#They were told not to engage with the portal without him but they kinda just did

[minty364]

DPXDC Promp#58 Part 5

When he came too he was in the basement.

A soft hum came from the now activated portal, Danny couldn’t help but stare at it, the swirling green was mesmerizing and something in him felt a little different. He thought about what that might be for a moment but he was unable to tear his eyes away from the swirling patterns that called to him, beckoning him. 

“D-Danny?” Jazz said from behind him her voice was small and quiet, Danny almost didn’t hear her. 

He was sitting so he let himself fall onto his back and looked up at her.

She was right behind Damian and Tim who were watching him apprehensively, their hands held up in a defensive position. Jazz had a look of confusion and dread on her face while Damian also seemed confused but there was an anger there that Danny couldn’t quite place. Tim meanwhile looked like he was preparing to steal his emotions, probably because he was the eldest of the group. 

He wasn’t sure what was going on but he looked around the lab for the sink he knew had a mirror over it and when he found it he got up and walked over to see his reflection. Or well he tried, his body started floating as soon as he stood, he somehow was able to get to the mirror and looked at his reflection.

He was paler than before, almost as white as a sheet, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. His once blue eyes were a vibrant neon green, his hair once black is now white as snow. Even his hazmat suit inverted colors. White boots and gloves and a black suit. 

He fell back from the mirror onto his back as he shifted away from his reflection. It was terrifying that he could see Jazz, Tim, and Damian watching through him, he was transparent like he wasn’t really there.

He had really died, he was a ghost, the very thing his parents ranted on and on about every time he or Jazz was in ear shot. They’d rant about how evil they were and how they’d find one to dissect after the portal was completed. If that wasn’t enough he realized he couldn’t feel his pulse and he hadn’t been breathing this entire time.

He was panicking now, what exactly did this mean for him? Was his parents going to find him in the basement and try to dissect him? Should he go into the portal? If it did go to the ‘ghost zone’ as his parents called it shouldn’t he live there now? 

He could feel himself start to break as silent sobs wracked his body, he still wasn’t breathing but that probably didn’t matter if he was a ghost. 

If his parents were right about ghosts that meant he was a monster now, he probably wouldn’t be allowed near anyone again. He’d never be able to feel the warm embraces of his sisters hugs again. He desperately wanted to feel that warm again. It was the only feeling he could cling onto, and it was then that something happened. 

A bright light flashed around him, a ring around his center that split in two, one going up and the other going down.

When it was done, Danny was back in his white hazmat suit with black accents. He scrambled back up to see his reflection and he was indeed back to normal somehow and he was again tied to earth's gravity.

He could feel tears well up in his eyes again as he turned around to Jazz and their friends, “I-I’m alive?” he couldn’t stop his voice from trembling, his entire body felt chilly and he couldn’t stop himself from crying, sobbing as he struggled from air that he apparently needed again.

Damian and Tim shared a glance but Jazz ran past them as she pulled Danny into a hug. His sister was so warm and he couldn’t help but melt into it as the two cried sobbing and clinging onto each other. 

Danny was here and he was somehow alive, he was sure being a ghost was permanent but somehow he was alive and he could hold, hug, and protect those he loved. A warmth spread from his chest. 

He could tell he was indeed different now, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it at the moment. His sister was here and he was hugging her.

Damian and Tim approached slowly like they couldn’t believe Danny was here alive and well either. Damian scowled at Danny, he rarely got frustrated at him but here was and Danny didn’t get why, “why did you sacrifice yourself like that?!” Damian shouted.

Danny took a few calming breaths before speaking, “I-I tripped, I saw you and figured it was too late for me…”

Jazz and Tim looked at him terrified before Tim spoke up, “you mean they built the damn ‘on’ button on the inside?” 

Before either Danny or Jazz could speak up the door leading to the kitchen opened up, “kids? Are you still down there?” Their mom called before heading down the stairs. When she got to the bottom they could see the elegant green dress she wore that hugged her figure. She gasped as she dropped her purse, staring at the portal. “JACK!!” she shouted up the stairs before running over to the lockers to put her hazmat suit back on.

Jack walked down the stairs sullenly but once he too saw the now activated portal he rushed to put on his suit as well. 

“I thought you guys had left?” Jazz asked, pushing Danny behind her protectively, Danny wasn’t sure if she realized what happened yet but keeping him away from them until they had a better grasp over what happened was probably a good call.

Maddie shrugged as she put her goggles on her head letting it snap against her forehead with a little snap, “I forgot my Fenton-lipstick.” The reply was nonchalant.

The four friends found themselves getting pushed out of the lab as the scientists busied themselves measuring and taking readings from their new portal.

They quickly got out of the suits and gathered whatever they needed for the sleepover over at Wayne manor. Danny didn’t really care what he was packing, just shoving things into his book bag. Whatever had just occurred rattled him a little. He couldn’t help but worry that this was just the beginning. 

“That was quite some time you all took,” Alfred noted once they were seated in the back with Tim in the front and Danny in the middle in the back. Everyone kept glancing at Danny to make sure he was okay but he felt fine at the moment. 

“Uh, well,” Jazz started, “something happened to Danny,” she struggled to say. None of them were quite sure exactly what was happening but the sooner they got to a quiet space to discuss they were going too. 

Alfred glanced at Danny from the rearview mirror as he drove, “will we need to take Master Daniel to the hospital?”

Tim cut in before anyone else could, “that’s quite alright Alfred, we aren’t exactly sure what happened but we might have a code lazarus on our hands.”

Danny and Jazz shared a look, they were both equally confused having no clue what code lazarus meant. Tim normally wasn’t this serious although Danny figured the circumstances weren’t normal either.

They'd discuss thing’s later when they had privacy at Wayne manor.

[abstract-crossverse]

How bout a Marshall x nature-loving reader? They, the reader, loves the outside. Flowers, vines, moss, the stars/moon, etc. But, they have social anxiety, so their current only lover/friend(up to you) is Marshall

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We Met In The Garden" [Marshall(GW oc) x Nature-loving Reader, headcanons]

When he first saw you at the entrance of the maze, the air was knocked out of his chest

You were wearing [clothing of your choice] with some nature-related accessories (vine gloves, leaf hair clips, whatever you want)

And the way you were looking around at the bushes and overall garden, with big fascination and awe for who took care of the garden so well

And even complimented the gardener out loud??? O-ho-ho, call me Santa, cuz you already have him around your fingers

Unfortunately for him, he's also a hopeless romantic—which is one of the reasons he stays in the gardens so much—and fantasizes a lot about having a lover a LOT

Girl, guy, outside or in-between, as long as you're a good partner, he doesn't care

I'm not self projecting I'm not self projecting I'm not--

He was tripping in his little world for a while cuz when he tuned back in, you were about to open the gates to the nightmare

Not wanting to lose yet another great person to this world, he called out for you

"u-uhm- excuse me, Mx.! Mind if you stick around for a while longer?"

You looked back to see the stone statue stepping down from his pedestal, anxiety growing on your chest, you accepted his request seeing as he meant no threat to you

For the next few hours you got to know Marshall better, gentle and patient with you, not to overwhelm you with, well, his very being and the social activity you two had going on

You spent your time walking among the garden, he told you about every plant you took fascination in, along with memories of his related to those, and if you were comfortable, you could tell him of your memories related to the plant

You stargazed too, he has a very vast knowledge of stars and constellations and stuff, he used to be an astrologist back in life so be ready to hear him ramble about constellations and the moon

Eventually, you got comfortable and dropped questions and small facts you knew now and then, and he was more than happy that you engaged

You guys were having so much fun that you didn't even notice some of the other statues spying on you, Henry and William telling everyone to keep away from you and Marshall while Apollo and Colin kept Bennet from jumping at you

But he knew you had to complete the nightmare to leave, but he didn't want you to get hurt by his comrades or leave him

So he kindly but kind of threatening told the other statues to back off and kind of... Uuuuh- how do I say this- fucking YEETED APOLLO AND MAXWELL INTO A FUCKING WALL AS A WARNING

Ofc he would never do such a thing to the ones just as Henry, William, Ezekiel, or any of the good ones but he's not afraid to suplex a mother fucker into space for you

They did as they were told, but couldn't also disobey Malak so they just eased up on the chasing, staying still for longer after you took your eyes off them and stuff, yeah

Eventually, you got the ring and all that boss fight that happens in the enhanced version happens and you're still alive

Marshall helps you dodge everything once you're out of the main maze, and escorts you to the portal as the giant statue behind the manor throws axes at you both

He gives you one final hug and a kiss on the hand, a farewell, and sends you off

You hand over the ring piece to Bierce and goes to a corner of the room in sadness

Bierce actually feels guilty for once and tells you the nightmare didn't actually collapse, she just said that so you'd get out faster

You're able to visit Marshall in better terms now that Malak's focusing on having other monsters after you

He couldn't be happier about that

Bonus:

General Marshall dating hcs

This man has not received a single compliment nor praise in his life, so give him some and you have a Marshall puddle on the ground

He's kinda awkward on pda aside from arm hooking, so if you hug him or just, gently hold his hand he WILL melt and this is a threat /j.... /Hj

Once he gets the hang of pda, he'll always do it as long as you let him and are comfortable with it

Tends to ramble a lot, either to anyone willing to listen or to himself, so prepared to be bombarded with info about his passions if he gets into a rambling session

Please just listen to him, no one ever bothered to listen so seeing you actually interested or just listening to him makes his non-existent heart feel fuzzy

Even if you have no idea of what he's talking about but just like the sound of his voice

Since he has a bit of moss growing on him, he avoids touching you too much without his gloves so you don't have to touch moss

Please help him take some of the moss he can't reach off, its kind of uncomfortable and he wants to hug you

Can't take off the moss on his hands though, it's inside the cracks and it grows fast once you try to take it off

Maybe you can take that off with can REALLY get in those cracks

He likes kissing you, rock doesn't really feel nice against lips so unless you're willing to kiss him on the lips, then he'll give you forehead kisses and related

He loves you a fucking lot, is willing to fight the world for you, and will NOT hesitate to suplex anyone if they even try to touch you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[princess-of-the-corner]

Ok, so I remember Dragon coming up with a Chloe DP au, and for some reason that combined in my head with your post about Vlad and the rich kids and the S4 spoilers so... imagine Chloe at Vlad’s party during a ghost attack, feeling depressed and useless and generally just thinking about being replaced. somehow she ends up in Vlad’s lair, self reflecting in front of the portal when it gets hit by a power surge. Most of the class just sees her being carried out to the ambulance, but 2 know better

Me: “I need to work on all my other fics.”

Also me: “Time to work on several pages of Chloé half dying!!! And another bootleg version of one of Dragon’s AUs!”

Vlad and Danny are on kinda friendly terms in this mostly because I wanted to write them snarking at each other. 

Chloé was glad to get out of Paris for a while. A decision her father had made after, well. Certain incidents. Making her feel unsafe in Paris. So she was sent away to a place without Hawkmoth or Akumas.

Smoothing out the skirt of her pale yellow, nearly white, dress, she contemplated the place she ended up.

She would have been prepared for New York. But of course Audrey said she was too "Unexceptional" yet. But as Audrey had to go on a business trip to meet other rich business people at some fancy party, Chloé's dad convinced her to take her to this place. 

Not that business parties full of other rich people were something she really wanted to deal with. They were usually too condescending at best. A few of them could be creepy. Giving her looks that made her want to take a shower for a year. 

It was almost enough to make her want to stay in Paris. But the one thing that made her decide it wouldn't be too bad was who was hosting the party. 

Don't get her wrong. Vlad Masters definitely gave off some strange and downright intimidating vibes. But the few times Chloé had met him at events like this, he was one of the few adults who seemed to respect her, despite her age. And he only used his threatening vibes on any of the other men looking at her. 

That said, Chloé wasn't expecting much conversation with Vlad. They didn't usually talk much anyway, just polite conversation common at these things. And as Audrey was currently attempting to engage with him, almost as if she were blocking Chloé from getting near, it was unlikely she would.

"If you're going to commit a murder could you wait another twenty minutes? I have a bet going."

Chloé jumped, realizing someone was speaking to her. When she found who, her initial instinct was to glare. Blue eyes and black hair making her think of someone else. 

However, as she took in the rest of the context, she found someone new. And male. A boy about her age. 

"Who are you?" Chloé asked. 

"Head of security," the boy said. 

It was obviously a joke, from his tone and lopsided grin. And Chloé almost laughed at the idea of a teenager being any kind of security. 

But she noticed the way he stood, the way he analyzed her. It reminded her of Adrien, in a way. Seemingly all smiles and laid back, but far more capable than he looks. 

There was something else about him too. It actually reminded her of Vlad. The general vibes he gave off. But Vlad felt more… firey. Heat under his skin, waiting for the temper to snap. This boy felt more cold. Not emotionally, but like a snowfall that could quickly engulf you in a blizzard. 

"I think a name would be better," Chloé said. 

"Call me Danny then," the boy said, offering a hand. 

"Chloé Bourgeois," she replied, politely taking it. "So, judging by the fact that you didn't give me your last name, you don't want me guessing who you're connected to."

"You probably wouldn't know them," he said. "My family's known for their studies on the paranormal. They're scientists. And not really the kind for this kind of party."

"But you are?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"Absolutely not," he said. "But hey. Vlad's trying to buy his way to an apology by giving me money if I hang out and make sure nothing spooks the guests. Other than him, of course. Might as well put it in my college fund. So, you actually planning a murder or not?"

That almost made her laugh. A small smile on her face, Chloé's gaze drifted across the room to her mother. 

"No murder yet," Chloé said. "If I do kill someone, it'll be the local supervillain back in Paris."

"Heard something about that," Danny said. "My parents keep debating on checking it out. It's obviously paranormal and magical, but they specialize in Ghosts."

"Are they the Ghostbusters?" She did actually laugh at that one. 

"Something like that," he chuckled. 

All of a sudden, Danny stiffened up. It had to be a trick of the light, but she could've sworn a mist came out of his mouth. He frowned, looking around carefully. 

"Sorry, I have to go," Danny said. "A disturbance in the garden. See you around."

"Yeah, see you," Chloé sighed. 

As he ran off through the crowd, Chloé wondered how he knew about the "disturbance". Maybe he was actually part of the security team and had an earpiece in? 

Brushing the thought off, Chloé grabbed a drink from a passing waiter. Then she headed the opposite direction.

She wanted some time alone. It had been nice, talking to Danny. But the party was still overwhelming. She might be out of Paris, which meant less stares and whispers. But still too much interaction for her liking lately. 

Chloé headed out of the main ballroom. Few paid attention to her. Those that did were quickly dragged back to their conversations. 

As she wandered the halls, Chloé wondered if she could get lost in here. If her mother would notice. Maybe she could just. Not go home and just secretly live in Vlad's mansion. 

A tempting idea, if she could figure out how to do it. But for now, she settled for exploring. 

There was a library. Very nice. Bookshelves along every wall, except for a spot for a fireplace. Comfortable chairs and a couch to read on. 

She looked through the bookshelves. It seemed well stocked, despite the impossibility of ever reading them all. Most were nonfiction, texts on various subjects. A few seemed to be typical fiction, though Chloé didn't inspect those too close lest she judge Vlad's collection of trashy romance novels. 

What intrigued her was one large shelf, right across from the fireplace. These books actually looked well-used. Texts on the paranormal. Hadn't Danny said something about that? Between this and the familiarity with Vlad, perhaps it was a family-friend situation.

Dragging a finger along the spines of the books, she picked one at random. Pure curiosity more than actual interest. 

The book was soon dropped and forgotten when the shelf slid open to reveal a doorway. 

Now that had her curious and interested. 

A look over her shoulder at the door, and Chloé was in the new room. No, a new hall of stairs. Descending down stone steps. 

She was suddenly worried she would find some sort of kinky dungeon type place. Perhaps she should quit while she was ahead. 

It was the buzzing in her fingertips that made the decision for her. Something… familiar. 

It wasn't like the buzzing she felt near an Akuma, or near someone using a Miraculous. No, this felt more like Vlad. Like Danny. Whatever she was feeling from them, there was more of it down here. 

Eventually the stairway opened to a room. It looked like a laboratory of some kind. Weapons and tools of shiny metal and magenta accents lined the walls. There were a few that traded magenta for green, but not as if two people consistently shared a space. More like one occasionally left objects behind. 

The one thing in the room that was overwhelmingly green and not magenta was against one wall. 

It almost looked like a doorway of sorts. Or a Magic Portal, really. Swirls of green that she couldn't see into. And if she hadn't spent the last year and a half being attacked by Magical Supervillains and becoming a Hero herself, she would've assumed it was just a large tv screen embedded in the wall for aesthetics. 

The reminder of her time as a Hero brought back some bitter memories. 

She might not have been the best person, but she was a good Hero. Chloé would have gladly continued being Queen Bee, despite the risks, because she had felt like she finally found a purpose. But Ladybug told her no, she couldn't have the Miraculous anymore. For her safety of course. 

What a joke. Not only had Chloé been in more danger without it, as there was no way she could defend herself against Hawkmoth. But the other Heroes were still active, even with their identities known. 

With a sigh, Chloé attempted to distract herself. Walking around the room and investigating the weapons around the lab. They were strange. She wasn't a gun expert, but these didn't look normal. Not regular guns that shoot bullets. 

Were they alien weaponry? That didn't seem right. Chloé wasn't an expert, having never met an alien(as far as she was aware). But the weapons seemed very based on Earth designs, their sizes intended for average Human use. Maybe weapons for Humans to use on nonhumam creatures. 

Whatever it was, Chloé was now a bit curious. What did Vlad get up to when he wasn't hosting business parties like this? Did he perhaps moonlight as a superhero? With that Danny kid as the Robin to his Batman? Perhaps she should stay. Be the Jason Todd of the family. Though with less dying.

She almost laughed at the idea. But as a crack of thunder rang through the mansion, loud enough to be heard from this basement laboratory, she jumped, instinctively spinning around to look for an attack.

A second crack of thunder, and all the lights went dark.

Chloé was not afraid of the dark. She never had been, even as a child. 

But she was afraid now. Because this wasn't a normal blackout. In a mansion like this, there would be emergency generators. They didn't kick in, which meant this was likely something else. 

Amity Park was different from Paris. No Hawkmoth. No Akumas. But that didn't mean there was no danger. 

And the thing Chloé had become afraid of, after so many Akuma attacks and even Hawkmoth himself coming to her home, her room, and confronting her. The thing she was afraid of was being unable to fight back. 

Her breath began to quicken, the only noise she could hear in the dark room. Heart hammering in her chest, Chloé tried to calm herself down. This wasn't Paris. Whoever or whatever it was wasn't after her. 

But what if it was? What if this person had decided she would make a good target? What if Hawkmoth had followed her, hoping to get revenge for failing him as Miracle Queen? What if it was someone else, furious about what she had involuntarily done, knowing that if something happened here, Ladybug's Miraculous Cure would be too late?

Hands trembling, Chloé remembered the weapons on the wall. It wasn't her Miraculous, but it was something. She refused to go down without a fight. 

The only problem was that, in her panic, she had gotten turned around she couldn't remember which was she was facing. 

Blindly choosing a direction, Chloé kept a hand out in front of her, slowly moving it back and forth hoping she'd hit a wall. Her ragged breathing and the click of her heels on the floor being the only sounds. A good sign, she hoped. 

Her hand hit something. A wall, she thought. Somewhere to her left. Keeping her hand flat against it, she hoped to follow it until she found the weapon rack again. 

She kept walking, barely noting how the sound of her footsteps changed from heels-on-tile to heels-on-metal. Had the floor been metal? She couldn't remember. The stairs up had been stone so obviously she was still in the lab. 

The lights suddenly came back on, the blackout over. Yet Chloé wasn't nearly as blinded as she should have been by the sudden brightness. It was coming from behind her. Had she somehow found a different hallway out of the lab?

As she turned to head back to something familiar, a different brightness flickered on. But she was completely unaware, as all she could focus on was pain. 

Burning, crackling under her skin. Through every inch of her. Worse than anything she had ever felt, as Civilian, Hero, or Akuma. 

The pain began to subside. Not going away, but no longer the intense agony. Just an ache, but as if she had run a marathon around Paris without being transformed. Her throat still burned the worst though. Had she been screaming? She couldn't remember doing so, but it seemed likely given the pain.

Stumbling forward, she managed to find herself back in the lab. Yet her vision was blurry. So blurry, in fact, that when she looked down her white dress appeared black. 

The pain and exhaustion was too much for her. Pitching forward, everything went dark again.

--------

The next thing Chloé knew, she was somewhere soft. Everything still hurt, which made her not want to move. But she could hear two male voices arguing. 

"You should let me explain it to her."

"You will confuse and scare her with your morbid humor."

"And you'll just freak her out!"

"I have more experience in this."

"Not in explaining it!"

"I explained it to Danielle."

"And I explained it to everyone else because you had to be a fruitloop!"

"Are you still using that insult?"

"It still fits."

Registering that she should probably see what's goin on, Chloé went to get up. 

Her right arm must've slipped off whatever she was laying on, as she almost immediately slammed back down. The feeling that had her jolting upright instead of trying again to be slow, was that it felt like something hit the inside of her arm?!

Inspecting the limb, she didn't find anything wrong with it. It was there. No burns or bruises. The worst thing was a chipped manicure. 

As her gaze went further up her arm to her shoulder, she noticed something. A discoloration in her skin. It was hard to see, having to look nearly straight down and only being able to see what skin was showing. But there were thin lines across her shoulders and chest. She couldn't tell how far they went up her neck, or how much further they extended under her dress. 

The lines looked almost like lightning. It was then that she remembered the lab. The pain. But she swallowed down her fear.

"Well say goodbye to swimsuit season," Chloé muttered, her voice still a little shaky and her throat still raw. 

"Perhaps your humor will be helpful after all," one of the voices from earlier mused. 

Chloé jumped, having completely forgot that there were people in the room. One was Vlad, the other was the "head of security" kid. Danny, wasn't it? 

"What happened?" Chloé asked.

"You received quite a shock," Vlad replied. 

"Oh, and my humor is too much for her," Danny glared.

"Kind of used to puns in horrifying situations," Chloé said. "One of my best friends loves making puns to deflect dealing with things."

And okay yes she also did that. But she was not going to tell them that. Even if the looks they gave each other probably meant they guessed as much. 

"Where am I?" Chloé asked, looking around. 

"One of the guest rooms," Vlad explained. 

"Not a hospital?" She asked. 

"A hospital isn't quite equipped to handle… this," he said. 

"One of the guests was a doctor who did a general checkup," Danny said. "She was sure you probably just fainted from low blood sugar or something."

"And… and my mother?" Chloé asked. 

"She is back at her hotel," Vlad said, visibly bristling. "I may not be father of the year, but her lack of concern is appalling."

The exasperated look Danny gave him said there was a long story there. Chloé wasn't sure she wanted to hear it right now.

"So why would a hospital be bad?" Chloé asked instead. 

"That is quite a story," Vlad said. "Do you know what you were messing with in the laboratory?"

"I know it had weapons," she said. "Then the lights went out and I tried to find my way around."

"I think that makes her smarter than both of us," Danny said.

"I didn't enter an unstable device on a dare," Vlad glared. “I knew what I was doing.”

"You stuck your face right up to a prototype device not knowing if it was stable or not," he retorted. "You're lucky you only half died.".

Vlad glared at him again. Chloé could have sworn he man's eyes flashed red. It was more than just a trick of the light. 

He said a hospital wasn't a good situation for her now. He implied that he'd had something similar happen to him. And those books on the paranormal, leading to a lab… 

Vlad wasn't Human. At least not anymore. Danny wasn't either, most likely. And Chloé realized, with mounting horror, that she probably wasn't either.

Once more she focused on her hands. What… was she now? Chloé flipped through her knowledge of the paranormal. It couldn't be a Vampire or Werewolf. She didn't get bit or infected with anything. Most other creatures she could remember Humans becoming had very specific circumstances or longer processes. 

Then, she recalled something Danny had said. His family deals with Ghosts. 

As if to confirm her suspicions, her hands flickered out of existence. An involuntary whimper escaping her throat. 

"I… I'm dead, aren't I?" Chloé asked. 

"Only half way," Danny said. 

"That is nowhere as reassuring as you think it is," Vlad said. 

This time it was Danny's turn to glare. But his eyes flashed a green color instead of red. 

Meanwhile, Chloé was having a crisis. She died. She fucking died. But she was still here. 

She was vaguely aware of their voices. Both males had come closer, sitting beside her on the bed. She knew one, or maybe both of them, was telling her to breathe. To focus. 

She tried to focus on how strange it was, sitting between them. One burning, one freezing. Was that related to… This? 

It helped ground her. Remind her that she wasn't alone. 

"That's right," Danny said. "You're not alone in this. Which is already better than what we got."

"You could have had a mentor," Vlad said. 

"But you were still evil back then," he smirked.

Oh boy oh boy. This was going to get oh so complicated. 

[whyralltheusernamestaken]

Hello! If you have time I would like a scenario with Deku with a male or gender neutral reader who was supposed to be the next successor of one for all but all might kinda forgot about them (like they ate his hair and got one for all but he just forgot about them). And now they’ve become one of the most powerful villains and they want to kill all night and Deku as revenge. I just love how you write and I just had to request something🥰

Hi omg I cannot describe how excited I was when I saw this so I might have word v/mitted and written a little too much… Thank you so much for requesting and I'm so so happy that you enjoy my writing! Midoriya x gn!reader Warnings : smallest mention of abuse (dabi), bit of fighting, kinda angsty Words : 1.5k

You rested your elbows against the window sill, cheek against your palm as the clouds drifted slowly across the sky. The sun disappeared as you watched the young blonde lunge forwards, the ball leaving his fingertips at an incredible speed. A loud explosion rang across the field and to your ears as the crisp autumn air nipped at your face. 

The chatter of your classmates behind you were tuned out as you watched excitedly, analyzing each and every one of the first years, seeing perhaps if any of them had potential in the upcoming years. Not that they could ever beat you, given that you were All Might successor, or at least were. As the second year drew to an end, he had seemingly forgotten all traces of your existence, acknowledging you only briefly as just another UA student in the background, rather than someone who he had passed his quirk to. You had bitterness seeping into your heart, a slight resentment to the number 1 hero, but as the seasons changed and you entered your third year, you had convinced yourself there must’ve been another reason. 

Perhaps he didn’t need a successor anymore. You wondered if by some miracle his wounds had completely healed and he no longer reverted back to his weaker, skeleton like self. Possibly he had just forgotten to tell you, or felt embarrassed that he had passed his quirk on so quickly only to not have needed the haste. But your months of comforting yourself that there was a good reason suddenly shattered right there in just those few seconds. Your eyes widened as the boy pressed forwards, accelerating the ball with a power that you undeniably also shared. Slack jawed and in utter shock, you rubbed your eyes to see if somehow they had deceived you, yet when nothing in your vision changed, your surprise turned to spite. 

All might had abandoned you. 

You felt yourself fill with anger, shaking as you brought your clenched fists down onto the window, splintering the wood in fury before turning and storming from the classroom. The sudden urge to flee from this place infested with heroes overwhelmed you. They had lied to you, every single one of them. The teachers presented themselves as the good guys, always on your side and full of hope. Yet why then did the most admired person pick your pitiful self up from the ground, build you up as if you had hope of ever becoming the successor to the entire country’s hero, just for them to simply tear it all away at the last minute. You knew you were right when you first believed All Might had completely cast you aside. You were right to think that you were so utterly useless. If you had just remained that little quirkless child you wouldn’t even be here wasting your years, desperately trying to be a hero and gaining approval from someone who had simply thrown you to the curb and moved on to the next boy without batting an eye. 

And with that, you left the school. 

 ~~~ 

It had been a good few months after dropping out from your high school. The league had offered you a place with them, providing food and shelter as you helped out during odd tasks, on the smallest occasions even accompanying All for One. It had been a drastic change for you, suddenly dropping out of school the next day and disappearing entirely, your family and friends having no clue where you were. Your new associates had decided to test you, inviting you along to what you were told was a small robbery, instead being the ambush on the first year’s rescue day. 

You had stepped out of Kurogiri’s portal of purple smoke, expecting to be in the dusty alleyways behind a small bank, instead stepping into the rock ground of the rescue center, a place where you yourself were very familiar with having been constantly with your former friends in the past year. 

“So, we’re here because?” you trailed off, kicking at the small loose rocks on the ground as you heard murmurs and shouts from a small crowd of students a few meters away from you. 

“We are the league of villains.” Shigaraki announced, ignoring you to which you rolled your eyes at him. “And we have come here today to kill the symbol of peace.” 

Your face lit up at this, any previous gratitude and fondness towards your mentor were gone. Instead a sick empty hole remained in your stomach, waiting to be filled up with the feeling of his blood on your hands. The sight of the trembling green head made you sick. You simply could not understand why All Might had tossed you aside for… that. Even to the blindest of people, you would’ve been the obvious choice. And yet here you were, not even second choice to some wimp who was trembling at the sight of a few villains. Truly useless. 

The day had ended, unfortunately, with everyone on the hero’s side still alive, and your most powerful weapon lost somewhere behind the shattered glass dome of the center. The day had been an utter complete failure, yet the league ceased to doubt your loyalty to them, offering you various more jobs and even to recruit new members. 

It was at that moment that the rest of the world realised that they had lost you for good. 

 ~~~ 

The next time you came in contact with the boy was their rescue of the blonde. The same boy you had observed months prior, even been in the same school. All Might’s entrance was rather tacky for your tastes, stupid, just like the rest of the heros. Your disgust for them had grown tremendously over the time you had spent with the league and learning of Dabi’s poor treatment from the second most powerful hero simply made you sickened at even the title. 

You were rather thankful that you hadn’t grown to follow what was once your childhood dream, following the twisted and corrupt system to abuse and neglect your loved ones for the power and social acknowledgement of having a ranking. Instead you stayed by the shadows, watching and criticizing their actions with Twice and Toga as you reported back on their actions, having stalked them for a good few hours each day. 

And here you stood, on the side of All for One, your former mentor’s arch nemesis, vowing to see the end to All Might by your own means. The new successor you had come to learn was named Deku, a truly fitting name and you sneered at him, reeling back your arm as you lunged at him. 

“I wonder how you would feel if your newest successor died.” you snarled, Midoriya barely dodging out of the way. Your punch landed on the ground, the concrete breaking into small pieces, flying into the air to which you kicked out your leg. They flew in the direction of your swing, hitting the boy square in the back. 

“How is it possible that you have one for all? I’ve only ever had one successor.” All Might responded confused, his grin sliding off his face as he bore his eyes into you. “Y/N you are certainly mistaken and your judgment is clouded. Come back to the heroes and you will not be punished for this.” 

“Heroes? Don’t make me sick.” you laughed, throwing another punch at the boy. “You left me All Might.” you screamed, your bottled up bitterness exploding within you as you were now head on with the same brat who had replaced you. “You gave me your damn quirk for what reason? How dare you turn your back on me for… for this thing!” 

As you continued to swing, you felt your feet be restricted, looking down to see your entire lower leg encased in ice. With one punch, you shattered the ice, stepping forwards with even more anger. 

“Midoriya, get back! You can’t defeat them.” a boy screamed. 

“That’s certainly right.” you laughed, kicking off the ground again. “I’m not letting you go, Deku!” 

As more pro heroes arrived at the scene, you felt yourself grow more and more desperate. The panic in your friends' voices was clear, telling you to stop engaging with the enemy, but you felt yourself being blinded by fury and the need to end Deku’s life. 

“Y/N, fall back!” Dabi shouted, running towards you and letting out a shield of blue flames as he carried you to a purple portal. You felt your entire resolve crumble as you watched All for One fall to the floor. 

“I will kill you All Might!” you screamed, baring your teeth before Dabi’s arm dragged you back into the portal. 

“That is a promise.” 

extra : Hc that a villain used a memory erase quirk on All Might and Y/N doesn’t know that and never tried to ask as he was convinced it was his fault.

[inkribbon796]

Backstage Blues

Summary: Roman is determined to plan out the greatest wedding in history, if only he could get some help on that front.

A/N: I have decided that for the sake of the narrative that Tubbo and Ranboo’s marriage is a lot more common knowledge, Michael’s existence is still not, but whether Techno knows about that marriage is up in the air because he’s Techno. He focuses on weird stuff.

Things were strangely quiet in Egoton. Especially for the amount of people trying to actively kill each other these days.

The heroes had some of their usual problems to deal with: robberies, press talks, superhero activity; things that the heroes usually had to take care of.

The press wanted interviews with the heroes’ new “apprentices” and they were counting three of them, despite the fact that the Coalition had only two currently on record: Bomble Bee, Big Man . . . and Enderwalk, as Tubbo liked to introduce Ranboo.

With Tubbo’s husband almost acting like an apprentice, and the city absolutely loved the idea of a new trio of apprentices. Tommy loved being on TV, screaming and cursing when Ethan didn’t try to distract him from something else. And Tubbo who would ask overly invasive questions on camera about the most population-dense area of the city. Ranboo often helped Logan with Tubbo so that he didn’t accidentally give out bomb threats on live news feeds. Ranboo between his more demonic appearances and skittish nature the news could get close to him without putting themselves in harm’s way.

Despite Logan and the rest of the more senior heroes’ efforts, Ranboo was starting to become more and more an attachment onto the Sides. Mostly because Ranboo liked to come over and talk to Tubbo, and other times he liked to bring little snacks and trinkets. He wasn’t an apprentice yet, but with two of his little trio in the Coalition, a lot of people figured it was only a matter of time.

And occasionally he actually remembered to wear that identity-obscuring outfit Tubbo had made him a week ago.

Roman was really coming around to Tubbo, mostly because he and Tommy liked to listen to music and quote random musicals. Which was really all the requirement that Roman needed to like someone.

Today Logan, Tubbo, and Ranboo had accompanied Roman on a very important mission. Mostly because Roman was meeting with Illinois and Eric to help finalize some final touches on what Roman was sure was going to be the most glorious wedding in all of existence.

The couple met Roman in an outdoor café, taking advantage of the nice, warm summer weather. Roman was at one table with Eric and Illinois, while Logan was two tables over with Tubbo and Ranboo. Everyone except for Illinois were in superhero outfits, mostly because Illinois didn’t care about his own identity and he wasn’t a hero.

Any errant press that wanted a picture of “Egoton’s own Romeo and Juliet” because one was a hero and the other worked in Dark’s network — to which Illinois originally shouted when he first heard that “at least pick a couple with a chance” — and the sight of them always made Eric extremely jumpy. After Illinois caught sight of them it usually took a second or two for them to suddenly get pulled into a portal and dumped somewhere else to give the couple a little bit of privacy.

After another ameteur “reporter” had been dealt with, Roman looked over to the trio over in the other table. Tubbo and Logan were working on some equipment while “watching” Illinois. Ranboo’s lanky legs were pulled up in his chair and he was folded up in his seat.

Honestly Roman was pretty sure you could shove a bus under their noses and they wouldn’t notice. Which was a disappointment because he needed a third party to help give his ideas a little positive gratification because Illinois was letting Dark completely plan the entire affair with no consideration for what Roman suggested except for “paltry concessions”. Roman needed Patton to back him up, but Illinois drew the line at two Sides being part of his wedding planning at any one time.

“It’ll be a wonderful experience,” Roman promised, looking back from his failed check for Logan’s support. Then he looked over to Tubbo. “Bomble, you’re married, tell him.”

“Huh?” Tubbo snapped to look at him, clearly distracted by what he was working on. Ranboo put his feet down.

“You’re married,” Roman urged. “Explosion Boy needs a little bit of confidence for the wedding. How’d you and your husband get married? I’m sure it was beautiful.”

Tubbo snorted, “I got married fer[1] tax benefits.”

Roman blinked at him, “What?”

Tubbo chuckled to himself, looking positively pleased with himself. “Yeah, bonded pairs in the SMP get a bit of an aura break if yer linked with an empath. I got sick an’ tired ‘a havin’ ta pay that extremely pricey piper an’ Ranboo had just joined so when I saw him I went “that’s the one” an’ we were already kinda friends so BAM! We’ve been married fer almost six months now.”[2]

“What?” Roman repeated in complete, astonished confusion.

“Sides,”[3] Tubbo added, “yer older than I am, shouldn’t you have changed yer apprentice name ta somethin’ like, I don’t know? Concussion? Explosive Decompression. Or Combust-ION?”[4]

Tubbo paused, thinking, “That last one’s not half bad, I probably should have gone with that one.”

Another pause from the young arsonist passed, “Okay if you don’t take that one I want it after I stop bein’[5] an apprentice.”

“I, uh, I,” Eric stalled nervously.

“If he likes the name it stays,” Illinois dismissed. “If he wants to change it, he’ll get around to it.”

Tubbo shrugged, turning back to his projects with his usual dismissive but chipper demeanor.

“There must have been some romantic aspect of your engagement,” Roman demanded in exasperation.

“Nah, man,” Tubbo chuckled. “You are talkin’ ta the wrong person. You should talk ta my sister an’ her girlfriend. Or Karl’s fiancés. That would probably make yer argument work.”[6]

“So if you got married for taxes, which, okay, I get that, how did you two actually decide to get married to each other?” Illinois looked confused but intrigued at the same time.

“Well Tubbo was already making jokes that we were already married and divorced so I just proposed,” Ranboo answered. “I kinda looked online how to do it and Tubbo had been mentioning the thing so I gave him some jewelry and I said “do you wanna get married for tax benefits” and to my amazement he said yes.”

“I was smitten,” Tubbo joked. “Certainly helped that he was throwin’[7] necklaces an’[8] gemstones at me.”

“Man you two aren’t just a can of worms, you’re a whole boat of ‘em[9] aren’t you?” Illinois asked.

“Neat trick I didn’t realize until afterward is that tax benefits count in the human world too,” Tubbo grinned.

“You are an absolute menace,” Logan told Tubbo, and the teen just startled cackling in laughter.

“Isn’t it great?” Tubbo grinned before looking back at Eric. “I’m sure yer weddin’ will be nice an’ pretty an’ stuff. Yer in love an’ shit, it’ll be great.”[10]

“I’m,” Eric hummed, making the word sound more like a smushed “m” in his nervousness. “Nervous.”

He was gripping onto his knees, “I-I’ll trip over my . . . stupid legs or—”

Illinois slowly and gently placed his hand over one of Eric’s. “Dulcito,[11] if you’re worried about it we can get you a wheelchair or I can just carry you down to the altar.”

Eric’s face went red, he started twitching a bit, “But . . . I’m supposed to walk down the aisle.”

“Fuck that,” Illinois told him, leaning in. “You’ll look lovely whatever you do, even impossibly lovelier if you’re happy. I don’t want you to hurt yourself over this, or be so worried you’re not enjoying it. It’s our day. Your day. We’re doing a huge ceremony because a bunch of people want to be there. But I could grab Host and my dad and we could go down today to the closest courthouse and be out in an hour flat.”

Roman twitched uncomfortably.

“We did that,” Ranboo cut in, looking back at Tubbo. “We had what? Six people?”

Tubbo started quickly counting on his fingers, “Puffy, Foolish, FJ, me, you, Niki, Eret, Michael . . . Yeah six, not includin’[12] us. Eight, if you do.”

“It was a nice little ceremony.” Ranboo reminisced with a smile on his face. “Eret married us, your sister walked me down the aisle.”

“You tripped on the stairs,” Tubbo chuckled, before turning to the engaged couple, “do yourselves a favor an’[8] make a ramp. Boo here is all legs like a mad giraffe an’[8] he ripped his dress when he tripped. Almost knockin’[13] Puffy over and you can’t do much worse than that, let me tell you.”

That didn’t seem to calm Eric’s nerves.

“Already been planned,” Illinois reassured.

“We’ll get back to that, just excuse me,” Roman cut in, “so your best friend didn’t even show up to your wedding?”

“No, he couldn’t have, he . . .” Tubbo paused, clearly thinking about something. “Big Man couldn’t be there, talk ta[14] him about it, it’s really not my place ta[14] bring it up. It wasn’t his fault, Dream just . . . like I said, it’s not my place ta[14] talk about it.”

“I,” Logan stalled, something in Logan’s brain didn’t like how that had been worded. “I see.”

“Yeah so Big Man wasn’t there,” Tubbo shrugged, a distant look hidden behind his domed helmet. “He’s around now an’ it is nice ta kinda have him back ta normal again. Wish he didn’t try ta set Boo on fire, but no one’s perfect.”[15]

“That is very concerning,” Logan commented. “When was the last time he tried that?”

“Tried or just threatened it?” Ranboo asked.

“Both,” Logan’s tone was as dry as a bone.

“Attempted, it’s been a couple months,” Ranboo admitted, “ he threatens it once every couple of weeks though.”

“We need to have a conversation about constructive behavior then,” Logan decided. “We’ll talk with him when we get back because death threats are unacceptable.”

“No, I’m pretty sure he’s joking,” Ranboo tried to deny. “The furthest he’s ever gone is pull out a knife on me. It’s alright, he’s just like that.”

“You know the more I see you heroes, the more I’m sure that if you’d ever actually met the Author, he would have cut through all of you like wet tissue paper.” Illinois spoke up, looking at Ranboo like a particularly accident-prone toddler. “You all really lucked out, didn’t you?”

Ranboo nervously ducked his head so he didn’t accidentally look Illinois in the eyes.

“Yoo-hoo! We have the world’s perfect wedding to plan.” Roman reminded, trying to refocus the attention. Inadvertently saving Ranboo from the stand-off. “Hey, while I have both of you here: what’s on the menu, what’s the number of chairs, seems like it should be higher.”

“Max of fifty,” Illinois reported. “None of Dark’s business contacts are invited, we figured you guys might arrest them.”

“Depends on the person,” Logan admitted.

Roman rolled his eyes, cutting back into the conversation, “I just wanted to know how we should just group people, is there any extended family we need to separate from each other?”

“My . . . siblings were all I had,” Eric whispered quietly.

“Well let’s see, Yan’s parents were part of a demon murder cult, they’re dead. Yancy’s folks are dead and he’s still not on speaking terms with his uncle for obvious reasons. King’s parents are dead. We literally all live with Bim’s dads. Fuck if the Host ever talks about Artie’s folks. And all we’ve got are shitty foster parents, who if they show up are getting exorcised back to hell and then killed again.” Illinois scoffed dismissively. “And even if I wanted someone who threw me away the instant they saw me, I would have gone looking for ‘em[9] years ago.”

“Didn’t you,” Eric started timidly before looking away, his mouth still open but not sound was coming out anymore. “Uh, get a, uhm . . .”

“Some asshat might have tried calling me at assfuck O’clock in the morning, but I blocked him,” Illinois sounded like he wanted to punch his mystery caller, Eric nervously looked away. “Dark’s my dad and I don’t care about anyone trying to get money or use me to cozy up close to Dark.”

The other two were quiet for a bit as Illinois mentally calmed down. He did reach out and lightly stroke the side of Eric’s face. Which helped Eric relax and by extension calm Illinois down.

“You could have just said no,” Roman finally commented in a tone that might as well have been saying: “I think you need therapy” and went back to his planner. “So we make a safe plan for sixty people?”

“Sounds good to me,” Illinois agreed, his tone brisk and forced.

He did take Eric’s hand in his own and smiled, “Don’t worry, my dear, I will make sure everything’s perfect for you. It’ll be the most amazing day of your life. I promised that I’d make sure you never regret saying yes to me. I meant it, it’ll be the most beautiful day of our lives and you will look amazing.”

That got Eric to tear up a little and after some minor note taking on Roman’s part, the couple left. Eric left with Roman, Logan, and the two apprentices, while the adventurer returned to Dark to run a couple “errands”.

Roman for his part was in a better mood, he’d gotten a couple more “concessions” and the wedding planning was coming along smoothly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post A/N: Also I would like to draw to everyone’s attention to the canon fact that Tubbo and Ranboo got married at an emotionally turbulent time for Tubbo. Tubbo doesn’t handle those moments well. Impulsive marriage to escape how he felt about what happened to Tommy? . . . It’s more likely than you might think.

Accessibility Translations:

1. for

2. Yeah, bonded pairs in the SMP get a bit of an aura break if you’re linked with an empath. I got sick and tired of having to pay that extremely pricey piper and Ranboo had just joined so when I saw him I went “that’s the one” and we were already kinda friends so BAM! We’ve been married for almost six months now.

3. Besides

4. you’re older than I am, shouldn’t you have changed your apprentice name to something like, I don’t know? Concussion? Explosive Decompression. Or Combust-ION?

5. being

6. You are talking to the wrong person. You should talk to my sister and her girlfriend. Or Karl’s fiancés. That would probably make your argument work.

7. throwing

8. and

9. them

10. I’m sure your wedding will be nice and pretty and stuff. You’re in love and shit, it’ll be great.

11. Sweetheart

12. including

13. knocking

14. to

15. He’s around now and it is nice to kind of have him back to normal again. Wish he didn’t try to set Boo on fire, but no one’s perfect.

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

Robstar Week Day 5: Righteous Fury (Prompt: Rescue)

This prompt gave me an excuse to do an action scene, and I love writing action, so it was definitely one of the most fun prompts for the week. The direction I chose to take it also gave me a chance to play around a bit with the interplay between Starfire’s emotions and her powers, and those of you who have read my fic Joy and Fury may recognize some of what’s going on in that regard.

Righteous Fury

The world was tinted viridian as Starfire scanned it from high above.

It was not really a world, per say. More of what Raven had called a ‘pocket dimension’ – the extradimensional space owned by that creature who had the gall to call himself the Master of Games.

The thief who had been travelling the galaxy and using a powerful artifact to steal away those who lost his games, so he could use their skills and weapons as his own. And like any thief, she was going to take him down and make him return what he stole.

“Starfire.” The sound of her name snapped her out of her idle thoughts, and she released some of her focus on joyful thought keeping her aloft. She’d been using him as the source, again – perhaps not the best choice of subject considering the circumstances, except that it made her all the more determined to find him.

Robin was her k’nonaki, after all – her great bond, the source from which she most easily drew her power-linked emotions. And if the “Master” thought he could take him away from her, she would only be too eager to prove him wrong.

“There are four main paths branching out of the coliseum,” she reported as she touched down by the others. “Besides the one that we know connects the competitor’s quarters, the others lead to a series of several large buildings.”

Cyborg nodded, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Must be the tournament arenas. At least that means he doesn’t have more of these mini-dimensions to go hiding in.” He turned toward Raven, who was sitting in her meditative position.

“Got anything?”

Raven took a few seconds to respond, standing up when she did. “He’s here. Robin’s aura is faint through the gem, but I can still sense him. But I can’t get a bead on the Master of Games without sending out my soul and alerting him that we’re here – he must be out in one of the other buildings. They’re in that direction,” she finished, pointing down one of the hallways.

Beast Boy rubbed one arm. “Guess we’re lucky he got Robin and not someone you don’t have a freaky mind bond thing with, right?”

Starfire shot a warning glare at him, eyes narrowed. “I do not see how this situation can be considered ‘lucky,’” she hissed.

Beast Boy shrank back from her, but Raven laid a hand on her arm.

“We’ll get him back, Starfire. Along with everyone else the Master captured,” she said calmly. “Getting riled up over it isn’t going to help.”

Starfire gave her a sideways look. “You forget, Raven. My emotions only strengthen me.”

With that, she turned and began to stalk toward the far path that Raven had pointed out. Herald, who had been called on to bring the team here when the Master had first vanished with their leader, leaned over toward Beast Boy.

“Do her eyes always glow like that on missions?” he asked in a low voice.

“Only when she’s about to eyebeam someone in the face or like, really pissed,” Beast Boy stage-whispered back. “I dunno if I’ve ever seen it last this long, it’s kinda freaking me out.”

Starfire ignored them and continued forward, but she swore she could feel their eyes on her back. The conversation died down after that, and everyone walked quietly for several minutes.

“…I should have warned everyone about that gem,” Cyborg finally said, his voice hollow. “When I got captured back in the Tournament of Heroes, I was trying to blast that thing. I knew it could be activated by prolonged contact, but it didn’t even cross my mind that nobody else saw it.”

Without a word, Starfire lifted off and poured on speed until the others disappeared behind her. She told herself it was so she could scout ahead, but… she knew Cyborg was just trying to be sensitive when he said “everyone.”

After all, Robin wasn’t the one who had tried a hard blast against that accursed gem. He’d merely jumped in the way to save her.

She would not let him suffer for her mistake. She could not.

The doors to the first arena were coming up fast. They were closed tight, locked probably, but Starfire barely even slowed down and simply smashed her way through.

There was very little to the floor and walls of the arena, which was instead dominated by a dozen massive cages hanging high above her. She drifted further in, scanning the area for any sign of her foe or the next exit that would bring her closer to him.

There. Up in the far wall, level with the rough midpoint of the hanging cages, a rounded balcony led out to another doorway. Probably so the Master could watch his “contestants” directly if he so chose.

As Starfire darted up to the balcony, the low blare of a horn heralded the opening of a portal on its level surface. The Herald and her remaining teammates stepped out, forcing her to halt before the doorway.

Cyborg held up a hand. “Star, you’re going too fast,” he said, gentle but firm. “If we spook this guy or give him too much warning, he’ll just teleport away and we’ll have to hunt him down all over again.

Starfire’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she dropped her gaze to the side. “There is nothing stopping him from leaving to find more victims if we wait,” she retorted, “and he cannot resist a challenge, can he? I intend to give him one he will not soon forget.”

“I think it’s safe to say we all do,” Cyborg replied, a little smile quirking the corner of his lip. “And we will. Together, because that’s how we beat someone like him.”

Starfire let out a low breath and nodded, though the blazing emerald never quite left her vision. He was right, of course – she could stay angry all she wanted, but letting her righteous fury blind her would only cause more problems. She had to remember that.

Cyborg nodded wordlessly to Raven, who raised her arms and enveloped them all in a darkness that pulled them through the next barrier without a sound.

By the time they were about halfway down the next corridor, Raven suddenly halted.

“They’re near,” she reported in a low voice. “The Master should be hiding in the next arena.”

The Titans all shared a look and a brief nod, but before they continued, Starfire thought of something. She flew over to her team’s current companion.

“The Herald? I believe it would be wise of you not to engage in this battle directly,” she said with a thoughtful frown. “If the Master of Games manages to take your horn, he will have an even easier time escaping us, and we may no longer be able to follow.”

Herald considered this for a moment. “Yeah, I can hang back for this one. Send me any victims you rescue from that necklace, and I’ll send ‘em home before your friend can capture them again.”

That matter resolved, the Titans soon found themselves at the next entrance. Through the thick doors, they could hear the clanging of metal-on-metal and occasional blasts from some energy attack the Master had stolen. Starfire caught Cyborg’s eye and raised her fists, and he nodded – for all that they couldn’t give their presence away too early, their opponent would be more likely to stick around if a bombastic entry promised an exciting “game.”

With a determined little smirk on her lips and the thought of her beloved’s rescue guiding her strength, Starfire smashed through the doorway like so much tissue paper and barreled into the arena. With a start, she realized that she recognized this one: it was the fighting ground she had been sent to during the brief run of the Tournament of Heroines. Thick steel beams criss-crossed an otherwise open space, spread far enough apart that flighted opponents could weave among them without too much trouble, but passing each other close enough that ground-bound competitors had places to jump from one to the next.

In the middle of it all, the Master of Games was flying on massive feathery wings and aiming another blast of red-hot energy at one of the beams. He paused mid-attack as she entered, turning toward her, and her hands lit up with starbolts almost of their own accord.

“We are not finished with you,” she spat.

“Yeah, Gameboy,” Cyborg chimed in behind her. “Last I recall, we were just getting started.”

The Master’s face twisted into a wicked smirk. “Another round? I don’t mind earning a few more trophies, even if I’ve already won the grand prize.” He punctuated that statement with a flick of his wrist, and Robin’s bo staff seemed to grow out of the palm and into his grip.

“Very well then! The Teen Titans versus The– Urgh!”

A powerful eyebeam – aimed at the stomach, she could not risk hitting his gem with that kind of attack – threw the villain back hard against the steel beam directly behind him. He peeled off after a moment and began to fall, his stolen wings twitching in a daze, but Starfire would not give him the chance to recover. Swooping in, she grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and forced him back against the beam.

But the Master had already recovered enough to bring the staff to bear. He bashed the butt of it into her torso, forcing her back with a grunt.

A rush of wings passed by her in that moment, and before the Master could follow up his attack, a large green woodpecker swooped in and gripped ahold of his necklace’s chain. With a force and precision designed to drill into trees, Beast Boy’s beak struck the gem.

A blazing light forced back shapeshifter and Tamaranean alike, and three figures came tumbling out. One was a Thanagarian – the source of the wings no doubt, considering they were suddenly gone from the Master’s back – but she did not recognize the other two, nor had she time to see if she could place their species.

“Get to the exit!” Starfire barked in Thanagarian, pointing the way in case the others didn’t recognize the language. “We will deal with him, but our friend can get you home.”

As they ran, the Master of Games recovered his senses with a growl. He was in the air again, doubtless with the aid of another victim’s power, but a hit from Cyborg’s cannon forced him back before he could attack. Beast Boy followed this up by swooping back in and grabbing the necklace again, but the Master swatted him away before he could peck at the gem.

As woodpecker shifted into panther and caught ahold of one of the beams, Starfire flew in again and began to harry her opponent with starbolts. He retaliated by spitting globs of slime at her, making her aim difficult, but it mattered little – her goal now was to keep his attention on her, for she could already see the dull glow of Raven’s magic enveloping the necklace to yank it off.

But even then the gem sparked to life, and Starfire swore she could see it pulling at her friend’s energy. Fear added to her blazing fury and warrior’s confidence and focused determined joy then. She could not let this happen again. She would not.

This ended now.

With a guttural yell, Starfire tackled the loathsome being who threatened her loved ones. The force of it drove them both down past the steel beams and onto the arena’s floor, knocking the wind out of her opponent. His gem, its hold on Raven’s power broken, swung wildly with the impact and clattered against the ground.

And with both hands lit and clasped together, she slammed her fists into it – a force that would have shattered a lesser artifact into a million shards.

Light filled the building again, and when it cleared, nearly a dozen newcomers were sprawled across the floor. One in particular grabbed Starfire’s attention, and the light in her eyes dimmed in an instant.

“Robin!” she cried, rushing over and dropping to her knees beside him.

Robin smiled and clasped the hand she offered him, pulling himself upright. “I’m okay,” he reassured her. “I could see what was going on, you know. You were… very impressive.”

Starfire let out a tired sigh and pressed her forehead against his, eyes closed. “I had an unusually personal stake in the matter.”

She could hear her other teammates’ hurried footsteps coming in behind her, but before they could catch up, another sound grabbed her attention. She turned to see the one who called himself the Master of Games standing up with a groan and looking at her and Robin with pure hatred in his eyes.

Beast Boy winced and spoke up while Raven silently directed the other rescued victims toward Herald. “Please tell me he doesn’t have even more people stuffed in that thing.”

Robin shot Starfire a confident smirk, which she responded to with a single sharp nod.

“If he does, we’ll just have to take care of that too,” he said aloud. “All of us, together.”

[complicatedandstained]

Rules of Engagement: Fake It ‘Til You Make It

The road is still rough along the side streets of Radiant Garden, the concrete pathways lined with cracks and crevices deep-set as Yen Sid’s frown lines and rough with rubble and particularly stubborn weeds that spring up against all odds—dandelions, mostly. The Restoration Committee has higher priorities. So, Roxas has become something of an expert at curving his skateboard around the worst of it, coaxing his wheels out of divots and dips without stopping his progress entirely. 

He’s cleared some of the alleyways around Axel’s forge of debris himself, and now glides from the main thoroughfare onto one such side street to avoid running into anyone else and making himself any later than he already is. 

Although, he thinks, as he glances up to the suns, climbing higher toward midday, and readjusts the bags beneath his arm, at this rate another half hour won’t make a huge difference. 

Roxas inhales a mouthful of charcoal and jumps his winged board over the most jagged pothole in the alley, his wheels rattling their objections as he sticks the landing and slows. The forge’s back door, which they all keep meaning to replace, is a hastily hammered together collection of boards, painted black with fire-retardant and sprayed with a jagged white 813 by whoever does that sort of thing. 

Probably Demy, Roxas supposes, trying to mark the spot for his wildly erratic delivery route.  

Like many of the recompleted Organization members who had been reunited with their own bodies, (or else given the Radiant Garden scientists quite a shock when they had awoken in the replicas’ chamber), Demy had chosen to take advantage of Leon’s offer to help repopulate and rehabilitate the world many of them had been born in. In doing so, the members had to prove themselves a benefit to society through hard work, education, and community service. 

Jiminy Cricket offered them each regular therapy sessions, and they were required to pass a psychiatric evaluation before permanently moving to any other worlds. So far, rumor had it, only Isa had managed, but he had chosen to stay. They were each assigned “Sponsors of Light” to aid them in their progress. 

Xigbar likened the entire situation to house arrest on more than one occasion, but the former Org members mainly kept their grumbling to themselves. There were certainly worse arrangements to be had than being allowed to carry out their new lives in exile on their former home world. They’d all died enough times to know that. 

They were held accountable by both the Restoration Committee Leaders and the new Council of Keyblade Masters, who, with the assistance of keyblade armor, were able to make their rounds through the worlds faster than Sora’s Gummi Ship ever had and keep the peace. Roxas, Axel, and Xion had been asked to join them on their peace-keeping journeys, and, maybe, probably, eventually, they would. But, after being forced to exchange so much of their youth so far for fighting Heartless 24/7, they had decided to live as close to normal lives as they were able, for the time being, (and the Keyblade Masters had likely breathed a private sigh of relief, especially since Axel’s exact initial response had been ‘Fuck that’). 

Roxas hops off his skateboard, pops his board up into his waiting hand, and sets it against the aged brick wall beside another rebellious pack of wispy white dandelions that he and Axel haven’t found it in their hearts to uproot.  

Roxas doesn’t—hasn’t ever—knocked on the door to Axel’s forge, and he doesn’t today. Still, he can’t stop himself from thinking of it as Axel’s, even though Axel considers it theirs—even though Roxas has spent many long, sweaty days, helping Leon and his crew construct the thing and harnessing his fire magic to learn the basics of the trade at his boyfriend’s side. 

At the end of the day, it’s Axel’s peace time passion project, something besides finishing up his education and keyblade training, something that’s entirely his own. So, at Roxas’ insistence, it’s Axel’s name on the sign out front, and the deed, and the contracts with the Restoration Committee.

And he’d had to fight for it. 

Most of the former members of the Organization weren’t permitted to take up quite such dangerous lines of work. Isa, for example, had been in charge of coordinating gardening, landscaping, and agriculture with Laurium for several months before The Council of Keyblade Masters (Aqua, Terra, and Riku) permitted him to take up a management position at Leon’s side, allocating human resources for the Restoration Committee. 

Similarly, Xemnas’ venture into penning New Radiant Garden’s first newspaper were heavily criticized, and his articles and e-newsletters regularly vetted for ‘Dark Propaganda,’ so that the first twenty editions were nothing more than tremendously, intrusively accurate gossip rags, and, when that didn’t fly, painstakingly, comically accurate accounts of the town’s most mundane events, including an in depth feature report on Leon’s favorite sandwich toppings, complete with quotes and multiple eye witness accounts. 

It took half a year (and some nudging from Isa) before Xemnas was allowed to print anything remotely political or consequential, though once he began, he quickly proved himself just as capable of factual, unbiased journalism as he had been at penning a wickedly witty exposé on Xigbar’s brief but passionate on-and-off-again romantic trysts. (This was, of course, before Xigbar got himself tossed in the castle dungeon for allegedly attempting to portal his Sponsor of Light off a cliff. Although his sentence is up for appeal, last Roxas heard, because Xigbar claims he thought ducks could fly.) 

Axel’s fortunate that he didn’t have to spend a year proving himself (and has been told so—repeatedly.) 

The town needed a forge, and Axel was uniquely qualified for the position. (And the Council had wanted him out of their hair. He had proved quite persistent.) So, Axel had gotten what he wanted. Seventeen petition speeches later. 

Isa warned them it was a lot to take on in addition to classes, keeping up with their keyblade training, and community service, but Axel enjoyed using his fire for something constructive and Roxas saw the peace it brought him, so they made it work.  

“Yo, Axel! ‘M back!” Roxas calls, pushing his way inside with the ridge of his hip and scuffing his sneakers against the mat to remove the excess construction dirt. “I know I said I was gonna be, like, ten minutes tops, but, I mighta gotten distracted…”   

“In here, Roxas…” Axel answers from inside the shop, above the clang of metal on metal and hiss of sparks. “Come in here where I can see you.” 

Roxas passes through the back hallways, neatly lined with the stray supplies and freshly forged weapons and tools, in styles and cuts inspired by a variety of worlds, and enters the central workshop. Large windows allow breaths of fresh air and cast white light that’s hard to look at and doesn’t do as good a job at illuminating the large open space as the orange and yellow blazes of the large central fire burning at the heart of the forge beneath its stone chimney. 

Everything is cast in flickering shades of flame and shadow: the mounted anvil, racks of tools, barrels of water and sand, carts bearing hunks of metal needing repurposed and the neatly arranged shelves toward the entrance, mounting wares to be sold. Even Axel in his tight, light fabric britches, tunic, and heavy leather apron is cast in gold, white, and crimson as he works, stretching gleaming white molten metal between his bare fingertips with the ease of a sculptor shaping clay. 

“Well, hey, sexy.” Axel grins, head cocking to get a better view of Roxas, as carelessly attractive as ever, his hair windswept and his cheeks and ears slightly flushed from his skateboarding, or maybe just the rising temperature of the shop.

Roxas’ smile broadens in spite of himself. “Hey…” 

“That errand took seven hundred times longer than anticipated.” Axel shapes the hot metal between his fingers, and it looks sticky and elastic, like dough. He flicks his wrist, causing flames to engulf all of it once more, and begins to swirl it into an elaborate spiral before balling it up again.

“Sorry, Axel.” Roxas winces, chagrinned. “First, I had to wait for Leon to get out of a meeting, so I could give him the supplies and explain what was what. Then we delivered them, and then he wanted me to lend him a hand with a quick project, only it wasn’t actually a quick project, in reality. 

“Then I was on my way back here, swear to the gods, but I stopped into Aerith’s house for just a minute to say hello to Xion, and she wanted me to taste-test her cupcakes, and she was so excited, I couldn’t say no, and then, on my way out, I ran into Xemnas, and you know how much Xemnas likes to talk, and I just kinda lost track of time….” Roxas scuffs his foot sheepishly, the arm that’s not laden with bags stretching behind his head, ringed fingers rubbing at the back of his neck, a habit of Axel’s he’s picked up for himself. “Again.”

Axel chuckles, a sultry purr that Roxas only ever hears him use when there’s no one else around, deeper and less controlled than his usual mocking, lilting laugh. “It’s okay, Roxas, I don’t need the whole mission report. I wasn’t really expecting anything less after the last five times.” He turns toward the chimney so the piece he’s working on won’t drip molten steel to the floor, and flicks a hand carelessly over his shoulder, spraying sparks, as he teases, “I know you don’t know how to say no to people.” 

In actuality, Axel knows no force in the universe could make the powerful keyblade wielder do anything he didn’t want to do—not any more.  But, the guy is far too helpful for his own good. 

“Well,” one of Roxas’ brows rises, and his smile tilts, as he draws closer and deadpans, “I was raised by a cult.”

Axel snorts, catching Roxas’ eye before turning toward the anvil, shifting the shape of the steel in his hand into something more distinctly sword-shaped, as he steps and then setting it down, dismissing the fire engulfing his hands. “Is that why I’m doing all these orders for Leon?” Axel hefts a large hammer from the ground and props it against his shoulder, before turning to glance at Roxas again. “And here I thought I was just a good guy.”

 Axel brings the hammer down on the sword with a harsh clang that sends up sparks that remind Roxas of the fireflies the pair of them chased the time they tried camping on the edge of town. 

 “You are a good guy,” Roxas assures him firmly, stepping up to the other side of the anvil to watch Axel’s progress and to see his face, glowing golden bronze in the light. A black smudge of ash on one of his cheeks reminds Roxas of the tattoos he used to wear. Roxas feels an unexpected pang, something to the left of nostalgia. 

Axel brings the hammer down hard again with a grunt and then wastes a couple precious seconds to grin back. “I love it when you lie to me.”

“Axel…” Roxas’ tone grows exasperated, his smile thinner, more wry. He hopes Axel doesn’t mean that, but admires his blatant refusal to stay in line with whatever overstepping behaviors the powers that be demand of him in the name of what’s “right.”

 “Roxas…”  Axel mimics his tone, and then huffs and keeps swinging. It’s a conversation they’ve had a hundred times before in one form of another. 

Another few blows pass in silence broken only by the song of metal and hiss of smoke and embers, and then Axel lifts the sword-to-be by the hilt, reshaping the metal with the heat of his palm as he does, smoothing out the jutting upper ridges of the hand guards under his thumb while inspecting his handiwork. 

 Roxas follows his movements in quiet admiration. Axel’s swift motions have a practiced ease and fluidity not unlike the way he fights, slicing through Heartless with his chakram… 

Axel frowns a bit at a flaw Roxas’ eyes can’t detect, and jerking his head to indicate Roxas step back, dunks the sword into a barrel of cold water and then raises it, steaming and silver, into the air with a single sizzling swipe. 

Roxas hums in admiration as Axel sets the weapon down to cool atop the anvil with a mild sigh, the steam around his hands evaporating quickly to reveal his face, tired but unflushed. “I’ll fix it later. Think it’s time for a breather.” 

Roxas nods, and Axel sets his tools to rights and steps up to join him. Without discussion, they seat themselves on a wrought iron bench below one of the wide, open bell-shaped windows at the front of the shop. From there they can feel the breeze breathe against their flushed faces and listen to the birds calling out to each other in the park a few blocks down. 

Once they’ve settled themselves, their thighs pressed against each other, ankles linking, Roxas licks his thumb and reaches out to rub at the smudge of ash on Axel’s cheek. “You are doing a good job,” Roxas reiterates. “You know that, right? Like, fucking…” his words fade off, vulnerable and fragile in their quietness, “incredible.”

“Roxas…” Axel catches Roxas’ hand in his and closes his eyes above the gentle brush of Roxas’ calloused thumb. With his hand wrapped in Axel’s, Roxas can feel the racing of Axel’s pulse and the sticky heat and ash coating his skin. Axel inhales deeply, trying to relax and smiles, lazy, superficial. “Roxas, Roxas, Roxas… You’re the good guy. I’m just along for the ride.” 

Axel lowers their hands into his lap, though Roxas hasn’t quite fixed the smudge on his cheek so much as streaked it into the teardrop shape it had reminded him of in the first place. Axel wraps both of his hands around Roxas’ and pats it in a way that feels both condescending and sweet. 

Roxas laughs, a short skeptical bark. “You’re the one always bragging about being made a Guardian of Light.” 

Axel exhales through his nose, somewhere between amused and frustrated. Roxas feels his pulse start to simmer down.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t there.” Axel half smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, though they seem to glow, Heartless-like, in the dark space. He jabs Roxas in the arm with his elbow to lighten the gravity of the accusation. “The standards were fairly low.” 

Roxas huffs and is about to elbow him back, when Axel leans in and rests his cheek in Roxas’ hair, a gesture which makes Roxas’ insides so gooey he can’t think of a response right away, except to curl his hand tighter into Axel’s.  

“I was selfish. I just wanted to get you back,” Axel continues. “You, and Isa, and the others… That’s all I thought of while I was training. You, especially. I mean, they’d told me you were as good as…”

The feel of Axel’s entire body shivering makes Roxas’ spine go rigid, especially in the pervasive heat of the smoky room with its still merrily burning hearth.  

“But I didn’t, couldn’t, believe them,” his voice cracks, fingers tracing the bones of Roxas’. “Not for a second. I mean,” his voice starts to get shallow, so he pushes for playful and misses the mark, “what kind of gods would bring back me and not you, right?” His laughter reminds Roxas of glass breaking.

“Hey,” Roxas’ words take on an edge, flat and blunt, “don’t. Don’t do that. We saved the fucking worlds, you and me,” he reminds him. He’s had to remind himself on more than one occasion since, when the other Keyblade wielders had lost patience with him, and when he had lost patience with himself.   

Axel shakes his head slightly, further mussing Roxas’ soft hair, still warm from the noon rays of the Radiant Garden suns. “Honestly, after I saved you, the rest of the worlds didn’t matter so much.”

Roxas wishes he could meet Axel’s eyes, but doesn’t want to jolt him and interrupt the soft, warm, exhales ruffling his hair. “But you did it anyway,” Roxas insists, raising their folded hands until he can press his lips against Axel’s knuckles. 

“Well, yeah,” Axel scoffs at himself, his bravado and hypocrisy and desperation, “but…” He trails off, distracted as Roxas’ lips dampen his skin, and then Roxas lowers their hands again, as if Roxas has finally started to forget such a casually intimate gesture could have gotten them killed once upon a time.  

“Why?” Roxas coaxes.

Axel scoffs again, thinking of everything that had been riding on those moments in the Keyblade Graveyard. He remembers the blinding white glow of Kingdom Hearts overhead burning his eyes even when he shut them—the electric pull of its gravity, threatening to encompass every place he had ever known and every place he and Roxas could have, like the Darkness that had swallowed his childhood home whole, alive, and squirming. 

“Whaddya mean, why?” Axel sputters, voice growing louder with indignance. “There wasn’t a why.” He laughs at the absurdity of it, shaking his head again, sounding more than a little manic. “I only did it ‘cause I was there and it was the right thing, the only thing to… Oh.” 

Axel lifts his head from Roxas’ hair, and Roxas twists his neck to meet widened green eyes. 

“Oh,” Axel repeats more softly, as Roxas’ lips curl into a satisfied grin. 

“The right thing to do. Huh.” Axel reaches up to rub the back of his neck. “Faked it ‘til I made it, I guess.”   

Roxas rolls his eyes, but his tight-lipped grin splits open into a real smile. “Idiot.” He reaches up to cup Axel’s cheek in his palm. “I am so fucking hopelessly in love with you.”

“Yeah,” Axel mumbles and bites his lip, eyes darting to the side in embarrassment, and then back to Roxas’ because he can’t help himself. “I know. Sucks to be you.” 

The pair lean in for a kiss, but Roxas falters and pulls back, arm caught on the three bags weighing it down. 

“Oh!” His eyes widen, glancing down and then back up. “I forgot. I brought you something to apologize for being gone so long.” 

Axel’s eyes narrow, lips pursing skeptically, his fingertips tracing Roxas’ jaw. “Is it a kiss?”

Roxas shrugs the handles of a paper bag from his forearm and lifts the still warm parcel onto his lap. “Ta-da.”

“Ah, Roxas.” Axel’s nose crinkles, as he leans back, and his free hand reaches to unfold the paper bag. “You didn’t need to go to any trouble...”

“It’s freshly baked, flaky, crescent-wrapped jalapeño poppers from Lar—Elrena’s tavern.” 

Axel peers into the bag to see the savory pastries and inhales a whiff of the buttery, spicy morsels, which sets his mouth watering. 

“You brought me pub food? See? I knew you cared,” Axel teases, his thumb stretching to the edge of Roxas’ thin smile, and giving it a tug up that makes Roxas cackle and glare, his golden brows dipping down below the bangs he gets when his hair starts to fall flat. Axel’s hand curls around the bag, folding it closed again with a crinkling sound. “Apology accepted. But I also want...” His free hand rises to catch the neck of Roxas’ tee and draw him closer, until his nose near brushes Roxas’ again. 

Roxas hums, their lips a breath apart. He can’t hold up the glare, smiles again, a softer thing, his heart beating a slow anthem against Axel’s palm on his chest. “Guess I can do that.” He tilts his head. His pale, unwavering blue eyes burn when they’re so close, like matchsticks held to Axel’s bare skin, but he doesn’t mind. “Forgive me?” Roxas asks on a breath.

“Nothing to forgive,” Axel dismisses, and then their lips slip together. All tension and fear and stress and insecurity evaporates as their hearts beat against each other. Roxas tastes like frosting and smells like spring, wind and petals, and when Axel’s tongue wraps his, it burns like salt and smoke. Axel lifts Roxas into his lap, their mouths moving together and their hands snagging at fabric, tugging each other closer, harder, holding tight, muscle sliding against muscle. Their desperation makes it as impossibly clear as ever that they haven’t forgotten for a moment what separation tastes like, the way it rent hollow, echoing chambers in their chests. But pressed together, kissing, they feel like they are home.

[mittensmorgul]

It’s incredible to me how much of s14 is... s15 lite, like everything with Michael and his dreams of a monster apocalypse was just the more easily defeated version of Chuck and his dreams of a monster apocalypse.

I’m only up to 14.05 on the tnt loop (or how far I’ve jumped out ahead of the tnt loop...), but I honestly can’t get over how perfect s14 is, or just how much it’s paved the way for s15 and the final showdown against Chuck. We’re truly engaged in the final battle for free will.

But in s14, TFW was still figuring out the details, figuring out how to go from being controlled by Michael to taking control of Michael. Yes, Dean had to experience this for himself, going from “drowning” under Michael’s possession to taking control and containing Michael. It took the help of Sam and Cas to do it, though. He couldn’t have done it on his own. Oh, and while they were all dealing with Michael inside Dean’s mind, it also took Jack on the spot to kill the monsters invading the bunker, or TFW wouldn’t have survived the ordeal anyway. They would’ve been slaughtered while their bodies sat at the library table, not even putting up a fight against the physical threat in the room while they were wrapped up in an internal threat in Dean’s psyche.

Dean’s first struggle once Sam and Cas turned up at Rocky’s Bar? Accepting reality, separating out the illusion and discovering what was truly real. Kinda makes Cas’s assertion of “we are” in 15.02 incredibly poignant now. Because in s15, there is no illusion, no nightmare to snap out of with a clearly delineated border between real and unreal. Exactly as he’s been doing forever, Chuck has leveled up the stakes, taken everything at the core of the narrative and metaphorically brought it from subtext to text.

S15 is playing with the same themes, only there’s no more leveling up after this within Chuck’s story, because he’s dropped the pretense, and the only trick left is to understand what Chuck’s story is, and what THEIR OWN stories are.

Who would they be, and what would they choose for themselves if the cosmic interference really did come to an end. What would the world be like if they truly were free? 

And Jack... is at the center of all of it. Chuck needed Jack gone from his story, because Jack is the “cosmic can opener.” On every level-- from character arcs and all of TFW (including Rowena here, because unlike Eileen, she actually has a mirror narrative with Jack, and fandom’s eagerness to just... shove Rowena aside and replace her with Eileen is a particular point of frustration for me here, in case anyone didn’t notice... Like Adam, Eileen’s return has too much “this is a plot device” around it and not enough of “this is true emotional connection with no overarching manipulation” for me to actually trust it yet... there’s no THERE there, and the show isn’t even seemingly attempting to create it... sorry... >.>) and what they’ve learned about themselves from guiding Jack through his entire journey of existence from nephilim to human to soullessness, to the metanarrative level of “controlling the story” the way Chuck can by changing reality itself, to opening portals between worlds.

And right now, as I’m watching 14.07 (and since I know how 14.08 will go as well), with Jack’s first confrontation with the Empty, and Cas’s bargain with the Empty, and everything TFW (yes, AGAIN including Rowena, because this episode will establish her connection to Jack directly) will do to defy death and Death to bring Jack back. They’ll all need to understand the cosmic mechanisms of life and death itself in order to gain the knowledge and understanding to see through Chuck’s final story and free themselves from it.

Heck, I didn’t intend to add this bit, but apparently I am a sucker for punishment, but I need to say this, because apparently it’s too easily forgotten. But SAM is never set up as Rowena’s “son replacement” figure. JACK is. This is her role in JACK’S story. Rowena is set up, throughout 14.07 and later in 14.14 and 14.18, as Sam’s PARTNER in all the ways that Dean and Cas are partnered in parenting Jack. I’ve been hitting myself over the head all season long trying to understand why people failed to see this parallel setup. Why people thought they’d tanked the entire destiel narrative. And I’m wondering if that’s because the people who stopped seeing it... aren’t parents... or perhaps aren’t middle-aged parents of adult children. Because this... is what being in a romantic partnership with a co-parent is like.

You sacrifice a LOT of yourselves and your partnership for your kids. Especially when your kid is... suffering the way Jack has. But if you survive it, if your relationship survives it, coming through the other side of it can bring you so much closer together. And because this is Supernatural, and we’re now in the final season of Supernatural, this sometimes means LITERALLY surviving Death and coming back, having rediscovered what’s truly important.

The direct line Dean has to Michael in 14.07, the connection activated when Rowena says “archangel” and when Sam says “shaman,” is like the Chuck-Lite version of Sam’s s15 connection to Chuck. Cas’s resulting trip to visit Sergei the shaman was entirely arranged by Michael... manipulation and all. Just like Sam’s nearly dying in 15.07 where Sergei again entered the picture and nearly killed Sam... it’s all just another manipulation (that Cas fortunately learned from the last time enough to have leverage this time around).

Rowena on parenthood in 14.07:

Sam: Somebody is sick, all right, but… Listen, I-I don't know how well you got to know our -- our -- our friend Jack with everything that was going on when you were here, but we've sort of been taking care of him, and, uh, he's, um… Lucifer's son. Rowena: Goodbye. Sam: No, no, no. Stop, stop. He's a great kid. His mother was a fantastic human being, a-a-and he wanted nothing to do with Lucifer, w-who is dead, as you know. Rowena: I hope he's rotting. Sam: Yes, but Lucifer stole Jack's grace, so he's powerless now, and -- and something's going on with him, and he might die. Rowena: Oh, splendid! The sooner the better! From what I know of the father, the world will be better off without the son. Jack: You might be right. We're all still figuring that out. I'm Jack. And I know people have a lot of strong feelings about my father, but I'm --I'm trying hard not to be like him. Sam and Dean, they -- they say such nice things about you. Rowena: They do? Jack: You saved all of us -- from Apocalypse World. Rowena: Well, that's true. Jack: So, before you go, I -- I just wanted to say...thank you.

And, boom. She and Sam are co-parenting now. She never again questions or doubts in Jack. That’s all it took to win her over.

and from the same episode, Cas on parenthood (because parallels are nice):

Castiel: If this "Sergei" has anything even remotely useful to offer, I'll call. Sam: Yo, Cas, wait. Are you sure you wanna handle this alone? Cas: I, uh… I feel the need to do something. And I think Dean's right. We can't afford to overlook any possibility. He seems to be taking this particularly hard. Sam: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he -- he, uh, was pretty rough on Jack at the beginning, and...I don't think he's forgotten. And I know he hasn't forgiven himself. You know, he's lost people, we've all lost people, but, um… Cas: This feels different. Losing, um...a son...feels different.

and in turn, it’s always been Jack teaching them what’s truly important, reevaluating what his own definition of “paradise” could be:

Dean: Well, bait and beer. You are a cheap date. This certainly isn't Tahiti. Jack: You once told me you and your father did the exact same thing. It was your happiest memory of him. Dean: I didn't say that. Jack: It was how you said it. I could tell. I guess my point is that… if I don't make it... The stuff I'd miss -- it wouldn't be things like Tahiti. Or the Taj Mahal. I'd miss more time with you. I'm getting that life isn't all these big, amazing moments. It's time together that matters. Like this. Dean: Well, who'd have thought hanging out with me would make you sentimental? Jack: I've had a good life, Dean.

THIS is what’s truly important. THIS is what TFW (yes, including Rowena) has always fought for. THIS is what they deserve at the end of the story.

This is what they’re fighting for in s15.

[renaer-is-allegedly-hot]

session 15 notes

Ok true crime as in my new addiction is true crime podcasts specifically about serial killers

Back to the session

 After getting a bit of a reality check from durnan about the supposed strength and power of the xanathar guild…

Protected our home w glyphs of warding

Last day of our contract

Spell is set to fade soon

Asyna is feeding ot

Ot looks at asyna like he's a cornered animal

"ot here's some meat"

Why is krystal roasting me about my lover

He wants poison

Ot is calling his jailers idiotic

Oh no aerana might be spilling beans

I really shouldn't be allowed to play games

Because I will always turn to the chaotic evil character

Aerana isn't giving anything up

Theo tells us about the plumbers who came over last night

Aerana is going to typ, rest of party is staking out house

Shifts to watch ot, adam takes front, asyna tower lookout (it's foggy tho so perception check at disadvantage, 9; city looks a little eerie in the fog)

Cel puts immovable rod across cellar door

Ot is suspicious whenever cel comes in

"you cannot fool me xanathar"

Cel making theo a new cloak

Ot asks cel when he'll turn him into dust

The xanathar can turn ppl into dust

Flare ?

Is flare the brain boy ?

I don't like the energy we've created around the word "enlightenment"

Cel rolls 18 insight check

Ot doesn't think cel is cel

Cel is gonna just vibe witth him

"WHEN U SLAY ME I WILL THINK NOTHING BUT HATEFUL THOUGHTS"

Sorry didn't mean caps but too lazy to fix

Everyone else

Adam in front hissing at neighbors and cats, 7

Hears pavement scuffle, someone approaches and reddish gtray beard person w non-descript gray cloak approaches; trench

Doesn't remember cellar and plumbers guild coming by night before

Trench says he can help

Help get bar open

Used to drink there a lot

Gets parchment and quill with ink

Rolls insight to see if bar was only thing he wasd interested in, 13, trench seems v interested

Works in surveillance, protection

Gives him cel and theo's name "5 copper please"

Gets 5

Adam picks his nose

Theo patrols entrances

13 for perception

Overlaps path w adam's

Aerana to typ

Afternoon when there

Similar pattern to those there; frequent patrons

"if I'm making up words, it's not really hitler"

8 perception

Place feels open, not as packed as it usually is

Still feel sensation of cold from the well

Wizard w pointy red hat a regular

You see goliath wizard talking to a dwarven woman

Aerana sees an elven man (bard) w "ugliest guy you've seen in your goddamn life" dom says but only after we point out he looks like legolas, tuning a lute

Sense you've seen him before

The wellllllllllllllllll

It is better told by a bard

Some patrons old and strange, others just like to drink

But ritual in the storytelling

Durnan built

Gwyliam

Talking in elvish

Place formerly not too populated

But one of durnan's ancestors came over to build upon it and discovered the well

Network of tunnels underneath

20 for history check

Familiar with some of what he's saying

Parents would throw you into the undermountain if you were bad

Undermountain = stirs weird memory in your head

Being told as a child stories of undermountain

Deep dark fearsome place

Mt waterdeep wizard came here once named hallister the black cloak

Hallister - ppl don't know where he was from / if he was real but legendary

Brought apprentices trained in magical arts

Tunneled on peak of mt waterdeep

Legend of undermountain could not be verified as truth

Durnan's ancestor came to typ

Climbed into well

"I wouldn't bring this up around him" - doesn't talk abt

When ancestor returned was fabulously rich

Split money with best friend

Built typ

Occasionally engages in ritual of going

No one truly knows what lies in undermountain but there's something there bc some return but most do not

"it might just be the sewer" - "but don't tell anyone I said that"

Differing renditions

Some say durnan was the one with magical powers and killed everyone in there, or more nuanced speaking only of tragedy of those who return who come back fearful or returning with smaller parties; others talk more of hallister and argue over his life; every night a different story

Ask if he knows anyone who's come back

Gestures to half-orc in corner playing variation of solitaire; great celebration when he returned, he came back with riches

He is a regular

21 history check

Undermountain

Familiar name

"Deepest dungeon of them all"

When sewers were built many passages abandoned bc other halls + passages found, many teams from cellars and plumbers guild died during construction of the sewers

Prisoners often thrown into "undermountain"

Says even tho he's here most days there's still stuff he doesn't understand about it; new community reforged every night

At some point durnan talking to wizard and having a conversation which is odd ? Eventually wizard looks at aerana (old man) skinny pointy red hat

Wizard squinting at aerana then turns back to conversation

Try talking to half-orc

Interesting plated beard almost like that on dwarves wrt ornamentation; jewelry running through it

Wiry half-orc

Not skinny but muscled

Weird tattoos covering one side of his face looking like they change a little bit

Balanced a little precariously

Ask if he wants to play a two-person card game bc he's playing solitaire

Ask for his favorite game, Skipper (slapjack)

Dexterity check

5, 20, 10

First round you lose, his fingers have strange looking rings beautiful but rough-worn bands of steel or other heavy metal

Second you win

Third round he takes

"say not many people can beat me in that game"

"luck favors the bold"

In the well

Hell but now look at him can gamble all he wants

City of balder's gate

Large city rough place to grow up

Turned into rough child living on streets

Says his name is Sand

Balder's gate warlords make life difficult so he decided to leave

Was found in youth by someone who turned his anger into smth holy

Ran into thieves and plunderers of forgotten relics, became brother and sister and decided to take on deepest dungeon of them all

Horrible things - asks if you've heard the song

The yawning portal song

Not many people know the full tale

Was taught to be skeptical (it's in his nature or maybe his name)

Not sure how long he was in there or didn't know when he was in there

No light

Tunnels are confusing and without it would've been lost; found room with throne with snakes for arms

Great hallway with ancient trap

Living things also in there; all manner of beasts and creatures; ppl don't come back bc of those

Killed goblins down there but after the things he's seen and after the things he'd had to do could've gone with killing a few more goblins

Advice ? Some will sell maps of what they found or what they think they've seen; anyone can tell u abt beasts down there

Durnan wouldn't lower us down

Durnan doesn’t send ppl to their deaths

Durnan lowers people he deems worthy

Strong brave smart fast bold enough or some combo

But even then not everyone comes back

It's a place of death

Not buying him lunch lmao

Has broken into dangerous old elf dungeons like in the ones up north and would do it again if he could unsee some of the things he saw down in the well

A place of death but things move in the shadows w tombs down there and tunnels for miles hallways great and tall, treasures, beasts keeping it for themselves

Ask about tattoos

Gift from master

The person who saved him in balder's gate

Steeped in magic of shadows

Powerful bc he is strong but qi is stronger still

Aerana gets back home but starts to rain heavily

Ppl still patrolling

Adam

Sees drow ? W purple colored eyes silver-ish hair hiding weapons under his cloak steps up and says "pardon me" and asks if adam's seen a cat

Large cat - would've know if saw it

Adam sends drow to trench

Adam gives him good up and down look, can he see weapons ? Carrying two cinotaurs ??? Sinotaur ???? Adam rolls insight for cat

14, seems like he's talking abt a cat

Heads off to trench

Asyna in watchtower guessing ppl's names

Cel and theo switch

Theo says hi to ot, ot curled up in corner

Whispers "hey ot what's up"

Says he should've gone with his gut on the day theo arrived

"dark elegance" "the way you glided into the room" - ot on theo

Ot says he knows how the xanathar pays theo

"I guess seeing you was a realization of my deepest fear" a fear he couldn't name or place or knew he had but out of the darkness theo stepped forward

"I'm curious . How long do you leave your victims like this"

Ot starts to cry and says he would beg her to keep him in this place

"this voice you're using I find it sweet"

"I just don't want to wake up before the end"

Theo is gonna get him food

"the poor dead tiefling told me yesterday"

7 insight

Theo does not know what's happening

Says the water theo gives him looks real

Looks at the wall drinks some water

"and it tastes real"

We kinda fucked ot up LMAO OOPS

"I know that you don’t have a heart… but if there's any chance that anything I've ever said or thought about you could take root in your soul"

Theo says she'll consider his request

Sits there for a half hour then asks if that's her real name

"nithlur" or smth like that

Nihloor

"where'd you hear that"

In his head lmao

What if this is like

A tapeworm

In his head

"what does knowledge taste like"

Asks if it's a feeling or a thought

Theo says it's a feeling

Ot says whatever knowledge is it's valuable to the right thing

Wonders if he can take a nap

Gonna take a nap

Adam forgot he made ott think he was dead

Aerana is taking over for theo

Adam takes first watch

Perception check, 22

Raining ohp so at disadvantage gotta do it again

New roll, 12

Rain is still falling

Hears a weird noise coming from outside the house

Uses thaumaturgy to boom voice saying "wake up"

Everyone sleeping wakes up

Goes toward sound

Hears weird growling noise

Goes semi-toward noise w pyrotechnics prepared; darkvision does he see anything

Sees shape

It's not the cat

Unfamiliar, looks like it's flying but more like it's floating

Bobbing up and down in air

Creature w large glassy eye and sagging mouth w lots of sharp teeth

Sticking out from form are eyes attached to a slug protruding off it w glassy eyes hanging off it

Intense stench making icky moaning noise

Adam shits his pants

It's big

The size of its mouth is human size

I've been listening to serial killer podcasts all day

[axelsagewrites]

Magnus Bane*Trial

Ship(s): Magnus X Reader

Request?: Nope

Warnings?: Nada

Type: Angst, fluff (I think. Its kinda sad)

Masterlist HERE

Wattpad HERE

“Hungry?” Louise sat next to me on the pavement under the bridge. She held out a breakfast bar with a smirk.

“I’m fine,” I shrug, going back to my book.

She rolls her eyes and tosses it onto my book, “Don’t worry, I grabbed two,” She pulled another out from her coat pocket. “Besides you know I’d always share,”

“That’s what worries me,” I said, putting a bookmark in my page and shutting the book. Putting the book in my backpack along with everything else I owned, I opened the breakfast bar, “Cheers,” we clinked our bars like champagne glasses.

My mind jumped back to the last time I had champagne. I was in Paris, France, in 1912. it was just before the war, luckily, we’d left France just before to visit friends in Indonesia. Magnus and I never cared for the high-class company of Paris, but we cared deeply for the food and drink. It must’ve been a birthday, maybe an engagement, not that we cared.

“You alright?” Louise snapped me from my daze.

“Yeah fine,” I gave a weak smile, turning to the breakfast bar. Despite how hungry I was I picked off small bites. Make it last longer. “We can’t do this forever,” I sighed.

Louise shrugged. “Well, its only a couple months till I’m 18. Then I’ll be able to get a place and you can stay with me,” she smiled. Louise was nice but naive. A runaway in the same torn coat from when she was 15. There was no point telling her to go home. By the sounds of things, the street was safer than her home.

“What about money? They’ll want to prove you have a job and you’ve got savings,”

Her face screwed up, “You worry too much. Look we’ll figure it out. How’d you even know all this?” I shrugged. “How old even are you?”

“17, same as you,” I lied like second nature. I’d stopped aging around 18, 19 but being underage gives me a reason to be homeless. Well, not technically homeless, I own a couple different homes I just can’t live there. The clave would find me. “Look I’m a pessimist. You know this,”

“Well, what I also know is that I want more than a breakfast bar. Lest go diving,” She grinned, jumping up and holding out a hand.

I took it and let her haul me up, “New day, another crime, yay,” I rolled my eyes.

“How’d you think I got the breakfast bars?” she rolled her eyes, “Besides when I’m a big shot with an even bigger paycheck I’ll come back and make it right again,”

We had the same routine every day. Louise apparently ‘perfected’ its last year. This way we got to eat every day. I relocate every couple of years or so and start a new cycle to avoid questions. The claves less likely to find me and people don’t realise I’m not aging. I’d come to Glasgow a couple months back and met Louise. She ‘took me under her wing’ as a runaway, not realising I’d been doing this since 1939.

The dive was a way to eat or get money. Louise walked up to a bin, me trying to shield her from view, and fished out a tub of thrown away food. Chips, burgers, nachos, something like that. Then you deliberately walk into someone and make it look like an accident then, crash!

Louise fell to the floor, dropping the chips everywhere. The businessman on the phone checked his suit then looked at Louise. I helped pick her up, “What’s your problem mate?” I asked, loudly to draw a slight crowd. “Like knocking little girls down?” Louise looked young and as thin as a twig so the small crowd of 5 or so looked annoyed.

His face flushed, “Are you okay?” he took the phone away from his ear for a brief second.

“It's okay,” Louise said, a fake waver in her voice, “I wasn’t that hungry anyway,” A woman tutted him and another gave him a pointed look. “Honest,” Louise was selling it.

And the man was paying. He fished out a couple notes and put them in her hand, “Go get another one,” he said, rushing off to finish his call.

The crowd dispersed soon after and as they were out of earshot Louise turned to me, “Sweet,” she grinned holding up two £5. I rolled my eyes and followed her to get our own food. If she knew about my world, the magic I had, we wouldn’t need to do this. But I can’t let her know I’m a warlock. No one can.

Louise and I took shifts sleeping. We both looked like easy targets, even though I wasn’t, and it meant we could keep a fire going longer. As she slept, I looked through my bag for my journal. The bag had the most important things I owned. Even if everything else was stolen I’d be okay if I had my journal.

I was over 300 years old. For all the stories I do have there are others I’ve just forgotten. Every time I had a new story, I wanted to remember I’d write in down. I have tons of journals in one of my homes, but this was the most important, the one I grabbed before the clave came.

If something big was happening I’d get a special journal. One of my special journals was Magnus. A couple of journals are dedicated to people, lovers, friends, family, a book of one-night stands (I’m old, don’t judge). Magnus journal was the one I cared about

Every little thing was in it; when we met, first dates, first fight, moving in, and the stories. I have tons of stories, some romantic, some funny, some once in a lifetime sort of experience. He’d always intrigued me. I started the journal the day after I met him, not able to get him out of my head.

I flicked through the pages, reading the stories and looking through the mementos. I’m sappy I know, but I had pressed flowers from bouquets he’d gotten me, train tickets, and a couple love letters. I had more love letters at home but these three were important ones. I miss him.

It’s all the claves fault.

A warlock’s word means nothing to them. Not in life, court, or death. I’d never do the things they said I did. Never. They accused me of rituals I couldn’t pronounce the names of and casting spells I’d never even though possible.

Mundane have serial killers and sure they’re scary but a warlock serial killer is worse. Spells, potions, rituals, demons, an extensive list of ways to kill and not be detected. Did it matter I had alibied? No. did it matter I didn’t have to resources to do it? No. did its mater I had no motive? No. I was a warlock and that was motive enough.

The trial began in 1937. Technically it lasts till today. It began with an arrest for using magic in front of a mundane but then the charges pilled on. Originally, they kept me in the silent city but high warlocks, including Magnus, that I knew were able to pull strings to get me on house arrest.

Magnus stayed with me during this time till July 1939. He went to the shops for me and the shadowhunters patrolling my house didn’t let him back in. they didn’t even tell me for 2 weeks where he’d gone.

August rolled around and I was alone. I was able to get a weekly visitor after apparently an explosive argument between Ragnor Fell and the inquisitor. Normally it was Magnus who would bring me letters from my friends for me to read once he left. one night there was a knock at my door.

Magnus came every Thursday at 10am. It was 3am on a Saturday. I opened the door and as soon as I did Ragnor pushed in and shut it, “Get a bag and get ready to run,”

“What?” I yawned, never being up at this time.

“They’re coming for you. They’ve had secret trials without any Downworlders, and the silent brothers are coming. Rodrick heard rumours about it, but he just called me. We need to leave,”

“But I haven’t done anything!”

“Do you think they care!?” He yelled, “They’re raiding this place is 20 minutes. Get a bag, grab some cash, and get moving,”

“What about the barrier? The spells?”

Ragnor rolled his eyes, “How do you think I’m here? We can only hold it for so long. Get moving or we’ll all go down,”

I nodded and did as I was told. Despite everything, I was glad to go. I’m starting to hate this house. I slung my bag over my shoulder and looked at Ragnor. “What about Magnus?”

Ragnor looked down, “He asked me to come. Magnus is a smart man, don’t tell him I said that. No matter what you cannot go back to him,” I went to speak but he continued, “The clave maybe stupid but not that much. They’ll find you and this will be for nothing. We need to go,”

I nodded and followed him out. “Follow me,” he said. We ran and ran and ran. As we got over a hill, we could hear the noise of a portal forming somewhere near, “That isn’t us!” Ragnor said and we sped up.

At the bottom of the hill was a portal. Luckily it was downhill. As I went to run through the portal, I could see something through the portal. Warlocks, with there hands in the air as if they were casting a spell. I could recognise all of them. I saw Magnus. He didn’t see me. I ran through the portal with Ragnor, but I came out alone.

The tears on my face were quickly wiped away when I heard footsteps. Sure, there were a ton of homeless people nearby but none of there shoes sounded like heels. I squinted to see the figure turn onto the pavement leading to us.

A tall, lean, person stood there, looking at a map? Who uses a map? As I looked closer, I saw he wasn’t holding the map. It was floating there.

My stomach flipped and my breathing was faster than ever before. There was a reason I stayed with mundanes. The clave wanted me, they put out wanted alerts everywhere with money on them. My first week on the street I got ratted out and narrowly escaped.

World war 2 was a curse and a blessing. The mundane world was in chaos. Shadowhunters could put out fake wanted warnings out to mundanes with different names but the same face. No one cared in 1940.

After ww2 the clave had lost track of me. Last time I saw a shadowhunter was 1944. They wanted to avoid the war as well. Downworlders I saw often but they didn’t see me. I pretended to be mundane and they never looked twice.

When the figure began walking down the pavement, filled with street sleepers, he began looking at everyone’s faces. Slowly, I began to stand up. As he crouched to look at someone I bolted, bag in hand.

I heard him chase after me. The sound of feet slapping the pavement and wind rushing past me. I managed to get my bag on my back. I knew Glasgow. I could do this.

Public, I needed to be in public. It was a Sunday night though, so the regular drunks were few and hardly any cars lit up the street. Before the streets, I hadn’t been very fast. They made me fast.

Eventually, I turned a corner stopped, needing a breath, and I couldn’t see him. The journal was still tightly grasped in my hand. As I caught my breath, I quickly glanced through it and saw the letters had fallen out. They could be anywhere.

Taking a few deep breaths, I looked around the corner. I walked back onto the pavement and looked down it. I couldn’t see any. I’d have to retrace my path. But what if he was there.

I double-checked my journal, hoping to see one. No. I sighed and looked up to only see the man running around the corner, letters in his hand.

I wanted to cry. It took a couple seconds for me to turn and run but I’d been on my feet all day and I was tired. “(Y/N)!!” They cried after me.

Despite all the warnings, despite what everyone says, I looked over my shoulder. The streetlights lit him up. A tall lean man with spiky black hair, half unbuttoned red shirt, and too much jewellery for my liking. Magnus?

My look caused me to trip. As I hit the floor, I went to get back up, but he was by my side. “(Y/N), it’s me I- “

“You can’t be here,” I scrambled to get away, “It's not safe. The clave. If they- “

“(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N)!” He tried to cut me off but eventually just grabbed my arms. My breathing was heavy, and my eyes were locked on his, “I’m here. The clave dropped the charges,”

“What?” I asked.

“0There was new evidence. I never stopped trying to prove your innocence. We proved it. They dropped the charges 13 years ago. You can come home,” Magnus pulled me into a hug.

On our knees, on the wet pavement in Glasgow, I hugged Magnus for the first time in decades. “I missed you so much,” I whispered as I buried my head into his neck. I felt his tears on me, but I didn’t care, “13 years. I could’ve come home,”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Magnus said, “I’ve got you. I’ve got you,”

[downwithpeople]

castlevania s3 thoughts

no format world is a fuck, all of this was straight off the top of my head immediately after binge-watching the season

psychedelic horror is a bit rich. there were some mildly psychedelic sequences? the horror in this season remained squarely in the corner of gothic splatterpunk and there's nothing wrong with that. i feel like if you want to really move in that direction you have to play more with like, identity and perception, have some ego death or something. there's never a point where any character doesn't have a completely concrete idea of who they are or what they are doing. all the big dramatic sequences are monster fights.

i'm not a huge fan of the way the series has developed into four completely separate storylines with practically no relation to each other. the extended sequence in s3e9 where two of the POVs were engaged in desperate life-or-death struggles while the other two were having sinister graphic sex didn't really gel together well.

hector is SO fucking stupid. this isn't even the thing where like, i'm being unfair to a character who's been through some shit and isn't in a good place and makes poor decisions as a result of that. hector is just SO fucking stupid i have no sympathy for him. he really thinks lenore couldn't have any possible ulterior motive in wanting to bone down? he just comes off like a colossal dipshit who barely realises both the gravity of what went down with dracula and how phenomenally easy it would have been to negotiate into a solid position with carmilla's crew. i feel like this was absolutely intentional.

lenore's inexplicably modern lingerie was pretty funny did she get that out of the endless corridor too

isaac's cool. i wish that anything he did was actually relevant to anyone else. all of his victories and all of his personal revelations just don't mean much when he doesn't have any other core characters with which to interact. he has conversations with a merchant, a sailor, a crazy old woman, one of his own monsters and when all else fails he has conversations with himself. it just doesn't matter.

trevor and sypha could have just ran into the church and killed everyone there whenever they wanted. the bloody climax happens because they agree to wait until sundown to attack for practically no reason. trevor and sypha repeatedly demonstrate that their unstoppable superhumans who can survive fighting the biggest, nastiest demons of hell with mostly aesthetic injuries. trevor alludes to the monks as being too many to fight but seeing the shit sypha does on the reg i mean come on.

there were at least a dozen pairs of shoes in the judge's secret shoe-wank room. if he had killed all those children wouldn't a more pressing issue among the townsfolk be 'our children just keep fucking disappearing and we don't know why'? like i think a dozen fucking children going missing without a trace in any length of time is going to be a pretty wild thing.

alucard's thing with sumi and taka was okay. it was pretty much a given that something screwy was going to go down as soon as they walked into alucard's bedroom. that entire story could have been told in the span of a single episode though.

three seasons in and the pacing is still dogshit. i don't know why they have to make it like this but this whole thing where you get little bites out of each of the four storylines just drags this shit out so much. alucard's storyline is the worst for it but i feel like the show would really benefit from cutting away some of the meandering aimless conversations and compressing everything down. like i dunno, if you could designate whole episodes to a single POV that might be better.

saint-germain was okay.

sala was so obviously completely evil it was just kinda funny. honestly if i was trevor and sypha i would have just gone completely apeshit on the monks as soon as they gave me lip.

the concept of the infinite corridor, of an endless portal through time and space that go through to every dimension but particularly hell, that's something that belongs to a more interesting story. here it's kind of tangential to plot requirements. the monks could have just done their spooky ritual and opened a portal straight to hell.

god that entire season was just buildup for carmilla's big break? guys netflix could cancel your shit any time you're playing stupid games

[spideyfic]

Spider-Man: Going home

Exhausted and grief-stricken, Peter makes his way home to May after the final battle, and reunites a family along the way.

This story was strongly inspired by the train scene from Spider-Man 2, and my wondering what reaction an unmasked MCU Peter would get from his fellow New Yorkers.

Word count: 5436

********

After (Mr. Stark died) the final battle to defeat Thanos (oh God, Tony was dead, he’d watched him die, saw the life leave his eyes, heard his heart falter then stop, and it was like losing Ben all over again), Peter had been shepherded to the only part of the Avengers Compound that had been left standing. He let the guiding hand on his shoulder push him down on to a crate, barely registering the fact that Captain America had been the one steering him, a strong arm wrapped around Peter’s back. The Peter of six months ago (not six months, five years, but he couldn’t think about that right now) would have stuttered and stammered with fanboy enthusiasm, but he was emotionally numb as the other man took a seat next to him on his own crate.

Paramedics arrived – but not the kind that Peter was used to in Queens, that would patch him up without asking any questions, engage in some friendly banter, and send him on his way. These paramedics were quiet and efficient, obviously part of some government agency, and they made their way around the room without any reassuring small talk. How did you comfort a superhero?

A woman crouched in front of him, her sweet, round face friendly and kind despite her sober, hushed manner. “Sir, can you remove your mask, please? You’re bleeding, and I need to determine where from.”

Peter had automatically reactivated his mask after … after it ended, so used to protecting his identity that it was second nature now. He retracted the nanites back into the containment unit nestled between his shoulder blades, leaving him in his original suit. The woman shone a penlight in his eyes and ran some kind of scanning device over his body, before he turned his head this way and that at her direction. She sprayed something over a wound at his temple and at the back of his head, told him he had a mild concussion, two broken ribs that were showing signs of already knitting back together, a badly sprained ankle and a dislocated knee that had popped itself back into place, then moved on to her next patient.

He was vaguely aware of other people joining them, a veritable parade of superheroes and warriors, but they faded into insignificance as Rhodey and Pepper walked in.

But it wasn’t just Rhodey and Pepper. Tony was in the metal cradle of Rhodey’s arms, and Peter had a completely inappropriate flashback to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry playing possum in Hagrid’s arms, and for a moment, he expected Tony to sit up and say he was fine, he was fine, what were they all sitting around moping for, but he was obviously, painfully, dead. Someone had retracted the suit - except for around his right arm and chest, where the metal had melted into his burned skin - and he looked smaller in death, so pale and still and silent, but as in life, his presence filled the room, demanding the attention of everyone there.

Peter wiped at the tears that had been steadily running down his face since Tony had snapped his fingers and stood up. The rest of the room followed, standing in silent respect and bowing their heads for the man who had sacrificed his life to keep his world safe, much as they had knelt in his honor out on the battlefield.

When they passed Peter, Pepper stopped as Rhodey continued on through the room, and cupped his cheek with her hand. Like Rhodey, she was still clad in her suit, but had retracted the armour from her hands, and her touch was gentle and soothing. He closed his eyes and brought his hand up to cover hers. “Pepper, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, if I’d known he was going to do that I’d have stopped him, I … I’d have done it instead, nobody would have missed me, I’ve been gone so long …”

Pepper brought her other hand up to pull him into a hug. “Sweetheart, don’t say that. Don’t you dare say that. Tony loved you so much he figured out time travel because he couldn’t live in a world where he didn’t try everything to bring you back.” She was fierce and magnificent despite her bloodied face and red, tear-swollen eyes, and he didn’t know how she was able to function when he felt like he was being crushed by his grief. “I love you, your aunt loves you, your friends love you. Don’t cheapen Tony’s death by thinking so little of yourself.” She kissed his forehead and stepped back, taking a deep breath that stuttered with repressed tears. “I need to take care of Tony. When you get back to the city, May is waiting for you in the tower.”

He watched her go, so strong and determined even in the face of what must be one of the worst moments in her life, and dropped back onto his crate, his legs suddenly unwilling to hold his weight. He pressed his hands over his face, concentrating on the feeling of the air moving in and out of his lungs, on the pain of his broken ribs as his chest expanded with each breath in. He welcomed the discomfort – it made it hard to think, which was fine by him, he didn’t want to think, didn’t want to process everything that had happened in a single day that spanned five years. Five years in which Tony had a life without him and apparently worked out how to time travel and Peter wanted to hug him a couple more times and ask how he circumvented the Deutsch Proposition but he couldn’t do that, he was never going to be able to talk to Tony ever again and it hurt.

“Queens.”

He looked up to find Cap staring at him with shock on his face. “Yes, sir?”

“You’re a kid. I mean, I guessed you were young, but you can’t be more than sixteen, seventeen.” Cap ran a hand across his mouth, obviously distressed. “You shouldn’t have been out there fighting, not at your age.”

“I’m sixteen. And I had to fight. There was no way I was going to let Thanos win again.”

Cap looked him up and down, and his expression softened. “I know how that feels, Queens. Time was, I got constantly told to stand down. Kinda wish someone would tell me that now, actually. I’m tired of fighting.”

Peter shrugged, his physical and emotional exhaustion making him incapable of anything but bluntness. “Then stop. Find something that makes you happy and go fight for that instead.” Someone pressed a bottle of water and a protein bar into his hand, and he gulped down half of the water in four long swallows, desperate to wash the taste of ash and blood from his mouth. Big mistake – as soon as the cold water hit his stomach, he threw it straight back up, the retching making his ribs scream. “I want to go home,” he croaked, and he was ashamed of how childlike he sounded in that moment, but he felt terribly young and out of place, like an imposter in this room full of adults he’d idolised for as long as he could remember. He wanted his aunt, wanted her arm around him as they sat curled together on their couch, sharing a blanket and watching a movie.

A gentle weight settled over his shoulders, and he glanced down to see Doctor Strange’s red cloak draped around him. It was oddly comforting, and the cloak rippled, the hem lifting to cradle his hands in soft warmth.

Doctor Strange was standing in front of him, looking as exhausted as Peter felt, his entire frame shaking. His friend - Wong, Peter remembered Strange saying he had to contact him, back when they reappeared back on Titan - had an arm wrapped around his waist, holding him up. “Mr. Parker, I am almost entirely magically spent, but I have enough reserves to open a portal to the Sanctum. You are more than welcome to travel with us, should you choose.”

Peter was on his feet in a moment. “Yes. Yes please. Um - if we’re allowed to go. Do we have to talk to someone about what happened? Like, give a statement or something …?”

Strange moved his hands and opened a portal, much smaller than the multiple gateways he had opened to bring everyone to upstate New York. “I have no intention of waiting around any longer, Mr. Parker. I trust that people know where to find us should they need to.” With that, he stepped through the portal, and Peter could see him waiting with Wong.

Cap stood and held out a hand for Peter to shake, clapping his shoulder. “Go home kid. You fought well, you deserve a rest. Strange is right – if you’re needed for anything, someone will find you.”

Without thinking about it, Peter stepped forward and hugged the man, who froze for a moment and then returned the embrace. Peter had always been an impulsive hugger – he blamed his aunt, who dispensed hugs as freely as her sarcasm – and he worried that he’d overstepped his boundaries, but Cap seemed as much in need of physical comfort as Peter, and slapped his back a couple of times.

When they broke apart, Peter could see tears in Cap’s eyes, and it nearly broke him to see the other man, the symbol of America’s strength and patriotism, hurt and lost and so utterly human.

“Take care of yourself, Brooklyn,” Peter said softly, as he turned towards the portal.

“You too, Queens. You did good.”

Peter stepped from the compound, with the smell of burning and blood still in his nostrils, to a quiet, tranquil foyer, soft pre-dusk light filtering through the large windows and illuminating the dust motes in the air.

As soon as he set foot on the intricately tiled floor of the Sanctum, Doctor Strange closed the portal and dropped to his knees with a thud, too suddenly for Wong or the cloak to break his fall.

Peter knelt next to him, concerned, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Doctor Strange? Sir? Are you ok?”

Strange nodded, rocking forward on to his hands and letting his head hang down. “I need to rest. As do you, Mr. Parker. Wong can show you to a room until you can locate your family.”

“There’s only my aunt, I don’t even know if she disappeared five years ago like we did.” He began to panic, his breathing becoming rapid and shallow. “I – I have to go and find her, thank you for bringing me back.” With another unpredictable and spontaneous hug for each of the men, Peter dashed towards the door, threw it open and stumbled down the steps.

He found himself in what was unmistakably Greenwich, but a very different Greenwich to the one he was used to. The streets were full of people wandering aimlessly, shocked expressions on their faces, and Peter guessed they were people who had been dusted and returned, confused and disoriented. His experience of turning to dust had been a long thirty seconds of intense creeping pain and an overwhelming sense of wrong wrong wrong something’s wrong, followed by what felt like a blink, and then he was back on Titan with Doctor Strange, other Peter, bug lady, and tattoo guy. He’d found it hard enough to comprehend, even knowing what Thanos had planned, so he could only imagine what it was like for the people who had no clue what had gone down. He was a little disoriented himself; in the space of a couple of hours he’d fought a battle, died, been resurrected, fought in another huge battle, and watched someone he loved like a father die, and everything felt surreal, like he was watching a movie. He was pretty sure he was disassociating a little.

He limped along the street with the intention of finding an intersection so he could orient himself, but had barely walked for thirty seconds before he found a little girl crying, sitting on the curb and clinging to a tiny baby. When she saw him, she gasped, even as she continued to cry. “S-Spider-Man. I want my mommy and daddy.”

He sat next to her and she snuggled in against his side so trustingly that it made warmth surge through his chest. She was so tiny and fragile and she trusted him.

“Can you keep a secret?” he whispered to her, and she nodded. “My name is Peter and I want my aunt. What’s your name?”

She took a big, shuddering breath and wiped her face against her shoulder. “I’m Mia. And this is my baby brother Jackson.”

Peter spent the next few minutes gently probing Mia for information, finding out that she was five years old, Jackson was three weeks old, and she’d last seen her mom and dad in this street when they were walking to get ice cream. Jackson had been in a stroller, which was nowhere to be seen, but when Peter carefully pulled back the blankets swaddling him he couldn’t see any injuries, so it looked like he’d reappeared safely on the ground.

By the end of their conversation, Mia had climbed into his lap, and he held her and her brother like they were made of glass, something brittle and precious. She was chattering to him like she’d known him all her life, her head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped under hers to help support the baby, who was snug and asleep in his blankets, completely unaware of the chaos around him.

“Do you know your mom and dad’s names?” he asked her, and she tilted her head back to look at him.

“My mommy is Emily and my daddy is Cody. We live at 2-A, 54 Bleecker Street.” She said her address in a rush, like she’d worked hard to memorize it, and Peter, who was already hopelessly fond of his two little sidekicks, felt a swell of affection for her. She was already moving past the trauma of sitting crying in a street for hours, her tears gone and her tiny face bright and animated.

Peter had already worked out that he was on Bleecker street, in the high 100’s, so it was probably less than half a mile to Mia’s apartment.

“We’re gonna go and see if your mommy and daddy are home, OK? I know you’re a big girl, but I’m going to carry you and Jackson because it’s really busy and I don’t want you to get lost.” He got Mia to stand, then took Jackson from her, nestling him in one arm, before hoisting her up to his hip. He’d never held a baby before, and he marvelled at how something so light and tiny would grow up to be an adult.

Mia wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her head on his shoulder. “Peter, I’m not scared now.”

“That’s good,” he said. “I’m not scared now either, because you’re so brave.” He wasn’t about to tell her he was scared that they would get to the apartment and find someone else living there, her parents nowhere to be found, but he’d cross that particular bridge if and when they came to it.

With his limp, it took him nearly fifteen minutes to reach their destination, but he and Mia sang Baby Shark over and over, making one another laugh by substituting things for ‘baby’. Mia found ‘Mia Shark’ particularly hilarious and her giggle was the best thing Peter had ever heard, and he figured if the Spider-Man gig didn’t work out, he had a future in children’s entertainment.

When they reached the apartment block, a converted warehouse that was far fancier than his and May’s apartment in Queen’s, Peter headed straight for the intercoms, and Mia bounced on his hip, pointing at a handwritten label next to the buzzer for 2-A. “That’s my name! Kaplan!”

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he pressed the buzzer. “Please answer, please answer, please answer,” he mumbled, closing his eyes as he waited, Mia’s little face smushed up against the side of his.

He was just about to give up and go find a police station, when the intercom crackled. “Hello?” a woman said, her voice hoarse and strained. “Who is it?”

“Are you Emily Kaplan?” He had no idea how to tell someone that their children were back after five years.

“Yes I am, but we’re not expecting any callers. Please don’t bother me again.” The intercom clicked off, and despite repeated buzzing, she didn’t answer again.

Jackson was beginning to stir, his face screwing up like he was about to cry, and Peter ssh’d him, bouncing gently back and forth on his heels as he started pressing random intercom buttons, waiting for someone to let him in. He could have broken the door, but he was hesitant to cause a security issue for the building, and his patience paid off when the fifth person he buzzed opened the door with little to no persuasion needed.

The elevator opened right in front of 2-A, and Peter knocked on the door as Jackson started to let out little whimpers that sounded like he was building up to a full-on wail.

The door opened, and a woman with long, dark hair and Mia’s blue eyes looked at them then dropped to her knees, her tears sudden and immediate. “Is this real?” she asked through her sobs. “Please tell me this is real, oh God, please. My babies.”

Mia leaned down towards her, extending her arms, and her mother automatically reached out to pull her close, wrapping her up in an all-encompassing embrace, tight enough that Mia squeaked that it was hurting. Peter knelt next to them, Jackson starting to cry, and passed him to Emily.

“It’s real,” he assured her, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “I promise, it’s real, the Avengers fixed it, everyone is back.”

She continued to sob, her children in her arms and the grief of five years without them writ plain on her face. “I’ve been ill, I was in bed asleep, I haven’t seen any news today. I need to call Cody, he’s not even in the country. Oh my God, my babies. Thank you, Spider-Man. Thank you.”

“Spider-Man carried me and Jackson and we sang Baby Shark.” Mia pressed both of her hands to her mom’s cheeks, turning her face towards her. “But we couldn’t find Jackson’s stroller and he woke up on the floor so I looked after him.”

Emily kissed her over and over, making Mia squeal with delight. “You’re such a good girl, I love you so much.”

Peter stood up, and Mia caught at his hand. “Are you going to find your auntie?”

He nodded, on the verge of tears. “I am. She loves me like your mommy loves you, and I need to find her so she doesn’t worry any more. Thank you for looking after me, Mia.”

She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his legs, and he crouched so she could hug him properly and press a kiss to his face. “We were both really really brave,” she said. “If you tell your auntie you might get ice cream.”

He laughed, wiping at the tears that had started again. “I’ll tell her. You go give your mommy a big cuddle, she’s missed you loads and loads.”

As Mia stepped back and he straightened up, her mom took her place, pulling Peter in for a one-armed hug, Jackson nestled between them. “I can’t ever thank you enough. I thought they were gone forever,” she sobbed. “If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, you come and you find us.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said. “Mia looked after me and Jackson, not the other way around.” He pulled away and held out his fist for Mia to bump. “I’m glad you have your babies back.”

He left quickly, gently brushing off Emily’s insistence that he should stay, that she could see he was hurt, Mia shouting bye as the doors to the elevator closed behind him.

Back out on the street, he started walking north on Lafayette, knowing it would be a straight shot up to Park Avenue and the tower, but he quickly became exhausted and knew the two mile walk was beyond him in his current state. He was all out of web fluid, so couldn’t swing, and his ankle and knee were throbbing more and more with each step he took, making him feel nauseous.

He stopped to rest and realized that the bus to Harlem was idling at the stop just ahead of him, and he put the last of his remaining energy into a lurching sprint for the bus, flinging himself on board just before the driver shut the door. It was only when he boarded that he realized he didn’t have any money to pay his fare, and he stood in front of the driver, feeling ready to just fall apart in complete hysteria.

The driver took pity on him, jerking her head to indicate that he should move down to the seats. “No charge, Spidey. Where are you headed?”

“Stark Tower,” Peter said numbly, and the bus headed off into rush hour traffic as he stumbled to the nearest empty seat, which was miraculously a double.

The other people on the bus all had their phones out, and someone was watching the news, the volume way down, but Peter could still hear it. A news station had evidently had a drone out over the battlefield, and they were reporting that Tony had been apparently killed in action.

Peter curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his head and resting his elbows on his thighs. It was all too much to deal with, all this sorrow and pain and tiredness overwhelming him to the point that it felt like he was about to have a complete shutdown.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he glanced up to see a guy standing in the aisle, extending a hoodie out to him. “Hey Spider-Man. You don’t have your mask on, I thought you might want this to cover up with.”

Peter hadn’t even thought about concealing his face. His mask was long gone, lost five years ago and 40,000 thousand feet up in the air, but when he glanced at his reflection in the dirty bus window, he barely recognised himself. He was very obviously a teenager, but his face was so stained with soot and blood, his eyes so swollen and deeply bruised, that there was little chance of anyone looking at him and seeing Peter Parker unless they knew him, and even then, it’d be a tough call.

He tugged the over-large hoodie on, pulling the hood up over his head and shadowing his face. “Thank you. Please don’t tell anyone you saw me without my mask.”

“Nobody is gonna say anything, man. You’re a New Yorker, we look after our own, right? We’re all just glad that you’re back, things have gone to shit without you.” He paused. “Is it true that Iron Man died? That’s what the news was saying, that he did something that made that purple fucker disappear, but it killed him.”

Peter couldn’t answer him, but his lack of response was apparently enough of a reply. “I’m sorry man, I know you guys were tight. He spoke about you every year at the memorial services.” He patted Peter’s shoulder. “Take care, Spider-Man. We’ve got you.”

The man made his way around the passengers, telling them not to take photos of Peter, or even mention seeing him on the bus. Everyone agreed readily, and his next stop was the driver, asking if there was any way she could delete the CCTV footage, and she said she’d speak to her girlfriend, who worked in the MTA control room and had access to the files.

Peter’s stop loomed and he got up, sticking his hand to a pole to help himself remain upright, standing next to the guy, who was back in his own seat. “Thanks for the hoodie and everything. If you give me your address, I’ll get it back to you.”

“Nah it’s cool, keep it. Least I can do after everything you’ve done for us. Thanks, Spider-Man.”

His thanks seemed to trigger something amongst their fellow passengers, a soft chorus of ‘thank you’s’ circulating the bus, culminating in cheers and whoops as he stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Stark Tower. The show of appreciation and affection left him feeling raw, like all his nerve endings were exposed and sparking; he was unused to being thanked in person, and it was a little over-whelming. He’d been wandering around Greenwich for thirty minutes with his face on show, and another twenty minutes on the bus. He was now entirely at the mercy of his fellow New Yorkers, and their legendary, stubborn loyalty to their own.

He pulled the drawstring of his hoodie, cinching the fabric tightly around his face until only his eyes could be seen, and headed towards the entrance to Stark Tower. It was on lockdown, security guards posted outside, and as Peter hobbled towards them, they pointed their weapons at him, one of them gesturing for him to get down on the ground.

He held his hands up in the air, then knelt, wincing as his knee cracked, and moving his hands to link at the back of his head. “I’m Spider-Man. Pepper – Ms. Potts sent me here. Please, my aunt is inside, I just want to see her.”

A hand was tucked under his armpit, pulling him to his feet and into a tight embrace. “Kid. You’re back.”

“Happy?” Peter leaned into the man, clutching at him desperately. “Tony – Tony’s …” He couldn’t finish, couldn’t be the one to tell Happy that his friend was gone.

“I know, kid. I know.” Happy’s voice wobbled, and he reached up to pull Peter’s head against his shoulder, his big hand resting at the nape of Peter’s neck. “Let’s get you inside, May’s waiting.” He kept Peter tucked against his side, leading him past the security guards and into the building.

May was pacing back and forth in the living room, tears running unchecked down her cheeks. When she saw Peter, she let out a wounded sound, pressing her hands to her mouth before running to him, gathering him up in a hug that took them both down to the carpet. He sobbed, and she tugged open the neck of his hoodie so she could see his face, peppering kisses across his cheeks and forehead, and it was just like the reunion between Emily and Mia, the fierce, passionate love and devotion of a mother holding their child.

He slumped against her, too tired to even attempt to stay upright, and she guided him down to the floor, moving his head to rest in her lap before curling around him, one arm behind him and her other across his chest, her hand threaded through his hair. She pressed her cheek to his forehead, and he could feel her tears against his skin, smell her perfume, comforting and familiar, vanilla and cream and brown sugar.

“I was so scared,” she said brokenly. “Pepper came to the apartment and said you were helping Tony, and then the TV showed you being beamed up to a fucking spaceship, and FRIDAY lost contact.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered against her stomach. “May, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

She soothed him, her fingers petting through his curls. “It’s OK, baby. It’s OK.”

“Did you – you know?” He already knew the answer, but needed to hear her say it, needed to hear that she hadn’t been left mourning him for all that time, that someone he loved knew exactly how it felt to come back to a world that had moved on.

She lifted her hand from his head and fluttered her fingers through the air. “Turn to dust? Yeah, two days after you disappeared. I saw my hand start to break apart and that’s all I remember. It didn’t hurt, it was like I blinked and then I was back. Scared the shit out of the people who are living in our apartment now. I came straight here after.”

“Me too,” he said, deciding that May didn’t need to know that he’d felt the agony of his body fighting to keep itself together, a constant cycle of decay and reconstitution where his body lost just a little more each time it happened, until there was nothing left.

“I’m glad,” she said fiercely. “I’m glad that I didn’t have to live without you, because it would have killed me, Peter.”

They stayed huddled together for several long minutes, just taking comfort from being close to one another. Eventually they moved to the couch, and Peter told May about Tony, about watching and hearing him die and she cried with him again, mourning the man she’d grown to trust during his nearly two-year mentorship of Peter.

Happy, who had tactfully stepped out during their reunion, walked back into the room and cleared his throat. “Um, I hate to interrupt, but someone woke up from their nap.”

He had a sleepy little girl in his arms, and for a moment Peter thought it was Mia, but her eyes were dark brown instead of blue, and her hair was shorter, brushing her shoulders. Her eyes and her pale skin left no doubt about her parentage – she was a perfect blend of Tony and Pepper, and his grief bubbled up again at the thought that she would grow up without her father.

“Where’s daddy and mommy?” she yawned, knuckling sleep from her eyes before catching sight of Peter. “You’re Petey,” she said. “Daddy showed me your picture.”

“This is Morgan,” Happy told them, running his hand over her hair, and mouthing “she doesn’t know,” at them. Morgan wiggled in his arms and he put her down, letting her approach them with a confidence that was all Pepper and an expression that was all Tony.

“My daddy said you’re Spider-Man and that you were sent away with lots of people by a bad man,” she said, climbing up on to the couch and settling herself next to Peter. “Can you play jigsaws with me?”

Peter wanted to say yes, but Happy intervened. “Peter got hurt, Morgan. He and Aunt May are going to go down and see Aunt Helen in the med bay.” He backed that up with a frown at Peter, that made it clear it was non-negotiable and he was to get his ass down there immediately. “I’ll do jigsaws with you, OK?”

She hopped back off the couch and went to Happy, taking the hand he held out. “Let’s play in my room,” she said. “Petey, can you come and play later?”

He nodded at her, not trusting his voice, and that seemed to be enough for Morgan, who tugged Happy out of the room.

“Poor kid,” May said, standing and pulling Peter up with her. “Pepper had just enough time to tell me about her before she rushed off to help in the fight.”

Peter had felt an immediate kinship with Morgan, a shared love for her parents, and a shared sorrow, even if she was blissfully unaware for now. She looked to be about the same age he had been when his parents died and he hated that, like him, she’d have no real memories of her dad as she grew older, would be reliant on the adults around her to fill in the gaps about who he was and how he loved her.

“It’s not fair,” he murmured, and he didn’t have to explain, because of course May knew, she knew him better than anyone and understood exactly what he was thinking.

“Tony can’t be here for her anymore,” she said softly, taking his hand in hers. “But you can.”

May was right. Tony might be gone, but Morgan wasn’t. Tony was stardust, beyond pain and suffering, but his legacy remained in the form of his daughter, and Peter was determined to give her the love and guidance her father had given him. Family wasn’t always about blood; it was about love, and he’d do his very best to ensure that she knew that her father loved her so fiercely that he saved the universe just for her.

[talinexa]

Fire Child - One-Shot

I was re-watching Birth By Sleep because apparently I like torturing myself and this just kinda sprouted.

“Terra!” I cried, rushing forward to see Terra’s armor standing... over... his body. But his body had... white hair. I looked between the armor and the body as the armor sunk his Keyblade into the ground and knelt behind it.

I went over to his armor and knelt opposite his keyblade. “Terra? Is that you?”

The helmet tilted up to look me in the eye. “Ig... Igni?”

“Yeah! It’s me!” I whispered.

“You have to get out of here, kid,” he said. “You’re too young to be here! How did you even get here?”

I manifested my keyblade. “I followed you after Xehanort’s dark spell started to devour the Land of Departure. I couldn’t stay there alone. I didn’t know what else to do,” I said. “And I’m thirteen. I can... keep myself out of trouble.”

“Igni, you need to get somewhere safe. You’re in danger here.”

“Terra, why is your body over there? What’s going on?”

“It’s a long story. Just... get out of here. Please.”

“I’m not leaving you guys!”

“You have to! Go! Follow your heart to Master Yen Sid’s tower. He’ll keep you safe and finish your training. Explain what happened to the Land of Departure. You just can’t be here! It’s too dangerous for you.”

“But---”

“Now, Igni.”

I started to cry. “Terra... I’m scared.”

“I know. I am too. But I need you to keep yourself safe, okay? You have to make it. You have to survive.”

The metal of his fingers lifted and wiped my tears away.

“Promise me you’ll be safe, Igni. Promise me.”

“I... I promise.” I sniffed.

“Good. Go. Now. Before this gets worse.”

I pushed myself to my feet. “Mkay. Be safe Terra.”

“You too.”

I nodded and pointed my keyblade at the sky. I opened a portal before throwing my keyblade into the air and leaping onto my vehicle and shooting through the portal.

As I hurtled down one of the Lanes Between, I pulled out the Wayfinder Aqua made me. Mine was unique. She’d made the others out of single colors of glass. Mine was a particular kind of stained glass. Near the center it was yellow, but it faded to red at the tips with orange in between. I had no idea how Aqua had managed to make it, but I loved it and I hoped our connection was as unbreakable as Aqua intended it to be.

I glanced behind me at where I’d left. “Be safe, guys...” I whispered.

*****

Many Years Later...

*****

“Terra!” Ven exclaimed, rushing over to our friend.

“Ven!” Aqua protested, reaching out for him before following. I glanced at the other guardians of light before running after them. Ven and Aqua... they didn’t know for sure what I knew. That our friend standing there wasn’t the Terra they remembered. It was hard to look at him and not immediately think of Xemnas---even with his brown hair and blue eyes. “Terra---please say you’re in there.”

Terra didn’t say anything, just looked up. I was already tugging on Ventus and Aqua’s sleeves, pulling them backward. When Terra’s eyes met Aqua’s, she pushed Ven behind us, forcing him---and by extension me---backward.

“What gives, Aqua?” Ven demanded.

“I know you’re not him!” Aqua spat at Terra’s possessed body.

“Huh?” Ventus wondered.

“Now let our friend go!”

Terra’s hair turned white and the blue of his eyes was replaced by yellow. Ven looked ready to pass out for another ten years from surprise.

“Today’s the day you all lose,” Terra-Xehanort said in a voice that wasn’t Terra’s. I closed my eyes and tried to keep my heart from falling back to darkness at the very sound of that voice and the anger at losing Terra that overwhelmed me.

He said something else, but I didn’t hear it.

“We’re not gonna lose to you,” Sora retorted.

A smirk that made my blood boil.

Terra’s body---possessed by Xehanort---vanished.

There was a loud CLANG! and a huge plume of dust rose around us.

When it settled, Xehanort’s keyblade was blocked by a familiar one---and a set of armor.

Gold, orange, and brown armor.

I gasped. “Terra!” I whispered. Ventus didn’t even hear me and he was standing nearest me.

“Got you, Xehanort,” Terra’s voice said, soft and barely audible from our distance away.

They started to fight. Ven ran forward to help but Aqua and I caught his arms. “Them first,” Aqua said, nodding behind us at the wave of Heartless coming in.

When no one was looking, I rushed to follow Terra’s armor and his body.

But didn’t get very far before I was surrounded by Heartless. I hissed in frustration. “Be safe, Terra,” I whispered before leaping over the swarming Heartless to get back to the others. I spun my fiery keyblade, knocking it gently against Lea’s and Ven’s and Aqua’s to let them know I was there since they were nearest. Aqua gave me a look. She’d noticed I’d gone after Lingering Will---as Sora had once referred to Terra’s heart within his empty armor---and Terra’s Xehanort-possessed body.

But I was back so she didn’t get the chance to lecture.

*****

“Aqua! Ven!” I shouted, running around the maze in the Keyblade Graveyard looking for my friends. I just got them back---after twelve years---I wasn’t losing them again. “AQUA! VEN!” I ran around recklessly, blowing past fights the other guardians of light were engaged in. They were handling themselves---I had to find Aqua and Ventus.

“Xingi!” Sora called. I skidded to a stop.

“Sora!”

“Aqua and Ven are that way.” He pointed behind him with his keyblade. “They’re okay.”

I nodded. Sora had a smile that didn’t quit and it helped me feel relief that the guardians of light were keeping their spirits up. I set a hand on Sora’s shoulder and ran off.

“Aqua! Ven!” I shouted again.

Whirling around a corner, I nearly face-planted in surprise.

“T... Terra?” I asked quietly.

A familiar face looked up from where a familiar body and clothes were helping Aqua and Ven with their injuries. Blue eyes held a sparkle as a smile I missed terribly greeted me. “Hey Igni.”

“TERRA!” I cried, running forward and slamming into him, wrapping my arms around him. He returned the hug---gently because he was still way bigger than me and still strong enough to snap me in half---and buried his nose in my hair. “You’re---you’re back!” I could barely speak past the tears building up in my eyes and throat.

I felt more than heard his chuckle. “I’m back Igni. You listened to me.”

“I did,” I sniffed.

“Ig...” Ventus mumbled.

I knelt and made sure he and Aqua were okay. They needed a minute to rest but they’d be fine. Terra sat next to me. “Tell me, what happened after you left?”

I let more tears fall. “You won’t be proud of me.” My voice was thick with emotion. “I went to Yen Sid, like you told me to. He did train me a little bit more. But... not long after you, Aqua, and Ven disappeared he asked if I would... cast off my heart and join the original Organization Thirteen. I recognized you immediately. Xemnas had your face. Every day I had to see you but you weren’t you. And it... very nearly ended me. Every time.”

“Why would Master Yen Sid ask you to do such a thing?” Terra asked quietly.

“To keep an eye on their activities---and to protect the keyblade’s chosen one from the Organization when they appeared. I waited ten years for Sora to show up. Empty and alone. Heartless. A Nobody. And your body was right there but you weren’t. It was awful. But I kept Sora as safe from the other Organization members as I could. And when he finally defeated my Nobody, Xingi, for good, I got my heart back.”

Terra held my shoulders. “Igni. I am proud of you. You gave up everything to keep Sora safe. Without him, I wouldn’t be back. So without you I wouldn’t be here.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

“Whaddaya say we go catch up with Sora?” Ven asked, trying to sit up.

“Nope. No, no, no,” I said. “Give it another minute.”

“I’m fine Igni,” Ventus tried to insist. I cocked an eyebrow at him. I’d perfected the skeptical authority figure look over the last twelve years and turned the full force of it on him. He stood down almost immediately.

“We’ll meet up with the others at the end,” I said. “For now, they have their own fights to finish. Personal scores to settle.” I thought about passing Axel and Saïx. I didn’t envy them that fight. Nor did I envy Aqua and Ven their fight against Terra-possessed-by-Xehanort and Vanitas. I’d wanted to be there for that fight---but had gotten lost in the maze because Luxord was a jerk and I had to give Marluxia a good smackdown.

I gave Terra another hug. All three of them had always been loving to me when we were training under Eraqus---despite how much younger than them I was. Terra was twenty when I was thirteen. And due to their circumstances, I had aged past all of them.

Terra held onto me tightly. “You’re okay. You’re safe. We’re not going to let anything happen to you anymore.”

Ven sat up, ignoring my glare. “Yeah. You’ve been through so much, Igni. All on your own. Let us help you now.”

I sighed and wished I could curl up against Terra’s chest and just let him hold me like he did when I was younger and had a bad dream or a rough day of training. Whenever I felt like I was falling apart as a kid, Terra had been there. His strength felt like he was holding me together---keeping my pieces from flying away.

“Mkay,” I muttered. “When all this is over.”

“Yeah. For now we should get moving,” Aqua said.

Terra and I helped Aqua and Ven to their feet. “How old are you now, Igni, anyway?” Terra asked.

“Twenty-five,” I answered.

His hand rested on my shoulder. “I’m sorry we missed so much.”

“It’s not your fault. None of you. C’mon let��s go.”

Joyous at being with my family again, I smiled as we ran to catch up with Sora.

*****

“Terra, Aqua, Ven, Igni. Forgive your foolish teacher,” Master Eraqus’ heart said to us. All four of us stood with barely-contained emotions.

Ven broke first, running forward and throwing his arms around the glowing form. “Master!” he exclaimed. Aqua echoed it as she hugged his other side. Terra and I followed slower, hugging our teacher from behind Ventus and Aqua.

“Master,” Terra said quietly.

“Ven, I put you through such a harrowing experience. Aqua, I left you with such a heavy burden. Igni, I left you all alone with no guidance or guardianship for so long. Terra, look after them for me.”

Terra, who had taken a step away, nodded.

When Master Eraqus released me, Aqua, and Ven from the tight embrace, Terra wrapped his arm around my shaking shoulders, holding me so tight that my shakes quieted. I held onto Terra’s sturdy torso like it was a tree trunk and I was a child lost in the woods. The last time I saw the man who basically raised me, I was thirteen and had just watched him try to hurt Ven and then raise his Keyblade against Terra before getting struck down by Xehanort.

It had been twelve years. I could tell Terra didn’t blame me for crying. He just held me tight to his side, reminding me of my childhood when he was the protective one of our group. When I used to have bad dreams and wake up with a scream. He’d be in my room within moments to hold me and rock me till I went back to sleep.

Everything and yet nothing had changed.

*****

Riku, Roxas, and Terra went running by in the sand, Riku clearly in the lead and Terra getting exhausted in third place. Lea’s Frisbee went shooting past my face, very nearly missing me. “Ven!” I shouted.

“Sorry Ig!” he shouted.

“Riku wins! Again,” Aqua said. She and I laughed as Terra came in last, dropping his hands to his knees and panting.

“You alright, Terra?” I asked jokingly.

“Fine. ‘M fine,” he said.

Riku chuckled and clapped Terra on the shoulder. “Ya get used to running in sand eventually. Don’t take it so hard.”

Terra rolled his eyes at both of us. I gave him a playful hug.

Inside, I could sense the light in my heart. The last vestiges of the darkness that had consumed me when I joined the Organization to watch for Sora and then keep him safe were finally fading away. I could feel joy again. I did feel joy again. After so long of feeling nothing as a Nobody, the happiness was almost overwhelming.

Terra hugged me back. “We’re here,” he reminded me quietly after a nightmare that I’d had while snoozing on the flight to the Islands of losing him, Aqua, and Ventus all over again. “We’re here and we’re going to stay here. With you. The three of us won’t ever leave you again, ‘kay?”

I nodded into his chest. “Okay,” I said. “Thanks Terra.”

“Of course,” he replied, resting his chin on the top of my head and holding me tighter. “You’ve been so strong for so long---all on your own. Allow yourself to lean on us.”

“I will.”

Aqua appeared at our shoulders. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. Just needed a reminder that it is,” I replied.

She set her hand on the top of my head. Even though I was now older than all of them, I was still the shortest. “We’re here now, Igni,” she said before giving me and Terra a smile and strolling off toward where Naminé and Xion were gathering seashells.

Terra kissed the top of my head. I squeezed him tight. He was solid, anchoring me to the reality that my nightmares weren’t real and I was okay.

“I love you, Terra,” I whispered, not even sure if he’d hear me.

“I love you too, Igni,” he replied quietly.

[quadratic-shipping]

Alright I am officially done both Portals so. Go team! Thoughts below the cut.

Portal 1

Wow, what a classic. I think my favourite part of portal is the premise just because of how well it lends itself to level design. I enjoyed how even though obviously all the “hidden” areas were put in there, the game’s contrast between the two areas really makes it feel like you’re discovering something. Solving puzzles was very satisfying, and I loved the game. Glados was very fun in this, and I love her. I heard people for some reason got really attached to Companion Cube? Cannot relate. It was a good length of game in my opinion, and pretty fun. Not much critique other than how it could often be difficult to see the difference between the white and black tiles, which could be frustrating. Another gripe would be I wish the hidden areas were more interesting, or easily readable. But overall that wasn’t too big of a deal as we didn’t spend much time in them, and the stuff in there was pretty good. I’m a real coward when it comes to dying in video games, but the turrets were often extremely entertaining to figure out how to kill them, and were often the most satisfying levels to complete. For instance, the one part where there’s the giant vertical chamber with turrets in these little cubbies on every side? Very interesting to complete. I also really like the parts where you drop through to jump really high, The feeling of going to the portal was almost like a digital rollercoaster which was very fun, 4.9/5 experience in my book.

Portal 2

My feelings on Portal 2 are less overall positive than on Portal 1 because to me it was a really mixed bag. But to be fair, it was also a lot more ambitious. The puzzles were bomb, tons of new interesting mechanics used in interesting ways that you often had to combine with other types, so fun. And a lot more content too! When it came to all the puzzle rooms, 100% on board, so well designed, chefs kiss. TBH though? I kinda hated a lot of the non-puzzle room sections. There were still some puzzles in these parts which I liked, but one of my biggest problems was the environment. The ruins were boring, the offices were boring, and a lot of the time you were just looking for the highest place to portal to without having to do anything so it would have been nice to have interesting environments to walk through to those areas. I’m perfectly fine with the puzzle-rooms being super boring because you’re still engaged with. You know, the puzzle, and it totally makes sense not to have the cool stuff there but I wish there were more things on the outside that were cool. That being said, the graphics were very pretty. Whenever things in the test rooms moved, as robots put them into place or seeing the circle chamber you elevator in slowly regain shape it felt so cinematic to me. Extremely nice for immersion, very cute details. If only the other environments made me feel that way! Wheatley. He was ok. Kinda funny? IDK stupid guys are not my thing, even if they are funny, so I did not get anything out of him being there.Same for Cave Johnson, they both had some really good lines, they were funny characters but I just. Didn’t care when they around or not, as I was to busy hopelessly pining after my Robot Queen, Glados. So, Glados this game. I didn’t really care about the Caroline thing, I feel like it wasn’t really explored that much so I didn’t have much time to form an opinion? It’s so-so in my opinion. I am not playing for the lore, I am playing for mean robot ladies and puzzles. I do appreciate though, that it gave us one of the cutest moments of the game, the lemon rant. Seriously, top ten moments. I loved all of Glados telling me how much she hated me, but my 2 favourite things in the game were Glados calling Wheatley a moron just before the fall, and Glados actually defending you from Wheatley because that was so cute. My biggest criticism would be not enough of her, especially even though we were carrying her around as a potato during the vintage section. I’ve gotta admit, for like, ten minutes I just sat around when they told you to press the button to decide who was in the core just to listen to the dialogue, and I was not disappointed. It’s a really funny game. This is pretty rambly but in conclusion, I’d probably give it a 4/5, still overall great but just not as good due to the expanding of the scope thus more room for failure. I’m literally going to search up audio compilations now, can’t recommend enough, especially if you buy during the annual summer sale, where you can get both for only 4$

[pinkykitten]

Safe and Sound

Marvel

Loki x female! reader

Warning: some violence, 1 curse word

Specifics: angst, romance, man vs man, based off of iw, race neutral reader

People: Loki, you, Brunnhilde, Tony Stark, Pepper Pots, Stephen Strange, Bruce Banner (mentioned), Thor (mentioned), Thanos (mentioned), other Asgardians, Valkyries (mentioned)

Words: 1,825

Requested: By @jinx-is-fire 😢 um so ive been pretty upset because of this so could I have something where Loki lives and goes with Hulk to earth and meets back with the reader and just something that will get me to stop crying everytime someone says Infinity War

Authors Note: i am so sorry that this took me so long to write（>﹏<）please forgive me! im kinda still trying to get all my requests done just pls everyone just be patient with me cuz I AM SO SLOW! i also took an idea of what (i think) the russo brothers said happened to Brunnhilde. i hope u guys like this its my first loki fic and i tried my hardest. so pls feedback is much appreciated, thnx and enjoy!

“No Loki...I won’t leave you,” tears streaming down your face. Your hands grasping on tightly to Loki, your significant other, shoulders.

Asgard was destroyed, but you and a couple of others had rescued the people of Asgard. As you all were heading to your new home, Earth, an unknown ship appeared. When you all figured out it was the most powerful enemy known to mankind, Thanos, the whole ship was chaos. Many Asgardians sending distress calls to anyone who would listen. Children scared and sobbing, afraid, mothers trying to soothe them, but you knew they were also in fear. Some wanted to fight, but you and almost everyone on that ship knew Thanos could kill everyone. Thor gave an idea that a few people, because of the only few mini ships they had, could escape, so that Thanos would not wipe out all of Asgard. Brunnhilde was the leader of helping some Asgardians escape. Ushering and sending orders.

“Y/n...listen to me. You need to get off this ship, if you stay you will die,” Loki whispered to you, he tried to sound strong but you noticed his hands were shaking. His hands were placed on your cheeks, wiping the tears away.

“I don’t want to leave without you. What if-,” you swallowed a sob. “What if you get killed, Loki? What will I do without you?”

Loki chuckled, “Love, you do realize who you are talking to, right?”

“Loki this isn’t a game! The most ruthless being is outside this ship as we speak and you want to joke about it!”

Just then a loud bang was heard, and all the Asgardians ran around panicking. Thor sent out a few warriors to go fight and see the commotion.

“They’re here,” you breathed.

“My darling...you need to leave now. Please, listen to me,” Loki raised his voice, pushing you to Brunnhilde’s side.

“NO! Loki, please, I can’t leave you. We are one! If you die so will I! I can’t let you fight by yourself.”

“My love...there is no other way. Remember our time together,” Loki gently lifted your hand and laced his fingers with yours. “Remember us laughing, remember us crying, remember our magnificent love. For if I was any good enough for a second chance, we shall meet in Valhalla.”

“I love you Loki,” you sob as you embrace him, and kiss him goodbye. You put your forehead together with his and whisper, “may we meet in Valhalla.”

Brunnhilde sprinted to your side and grabbed you by the shoulders, “Alright y/n, its time to get it.”

You walked side by side with her and looked back to see Loki. Loki looked lost as his puppy eyes stared at you. He looked as if he wanted to shout your name so as you could rejoin him. He looked as if he would never see you again, that all that he is about to fight for is for nothing. It was as if his heart was taken away, ripped right through his chest.

“Goodbye...my darling,” Loki whispered and ran the opposite direction.

You were led to a tight ship, filled with many Asgardians. The ship started and all of you blasted away to a destination. You sat next to Brunnhilde to help her pilot the ship. You turned around to see if maybe you could spot Loki but all you saw was destruction. More tears came out like a waterfall. Deep in your heart you knew that you were to never see Loki again.

You straighten your posture and put your focus to the space in front of you. “Where are we going now?”

“Earth,” Brunnhilde said, tears also coming out of her eyes. You could hear a slight sniffling coming from her. “We need to warn the midgardians about Thanos.”

“I think they might already know.”

As your rescue ship heads towards Earth, the Asgardian ship suddenly explodes.

“NO! No...this can’t be happening! Please tell me he’s okay, that he escaped,” you asked to everyone, searching for a reassuring answer that he was fine, that he did make it out. But everyone just gave you a saddened look, all hope vanished, sucked out of the room. All the tears you tried to keep in suddenly rushed out. Your sobs were the only noise in the ship. You could tell some felt bad for you. The floor was covered in your own depressing tears, all of life that moment was ripped out of you. The moment that Loki died a piece of you went with him.

You stood up, your hands turning into violent knuckles. Your nails digging harshly into your skin, blood being created from that. “I will avenge you Loki Odinson, god of mischief,” you paused to cry some more, “my...god...my...love...I will avenge your death. I will make sure all those who hurt you pay.”

Brunnhilde nodded and set the ship to Earth. After the enemy.

You all landed on Earth more towards the city and to Tony Stark to warn him about Thanos. You wanted to hear his plan and if he didn’t have one then you would discuss something with him. To save humanity.

“Thank you Brunnhilde. But just as Thor ordered you and trusted you to protect the Asgardians...I am going to go my own way-”

Brunnhilde interrupted, “Y/n, I understand you are sad and scared because...I am too. All my nightmares are coming true and I don’t know what to do-”

You brought her to you and hugged her tightly. The hug in your mind was from Thor, Bruce, and all those Valkyries who were watching her from Valhalla and cheering her on. Your tears fell on her shoulder.

“Yes...Brunnhilde...I am scared, in fact I have never been more frightened than this. But these people, now your people, are more scared. They trust you and you are their only hope. I trust you, girl, you got this. You are the most incredible fighter I have ever seen. Keep that in your heart and use it. Try to find a hide out and keep them,” you say as you point to the Asgardians. “Safe. Protect them with your life...my friend...Brunnhilde.”

She nodded, and announced to the others to follow her to safety.

“I do hope to see you again, y/n.”

You bid your goodbye and left.

You called Tony and met up with him. You felt so bad to interrupt his non-violent life for the time. He was trying you can tell to be normal to focus on his life rather than others.

“Hey Tony,” you waved and try to give a smile, but it backfired on you. Your face was written with worry. “I heard the famous Tony Stark has gotten engaged you chuckled. At least a little sunshine, a little good news came out of this reunion. “It was about dam* time. Wish I could of seen it.”

Tony gave you his millionaire smile seeing you, his long time friend. You were by his side since Loki tried to take down New York. “It's really good to see you too, y/n.”

You went to pepper and gave her a hug as well as Tony. “You guys look...happy…,” you said feeling guilty.

“Y/n, what's wrong,” Pepper asked panic setting in.

“Great y/n, you’re ruining their lives,” you thought to yourself.

“Oh, guys, I don’t even know where to start,” you began sobbing over again. Your knees meeting the soft green grass of the park. “Thor, and Loki, and the ship, and Brunnhilde, and Bruce. I tried, they’re gone, I was so scared, I just,” you realized you were currently have a panic attack. Everything now was starting to affect you mentally. You all were going to die. There was no way out of this. Your breathing was heavy and you felt you were being suffocated. The world was getting tinier, darker.

“Y/n,” Tony got down to you. “Y/n, you have to breathe for me. Come on breathe for me, please.”

You started to do breathing exercises with Tony. Those breathing exercises would come handy, you just knew it. Finally, you got control of yourself to be in a normal state.

“I’m sorry, its just. I feel so empty, and lost.”

Tony hugged you and suddenly Dr. Strange appeared. He told both you and Tony to go with him, because he had to show you two something.

You were more nervous to find out if this something that Stephen wanted to show you guys was another pile of bad news.

As you walked into the portal that Strange created with his string ring you saw Bruce.

“Bruce,” you shouted as you sprinted towards him. Greeting him with a rough embrace.

“Hey y/n, good to see you too. Are you okay?”

Your arms, still wrapped tightly around his shoulders, squeezed tighter, “No, I’m not okay. But I’m happy you’re alive, was there any chance that maybe…”

You stopped hugging Bruce and returned your hands to your sides. You knew that Loki would not be alive. It was just pointless asking.

“Now why the long face,” came a familiar soft voice.

You lifted your head and turned around seeing the one and only Loki.

“Loki!”

Running as fast as your legs could take you, you hopped right onto him. You and Loki fell back and you hugged him the hardest ever. You were like a snake, your arms were aching from all the strength you put. You were just so overjoyed to see him here, alive, with you.

“Oh my god, I thought I would never see you again. I was frightened Loki, I was so scared that you had died. But now you’re here, alive, its, it's a miracle my love!”

“Oh my dear sweet darling, I am terribly sorry to have you frightened. All I wanted to do was keep you safe and sound. My heart broke in two when I saw you weeping, I also weeped.”

You cried some more, having your bodies against each other. To hear and feel his heartbeat was incredibly comforting and in his arms you felt safe.

Loki wiped your tears away and kissed lightly your cheeks, “Oh my love, please don’t cry. I hate to see you in such a state.”

“Loki, I’m just so happy to see you alive. I thought you were gone and now my life, my world you’re here. I never want to be away from you again. We fight Loki...together,” you declared lacing your fingers with his pale white fingers.

“My job, love, is to always protect you. Without that what good am I?” “I will protect you as well Loki, with every fiber of my body I will protect you...I love you so much Loki,” you embraced him again.

“As do I love you, sweetheart. Forever,” Loki whispered as he kissed you. A passionate kiss that set your whole body in flames. Now you and Loki would have to prepare yourselves for the battle. The battle of Thanos.

[makorays]

Thael

[i decided to write an off-screen interaction between my two characters in the savage worlds campaign my friends and i are playing, figured i might as well post it here since i’ve already posted art of them. some parts might be slightly confusing without context but i think you can get a general grasp of things.

also, apologies if any of this contradicts what is meant to be canon scellor lore; we’re kinda just using what we know of the scellor race and filling in the blanks based on what works best for our particular story.

here’s a good song to listen to while reading, if you want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNJ6LO1QIyk ]

In the science lab, an oddly short Orthe and an oddly tall Ulkam engage in telepathic conversation. Minyaxl: You know, Thael, I just realized I've never really run into you anywhere other than the lab. What do you do in your off time? Thael: uh...i don't really have off time M: Wait, what? What the hell kind of slave-driving operation is this? T: no, i mean, i'm allowed to have it but i don't really take it. i usually just keep working M: ...Why? T: i dunno what else to do T: sometimes nazira tells me i need to take a break so i go to my room and watch the tv but that's about it

M: ......Really? T: i don't really understand human tv, the words they use are totally different from the words i hear people in the base use T: i never hear anyone around here say things like "daijoubu" or "hisashiburi" M: ...I also never really hear anyone here say things like that. M: ... M: But anyway, wow though, uh... Minyaxl scans the room for other staff and finds none but Thael. M: Wait, are you in your off time right now? T: yes M: ...Thael, let's go do something. T: do something? M: Yes. Hey, when was the last time you saw the surface? T: when you took me to that other country M: I...see. M: ... M: Let's go outside! T: ok Thael puts down his scientific implements and allows the small scellor to lead him, retaining his signature blank expression the whole way.

A minute or so later, the two emerge from the base. Thael briefly loses his wide-eyed look as he squints and raises his hand to shield his face from the blinding sun, but eventually returns to normal once his pupils adjust. Minyaxl walks him around to the shaded side of the nearby boat house. Minyaxl drops to the grass, his back against a wall, and Thael feels obligated to follow suit. A cool breeze blows past them, lifting the bottom of their hair gently to the side. M: It's come to my attention that we haven't actually talked very much at all, so I was hoping we could have a bit of conversation. I mean, jeez, you're pretty much my favorite person in this whole place and I still barely know anything about you. T: ... M: What are your interests? Got any hobbies? T: no M: ...Well I guess that answers the hobbies question but what about the interests one? T: nope M: ...Is...is that a "nope" as in "nope, i don't have any interests"? T: yes M: Well y- ...I mean...y-you clearly take an interest in science, right? T: ......... M: ...Is something wrong? T: um T: i... T: i'm not very interested in science M: ...What?! But you're great at it, you were great enough to be qualified for this! You obviously have a lot of experience with it, you must have done a ton of studying...why would you go through all that if you didn't even like it? T: ...i used to like it. M: Used to? What happened? T: ...... T: ...i...um......i-i'm not sure if it'd be good to talk about that. M: Talk about...what...? T: ... T: i've never told anyone about it before. M: Well I'm sure you could make an exception for me, right? T: w-well...um...

Thael begins looking uncomfortable. M: ...Are you alright? I've never seen you look so...worried, before. Not even when you were getting shot at... T: ...... T: i'm afraid. M: Afraid of what? T: afraid of you thinking less of me. T: you're the first person in the last 5 years i've felt that for T: ...you're the first person in the last 5 years i've felt ANYTHING for. T: i don't want you to know that i'm a- T: ...there's just some things i don't want you to know. M: ... Minyaxl produces a devilish grin, in spite of his friend's clearly serious discomfort. M: You know I'm not gonna be able to stop myself from prying after you've said THAT, right? M: C'mooon, what are you that you don't want me to know about? Let's see, you're awfully tall by average caste standards...are you actually a Niaar who wishes he were an Ulkam? Or maybe a formerly proud Niaar who was forced into doing an Ulkam's work? M: Or maybe you're actually an alien separate from scellor and humans that's just disguised as a scellor? It could explain the unique...body shape... M: Wait... He lowers his voice to an almost whisper for this next question, even though they're still speaking telepathically. M: ...Are you trans? Because seriously I still don't know how a biological male could be so... His eyes glance downwards for a split second. M: ...adiposally gifted. M: I swear though you better not be another android thinking that you're subscellor or anything as obvious as that because we JUST went through hell to prove that we're accepting of Teri despite her leaking informatio- T: i'm a monster. Thael turns his head to face his friend. From Minyaxl's perspective, Thael is now looming over him, his blank eyes now looking less like the innocent windows of an endearingly lost individual and more like cold, emotionless portals to a neurological abyss.

A few moments of silent thought pass, and Minyaxl briefly wonders to himself if he maybe ended up getting emotionally close to a broken psychopath, whom he also repeatedly slept with. M: ... M: Ahah, come on, it can't be that bad...don't scare me like that, alright? Thael ceases his gaze, staring off into the space in front of him again. T: when i said you're the first person i've felt anything for in the past 5 years, i meant it. T: i never really feel anything in regard to anyone or anything. i haven't in a long time. T: but when you're around...it's different. maybe not by much, but there's at least something. T: when you enter the same room as me, i feel a little happy. M: Only a little...? T: a little is a lot more than nothing. T: and...i... T: ......i don't want you to stop entering the same room as me. T: i like feeling happy. it feels...good. M: If you like being with me so much then why don't you ever leave the lab to come find me during breaks? T: i don't want to bother you M: Oh come on, you're never a bother to me. Which is a lot more than I can say about some people... M: And I guarantee you that your story won't bother me. T: i'm sure it will, and i'm sure that you'll feel more apprehensive toward me afterwards T: and then you won't want to see me, and then i won't get to feel good anymore T: ... T: is that selfish? M: N...no, it's not... M: But...I do think you should have a little more trust in me. M: Thael, listen. I really really like you. I consider us to be close friends, and I wouldn't just turn on a close friend like that. I'd trade the life of any one of my squadmates for yours if it ever came down to it. I am PROMISING you that whatever story you have to tell, it can't change those feelings. M: Can you trust that? T: ......... T: alright T: i'll tell you.

Clouds begin moving in front of the sun that shone so brightly a minute ago. Minyaxl knows it's just coincidental timing, but he still can't help but feel a small doubt about whether or not he should have actually asked for the story he's about to hear. T: around 500 or so years ago, there was a scientist who wanted to find a way to control people's souls. T: to that end, he did terrible things. T: he'd take living, sentient scellor, and restrain them inside pods that were designed to psionically manipulate their souls. T: in his experiments he ended up destroying or otherwise irreparably damaging dozens of scellor souls, leaving them with no hope of reincarnation. M: ...W...w-wait, what?? What the fuck...??? M: How have I never heard of this?? T: it was kept fairly secret, but if you dive deep enough into government project records you'll find it. M: Government?! T: yeah. M: Wh-...I...but... Minyaxl recoils with a look of absolute horror. He looks like he'd be ready to start producing tears, but he holds back to focus on hearing the rest of the story. M: Entire...souls... M: Just......destroyed?? M: How the fuck could anyone do something like that?!? Let alone our...our own government... T: thankfully, he never succeeded in his mission, but the damage he caused was permanent. T: and just like you're doing now, anyone else who heard about his exploits would've just lamented those past victims and moved on, but T: while reading about the things he did, i started to remember doing them myself. T: and then i started remembering other things that hadn't been written about T: like the fact that the experiments would cause a kind of pain more pure and direct than anything the body or mind could normally experience T: and the sight of the bodies dropping to the floor as empty husks once their essences were erased from the world T: and as those memories invaded my head, it quickly became clear to me that i was the one responsible for all of it. M: ...Oh. I......holy shit... M: B-but, I mean, even though that man deserves no forgiveness, everyone knows your past lives don't have to determine who you are. You're basically not even the same person, even if you happen to have the same soul. T: that was my hope T: i was absolutely horrified, but that horror was reassuring to me, because it meant that my current self would never do something like that T: well, that's what i thought, at least. T: i went into university with an immense conviction to do good, to use science for the benefit of others and make up for those crimes of the past T: i was a lot more excitable back then. i felt like a superhero, so sure of myself, so happy to do the right thing. i had so much passion that people thought i was kind of crazy and needed to chill out, but i felt nothing but positivity. T: i graduated with immediate career prospects. i didn't even have to look for a job, my credentials were such that a government agency reached out to hire me right away. i jumped at the opportunity. T: i should've seen the warning signs going in. they'd always talk about the importance of making "sacrifices" for the greater good, and they'd constantly reassure you that you'd be doing the right thing. that seemed kind of odd to me, but the thought never crossed my mind that it was a flimsy excuse to pretend that what was being done was ok. T: by the time i realized the truth of the situation, it was too late to back out. that's how they'd get people; they'd be vague enough to get you to agree to the job and sign an NDA, but they wouldn't bring any attention to the fine print stating that you wouldn't be allowed to leave once you saw anything. T: and then as soon as you were in, you saw everything. T: i never even thought it was possible for a government operation to be so unethical. i always assumed there were serious laws in place, but either there weren't enough or the government just didn't care. T: i guess i shouldn't have been surprised considering my past self had a government position, but i guess i blindly hoped that his project was a freak incident and things like that wouldn't be allowed to happen again. T: that hope was misplaced. M: ...What exactly...happened in there?

T: they wanted to find a way to force sentient scellor to become drones again. normally you have to make a conscious choice to become a drone, and even then the state is reversible, but they wanted the ability to rob undesirables of their free will. T: they wanted to be able to deal with enemies of the state without outright killing them, so our organization was tasked with discovering a method to make people more...neurologically compliant. T: despite our nonlethal end goal, a lot of test subjects died in experiments. of course i didn't want to have any part in it but they wouldn't let me leave no matter how much i begged. T: i was pretty low on the corporate ladder. i wasn't tasked with a whole lot of decision-making, but instead given the grunt work of carrying out experiments designed by those higher than me. T: since not even the most powerful orthan can force someone to become a drone, we had to try more brutish techniques. T: i personally had to carry out everything they could think to try, from hypnosis to... T: ... T: well. T: imagine a short little praal girl, barely into adulthood, strapped down to an operating chair, crying and screaming and pleading at you with every ounce of energy she can muster, begging you not to lobotomize her. M: ...... T: i tried to do it but my hand wouldn't stop shaking and my tears made my vision really blurry, so someone had to come in and scold me until i was able to steel myself enough to get it done. they yelled so loud that i started to feel guilty for NOT doing it. M: ...Y-you...... T: i was really bad at the torture too T: the subjects knew i didn't want to continue doing anything to them so it was kinda hard to be intimidating, i mostly just begged them to become drones so i wouldn't have to hurt them any longer T: the torture actually worked sometimes, but it wasn't good enough for the people in charge. they wanted to be able to instantaneously convert someone from a distance. T: so they kept devising more ideas, and they kept making people like me try them out T: and i just kept crying. T: i cried, over and over, every single day T: during my free time, during the experiments T: i'd tell the test subjects how sorry i was, again and again, even continuing to say it to the corpses of the ones that didn't make it T: i must have looked almost as terrified as they did. T: and i'd just cry and cry and cry T: but i guess eventually i ran out of tears. T: at a certain point when doing those sorts of things you just stop feeling, because you can't anymore T: so i stopped, and i haven't really felt anything since. M: .........

Minyaxl struggles to organize his thoughts into any set of meaningful words. M: I...I-I um... M: Wow... T: do you understand why i didn't want to tell you about this now? M: ...... T: i want you to be honest Thael faces Minyaxl again, locking eyes. T: do you still want to be close to me? Minyaxl worriedly searches for signs of life in the set of pale, empty glass orbs currently confronting him with a dead gaze. His instincts tell him to turn away, but he fights them. M: ...... He's not sure he's found anything, but he decides he doesn't care. M: ......Yes. T: ? M: Yes, I do. T: really? M: Listen, I'm not gonna pretend that the things you did weren't fucked up, but...you wouldn't have done them if you had any way of avoiding it. You didn't have a choice. T: yes i did T: i could have refused M: But from the way you described things it sounds like they'd have probably just killed you and gotten someone else to do it. T: but at least i wouldn't have shared responsibility Thael turns away. T: i really have no right to be alive after what i did M: ... M: Please don't say things like that... T: i'm sorry T: ... T: i just......wanted to help people...... Minyaxl scans his friend's face, expecting to see tears running down his cheeks. He instead sees the same dry, emotionless expression Thael has continued wearing throughout the whole story. M: But...you ARE helping people now. M: Look at your current job! You're helping to save an alien race from genocide!! T: i know T: i sometimes wish i could feel happy about that T: it's good that my body is being put to use for philanthropic purposes, but...i feel like i'm just that. T: a body, being put to use. T: i don't feel like a person who makes decisions, i feel like a robot that carries out the tasks that it's given and sometimes responds to self-preservation instincts like sleep and food intake T: it's funny, my job was to turn other people into drones but now i feel like a drone myself. T: not that i'm really bothered by that T: as long as i'm being used for good, it's fine M: ... M: I... Once again Minyaxl lowers the imaginary volume of his psionic voice, a little embarrassed of what he's about to say. M: ...I want to help you feel things again. Thael turns to him, his eyes opening slightly more than usual with a look of mild curiosity. T: ...? M: I'm going to stay friends with you, and I'm going to do the best I can to brighten your days. T: ...what...? T: ...why would you make that kind of effort for me...? M: Because I think you deserve it. T: ...how could you possibly think i deserve it after what i- M: It doesn't matter how!! I just do. You don't need to worry about it. T: ... T: well i suppose i'm......glad...? T: ...i know i said i haven't really felt anything since those days, and i know i'll probably never feel much of anything ever again, but... T: like i said earlier, you...do help me feel a shred of something every now and then T: so......i'm glad that can continue. The slightest of muscle movements raise the corners of Thael's mouth; it's almost imperceptible, but he is definitely smiling.