywhere on the floor. If he wasn't careful he could seriously hurt himself and the thought alone made you anxious, 

"Whatever, I-I'll clean it up." You stuttered out not wanting to have a huge fight about it. Maybe it had to have been your fault you knew you'd cleaned up the shelves the other week but nothing you could have done would have caused the brackets to fall out of the wall the way they had. 

"Can you get me-" You went to asked him to get the dust-pan and brush but he was already out of the room and talking into his phone about something, 

"Fuck." You whispered standing up from the floor and going to find the things you needed yourself. 

"How's your project coming along Y/n?" Jungkook asked as he followed you up towards Yoongi's studio, he'd seen you walking through the building looking for something so he decided to come along with you. 

"I heard Yoongi-Hyung called you to his studio, seems like you guys have gotten really close over the last week." He chuckled rubbing the back of his neck as you walked, you laughed nervously. Everyone had noticed how close you worked with Yoongi but no one had noticed how he was treating you because whenever someone else was around it was as if he was a new person, acting like someone you'd known for years and not someone who was using you to get his own way.

"You could say that." It wasn't in you to bad mouth another person behind their back so you kept your mouth shut and opened the door to the studio, Jungkook's mouth hung open as he walked inside behind you looking around at everything. He was about to step further into the room when your arm reached across his chest to stop him from going any further into the room. 

"Careful there's bits of glass everywhere." You muttered nonchalantly to him as you got down onto your hands and needs to start cleaning everything up as quickly as possible.  

"What happened?" He asked looking at the shelves he frowned staring at them, 

"Yoongi was working when they fell," He scoffed at the word fell and walked over to them being careful not to step on anything that was on the floor but he ran he fingers over the holes in the walls. They hadn't fallen at all, they'd been ripped from the wall anyone could see that. He glanced down at everything at the floor and back up to the shelf as he tried to calculate something in his head, Yoongi had removed everything from the shelves and ripped them down before throwing everything onto the floor but why?

"What did Yoongi say happened?" He was sitting next to you now picking up big shards of glass and putting them into the bin beside you, 

"That he was working when they fell." He nodded looking at your face as you concentrated on not hurting yourself, 

"How much work do you have left to do?" He was sure this was nothing to do with your work and he was imagining things but Yoongi had been off lately but this wasn't like the Yoongi he'd known all these years. Why would Yoongi smash up his own things just to get you to stop working? 

"Not much, I have one song to finish and I'm done, I'll have it finished by presentation time tomorrow." You lied. You'd only have it finished if you stayed late again tonight - by staying late you meant falling asleep on the sofa in your office. 

When you finally made it back to your studio that night you were exhausted, you'd cleaned up every small fragment of glass you could find before you went on the hunt for photo frames that looked exactly like the ones that Yoongi had had on the shelves. You'd even gone to DIY stores to get filler for the walls, filling in the holes waiting for them to dry while you fixed up awards with glue you'd picked up. 

"Yoongi? What are you doing in here?" You asked tiredly as you saw Yoongi sitting on the sofa in your studio, his feet kicked up on the sofa as he looked at you. 

"I came to tell you about your work but you weren't here so I figured I'd wait for you." You frowned at him dropping the bag of rubbish outside the door for the night cleaners to come by and take, 

"What about my work?" You looked at the desktop in your studio to see that it was bluescreened, the sad sarcastic face that windows always had whenever a computer did this was evident on the screen. 

"What the fuck!?" You screamed rushing over to it, tapping on the keyboard to try and get anything to work, 

"It's alright, you backed everything upright?" He questioned smugly looking as you pulled out a USB stick from the back of the PC but it was snapped leaving the metal fragments inside of the computer. Your heart was pounding against your chest and tears rushed to your eyes as you thought about everything that was on the computer and USB drive. Yoongi smirked from behind you as you began to cry silently into your hands, he knew you weren't going to say anything to him so he turned to leave when you finally broke down. 

"Why?" You whimpered turning to look at him, tears were streaming down your face as he locked eyes with you. His chest panged with guilt as he saw the broken look across your face, 

"Why do you hate me so much?!" You questioned looking at him and then at the computer, 

"I've done nothing but work my ass off since I got here! But yet you treat me like I'm nothing, why? What did I ever do to you that was so bad?!" You were yelling, Yoongi had never even heard you talk above your normal tone before and it was shocking to have you yelling at him now. He felt bad. 

"Y/n-"

"No, don't ''Y/n'' me. Answer me, what did I ever do to you? You know, Jungkook told me that you probably ripped down those shelves but I've spent my whole day fixing everything for you, putting them back up and making sure they're level. Replacing everything you smashed up, cutting up my hands." You mumbled showing him your plastered covered hands. 

"Do you want me to quit? Because if so you got what you wanted." You were calmer now which scared Yoongi even more than when you were yelling, you grabbed your bag from the back of the door and walked away from him. 

"I quit. You can have the honours of letting everyone know for me." You walked out of the hallway and onto the staircase of the BigHit building falling onto the step and clutching onto the railing as you sobbed into your hands about everything he'd put you through over your time there.

Yoongi made his way back to his studio looking around, everything was perfectly arranged the way he had it before he'd wrecked it all. The shelves were a little lower than they had been but the holes had to be covered somehow. The trophies he had on display were all fixed back together, you could hardly notice the cracks within them unless you knew they were there and the photographs were back in frames like the ones he owned. You'd done a brilliant job on everything and yet he'd treated you the way he did, he reached into his pocket to take out the real USB stick he'd taken from your computer with everything on it and he put it into his own computer loading everything up onto his system. 

"Yoongi?" He looked over his shoulder to see one of the night security men, 

"Yeah?"

"It's Y/n again Sir, we found them asleep on the steps, what should we do?" He sighed coming out of his office to see you asleep in the arms of another security guard. They'd found you like this a couple of times over the months of you working for BigHit and they always came to Yoongi since he'd told them to whenever they saw you asleep somewhere that wasn't your own studio. Yoongi had found you asleep on his sofa one night and carried you to yours so that you could get some decent sleep. 

"Take them to their studio," He mumbled walking behind them as they carried you towards your room. They laid you down before leaving and he stared at you, the way your brows furrowed together as you dreamt about something you didn't like,

"Yoongi go away," You whimpered in your sleep and he sighed running his hand along your cheek using his thumb to caress your skin as he realised he was the bad thing you were dreaming about.

Groaning as you woke up the next morning you looked around you to see you were in your office, your computer still had the patronising sad face over the screen that made you want to put your fist through the screen just so it would go away. You sat up on the sofa to see a blanket had been laid across your body, a glass of water and orange juice was on the table along with a note. 

Meet me in my studio - Yoongi 

You scoffed at the note throwing it into the bin and running your hairs through your hair, you opted out of drinking the drinks he'd left you and headed to the mirror in your room to try and make yourself look at least a little presentable and not that you'd spent the night on your studio sofa which wasn't even your studio anymore. You were going to quit. You weren't going to take it anymore. Throwing the door open you made you way down the hall ignoring Yoongi's door as you passed it heading straight to Bang PD instead of going to Yoongi like he'd asked of you. 

"You're telling me you're quitting?" Bang PD asked as he looked up from the work on his desk, he was marking through papers with his glasses pressed up against his face, 

"Yes Sir, I know it's short notice but my work, there was an accident with my computer and it's gone. To save a lot of hassle I decided to quit that way you won't have to fire any competent interns." The door to his office opened and closed, Yoongi stood behind you panting heavily. 

"They're not quitting Sir, they're just tired." He was breathing heavily and PD put his pen down onto the table sighing as he watched the both of you bicker back and forth about quitting, 

"Don't let them quit," Yoongi spoke louder than you could and you stared at him as he stepped in front of you and began ranting quickly as though he was rapping,

"Their PC was corrupted last night and I have their original work on a USB stick, there's no need to fire Y/n or let them quit so please just...Don't let them, it's my fault all of this happened, Sir. I took everything Y/n was working on and it's ready for your viewing in the main presentation room."

Bang PD had reviewed everything on the CD while you stayed silent listening to yourself singing on the tracks along with Jungkook and Jimin who were included in some of the songs. 

"This is exceptional work Y/n." Bang PD said as he turned around to face you on the chair, 

"I won't stop you from quitting if it is something you want to do but from what I've heard we would be at a loss without you on our team." You stared down at the floor nodding along to what he was saying, 

"I'll give you some time to think things over," He patted your back leaving you and Yoongi alone in the room, as soon as the door shut you turned to him. 

"Do you think this would fix anything between us? That you presenting my work as if everything was fine would be okay!? Are you fucking-" You were cut off when his lips touched yours, his hands pressed on the back of your head to bring you closer to him. Your eyes widened as you realised you were kissing him, slowly they began to flutter shut as you leant into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck. You were kissing Min Yoongi...You were kissing Min Yoongi?! The guy that had made your life hell. You pushed him away from you and shook your head, tearing up as you thought about it. 

"Are you actually insane?!" You spat at him glaring at him as he smirked wiping his lips with his hand, 

"I think that's the best kiss I've ever had, come here-"

"Wipe that smirk off your face, you're deluded if you think that is ever going to happen." As much as you wanted it to it wasn't something that could happen again, 

"You've done nothing but make my life a living hell since I started here, why did you- Why would you-" There were too many questions to ask in such a short time span that you just took in sharp breaths trying to calm yourself down.

"Come on, I know I call you dumb Y/n but I don't mean it." He chuckled walking over to you again, he raised his hand to your cheek but you didn't move away you snuggled your face against it. Your whole body felt warm from the small interaction and he chuckled feeling your cheeks heat up and watched as you skin began to glow, 

"You like me and I like you, what's the big deal?" You moved away from him yet again, 

"The big deal is that you've done nothing but make my life hell, you made me think my work was gone and then magically think it's going to be fixed because I got to keep my job?" You asked him raising an eyebrow at him if he really thought that this was all going to be some magically happy ending he was wrong things like that only happened in the movies.

"Y/n please, I was- I was intimidated by you and you working so hard it scared me...I thought if I could push you down a little and make you work less I wouldn't have to be afraid." You rolled your eyes at the excuse he was spilling out to you and you went to leave the room but his hand was placed on top of yours, you would be lying if you said you didn't feel something there. It was as if there was a huge electric shock running throughout your entire body whenever he touched you.

"I like you, a lot, another reason I made you run around for me so I could see you more often than I normally would...It was wrong okay and I'm sorry but let me make it up to you. Don't run away from me." He pleaded with you, you turned to look at him and sighed. He looked sorry for everything he'd done and he was, he was terrified and felt guilty for everything he'd done. 

"Please."

"How?" You questioned folding your arms across your chest to seem more intimidating but mostly to get your hand away from his otherwise you were about to cave in to him right away. 

"I'll take you out, just us two. Away from all of this so I can prove how much I like you...Please?" You licked your lips pretending to think about it as if you didn't already have the answer 'yes' written in glowing lights above your head.

"Fine. One date and then we'll talk about it..." You whispered looking at him as he walked closer to you, pulling your hand into his and smiling softly. 

"I am truly sorry." He whispered kissing your lips softly as he stepped closer to you.

Tagline: 

@writingdreamsnottragedies @snowy-meowl @jooniesdarlingdimples @taestannie @jooniesdarlingdimples @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @fan-ati--c​ @callingmyangel​ @rjsmochii​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @innersooya​ 

[danny-chase]

Dick Grayson Week Day 4

Prompt: Bruce hits Dick and doesn’t get away with it

Summary/Notes:

A Spyral fixit where the family finds out about Nightwing 30. Perspectives are from Tim and Jason, but Steph, Cass, and Damian make an appearance. Quotes taken from Forever Evil 7 and 8, and Nightwing 30. Tw for swearing, angst and domestic/child abuse (because canon is terrible and I can’t leave it the way it is).

Edit: I have an AO3 account now yay! Read here

“I’ll be right back.” Tim chirped as he left to pull some files out of his room. He could feel his friends’ gazes lingering on him as he left. He had to suppress an eye roll. He was fine. Your pseudo-dad/adopted-father-before-you-emancipated-yourself loses his memory and suddenly everyone thinks there’s something wrong with you. Figures. Bruce was happier this way. And maybe, one day, he’d be able to get to know him again. Maybe not as sorta-father and son. But Bruce 2.0 liked volunteering with kids, running charity events. Maybe they could be business partners, or coworkers. It wasn’t like last time. But that didn’t mean Cassie, Bart and Kon weren’t worried. No matter how many times he tried to explain, they wouldn’t listen. It was better this way. Bruce was happier without them. Without him. It stung at first sure, but he was over it. He could handle it. Even if the knot in his stomach told him otherwise.

His fingers brushed the lines on the hallway as he strode through Titan’s Tower. The halls seemed so much smaller than they used to be. Logically, he knew they were the same size. But they weren’t the same walls as when he’d first visited. And those hadn’t even been the first wall either. “We’ve had to rebuild this place like at least a million times.” Dick had told him. The knot tightened. Don’t think about it, he reprimanded himself. He’d been having a nice afternoon. It was relaxing, staying with his friends. But he couldn’t walk through the halls without feeling like a trespasser. This was Dick’s team. This was his home away from home. Who was he kidding? He was no Dick Grayson. Dick’s friends used to look to him for guidance, for advice, for help with problems, personal and business related. Tim used to look to him for guidance, advice and help. Stop thinking about him, he tried again. Forget the Crime Syndicate. Forget the funeral. Don’t stress, repress. He paused for a moment, stared aimlessly out the window, took a few deep breaths, cleared his mind and continued on his way.

Climbing the stairs, he decided it was better to use his mental faculties to go through the case he was working on. Jason had called two days ago asking about some of his old informants in Gotham, Penguin was apparently moving back onto the scene and reorganizing the structure of some of the newer gangs. Cleaning house. Informants were switching names, following their own protocols. Bruce had written some contingency in a classified file somewhere. The issue was where. The damn batcomputer had like a billion files on it. And Barbara knew the system, but was busy coordinating for the JLA and had put them on “Do not Disturb” mode for the foreseeable future. He could write a program to search for it. Stupid Bruce and his stupid files that he’d kept secret from them. “It was on a need to know basis.” He could almost here the defensiveness in Bruce’s voice if he tried hard enough. He nearly face planted as he miscalculated the number of stairs. Maybe they should just go back to their old Young Justice base. Or wait till the building inevitably explodes again and just make it better. That would be fun. Designing a Teen Titans base with slides and escalators. Bart would be thrilled. Bart could probably build it in 5 minutes. Dick wouldn’t approve, his brain felt the need to remind him. Tim nearly huffed. Well Dick is de-.

He abruptly lost his train of thought. There was noise coming from his room. Someone was sniffing, was someone crying in his room? Who was even in his room? Everyone was downstairs. Cissie and Steph were visiting in the lounge, Greta left a few days ago, the new kids were in the gym getting a feel for the equipment. The hell? His heart pounded a bit louder as he silently slunk towards his rooms. If Dick decided to haunt him from beyond the grave this was not cool. The lights flickered. Tim nearly screamed. He could feel cold sweat gathering in his palms, his heart racing, thoughts pounding in his skull. It’s just one of Bart’s pranks, no one can get in without access. He slid next to his door and pulled up the camera feed on his glove’s embedded computer. They weren’t in lockdown, but it couldn’t hurt to check. Few clicks here, few taps there and…Damian? Tim burst through the door, half relieved and fully confused.

“What are you doing here?” Tim half yelled, Damian startling on the bed as he burst into his room. Tim flicked the lights on as the gremlin crossed his arms in response. Tim shut the soundproof door, no need to bother Kon with this.

“I was given access to the tower as well.” He stated monotonously. Tim frowned; something was off. Damian didn’t just show up in his room. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen the kid in weeks. Not since Bruce went all amnesiac on them. Where was he even staying. Damian shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. There were dark circles under his eyes, he was paler than usual, but flushed, his eyes bright. Had he been crying in here? “Quit gawking at me, Drake.” He spat, jolting Tim back into reality.

He almost opened his mouth to throw some insult back. Almost. He saw the kid’s lip tremble just so slightly, and he bit his tongue. The kid’s hands were shaking. “What’s up?” He replied cautiously. Keeping the demon brat in line wasn’t in his job description. But the kid had had a rough couple months. Dying, coming back to Dick being dead, Bruce losing his memory. He could help with whatever this was and-

“Grayson is alive.”

-send the kid back to Alfred, he knew the kid better than he did. He had his pets at the manor to keep him company, maybe he’d see if Jon would be willing to have a sleepover or something. Spring break was coming up soon, maybe he could take a trip out to Kansas-

“Drake!” Damian was waving a hand in front of his face. Tim blinked a few times. He hadn’t said…had he? That wasn’t right Dick was-

“Richard is alive, I can prove it.” There was desperation in the kid’s voice, water in his eyes. The trash can was filled with tissues, it had been empty when he left. His shirt was on inside out. Tim inhaled sharply. Fuck. Tim had been there. He’d done that. Denied reality. Gone on a wild fairy tale goose chase. Chased insane dreams. Sure, it had worked. But this was different. They had a body. We had a body then, his mind helpfully supplied. There was no real evidence. It had worked hadn’t it? Denying Bruce’s death out of reality? But Dick couldn’t be alive. Bruce had seen him die. Clark saw Bruce die, his brain again helpfully supplied. Tim studied Damian’s face carefully. He looked two steps away from a mental breakdown. Was that how I looked? He wasn’t exactly looking in any mirrors at the time. Dick had try to talk him back down, that was the wrong move. He’d doubled down. But Damian wasn’t him and Tim had no idea what to do. Damian stared at him, studying his face carefully. Tim could feel his palms sweating again, when had he started clenching his fists? His brain was ticking through options, tell Damian he believed him – high chance of heartbreak, low chance of kid running off and doing something stupid on his own. Try and talk him down – still some heartbreak, but can mitigate, medium to high chance of him running off. Call Alfred – should he really do that though? The kid came to him. Alfred’s busy dealing with amnesiac Bruce. Call someone else? Why did the kid come to him in the first place? Damian hated him, he wouldn’t come to him unless he was really sure, or really desperate. Does he think I can replicate what happened with Bruce? Time seemed to move like molasses. Tim swallowed. Now or never.

“I believe you.” He replied. Damian’s eyebrows furrowed, but his shoulders fell ever so slightly, and he rocked back on his heels, uncrossing his arms and leaning into a less defensive stance. Mixed results. He prayed he sounded convincing enough. If he was going this route, he had to go all the way. It didn’t matter that he’d seen the body. It didn’t matter that Bruce saw. He needed to be on Damian’s side with this one. Just like he’d needed somebody on his side back then. Even if it was a crazy side. Even if it was a leave everyone behind and run around on a whim side. Even if it doesn’t work out, at least the kid would have someone to catch him at the end. Why did it have to be the brat though?

“You do not. But you will.” Damian said solemnly, a bit of an edge to his voice. He pulled a laptop out of a bag on the floor and hopped up on the foot of Tim’s bed. Tim quietly settled next to him, careful to not touch him. He was careful. The kid didn’t appear to be looking for a fight, but you never know. Tim glanced at the laptop screen.

“DAMIAN NO WHAT THE-” He screamed. Damian nearly leapt of the bed. His face turned red.

“-tt- Grow up Drake, this is for research purposes only, that is not-” He started mumbling.

“You’re on DICK GRAYSON THIRST POST WEBSITES for RESEARCH!” Tim half screamed, attempting to lower his voice. Damian flushed harder.

“SHUT UP DRAKE!” He countered. Tim took deep breaths. Dear god, he needed to bleach his eyes after this. He did not need to know these threads existed. Fucking reddit. Humanity has gone too far. There were 20k followers. He peeked over again, the latest posts were from this morning. His mouth was dry. These people were lusting over his dead brother. It was sick, it was fucking disgusting it was-

“Wait what’s that picture?” Tim asked.

“-tt- If you would allow me to explain instead of losing your head, I can show you.” Damian grumbled. He clicked on the picture to enlarge it. “I’ve run the calculations, biometrically, the body shape is a 99.97% match.” Tim let out a low whistle. It wasn’t much to go on. You couldn’t see the figure’s face, he was turned away from the camera. Whoever took it was definitely aiming for a certain portion of the man’s body.

“Have you talked to the poster?” Tim inquired. Damian nodded.

“This subreddit is dedicated to…” Damian made a revolted looking face, “capturing casual images of Grayson in unsavory positions.” He nearly squirmed as he finished the sentence. “I was attempting to research the details of Grayson’s perceived passing and came across this website.” That was a different kind of trauma in Tim’s opinion. “The image caught my eye. He has fans in Ireland, that is where it was taken. These fans are apparently experts at picking him out.” Damian scrolled through some earlier posts to prove his point. “It is odd.” He added pointedly. Tim’s mind was racing. It was hardly evidence. It could have been anyone. But he was right. The perverts were good. They even had a few of Dick in disguise doing undercover work, none of his face of course. But Dick couldn’t be in Ireland. Tim went to the funeral. Bruce went to the funeral. Bruce saw Dick die. Bruce wouldn’t lie about something like that. He never told you about the Joker. His mind supplied. No. Bruce wouldn’t. Bruce couldn’t. He wouldn’t put them through that grief. Not after Damian. Not after all the lies. He promised he wouldn’t lie to them like that. The picture couldn’t be real. But Damian kept scrolling. There were more. In multiple countries. It couldn’t be possible. There was no way. People joked his brother’s butt was iconic but this was ridiculous.

“Drake?” Damian sounded so cautious. Tim was confused. The pictures all looked so real. So accurate. Could they be photoshopped? That could explain it.

“Did you get any of the original files?” He asked much too hastily to appear calm. A smile flicked on Damian’s face for a millisecond.

“You believe me.” Damian stated, half disbelievingly. Tim bit his lip. He didn’t want to. He couldn’t. If he did, then he didn’t believe Bruce. Damian cleared his throat. “I have already examined a few of the original photographs. Their phones were laughably easy to hack.” He looked smug for a mentally unhinged eleven-year-old. “They do not appear to be tampered with.” Tim could feel his heart thudding in his chest. Dick couldn’t be alive. It wasn’t possible. He saw the body. Bruce was in the cave for a week going over it. Not allowing anyone in. No… Fuck…

“What did you do?” He muttered under his breath. Damian looked at him inquisitively, a determination burning in his eyes. Tim hadn’t seen any of the proof himself. And he believed Bruce unquestioningly. That was the opposite of what the man had taught him. But there was still something off. He looked searchingly at Damian. “Dick wouldn’t do that to us.” He couldn’t. Dick would never do something like that. He would tell them. He wasn’t like Bruce, he was reliable. Dick didn’t keep secrets like that. He wouldn’t fake his own death and leave them to fend for themselves. Not after Damian died. After everything they’d lost, after everything he’d lost. Dick wouldn’t do that to him. Damian’s eyes flickered toward the ground, and he frowned.

“Maybe he can’t tell us.” Is all he had to offer. It seemed like a sore spot. Tim didn’t push it. It was probably driving the kid insane. Dick, galivanting across the world, not checking in, not coming back to tell them he was okay? The odds were astronomically low. Dick was a constant. He was their brother. He was a Robin. Robins don’t do that to each other. Steph did, his brain helpfully supplied. But that wasn’t Steph’s fault. Tim dug his nails into his palms. He needed to know. He needed proof. He needed to see the footage, go over the evidence. He didn’t doubt Dick, but his mind was itching. He wouldn’t be able to sleep unless he knew for sure. Hell, Damian probably couldn’t either.

“Look, here’s the plan.” Tim said, his mind racing. Damian stared at him intently. Wow the kid really was desperate if he was willing to listen to him. “I’ll tell Kon I’m taking you home, that you need some help on a case, then will slip out. Maybe, maybe someone close to the family is compromised.” He said, a bit unsure. That could explain the lie. If there was one. Please let there be one. Damian nodded, stuffing his laptop back into his backpack. Tim crossed the room and grabbed the door handle.

A barely audible “Thanks.” reached his ears as he flipped off the lights.

  Jason groaned as he checked his messages. He really didn’t want to go through the batcomputer files. It would be faster if Tim did it, plus he had a lower chance of accidentally messing something up. Not that the file system wasn’t already a disaster. Touch the wrong button and you’re locked in the cave till Alfred realizes something’s wrong.

Tim had stopped responding to his messages two days ago, and well, he couldn’t wait any longer. And so, he found himself zipping through the tunnel systems that led into the cave. It was better to avoid the manner if possible. Happy Bruce wasn’t high on the list of people he wanted to see. That dude was fucking weird. It made him feel weird. It did feel good to cross amnesia off his yearly family bingo though. Now he just needed someone to trip during an interview and he’d break Cass’s winning streak. At the rate they were checking things off, maybe he should start a second batch and make it biannual. That or change the prompts. They were getting predictable.

He rolled to a stop inside the cave, and nearly rolled his eyes seeing the mess of skid marks on the floor. Seriously, tires are expensive, why his siblings couldn’t park like normal human beings was beyond him.

Someone was clacking away on the upper platform. Oh, thank God Tim was probably here, figuring it out before he could mess everything up. Cass poked her head over the railing, Jason cocked an eyebrow at her as he removed his helmet. She grinned and jumped over it, catching the fireman’s pole and sliding down. Someone was going to break an ankle doing that, could he add that to the bingo cards? Stupid non-work related injury was already on there, maybe upgrading it to stupid broken bone would suffice. Dick broke his nose outside Denny’s at 3am last year during a post mission party. Hands down one of the best nights of Jason’s life. Too bad his family members decided to die at least once a year.

“I’m about to win bingo.” Cass whispered as she brushed past his shoulder. That jolted Jason out of his bittersweet thoughts.

“Bullshit.” He growled back, bingo was his this year. She smugly wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“Sorry brother.” She said sweetly, leaning her head into his shoulder. She let out a long sigh. And then Jason finally remembered that it most the squares weren’t exactly fun.

“Wait, the fuck’s going on?” Fuck, he really didn’t want to deal with this right now. Nobody could have died Dick checked that off, amnesia was gone, Gotham destroyed was gone, natural disaster was checked, Joker breaks out and does dramatic shit was gone too. But that wasn’t a good sigh, that was a ‘I’m so tired of this family sigh’, which could narrow it down a bit. Cass squeezed his shoulder.

“Family secrets.” She admitted, giving him a melancholy look. Jason groaned. This family was the fucking worst. Bruce wasn’t even really part of it right now, who the hell was keeping secrets? Damian. Had to be Damian. Little monster was just like his dad. Fuck. Dick taught the kid better than that. What kind of mess was he in?

Cass took him by the wrist and started dragging him towards the stairs. He resisted briefly as they got to the base. He needed to know. “Who’s is it?” He asked, planting his feet on the ground.

Cass bit her lip, looking extremely uncomfortable. Jason pulled back his arms and crossed them, keeping his expression as neutral as he could, but she could probably read his mood anyways.

“HA. HAHAHA HA. FUCK YOU BRUCE! TAKE THAT SHIT-COMPUTER!”

Jason nearly jumped out of his skin at Tim’s screeching from upstairs, Cass was running up the stairs, not waiting to see if he was coming. Jason sighed. It was going to be on of those days. He took a deep breath and headed up behind her.

Tim was doing a victory dance in front of the computer. Damian was crawling out from under the computer, a shit eating grin on his face. They both looked (and smelled) a mess. Definitely neither had showered in a few days, probably hadn’t slept either.

“Todd, you are just in time to witness our victory over father.” Damian greeted, formal as ever. The brat didn’t even through an insult in there. Must be in a good mood. Well that at least explained who was keeping secrets. Stupid Bruce, keeping secrets even while an amnesiac. Screw him.

“Shall we?” Tim asked, offering a hand to Damian, which shockingly the kid took. The fuck did he miss?!?

“Uh, what the fuck?” He managed to get out. There was cowl footage pulled up on the screen. Cass was pulling chairs over from the table. He tiredly took the seat she offered him.

“Waaaaiiiiiit I have popcorn!” Steph called, pounding down the stairs.

“Steph no!” Tim moaned. “This isn’t a joke!”

“What’s family drama without popcorn?” Steph sung back. Damian huffed. Cass snickered. Jason had to smirk to himself. Dark humor was the best coping mechanism in this family. “Besides you haven’t told us what this is!” She accused. Well at least Jason wasn’t the only one who didn’t know. Tim shifted guilty at the computer, his eyes darting from Damian and then back to the group. Damian responded by huffing and crossing his arms.

“Drake did not ‘want to get your hopes up’.” He began, mimicking Tim’s voice perfectly, “-tt-His concern is unfounded, my research has been impeccable, Gr-” Tim shoved a hand over Damian’s mouth. Damian looked downright murderous.

“Look we want to watch the footage beforehand it might be-” Tim squawked as Cass lunged off the table, hopped over his shoulders and hit play on the batcomputer. “Cass wait!” He got out as the video began to play. Steph grabbed Tim from behind and dragged him into a seat.

The screen showed footage from a first-person perspective, they were walking through a doorway into a large room.

“I’m tired of secrets.” Muttered Cass as she slipped in a chair next to Steph. Damian staid standing, glaring intensely at the screen, looking strangely anguished.

“Hey, kid you can…” The invitation died in his throat. The camera moved forward into the room, revealing a beaten Dick Grayson in the center, hooked to countless machines, suspended in a metal cocoon, only his face and chest peeking out.

“Oh my God.” Came a familiar voice from the screen. A growl reverberated in the cave.

“Well Batman…” Luthor materialized on the right, “…You’ve found Nightwing.” He said, stalking forward.

Something clattered on the floor. The camera was rushing forward. Voices from the cave mixed with voices on the screen.

“Why would you want to watch this!?” shrieked Steph.

“Dick? Everything’s going to be all right. I’m here.” Bruce’s gruff voice sounded oddly strained.

“Shut up Brown!” Came Damian in a high-pitched voice.

“He never showed us the evidence.” Tim’s voice squeaked. “We have to watch till the end?”

“I’m sorry I shut you out. All of you. I didn’t want you getting hurt…I’m going to get you out of this.” Came Bruce’s shaking voice. Jason could feel a lump growing in his throat. He didn’t want to see this.

“Fast-forward?” Cass suggested, her voice equally shaken. Jason could barely see the others in the cave, his eyes were glued to the screen.

“No…You need to…leave.” Came Dick’s horse whisper of a voice. “You need to go…”

Damian made an inhuman noise, which allowed Jason to tear his eyes off the screen.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Muttered Tim. “We can’t fast-forward we need to know what happened.” He forced a sense of determination into his voice. “This is why I didn’t-”

THOOM. The sound rumbled through the cave. Jason jumped out of his seat. The camera whipped around revealing the exit sealed off, with Luthor, Selina, and Bizzarro trapped inside.

“-you guys can still leave.” Tim said shakily.

BA-DEEP. Blared through the speakers. BA-DEEP.

“What is that?” Came Selina’s voice, her usual smooth and silky persona dropped. BA-DEEP.

“It’s a countdown. This isn’t just a fancy pair of handcuffs, Catwoman. It’s a bomb.” Came Lex’s gruff voice. The camera turned again showing a timer counting down from 5 minutes. Jason’s stomach painfully twisted at the reminder of another countdown in another sealed building.

“We’re staying.” He managed to get out. He might have heard noises of affirmation.

WHAM. “The door. The walls. Why can’t we break through them?” Came Luthor’s voice.

“This cell was designed to hold Doomsday, Luthor.” Came Bruce’s voice again. The camera showed him messing with the panel. BA-DEEP.

“Is the countdown monitoring his heart?” Selina asked from seemingly far away.

“Yes.” Boomed Bruce’s voice. BA-DEEP.

“Why?” Replied Selina.

“The detonator is hooked into it.” Bruce responded. Jason’s heart sunk. “He died in a death trap. There was no way out.” Bruce had told him before the funeral. BA-DEEP.

“Batman…The bomb…” Dick whispered. BA-DEEP. Jason spared another glance at Damian. There were tears beginning to form in his eyes, but he stared, glued to the screen all the same. “…It only disams…If my heart stops.” Jason could feel his chest tightening painfully. “I die…or we all die.” BA-DEEP.

“Maybe Bruce had a reason for not showing this to us.” Steph said shakily. Jason glanced over. She looked green. Her sleave and eyes were both wet. The sounds of the heart monitor echoed in the cave.

BA-DEEP. “Please…Listen to me…” Dick’s horse voice started again. Tim was muttering frantically to himself. “You still have time to get yourself out of here.” The camera was so close. Jason could see every cut on his brother’s face, could see the sweat on his brow, the blood trickling down from his nose.

BA-DEEP. “I am not leaving you, Dick. I am not abandoning you.” Bruce sounded much more confident that Jason felt. Too bad Bruce didn’t sound confident.

“You aren’t Bruce. And you never have.” Dick replied. Jason’s vision was blurring. All he wanted was some stupid computer files. He didn’t come to the cave to watch this.

BA-DEEP. “The only way we’re getting out of here is together…No…The wires…” Jason dug his fingernails into his palms. “…Every time I disconnect a relay, it fixes itself.” Jason bit his lip.

BA-DEEP. At some point those in the caves had gone silent. “Then there’s only one way to disarm this bomb, Batman.” Came Luthor’s voice. The video jolted violently and Bruce’s cry reverberated through the cave. Chaos erupted on the screen. A cacophony associated with their customary brand of violence echoed through the speakers, obscuring some of the voices.

BA-DEEP. “I’m saving our lives.” Jason made out. The screen was black. Jason glanced around the room. Everyone was tense. Damian was crying. Tim looked horrified. Cass was perfectly still, her expression blank. Steph looked one step away from throwing up in the empty popcorn bowl that lie on the ground at her feet.

BA-DEEP. The camera was moving again. “LUTHOR.” Boomed Bruce’s voice again. Jason caught a glimpse of the man pressing a hand over Dick’s face. “LUTHOR, YOU HURT HIM AND I WILL KILL YOU.” Cass let out the faintest gasp. Bruce wasn’t lying. How the hell was Luthor still alive? The heart monitor was stuttering. BA-DEEEEEP

“Nonononononononononono.” Came Tim’s voice. “It wasn’t supposed to-”

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

“DICK.” Screamed Bruce. The camera rushed forward.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

“NO!” Yelled Bruce and Tim at the same time. Damian had sunk to the floor.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

A fist kept pounding Luthor in the face relentlessly. “Batman, wait-” Luthor pleaded. This was not how Jason had wanted Bruce to break his code.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

“YOU MURDERER!” Screeched Bruce, righteous fury echoing in his voice. The heart monitor cut off. A hand reached down to cut off Luthor’s windpipe.

“I have this…” Came Luthor’s strangled voice. He looked terrified. “Under control…Grayson…” The hand squeezed harder. “-kk-!” The man chocked. Bruce lessened up slightly. “It’s not too late, you idiot.” Spat Luthor. Bruce was apparently passed the point of listening.

“YOU MURDERED NIGHTWING.” He growled, tightening his grip once more. Luthor was going bug eyed. The man was going to actually die if Bruce pushed it much harded.

“Batman-” Came Selina’s voice.

“Luthor killed Dick, Selina.” Bruce said, his voice strangled.

“You said this lightning rod was from the future! Maybe we can use it to save him or something? I don’t know-!” She cried desperately.

A flash of light and crackle of electricity resounded through the cave. The screen went black for a moment.

Jason could hear metal clinking on the floor.

“Why are we still watching this?” Jason asked hoarsely. Tim looked at him palely.

“I need to know what happened next.” He whispered.

“If I hadn’t stopped Grayson’s heart, this ‘Murder Machine’ would have detonated and we all would have died. I had to make a choice, Batman. I made him flatline…after I forced him to swallow a cardioplegia pill.” The camera slowly tilted back up to focus on Luthor.

“A what?” Asked Steph and Selina at the same time.

“A drug that paralyzes the cardiac muscles surrounding the heart.” Replied Tim and Bruce in sync.

“Then…” Trailed off Damian. The boy looked up hopefully at the screen.

“And if this boy’s heart doesn’t get a shot of adrenaline right this very second he’s going to stay dead.” Luthor finished.

*kaff*

That small cough was the best sound Jason had heard in his entire life.

“YES!” Shouted Tim.

Damian swallowed. “As I expected.” He said shakily. No one called him out on it.

“Dick?” Came Bruce’s voice from the screen.

“Batman?” Dick’s wobbly voice whispered.

Cass tackled Steph into a bear hug, and Steph laughed widely as they clattered to the floor. Jason just sighed deeply and let his head drop into his hands in relief.

“Drake-” gasped Damian, “-get off.”

“You were right! Damian was right! Dick’s alive. HAHA Dick’s ALIVE!” Jason glanced up to see Tim squeezing the crap out of Damian who was going slightly blue in the face. There were words coming from the speakers still but they fell to the wayside in the celebration. Jason walked over and turned the volume down.

“I’m going to kill them.” Jason muttered under his breath. But he’d save that for later, for now, he just paced back to his chair and sunk into it. The cave was quiet for a few minutes, Dick and Bruce continued on whatever the fuck adventure they were on was. The rest of the video was a blur. By the end, Jason’s racing heart had settled, and the kids had stopped clinging to each other.

“But wait.” Said Steph as the video ended. “If Dick’s alive, where is he? How did you even know to look?”

Jason turned to see Tim babbling. “Well I have a few theories, we recovered more footage as well, you know? Like Damian found pictures of him all across the world so like, we don’t know for certain where he is, but like I don’t know for sure what happened, but maybe someone was compromised so like, he had to stay hidden or like…” Tim continued babbling as the next video began to play. It was once again footage from the cowl. “Bruce shut off all the camera’s in the cave for the next week, I thought he was sulking but like we were able to find some cowl footage that he deleted, and like hopefully from that we can figure out what happened and how to track him down-”

“Turn up the volume.” Demanded Cass from her seat. She was looking at the screen with an odd expression. Damian moved without hesitation. Jason’s eyes followed up to the screen. Dick was glaring into the camera his fists raised and wrapped.

“So, one more time Dick. But now there’s only one rule…You have to win.” Came Bruce’s gruff voice. The pair was in the cave. Dick lunged towards the camera. “You let the crime syndicate capture you. Let them torture you. You let them give your secrets to the world.” Bruce accused.

“Bruce man, what the fuck!” Steph yelled, masking Dick’s response.

Bruce continued “You let them turn you into a bomb. You let them kill you. Before Luthor rescued you, you let everyone WATCH YOU DIE.” He boomed.

“YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!” Jason bellowed, knocking over his chair as he stood. He walked away from the screen. Only fucking Bruce. Only fucking Bruce would blame someone for their death. Jason knew that all too well. He walked away from the screen, giving himself distance to clear his head.”

“I trained you to LIVE, and I watched you DIE!” CRACK. Jason flipped around to see Bruce elbow Dick in the face, drawing blood. Bruce’s words cut like a knife. It wasn’t Jason’s fault he died. It wasn’t Dick’s fault either. Neither Steph’s or Damian’s. Damian had unconsciously taken cover behind Tim, who was standing between Damian and the screen with an arm hovering over the kid’s shoulder.

“WHAT THE FUCK BRUCE!” Screamed Steph at the screen, she was also on her feet at this point. Only Cass’s hand prevented her from trying to fight the digital apparition. “WE DON’T JUST GO AROUND DYING WILLY NILLY, IT’S NOT MY-, IT’S NOT HIS FAULT!” Her voice shrilly echoed around the cave, drowning out the audio temporarily.

Dick was on his knees, wiping his bloody nose, looking up confused. WHACK. A powerful kick sent him flying off the platform, crashing into a costume display case. “I have a mission for you, Dick. I need you to do something that will hurt your friends. Your family.” Bruce commanded. He could hear Damian inhale sharply. Tim stopped hovering and pulled Damian tightly into his chest, rushing forward to pause the video, with the boy in tow. His hand was over the button before Cass sprung forward and grabbed his wrist. Jason had never seen Cass look this angry without the mask.

“I deserve to know.” She said with conviction, anger deep in her voice. “I deserve to know what kind of father he is.” She spat. Jason wasn’t going to touch that with a ten foot pole.

“But he shouldn’t, I mean I don’t know if, I mean I don’t know what, I mean-” Tim sputtered glancing from the screen to Damian and back again.

“I want to know the truth.” Came Damian’s tiny reply. He looked so young, he pushed away from Tim’s chest, but leaned into his side.

Cass pulled Tim’s hand back. “I fought him once.” She admitted. “I need to know.” She repeated.

Tim looked at her pleadingly. Bruce and Dick raged at each other on screen. Blood flowed from the cuts on Dick’s back. “I…I…” Tim stammered.

“We all deserve to know.” Steph piped up, leaning against the side of the computer.

“Fight like you’re alive!” Bruce yelled on the screen. CRACK. An oversized die broke on impact with the back of Dick’s head. Dick retaliated, throwing a question mark back.

The words were blurring in Jason’s head, his rage clouding his thoughts, and overtaking his senses. The rest of the world was disappearing, leaving only the screen behind. His vision tunneled. He crossed his arms as tightly as he could, willing himself to stay in place. Stay calm. His hearing cut out. But he could still read his name on his brother’s lips just before Bruce delivered an uppercut powerful enough to knock Dick off the dinosaur.

The next thing Jason knew Cass was sitting on him. People were yelling at him.

“-on’t break the screen-”

“-up I need to see-”

“-op fighting-”

Cass smiled apologetically before tapping a pressure point. Jason allowed himself to fade into the darkness.

 He came to in a medical bay of the cave, with an intense desire to get out. This place was cursed. He needed out, he needed to think, he needed to process, but he needed to get out. He pushed himself up and swung his legs off the bed.

“Wait.” Came a voice from behind him. He spun off the bed to see Tim, awkwardly standing on the other side of the cot. Jason edged towards the door. “We know where he is.” Tim offered. Jason glanced at Tim, and back to the door.

“Can we talk somewhere else?” He asked quietly. He didn’t want to be in the cave for this. Tim awkwardly bobbed side to side.

“Uh about that. We’re moving out.” He said quickly. Jason opened the door.

“OMGIT’SREDHOODHIMR.REDHOODSIRPLEASEDON’TKILLTIM-”

Jason slammed the door in the kid’s face. He stared at Tim, who was banging his head into the wall with a hand covering his eyes.

“Do I even want to know?” Jason asked. Tim groaned.

“I called my team to help us move out, we’re going to use the bunker for Gotham operations from now on.” Tim explained. A loud crash came from outside. The door whipped open.

“Heythegiantpennyisn’t-” The kid started. Jason growled at him. “-nevermindbyebye.” The speedster zipped away and slammed the door.

“You decided this without me?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow at Tim. Tim looked back at him sheepishly.

“You’re already out voted. Besides you really want to stay here?” He replied evenly. Jason shrugged, that was fair. He’d already tried to leave. “I know you said you don’t want to talk here, but I don’t know when I’ll get you alone again.” Jason sighed. That’s valid, he was planning on avoiding the family for a bit. “Please don’t pull a disappearing act.” Jason looked up at him.

“Why not?” He challenged.

“We don’t need Bruce to be a family.” Tim replied. It sounded rehearsed. That was also fair. “And we need each other too. We found some communications from Dick, Bruce left him stranded when he got amnesia, he’s coming back in a few days.” Jason couldn’t look Tim in the eye anymore.

“I don’t know what to do.” He said honestly, looking at Tim’s shoes. What do you say after something like this? After watching something like that. After knowing the truth.

“Neither do we, but we’ll figure it out together.” Tim offered. He looked sad, tired, his face fell before he spoke again. “He…he misses us.” He spoke softly. “On the recordings. I, I don’t think Bruce even told him about Damian.” Jason swore softly under his breath. Bruce was one fucking piece of work.

“Is there anything else I should know?” Jason said after a moment, catching Tim’s eye once more.

Tim shook his head. “The rest of the tape was mostly the same.” He said quietly. “He won.” He added as an afterthought. Jason snorted. Tim gave a warry smile. None of them ever won. Not in the ways they wanted to. Only when the prizes were more pain, more guilt, more heartbreak.

Jason leaned back against the wall. How was this the way things ended up? Was Bruce always this cruel? The man was unrecognizable to Jason. It was inexcusable. After Willis? After Cain? After Brown? Hell, even Tim’s father was emotionally abusive before he died. Why couldn’t any of them have a normal father? A stable parental relationship. It wasn’t fair. And it hurt more because he didn’t even know where it started. Bruce had been a good father to him. Had that been a lie? He’d never looked to closely at why Dick had left home, could it be that…that…? Had Jason missed something like this? Would he ever even know what he’d missed? They didn’t have as many cameras back then.

Tim had crossed the room and put a hand on his shoulder. “He’ll be okay.” He said confidently. “As long as we have each other, we’ll all be okay.” Tim squeezed his shoulder gently before disappearing through the door into the chaos that used to be his childhood fantasy. When had it all gone so wrong, he had to ask himself. He hated that he knew the answer. His death was this fucking family’s original sin. But you know what, that wasn’t his fault. Even if it felt like it. Even if Bruce still blamed him. Dick didn’t look at him like a ghost, he didn’t look at him like a kid in over his head, like a regret, like a mistake. It was time for Bruce to grow the hell up and move on. Bad experiences don’t justify beating your kids. Maybe from here, they could move on. Maybe from here on, they could heal. Maybe they could start over. Maybe they could make their own new family. Bruce had abused them, lied to them, manipulated them enough. It was time to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and fly again. He wouldn’t know unless he tried. He didn’t have to give up on Gotham. But maybe it was time to give up on Bruce.

Jason swung open the door, descending into a future unknown, diverging from the circle of heartache and abuse. He had broken the cycle once before, on his own, with a new family made of friends, one of his choosing. And now he chose to break it once more, and this time he resolved not to leave his siblings behind.

[strucknerves]

TRIGGER WARNINGS: INFIDELITY, HITMAN SHIT, AND A SPLASH OF VIOLENCE

—- mia madre, apolinaria azevedo.

the irony isn't lost on emilio, knowing that her mother is superhuman in more ways than one. apolinaria azevedo is a hardworking woman (one of eight siblings!) who's worked in the wet markets since she was a child (it's a family business, after all), and because there's no clever segue to this: she also has the ability of invisibility! not the most useful power, she'll admit, especially when her life revolves around living on the coast and hauling fish from sea to land every day, but it made for pretty neat parlor tricks in her little town, and that always counts.

as she grew older (around her mid-20s), she decided to venture into the city to try and find something new to do (and maybe find herself in the process). so long to the fish and hello to waitressing in tapas bars in naples—where she would, unfortunately, meet and somewhat fall for mafioso federico bastianelli. apolinaria was only vaguely aware of his reputation, but when you're young and in love, you pay no mind to the whispers and the warnings. this is pretty much their energy (up to 3:50). they entered a courtship that lasted for ~6 months (no labels or anything), and then bam! she got pregnant! and unbeknownst to her, federico is capital m married (on top of being, y'know, a camorra mob boss), so the situation's just fucked all the way up no matter how you look at it.

still, apolinaria kept the baby, and federico financially supported her from afar. nine months later, emilio popped out into the world and lived peacefully in the outskirts of naples for the first twelve years of his life. but because federico is a killjoy, he decides to "claim" emilio as his son to take him under his wing and add him to the roster of bastianelli children, who would inevitably become part of his syndicate in various roles (capos, lawyers, hitmen, and so on). 

emilio was still allowed to visit his mother, of course, during the weekends and summers, and he soaked up as much time as he could before he went back to the place where happiness went to die (the bastianelli manor). apolinaria's warmth, compassion, and patience shaped him into the person he grew up to be, despite his profession. he's never put much thought into the fact that his mother is a mutant because she's already pretty damn special in his eyes without it. that, and she never really found much use for her abilities ever since she discovered she had them. it's funny how sometimes people just don't put much stock into it, huh?

anyway. apolinaria eventually did find a use for it when emilio made the executive decision to run away from his father before he could start working for him, and they decided it would be best if they split up and made their way to each other again when the time was right. emilio would wire her the money she needed to keep hiding and running and support herself, while he would lead federico's goons in a wild goose chase as he sought to find allies from all over to world to take his father down someday.

he'll get there.

—- a special mention to apinya 'nia' thopawit.

some years ago, apolinaria wrote to emilio saying she was sick. he scrounged as much of his savings as he could to send it to her for her hospice care, but he knew it wasn't going to last long.

he didn't like doing long-term missions. he preferred his assignments to be one-and-done. but he needed the money, and some eccentric multimillionaires in the world are willing to do anything to have their stolen jewels back. he happened to be on the radar of one of those eccentric multimillionaires.

¥20,000,000 to retrieve ¥250,000,000 worth of jewels from a cat burglar seemed like a fair enough deal to him at the time, plus another ¥20,000,000 if he got the job done within six months (and by the job, takashima kameko meant that emilio would get all of his jewels back and have apinya's head on a pike by any means necessary).

…and i'm gonna stop there because the rest is yet to be written 😉

[your-1up-girl]

Birthdays and Promises

Okay! So this is my first work for @aerith-week I am happy with how it turned out and I just wanted to do a little something for the flower girl we all know and love! This is a Cloud/Aerith fic so please keep that in mind! I hope you guys enjoy it 

Word count: 1744

Pairing: Cloud/Aerith (Kingdom Hearts)

Day 1: Happy Birthday Aerith!

Read on Ao3

Check out the beautiful fanart done by the equally beautiful @sammilimyy

How they were able to plan a birthday party for Aerith without her knowledge would remain a mystery to her. She wasn’t shocked that everyone was able to fit inside Merlin’s little cottage. He is an amazing wizard after all and if he could fit the entirety of his house in his bag, then expanding the cottage was child’s play to him. 

There was no suspicion on her part when Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Naminé arrived, bags in tow, or when Leon sent her out in a hurry with a list of stuff to collect for tonight’s dinner.

“I don’t think some of this stuff even exists Leon.”

“The nephews have been getting some new product in their shops lately. I’m sure they’ll have what we need. And if not them, then try the Moogles.”  

She left with a smile and her worn basket in hand but once she shut the door, she stared down at the list again perplexed at some of the items. Brushing off any doubt, Aerith left for the marketplace. 

“Oh, you should get this one Aerith!”

“If you add this one to soup it makes it extra spicy!”

“This is good for when you have a cold!”

“Yes but is it from the list?”

“Don’t listen to the list, just take our advice Kupo!” 

Shopping so far has been a disaster. Aerith was barely able to get four things from this list before she had to ask the Nephews and the Moogle for help. And that in turn, created an even bigger disaster. Some of the stuff they brought her she knew she didn’t need and yet they tried to convince her otherwise. She wasn’t annoyed, perplexed was the better fit. “Listen, this has been very helpful, but, I think I should get going.” The Nephews and Moogle stopped in their tracks. “I’ll let Leon and Yuffie know to just make whatever we have left over.”

“But you can’t leave yet! (Kupo!)” The four yelled at the same time, Moogle even going as far as to block the door of their shop. 

“But why? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you four are stalling? 

“What does stalling mean?” Louie asked and was promptly hit in the back of the head by his two brothers. Aerith sighed and from the corner of her eye saw Kairi, Naminé, Olette, Xion, and Aqua all by the jewelry stand across the market. Other than wondering when Olette, Xion, and Aqua arrived, it wasn’t out of the normal. What threw Aerith off was that Cloud was with them shaking his head as the other girls held different products to her.

Aerith gave Moogle her list saying, “I’ll be right back; just help me find these things if you can.” Left the shop and went to the stand. Getting closer she saw that it was a beautiful jewelry stand the woman was selling things that Aerith had no idea could be found in Radiant Garden. 

“Oh Aerith!” Kairi stepped in front of her and the other girls did the same, basically blocking Cloud from her view. “What are you doing here?”

“Leon sent me out to get some things for dinner. Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Moogle are helping me at the shop.” As she conversed with the girls, she looked up to see Cloud casually leaned against stall’s post, arms crossed and head down. The shopkeeper was miserably failing at hiding the smile on her face. Aerith went around the girls to Cloud. “Hey.”

“...Hey.” She and Cloud have been dating for a few months now but he still seemed to have that adorable blush on his face when she was around. Today however, it seemed that it was more pink than usual.

“So, what brings you to this jewelry stand?” Aerith was having fun. Anything that would make Cloud fluster made her smile. It was her favorite hobby.

“Uh...the girls. They dragged me.” 

“Really? Then I must tip my hat to you ladies. You five managed to do something that I could never do.” Aerith turned to them with a small wink. “He hates to go shopping with me.”

“No!” Cloud grabbed her hand with both of his and held it close to him. “Don’t tell them that. You know that I love spending anytime I can with you.” Aerith hugged him and planted a small kiss on his cheek.

“I know. I just like messing with you.”

“AERITH!!!” The group looked back at the shop where the nephews were still waiting for her return. 

“I’ll be right there!” She called back and sighed. “I feel like Leon is sending me on a wild goose chase for some of these things but I just don’t know why.”

“Don’t worry about it.” This time he gave her the kiss but it was closer to the corner of her mouth. Ready to go back to the mess that was her errands, Xion gave her another piece of paper.

“Another list!? Leon what more could you possibly need!”

“Actually this one is from Cid.” Any hope that Aerith had of coming home early flew out the window. When Cid sends anyone on a trip, they almost never come back at a decent time.

Not sure how she did it but somehow she managed to get what Leon needed and the parts Cid asked for. Moogle had ended up taking her second list to get a head start on it while she and the nephews took care of the first one. Basket filled with items she’s almost positive they will never use, Aerith approached Merlin’s house. Huh, that’s strange. The lights were off. But it actually wasn’t that late. Thanks to Moogle, she was able to arrive while the sun was barely visible over the horizon. Yuffie normally has all the lights going at this point.

She opened the door, “Cloud? Merlin?” 

“Happy birthday Aerith!” When the lights came on, Aerith almost dropped her basket. Everyone was there to celebrate her birthday. Suddenly all of today’s antics make much more sense.

“I forgot today was my birthday.” She laughed as she dried the tears from her cheeks.

“How do you forget your own birthday?” Sora came over to give her a hug and the rest of the party followed suit. The last hug was from Tifa who lingered next to the b-day girl as everyone settled in. 

“Did you seriously forget?”

“Yes! When Leon sent me out I genuinely thought it was for groceries!”

“But didn’t you run into Sora and the others while you were out?”

“Yes, but I was so focused on the stupid list it didn’t seem out of the ordinary.”

Tifa gave a full belly laugh that Aerith joined in on. “Oh man, so you would have done nothing for your birthday? It’s a good thing Cloud planned this then.”

Aerith paused for just a moment, “C-cloud planned all this?”

“Oh yeah, when he asked you if you were doing anything on the seventh and you said no, he got a phone, everyone’s number. We all helped but Cloud was pretty much in charge of everything.” Aerith didn’t think Cloud would want to do all of this for her. She assumed that it was Sora, Ventus, or Yuffie who planned everything. But know that she knew it was Cloud; that just made the evening all the more special. 

The rest of the night was amazing. Cid cooked the food (and used some of the ingredients Aerith bought, at her request) and Xion, Roxas, and Lea made the cake. Merlin sat her down to open the presents everyone brought. People sang and danced and took photos of today's events but Aerith knew that this would be a night she would never forget. As it got closer to the end of the night, Cloud approached her. 

“Can we talk?” The party had settled down now and people were just relaxing and holding conversations. Aerith could see that Cloud was nervous so she led him to the stairs that opened to the roof of the house where they could be alone. Both of them sat comfortably looking at the night sky. 

“Did you like the party?” He was less nervous now that they were by themselves.

“Yes, I loved it. Thank you for planning this.” Cloud stuttered at her response and Aerith laughed. “Tifa told me, said you got a phone and everything.”

“Yeah well, Chip and Dale have been wanting me to get one for a while now so…” They sat there in silence for a bit longer. Someone inside put on some soft music and it could be heard by them above. Aerith scooted closer to Cloud so that their hands touched. Cloud responded by holding her hand in his. 

“Soooo, tell me. What were you really doing at the stand today?”

He was quiet and then said, “I wasn’t lying when I said the girls took me. I didn’t forget about your gift. I just wasn’t sure what to get you. That’s when Olette and Xion told me about the jewelry stand in the market and they all took me to get you something. We didn’t expect you to still be in the Nephew’s shop.” Cloud took a deep breath before reaching into his pocket and gave her a small gift. The paper had beautiful roses on it and a yellow bow. Aerith looked from him to the box a few times before opening it. Inside was a velvet box that contained a thin, band rose gold ring. Parts of the band seemed to branch off to look like tiny leaves. Said leaves were made of a type of gem.

“Cloud...this-this is-”

“It’s not an engagement ring. I don’t think we’ve been together long enough for us to take that step. But, this can be something like that. I guess, if you don’t like it the-”

Aerith cut him off by giving him a kiss. With her free hand she turned him to her and leaned forward. Cloud was taken back but eventually held Aerith only letting go when she stopped. 

“I think it’s beautiful. I knew it wasn’t an engagement ring but that doesn’t mean it holds any less value in my eyes.” She slipped the ring on the left ring finger. it glimmered in the moonlight beautifully. Aerith leaned into him and Cloud held her. 

“I love you Aerith, happy birthday.”

“Thank you Cloud, I love you too.”

[siimjaeyun]

Chapter 2: Caution, Gators can eat humans. 

Synopsis: The wishes for a new mystery after the sudden decrease in Seoul sends the teen mystery group to a town nearby. It’s own name justifies itself, and let’s just say: things don’t get pretty when JK (the anonymous caller) sends them on a chase. 

Series Masterlist

------------------------------------------------------

Absent-mindedly, the man continued to drive his SUV  through the bumpy roads of Gatorsville, a small town just miles away from Seoul. 

"We need to pull up for gas." The father made his way to the abandoned gas station, allowing his daughter to walk for a bit with the puppy. 

The small puppy ran off into the bushes; the girl followed suit and called its name.

When she managed to reach her hand in, it met a pair of red fiery eyes back at her. Shocked, she jumped backwards and cried for help. 

"Dad! It's a monster!" In disbelief, the man refused to believe her, but met the same sketched black-green lizard pattern with glowing eyes. 

He didn't manage to say much, but got himself into the car and drove off in a hurry leaving whatever the creature was back in the dark. 

------ 

"I'm bored.." Sunoo plopped backwards and landed on top of poor Sunghoon who was resting comfortably on the floor. 

"What's up with Seoul, there hasn't been a mystery!" Jungwon soon joined Sunoo, crushing Sunghoon as well, making him cry out. 

"Yo Jake, help me!" Jake helped the boy, picking him up and throwing him on the couch with you. 

"Heeseung what's this?" You picked the magazine that was crumpled between the two couch cushions; part of you wished you had left it once seeing the front cover.

"It's a trap illustrated! Where do you think I got the inspo for this beauty." He flaunted the cords hung onto the metal crates.

"And who exactly do you expect to catch?" 

Right on time, the delivery man got himself hung onto the trap set on the front, simply handing him the package once Heeseung managed to open the door and let him free. 

"It's a package." 

A loud thunder banged against the windows, letting the rain and its friends make itself present in the home. With caution, he opened it revealing an object covered by tissue and an envelope stamped in red with [JK] 

"I swear JK gives me the creeps." The group opened the rest of its contents and found a gator skinned bag in the box. 

"Maybe a trip to Gatorsville wouldn't hurt. Safe travels." 

"This doesn't make sense. I thought Gatorsville didn't make skin products anymore." Jake observed the purse, handling each nook and cranny with care. 

"Gatorsville? Like as in actual Gators?" Sunoo tried setting himself apart, clearly intimidated by the idea of gators. 

"150 years ago, miners had moved to Gatorsville in search of oil and gold. Instead, they found the abundance of gators in the area, and mounted businesses on the farms which made them rich. They sold products everywhere, but when there were no more gators, everyone moved out. It's practically a ghost town." 

"Then I'm assuming we have a new mystery?" Heeseung smiled and led the way out the door, at least before all six of you found yourselves captured in the same trap as the delivery man. 

------ 

"Let's look around." They split into their usual teams, and trailed off. 

"So, Jake, how do you like it so far?" You realized you hadn't learned much about the boy besides his past in Australia and his cute dog that visited occasionally. 

"To be honest, it was really boring before Sunghoon invited me to come along. I'm glad I've got people who make life interesting." His small eye smile reassured you and you kept exploring the area. 

From afar, Jungwon, Heeseung, and Sunoo found no hope of a mystery and made their way back to the remaining three of you. 

"I guess JK sent us on a wild goose chase. Let's head back before it's too late." You gladly hopped back into the van and when Heeseung turned his key, the car wouldn't start. He trudged back and opened the car to see his engine had gone missing. 

"Uhh...guys!" Sunghoon walked out, first witnessing the same event. 

"H-how is it possible?" The six teens huddled around the missing spot, and turned around with a blinding light flashed forward. 

"What do you exactly think you're doing!?" A man in his late 50's stepped out of the tow truck, and his eyebags and cuts on his upper eyebrow clearly signaled he wasn't here to talk much. 

"Our engine is missing, think you can help?" 

"And why should I?" He punched his knuckles and caused Jungwon to step backwards with Sunoo. 

"Cause you're a mechanic?" 

"Right. Well you're going to have to wait until tomorrow morning anyway-I have to wait for Seoul to come deliver a new one." 

As the teens tried to call their parents, they received no response. They were either busy or didn’t care, clearly comforting the goofy timeline of teen chaos and drama. 

"Just call Jay, maybe he can come." Hesitant, you dialed his number and received no response. 

"He probably fell asleep. We're gonna have to stay the night." A neon sign was perfectly hung on the side of a building. 

[GATOR INN] 

"Hello, anyone there?" You clung onto Jake who just like you, preferred to lurk in the background while Heeseung and Jungwon took the lead. 

"What do you want!?" A woman appeared from the dark shadows of the motel stairs, letting her fingers trail against the handrail. 

“A room?” 

“We’re all booked.” The woman sat on the closest tool: filing her nails without bothering to look at the teens in their eyes. 

“But your sign says vacancy.” Sunghoon pointed to the sign from before, the clear letters stating VACANCY. 

“Alright, follow me. I have a few rules, the girly over there gets her own room. The five of you that remain can split into two rooms.” 

“Wait, no. Jungwon-he’s my brother; we can share a room.” You gave a slight signal to Jungwon to play along with the game, and the woman simply handed you the keys and walked back. 

Her bright red hair decorated in pink bows peaked from behind her, but disappeared almost immediately once she turned her head forwards to face you. 

“One more thing, if you hear biting, screams, loud shrieks: ignore and enjoy your day.” Her loud hairstyle finally left the hall, and you entered the old furnished room with Jungwon. 

“It’s clear this hasn’t been cleaned in months.” You dropped your bag on the bed, and accompanied the bag to find a comfortable spot to rest. 

------ 

“I wonder why y/n would lie to the woman about Jungwon being her brother.” Jake sat on the nearby chair, pushing the cushion downward. 

“He’s scared to sleep alone; and he’s basically her child.” 

“I’m not sleepy.” 

“Neither am I. Why don’t we head out and explore if there’s anything worthwhile in the Motel.” They grabbed their jackets and exited the room, finding Jungwon and y/n heading out as well. 

The four bodies met at the center of the hall, confused, but not surprised by their need to exit the walls of the motel guest room. 

“Clearly, smart minds think alike.” You scoffed at his statement and led the way out the lobby. There wasn’t much to see clearly. The van was parked on the curb, the sky was dark and covered in a blanket of fog; everything appeared in order. 

The comfortable silence was quickly disturbed by subtle movements in the bushes. 

“I-i think something is there.” Jake reached out to move the branches and get a clear image, but a creature jumped out causing them to fall on their backs. 

“G-gator people!” Sunghoon picked up Jungwon, while Jake helped you up and led you away from the monster that was currently chasing you. You quickly made your way up the flights of stairs: pushing through the other flights that followed to your bedrooms. 

The creature continued; its sharp claws gauging at the walls and leaving a claw nail stuck in the paintings that were nicely hung. Without hesitation, the four of you barged into Heeseung and Sunoo’s room. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Sunoo barely bothered to look up from his screen when he witnessed the same creature enter the room, crushing the door that was once attached. 

“Gator people?” In fear, all of you clung onto the windows from the edge. Your foots collected on top of a single mattress, throwing the closest objects towards the creature.

The room quickly went black. A red glow emerged from the corners from the room allowing the two gators to creep under the floorboards and take a hold of your right leg pulling it downward. 

Your body slipped from the thin lifting of the window balcony, and soon enough it was being dragged from under the five boys,  leaving you to scream. 

Jake and Heeseung plunged forwards, each taking a hold of one of your arms to prevent the gators from dragging your body any further. Sunghoon took the liberty of stomping on the arms of the gators, making them retreat backwards. They slipped on their own tails and fell downward through the same hole they had crept through. You made your way up and looked at the gator skin dangling from your ankle. A white stuffing peeked through the thin fabric; the monster clearly wasn’t real. 

“It isn’t real?” Before Sunoo could continue with his pondering thoughts, the two gators once more crawled from below and sank their claws into the boards. The six teens ran out the door and out of the motel. 

‘COME BACK TO VISIT’ The tacky green sign hung on the side, and was the last part of their vision before securely making their way out of the Gatorsville. They turned their heads back to the issue, and saw as the gators came to an abrupt stop once they had exited the town. Slippery, and cautious, the duo hid once more and retreated back. 

“That was close.” 

“We have to go back, come on!” Jungwon, almost-excited like, pushed his older companions to the inners of town once more. They slyly hid in the trees until they found the two gators pushing large crates into a ship; one crate after another went inside. 

“Here.” Heeseung managed to bust the crate open, revealing packs of gator skinned products. Each marked with the same tag from earlier, ‘100% gator.’ 

Sunoo rolled up one of his sleeves and picked a belt from within the crate, and without thought, he wrapped the skin around his own. After some moments, he released the belt from his grasp and let it fall to the ground with a small clank following afterward. 

“It’s fake, just look at my skin!” Sunghoon and Jungwon inspected him and found a pink rashing forming on his pale flesh. Sunoo was known for his skin sensitivity, and everyone knew that any fake animal product would send the boy into itches and scratches. 

“The only thing we have here folks is a bunch of con-artists.” Heeseung sighs and makes his way to set up another one of his elaborate traps. 

------ 

“Jake, now!” Jake quickly shot the arrow to the target, and it lunged to release the two boxes hanging by cords on the top side of the building. 

The gators made their efforts to leave, but quickly were captured by the teen’s proud ploy. 

“Got them!” Jake once more looked at the boxes with curiorsity, helping Sunghoon push it back towards the Motel entrance. 

“Chief Kim.” The police man trudged through Gator Inn and found the huddled teens around two gator people caught in ropes. 

“What is the meaning of this?” 

“This Chief Kim is…” Heeseung pulled back the mask which revealed the owner of the motel inn and the scornful mechanic. 

“What!?” 

“That’s right. This is our home and when everyone left, we couldn’t just go. This is our home. So we started making cheap products to earn some money. We used the costumes to scare off yee visitors and get them away from our business. And we would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for you meddling tourists!” 

Chief Kim quickly gave a nod which sent the gators to get sent to the back of his police car. They didn’t bother asking more questions and were about to drive off when Sunghoon rushed behind them. 

“Wait! We need a ride!” 

Almost on cue, the engine of their van made a growl, and the front lights illuminated their bodies. “Is it haunted?” Jungwon approached it carefully, and lifted the hood of the car; the engine was back in its place and now accompanied with a note hanging from the top. 

“I hope you enjoyed your visit, but remember there is more to come. This is only the beginning of the puzzle. JK���  The signature red stamp with bold letters JK glistened under the moonlight. 

“More? I swear, this just keeps getting more creepy.” The six were left with nothing but to make their way back home, and who knows what they would expect next. 

------

Note: Jay and Niki will be progressively included in the story line. I’m sorry for the long wait :( 

[goodmode]

Hello!!! I have brainworms!!!! I would like!! To hear about yours!!!!!! What random headcanons do you have about Klee and the Knights of Favonius?? (SHE'S SO BABY I CANNOT WAIT FOR HER BANNER AHHHH)

I ALSO HAVE THEM klee is such a. she is so. she's exteremely child. the most baby ever. kiddo of all time

klee separates the knights into 2 categories and 2 categories ONLY:

-people who will let klee go fish blasting and

-jean.

the REAL details are in whether or not a person will actively help her sneak out/make excuses/etc.

amber won't actively help, but she will keep her mouth shut and also she gives exciting lift-up-and-spin-around hugs and sometimes she takes klee gliding and one time when klee had a bad dream amber came to spend the night with her and they drew crayon pictures until SUPER LATE (11pm) and amber read klee a bedtime story. tl;dr amber is responsible enough not to encourage klee's madlad behaviour but also is big sister material through and through

kaeya teases klee constantly and says cryptic things a lot and makes up stories that send klee on wild goose chases. he's a bit of a bully like that and klee always gets mad at him for it. but he makes up for it by giving equal treatment to jean by weaving intricate lies about klee's whereabouts and whether or not fish and explosives are involved. it's a push and pull

lisa finds klee very amusing. klee thinks lisa is the laziest aunt anyone ever had, ever. lisa will not lie to jean for klee but she WILL keep her talking long enough for klee to slip out the side gate. and then, oh dear, well, she's already far away from here by now, likely the damage is already done, why don't we have a cup of tea before we go after her

eula........ klee racks up Transgressions!! so quickly that her list of vengeances will double in an evening. 90% of her mental list is klee's name over and over. this, of course, means eula adores klee right down to the subatomic level and would obliterate a horde of abyss lectors just to make klee happy. but if anyone points out that eula smiles when klee does, well, vengeance!! a vengeance for you! everybody look under your seats it's a vengeance for everyone

.... the thing about klee though is that she has a Vision. none of the knights or indeed anyone knows what to do with that. there are old rumours that those with Visions could someday ascend to godhood or something, specifics unclear. could be false. but what's definite is that it looks very much like klee has some kind of fate/destiny, and what none of the knights will discuss out loud but all of them are in private agreement about is: if any god anywhere thinks klee has any kind of fatebound responsibility or duty of any kind, all of the knights will personally fistfight celestia about it. giving klee a vision may have made her safer when out and about (she can really use it, too, they won't argue there) - but it also feels like placing a lot of responsibility and expectation on her shoulders. which neither jean nor any of the knights cares for ONE BIT thank you very much. @ all gods: stay away from our klee. or else.

klee of course has no concern over whether having a Vision is significant and is quite happy to use it to blow things up. you go, kiddo

[iwillgetridofyourangerforyou]

Odd scenario - after calling the S Class heroes scaredy cats, all of them (beside king and blast) now want you dead. To survive, you need to kill them in retaliation, what is your survival plan?

Ok. So I like this stuff a lot actually -cheesy as it is- 

I’ve got to preface with some assumptions. 

I am just going to assume I know what I know about the anime/manga/web-comic because that’s easier (and more fun) than trying to keep track of what I should and shouldn’t know. 

I am more or less myself with little to no modifications or special abilities and only moderate physical fitness. 

In short. I’m most likely pretty f***ed. 

There are at least three possible tactics I’ve decided are reasonable responses in this scenario. 

Negotiation

Spy Tactics

Assassinations'

The Negotiator 

Just to be clear, I just want to survive here. I’m not necessarily worried that they’re my best friend. If they still dis-like me but at least let me live that’s an absolute win. 

Your prompt specifically states that everyone Except King and Blast want me dead. -It’s hard for me to believe I’m not dead immediately tbh- the first thing I would do is seek out King’s help. To date no hero aside from Saitama has really been able to see through King and that would be my advantage. If King told the other heroes not to attack me they may respect him, at least as long as he’s around that should buy me some time at least. 

Buddying up to King directly also gives me unique access to Saitama. If King and Saitama agreed to come to my side my chances of survival might increase from almost zero to upward of 30%. Additionally, if Saitama came to my defense so would Genos and with Genos I have reduced the number of S-class heroes out for blood and increased my chance of survival at least another 10% I would imagine. -these numbers are pretty made up-. At this point I may have to lay low and stay close to Saitama’s gang for a while -not a worst case scenario if you ask me- but now I’m building some momentum and security. 

My next targets would be Fubuki and Bang. Bang may not be hard to win over after getting King and Saitama on my side. Two S-class down 13 more to go. If I get Fubuki on my side it doesn’t necessarily reduce the probability that Tatsumaki will want to kill me but does reduce the likelihood that she will actually follow through with it, I’ll count that as 3/15 s-class dealt with. That’s not nothing because Tatsumaki is arguably one of the most deadly of the S-class. At this point I also have more freedom and additional options since I’ll likely be allowed to join the Fubuki group as a novice member and I’ll be able to be surrounded by heroes more often (although the Blizzard Group may not increase my chances of survival more than 2% on their own Fubuki’s connection to Tatsumaki improves my survival chances considerably).

 At this point, I would attempt to leverage Bang to get Atomic Samurai to stand down. 5/15 S-class down. 

At this point my life has been changed forever but if any of this has worked I’ve started to gain a chance at survival. (tbh for as long as they might put up with me I’d be sleeping on the floor at King’s or Saitama’s.) 

During my for months (hopefully if I can survive that long) time earning a living working with the Blizzard group and sleeping on people’s couches I would attempt to build rapport with some of the Tanktop crew and to slowly gain TTM trust and respect. (6/15) If I got the opportunity I would find a way to support Zenko and hopefully thereby convince Metal Bat that he doesn’t need to kill me (7/15). Maybe TTM deciding to not want to kill me anymore might convince Superalloy to back down as well. 

Zombieman can be a bit obsessive about an idea so he could be hard to convince but if I got either him or CE to back down I might be able to get them both. CE might be able to convince Pig God to back down as well.

One of the most significant weaknesses of this plan is that I’m really not sure how to get Flashy Flash, Watchdog Man, Drive Knight, Puri-Puri, Metal Knight, to back down. -Maybe I’ll just try to look super hot and PPP will back down. >.>’-

The Spy

This is a really really risky plan. This plan is slightly less complicated but significantly more technical but the gist would be to use Hack the HA in a plan to discover Metal Knight’s secret base. He can’t have his fingers in as many pies as he does without leaving a trace. I’d follow the money and resources back to him. As far as I can tell he’s probably a normal human so if I can slide in under the radar with the right weapons I’ll be able to take him out first and then I’ll have two things. A mostly secret, mostly secure location to stay, and an ungodly amount of information on the hero association and the heroes. Information which I could use to protect myself, neutralize threats, and find other heroes weak points.

The Assassin

All the S-Class heroes have incredibly egos which often become more of a weakness than a strength. As the Monster association showed us, even the most powerful heroes can find their match with the right match-up. My whole goal for survival in this scenario would be to keep my opponents off-base and on the defensive, exploiting weaknesses at every turn until victory is assured. A solid (albeit reprehensible) opening move would be to kill King. That could buy you time because the HA and heroes would not understand what person of in-human abilities could possibly kill the strongest man. It also shows them you mean business. But keep in mind there are at least 5 others ranked above King and so it would not be long before they gathered their strength to take you out. You’ll need allies without a doubt and you may find ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’ types in the hidden ninja village, the Monster Association, and a number of other shady criminal organizations. 

Some Weaknesses that come to mind:

Tatsumaki - Fubuki, unwillingness to work with others

Bang - His students, his pride, 

Atomic Samurai - His students, his pide, things that can’t be cut. 

Child Emperor - A fear of not being useful/needed, being looked down on, the limitations of his technology and creativity

Metal Knight - Pride, fear, arrogance 

King - He’s literally weak. 

Zombieman - His obsession with the House of Evolution, You could send him on a multi-year wild goose chase.

Drive Knight - The limitations of his parts and creativity 

Pig God - Comparatively Slow moving, 

Superalloy - Simply breaking through his shell will shatter his confidence. 

Watchdog - Apathy, 

Flashy Flash - Arrogance, Possibly Sonic?, 

Genos - Revenge quest, send him on a wild goose chase too. 

Metal Bat - Zenko 

TTM - inferiority complex, his Tanktop team, comparatively slow moving, predictable fighting style

PPP - Beautiful boys, inattentiveness 

The primary reason this strategy is not necessarily a wise move is that at the end of the day you’ll have Saitama to reckon with and you’re not going to win that fight. Your only real chance of survival is to get this guy on your side, and you won’t do that by actually offing heroes. 

[minsyal]

[Interest Level: 0, Revali x Reader]

Eloquence seemed to trickle from his lips like cool crisp water running through the smooth pebbles of a remote forest stream. You sighed, deciding to relinquish yourself to the torment of the bright lively party that went on around the town. Every word that dropped from his mouth was seemingly filled with sincerity. The way his eyes flickered around in various directions, the way he never quite leaned into the conversation, or the way his arms remained crossed over his puffed chest signaled to you that none of this was sincere in the slightest.

Rather than submit your time to this “festival,” you opted to slink away in the passing moments of boisterous laughter to make your way back to the safety and comfort of your home. Home, the place you could be when you didn’t want to see or hear another living being. It was truly where the heart is.

“Hey.” An extended arm caught you in your retreat. “No.” It was a simple command coming from your father and you knew exactly what he meant. You weren’t leaving the festival.

He had insisted that you, your brother, sister, and mother all attend this festival to honor the Champions as they made their way around Hyrule to receive everyone’s upmost praise for what they’ve yet to do. It was all overrated if anyone asked you, but no one did.

“Don’t you want the shop set up for tomorrow?” You figured it was worth a try. Physical labor was better than standing around wanting to pick your eyes out. “I can go home and get everything ready! Then when the festival is over you all can just go to bed.” A large smile crossed your face.

He watched you for a moment, outwardly caught off guard by your request since you weren’t the one to offer to do anything. A pondering second later, he agreed. “Fine, but if you finish early come back.”

“Oh, you know I will!” An elated laugh escaped your lips before you shook your head, opting to keep it together so your father wouldn’t have any reason to revoke his side to the agreement.

Not a second sooner, you were off, rushing happily back to your home that was merely yards away. While you wouldn’t be out of the festival’s grasp, you would be able to potentially block it all out. The wooden door slammed behind you as you leaned against it with a relieved huff. Finally.

The sounds of the festivities soon died down as people dispersed into smaller groups to chat individually among the Champions and princess, who was rarely seen around Hyrule without a large entourage of heavily armored men surrounding her. It was a nice gesture for them to come, but none of it mattered to you. The so called “Calamity” hadn’t shown its ugly face near Hateno even though they had been going on and on about it for a few years now. A few older fellows attributed it to some sort of “government conspiracy” and insisted the King had made it up to keep everyone at bay. While you weren’t thrilled with the Champions, you weren’t that crazy.

Slowly but surely, the shop was cleaned and prepped for the busy market day to come. The merchandise sat neatly on the shelves that lined the creaky wooden walls. The money from today’s hours was safely packed away in the chest father kept beneath the floorboards. Everyone’s bed was nicely made with the pillows fluffed perfectly for when they returned home. Everything was done and you could finally relax.

That is, if your younger brother hadn’t burst inside calling your name.

“What?” You peered over the side of the sleeping loft where you had just fallen onto the bed to rest your aching feet. “Grant, I’m tired. Can this wait ‘til tomorrow?”

“Not exactly…” his voice trailed off as he climbed the steps. He kept his tone low as if he was holding a secret that absolutely nobody  could hear. “Iris is missing.”

Your heart dropped. “You’re sure she isn’t with the other kids?” Now, with renewed energy, you hopped to your feet and began tugging on your worn shoes. The soles were falling out, the sides needed to be stitched, and the laces were made from rope that came with a tied stack of wheat. They weren’t much, but they worked.

He hastily shook his head back and forth, “She said she was going to grab some flowers from Marblod Plain.”

“You let her go there alone?”

He sulked, an obvious expression of guilt lacing his features. From his glossy eyes to his trembling lip, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. “It’s my fault.” He whispered, casting his gaze to the floor.

“What is?”

“I told her to go.”

“Okay, look.” You slung your father’s sword over your shoulder and adjusted his metal shield to your arm. “I’m going to go look for her. I’m going to find her, and then we’re going to have a talk about sending your sister on wild goose chases.”

“Should I tell dad?” Immediately, your focus turned to the window where you could see your father becoming flustered as the Goron Champion, Daruk, flirted casually with your mother. He rubbed the back of his neck, an ecstatic smile never leaving his face. He was a people pleaser.

“No. Either wait here,” You pointed to the bed, “or go outside and wait by mom and dad.”

“I’ll go outside.”

Outside, the noise of the celebration moved forward as if nothing was wrong. Mipha strolled through the town center with a younger man by her side, ignoring the looks they received from a young knight. Link gave a lot of his attention to Zelda who was speaking to one of the elders about the energy source to the north. Revali was patrolling around, not paying a lick of attention to the young group of girls hot on his feathers. Urbosa was valiantly telling of her meetings with the Yiga Clan, actively reenacting a few of her encounters for the group of children before her.

“Don’t tell them, it’ll ruin their night.” Grant nodded and picked at something under his fingernails. He swallowed hard, trying his best to hold back the tears that welled in his eyes. You knelt down and gently tipped his head up to look you in the eyes. “It’s okay. Iris will be fine. Don’t worry too much.” With a soft kiss pressed to his forehead, he perked up. “Go keep mom and dad safe while I’m gone, okay?”

“Okay!” He sniffled, wiping his nose and forcing you into a snotty hug. “I will!” He scurried off back to your parents before turning and slyly giving you a thumbs up with his highest conviction.

With Grant taken care of, you looked to the west where the rolling plains lied. A new structure had appeared there recently whatever it was had to have something to do with Iris’s disappearance. Trekking the miles over was difficult and a five-year-old wouldn’t have been able to go this far alone. At least, not Iris. She was a laid-back kid, scared of absolutely anything and everything that moved. Butterflies, grass, even sometimes her own shadow spooked the living daylights out of the kid. There was no way she went there on her own accord.  

The moon was suspended high in the sky by the time you made it to the strange building. Odd-looking creatures were jumping up and down on the third story up, shaking the entire thing. How it wasn’t falling to pieces was beyond you. You could see their own weapons perched on their hips, swinging rapidly with each jump.

The night would be your friend in this instance, providing an ample cover as you inched your way up to the first level where your first foe was lying on it’s back, fast asleep.

Revali didn’t particularly enjoy taking part in the festivities that came with being a Champion. Though,  he did enjoy showing off for a few minutes before becoming disenchanted by the crowding fans and young girls that seemed to think they had a shot with the Rito warrior. After he finished telling of the Village from where he came, he grew bored of the situation and decided strolling through the town at a heightened pace would be better suited for his tiring attention.

He spotted them. A girl who was evidently a year or two younger than he kneeled with her back to him, speaking in hushed tones to a child who looked worried sick. He wouldn’t have taken notice to her if she hadn’t had a sufficiently sized sword strapped to her back and a shield to boot strapped to her arm. Something was up, and Revali wished to be in the know. The girl wished the child farewell and took off over the small bridge leading to another home but didn’t stop there. Instead, she continued onward to the west hiking through the grassy lands of Necluda towards Faron.

She wasn’t packed for a long journey, so he could rule her out as being a traveler. There was no way she’d survive without any food. There was no conclusive rhyme or reason as to her departure from Hateno into the wild. That was, until he saw where she was headed.

Perched upon the cliff-side, Revali observed as the girl crouched down in the grass that provided descent cover. She slinked up the steps of the outpost. He prepared himself to become her knight in shining armor; he expected a true fairytale moment as he positioned himself to swoop in and safe the damsel in distress. What he hadn’t expected was her to wield the old sword with such agility, such grace, that the first foe was cut down in seconds. He watched in awe as she moved quietly up the steps to take on the two that were formulating their master plan for her arrival. She disarmed them even faster.

In no time, the outpost was clear of any danger and the girl was sitting at the top with another crying child in her arms. She caressed the girl’s hair, pressing relieved kisses to the top of her head as the child’s wails filled the air.

“Shh.” You held Iris who was a mess. Her nose hadn’t stopped running since you found her, her eyes were puffy and red, and her fingernails were nothing but nubs from where she had been biting. “You can’t go running off like that.”

“I… I k..know…” She wept, soft hick-ups escaping her parted lips as she tried to garner the strength for a smile. “I just…just wanted…”

“This?” An unfamiliar voice had you on guard, quickly rising to your feet, pushing Iris behind you, and grabbing your sword. The tip brushed against the assailant’s throat, dancing lightly on his feathers, the moonlight casting a reflection on his face. “It’s rather rude to threaten my life in such a way.”

He held his ground well, not faltering as he used a finger to push away your sword. “Sorry.” You mumbled, returning the metal to its hilt. It was Revali.

“Here.” He held the blue flower out to your sister who hesitantly inched forward. The five sectioned flower swayed slightly in the breeze; the soft petals brushed with a gradient of blue to white. “For you.”

Taking the flower from him, a smile spread across her face as her features lit up. “Thank you!”

“And,” he turned to you, standing tall, “for you.” He held another flower out to you. Raising an inquisitive eyebrow, you skeptically took the flower despite everything urging you to tell him to buzz off. How long had this pompous bird been here and why hadn’t he helped?

“Thank you.” You gritted out for the sake of your sister who was jovially staring with wide exploring eyes at the bird. “C’mon, Iris. Let’s head back.”

“Hold on.” Revali jut out a wing to stop you from heading down the rickety steps. “Allow me to escort the two of you back. It’s the least I could do.”

“I think we’ll be fine, thanks.”

----

Iris jumped up and down joyously as she prepared to get her first ever flight. It was a big moment for her and with the mode of transport being a Champion, it made it life changing. Revali could only carry one at a time and you both agreed that Iris should go first as leaving her here would be less than keen. She hopped onto Revali’s back and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. The Champion took off and disappeared into the air.

You scanned the top deck, a poorly constructed bow catching your attention. You had never shot a bow before and what better time to figure it out than now? Father had never let you play with the weapons in the house. In fact, if he knew you were using his sword and shield, he would be irate. The grip on the bow was unfortunate. It was far too big for your hands and the arrows were all off balance. After a few went flying off in the opposite direction from which they were fired, you gave up.

“An expert swordsman but I’d have to say,” the voice surprised you as you hadn’t expected him back so soon, “your marksmanship is,” he tilted his head back, “meager.”

“Hateno doesn’t exactly have the bows that Rito Village has.” You nodded to the bow he had strapped to his back.

A moment of silence passed between the two of you, neither one wanting to gather the courage to continue the conversation. What were you supposed to say to him anyway? “I don’t really care about the title you hold or whoever you think you are.”

“Why didn’t you alert anyone to her missing?” It was a simple question with a simple answer. But it wasn’t an answer you wanted to say out loud, so instead you shrugged. “Darling,” he tilted his head, “I may be a bird, but I assure you I wasn’t born yesterday. Was it jealousy?”

“Excuse you?” You felt heat rise through your cheeks.

“Jealousy.” He restated. “The Champions were receiving too much praise and you wanted a cut. Simple as that.”

You contemplated what you would say next. “Fuck off.” No. Too forward. Too rude. “I don’t do things expecting something out of it.” No. You’d have to explain yourself further with that one. Instead of replying you shook your head and let out a chuckle, then began down the steps figuring he’d just take off and head back on his own.

He remained persistent and on your heels. “Oh, come on. Don’t be coy. At least allow me to take you home. Your family is worried sick.”

“Then they’ll be happy when I walk home.”

“You’ll tire yourself by walking. Allow me to,” you cut him off. “No.”

The festival was over by the time you returned home. The streamers and lanterns were taken down, the lit fires of the community cooking pots were extinguished, and the lights in most houses were darkened. Even your house was quiet. They hadn’t waited for you. Biting the hurt you felt back, you made your way home with Revali nearby. The Champions were all staying in the Inn for the night having rented the entire building out. Urbosa was the only one still out.

“Are you alright?” She came to meet the two of you as you threw Revali a look. He finally shut up.

“I’m okay. Thank you.” You excused yourself from the Gerudo Champion.

Revali watched with Urbosa as the girl crept to the side of the home. She plopped herself down on the ground and dished a towel from the bucket of water positioned on a table. He sighed. There was something intriguing about her. She was like no other town girl he had met through all of his traveling. How he had managed to miss her in all of his trips to Hateno floored him. Urbosa smirked as she saw a new side to her feathered friend. His change in demeanor was obvious and his reasoning was more obvious.

“Revali,” Urbosa started, “I must say, I didn’t expect you to be this type.”

“What type?” He tore his eyes from her as she wiped down the weapons. The two began walking back to the Inn together.

“You’re just going to leave her alone now?”

His expression turned to one of confusion. “Why would I use up more of my time to deal with such things?”

Urbosa raised her brows, amused. “Oh.” She brushed her hair from her shoulder. “I don’t know.”

“Urbosa,” Revali said in his usual cutting crisp tone, “I can assure you that I have absolutely no interest in someone like her.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

[lesbianmothership]

Come Back To Me (PART 1)

I originally wanted to post the whole thing in one part but its become a lot longer and in depth than I originally planned so this is part one of probably a couple different parts to come. I like writing angst so let me know whatchya think!

Natasha Romanoff x reader fanfiction 

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of torture and violence.

Word Count:  2092

_________________________

“Come back to me” your girlfriend of three years says as she rests her forehead against your own. Hands cupped around your neck, just under your jaw.  

“Relax Tash,” you smile pecking her lips. “It’s a simple extraction mission. In and out no problem. I do this all the time, you should know.” You wink, earning a tug on your ear.

The redhead beauty rolls her eyes, “You and Clint are never going to let go of that. It was one time!” Natasha Romanoff, the deadliest assassin in the world turned S.H.E.I.L.D. agent hiding her face in the crook of her girlfriend’s neck. Not many get to see this vulnerable side of her. To those outside of the Avengers and yourself she is closed off, cold hearted and will take down her enemy by any means. “You know I worry Y/N. All extractions are dangerous. Why else would the asset need to get out of there? You’re everything to me and if I lose you… don’t think I won’t beat your ass.”

“And you’re everything to me but I got this. You have nothing to worry about, I’m the best of the best.” You give her a cocky grin knowing nothing you say will actually relieve her of her worry but at least you could get her to smile before you depart.

A quick knock on the door of the room you’re in lets you know that the Quinjet and your team are ready to go.

“That’s my cue,” but before you can pull away Natasha grabs you by the collar and tugs you in for a deep kiss.

“You do anything stupid that gets you hurt and I’m holding out for a month,” she warns after she pulls away.

“Well that hardly seems fair,” you complain throwing your arms down to your side like a child. “I’d like to negotiate those terms.”

Another knock on the door. “Doesn’t seem like we have the time моя любовь” Natasha smirks as she watches her beautiful, bad ass girl walk out.

­­­­­­­­­­­__________________________

What was supposed to be a simple extraction mission had gone to shit very fast. The intel you had been given was false. The asset you were to extract from the Hydra base was already dead and the whole thing was a trap. They knew you were coming the entire time.

The moment you stepped into the base bullets were flying. You and your team tried your best to get a handle on the situation but it was obvious from the start that you were outgunned. At this point there was no getting out of it either, you were surrounded and everyone was coming up on their last rounds of ammunition.

“Ramirez is down, gunshot wound to shoulder and chest, Leroy and Shaw are dead ma’am... We need a plan,” your second in command, Smitty, informed you.

“Fuck!” you ran a hand through your hair trying to regain your composure. The weight of the situation hit you hard. Your team, your responsibility which meant as team leader their deaths were on you. It was a part of the job; losing people and you all knew what you had signed up for but it was never easy when it actually happened. You thought about your options but you really only had one viable option where you came out alive, however, it was the very last thing you wanted to do.

“Weapons down!” you ordered.

“Wait what? Y/L/N are you serious?” Jakobs ducked down behind the barrier your team was huddled behind after letting out another round of bullets.

“Are you sure about this?” Smitty asked.

“No… but what other options do we have? We either die here or surrender and hope S.H.E.I.L.D. will send another rescue party.” God you hoped you weren’t making the wrong decision here.

“How the fuck are we going to get them to stop firing at us though?” Jillian asked as she tried to stop Ramirez from bleeding out.

“I got an idea, a really bad one but I think it could work… hand me some of that gauze,” Jill threw some in your direction and quickly you tied off the white fabric to the barrel of your assault rifle before lifting it and waving it around above your head.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jakobs pinched the bridge of his nose “We are never hear the end of this when we get back to headquarters.”

“Headquarters is the reason were in this mess in the first place. Someone fucked up real bad and whoever it is I swear I’m going to have their head,” Smitty growled.

“Less talk about how this happened and let’s focus on how were going to get out of this. Trust me I want the head of whoever is responsible for this as much as you guys but at the moment we need to make sure we keep our own heads alright?” You flinch as a bullet hits the base of your rifle. “Hey nimrods! Don’t you know that a white flag means we surrender!” You yell out.

The Hydra agents seemed to have finally figured out that you’ve given up as their firing ceased and you heard their approaching footsteps. Moments later you and your team were completely surrounded at gunpoint.

“Ah shit.. Natasha is going to kill me-“ you groaned right before everything went black as you were hit over the head with the butt of a rifle.

__________________________

­­­­­­­­­­­­­“Maria… what do you mean you haven’t heard from them yet? Shouldn’t they have the asset secured by now and be back up in the air?” It had been 18 hours since you left for your extraction mission and you were due to radio back hours ago. Natasha was pacing back and forth in communications room with Maria and your team’s handlers.

“Any number of things could be the reason they haven’t made contact yet. They were on radio silence to begin with to hold cover, and they could still be trying to stay under the radar if they’re not in safe airspace yet. We don’t know the situation yet Nat but we don’t see reason to worry yet. Y/N’s team is the best extraction team we have and I have full confidence in their safe return.” Maria tried to reassure the ex-assassin.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this Maria… I know Y/N, she would have radioed back by now already even if they weren’t in safe air space yet. Fuck its been hours.” Natasha was pinching the bridge of her nose. It was protocol to remain in radio silence until the mission was secure but Y/N wasn’t exactly one to always follow protocol. Hell, last mission you were on you connected your team’s comms to your iPod so you could listen to Tequila by The Champs.

“Alright we’ll send another team in-“

“I’m going with.” Natasha snapped, leaving the room to go get ready before anyone could argue with her.

“Alrighty then,” Maria clasped her hands together before turning back to the handlers. “Keep trying to establish communications from here. We need to figure out what the hell happened.”

__________________________

­­­­­­­­­­­

“Ah fuckin-hell” you groaned. Your head was pounding and as you opened your eyes everything was still dark. They had you blindfolded with your arms cuffed above your head and your feet to the floor. You could feel crusty dried up blood matted into your hair and down the side of your face.

“This ain’t good” you grunted under your breath as you tried to sit up.

“No shit sherlock,” Jakobs to your right responded.

“Are Smitty and Jill with us too?” you asked while trying to stretch out your sore muscles.

“I don’t know. I only woke up a few minutes ago and I can’t see anything. They could still be unconscious or being held in another area.” Jakobs reported with a sigh.

This is bad… really really bad. You thought to yourself. You had no idea where you were and odds are you were transported to different base than the one where you had gotten into this mess. You could tell you weren’t in your gear any more either which meant the tracking devices in them were of no use. If anything, Hydra would send S.H.E.I.L.D. on a wild goose chase once they figured out the mission failed. Hopefully they’ve sent out another team already, although you have no idea how the hell they’re going to find you.

While testing out the strength of the chains around your wrists and feet the door to the room you were in scraped open. The sounds of boots walking towards you made your hair stand on end.

It took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the light in the room when your blindfold was removed. You were in a small concrete room; no windows just the single thick metal door and camera in the corner, it was only you and Jakob which confused you. Why keep you together yet separate.

“I can see your thoughts on your face,” the man who seemed in charge spoke. He was an ugly feller. Bald, with a long scar that ran from his right temple down to his jaw and wore typical Hydra getup.

“Your friends are more morning people than yourselves. Woke up quite a bit of time ago. You should know they are dead now though. It was clear they didn’t have the information I wanted so they were disposed of,” the bald fucker chuckled to himself.

Seething through your teeth you made a pathetic attempt to lung at the man. To say you were angry was an understatement. You were seeing red. Basically your whole team was wiped out in what was supposed to be a simple mission. You were furious with yourself. With S.H.I.E.L.D. And you wanted to murder the man who had the audacity to stand before you right now a laugh at you struggling in your chains.

“You really should be more appreciative than that agent L/N” You froze when he said your name. “Although they did experience quite a lot of pain beforehand, I made sure their deaths were painless,” He smirked tapping his index finger between his eyebrows. “I truly felt bad for them really. To be tortured like that only for me to figure out they really didn’t have the information I wanted! Security clearance is a funny thing isn’t it?”

Clenching your jaw, you remained silent.

“You see agent L/N, when I figured out I had a mole in one of my bases relaying information back to S.H.E.I.L.D. I was livid! But then I thought hmm maybe I can use this to my advantage because where there is one mole there is a whole system of them,” he crouched down in front of you tucking a stray hair behind your ear much to your dismay. “So, I had him signal to be extracted, then I shot him and now here you are and what you’re going to do for me now is give me the list of all assets and agents you have hidden in Hydra.” He smiled laying it out like it was the simplest of requests.

“Over my dead body,” you spat.

“I had a feeling you were going to say that. No worries you’ll break eventually.”

__________________________

­­­­­­­­­­­­Natasha knew it was bad news when they landed a mile outside the base at the same location where they were able to track down Y/N’s team’s Quinjet. Completely abandoned, not a trace of anyone.

During the short trek to the Hydra base Natasha was getting more and more anxious. She couldn’t shake the horrible feeling in her gut. The closer they got the heavier the feeling weighed down on her. When they got to the entrance Natasha instructed the team that she would follow in behind her. They had no idea what they were walking into.

However, the last thing she expected was a completely empty base. They cleared room by room, went down each hallway and found not a single trace that anyone had ever been there. It wasn’t until they rounded a corner into another hallway that Natasha’s stomach plummeted. Three bodies laid across the floor. Approaching Natasha let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding when she recognized Y/N’s teammates: Ramirez, Leroy and Shaw.

Had she been alone she was sure her legs would have given out but she remained poise in front of the team of agents around her.

“What the fuck happened to you Y/N” Nat whispered under her breath.

[tcrmommabear]

Merry Christmas Catsafari!

I mean, I’m pretty sure you’ve already read this since you have the link to the word document, but I wanted to officially give this to you!

Inspired by your desire for a Bureau Files AU, The Case of the Three Barons, and Waltz Katzen Blut, we now have the beginnings of Toto x Haru

Also, Haru wonders if feathers technically count as “fur” in some communities. If I could do the eyes emoji, I would, but alas

Merry Christmas, my best friend, and I can’t wait to see you! (oh fudge, tag you, @catsafarithewriter)

The mausoleum door didn’t creak open ominously. Didn’t open to a foreboding dark cavern to who-knows-what down below.

No, it opened to a well lit room. The door simply swung open, newly oiled and built into the walls of this tomb. Names were carved into the granite, but no bodies or ashes laid by them. Or anywhere in this portion of the mausoleum. It was just built ahead of time.

A head poked in, taking a glance around the room. She clicked off the flashlight and opened the door further, stepping out from the dark graveyard into the granite building.

“Looks empty,” she called out, “wait, scratch that, it’s completely empty.”

“Probably for the best, considering what we’re investigating,” a voice told her as they swooped by, the crow flapping into place by the bust of the youngest child.

“Are we sure we aren’t just looking for normal cats, Toto?” Haru whined again, swinging her arms to gesture around the mausoleum.

Toto gave a short laugh, tilting his head in her direction.

“Cats may be fast, but one disappearing before the groundskeeper’s eyes is a little much,” he replied, laughing again as Haru huffed.

“Honestly, I'm just willing to bet this whole thing is a wild cat chase.”

“Not goose?”

“Don’t be silly, geese are terrible enough without paranormal involvement.”

The pair shared a look, before breaking down into laughter, the sound echoing from the marble. Haru wiped a tear away from her face, walking a slow circle around the building.

“I mean, honestly, Toto, the things he tells us to go investigate,” Haru griped, lightly kicking a column that served absolutely no purpose.

“Haru…”

“I mean it! I mean, seriously, ghost cats? What’s next? Ghost turtles?”

“I hear they’re especially crafty.”

“Funny, but you’re not getting a laugh out of me, Mr. Funny Crow.”

Toto gave her a sheepish grin, one that sent a little ping through her heart. She turned away, running her fingers over the walls, looking for some sort of seam or hidden passage. She told herself that at least, to keep from arguing with herself over if feathers counted for…

The silence they fell into was comfortable, but primed. Toto knew her feelings, knew the anger and conflict she felt over their situation. Not their general one, but the one forcing them to investigate a clear deadend. A certain Cat Doll.

“Honestly, what did I even do to him? I just needed help,” she eventually told Toto, voice caught somewhere between angry and defeated. He didn’t like the sound of it.

“He… Changed, when he went missing, Haru. He told me a little bit, but I don’t know any more than you,” he said, apologetic.

She looked at him, their eyes meeting halfway and a million miles apart. She knew he knew more. He knew that. She wanted answers so badly, but knew the exact one. Knew the very obvious answer that frustrated her.

He had met her in that other world. And he walked away burned.

“What did I do?” she asked again, but to no one in particular.

Maybe to that cat sitting on the coffin that wasn’t there before.

“Holy sh-!”

“Watch out!”

The world slowed for seconds. Toto took off towards her. She threw her flashlight. The lights flickered, the cat’s head slowly cocking. Its flesh bubbled.

Toto transformed mid air, and pinned both of them to the floor as black ichor surged from the cat. Even as the air slowly stilled, and what he knew to be infected magic slunk away to hide, Toto didn’t stop covering Haru with his body. The uncut quartz nicked her cheek, the necklace it hung from now more visible against Toto’s human form.

“Well that,” she said as Toto leaned back to let her sit up, “was spooky as hell.”

“I think you’d prefer the ghost turtles now.”

“No thanks, I hear they’re especially crafty.”

They both go to laugh, but the tangled mess of emotions and life-or-death adrenaline catches in their throats and puts it at the bottom of their stomachs. They both stay on the floor, low and quiet, hoping maybe it’d keep whatever caught them from coming back.

“The one mission…” she mumbled angrily.

“The one damn mission he sends me on that’s supposed to be a cat-chase and it turns out it’s actually full of danger.”

“He’s always had that sort of luck and timing,” Toto offers, but this time neither offer even a twitch of the lips for that light jab. He drops the attempts at humor.

“What’s our plan?”

“Don’t get gooed by explosive ghost cats?” Haru offers hesitantly, shrugging at Toto’s side eye. “Leave me alone, this is the first time in a while doing a mission without some Cat Doll telling me I’m messing up.”

“No reason to be out of practice, Haru.”

“Okay, are we going to keep up this banter and flirting all night, or are you going to focus?”

They both laugh a brief second, Haru’s hand moving to cover her mouth before adjusting to scratching at her neck. Okay, she just said that. Toto laughed. She laughed. Jokes, funny, ha ha, right?

There was another cat.

“Fuck!”

She yanked Toto back, pulling him out of the line of fire. Her shoes scrambled against the marble floor, and they fell back against the mausoleum door. The explosion splattered across the sides of the coffins, shooting upwards rather than around.

Before the black magic could disappear, more cats appeared, heads cocking to the side.

One by the tallest window, one on each of coffins, and a final one sitting in front of them. The one before them lashed its tail, eyes two different colors. One a bit too human to be a cat’s eye.

The door behind them slammed into their backs, forcing them forward. They went to land on the cat, their bodies landing on marble flooring. All the cats disappeared, the black magic slinking into the shadows.

A tall, ginger man stepped into the building, looking between the two lying on the floor. His expression was impassive, offering a hand to Toto to help him up, his words only directed towards him.

“Are you alright, old friend? Looks like I found you in the knick of time,” he said, swiping at supposed dirt on Toto’s shoulder.

“I’m fine, too, Humbug,” Haru groaned, sitting up and rubbing the back of her head.

“Humbug” froze, giving Toto a moment to escape from his tight grasp and head towards Haru. He knelt down, pressing gently fingers around where Haru had touched. She winced, hissing in protest when he continued to search.

“You’re tough as nails, Haru, Baron and I knew you were fine,” Toto told her, shooting a warning glance at their third. He briefly held his hands up in surrender, glancing between the two.

Toto kept his eyes on Haru, searching for injury or any touch of black magic. Haru glanced between Toto and Baron, narrowing her eyes at the later. She seemed a little too preoccupied with the former, though.

Baron kept his eyes on the two of them.

Muta, entering after (as a cat, not a human), surveyed the situation, and caught what most wouldn’t see. Baron’s grip tightened on the cane. Throat bobbed nervously. Eyes followed the same path Toto’s hands took, double checking what he found.

Expression just barely hiding the concern and worry he had for the young woman on the floor.

“What did you guys find, anyways?” Haru suddenly asked, pushing Toto away. She grabbed the top of the coffin, hauling herself up to be at chin-level with the men around her. (A fact she was always a bit salty about).

“Bupkis,” Muta responded, watching Baron’s expression fall into unflappable cool. “The groundskeeper’s house had nothing, and the crypt we wandered into had actual dead people.”

“I’d take corpses over exploding cats at this point,” Haru responded, chills running up her spine at the thought.

“You would until their ghosts start yelling at you for trespassing,” Muta countered, nodding towards Baron. “In German, too.”

The others looked at the Cat Creation turned man. He at least allowed himself to turn pink in the ears.

“They were… Quite angry.”

“Great, so real ghosts, cat-ghosts, what else are we to expect from here?”

“Ghost turtles?” Toto prompted, nudging Haru. She gave a small grin. The joy melted off her face, replaced with horrified bewilderment.

“Oh my fucking-!”

A little turtle sat on the window sill across from her, eyeing the others. Its head cocked to the left.

“God dammit Toto!”