#almost getting washed off the boat from the waves and storm??

[ow1et]

literally if owlet is being a pest all you have to do is throw her in the closest body of water and she'll sink like a rock.

[pileofmush]

the sun still rises ☼ ii.

pairing ➸ monkey d. luffy x fem!reader

details ➸ tags: pt. ii, hurt/comfort, introspection // wc: 1.4k // series m.list

The sand burns. 

Not literally, no. It’s not hot to the touch. It couldn’t be, after such a dreary maelstrom as last night’s. But it digs into your knees. It itches. Makes you want to peel off the top layer of your skin just to scratch the bone. 

Your fingers curve around a useless excuse for a chest. You thought you had lost it in the wreckage of your cruddy little boat, only to find it had washed ashore. It’s a miracle, you suppose, but a pointless one. The iron lock you splurged on only a few days ago is unlatched: rusted and broken. None of your belongings remain inside except for a busted log pose. Nothing else—your berri, your tools, your clothing, your journals, your mother’s hairpin—all gone. And all you can think about are the fucking grains of sand pinching your skin.  

It burns. Like the burning in your lungs, as you suffocate alone underneath the swell of the sea. It burns, it burns, it burns, it—

“Tuna.”

There’s a hand on your shoulder. It startles you. You turn; follow the length of the arm to find it attached to the body of Monkey D. Luffy. You don’t know when he approached you. You don’t know how long he’s sat there, watching you stare at your dumb piece of shit chest. 

“What’re ya staring at it for? It’s empty.”

The accusation washes over you like a tidal wave. Threatens to pull you under. 

You don’t know how to respond. How do you explain the quiet devastation this wooden box has put you through? You had your whole life in here at one point. Everything important to you, condensed neatly in one mid-sized treasure chest. And now it’s empty. Now, you have nothing.

“My name’s not Tuna,” you say. Because it’s not—it never was.

The boy retrieves his hand to rest it atop his straw hat, draping a shadow over his face. “You sure?” The boy questions. Something flickers in his eyes that you can’t quite discern through the veil of darkness. It almost… burns. Like the sand. “What is it, then?”

“Yuna,” you reply. Because it is—always has been.

Luffy tilts his head, as if scrutinizing you. He digs a finger in his ear, pulls it out, and scrutinizes that, too. “You didn’t answer my other question. Answer it.”

He’s a little rude, you think to yourself. Demanding things from you when he can’t even bother to get your name right. 

Still, you sigh. You wouldn’t comply so easily under normal circumstances. You don’t make it a habit of obeying the boys you encounter in the waters of a strange island, strange ocean, stranger world. But there’s something in the air, you think. Charged, like the air before a strike of lightning—perhaps the remnants of last night’s storm.

“I’m looking for something,” you admit.

He perks up. “For what?”

Everything. “A reason.” 

“A reason.”

“Mhm.”

“To do what, live?” He asks, setting his hat down in the sand. You tense. He’s a lot sharper than you realized. “You don’t need a reason," he says. "Just do what you want.”

You sputter. “That’s not—Forget what I said. It’s just that—I can feel everything and nothing at the same time, and I… I’m having a mental breakdown, I think.”

A pause.

The pirate scratches his chin. “Oh. Maybe don’t, then.”

Something about his offhand tone startles a chuckle out of you. Luffy peers at you, coal eyes harsh, studying, before his eyes droop in satisfaction, something coy tugging at his lips. 

Another chuckle slips out that blooms into a full-bellied laugh, and then he’s snickering too, and then you’re gripping the sand in an attempt to stay upright because your sides are in stitches, and your cheeks hurt like a bitch, and he’s here and good and free. By the time you calm down, Luffy’s splayed out in the sand, arms pillowing his head, and he’s looking up at you. There’s a gentle hint of curiosity behind his smile, and it warms you and sends something buoyant shooting through your limbs: from your chest to the very tips of your toes. 

Maybe don’t, then. It’s possibly the worst advice you’ve ever heard. Possibly the best. 

“I made you laugh, didn’t I?” The pirate asks.

You freeze.

“I guess you did, yeah.” 

It’s the acknowledgment that reels you back in. Your belongings are gone. Your mother is gone. And you laughed. How? How could you laugh, when you have nothing to your name? How could you laugh, when you have no one to call your own?  

The confirmation makes Luffy’s grin grow wider. “Good,” he says. And he is so wild, and assured, and strange. “I thought you forgot how to.” 

It burns, you realize. His attention. 

For Monkey D. Luffy gets what he wants. If he wants you to laugh, to prove that you can do so, you will. You wonder what he wants out of this conversation. What he wants out of you. What can you give? What will he take?

Maybe he’ll take everything.  

Maybe he’ll want nothing,

Your eyes flicker to the sea. A waxing moon hangs over the horizon. She glimmers, translucent and transient in her waters, ebbing and flowing, flowing and ebbing. Beneath her, a ship with a lion head bobs against the coast. 

The night is still. Hushed.

You look at your hands. There's sand on your palms.

“What are you doing out here?” You change the subject, still watching the tide. A few hours ago you were drowning in the very same sea. Now you sit with the boy who saved you, safe and dry, with rocks clinging to your skin.

“What’re you?” Luffy challenges.

A gust of wind ruffles the trees, your clothing. It tastes of salt, when you open your mouth to speak. “Wallowing,” you confess. For some reason, you cannot lie to this strange, persistent boy. Maybe it’s due to the fact that you owe him. For it’s he who pulled you out of the water. It’s he who dragged you from the maw of death. 

“You shouldn’t be,” he says. 

“And who are you to judge?” You turn to face him and find his eyes transfixed on you.

He shrugs. “I’m Luffy, and ’m not judging ya. I’m just sayin’.” 

“Saying what, exactly?” You ask, voice hushed like the night; desperate like the tide. 

Luffy’s sitting up now, rolling a seashell around his fingers. Your attention is drawn to his neck, where the apple in his throat bobs, and it takes you a second to steer your gaze back to his. 

His eyes burn. Bright, even in the dark. “That sitting here alone, moping around is a waste.”  

A pause.

“I’m not alone,” you point out. 

“Yeah,” he nods. “Not anymore.”

☼

It burns.

You dig your feet into the sand—feel teeny tiny rocks sift through the gaps between your toes. You wonder if Luffy has ever felt doubt. Wonder if he’s ever felt fear. 

For fear has not yet unlatched its brutal grip on your heart. It creeps along the fraying edges of your mind. It cups its hands against your ear and whispers sweet nothings. The fact is, Fear murmurs, this won’t last long. Monkey D. Luffy has always been able to do what he wants, when he wants, just because he can. He doesn’t need the contents of a wooden box to tell him who he is. He has no room for doubt. 

You are not the same.

So why is he here, taking the time out of his night to admonish you? What does he hope to gain? What does he hope to take?

“I wanna hear you laugh again,” Luffy taps your wrist, pulling you out of your spiral. “Get ready for my joke!” And it’s not a request, it’s a command. And, like you’ve been doing all night, you acquiesce. He shoots you a boyish smile for your assent, and your next inhale is shaky. 

There’s a voice in your head advising you to be cautious, however. For embers glow in Luffy’s round, coal eyes. And if you’re not careful, the voice warns, your savior may burn you from the inside out.

if you made it this far, ily.

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

Stranded Chapter 1

Summary:  Tossed overboard and lost at sea, Bucky washes up on an uninhabited island.  Injured, lost and scared, with little to no wilderness training, he fights to survive.  But is he really alone?

Warnings: bodily injury, mentions of sexual harassment/assault, eventual smut

The waves tossed him like he weighed nothing.  Bucky struggled to keep himself above water as the ocean storm threatened to engulf him entirely.  He saw the underside of the boat bobbing a few hundred yards away from him.  No one else came up and he screamed before another wave crashed over him.  The storm had come on so suddenly that he and the others on the small yacht with him weren’t prepared.  It was supposed to be a fun summer day out at sea on a rented party yacht, they weren’t expert sailors, so none of them knew what to do when the waves became choppy and the skies darkened quickly.  The captain, the only one with experience, had been quickly overwhelmed by the unforgiving battering of waves.  Bucky had tumbled off the side of the boat from a particularly rough swell and then never saw his friends again.

It felt like hours before he was able to grab onto something and keep himself above the water and breath.  He was holding onto what looked like a large piece of the siding of the boat.  He hefted himself with the last bit of strength he had onto it as the waves took him farther away.  The splashing water doused him periodically as he drifted.  He was alone, lost, no one else could have made it out of that.  His exhaustion made the edges of his vision start to blacken and he passed out.

Bucky woke up to the sound of waves crashing against the shore.  He realized he was no longer rocking back and forth and opened his eyes slowly.  The piece of siding he laid on was now wedged into sand, the tide lapping at his feet then receding back.  He pulled himself up and looked around.  It was an island with a long sandy beach that led to a treeline of palm trees.  The water and skies were clear again.  If he hadn’t almost died he would have thought it looked like a beautiful tropical vacation spot.  

He took inventory of his situation, assessing his body for injuries as he stumbled off the piece of siding and walked closer to the treeline.  Overall he was surprisingly unharmed except for a gash along his chest that was slightly throbbing, the bleeding having long stopped.  He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten it.  He walked up to the treeline and slowly entered, his head swiveling as he looked for possible fresh water to drink or something to eat.  Bucky tried to make it so he wouldn’t get lost, keeping an eye out for the shore behind him as he moved.  He heard running water and followed it to a small creek along the ground a little further inland.  He dropped to his knees and cupped some of the water into his hand, gingerly tasting the water to see if it was salty, then drinking it when it wasn’t.  He took a few long sips until his throat didn’t feel so parched and then sat back.

The emotional toll of the last however many hours started to creep into his consciousness and he pulled his knees to his chest.  He cried, deep heavy sobs wracking his body as he realized how alone he was.  There was no way any of the people on the boat with him had survived as it overturned so quickly in the storm.  His friends were gone, he was lost, and now stranded on an island.  

After he let himself have a cry he stood and started looking for food and figuring out how to create a shelter.  Maybe he could make a fire big enough to get the attention of passing boats or ships, or get some rocks big enough to spell out “SOS” or “HELP” on the beach.  He was able to find some fruit he didn’t recognize hanging from the trees above him and ate what he could find and grabbed large tree branches with wide leaves that he tried to stack together to make some kind of shelter.  Once he’d built a scrappy lean-to he went back out to the shoreline.  He scanned the beach and the water, desperately searching for a sign of anything from the boat he’d been on or people or ships.

Nightfall came too quickly and he started looking for ways to make a fire.  Being close to the ocean meant the wind was colder as it licked across the island, the pleasant breeze quickly becoming a chill.  He was able to find a few sharp rocks and dry brush that he cleared a spot for next to his lean-to and tried to remember his scout training from when he was a teenager.  He was able to get a spark and coax a small fire out of the brush.  He laid down in his shelter and periodically fed the fire more dry brush around him.  The noises in the little jungle surrounding him were making him paranoid, but he knew he would have to try to sleep.  He made sure the fire wasn’t going to spread before letting himself start to succumb to sleep. 

The warmth of the sun streaming through the trees made his eyes flutter open.  As he sat up his chest stung, making him hiss.  He looked down at it and saw the gash was now inflamed, his skin red and hot to the touch.  Just great, he thought.  The ocean couldn’t kill me so now I’m going to die from infection.  He hobbled over to the creek not too far from him and cupped some water to drink, then carefully tried to clean the gash with his fingertips.  He sighed as the cold water helped it feel not so hot, but he knew it was bad.  With no medicine or knowledge of ways to help it heal with what was around him he cried again, frustration and annoyance mixing with his desire to survive making angry tears fall from the sides of his eyes as he looked up towards the trees again.

He stood to try and find more fruit to eat, trudging deeper into the island and then heard…a song?  It sounded like someone singing.  Bucky’s heart leapt as he walked faster toward the sound.  He didn’t know how big the island was.  Could there be other people here?  The song got louder as he heard the sound of water splashing.  He slowed when he got close to it and peered through the bushes that had gotten thicker as he came closer inland.  The foliage opened up to some rocks that encircled a small waterfall and a pool it was falling into.  Under the waterfall was a woman, washing her hair and body.  Bucky’s eyes bulged, not just because she was naked but also because…another person was here.  He slowly walked through the brush until he stood in the clearing of the rocky area.

The woman continued singing, having not seen him yet or heard him under the waterfall.  He looked away from her and cleared his throat.  “Hello!” he called.  She screamed and whipped around to look at him.  “I’m sorry!” he said, still looking down at the ground, holding his hands up to convey he meant no harm.  “I’m not here to hurt you, I just…” he glanced at her.  She was swimming over to the side of the pool and grabbing some clothes.  He turned away and waited.  He didn’t hear her coming at him over the rushing water and was suddenly pushed down, groaning when he hit the ground.

The woman was clothed and now crouched, looking like a cat ready to pounce on him.  Bucky stared at her with wide eyes as she glared at him.  He backed away from her slowly.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely.  “I’m stranded here…I didn’t think anyone else was here–”

She growled at him.  A literal growl.  She bared her teeth at him and he gasped as he backed away again but was stopped by a tree.  They stared at each other for a long moment.  She slowly crawled closer to him, watching his every move.  Bucky didn’t dare move a muscle as she came closer to his face.  She looked him over, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw the gash on his chest, then snapped back up to his face.  When she was mere inches away she sniffed him, then raised a hand slowly to his face.  Before she touched him she paused, her fingers slightly shaking, then brushed her fingertips along his cheek.  Bucky’s eyes fluttered a bit at the soft touch, exhaling a sharp breath as her thumb slid across his lips and down his chin.  It was like she was making sure he was real, her eyes curious and flitting across his face.

Bucky gulped when her hand slipped down to his throat, her pointer finger grazing his Adam's apple and down to his chest where she inspected the gash.  She leaned away from him and sat back on her butt, her legs criss-crossing as she watched him.  He looked her over.  Her hair was long, already drying from the waterfall bath, her skin sun kissed or burnt in certain spots, and dressed in an old, ripped, oversized tank top and shorts.  Pretty…and familiar, he thought offhandedly. She cleared her throat before holding her hand out.  “My name is Y/N,” she said simply.

Bucky gawked at her and slowly shook her hand.  “Bucky,” he said.

“I’m sorry I pushed you,” Y/N apologized, her eyes never leaving his face.  “You scared me.”

“I did…I’m sorry,” Bucky said, sitting himself up straight.  “I heard you singing and thought my mind was playing tricks on me.”  

Y/N smiled softly.  Her eyes looked concerned as she glanced at the gash on his chest again.  “You’re hurt,” she said.  She then stood and held her hand out to him.  He took it and she helped pull him up.  “Come with me,” she said and started walking away further into the trees.

Bucky hesitated for a moment before quickly following her.  After a few minutes the trees opened up to another clearing and he saw the front of a small airplane.  He gaped at it, looking around and seeing a fire in the center of the clearing, some clothes hanging on a long branch propped up by two other standing branches off to the side, a log next to the fire for someone to sit on, and random things like a knife, sharpened rocks, fruit in a basket woven from palm fronds, and water in a plastic bucket.  He followed Y/N to the airplane where she pulled back the door and entered.  When he walked in he realized it was a type of luxury private plane, with large seats and near the back of the plane an open door leading to a private room with a bed.  Y/N walked over to a seat that had a first aid kit sitting in it and opened it, rummaging through it until she pulled out a few items.

“Sit,” she said, gesturing to an open seat across the aisle.  Bucky sat in the chair and unbuttoned more of the top portion of his shirt so she could access the gash easily.  She approached him holding a bottle and some bandages.  “This is going to hurt,” she said, giving him a grimace.  Bucky nodded and gripped the armrests of the chair.  Y/N leaned down and held one of the bandages under the gash to catch the liquid, then she slowly poured some of the liquid onto the wound.  Bucky hissed, his jaw clenching dangerously as his head wrenched back and hit the chair.  His knuckles turned white as he tried not to move or push her away.  “I’m sorry,” Y/N sounded sad as she wiped at the gash quickly.  “It’s hydrogen peroxide, not the greatest for wounds but I don’t have soap, and it looks like it’s infected,” she explained as she grabbed a water bottle off to the side and poured it over the gash to clear out the solution.  She unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and had him sit up to apply the bandages, her hands weaving around his back and shoulders so the bandage would stay put.  Once his chest was wrapped she pulled away and helped button his shirt back up.  Bucky was panting, the shock of the chemical making him shiver a bit.

“Thank you,” he breathed.

“You’re welcome,” Y/N said, looking him over.  She held the back of her hand up to his forehead.  “Shit…you have a fever.  Probably from the infection,” she held her hand out to him and helped him stand, pulling him to the back of the plane towards the bed.  She had him lay down before leaving to grab something.  Bucky was surprised at the fact that there was an actual bed to lay on and relished in the feeling of a mattress underneath him.  As he got comfortable Y/N returned with a refilled water bottle and some cut fruit.  “You’ll need to rest.  Hopefully cleaning that cut will help the fever go away, but we’ll have to see,” Y/N sat next to him on the bed.  Bucky was about to sit up but she lifted a piece of fruit to his lips.  He opened his mouth and she dropped it in.  Once he was done chewing she helped hold his head up a bit to drink some more water.

“I can get up, it’s okay,” Bucky said, feeling strange about her feeding him.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind,” Y/N said quietly, looking down at the bed then out the window off to the side.

Bucky watched her for a moment before a flash of realization hit him.  “I thought you looked familiar,” he said.  Y/N looked back at him.  “You’re Y/N Y/L/N, the singer that went missing years ago,” he said, his eyes widening.

Y/N snorted, a small smile brightening her face.  “Yep, that’s me,” she said as she lifted another piece of fruit to his mouth.  He took it and chewed quickly.  

“That was…four years ago?” Bucky ventured a guess.

“Sounds about right,” Y/N said quietly.  

“You’ve been here, alone, for four years?” Bucky whispered, a sad undertone to his voice.

“I wasn’t alone at first,” Y/N sighed.  “My manager, Quentin, lived through the crash, but he was hurt…hit his head real bad,” she looked away and out the window again.  “We buried everybody else, and just considered ourselves lucky we were alive.  He was off, at first, and then he was mean,” her voice cracked and she quickly cleared her throat.  “He um…tried to hurt me.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed as he listened to her.  “Tried to hurt you?”

“He wasn’t right in the head,” Y/N explained.  “He never acted that way towards me before, but whatever that hit did, it rattled his brain, and he…came on to me, a lot.  Then tried to…” she shut her mouth tightly and closed her eyes, shaking her head.  “I uh…hid for a while.  By the time I tried coming back to the plane he was dead.  Looked like he’d hung himself.”

Bucky grimaced.  He reached a hand out and gripped her wrist gently.  “I’m sorry,” he said.

Y/N sighed again and helped him take another drink.  “So how did you get here?” she asked.

Bucky then sighed, looking up at the cabin roof.  “Storm.  The boat overturned.  No one…” he swallowed back a lump in his throat and closed his eyes.  Y/N put down the water bottle in her lap and reached her hand out, caressing his face and wiping away a tear.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her hand moving to grip his shoulder lightly.

Bucky gave her an appreciative smile.  He could feel the fever setting in and making him tired and his eyes slowly closed.  Y/N softly tickled his arm, humming a song as he drifted off to sleep.

[haveatthee83]

The Princess and her Fool (Buggy D. Clown/Reader) 1/4

Inspo: GOSSIP-MÅNESKIN

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Word Count: ~7.9k

Warnings: Cursing, canon typical violence, insecurity, descriptions of peril.

A/N: MÅNESKIN is Buggy coded, no I won't elaborate, it just makes sense. So is Ashnikko, esp Cheerleader. Listen to it in context then judge me. All the chapters are inspired by different MÅNESKIN songs.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Buggy was furious. First, he woke up on the floor because it stormed during the night. Second, no one had their shit together during rehearsal. And third, worst of all, soME KID STOLE HIS FUCKING MAP! HE WAS GOING TO INVADE IN TWO DAYS, ACTIVELY FINISHING HIS PLANNING WHEN HE SAW THAT BENDY LITTLE SHIT MAKING OFF WITH HIS MAP! UNCALLED FOR! OUTRAGEOUS! IT’S BULLSHI-HIS. FUCKING. MAP?!?! FUCK!

Buggy snarled as he threw one of his throwing knives at the mast in front of him, “We’ve got a fucking show to do fellas! Hop to!” he sneered, aiming a dagger for the feet of the closest crew member. The crew scattered to their positions, Cabaji staying by Buggy’s side.

“What exactly is the plan, Captain?” the unicyclist asked.

“Get. My. Fucking. Map, Cabaji.” Buggy hissed, poking out another knife from seemingly nowhere, resting the tip on Cabaji’s nose. Cabaji often wondered if the captain had eaten two Devil Fruits, a secret one that let him be such a fiend with those knives, a paranormal, infinite number of them at his disposal. “Board their ship, knock them out, and find my map.”

Cabaji sighed, wheeling backwards, away from the knife’s tip, “Yes, Captain.” He said, wheeling away to bark orders at a few out of place “freaks”.

‘Somehow…this is Shanks’s fault.’ Buggy thought bitterly, slinking back toward his throne, ready for a performance of a lifetime.

You felt a little out of place. You couldn’t help but shuffle your rice around your bowl as you thought about where you were.

You had run into the one and only Monkey D. Luffy when he was on his way to steal the map to the Grand Line from Ol’ Axe Hand. You were on your own little mission, searching the sea for…let’s call it a family heirloom. You were out for blood, but forced to run out of gas as you floated along the expansive seas. Your skin burned and blistered as you stared at the horizon line of nothing but blue all around you. You had been lost at sea for days, no food or water, nothing but the torn-up gown on your back. You were losing hope of surviving. That’s when you heard it.

“HEEEEYYYY!! YOU OKAY?!” you could barely drag your head to look in the direction of the loud screaming, a small rowboat, little more than a dot in your blurry vision. You sighed out a breath of relief, flopping an arm over the edge of your own rowboat. A small sign that, yes you were alive, yes, you need help. “DON’T WORRY! WE’RE COMING!” you felt your eyelids close against your will. A small wave of peace washing over you.

“You dead?” a voice asked tentatively from beside you, what you assumed to be an oar poking your backside a little too hard, drawing a pained groan from your dry throat. “That’s a no, then.”

You peeled your eyes open with a wince, two young men? Boys? Were in front of you in their own little rowboat. You’d later come to find their names to be Luffy and Koby.

“Whatcha doing out here, lady?” Luffy asked, almost tipping his boat over by hoisting himself up on the edge to see you better.

“W-“ you sighed at your scratchy voice, “Water?” you rasped, reaching your sunburnt hand out toward the boys.

Koby flinched back, scrambling to grab a large canteen of water from his feet, thrusting it into Luffy’s hands. “You-you do it.” He whimpered, shifting further away from you in his seat. Luffy laughed a bit, unscrewing the cap, but extended his arm out to you, the open canteen’s rim meeting your greedy lips. The water flowed too fast, covering your face, but you didn’t care, reaching a hand up and taking the canteen from your face. Luffy grinned wide and sat back.

“So, why are you out here, Clown Lady?” Luffy asked, eagerly shifting in his seat.

“Clown Lady?” Koby asked.

“Yeah, that big frilly thing she’s wearing, and the paint on her face! She must be a clown!” Luffy justified, crossing his arms.

You huffed a laugh, mustering all the strength you could to sit up, “Not a clown.” You explained, the gravel in your voice quelled only slightly, “Just a big poofy dress and messed up makeup. I was chasing some Marines, got stranded.”

Koby recoiled, “Why would you be chasing Marines?”

You snarled at the thought, “They stole something of mine. I need it back.”

Luffy’s grin stretched even further, “I can help with that!” you eyed him down, looking for deception in his pure, wide eyes. “Join my crew! I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates!” he exclaimed, giggling a bit.

You blinked at the boy in front of you, taking in his scrawny frame, the little scar under his eye, his straw hat, a hat with a complete sense of Deja vu you couldn’t get rid of, and a smile wider than the Grand Line. King? Well…actually…maybe. The boy didn’t look like much, but the fire in his eyes, the pull in his chest to adventure that you could practically feel, the love and care and hope oozing from every pore. A pirate? Yeah. In the hazed light of the afternoon sun, in your dehydrated mind, your heart skipped a beat. You thought you saw Gol D. Roger in front of you. You felt his warm smile, his laughter ringing through your ears. Yeah…he could probably do it.

You set your jaw, trying to chase away the sting of tears, “Okay, Kid. I believe you.” You said, holding out your hand to shake. Koby’s eyes bulged, and Luffy all but cackled, “I’ll join you, but I have a few conditions.”

“Fine by me!” he had said, shaking your hand immediately, dragging you into their rowboat, and the rest is history. You had been pretty useless in helping get the map, but your knowledge of Marine’s bases and ships’ construction and layout helped more than you’d know, dangling from first Luffy’s back, then eventually Zoro’s.

So, there you sat, mulling over your rice. It hadn’t been long since you joined Luffy and became a “Straw-Hat”, and as much as you believed in the kid, and even though you got along with Zoro and Nami, you couldn’t help but feel unwanted, a little on the outside. Even if you had technically been the first one to join, you kinda felt like you were tacked on, like this wasn’t where you belonged.

You had three conditions in joining Luffy, 1. He and the other Straw-Hats were to help you find your heirloom, 2. You would stay with Luffy until it was found, 3. When it was found, you would be allowed to leave whenever you were ready, to make your own path, your own life. Until then, you would be the most loyal crew member the Greenhorn Captain had ever heard of. You would ask how high, you would “bark” on command, kill without hesitation. You hadn’t had to prove it, nor the chance to yet, but you could feel it coming. Something’s brewing. Something’s on the horizon, and it wasn’t a rowboat.

“Hey, Clown Lady! Whatcha up to?” Luffy asked, plopping next to you, already stealing a clump of rice from your bowl. You sighed and handed the bowl over, resting your head on the table in front of you.

“I’m thinking and I’m sad, Luffy.” You had long given up on correcting him that you were not, in fact, a clown. Luffy’s face scrunched and he paused his ravenous shoveling of the rice into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a moment, “Why are you sad?”

You hesitated, but relented, knowing this would only nag at you until you talked about it, and raised your head, but only half facing your rambunctious captain. “I feel like…I don’t belong here.” You finally spat out, shoving your face into your hands so you didn’t have to see the younger man’s expression. “I feel…different. I’m not…special like you guys.”

Luffy went to interject, but you slammed your hands off your face, pushing yourself to face him fully, “I don’t have a devil fruit, I’m not a great swordsman, or a great navigator. I’m some lady you found in a rowboat on the verge of death who has very little that’s spectacular or at all interesting about her other than some family heirloom that I don’t even know if I fully want to tell you about.” You exclaimed, grabbing the captain’s shoulders, “Don’t you ever just-just-” you huffed in frustration, shaking Luffy a bit, “-feel like something’s missing?!” Luffy looked at you with wide eyes, his arms pinned to his chest, a weird expression on his face. You sighed loudly, letting the poor man go and turning back to the table, suddenly infatuated with the wood grain, heat rising to your face.

Your captain called your name softly, “What’s your dream?” he asked.

You shrugged, “I don’t really have one. I have…goals I guess.”

“What are they?”

“I want to find my father’s-um my family heirloom,” you stuttered, revealing a touch more than you had before, “I want to carry on his mission, I guess. Keep it safe. After that, I don’t know. I’d like to fall in love maybe.” You rambled, all rather noncommittal in your tone.

Luffy nodded thoughtfully, setting aside the now empty bowl you had your rice in. “What do you like to do?”

You thought for a moment. God, it had been years since you thought about what you liked, what you wanted. You had to set it all aside for your father, for your family. The last time you remember having fun was when you were fifteen, when two boys that were your age came to visit your island, they taught you knife throwing, tried to show you how to sword fight, showed you the ship they lived on, but most of all, you thought of the way they showed you how to perform. They weren’t able to steal around the island, for fear of your family overpowering their crew and kicking them off before they had their fill of fun and food, so they needed money.

They had you bring them to the town square and set one of their hats on the cobbled ground and for hours the three of you did little tricks, danced, sang, told stories, or showed off some of the skills they had been teaching you for tips. The echo of your laughter and glee bouncing through the city, chorused with the boys’ joyous hoots and hollers into the sunlight. You had scrounged the tips together and used the money to have a ball that night at the summer festival, running through crowds with fried dough and masks of monsters and beasts of old, only stopping to watch the massive fireworks in the night sky, dancing under the colorful sparks for nothing but yourselves, cheers from all around.

Your eyes threatened to well up at the thought, not a day goes by that you don’t think of those boys, hoping they’re doing okay, that they got to grow up as carefree and happy as they were with you. That was the last summer you were allowed to be a kid, “I like performing.” You whispered, barely wanting to voice such an absurd thought. That everyday could be like that summer. That you could feel the thrill of all those eyes on you, all that joy directed at what you can do.

Luffy sat up and grinned, “Is that your dream? To perform? What do you do?” he asked, genuinely happy to have helped you down this train of thought. “C’mon, tell me!”

“I learned how to do a few things over the years, I’m good at acrobatics cause of all the ropes I’ve dealt with on ships, I love to dance, I-“ you laughed as you said the rest, “I learned how to fire breathe and throw daggers really well too!” you grabbed a worn, old throwing knife from your side and tossed it in your hand, Luffy’s eyes sparkled in wonder as you went on, “You weren’t the only one with a weird childhood, kid.” You teased, nudging him with your shoulder, before grabbing the blade at the end and launching it straight at the wall where it stuck with a light twang.

“Why don’t you do that?” Luffy exclaimed, gesturing to you, your face more specifically, “Just talking about it has you smiling more than I’ve ever seen you!”

You chuckled a bit, but the sad gleam returned to your eyes, “I can’t. I have to protect the Kaku Kaku no Mi.” you explained. Luffy furrowed his brow, and horror dawned your face, “Forget I said that! Luffy, this doesn’t leave this conversation.” You whispered, holding his face in your hands, eyes boring into his.

Luffy’s eyes widened in excitement and awe, “You’re looking for a Devil Fruit?!” he exclaimed, your hands over his mouth muffling the last two words from leaving his mouth.

“Yes!” you whispered, tears close to falling, “And no one can know! I trust you, so it’s okay that you know, but you must promise me you won’t say anything to anyone. Not even Zoro and Nami.” You pleaded, hands still covering the captain’s big mouth. “Please, Luffy. As my Captain, I’m begging you.”

Slowly, your captain’s eyes softened, and he nodded, gently taking your hands away from his face, and in a pure moment of sobriety, Luffy spoke, “I’ll keep your secret, Clown Lady,” he said, a small smile spreading over his lips as he added, “Only if you promise me that you’ll follow your dream. Go perform on the biggest stages you can find. If not for you, for me.” His words were punctuated by a hand being raised; pinky outstretched in a childish pact. One that you hadn’t seen or made since you last saw one of those boys that summer, vowing to see each other again.

Tears fell down your cheeks as you choked out, “I can’t just-!”

“Yes, you can.” He chortled, “I just told you that you could. You have permission.”

You froze, the tears coming harder, but you felt a weight falling off of your shoulders as you wrapped a shaky pinky around his. You yanked Luffy by the join and pulled him into a deep hug, his arms wrapping around you twice with his rubber abilities. “You’re such a good kid. Roger would be happy to have you as his successor.” You whispered into his hair, laying a quick kiss onto the crown of his head.

Luffy pulled back a bit, eyes shining, “You knew him?!”

You giggled, swiping a stray curl out of his face, “Not for long-“

You were cut off with a BANG and a LURCH. You held Luffy to your torso as you were both flung to the floor, shielding him from potential impact.

“We’re under attack!” you exclaimed, already rushing to your feet, the captain not far behind. You both ran out to the deck, Zoro and Nami already there, weapons drawn.

“Who the fuck is that?!” Zoro roared, looking in all directions through the grey smoke.

You felt woozy all of a sudden, red overtaking the grey, “Luffy! The map!” you yelled, pushing him over toward Nami, coughing and trying to balance against the railing of the ship, “INCOMING!” you yelled, dropping to the floor, clinging to the rails. Another BANG and a LURCH cut through, the red smoke billowing farther. You peered through a gap in the sea of crimson and saw a curious jolly roger. “Is that a clown?” you mutter. The last thing you see before you pass out is Luffy swallowing the map, Nami and Zoro already passed out. With your last moments, you reached out to the barely conscious Luffy.

“Wake up!” came a hiss from next to you, you tried to rouse, your eyes barely blearing open. A harsh kick to your foot made you jolt to attention. Your eyes met Zoro’s as you tried to blink the drugs out of your system, finding all four of you in a large wooden crate. The other three were already standing, looming above you.

“What the fuck?” You mutter, trying to stretch the soreness out of your neck.

“Where’s the map?” Nami whispered.

Luffy waved her off, “Don’t worry about it! It’s somewhere safe.” He assured cryptically. You two shared a look, and you gave him a small nod, you weren’t saying shit.

“Marines must’ve found us,” Zoro huffed.

You and Luffy shook your heads, “Pirates.” You droned.

“Yeah, I saw a big, weird Jolly Roger.” Luffy explained.

You nodded, “Uh-huh. Kinda looked like a-“

“-clown.” You both finished. After a moment, you blanched. You knew who a clown in the East Blue was. “Oh shit.” You whisper, standing up and trying to find a way out of the crate, futile as it was.

“What’s your problem?” Nami asked.

You looked her dead in the eye, “We might’ve pissed off the wrong guy already.” You mutter, cryptically.

With that, the crate’s walls fell to the ground, all of you squinting under the harsh spotlight. Circus music played all around you as performers swung above you, cycled past, fire breathers a little too close for comfort, all the while a chorus of flat applause echoed over the music. When your eyes adjusted it took you a second to notice the audience and their distress, taken by the barrage of talents all around you. When you do, you lock eyes with a woman who’s jaw trembled and eyes widened, tears threatening to fall as she mouthed a small, “Help.”

Nami lowered Luffy’s clapping hands next to you, “If we die, Luffy,” you locked eyes with the young captain, “I’ll kill you.” You hissed, pushing the younger man behind you. You, Nami, and Zoro forming a bit of a triangle around him.

You whipped your head toward a backstage entrance, a resounding voice demanding attention, “No, no, no, NO!” the pirate yelled, rushing into view, “Stop clapping! Stop clapping!” he insisted, marching into the ring, “No! This is all wrong!”

You squinted trying to get a proper look at the source of the voice, but he was in the dark, not quite lit up enough to see his face. “The spotlight was late.” He exclaimed, “You completely missed my entrance!”

‘Ah, that’s why I couldn’t see him.’ You thought with a smirk.

The man gestured wildly, getting the spot tech’s attention, physically guiding them to find him. The comedic timing and absurdity caught you off guard, and you found yourself suppressing a laugh, just a soft snort coming out. Zoro glared at you over his shoulder, this was not the time to think the enemy was funny.

“-And where was the dancing lion?!” you got a good look at him now; he was a clown. A handsome clown. The first thing that struck you was the way his eyes caught the light. They shone in a way that struck you, your heart skipping a beat, a sense of nostalgia washing over you. His makeup was perhaps a little worse for wear, but he looked pretty stressed. Pissed might be a more accurate word, really. Nonetheless from where you stood, he was a very attractive man, a squared off jaw, stubble peaking through along it. His face was screwed up a bit in annoyance, but you couldn’t help but think he was pretty. He had blue hair and a colorful getup, topped off by an orange captain’s hat, his clown-y jolly roger positioned proudly at the center. There was no question about it, this was one of the most prolific captains in the East Blue, Buggy D. Clown. You all were fucked.

“Hey!” You whipped around to grab Luffy by the arm, try to stop him, but he persisted, “I know you! I saw your wanted poster in Shells Town!”

“Don’t say something stupid, Luffy!” You whispered, pinching his bicep.

He barely flinched, brushing you off, “You’re the clown guy!” Luffy turned to you briefly, “Hehe! How bout that, Clown Lady!” He chimed.

Buggy’s face screwed up in confusion, ‘She’s not a fucking clown.’ He thought. ‘If she is, she’s a shitty one. Out of costume and everything.’

“Your name’s uh-uh” Luffy trailed off already moving on.

“Buggy!” you whispered.

“Binky!”

“No!”

Buggy was unimpressed, “Buggy.” He corrected. “Buggy the Clown. Buggy, the Flashy Fool? Buggy, The Genius Jester?” Buggy offered, looking for any sign of recognition on the young captain’s face. He found none, just unabashed…well. Luffy.

“Wow!” Luffy exclaimed, he looked at your little crew with a grin, genuinely excited to meet a famous pirate. “I bet everyone in the East Blue knows who you are!”

Buggy’s eye twitched, and you took a step closer to Luffy, widening your stance, “What did you just say?”

“Just that everyone knows who you are!” Luffy said innocently. He didn’t know. He really didn’t. You didn’t even know about what was going on, and you actually knew who Buggy was.

Buggy snarled, pushing past you and the other crewmates, grabbing Luffy by the face, “NOSE?!” You stumbled but stood close, eyeing the clown pirate’s hand on your captain’s face. Your fingers twitched to deck the guy, but you had to be patient. You had to wait. Your priority was keeping Luffy safe, not pitching a fight with other pirate captains.

You saw the other circus folk step forward, a menacing threat hanging over all of you. “Are you making fun of my nose?” Buggy seethed.

“Well, I wasn’t,” Luffy started, struggling to speak through Buggy’s grip. “But now that you mention it…” Luffy’s hand rose from his side as he spoke, “Is that thing for real?”

You clenched your jaw as Buggy slapped Luffy’s hand away. “Don’t be rude, Luffy!” you hissed.

Buggy regarded you for a second, taken aback, but his attention was quickly grabbed by Luffy again as he tried to reach back toward his nose. Buggy slapped Luffy’s hand away again, “What’s real is, I’ve been scheming for MONTHS!” he exclaimed, “to steal that map from that Old Axe-Hand Moron.” Buggy emphasized the insult, swinging into Nami’s face, who regarded him coldly as he indicated for a laugh. You frowned at the mention of the Marine, displeased by the few interactions you’d had with him. Buggy shrugged at Nami’s nonresponse and backed away, “-only to find out I had been upstaged by four little nobodies! Who stole it from right under my nos-“ he cut himself off, that clearly being a sensitive subject for him. “-NO! IT’S IN MY HEAD NOW!” he yelled, groaning in frustration before marching away from your crew.

You took a deep breath as you watched him go, approaching Luffy again, resting a hand on his shoulder, trying to ground him to reality for one damned second. “Hey!” Luffy shouted, and you clamped your hold on his shoulder, nails digging into his skin. You hissed, trying to get him to shut up, but Luffy persisted as if you weren’t even there. “I’m not a nobody!” he proclaimed, a resolute tone in his voice. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy! And I will be King of the Pirates!” you tensed even further, letting go of your vice grip and biting back a lecture on time and place.

Buggy let out a weak, piteous laugh at your captain’s statement, “Oh! Now that’s funny!” he pointed at the man who was supposed to oversee the lion, who held up a LAUGH sign. The crowd followed directions hollowly, and you found yourself locking eyes with that woman again, the tears falling slowly down her cheeks. You sent her a determined nod. If you could do nothing else today, you’d protect Luffy, and get her out of here. The laughter rang for a moment, until the unamused clown gestured to stop, the tent falling to silence on a dime. “My bounty poster graces every marquee of every Marine outpost for miles.” Buggy carried on, talking up himself and his crew, but at that moment, you noticed something. Buggy had throwing knives in his coat. If you could just get your hands on one…a plan began to form in your mind on how to get one as the two pirate captains argued about who would be king.

You scanned the room when your plan was as fully formed as it would be, looking for all exits and possibilities you could. Just when you felt solid, Zoro opened his big mouth.

You could see Buggy’s rage build at the swordsman’s arrogance, a vein on his forehead popping out a bit, the tendons in his neck tight. “Now,” he muttered. “Maybe we should skip right to the finale.” Buggy raised his hand, each finger interlocking with a knife, one shoved between each knuckle. Your focus lasered in on them, barely registering the other pirates as a threat as they readied themselves for a fight.

THEN NAMI STEPPED UP. FUCKING HELL. Your brow twitched as you resisted the urge to shove her back, “Wait! Wait. What if I have something to offer you?”

You snarled, “Oh hell no.” you knew exactly what she was gonna do. And it wouldn’t work.

“Something more valuable than the map.” Luffy eyed Nami, confused as to what she could be talking about, stepping closer to her. Nami goes on to set up offering one of you as a freak, stepping around Luffy.

“Go on.” Buggy insisted, curiosity something he couldn’t seem to resist.

Nami smoothed her resolve, turning and snatching Luffy’s hat, tossing it high above you and tried to bolt. Luffy used his rubber abilities to try and grab the hat.

“Fat chance!” you yelled, sprinting after her. You made it out of the tent when she stumbled in her path, shocked by the destruction around her. You, did no such thing, tackling her around the middle. You two rolled in the dust for a moment, when you landed you had her pinned under you, straddling her, holding her arms above her head, “We die, you die. You signed up for this shit.” You hissed, leaning into her face, “Try something like that again and I might have to kill you. Only thing that could save you is that rubber boy you just tried to sell out.” Nami’s eyes were wide under you as you were quickly surrounded by circus performers, picking you two up and dragging you back to the tent.

Buggy eyed you with renewed wonder. ‘You chased down your crewmate who was…getting away? All because of this…rubber dude?’

Nami’s horrified expression hadn’t left her face, “What did you do?! What did you do to their town?! You destroyed everything!” she cried to the clown. Buggy just rolled his eyes and twirled a throwing knife in his hand. You had become used to such destruction over the years, and used that to your advantage, compartmentalizing those feelings for later and focusing on getting one of those damned knives.

“Not everything.” Buggy chided, cutting slices into an apple he had retrieved in light of Nami’s escape attempt. “I let em keep their hands.” He joked, pointing to the guy with the sign again, provoking applause from the crowd.

“Okay,” Buggy started, “Here ends the theatrics.” He said walking over to your group again, but more specifically over to you, the lights shifting with his path. His eyes landed on you, looking you up and down, trying to take you in. You met his gaze without issue, even quirking a small smirk at the man. Buggy narrowed his eyes at you before turning to your captain, “I know one of you has my map, and I’m gonna get it back.” He said, Buggy’s eyes flicking to you briefly. “What was it you said, rubber boy? That it was in a safe place?” All of your eyes shot wide. Amendment to the plan. You were going to be grabbed. You have the map now. At least they’ll think you do. You have to help Luffy. “Don’t act so surprised. I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere.”

You shared a look with Luffy ‘Go with it.’ You tried to telepathically communicate with the boy, “So please make our guests uncomfortable in the Greenroom!” He said, motioning for the circus pirates to descend onto you, trying to drag you into the back. You immediately held your arms over your torso, pretending to have the map under your shirt, he doesn’t know it’s in a damned cannister, writhing to keep your hands in place. ‘Please think I’m stupid enough to do that.’ You prayed, meeting Buggy’s eyes for a moment.

His eyes narrowed, “Leave her.” Buggy called, pointing right at you. You struggled less, darting your eyes around, ‘panicked’ you and Luffy were left in the circus tent while Nami and Zoro were dragged into the dark of the backstage. You two were ushered forward, inches away from Buggy. “I am going to have a little chat. With my stretchy new pal, here.” He said, eyes flicking to you, “But first, I’m, gonna need to talk to this pretty little Doll Face right here.” His gaze bore into you as he flicked his head to the side, the crew grabbing Luffy and dragging him one way, Buggy guiding you in another. “Let’s chat, babe.” He rasps into your ear.

‘Please let this work.’

“Come ON, Doll Face!” Buggy whined, the two of you in one of the off shoot store rooms. He had stuck you both into a large cage, not lion big, but big enough. “Work with me here! I mean, what are you even doing with a bunch of snot nosed little babies, huh?” he asked, plopping to the ground in front of you. You sat across from him, your arms crossed over the area you were pretending to keep the map.

You gave the clown another grin, “Why? Jealous?”

Buggy’s brows knit in confusion, “Huh? Why’d I be jealous?” genuine perplexed questioning all over his face as he began fiddling with one of those throwing knives you were so ready to get your hands on.

“Because he’ll do it.” You said frankly, checking your nails, frowning at a break.

“Do what?” Buggy challenged, holding the knife level with you.

You simply hummed into your smile, making it grow, “He’s gonna find the One Piece and become King.” You said, speaking like you were talking about the weather. “I see it in him every day.” You locked eyes with Buggy’s annoyed gaze. “I swear sometimes he might be the reincarnation of Roger himself.” You barreled forward, riling Buggy up, “I haven’t heard of a pirate like him since Joy Boy!”

Buggy was almost growling, “Don’t you talk to me about Gol D. Roger.” He hissed, fingers twitching around the knife’s hilt. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

You shrugged; arms still wrapped firmly around yourself. “How would you know?” you lilted, leaning forwards into the clown’s space. “You don’t know anything about me, Buggy.” You said, emphasizing his name. “You don’t even know who I am.” You giggle, cocking your head to the side, looking the seething clown up and down.

Buggy ran his tongue along his teeth, sucking in a breath, “What’s your name then, Doll?”

You bit your lip to keep down another laugh, “I don’t know if I want to tell you, I kinda like it when you call me Doll.” Buggy was physically taken aback for a moment, his head jerking back a bit, not expecting any flirting. Your eyes softened a bit, extending out your leg to bump your foot with his. “Come on, pretty boy, don’t be so serious.” You laugh at his bewildered expression for a moment before announcing your name with a grin.

His eyes widened further, making you laugh harder, “You’re cute when you’re not trying to kill my friends.” You joked, nudging the clown’s foot again, trying to illicit a laugh or any reaction now other than the frozen, almost afraid man in front of you.

Buggy swallowed the lump in his throat, fighting off the heat rising to his face by clearing his throat, “What about when I am?” he joked, trying to get the higher ground back.

Your smile never left you as you rose to your knees, ‘It’s been long enough for Zoro and Nami to have figured something out to get us all out of here. I want to use the little time I have left to have a little fun.’ You thought to yourself, crawling over to Buggy, grabbing the bars to the cage next to his head, settling between his legs.

“Well, I thought you were kinda hot, but I’m sure you’d be even better trying to kill someone I don’t like.” You lilted, face only inches from Buggy’s.

Buggy’s eyes were blown wide again, his long lashes tempting you a bit. After a moment of sharing the same space, you raised your hand up, stroking his cheek with the back of your hand, your knuckles brushing those feather soft eyelashes. You watched as his pupils overtook his beautiful blue green irises, raising your hand further to tuck a stray strand of hair back into Buggy’s bandana. You smiled again and his whole face softened.

Buggy brought his own hand up and grabbed yours from his face, whispering “You don’t have the map, do you?” you looked to the side to avoid his eyes, feeling a bit bad for the deception, and shook your head. His fingers caught your chin, and he made you look at him, a pained look on his face. “Was all of it lies? Just sweet little things to distract me?” he asked through grit teeth, and you couldn’t help but notice a slight tremor to his grip.

Your eyes shot wide, immediately holding Buggy’s face in your palms, heart straining a bit when he wouldn’t meet your eyes. You could never be so cruel! “Hold on, now Bugs! This wasn’t even my plan, honestly,” you started, moving your head into his field of view every time he tried to dart those pretty eyes away from you, “I was just gonna stall, piss you off a bit.” You chuckled, “Anything I said in here,” you said with a soft smile, “I meant, pretty boy.” His eyes searched yours for deceit, confusion flashing over his face when he found none. “I don’t have to lie to get what I want.” Buggy felt an impossible pull closer to you, and so did you to him. Just as you were close enough to brush your nose against his-

“HAHAHA!” Luffy’s cackling rang out through the whole area. You flinched and tried to find where the sound came from, and Buggy blinked a few times, taking in your beautiful features as you searched for your captain, only realizing you were real when he felt the pressure of your fingers still on his face.

He shook himself out of it, “Duty calls, Starshine!” Buggy chuckled, grabbing you around the waist, placing you to the side. You worried your lip between your teeth as you listened to the loud sounds coming from Luffy. Buggy hummed and stood up, taking a key from his hat and letting his hand detach while you weren’t looking, letting it unlock the cage door before slipping through and closing it back up, locking it quickly.

Your eyes snapped to Buggy, standing in the cage, watching him as he walked away from you, “Buggy!” you called. The clown captain stilled, only turning his head to listen to you, “Promise me something!” you could barely see his brows furrow, his ear twitch, “Don’t kill him. Just-he’s a great kid and he deserves a shot. You don’t have to share; you can fight to find the One Piece all you want. Just-just don’t kill him.” You were even shocked yourself at the desperation in your tone. Buggy’s shoulders tensed before he straightened out, with a deep breath. You didn’t know for sure if he agreed of not, but something deep in your heart told you Luffy would be okay.

You were spinning the throwing knife on your finger, threading it through your fingers over and over as you sat and waited. You had already tried picking the lock to little success, and there weren’t enough weak points to exploit in the cage, so you sat, and you fiddled with the blade, waiting for one of your crewmates.

“Clown Lady!” you heard Zoro’s gruff call travel low through the room. You licked your lips and whistled a practiced bird call, hearing two sets of footsteps move direction and come find you in your sturdy, iron bar cage.

You leaned against the bars, waving at your crewmates, a wry smile on your lips, “I don’t know if this is the right place for that nickname.” You joked.

“Damn, what’d you do to get locked up like this?” Nami huffed, already trying to work the lock.

You shrugged, “I think he likes me,” you chuckled, to the dismay and slight disgust of the two pirates, “Maybe he wanted to keep me!”

Zoro grimaced, “You have a weird sense of humor, woman.”

You rolled your eyes, a glint in the sand catching your eye, a glint in the sand catching your eye. You beamed, pointing at the swordsman’s feet with a wide smile, “I told you he liked me! Look,” both crewmates’ eyes followed your finger to the dusty ground, “He left me a key!”

Zoro and Nami took a moment, blinking to process this information, looking at each other to confirm this was real, nodded, and then Nami grabbed the key.

“Let’s go, Luffy was running his mouth, I could hear him,” you said, rushing through the tent, you and Nami running ahead while Zoro made quick work of any circus folk you ran into.

You turned the final corner and sprinted through the hallway, coming into one of the ring entrances. Luffy was in an escapologist’s water tank full of seawater, Buggy arguing with him through the glass.

Your eyes met Luffy’s as he was fully submerged in the water tank, and you gave him a wide smile, Nami running up behind you. Luffy, ever the little shit, points behind Buggy at you two. Just as Buggy turns, Nami launches the staff she’d been holding straight at the glass with enough power to crack it.

Buggy dodges it, looking up at you two. Just when his eyes met yours, the glass broke out, all the water and Luffy himself spilling out onto the ground. And in that moment, the world paused.

He was in peril, sure, but Buggy couldn’t help but marvel at your wide smile, the grin crinkling the corners of your eyes. You tossed something in your hand, catching it again. One of Buggy’s throwing knives. Buggy felt a smirk pull at his lips, no one manages to steal his knives from him. Damn you’re impressive.

When the world resumed, he and Luffy were fighting off the effects of the sea water, and Buggy heard an absolutely awful gagging sound, eyes shifting to the rubber captain. ‘HE ATE THE FUCKING MAP?!’ Buggy almost cackled at the insanity, but one thing overpowered it all. He needed “My map-” “My hat-“ he and Luffy began to crawl, dragging themselves toward their respective treasures. When they had reached them, Buggy laughed, God could he fail upwards.

That’s when you three made your advance, you, Zoro, and Nami circling Buggy like sharks, “You want a piece of me?” Buggy called, “Let’s see what you got!”

Zoro tried to chop off Buggy’s head, but it just popped off then back on again, causing all of your faces to scowl in confusion. “Chop Chop Fruit.” You called.

“Very good, Doll Face!” Buggy exclaimed, “Surprise, Shithead!” Buggy began to separate into smaller and smaller pieces, flying around you three.

“Cutting him won’t work.” You stated, twirling the knife in your hand, thinking. Thinking of nothing good, of course, a wicked grin appearing on your face.

The flying limbs and body parts flew all around you, pushing Zoro and Nami out of the ring. You tried your best to dodge them, but you got hit back by a few before finding Buggy’s rhythm, bobbing and weaving with him. Unfortunately, he noticed, and sent a hand out to drag you to the ground, away from the others. You landed hard against a supply of chests and crates. Perfect.

Luffy rose to the challenge, invoking Buggy’s Chop Chop Cannon, and dodging expertly, pinning the clown’s torso to the ground before one of his fists came flying in from the side, toppling Luffy off of him. Luffy popped right up, only for Buggy to send a fist full of knives at his head, catching Luffy’s hat when he ducked.

‘Oh, shit.’ You thought. ‘Buggy might be fucked. What a shame. I kinda wanted to see him again.’

Luffy’s eyes were wide, panic and rage flickering through them as he tried to pick it up, only to be tripped and pinned by Buggy. Your captain met your eye, which you immediately swung open one of the chests, and he got the hint, that brilliant boy. “Nami! The crates!” he choked out.

Nami’s head whipped to where you were, ready to go, knife in hand. Luffy stood tall, ripping Buggy’s hand off of his throat and whipping it towards Nami, who batted it right at you, who slammed it into a crate, closing it tightly before prepping the next one. And so that’s how it went, the other Straw-hats sending you pitches and hits, and you making sure they found their homes in individual crates. One particularly sneaky leg tried to go back to Buggy, but you whipped your throwing knife right at it, barely nicking him, but pinning it to the ground by the pants. You grabbed it and shoved it into a chest, sitting on it with a satisfied grin. All that was left was his head, feet, and hands.

“What did you do?!” Buggy roared, outraged.

Luffy chuckled, dusting off his poor hat, “Cut you down to size!” he laughed, infuriating the clown.

Buggy sputtered and yelled, “-you’re just a sad, lonely little boy wearing another man’s hat!”

You lowered your gaze to Buggy’s, a narrow glare. “I know who I am.” Luffy started, placing his hat back on his head. You glowed with pride as he spoke, “I am Monkey D. Luffy. And I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates!” he announced, readying himself for the final blow.

You met Buggy’s eye one more time as Luffy wound up, and you sent him a quick wink and a smile.

“GUM GUM! BAZOOKA!” and with that, Luffy slingshot the clown’s remaining pieces out of the tent.

‘Wonder when I’ll see him again.’ You wondered. ‘Hope it’s soon.’

You kept your eyes on the hole in the tent as Luffy picked up the map, handing it off to Nami. You stiffened for a moment, apprehensive with her after the stunt she pulled.

“You’re trusting me with this?” Nami asked, taking the map into her hands.

“You’re the navigator.” Luffy insisted.

They shared a little moment, holding each other’s eye, a passage of understanding between them.

Zoro cut in, puffing out a quiet, “Let’s get out of this clown show.”

You smirked, “Should I take offence, Zoro?” you teased.

Zoro rolled his eyes, “Quiet, woman.” He barked, all of you heading towards an exit.

“Wait!” Luffy exclaims, and your eyes landed again on the face of the woman in the crowd. “We have one more thing to do.” You and the woman exchanged smiles.

“Hey, Luffy.” You said, sitting next to your captain on the deck of your small “ship”. The young captain was wearing the straw hat again, repaired by Nami.

He smiled up at you, watching the waves. It was just you two out there, the other two working inside. “Should I stop calling you Clown Lady?” Luffy asked, peering up at you, squinting in the evening sun.

You smiled, teeth and all, stroking the young boy’s nape, “You don’t have to.” You start, poking his cheek with your free hand, “I don’t mind being Clown Lady. Especially not for you, Captain.”

Luffy sat up and his eyes got that sparkle, he had an idea. “Maybe that’s what you could do! Be a clown!” he volunteered, gesturing wildly with his words, your shoulders shaking in laughter. “Clowns do all kinds of stuff! You could do all the stuff you wanna do!”

“I could also…just do them and not be a clown.” You chide, pinching his side, “Besides, you don’t have to worry about me and my silly dreams. Okay, Luffy? Focus on yours. You might actually achieve yours.” You say, taking the boy into a side hug, his head under your cheek.

You could feel him scowl under you, “You’ll achieve your dream,” Luffy said, using your government name to prove his point.

You barked out a laugh, “That might’ve been the first time you said my name!” Luffy shrugged and chuckled, wrapping an arm around you too, a comfortable silence filling the deck, the only sound was the sounds of the sea, calm and cool. You took a moment to look at Luffy, specifically that hat. That hat niggled at the back of your skull like a song you couldn’t remember the name of, why was it so familiar? “Say, Luffy.” He hummed in acknowledgment, “Where’d you get this hat from?”

Luffy smiled wide and began telling tale of the Red-Haired Shanks, a man he looked up to in every way, who took care of him. As he spoke you couldn’t help the feeling of familiarity grow stronger. “Luffy.” You stopped him suddenly, craning your neck to look the boy in the eyes. “Did this Shanks guy ever tell you about a girl he met when he was young?”

Luffy shrugged noncommittally, “He talked about a lot of girls.”

You pursed your lips trying to place your words, “What about a girl who beat him in a fist fight when they first met?” you asked with a chuckle.

Luffy sat up suddenly, straight as a board. “Was that you?” he asked, wide eyed.

You shrugged, “I think so. Remember those boys I told you about?” Luffy nodded eagerly, “I’m starting to think one of them was your Red-Haired Shanks.”

Buggy froze where he was being held by Arlong’s pirates, the itchy bag rubbing against his sensitive nose.

‘Remember those boys I told you about?’

‘I swear sometimes he might be the reincarnation of Roger himself.’

‘What about a girl who beat him in a fist fight when they first met?’

The knife.

It all made sense. It was you. The girl. Right before it all went to shit, when Roger was still around. The first girl he had a crush on, the girl he promised to see again. It’s you.

“Well, I didn’t know their names!” you exclaimed to an incredulous Luffy. “They called me Gale. Like Nightingale, one was Cardinal, and the other was Peacock! We thought we wouldn’t miss each other as much after they left if we didn’t know names. Didn’t work, but it’s what we thought.”

“Why didn’t you go with them if you liked them so much?”

You sighed, taking a pause before speaking. Buggy straightened up a bit. “I wanted to. I always liked being a pirate and everything. I just…I had-still have responsibilities. I have my duties; I must serve my family.” Lame excuse, if you ask Buggy, but what can you do?

‘I…think one of them was your Red-Haired Shanks.’

And of course, you remembered Shanks, not him.

[sanjisluvbot]

Don’t Drink The Tea

Masterlist

[ This is a request by @emtynessinmyworld ]

Summary: Y/N keeps having nightmares of another crew.

The next morning you were woken up by the sound of the sea, you jolted up and you seemed to be in some type of bar/tavern. " Good, Y/N you finally woke up!" An older woman with a towel in hand said. You didn't have the courage to speak so you stared at her wide-eyed, she rolled her eyes and ushered you to leave the place telling you that it was time to head back to your ' crew '. The people who seemed to be your crew were happy to have you back on board. From what you remember about your research in any reality you visit you already are there, trying to put it simply you didn't just pop up here the consciousness from the reality you were used to is just transferred there.

You got to know your crew members and your captain and it was fun playing pirate. In this reality, you were the vice-captain of the Cyclone pirates and you were on your way to Wano just like the straw hats. The closer you got the more the weather became unbearable for all of your crew, the storms to heat, the heat to snow everyone was getting sick left and right. There was a storm so horrendous just on the horizon and your crew was currently in survival mode.

" Y/N take control of the deck this storm looks like it will be the most aggressive we've ever seen !" your captain yelled.

Waves and harsh rain combined lashed the sides of the boat. The deck was soaked, and so was your crew. you were shouting orders, but the deafening thunder drowned them out with every crash. The mast wobbled and swayed, struggling to keep the boat and everyone on it in order. The boat tipped and everyone was in the water, you couldn't do a thing for them or anyone, and as you desperately tried to swim and gasp for air lighting struck illuminating the terrifying disaster this was.

This was the second time you'd woken up in a start, you were washed up on a beach along with debris scattered around you. You were alone for such a long time and now and there wasn't a single ship passing by. You tried at every instance to get home but your mind was too clouded to remember every step you used to get here, you were irritated and injured from trying to survive and all you wanted was to be back to your regular life. You didn't know the time, the month, or the date but you guess it's June. In your reality testing was over and school would be out in just a few weeks, this summer you were finally going to be able to enjoy being a teenager.

You were on a cliff eating the fruit you'd discovered upon your arrival. This was your new routine, wake up, find food, and head to the cliff to pray that someone would be passing by. You let out a huff and got up to gather your belongings since it was going to be midday and the sun was already peaking. However, there was a mere flicker in the north and you were praying to whoever you could that it wasn't just your imagination. The flicker then became a full view of a ship you knew so very well, the Thousand Sunny.

This was the Strawhats ship!

You screamed from the top of your lungs and flailed your arms like you'd lost all sanity. There was no way you were missing such a golden opportunity, After you got their attention the rest was history. They welcomed you aboard and their cute little doctor patched up all the wounds you had. They were suspicious as to why you were stranded on such a dead island and as much as you wanted to answer every little question they had something about them kept your lips shut tight.

This is the crew you originally wanted to end up with, you wanted desperately to join Luffy on his marvelous adventure and now you could. Everyone was the same as they were on screen it was such a surreal experience and you could keep a smile off your face. Luffy enjoyed your company the most, he loved inviting the most random people onto his ship and it was almost like second nature for him to assess whether or not you were a true threat or a “ bad person” within the first five minutes of meeting someone.

The edge never left though, something about each them kept you looking over your shoulder and watching them closely. You could tell they liked you but every now and then they’d ask you way too personal questions.

“ Y/N you were shipwrecked on that island right? What crew did you belong too?” Luffy blurted with a mouth full of food. Suddenly the kitchen had become dead silent, they all seemed to be waiting for your answer. You chuckled under you breathe before answering, Not this again, “ I shipwrecked on that island a week ago, I was the second in command of the Cyclone Pirates.”

They always wanted to know where you came from or who you really were. It was odd, it’s like they all had a silent agreement to ambush you with questions no matter what you were doing. You were only with half of the crew since the rest were already on Wano, you helped them easily find their way because on your first ship not only were you vice captain you were their navigator.

You were fascinated that you knew all this information about sailing and predicting the weather. Nami had a spare notebook in her study and you began writing down everything that recently happened. You were less than two days away from a new adventure and you were content enjoying tea in the library. It was almost dinner time and you wanted to use this time to write some more in the journal, you got up making your way i towards Nami’s study but just as your hand grazed the door you heard multiple voices.

“ So she’s been lying?”

“ Yes and No. She was a part of that other crew but she’s not originally from this world if that makes sense?”

“ COOL !”

“ Luffy be quiet or she might hear!”

Nami, Luffy, and Sanji. They were reading your journal, alarms went off in your head. You hadn’t wrote anything about how exactly you came here but you did write that you were from another universe.

Would they throw you overboard?

Would they keep you confined till they met up with the rest of the crew?

You started hitting your nails, an old habit you gave up in middle school. The terror was setting in and you needed to form a game plan. You took a deep breath and knocked on the door, everything stilled and all that was heard was the rocking of the ship. Nami opened the door and graced you with a smile.

“ Y/N come in, we were discussing how we would get up those ravenous falls you mentioned the other day.”

Nice save navigator.

“ Oh do you need help? I had came up to get that journal you lent me I wanted to re study the route so we don’t make any mistakes.”

She allowed you in and the captain and his cook were leaning on her desk trying to look the least suspicious. How cute. You went over to the shelf scanning to see where you left it, of course it wasn’t there they were just reading it. You turned to Sanji and his eyes slightly widened. They were such horrendous liars you almost laughed. “ Sanji did you see a little blue journal? It had a book mark in- oh it’s behind you !” He shuffled out of the way and you grabbed it.

“ How did it get off the shelf?” You asked with fake concern.

The captain was just about to open his mouth when Nami quickly interjected, “ Oh you left it there earlier, I didn’t want to move it incase you came back.” You smiled and turned making you way out of the room swiftly. What you had written wasn’t necessarily a secret but you couldn’t be too sure how they would react to you saying you were from an entirely different reality where they were cartoon characters.

You decided to keep the book on you at all times after that. No matter what was going on the book was always in your hand or pocket. You knew they were suspicious of you again, their eyes always trained to the pocket you kept it in or even when eating meals they started at the little book right beside your plate.

Now that you were on Wano there were bigger things to worry about and you finally met the rest of the crew and Law. Everything went back to ‘ normal ’ and you began to enjoy the ride again. But before you noticed that little blue book was missing. You tried asking if anyone seen it but they would just laugh and change the conversation.

“ Sanji have you seen my journal? I swear it was-”

“ Y/N do you want me to make you a drink?”

“ N-No thanks, about the journal did-”

“ Y/N who cares about the journal we’re about to fight Kaido we need to prepare.” Luffy giggled.

The crew became so protective of you out of the blue. Like you were some prize or better yet some treasure they didn’t want to be stolen. You liked how friendly and caring they were but everything you were doing felt so filtered and fake. You couldn’t fully laugh at jokes when that journal disappeared into thin air. When they offered you food something screamed for you to reject it, but why reject anything you trusted crew gave you?

It was the night of the fight you and your crew were making their way to the dock where everyone agreed to meet up.

“ Wow we haven’t seen a storm this bad since we got here, right Y/N?”

“ Yeah, this was almost as bad as.. as”

“ As bad as what?”

“ Huh? Oh nothing I just feel like I forgotten something important… never mind”

Robin tucked a stray hair behind your ear and giggled at you, “ Y/N have you been drinking the tea chopper made?”

“ Yeah It’s been helping, those nightmares about that shipwreck”

She hummed and pulled you close to her side, you laid your head on her shoulder and let out a sigh. “ Robin sometimes I have this weird feeling in the back of my head like some type of danger alert.”

“ It must be from the head trauma, you want Chopper to give you a check up before we head to Onigashima? Maybe some medicine?” She offered.

“ Y/N I can give you these pills, their benzodiazepines, drink them with the tea. Robin tell Sanji to make the tea so she feels better.”

“ Do yOu feel aNy beTter?”

You hummed at the blissful aroma of camomile calmed your nerves drastically. That concussion you gotten from going up the falls to Wano was really leathal, you kept having nightmares about a whole different crew getting shipwrecked and leaving you stranded on some island.

Thank God you had your crew mates.

🏷️ @herwritingartcowboy @axulaphie @toshirolovebot @futmblr @rhicambo @marim0cha @sasukeswife3 @mitskikinnie100 [ anyone else that wants to be tagged please Pm me ]

Edit: if you’re tagged and you only want to be tagged in my series pls lmk !!

A/N: Hello! I’ve come back better than ever and I hope you enjoyed this. I was going to come back a little sooner but I’ve been working on new things for you all to make my writing better . I think I’ve rewritten this three times and I’m not that satisfied that’s why you’ll be getting a part two. Chapter 13 will be update Monday ! Thanks for the constant support I’ve gotten in my absence 🫶🏽

[the-lights-are-loud]

Childhood

You’re drifting away on a forgotten, broken slab of what once was. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. The false safety you once felt ripped away by a storm of chaotic thoughts and new emotions. You can’t tell if the drops of water on your face are rain, sea spray, or tears. Everything is wrong and there seems to be no hope of getting back to where you were. No more safety, no more hand-holding, no more carrying you back to bed after falling asleep in the car. 

The water feels like ice. Your veins frozen, the blood sluggish and unwilling to move. Your heart aches with exhaustion and anguish. Each breath sends icicles down your spine. You can feel each wrinkle in your hands as more water soaks into your skin. Your legs hang uselessly off the edge of the rough, splintered wood. There’s still a glow-in-the-dark star stuck on the peeling paint. Your bedroom door, a fragment of what it used to be. Sometimes a wave of deadlines and due dates crashes down on your face, leaving you spluttering and close to drowning. The taste of saltwater and tears, almost bitter to the tongue. 

And yet, you still grip the splintering wood. The TV shows on Saturday mornings. The first video games you beat, the first book series you owned. Your LEGO collection, your favorite song from when you were little. The stuffed animal you’ve had longer than your siblings. The Facebook posts your mom made when you started elementary school. Your little nook, too small for how long your legs are now, where you would dive into new and exciting worlds. The blanket forts that covered your basement, and had individual rooms. The sleepless nights of hiding under your race car blankets, playing your DS, even though your mom took it away from you that morning. The park where you and your friends would play tag at. The tall hills that you would roll down in a race with your younger siblings. Your older brother helping you with your homework.

What will you do when the door breaks down and you fall? When you drift into the ocean of responsibility? Will you keep the splinters of nostalgia in your hands? Will you wash the peeled paint off your jeans, the paint you meticulously picked out when you were five? Will you see if you can breathe under this heavy water? Or will you sink, drowning in the impossibility of it?

Does it hurt to hold onto the rusted knob of your childhood? The pain of your loss sticking to you like the stickers that covered your binders? Your knees sore from the waves like the rug burns from your carpet. Toes frozen like when you would sit in the snow for hours, attempting to make an igloo. 

You can’t swim.

You never learned how.

When you would sit in the pool because you used to enjoy the weightlessness and cold enveloping hug of a blue expanse. You were eleven when you had your first swimming lessons. You were terrified when the teacher would watch you sink into the water because you had to tread water in his specific way. Everyone wants you to do things in their specific way.

You are only a child. Why grow up when you will surely drown? Will there ever be a boat that sees you flailing, desperately trying to stay afloat? Will it guide you to adulthood safely? Will you finally be able to step back and realize that your childhood is gone? And maybe, just maybe, you will be okay?

[mc-lukanette]

The storm was intense, a wave hitting the side of the Liberty and making it lurch. Luka stumbled backwards, hitting a wall and having to quickly move to the side to keep himself from being hit by the falling objects from the shelf above.

He loved voyaging across the sea with his mother and sister, but there could be drawbacks. The calm waves and occasional sound of something breaching the water turning to an assault on his senses was one of them. The ship was still shaking and he could see the water splashing against the nearby windows, an occasional sound of thunder only emphasizing the dangers.

"Jule!" he called out, concerned for his sister in the other room. He waited, not getting an immediate response, and steadied himself against the wall to prepare to charge to the other room if he had to.

Then, he heard a small, "Mm," from the other room, which he automatically translated in his head as Juleka being fine. He sighed, relieved, then called out to his mother next.

"Mom!"

"Aye!" She almost sounded excited, which was typical for her even if concerning.

Whenever his mother had that tone to her voice, it usually meant that things were about to go crazy.

Sure enough, the ship was hit again by another wave, this time knocking Luka to the floor. He grunted, the air being knocked out of his lungs. He could hear that Juleka was faring about as poorly, and suddenly he was genuinely worried that the ship might capsize. His mother had been planning to stop at a nearby island, so the possibility existed that they could swim or raft there, but he couldn't know for certain.

He didn't bother getting up, but pressed his hands against the floor in an attempt to brace himself. He shut his eyes, dreading another hit, and then—

...Nothing.

Luka waited for a full two minutes, still hearing the water's waves and thunder outside, but the ship never got hit despite the occasional shaking. He finally stood, shaking a little from the scare, then walked over to the window to peek outside.

To his shock, he saw that the ship had apparently washed up on an island, just as his mother had planned. While he briefly thought it was possible that his mother's chaotic nature somehow knew that they'd be fine and that the waves would take them there, he was skeptical.

He also heard a splash from behind him, but when he looked, whatever had made the sound was already gone. It was odd, though he was just happy that everyone was okay and the ship hadn't been damaged.

Distracting him from his confusion, Juleka emerged from the other room, her hair slightly disheveled from them being tossed around and a crazy grin on her face. "That was so cool."

Luka shook his head and smiled. Only his family could get an emotional high off of nearly getting their ship wrecked.

——-

The following morning, the storm having long since calmed down, Luka went out onto the island. Going a fair distance away from the Liberty, he sat down on the sand with his guitar so he could play without the sound reaching his family back on the boat.

He was in the middle of tuning when he heard a noise from out in the water. He ignored it at first, but then he noticed something under the water that he couldn't quite make out.

Something big.

He set his guitar aside, leaning forward to try and get a close look, but the form almost seemed to respond in kind. It rapidly came upwards, Luka backing away as it suddenly emerged from the water to reveal itself.

The human shade of skin and black hair was immediately apparent, confusing him as the other humanoid features registered with him. It was only when his eyes trailed down the giant body to notice the scales. A female siren, his brain finally registered. He'd never met one in person and certainly didn't know they could get so large.

The girl, oblivious to his surprise, propped her forearms onto the beach and laid her head on them. It was like this was the most casual thing in the world for her. "I'm glad your boat's alright. Has anyone told you that you play beautiful music? Lucky that it led me to your ship before the storm."

He stared. It was shocking enough to see a giant siren, much less one whose first words were compliments of his music (not that he wasn't honored, but still).

"Ah... thank you," he managed to say.

She frowned, his hesitant voice cluing her into his puzzlement. She blinked, then straightened and looked down at herself.

"Oh!" she gasped. "My—gosh, I'm sorry. Since last night, I haven't... hold on."

Her hand went to her chest and she took a breath, closing her eyes as a low, strangely familiar hum came from her throat. Luka noted the beautiful sound, followed by the siren's body slowly shrinking down. From what he'd heard on sirens, they casted spells by singing, though it seemed like humming also qualified.

He was so mesmerized by the display that he nearly didn't notice exactly how small she was getting. She went from multiple times his size, to his size, and then to a mere fraction of it. It was to the point where he could easily pick her up if he wanted to, and she must've not intended it given the look of puzzlement she gave when she opened her eyes.

"Oops." She smiled sheepishly, swimming closer to the shore to make up for the size change. "I guess I overdid it. I've never been quite that big before, so..."

He knelt down to be more level with her. Something registering with him, he wondered aloud, "So, you grew to that size last night? To—"

"I brought your ship to safety!" she confirmed with a grin. She leaned onto the sand with her hands pressed into it, her tail swishing around proudly. "I've been following you for a while to listen to the music you play, so I was nearby when the storm happened."

That both stunned him and made a lot of sense at the same time. It'd been recent, but whenever he played on the deck he could've sworn he'd heard humming beneath the water. He'd assumed he'd been imagining it, or that the sea was just responding in kind to his songs.

The latter wasn't entirely wrong, he supposed, but he hadn't expected a siren specifically to take a liking to their music.

As he stared down at the tiny siren, a crab entered his vision and scuttled across the sand towards her. She seemed so focused on him that she didn't seem to notice, and Luka barely had time to react when he saw one of the crab’s pincers open to get her.

He scooped her up in his hands, raising her above his head until the "threat" had passed. The siren, disoriented from the sudden movement, looked off of his hands to take in the sight of the crab.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking her over just in case he'd been too late somehow.

She stared up at him, eyes wide and blinking. "...You saved me."

"Huh?"

"I knew not all humans were bad." She clasped her hands together, beaming at him. "You helped me back!"

He relaxed - clearly, she wasn't harmed if she was reacting as she was. It touched him that she'd helped him despite having been told that she wouldn't get anything in return.

Remembering that he'd had yet to show his gratitude, he said, "It's the least I could do. Thank you for saving us."

"You're welcome!" she exclaimed. "Thank you too!"

She was really cute, even when she'd been a giant, and a few of her scales even seemed to shine with her mood. It was crazy thinking about how much danger the storm had caused him before he was saved by an adorable siren who liked his music.

"...Ah—" He paused as an urgent fact occurred to him. "You should be careful when you go back to the water."

She frowned, tilting her head up at him. "Why?"

"My mom's fishing right now."

"Oh!" She grinned, pushing herself up on his hand. "That's great!"

"It—" He tilted his head. "It is?"

"What? No! Fish are dumb." She waved off his statement with a hand, pouting in offense. "They keep glub-glubbing at me and it's rude."

"Ah. So they're not your friends or anything," he observed. Thinking about it, he supposed it was pretty illogical of him to consider that.

"No! They're food." She paused, then turned back towards the sea. "In fact..."

She prepped herself, then made a leap from his hand and back into the water. He waited, watching the sea in anticipation and half expecting her to come out giant-sized again when he heard her humming. He tried to watch for her form in the water, but she'd gone so deep that he couldn't see her anymore.

Then, not even a minute later, she swam back up. Half of her upper body emerged from the water and she'd regrown to be much closer to his size. "Catch!"

"What?"

Without warning, she reeled her arm back and threw something at him: a fish, which would’ve flopped right into his face had his instincts not kicked in. He grabbed it securely, ignoring the flopping in favor of looking out to her.

However, he didn't get to say anything before she dipped back under. He frowned, puzzled, then heard footsteps behind him and turned to see his mother approaching.

"Good catch, my boy!" she congratulated, taking the floppy fish and hoisting it over her shoulder. "How'd ye do it?"

"Uh—" Luka glanced back out at the sea, the siren still not showing herself. Nevertheless, his mother took the non-answer and headed back the way she came, already dealing with a bunch of fish she'd tied and was carrying under her other arm.

The siren came back up the moment she was gone, near the shore just as she'd been before. "How's that? Or do you prefer the fish with the little..." She wiggled her fingers at her cheeks.

"Catfish?"

"Is that what you humans call them?" She grinned, a few tiny fangs showing at the sides of her teeth. "They're tasty."

Luka had never been so intimidated yet fascinated before. He considered asking more about her, but deemed it too personal for a first meeting and asked instead, "Why did you hide when my mom came by?"

Her smile vanished, replaced but a hint of shyness. She drew small circles in the wet sand with her finger, replying, "W-well, I didn't really know how to greet any of you? I wanted to ask about your music and the things you use to play them, but I didn't know how. I don't even really have other siren friends, so..."

He could figure out the rest: one human was enough for her at the moment, at least emotionally. He could understand, and he was fine keeping her a secret for the time being.

Smiling reassuringly, he sat back down on the sand and patted his wet hands - damp from having scooped her up earlier - on his jacket before reaching for his guitar. "If you like my music so much, I could play for you?"

"Really?" she gasped.

He nodded. "Any requests?"

He giggled when she eagerly shuffled onto land to sit next to him, at least as well as a siren could sit. Her scales shimmered again, sparkling in her excitement.

"Mmm." She hummed in thought, rather than in song. "you played one yesterday before the storm hit; you've been playing it for a while too. How about that one?"

"Sure." He checked to make sure his guitar was tuned once more, thinking back on the melody from the previous day rather than the one forming in his head. "I'm Luka, by the way."

"Marinette," she introduced in kind. "Do you mind if I sing along? I think I've finally got it memorized."

"Please do."

He'd happily play for her whenever she wanted, especially if it meant getting to talk to her some more.

[mj-mcqueen]

Captain Damian Harlow (a pirate Aasimar- down to earth but goofy guy who has a deep respect for the sea and intuitive care for other people) and his crew pillaged a merchant ship made up of mostly half-orcs. As they kill and rob the ship and crew, they discover the human captain holding a baby Wyn they stole at some point. Captn Harlow killed the captain but decided to take in the Wyn and raise him on his ship.

He named him Kingsey Harlow.

As he was raised, Kingsey learned magic from the first mate, Grith (a human), who found Kingsey to be a troublesome nuisance, but over all admired the kid’s passion for magic (although he mostly used it to mess with other crew members and cause chaos). Kingsey and Captain Harlow were very close and fought and pillaged beside each other until Kingsey was around 20. That’s when a new crew member sparked unrest within the ship. The crew slit Grith’s throat as he slept and turned on Captain Harlow and Kingsey. These were people Kingsey knew his entire life. They fought back and hid in a lower cabin on the ship, using magic to conceal themselves; however, Harlow was bleeding out from a wound he suffered during the battle. As the ship turned to chaos, a violent storm turned outside. Harlow had always been fiercely loyal to the god Kyran, and the mutiny angered the god to cause a storm to destroy the villainous crew. Trapped in the cabin and slowly dying, Harlow encouraged and begged Kingsey to get to a boat and get away from the ship, hoping Kyran would assist his journey. After back and forth arguing, the ship is hit with massive tidal waves, crushing wood and sending water into the hull. Harlow opens the door to the cabin and shoves Kingsey out to escape, despite his protests. Another wave hits, washing him around and banging him into walls. After finally managing to get the the deck, yet another wave hits, crushing the boat. Kingsey is now in the sea, pounded with waves and rain. He nearly drowns. He holds onto a piece of drift wood, beginning to pass out from the exhaustion, terror, and lack of air (from almost drowning). Kingsey watches as the ship is entirely destroyed, killing everyone. He faints, and is groggily carried away. It takes 5 days to reach shore. He is hit with multiple storms and obstacles before then.

Since then, Kingsey has had a terrible fear of water and sailing. He’s been running around towns and roads, pick pocketing and selling things off at markets.

[monstersandmaw]

Laces for a lady?? Hello?? 👁👄👁

This is my poly story set in the 17th century smuggling heyday of Cornwall that got way out of hand. It was supposed to be a sweet, short story with a selkie, a bucca (sea spirit), and a young woman, and it just... went berserk and turned into a 17k word story...

Here's the very much WIP opening of it though, and a much longer extract of the two male love interests...

___

In the cold blue light of a spring dawn, hours before the first cockerel on land had even thought of announcing the start of the day, a cutter drew into the sheltering arms of a small bay at high tide and dropped anchor. In answer, a small, mismatched fleet of fishing boats set oar to water and moved out as one towards the waiting ship from Roscoff.

Between them, over the next few hours, the gathered men and women moved hundreds of half anker barrels and dozens of crates and boxes of goods ashore. This shipment of relatively small kegs were full of rich French cognac that would fetch a very pretty price, but along with it came tobacco and spiced tea, wrapped in oil cloth to keep the sea and the salt and the weather out, and a few cases of other, smaller luxuries like lace.

Flaskers waited ashore to heave two of the four-gallon barrels up the clamber from sand to hilltop with a keg affixed to the front and back of one shoulder while women carried boxes of tobacco and other smuggled goods until the ship rode high in the water and the locals had scurried away like ants with their haul.

Fifteen miles away as the sun breached the horizon and cast the first rays of warmth across the hedgerows and pastures, a stagecoach lurched and rumbled westward along potholed roads, carrying a nervous young woman to a new chapter of her life.

...

The storm had blasted away the muggy heat from the day before to leave a clear, fresh day and a blue sky. Just as she crested the clifftop at Rocky Point near an old stone cottage, and joined the path that ran the length of Cornwall from Landsend to Looe, she happened to glance down into the sandy cove below and gasped. There floating in the water, was the unmistakable shape of a man. He was face-up, and even at that distance, she thought he looked familiar.

Nel leapt off Blackthorn’s back, having no choice but to leave the mare untethered up on the windy cliff, and she skittered down the tiny, winding path towards the rocky shore below. A number of times she slipped and skidded on the loose grit, but eventually she hit the hard sand at a run and ploughed into the rough surf. It was Edmund Nancarrow, she realised as a wave hit her in the midsection and nearly swept her off her feet.

He had a wound on his forehead, though it had long since stopped bleeding, washed clean by the saltwater. His hair was loose and streamed like kelp around him as she hooked her arms under his and towed him towards the shore. She had no idea whether the tide was coming or going, but she dragged him as far as she could up the length of the beach until her arms were shaking from the strain of it, hauling him past the line of seaweed that indicated a normal high tide line, and carefully lowered him onto the sand.

Her chest burned and her limbs felt like lead, her clothing weighing her down like a ten tonne anchor, and she crashed to her knees on the wet sand beside him. Terrified that he would be dead, she pressed her fingertips to his pulse, and almost leapt back when she felt a steady, if slow, beat beneath his skin. “He’s alive…” she whispered, throat raw from catching a salt-wave straight to her face.

Breathing quickly, she looked about her and then up at the path. There was no way she could get him up there on her own, but as a drift of smoke wafted across the sky from the high horizon, she recalled the stone cottage. If memory served her, that was Locryn Trevethan’s home.

“Any port in a storm,” she mused with a wry, dark grimace to herself, and she staggered to her feet. Her skirts were soaked and heavy beyond belief, and she lost count of the number of times she tripped over them on the narrow, twisting path up the cliff. She had to stop twice just to catch her breath, and by the time she had scrabbled to the top of the path again she was dirty, sweaty, and covered in grit. Finally, she staggered over the rough ground at the top of the cliff and stood on the flagstone threshold of the quiet cottage. Hammering on the door felt like sacrilege to the peaceful place but she had little choice, and there was every chance that Edmund had little time, so she bashed her scuffed and bleeding fists on the door and yelled for help until it opened.

“Calm down, calm down,” a deep, gravelly voice rumbled as Locryn Trevethan pulled open the door to his house. “What in the —?”

“I need your help,” she said. “It’s Edmund. He’s hurt.”

At that, the snarling, unfriendly man’s face blanched and his expression showed open fear. “Where, lass?”

“On the beach,” she said and pointed. “He was floating face-up in the surf. I dragged him up the sand but I can’t get him up the cliff. He’s suffered a blow to the head, but he’s alive. Just.”

Ashen-faced, Locryn charged through the doorway like a winter storm, almost knocking her heedlessly off her feet as he passed, and in half the time it had taken her to reach the bottom, the stocky, older man was sprinting over the sand to where she’d left Edmund’s corpse-still body.

For a while, she watched from the clifftop as Locryn pumped his chest in a rhythmic motion, and when Edmund jerked and half-rolled sideways, Nel relaxed a fraction. A few minutes later, Locryn had scooped Edmund up and was marching back up the path again with him lying in his arms like a bride on her wedding day. Except Edmund looked pale to the point of death, and he was soaked through. He wore simple brown trousers and a linen shirt that stuck to every sharp angle of his skinny torso, and his head lolled in Locryn’s arms, hair dangling and dripping.

“Move,” Locryn growled as he reached the top of the path and found her half-blocking his way in her shock as she just stared at them and tried to stop shivering. The wind bit through her wet clothes as they clung horribly to her body. She skittered sideways and let him pass. He didn’t stop as he elbowed his front door open again and trudged in, heedless of the sand he tracked in from his boots.

Nel hung back awkwardly in the doorway, watching as Locryn laid Edmund down on top of his covers and inspected the wound in his hairline. “Can you hear me?” she heard him rumble and watched as Edmund’s eyelids flickered.

“My mare is a little way off,” she said. “I can ride for a doctor if —”

“No,” Locryn barked, straightening from his stoop over the bed to glare at her. “No need.”

“You’re sure?”

He lifted his lip at her and she held up her scraped palms.

“I’m only trying to help,” she said, fighting off tears of shock more than anything else. She hugged her arms around her middle to stop herself falling apart in front of the gruff stranger, and she sucked her cheek to keep from crying.

At that, Locryn’s whole demeanour changed. His massive shoulders sagged and he let his head hang. “I know,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. Come here then. Draw up a chair and hold his head while I try and get him to drink something. He’ll be alright.”

___

Hope you liked it!!

[saphabee]

Ship and Anchor.

Corey x Vinny oneshot. The night he fell in love.

teehee idk man im tryin to write again. and this night always replays in my brain. it was this or the housefire 👍

———

He's worried about the fisherman.

Since late afternoon the bee had awaited Vincent's return, distracted. The vibe was off... He could feel in the air that it was due to rain soon, and he couldn't imagine that boat doing so well if it turned out to be a rough storm. As it got darker he'd tried to cook some potatoes for storage and, putting out the furnace, had ignored a loose spark. It was stamped out fast, but that one moment of panic was enough to intensify his worrying.

Night fell, sky darkening with blues. Grey clouds rolling steadily over the stars. Pacing with mild buzzing as he fretted. Thoughts brewing. He tried to organise his chests to take his mind off it. Stepping outside, looking at the ocean's ever darkening horizon, feeling his yellow fuzz fluff up in the ramping humidity of the looming rain. Soon he felt the first heavy drops fall, thick splashes against his arms leaning on the fence, ushering him back in.

Vinny had never been out so late. At least, not on his own. There'd been times the homebase had been together well into night, like for campfires and stargazing, or just hanging out and chatting at each other's houses. And of course, he and Vinny had stayed up past nightfall together plenty of times before. Cozy memories, but...

Corey was worried.

As rain fell heavy against the wood of the house, he kept up his distracting movements. Rifling through the chests downstairs, looking out of the windows. Glancing at the damaged carpet, but not moving to fix it. The wild pattering sounds bringing to mind images of the fisherman sailing in such bad weather.

Another hour passed. Then two. Night still darkening the clouded sky.

Mind racing, he almost couldn't believe it when he saw a faint solid blip on the shifting waters.

All dark thoughts dashed, he ran to the door, beneath the little awning, peering out, blue eyes sheilded by his hand as he squinted to see.

It was him.

The familiar little boat came into view. White sails first in the dark, translucent with rain. Little mast, the body of the boat, wood dark, waves pelting against it - And Vinny. Soaking wet in the rain, approaching their little pier. Turning the helm fast back and forth, feathering, to slow the boat.

Corey already found himself running to the pier, having hopped over their fence without thinking. Bare feet against tamped grass path, then wet wood. After waiting hours this way, the relief made the return feel lightning fast.

The boat creaked as it pulled up to the pier. Anchor splashed into the water, it took a moment, then the vessel jerked to a halt with practiced timing. The bee in turn screeched to a slippery halt on the dock, eyes betraying his worry as the dim light from their nearby house illuminated the villager.

Clothes soaked. Thick wool heavy with water. His hair was down, a complete mess. He'd lost his hat. And as he set the boat's steering in place with a steady thunking lock, and looked at the bee on the pier, Corey could see how utterly exhausted he was.

All rush was tamped down. A soft sigh, and he held out his arms, stepping forward. Vinny, movements slow with the wash of relief, reached over too. He was pulled gently from the boat. Another sheet of heavy rain hammered down, drilling into their already wet clothes, and Corey guided him to the light of their little house.

———

Vin made some murmur about getting water everywhere, stopping short as he took a step in. Corey looked back. Stars above, it was comforting and pitiful all at once. Some determined part of him pinged, seeing Vin so tired and soaked. Determined to get him sorted out.

The bee shook his head and gestured for Vin to come in anyway. Heading to the chests to grab wood, then to the furnace to start up the fire again.

As busy as a bee could be, he mumbled that he'd get Vinny some dry clothes, and for him to get warm. The poor guy'd been stood still at the doorway as Corey practically flew around to take care of him. He gave a gentle nod, and Corey zoomed up the stairs.

He didn't step in yet. Already relieved enough just being home, his movements had a steady slowness. Removing his outer coat. Then the wool sweater. Both heavy, dripping.

By the time Corey had gotten fresh clothes for him, his removed upper clothes were aside on the counter, shoes off, and he was wringing out his mess of hair by the open door. Still trying his tired best not to get the floors too wet.

Corey stopped short on the bottom step. He wasn't hurt, it seemed, so he just needed to get dry, maybe eat... Seeing his villager friend still being so considerate when he's in such a state, his heart warmed.

But he saw the man shiver, and hopped back into action.

———

Not too long later, and Vinny was much more comfortable. Door shut tight, and in dry clothes. His messy hair and dark skin were still soaked with the rain, but Corey had a plan for that: The furnace, steadily crackling now.

Corey had turned respectfully away as he'd changed by the door, and as he stepped finally into the house proper, Corey stayed looking to the furnace flames. Head turning, to speak over his shoulder gently.

"You okay..?"

Vinny nodded, blinking slowly. Tired brain catching up to remind him Corey was still looking at the furnace, he hummed instead, a soft affirmative noise.

Corey stood from his kneeling position, turning to see Vin again. He looked considerably comfier now, even having a gentle smile, easing the last bit of worry in the bee to a comfort of his own. He stepped aside, gesturing to the furnace.

"C'mon. Let's get you dry."

Vinny stepped forward slowly, taking his time to sit on the dry carpet in front of the fire. Cross legged, hands reaching forward into the warmth escaping the cobble. Corey breathed out, seeing Vin's half-lidded eyes blink slowly as he warmed up.

"You hungry?" His head tilted slightly, standing at Vin's side. It took a few moments for his response, but Vin gave a small nod. Then his outstretched hands pulled into himself, turning to face the other. Voice drawn out. "Mn- You don't need to-" Too late. Corey had already dashed to their chests, bringing out some fish to cook. A gentle grateful smile cracked across his face. Corey was always so eager to help. He was sweet.

He stepped over, Vin leaning back lightly to allow Corey to put the fish in the furnace. It was salmon, too, already on a stick to cook. Thank goodness. It's hard to go wrong with salmon, and Corey himself would admit he wasn't the best cook when it came to cooking things that weren't sweet. That kind of made sense. Corey being good at making things sweet.

The bee smoothed down his shirt over his fuzz as he thought about what else he could do. Blankets? Vin might want to wait until he's fully dry... That'd mean drying his hair too.

Right. His hair. He glanced over it. Still soaked wet, with loose locks of deep red-brown and gradient black loosely bunching and curling out. Wind swept and flat. He'd wringed it out by the door, but it might have tangled even worse because of it.

Vinny leaned forward again, arms folding against his chest. He seemed to tune in to Corey's gaze, a hand lifting to run through his hair. Then wincing, as it immediately caught on tangles.

The bee knelt beside him.

"Can I..?"

The fisherman paused, processing the question. He still looked so tired, green eyes blinking slow, expression hazy. He moved without a yes or no. The softest, genuine smile, eyes closing as he shifted in front of the fireplace. Hands reached and moved his hair together at his back, then rested on his knees, and the man turned to allow the other to help.

Knelt behind him, Corey worked slow. Having done this a few times now, he didn't bother going to get a brush. One hand held the wet hair together, holding it in place so it didnt pull at the head, and his fingers worked from the blackened bottom to untangle the thick hair. Diligent and careful.

The moment was far too soft, really. Rain thundered against the house wood. Soft crackling of the fire, the orange light illuminating and highlighting them to the right. Corey could feel Vin relaxing steadily; head tilting back just a bit. Breathing steady and even. All that worry and stress melting effortlessly away, together.

Eventually, the small hands worked loose the last of the knots in the strands. Dark wet hair finally manageable again, and Vinny fully comfortable. His skin had dried now, warmth seeping across him with ease, fire and present company working in tandem. Pure sunshine, in the dead of night.

Corey ran his fingers through the length of the hair a couple more times. Absentmindedly, a soothing motion for the both of them. He heard Vin give a soft sigh. The usual urge to fiddle and braid it popped up, but he resisted, instead scrunching it gently from the bottom to bring out the curls as Vin usually did himself.

The fish was almost cooked by now, probably. He glanced to the side, keeping an eye on it, having just remembered it. Vin piped up. Corey could hear the sleepiness seeping through the slow words. "Needs another minute..."

So homely.

He let the hair alone now, Vinny turning mildly to face the furnace again as Corey stretched his own hands to dry them. Wet with rain after all the hair fixing. They could see each other in their peripheral vision. Big blue eyes blinking slow. Fisherman's head tilting just slightly to the bee's side. Both settled, for the minute needed for the food to be ready.

Corey shuffled forward, moment passing. He spotted Vince shifting back onto his knees. To allow him more room, so he could stand. Even this tired, the two were in sync.

He did, standing swiftly aside to get a plate and fork. Then on one knee, back in front of the furnace. He reached in gingerly, blowing against the hot air to allow his hand to grab the fish by the stick. It was a little hot, but it was manageable, he'd gotten better handling heat lately, with all the group's traveling to the Nether. Cooked fish on the plate. He turned to see Vinny again.

The man had moved, and was currently sat back, legs turned aside. His left arm and head leaning against the crafting table carefully, stormy green eyes barely even open. The light from the fire flickered, highlighting colours, bringing out the reds in his hair, and the dark freckles along his face.

Handsome.

The bee blinked off the thought. Moved closer on his knees, Vin's attention perking again. Eyes open, at least halfway. Sleepy enough now that everything felt fuzzy, in that lovely way where you could fall asleep anywhere.

Fork picked up, plate alongside it offered over for the other to take, and eat. A bite already on there. Corey brought the utensil and plate close to the fisherman.

Vin barely hesitated. Leaning, head tipping down easily, tilting to match the angle. Graceful. Eyes closed, loose wet hair falling to frame his face, he just. Ate the bite off the fork.

Something about that motion, that image before him, made some new feeling shoot through Corey like lightning.

He froze, eyes blinking wider. What was that..?

A pause.

And the scene continued.

Relaxing, with a breath out. Corey shrugged in his mind, shock thawing with a familiar warmth in his chest. Ah, well. Vinny's had a long day. What was the harm in feeding him. Effortless, business as usual. Admiring the scene, with that new emotion tugging at him.

There, before the flickering fire, a bee fed a sleepy villager. Storm brewing outside. Flame stoked. Anchor and ship.

💛🐝

[elm-writes-stories]

Cuphead: Isle of Shadows (Rewrite)

*Hey guys! I'm back with another episode of Cuphead: Isle of Shadows Rewrite. This is published on August 14, 2023. If you guys like this chapter/episode, don't be afraid to vote and comment! That would be great! Enjoy!*

Episode Eleven: The Chef's Ingredients

Mugman’s body was numb to the cold.

He could feel something developing inside of him, almost like another set of lungs…or gills? He gasped as his eyes shot opened. He started to breathe…underwater? Mugman looked up to the surface and saw the rough waves clashing throughout the storm. He blinked and saw the pieces of the ferry boat sinking towards the bottom of the ocean faster than his group were.

Mugman watched his friends and family drifting in the ocean, blacked out. The young mug breathed heavily in fear. Are they dead? He didn’t know what happened until his vision went blue again. He didn’t know what was going on, but he could feel lips moving and the strange words he spoke causing the water underneath the raging storm to move.

“Cape nos ad litus.

Cape nos ad litus.”

Mugman tried to understand what he…himself…was saying. His ears foreign to the language until it was translated the more the language repeated itself.

“Take us to the shore.

Take us to the shore.”

Mugman could feel something moving him. He was too paralysed to look, but he could tell it was huge, bigger than any fish he’d seen. Mugman could feel himself slipping towards the back as he finally managed to see what it was that was carrying him. It was a whale…strangely…with its eyes glowing blue like Mugman’s. He looked to see more whales coming into the scene with their eyes bright blue like Mugman’s, carrying his friends and family. It was almost like the whales were controlled by him, carrying them all towards the shore. Was this all a weird dream? He wouldn’t know. 

~.~

Mugman gasped heavily, his chest heaving. He coughed out the water and sat up on the sand, his body trembling. He could feel his nose bleeding against and wiped the blood off. He blocked the sunlight with his hand. He looked out onto the ocean to see the storm ahead of him. He blinked to realize they were at the other side of the storm and glanced down at the others who were laying on the sand with him.

Mugman gasped to find his brother groaning awake. “Cuphead. Cuphead!”

Cuphead groaned. “Huh? What just happened—?” He looked down to notice Natalie laying on his chest. With a blush, he moved her off of him gently and patted her head.

King Dice sat up with a groan until he noticed sand on his damped purple suit. “Ugh! Dang sand! Now, I need to get this to the cleaners—” He looked out into the ocean and blinked in confusion. “Wait, are we—dead? How in the world did we get here?”

Mugman rubbed his head. “That’s a bit hard to explain.”

Soon, Ribby and Croaks raised their heads with groans.

“Did we make it?” Croaks uttered while they looked around the shore to see pieces of their ferry boat washed up on the beach.

“Our boat! It’s destroyed!” Ribby cried.

“You sayin’ it’s my fault?!” Croaks barked at his brother.

“So what if I did?!”

The imaginary bell rang as Ribby and Croaks started to punching each other, waking Captain Brineybeard up from next to them.

“Argh, will ye two stop fightin’ ‘n--wait, where are we?” Brineybeard questioned his surroundings. “How did we end up here?”

Chalice and Canteen sat up from the sand, their hands holding until they noticed and blushed.

Chalice smirked at him. “You know if you wanna hold my hand, you could’ve just asked.”

Canteen swiftly moved his hand away from hers, blushing madly. “Wha—?! Oh, I…that, uh, I wasn’t trying to hold your hand or anything—”

While Canteen was stuttering with Chalice smirking at him, Porkrind, Elder Kettle, Jerry, Natalie, and Murray got up from the sand with Porkrind spitting the sand out.

“Goodness…what just happened?” Jerry uttered before looking around the shore. “Wait, are we in the other island?”

“I guess…” Porkrind looked to not find Cassidy. “Cassi…CASSI?!”

“Cassi? CASSI?!” Mugman screamed in fear.

Natalie looked around for her baby sister. “Aurora?! Aurora?!”

Aurora popped out of her sister’s bubbled brown hair. “Sissy!”

Natalie brightly smiled and lifted Aurora off of her hair. “Aurora! You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Nope, I’m fine!” Aurora replied happily.

Natalie hugged her. “Oh man, that was so scary.”

“CASSI?! WHERE ARE YOU?!?” Porkrind called for his daughter.

“I’m right here.”

Everyone turned to see Cassidy perching on the pier on the beach.

“I went to dry myself off. Sorry,” Cassidy asked with a blush.

“CASSI!” Mugman pounced on her on the pier, causing the group to widened their eyes in shock.

“Phew,” Porkrind sighed in relief.

Cassidy giggled at Mugman snuggling her. “Aww, I’m okay. I’m okay, Mugs.”

“I’m so happy you’re safe,” Mugman said while snuggling her.

Chalice looked up at the sign and gasped in happiness. “Guys! We’re in Inkwell Village!”

Everyone looked at the sign with her.

“Meaning…?” Porkrind uttered.

“Meaning that we’re safe here,” Chalice responded.

Natalie clenched her teeth. “Oh boy.”

“What?” Murray asked Natalie.

“Mom is here. She has a bakery over there,” Natalie pointed out.

“Let’s go to it!” Cassidy replied while hugging her boyfriend and cuddling with him with purrs. “Maybe your mom knows about the Night Stalkers situation and can help us out.”

“Cassi, you give Mom way too much credit,” Natalie responded with a bit of sass in her tone.

“Why not try?” Dice uttered. “Maybe we could convince her. If that doesn’t work, Murray can get into her memories and paralyze her.”

“What?” Murray responded with confusion.

“Aye, great idea! Check t’ see if Natalie’s mom will take us in. I’ll help Ribby ‘n Croaks rebuild thar ferry. Let us know if thar’s a safe galleon where we could stay at,” Brineybeard suggested for the group.

“Well, what are we waitin’ for? Let’s go!” Cuphead responded excitedly.

Natalie sighed deeply and carried Aurora in her arms. “Okay. Just…act proper around her please.”

Natalie led the group away from the shore.

“What does she mean by acting proper?” Murray said with a brow raised.

Elder Kettle shrugged his shoulders. The group went up to follow Natalie and Aurora while Captain Brineybeard stayed behind to help Ribby and Croaks rebuild their ferry. 

~.~

The group walked through the village, standing out from the amount of sand stuck on their wet clothes and seaweed in either their hairs or their ceramic heads.

There were two bakeries across from each other. One of them led into the forest at the back and the other one was blended into the village. Natalie led the group to the bakery that was near the woods. She stood in front of the door and looked at the window displaying “We’re Closed” sign. She jiggled the knob to see that it was locked.

“Figures,” Natalie sighed and put Aurora down. She knocked on the door with the group standing behind her. She waited anxiously while Aurora held her sister’s hand to comfort her.

There were footsteps coming up to the door and the locks clicked. The door opened to reveal a woman cup with bags under her eyes and brown bubbly hair that was messy like Natalie’s.

“Mama!” Aurora replied happily.

“Oh my gosh! Aurora, what happened to you?!” Natalie’s mother gasped and leaned down, cleaning Aurora’s face.

“We god indo a huge sdowm an we ended up hewe!” Aurora replied with a big grin on her face.

“Ugh, now look at you two, you’re so dirty and—Natalie, what have you been eating? You’ve gained weight,” Natalie’s mother responded while cleaning Natalie’s face as well.

“I’ve tried to exercise,” Natalie uttered defensively.

“Well, try harder,” her mother responded. “Remember how I taught you to measure your food? Have you done that?”

“I have. Plenty of times, Mom,” Natalie said with a groan.

“There’s no need to squabble,” her mother replied. “I’m only looking out for the best of you and—is that a chip on your head?!”

“WHAT?!” Natalie gasped in fear while her mother tilted her head forward.

“Oh no, no, no, Natalie, your beauty won’t recover from this chip,” her mother said with a sigh.

“Hey, she ain’t that bad-looking,” Cuphead spoke up, earning a screech from her mother.

Natalie turned to see Cuphead standing by her. “Um…Mom…this is my friend, Cuphead.”

“Friend? Please, don’t tell me you’re still friends with that—”

“Hi, Ms. Ruth,” Cassidy uttered with a wave at her.

“Great, you’re still friends with that burden,” her mother groaned, earning glares from Porkrind and Jerry.

“You know, you don’t have to make it so obvious that you hate my daughter, Tabitha,” Porkrind growled at Tabitha, Natalie’s mother, while pulling Cassidy beside him.

“Oh, hello, swine,” Tabitha sneered. “I thought you and your little family of peasants would’ve been dead by now by the Night Stalkers, especially along with that burden of the daughter of yours.”

Mugman glared at Tabitha, his eyes turned yellow with red irises. Before he could attack Tabitha, he was held back by Canteen, Murray, and Cuphead.

“Not yet, Mugsy,” Cuphead determined.

“Alright, alright, why don’t we all calm down for a second?” Elder Kettle responded. “Look, uh, Ms. Ruth, we need a place to stay. Do you think you could let us stay for at least one night?”

“Ugh, not while you all look like that,” Tabitha said, looking at the group disgusted.

Chalice put her fists on her hips. “Well, excuse us for being so dirty. If you have running showers, maybe we could clean ourselves and live up to your standards of perfection.”

“And let the drain be clogged up by so much dirt? I don’t think so,” Tabitha responded with sass.

King Dice plastered a smile. “Tabitha, look, we are in a situation with the Night Stalkers…you know, they’re going to kill all of us if we don’t, you know, hide. So…if you can kindly give us someplace or point us to the direction we need to go to be safe if you won’t take us in.”

“Please, Mom, they’re my friends,” Natalie pleaded.

“No,” Tabitha said. “They’re all peasants. I can’t believe they dragged you and Aurora into this situation.”

“They didn’t. I let them in the house,” Natalie said.

“You did what?!” Tabitha yelled. “What did I tell you about letting in complete strangers?!”

“They’re not strangers! They’re my friends!” Natalie growled.

“Then pick better friends. So far, you have peasants and that burden as your friend,” Tabitha argued back with her daughter.

Mugman growled, his teeth sharp while he lunged towards Tabitha, but was held back by Cuphead, Chalice, Canteen, Cassidy, and Murray.

“Whoa, calm down, Mugsy!” Cuphead shouted.

“No, let him go, I wanna see what happens,” King Dice responded.

“Ugh! What are you, a rabid dog?!” Tabitha uttered in disgust.

“Yeah, you might not want to insult Cassidy in front of him since they’re together,” Natalie warned her mother.

“Yeah, I’m not letting that thing in my bakery,” Tabitha growled while pulling Natalie and Aurora into the bakery. “Find somewhere else to stay.”

“Mom!” Natalie shouted.

Tabitha shut the door with Natalie and Aurora inside of her bakery.

“Well, that didn’t go well,” Dice said with a groan.

“Plan B!” Chalice determined once Mugman settled down and breathed heavily to calm himself.

Mugman’s eyes went back to normal as the group saw Chalice running off.

“I know another place where we might get help!” Chalice determined.

The group hurried after Chalice to wonder where they were being led to next.

~.~

The group went to another bakery in the village square as Chalice opened the door to the other bakery. She peeked and gestured fore everyone to follow her.

“Hello, is anyone home?!” Chalice called while the cup brothers caught up with her.

“Huh, no one is here,” Mugman assumed.

“Either that, or he’s busy with something. He’s usually packed with customers,” Chalice replied.

“Who’s he?” Canteen questioned.

“He’s the famous Chef Saltbaker…well, famous in this town,” Chalice replied with a bright grin. “Everyone here knows him.”

“Even Tabitha?” Porkrind questioned.

“I guess so. They were competing each other right now and Chef Saltbaker won by a landslide,” Chalice responded.

They approached the front counter with Cuphead peeking over.

“Hello?! Is anyone here?!” Cuphead called. He noticed the bell and started to ring it annoyingly until it broke from his uncontrollable strength. “Oops.”

“Hold your horses! Man, I only get one minute of break and y’all would come running to me—” The anthropomorphic saltshaker with the chef’s hat entered the room with a tired sigh. The chef gasped to see Chalice at the front counter. “Chalice?!”

“Chef!” Chalice responded with a bright grin and leaped into the chef’s arms, who laughed in joy.

“Oh, Chalice, it had been some time since I’ve seen you last!” Saltbaker responded. “How are things back in the big city? Not too much I hope.”

“Oh, great! How are things here in the bakery?” Chalice questioned with a bright smile.

“Oh, a bit difficult at times. But, you know, now that you’re here, I’m working on a special ingredient just for you and your new friends! Give ole Saltbaker a second!” The chef said while entering back in the kitchen.

Dice nodded his head. “He seems fine.”

“I don’t know…he seems a bit too jolly for my taste,” Porkrind responded with a brow raised.

“Yeah,” Jerry whispered.

Murray nodded his head in agreement.

“Oh, you guys can be so cynical sometimes,” Elder Kettle responded. “He seems super nice.”

“I wouldn’t be fooled by his super niceness,” Porkrind replied with distrust.

Saltbaker came back with the plate of cookies and a grand smile on his face.

“Cookies?!” the kids gasped in delight as Saltbaker laid the cookies in front of them.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in,” Saltbaker responded happily.

The kids started to dig in the cookies except for Cassidy, who rubbed her arm shyly.

Saltbaker noticed and leaned on the counter to look at her. “You okay? You don’t like cookies?”

“Oh…um…I’m allergic to sugar,” Cassidy informed the chef.

“Oh! Well, that’s fine and dandy. We got cats in this area who’s allergic to sugar. Soooo, I made sugar-free cookies instead for cats like you!” Chef Saltbaker said while pulling out another plate of cookies that were ‘sugar-free’.

Cassidy sniffed the cookies and ate one of the cookies, her mouth melting at the taste. She started to eat some more, the taste becoming addicting.

Saltbaker smiled with glee and looked at the adults. “Would you gentlemen like anything to eat? The options here are endless.”

“It’s no wonder you beat the Ruth bakery by a landslide, you have too many options to choose,” Elder Kettle responded with glee while looking at all the sweets displayed.

“Aw, I wouldn’t brag. Believe it or not, Tabitha Ruth was once my apprentice,” Saltbaker indicated. “I would say she’s still learning. The problem with her cooking was not that any of her stuff tastes bad. They tasted delicious, don’t get me wrong. But…she doesn’t make them with heart and soul. She gets weary after cooking for a while…not that I blame her in anyway. One gets tired from cooking after a while. Especially if you get the townspeople demanding you to make pastries left and right every single day and screaming and yelling at you to ‘hurry up’ and such. Gets irritating after a while…very irritating.”

Saltbaker said the last part darkly with yellow irises in his eyes before clearing his throat and his irises went back to normal. “Anyhow, no one appreciates good cooking anymore.”

“I appreciate your cooking,” Cassidy said innocently.

“Aww, that’s very sweet of you,” Saltbaker replied with a soft smile. “You’re the first person I heard that from for a long while. Anyhow, enough of this ole chef’s rambling, how are you kids enjoying the cookies?”

“Pretty good—” Mugman’s head twitched, causing him to breathe heavily. He could feel Tremaine acting up again inside of him. He tried to be calm, but his friends and family started to notice, including Saltbaker.

“What’s going on with him?” Saltbaker asked with a brow raised.

Chalice clenched her teeth. “Did you hear anything about what’s happening in the big city?”

Saltbaker shook his head. “Too busy to really listen to the radio. What’s going on over there?”

“Well,” Chalice began to explain. “There’s a cult called the Night Stalkers and they were killin’ people left and right. One of them managed to inject Mugman with Tremaine.”

“Tremaine?” Saltbaker questioned.

“Yeah, it’s a chemical that makes you go insane,” Cuphead added.

“And makes you into a monster you didn’t want to be,” Mugman responded sadly, looking away.

Saltbaker clenched his jaw. “Oh my. It sounds dangerous.” He turned around to rub his chin for a second until a grin spread across his face. Saltbaker turned back around to face the group. “You know, there might be something that will help get this Tremaine chemical out of ya.”

“Really?!” the kids gasped in happiness.

“Have any of you ever heard of a Wondertart?” Saltbaker asked.

The group shook their heads.

“Weeell, let me tell you. The Wondertart proves to be just as delicious and delectable as all the dishes. It will grant any wish you make once you take a bite and one bite only. If Mugman desires, he could have a bite of this wonderful Wondertart and wished Tremaine away.”

“A-And it will go away for good?” Mugman uttered in pure disbelief.

“If so desire, yes,” Saltbaker replied. “You got to be specific with your wish though. You only get one.”

Mugman’s smile brightened. “You hear that, guys?! I might get Tremaine out of me!”

“You think you can make that for us?” Chalice asked Saltbaker.

“Well, I would, but I don’t have the ingredients for it. I tried to get it from the others, but, uh, they think I’m insane for bringing up the Wondertart. Here are the lists of ingredients I need to make this,” Saltbaker said while showing the kids the ingredients.

“Distillery Dough. Pineapple Mint. Desert Limes. Gnome Berries. And Icy Sugar Cubes?” Canteen said while reading the ingredients.

“Yes,” Saltbaker answered. “You should get the Gnome Berries from Glumstone up in the mountains. The Icy Sugar Cubes are being kept by Mortimer…that ole stubborn goat. Good luck convincing him to give away the cubes. The Howling Aces should have the Pineapple Mint and Esther should have the Desert Limes. Oh! The Moonshine Mob had a secret underground bunker where they kept all the Distillery Dough. Good luck trying to get them to hand over the dough without a fight.”

“Are you sure this will help Mugman?” Murray questioned.

“Oh, by a lot. Think about it, your son won’t have to suffer under Tremaine anymore. Wouldn’t that be great?!” Saltbaker replied to Murray, almost like he was selling him something.

“I don’t think I trust this,” Murray uttered.

“Please, Dad,” Mugman replied.

Murray could see the look in his son’s eyes, his body trembling from Tremaine trying to take control of him earlier. Murray sighed heavily. “Alright. We’ll get you the Wondertart.”

“We should split up. It makes the whole trip faster,” Chalice suggested.

“Then meet back here?” Cuphead asked excitedly.

“Yep! Let’s go!” Chalice replied as the group hurried out of the bakery, not knowing that Saltbaker cornered a wicked grin behind them. 

~.~

Murray didn’t like to be separated from his boys after being separated from them for so long. He didn’t even trust King Dice with Cuphead when they decided to split up. Of course, King Dice wasn’t even thrilled to have Cuphead stick by him. However, Murray knew that if anything happened, his boys had their own unique powers to protect themselves with. With that being said, Murray was stuck with Canteen.

“Sooo, the Howling Aces are this way,” Canteen muttered to himself. “We might have to plan to fight them just in case. Hey, what can you do? I saw you fight before. What did you do that one assassin?”

Murray scratched the back of his head. “Well, I can get into people’s memories and look into their past. Sometimes, when fighting them, I go into their most torturous parts of their past and use it against them. They would stay in it for a while.”

“Ooh, you can use that against them if it ever came down to it,” Canteen said with a bit of fascination. “Wait…where did you even get these powers?”

Murray shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Ever since I was born, I always had this ability whether I meant to use it or not.”

“Interesting and fascinating. Did your parents ever tell you where it came from?”

Murray rubbed the hole where his missing eye was. “I don’t remember. I can only remember half of my life. Luckily, I remembered the half where my boys were born.”

“Oh…that’s…your eye—”

“Was shot out of my own head by Hunter Manson himself.”

“Geez,” Canteen said nervously. They walked towards the base where the Howling Aces were presumedly at. “Okay, we’re here…should we—?”

“Oi, who are you?!”

Canteen and Murray jumped and looked up to see the bulldog up on top of the roof, jumping down on his combat brown boots. He cracked his muscles and headed towards them both.

“You must have been new here. Haven’t you read the sign?” the bulldog soldier said while pointing at the sign that said ‘No trespassing’.

“Uh…we didn’t see it on the way here…uh, we apologized,” Canteen said while sweating from the sides of his head.

“Bulldog,” they heard a female voice calling out for the bulldog in front of them. They watched the slender saluki dog coming besides Bulldog, wearing a yellow uniform.

“Take it easy,” she said. “You’re going to strain yourself gettin’ angry like that.” She then looked at Murray and Canteen. “Sorry about Bulldog…he can be very territorial. The name’s Sergeant O’Fera. How can I help you?”

“Canteen Hughes,” Canteen introduced himself nervously. “And that’s Murray.”

“Murray Cup,” Murray added, rubbing the back of his head with a blush.

She craned her neck up to look at Murray. “Aren’t you a tall fella? What do you boys need?”

“Um…well, we were wondering if you guys have, um, Pineapple Mint,” Murray inquired.

“Oh, is that so? Yeah, you can have it,” O’Fera replied with a nod. “Cooking something special with it?”

“Oh…uh, yeah. Sort of,” Murray uttered nervously with his face turning more red.

O’Fera nodded her head in understanding. “I’ll be back with the Pineapple Mint.”

Both Murray and Canteen blinked in shock. They watched Sergeant O’Fera walked away for a moment and then come back with the Pineapple Mint in the red dog dish.

“Here you go,” Sergeant O’Fera replied in a friendly tone. “Don’t worry, we got plenty of it in storage for everyone in the village.”

“Oh, thank you,” Murray said with a friendly smile.

She exchanged a smile back at him and looked at Bulldog. “C’mon, Bulldog, we got a plane to repair.”

Bulldog nodded his head and followed O’Fera back to base.

“I was not expecting that,” Canteen whispered after the dogs walked away.

“We should get going,” Murray suggested.

Canteen nodded his head in agreement and they both walked away from the Howling Aces base.

~.~

Cassidy and Porkrind headed up the mountains, tiptoeing up the to the snow until they encountered gnomes mining a face made of stone. Both the father and daughter duo looked to see a small garden where the Gnome Berries were grown. Before they could reach it, they were noticed by one of the gnomes.

“Hey, it’s a cat!!!” one of the gnomes called the other gnomes.

The other gnomes looked to see the red feline.

“It’s a red one!”

“Get her!”

Porkrind and Cassidy gasped in shock when the gnomes hurried towards them, only to grab Cassidy and took her over to where they were mining at.

“HEY! YOU LET HER GO YOU—!!!”

“Oh my gosh, she’s so soft,” one of the gnomes said, petting her head. This shocked Porkrind before he could jump and kick gnomes off of her.

Cassidy was also shocked by how it turned out, afraid that the gnomes would throw her off the mountain.

“Aww, gee, she’s so cute! Look at her fluffy face!” the other gnome gasped while caressing her fluffy cheek.

“And her tail is the fluffiest!” the gnome near her tail squealed.

“Can we keep her, Glumstone?! Can we keep her?!” The lead gnome asked excitedly.

The stone broke off, revealing a face of the giant with his head shaped like mountain tops that would fool anyone into thinking there were more mountain tops. Cassidy and Porkrind widened their eyes in shock at the monstrosity in front of them.

“Ugh, what’s the hold-up now—? Oh, why hello there, little kitty,” the giant, Glumstone, greeted with a big warm smile.

“Can we keep her, please?!” the lead gnome begged.

“Hi,” Cassidy uttered in a friendly tone. “I-I’m Cassidy.”

“SHE TALKS!!!” the other gnome gasped in shock.

Glumstone sighed in discouragement and glanced at Cassidy. “Forgive them. It’s not often we see people coming up here.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Cassidy replied with a small friendly smile. “We don’t mean to intrude.”

“Oh, well, that’s quite alright. The gnomes would love to have you visit up the mountains. Heck, you can come to my puppet shows if you want,” Glumstone offered with a smile.

“I’m sure that sounds fun, but…um…I wanna say about the gnome berries. Is it okay if we can take them?” Cassidy asked.

The gnomes nodded their heads excitedly.

“Yeah, yeah! We’ll get basket for you right now!” the lead gnome stated as the other gnomes hurried over to the small garden and put the gnome berries into the basket and gave it to Porkrind.

“Hey, if you ever get the time, we’re going to need seeds to plant the gnome berries again,” Glumstone commented.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Cassidy replied. “Thank you so much, Glumstone.”

“Why, thank you. And hey, don’t you be afraid to come up here and watch the puppet show! The gnomes would love to have you there!” Glumstone called.

“Thanks, Glumstone! I’ll be sure to be there,” Cassidy replied while hurrying with her father. The gnomes and Glumstone bid Cassidy goodbye as they were walking away.

“Wow, I was not expecting that,” Porkrind whispered to his daughter.

“Let’s be glad that we don’t have to fight a giant and his army of gnomes over the gnome berries,” Cassidy replied.

Porkrind nodded his head in agreement.

~.~

Cuphead could feel his body burning up from both inside and outside walking through the hot desert with King Dice. King Dice was sweating from all over the place, his suit damped again from his sweat.

“Why did we choose to go to the desert?” Dice complained while wiping the sweat off of his brow. “Or why did I choose to come with you?”

“Eeeh, maybe you want to take my soul to the Devil?” Cuphead guessed.

“As much as that would be a great opportunity to do that, I don’t have anything that could bring your soul to him,” Dice grumbled and wiped the sweat off of his brow. “Besides, you might burn me alive before I could even catch you.”

“Maaaybe.” Cuphead smirked at Dice and then shape-shifted in Devil. “Oh, Dice~! You have been such a good number one for me. And because you have been such a good number one for me, I’ll give you a little treat.”

Dice gave Cuphead a deadpan stare. “You ain’t gonna fool me into thinkin’ you’re Big D.”

“Yeah, uh, why are you callin’ him Big D?” Cuphead, as Devil, said while looking down. “He doesn’t look like he has a big di—”

“OKAY!!! Why don’t we just focus on gettin’ those desert limes and not scare the citizens by you pretending to be the Devil?!”

Cuphead was transformed back to his normal self. “Oh, no problem, I can be your twin.” He shape-shifted to King Dice, freaking out the real King Dice next to him. “Oh hello there, good-looking~. How’s it hangin’?”

Dice sighed heavily. “I hate you right now.”

“Oh, you know you love me because I am you,” Cuphead, as King Dice, teased.

“Stop it,” Dice grumbled.

“Nope,” Cuphead, as King Dice, answered.

Dice and Cuphead, as King Dice, found the blue wagon with them looking up at it. They exchanged glances before Dice sighed heavily.

“Could you go back to being yourself, Cuphead? It’s getting weird to look at myself standing right next to me,” Dice said with a groan.

“But you look at yourself in the mirror all the time.”

“Well, yeah! The difference is I don’t have some weird shape-shifting child pretending to be me when I look at my reflection,” Dice responded with a huff in annoyance.

“Alright, alright, I’ll change back,” Cuphead responded while coming back to his normal self. “You’re no fun.”

Dice sighed. “Let’s just get these Desert Limes and get it over with.”

Dice and Cuphead entered the wagon that was filled with music and laughter. They froze and noticed them with their judgmental gazes.

Cuphead cleared his throat and shape-shifted into a random cowboy. “Yee-haw! I’m a cowboy!”

Everyone’s judgemental gaze faded away in an instant, replaced with pure shock.

“That kid can shape-shift,” the cowboy, who had poker chips as a body, uttered in shock.

Minutes later, everyone gathered around the bar with Cuphead in the center of the circle, laughing and drinking when Cuphead was making funny shape-shifting impersonations of everyone at the bar.

Mr. Wheezy, the anthropomorphic cigar, wheezed to death from seeing Cuphead impersonating him.

“Boy, I haven’t laughed like that in decades,” Mr. Wheezy commented.

“Hey, hey, kid, can you do Esther over ‘ere?” Chips, the stack of poker chips, laughed and pointed at Esther, the brown cow, next to him.

Cuphead shape-shifted to Esther, impersonating her.

Meanwhile, Dice sat there in silence and looked over to find a crate of desert limes. When no one was watching, he sent two cards over to push it the crate over to him. He quickly picked it up and snuck out of the wagon.

Dice tried to get Cuphead’s attention to let him know that he got the desert limes, but Cuphead wasn’t paying attention and was having too much fun. So, Dice snuck out of the wagon and started to move away, hoping Cuphead got the message that Dice wasn’t there along with the desert limes.

“Hey, Ginette, give this kid the strongest drink you got!” Esther Winchester ordered from the bartender, a martini glass known as Ginette.

Ginette slid the shot glass of strong whiskey over to Cuphead, who shape-shifted back to himself. “It’s on the house!”

Cuphead gulped down the shot of whiskey. However, it burned his throat and the pit of stomach, igniting the flames from within him. His body became on fire and exploded the wagon, destroying it into pieces. The cowboys and cowgirls in the wagon had soot all over their bodies from the sudden explosion from Cuphead.

Cuphead blinked his eyes and laughed nervously before turning to notice King Dice right outside of the wagon, running with the crate of desert limes. He then looked back at the crowd. “Uh, haha, I guess I’ll get going.” Cuphead rushed off and caught up with King Dice at super speed.

“Hey, they stole our desert limes!” Ginette gasped to notice.

“GET THEM!!!” Esther growled.

Everyone from the wagon got up from the seat and chased after King Dice and Cuphead, chasing them out of the desert.

~.~

Chalice and Elder Kettle snuck underground of the Moonshine Mob’s lair, searching for Distillery Dough.

“So, Chalice, how long have you known Saltbaker?” Elder Kettle asked with a brow raised.

“Oh, since I was a little. He practically raised me until I decided to go into the big city and go big, ya know? He always got a little room for me up there…but…I’ve kind of noticed he was acting strange lately.”

They snuck towards the lower bridge, finding two more higher ones above them.

“Huh? So, I guess I’m the only one who thought he was a nice guy.”

“He is…but…he seems…more irritated than usual.”

“HEY! What are you bozos doin’ here?!”

Elder Kettle and Chalice jumped at the sudden voice as they saw a gray spider descending down towards them with only a web and a pretty pink blond bug sitting on one of his eight legs.

“Youse twos got a lotta nerve to show up here!” the spider growled at both Chalice and Elder Kettle.

“Take a breath, dear,” the light bug whispered to his ear.

“Don’t worry, darlin’. I ain’t stressin’ myself out…yet,” the spider said with a glare at Chalice and Elder Kettle. “You better have a good explanation on why you both were down ‘ere.”

“Charlie! Charlie!” the caterpillar mobster entered the scene from behind the spider named Charlie. “We got the cops at the casino!”

“Now ain’t a good time, Lenny. Can’t you see I’m interrogating our trespassers?” Charlie responded to the caterpillar named Lenny.

“But, Charlie—”

“Well, well, if it ain’t the Moonshine Mob,” the head of the bug cops said while entering the other side on the top bridge above Elder Kettle and Chalice. “You’re under arrest for the violation against federal prohibition laws!”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT ENDED THREE YEARS AGO!” Charlie yelled at the bug cops.

“I’m not finished!” The head of the bug cops barked. “And for selling illegal drugs through the means of your Distillery Dough!”

“Hey, we are coming for that!” Elder Kettle responded with a gasp. “I didn’t know there are drugs in the dough!”

“Well, none of ya are gonna get it!” Charlie growled while taking out a button and pressed to summon bombs wrapped in spider webs with an evil laugh. He charged towards Elder Kettle and Chalice, who dodged out of the way for him while the bug cops hurried to go after him.

The blonde bug turned on the music, making it more intensifying.

Lenny hurried over to hide somewhere in fear.

“What are we going to do?” Elder Kettle questioned Chalice, who looked up and saw the distillery dough up on the high shelf. She turned herself into a ghost and flew up to pick it up and flew back down.

“Got it!”

They felt something shake underneath them as they saw a huge anteater bursting through two bridges while the cops were chasing after Charlie and the other gang members. With an evil grin, the anteater tried to get the cops with his nose and tongue in his nose.

Chalice and Elder Kettle freaked out and rushed out of the underground way, letting the chaos unfold by itself when leaving.

~.~

Mugman knew he should’ve packed a coat for the snowy trails towards the large igloo. Jerry was all prepared with a trench-coat, hat, and scarf, which made Mugman regret not taking his coat even more. Jerry noticed Mugman freezing in the cold and unwrapped his scarf to wrap it around Mugman’s neck to at least keep him warm. Mugman widened his eyes in shock to see Jerry’s under bite from his scarf.

“You’re going to give me back that scarf once we’re done here,” Jerry replied.

“S-S-Sounds good,” Mugman said with a shiver.

Jerry knocked on the icy door of the igloo, waiting for someone to answer.

They heard someone opening the door, turning out to be a wizard with a worn-out purple wizard clothes and a pointy hat.

“What d’ya want? I’m in a middle of my spa,” the wizard, Mortimer, said while flicking the cucumbers off of his eyes.

“Uh, we don’t mean to interrupt, but you don’t happen to have icy sugar cubes, do you?” Jerry asked with a brow raised.

Mortimer arched a brow. “Saltbaker sent you here, didn’t he?”

“Oh, uh, well—”

“Nah, you don’t have to tell me. I already know,” Mortimer responded, interrupting Jerry. “Tell him that he ain’t gonna have my sugar cubes.”

“But we need it to cure him,” Jerry replied while pointing at Mugman shivering in the cold.

Mortimer crossed his arms. “Cure him from what? Tremaine?”

Mugman widened his eyes in shock.

“You don’t think I can’t tell by the way your veins are glowing right now,” Mortimer said, pointing at the orange-glowing veins shown on Mugman’s body to keep himself warm against the cold. “It’s only a matter of time before you lose control and snap.”

“Just give us the icy sugar cubes and we’ll be out of your hair,” Jerry said urgently.

Mortimer tilted his head. “Is it because of this stupid ‘Wondertart’ craze Saltbaker has? I’m telling you the same thing that I told him. Don’t cook something up like the Wondertart. It will only consume you in darkness.”

“I thought it has the power to grant wishes,” Jerry uttered in confusion.

Mortimer put his fists on his hips. “That’s what he thinks. But if you want it so badly, then I might as well challenge you to a dual.”

“Me?” Jerry uttered.

“No, him.”

Jerry glanced down to see Mugman breathing heavily in fear.

“If you think that this Wondertart can grant your wish to cure yourself of Tremaine, then why not make it worth fighting for, eh? You’ll be matched against Jupiter and if you win, you’ll have the icy sugar cubes. You lose and you won’t have them. No catches. It’s that simple. You think you’re up for it, kid?” Mortimer asked with a smirk.

Mugman took a deep breath and nodded his head. “I’m up for it.”

“What?! Are you insane?” Jerry gasped in fear for the mug.

“You got yourself a deal, chap,” Mortimer replied while putting his cold hand out for Mugman to grab. Mugman didn’t hesitate and shook the wizard’s hand.

Soon they were teleported into the ring with all the cheering snowmen and snow women while Jerry was seated up as the audience watching the ring.

“I would be careful if I were you. Jupiter will not go easy on you, little mug,” Mortimer said while teleporting onto the seat next to Jerry. “LET THE MATCH BEGIN!”

Mugman heard something coming out of the doors of the ring, sauntering towards him. He squinted and looked down to see a tiny little snowman, assuming to be Jupiter that Mortimer mentioned.

“Aww, he’s so adorable—”

The snowman became larger and larger, interrupting Mugman’s cooing words and towering over him with an orange bucket over his head. Broken handcuffs were on his wrists and his eyes were hollow, his mouth resembling a cage when he grinned.

The liquid in Mugman’s head leaked out of his blue straw in pure fear and then he screamed, running from the large round snowman. The snowman, Jupiter, rolled after him in a snowball, bumping into a wall when Mugman turned a corner. Jupiter bounced over the mug and landed right in front of him, transforming into a refrigerator, firing large ice cubes that broke into pieces after him. Mugman dodged all of it with heavy breaths, earning laughs from Mortimer.

“Go on! Punch the big guy! He ain’t gonna bite!” Mortimer taunted Mugman.

Jupiter transformed back into a snowball, rolling after Mugman and running him over this time. He transformed back into a snowman, using his arms to pick up crushed Mugman and throw him across the ring.

The audience cheered for Jupiter while Jerry gripped his coat in fear.

“You’re insane!” Jerry shouted at Mortimer.

“Nah, don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Mortimer said while both Jerry and Mortimer witnessed Mugman getting thrown around like a rag doll across the ring. “Ooh! Come on, is that all you got?! You oughta try a little harder, son!”

Mugman breathed heavily, his body bruised from being beaten up by Jupiter. Before he could even try to get up, he was picked up by the leg and thrown again across the ring. The mug could’ve sworn that he was feeling like he was losing control of his own body. Not…now!

Mugman barely looked up before being socked in the face.

“Stop this! Let me fight in his place!” Jerry shouted at Mortimer.

Mugman collapsed onto the snowy ground, having a black eye from impact of the punch. Jupiter raised his fists up, ready to slam it down on Mugman.

Mugman gritted his teeth, his veins now glowing blue instead of orange. He raised his finger guns, letting out bursts of electricity that caused the large snowman beast to stumble back away from the mug.

The audience gasped in shock while Mortimer leaned forward in interest.

“Ooh, now, this is getting intense,” Mortimer said with a wicked grin.

Mugman breathed heavily, his eyes glowing pupils glowing blue. The orange glow tried to take over his blue veins, causing him to scream in pain. However, his scream turned into a sonic scream that pushed Jupiter away from him. The audience was dead quiet while Mugman charged towards Jupiter, punching the snowman as rapid as he could and sending electric shocks from each punch the mug gave the snowman. Then he gave one final blow to the stomach, sending electric shocks inside of Jupiter.

Jupiter stumbled back away from the mug, laughing in a cocky matter until he could feel his stomach vibrating. It was then that the snowman realized that Mugman sent more electric shocks inside of him, causing him to burst up and losing the top half of his body. His bottom half ran towards the other direction in a cartoony fashion while collapsing first. Mugman started to mutter words before losing the blue in his eyes and collapsing in the ring.

Mortimer and Jerry watched with shock while Mortimer gave him an orange bag of icy sugar cubes. “A deal’s a deal. He won the battle fair and square.”

Jerry took the bag of icy sugar cubes and hurried down into the ring. “Mugman…Mugman..”

“Cultus mali venit.

Cultus mali venit.

Cultus mali venit.

Cultus mali venit.”

“Mugman?”

“The cult of evil has come…

The cult of evil has come…

The cult of evil has come…

The cult of evil has come…”

Jerry picked Mugman up and carried him out of the igloo along with the icy sugar cubes while Mortimer watched intensely, fascinated by what just occurred.

~.~

 Porkrind and Cassidy were the first to get back to Saltbaker’s bakery along with Murray and Canteen.

Murray looked around for his boys, now growing more concern for them. “Have you guys seen my kids?”

“Nope,” Porkrind answered while examining their surroundings. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Those boys of yours are tougher than you think.”

“I know that,” Murray responded. “I’m just…worried about them.”

Porkrind softened his gaze at Murray and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand your concern. Kind of the curse of being a dad, am I right?”

Murray let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah.”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

They turned their heads to find Cuphead speeding through the village, bumping into Porkrind’s stomach. It felt like a punch in the gut as the pig doubled over to cover his belly.

“Wow! Sorry, Porkrind…I’m still gettin’ used to these powers,” Cuphead glanced up at his father. “Hi, Dad!”

Murray immediately enveloped Cuphead into a hug, who found it weird that he was being hugged by his father.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Murray said with a sigh of relief. He broke away from his son and looked at him in the eyes. “Have you seen your brother?”

Cuphead shrugged his shoulders as King Dice entered the scene with the crate of desert limes.

Porkrind noticed King Dice’s suit torn and tattered into pieces, trying not to huff a laugh. “Had it rough out there?”

“Yep,” Dice responded. “The people in the desert area are insane! They almost killed me!”

Porkrind looked behind Dice to make sure they weren’t being followed. “But you’re still here.”

“Thank Sa—I mean, Thank the Lord,” Dice replied while clearing his throat.

“Go! Go!” Elder Kettle shouted.

They looked to see Elder Kettle arriving with Chalice, carrying Distillery Dough.

“Man, they’re insane down there,” Chalice replied. “Say, where’s Mugsy?”

“Let’s go find him!” Cassidy determined.

“No need,” Jerry’s voice uttered.

The group turned their heads and widened their eyes in shock to see Jerry walking towards them with the bag of icy sugar cubes and a bruised Mugman in his arms.

“Mugsy!” Cassidy shouted and hurried over to her boyfriend. Jerry put Mugman down so that she could check on him.

“What happened to him?!” Murray questioned in fear.

“Uh…it’s a long story,” Jerry responded while rubbing the back of his head. “Let’s just say that he was thrown into the ring by this crazy old wizard and won the fight.”

“But the Wondertart is for him though…is he going to be awake for it?” Canteen questioned the others.

“I’m not sure,” Jerry uttered. “He said some strange words in both Latin and English…that’s…that’s weird.”

“YOU FREAKS!!!”

Porkrind perked his ears up and whirled around along with the group. They saw Tabitha, pissed off and angry, charging towards them with Aurora waddling behind her.

“Mama! Mama!” Aurora called while Tabitha went for Porkrind and slapped him on the face.

Porkrind stumbled back from the unexpected slap. “HEY! What did I ever do to you?!”

“You gotta a lot of nerve doing that!” Jerry growled while standing between Porkrind and Tabitha.

“You freaks took Natalie!” Tabitha growled.

“What? I thought she was in the bakery with you,” Dice responded while checking to see if Porkrind was okay.

“She was and now she isn’t there. You took her!” Tabitha growled.

“Did you ever think that maybe your daughter ventured off on her own and hadn’t returned yet?” Porkrind snarled at her, covering his cheek.

“Maybe if your burden of a daughter hadn’t filled Natalie’s head with some silly little adventures, we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Tabitha responded with a glare at Porkrind.

“Call Cassi a burden one more time, I dare you,” Jerry said with his brows drawn together and his fists clenched.

“Mama! It’s not Cassi’s fault!” Aurora begged. “I saw where Natalie went!”

Cuphead perked his head and looked at Aurora. “Do you know where she is?”

“The big bad salt man took sissy!” Aurora confessed to Cuphead.

“Big Bad Salt Man. Hey, that’s Saltbaker!” Canteen gasped in shock.

“Why would Saltbaker take Natalie?” Chalice questioned.

“Let’s go find her!” Cassidy determined.

“I’m sure Saltbaker has his reasons,” Chalice said with a small nervous laugh. “We’ll be back.”

Chalice hurried inside of Saltbaker’s bakery with Cassidy, Canteen, and Cuphead hurrying behind her.

Murray picked up Mugman and cradled him while the adults watch in shock.

“S-Should we go in there with them?” Elder Kettle questioned.

“Nah, they’ll be fine…I think,” King Dice responded. 

~.~

Chalice, Cuphead, Cassidy, and Canteen explored the bakery until they saw a trap door over the counter that led down in the darkness.

“Did you know he had a trapdoor there?” Canteen questioned Chalice.

“No…I hadn’t seen that before. It looked recent that he added it,” Chalice theorized. “Come on.”

They descended down to the dark dungeons, their eyes widening in shock.

“Chalice, something’s up with Saltbaker,” Canteen uttered in shock.

“I knew he was acting weird,” Chalice replied. “C’mon. We should be finding Natalie down here.”

They froze when they looked to their left, seeing Natalie’s soulless body chained up.

Cuphead gasped in shock and then clenched his fists angrily, his eyes turning red. “Oh he better be prayin’ right now.” Cuphead stormed to the light where they saw Saltbaker’s silhouette.

They entered the lab room where Saltbaker was setting up the machine.

“You gotta a lot of nerve taking Natalie’s soul like that!” Cuphead growled with his teeth gritted.

Saltbaker turned his head, his eyes yellow. “Oh, haven’t I forgot to put the most important ingredient on the list for you? The most important ingredient to this delicious Wondertart is a living soul!”

Saltbaker gestured to the glass containing Natalie’s soul, pounding on it in panic.

“GUYS! GUYS!!! HELP ME, PLEASE!!!” Natalie’s soul screamed in fear.

“Speaking of ingredients, where are the rest of the ingredients?” Saltbaker said with an evil smirk.

“We ain’t gonna give it to you!” Chalice growled, her eyes filled to the brim of the tears.

“Why didn’t you tell us that it’s going to cost a soul as well?!” Cuphead said angrily.

“Well, you want to cure your brother of this so-called Tremaine, don’t you?” Saltbaker responded with a sly grin. “You would need all the ingredients to make this delicious Wondertart.”

Canteen noticed a hidden poster on the wall and went to look at it as the kids were arguing with Saltbaker. He looked at the ingredients list to see a soul ingredient being crossed out. Then, he noticed the capabilities that it could.

“Have access to the Astral Plane.”

Canteen widened his eyes. “Guys, the Wondertart doesn’t grant wishes! It’ll give him an ability to have access to the Astral Plane!”

“Oh, you’re no fun,” Saltbaker grumbled while glaring at Canteen.

The kids glared at Saltbaker.

Chalice turned into a ghost and charged towards Saltbaker, attempting to possess him. Cuphead’s fist turned red with anger and started to punch Saltbaker in the face out of pure anger and hatred.

Cassidy hurried over to the glass where Natalie’s soul with Canteen following behind her.

“Why did you lie to us?!” Chalice, in Saltbaker’s head, screamed at him.

Saltbaker ate a mushroom, which had the ability to kick Chalice out of his body.

“Why would you do this?!” Chalice cried, tears streaming down on her golden face.

Saltbaker softened his gaze at her before getting punched in the face by Cuphead. “Okay, you had your fun, little cup!” He ate another mushroom causing him to grow bigger than before, bursting through the ceiling above him.

Cassidy and Canteen dodged the falling debris as they approached the glass where Natalie’s soul was held. Cassidy used her claws to scratch through the glass, which fell over. Natalie’s soul gasped to see Cassidy extending her hand out for her friend. Natalie grabbed Cassidy’s paw and was pulled out of the glass while Cuphead and Chalice were fighting Saltbaker in his large form.

“That’s for lying to us about the Wondertart!” Cuphead barked angrily, punching Saltbaker’s nose, breaking it in half. “That’s for hurtin’ Natalie!”

“You dining room dunce! You think you can beat me?! You’re in my world now!” Saltbaker barked at the dishes.

Cassidy hurried out of the lab with Natalie’s soul in her arms with Canteen hurrying behind her.

Saltbaker noticed them. “Get back here!”

They rushed back to Natalie’s soulless body while Cassidy stuffed Natalie’s soul back into her body. She lock picked the chains around Natalie’s wrists with her claws as Natalie took a deep breath.

“Oh my gosh! Wh-What just happened?” Natalie panicked.

Everything shook around them as they saw Saltbaker’s hand reaching towards them. Cassidy picked Natalie up in her arms and rushed through the dungeon with Canteen running behind her.

When they reached towards the exit of the hide-out, Canteen’s ankle was grabbed by Saltbaker’s finger, pulling him back to his lab room.

“HEY! LET ME GO!”

Cassidy noticed this with a gasp and set Natalie down on the stairs.

“HEY!” Natalie cried when Cassidy left to get Canteen, grabbing his arms and pulling him.

Cassidy snarled and used her claws to scratch Saltbaker’s hand, causing Saltbaker to yelped and let go of Canteen’s ankle.

Canteen’s ankle was crushed while she helped him up on his feet and hurried away from Saltbaker’s hand.

She noticed Mugman showing up the scene, recovered from what happened earlier. Cassidy didn’t have to say anything for him to pick up Natalie in his arms and carry her out of the dungeon. They hurried out of the bakery to meet up with the rest of the parents.

“What’s going on?!” Porkrind questioned the kids.

“You!” Esther growled. She and her crew stormed towards Dice in an aggressive manner.

Glumstone, the Howling Aces, the Moonshine Mob, and Mortimer arrived at the scene.

“Hey, you forgot something—what’s going on?” O’Fera questioned.

“Saltbaker, he—”

They felt the earth shaking suddenly, interrupting Cassidy and endangering everyone in the village.

“Watch out!!” Dice yelled.

Saltbaker broke through the roof of his bakery and towered over everyone in the village, except for Glumstone. The whole village gasped in shock while Murray noticed Cuphead and Chalice fighting Saltbaker.

“What the—?!” Bulldog gasped in shock.

“Saltbaker?!” Esther screamed in horror.

“He didn’t consume the Wondertart, did he?” Mortimer asked Jerry.

“He hadn’t even made it yet,” Jerry uttered in fear.

“I knew he’ll be consumed by darkness,” Mortimer replied solemnly.

Saltbaker growled at Cuphead and grabbed him with his giant fist, squeezing him. Cuphead screamed in pain.

“Let my friend go!” Chalice cried while getting onto his broken nose, trying to get him to release her friend.

“Chalice, stop!” Saltbaker growled. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Then stop hurting my friends!” Chalice said while her ghost form was strangely turning into gold. She became brighter than a sun, blinding Saltbaker.

Murray watched this unfold and hurried over to Saltbaker.

“Murray! What are you doing?!” Elder Kettle cried in fear.

Murray jumped up on the rooftop and climbed on Saltbaker’s leg, his eye glowing violet. Saltbaker’s veins turned violet, reaching up to his eyes. Before Saltbaker could notice Murray on his leg, his vision went violet.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Next order! Next order!

“Hurry up, will you?!”

“Come on, what’s taking so long?!”

Saltbaker cooked for as many people as he could in the town, but it was never enough. Never catching a break, never resting, no, he was never a person who gets tired…right? It didn’t just go on for one day. It went on for years…and years…and years! Saltbaker finally snapped one day, using all of his resources to search up for the answers to his problems. Finally…he has his answer.

The Wondertart…If he could get his hands on it, why, he’ll rule the Astral Plane and he will no longer be pushed around. Everyone in the world deserved to be drowned by his fury. This world will be made of salt and he wouldn’t mind that one bit.

Then…there was another memory he almost forgot about. It was when he was working in the bakery, overworked as usual, until he heard something collapsed in the trash can with a scream. He hurried outside to see what the commotion was and he saw someone stumbling out of the trashcan. It was a young chalice toddler, with a gap between her teeth and her innocent eyes looking up at him in fear. Her stomach growled as she hugged it with a groan in pain. He softened his gaze at her and gestured her inside with a small friendly smile.

Once she was inside, he cooked up a full meal with some desserts alongside with it. She smiled and ate as much as she could. At that moment, that was the moment Saltbaker decided to take her in. He had a room prepared for her to sleep in, and he felt this joy when she sees her own room for the first time and slept on the big comfortable bed.

She would help him out in the kitchen when serving the customers, bringing back his love and passion for cooking since he has someone to help around the kitchen. She was growing up right before his very eyes, watching her dance in the streets for extra coins for herself.

“When I grow up, I’m gonna be a dancer! And I’m going to be the best dancer in this whole world!” Chalice, as a little kid, would always say.

“I have no doubt you will, Ms. Chalice. I have no doubt that you will.”

Saltbaker was shrinking back once his memories of Chalice filled in his mind, almost like it was calming him down.

He released Cuphead, who fell with a scream before O’Fera caught him in her arms.

“You okay, kid?” O’Fera asked.

Cuphead nodded his head shyly.

“Good,” she said while putting Cuphead down and watching Saltbaker shrank down to his normal size, with Murray moving his hands up a bit to Saltbaker’s shoulder.

Chalice floated downwards and watched Murray removed his hand away from Saltbaker’s shoulder. The violet from Saltbaker’s eyes disappeared as he gasped like he hadn’t breathed in a while. There were tears in his eyes as the bug cops hurried to get the padi wagon.

He looked up to see Chalice, staring at him with innocence…the same innocence she had when she was younger. Saltbaker glanced back to see his destroyed bakery and then back at her.

“I’m sorry…” Saltbaker uttered to her.

He was handcuffed and was guided into the wagon to take him to jail. Saltbaker frowned and sat in the wagon, not even trying to struggle against his restraints.

Tabitha watched Saltbaker being taken to jail and then looked at the homeless group with a sigh. “Well, since you’ve taken out my rival, I guess I’ll let you stay for a night.”

The group arched their brows in confusion.

“Only for a night!” Tabitha grumbled and led them into the bakery.

The group glanced at each other in confusion and decided to enter Tabitha’s bakery while the rest of the villagers watched in shock at the event that just happened.

To Be Continued... 

[portaltothevoid]

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Chapter 20 - The Thing that Should Not Be

Pairing: Eddie Munson x OFC (Kat Ramsay), sequel to Foolin’

Summary: Team Hawkins finds themselves trapped in the Upside Down. With tensions running high, Kat has a spat with Nancy. When she storms off, Eddie reels her back in.

Warnings: established relationship, some fluff, TV-14 level smut (so not really smut, but it’s not exactly fluff?), anxiety

Word count: 3.9k

Chapter song: The Thing That Should Not Be by Metallica

Tag list: @munchabunch​ @madaboutmunson​ @mickkmaiden333​ @literarypeachtea​ @munsonology​

Any dread that Kat had felt in the boat was washed away the moment she hit the water. Of course the thought of being anywhere near Vecna sent shivers down her spine, but that wasn’t her concern or priority right now. She was determined to save Steve’s life.

One by one, Nancy, Robin, Kat, and eventually Eddie swam through the gate. 

“How’s it feel to be back?” Robin asked.

“Can’t say I’ve missed it,” Kat replied as the group took off in the direction of Steve’s screams.

As they passed the wrecked boats, Nancy shouted, “Quick, grab an oar!”

Eddie ran over to another boat and grabbed two oars. “Kat!” he called out, throwing one at her. She caught it in her line of vision and froze it in midair, before she sent it flying with a shake of her head.

“Thanks, babe, but I’m good,” she said as she turned heel and marched toward Steve. Vecna had gone too far. Whether it really was him that pulled him here or not. She wasn’t about to let this monster get someone she cared about.

Steve was still struggling and squirming. Adrenaline pumping throughout his whole body. He had to find a way out. He had to escape these freakish-looking bats. Until suddenly, one of them had their snacktime interrupted as it received a hard smack upside its whole body. It whimpered as it rolled from the impact, knowing it was best to retreat, it flew away in the direction it came from.

“Hey there,” Nancy panted before she sent a devastating blow to the other creature still chowing down on Steve’s hip. Robin frantically ran over to the one that still had Steve in a chokehold, stomping on its tail. Her weapon of choice was the flashlight that Steve had dropped on his dive. She began beating the creature, grunting “Come… on! Please!” between each whack. Nancy was wailing on it with the oar. It was much less reluctant to give up on Steve.

“Shit!” Eddie yelled as he turned around and was almost face to face with one flying right towards him. “Yeah! Come on!” he huffed as he swung the oar like a baseball bat and sent it sailing.

Kat was preoccupied with the few that were flying towards them from another side. She waited until they were closer to her before she threw her arm out and closed her fist in the air and hurled it to the side. The bat’s neck snapped when she closed her fist and the wave of her arm set its dead body across the barren lake. 

“Nancy, behind you!” Eddie warned.

“Ahh!” Nancy yelled as she dropped the oar as a bat had latched onto her back. Robin pulled at its tails trying to remove as Nancy was trying to run away from it.

“Goddamn it! Shit!” Eddie yelled again as he turned and swung at another bat heading his way. 

With Nancy and Robin having loosened the bat that had been attacking Steve, he was able to move his head so he bit its tail as hard as he could. It cried out in pain, just as he had, and tried to fly away. Steve quickly grabbed its tail and threw it to the ground. He slammed it back and forth on the ground before finally stepping on it and pulling it apart into two. 

“Come on! I said come on! Let’s go!” Eddie bellowed as he stabbed one in the mouth midair, plunging it to the ground, where he wiggled the oar into its head until he knew it had been killed. 

Kat having finished off the bats that kept attacking for her, she felt her power charge up in her hands. With a scream she directed her power at the dozen or so bats still heading towards them and slammed her hands beside her. As she did, the bats’ necks snapped simultaneously and fell to the ground with a thud. 

Steve threw the part of the bat he still had in his hand over his shoulder. He looked to Kat as he panted, and nodded, bat blood dripping from his mouth. She returned the nod, her chest heaving from the energy she just exerted. 

“Steve!” Nancy said as she ran towards him. 

“Jesus Christ… Jesus H. Christ! Ugh!” Eddie grunted as he threw the oar still in his hand to the ground. 

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked when she was at Steve’s side. A hand instinctively going to his shoulder as she spun him to get a better look at his wounds. She let her hand linger on his shoulder.

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh, but other than that, yeah, never better,” he said.

Robin grabbed the flashlight and inspected a dead bat. “Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?”

“What?” Steve asked as everyone turned to face her.

“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should probably get to you a doctor, like, really soon, because once the symptoms set in, it’s too late. You’re already, like, dead!” Robin nervously babbled.

Kat made her way over to Eddie and they both exchanged looks at Robin’s concerns. Steve and Nancy did the same. But then that large creature that Steve had first heard, shrieked again. Now they all looked at one another in fear. Chittering sounds became louder as six more bats landed around the gate, blocking their way out. Kat pushed herself in front of the group. Her hands outstretched, guiding them behind her.

“Alright, there’s not that many. We can take ‘em. Right, Kat?” Steve said.

Right on cue, a now giant swarm of bats began to fly towards them and out from the red clouds above. Eddie brought his hand up to his head and he bunched his hair in his hand. A look of fear and dread warped his features.

“You were saying?” Robin asked.

“That’s too many. Even for me. Those guys in front of us? Sure. All their friends and extended family? Uh…” Kat whimpered to show her waning confidence. 

“The woods! Come on!” Nancy said as she turned and made a run for it. 

Everyone followed suit. Robin was the last one to take off as she sighed. “Great. More running,” she huffed before flipping the flashlight in her hand and taking off.

She wasn’t sure how to describe it, but Kat could feel her senses becoming heightened in this other world, inside the Upside Down. With each lightning strike, she could feel the energy across her skin. Her need for survival and for her loved ones’ survival drove her forward faster than she could ever go before. Every jump over a vine. Every pump of her arms. Every breath she took. It lit a fire inside her. She could feel her powers burning throughout her.

“Skull Rock! Head to skull rock!” Steve called out to them as soon as they were in the woods.

In record time, the group made it. Taking refuge under where the two giant boulders met, just as Kat and Eddie had the day before.

As they crouched there, everyone panting and catching their breaths, hundreds and hundreds of bats flew over their heads. With bated breath, everyone had their eyes to the sky waiting for the swarm to dissipate. 

“Oh… okay. That was close,” Robin said.

“Yeah. Too close,” Eddie agreed.

“That was way too many bats. You know, up until, like, right now… I liked bats. Now? Fucking hate ‘em,” Kat said.

“Pfft, tell me about it. At least you don’t have any tattooed on you,” Eddie scoffed.

“Oh… shit. Sorry,” Kat shrugged apologetically.

“Well, now it’s like a… a reminder of survival!” Robin tried to comfort Eddie.

“Um, yeah, if we make it out of here alive it will definitely be that, sure,” Eddie said with hesitation and doubt in his voice. Or maybe it was just plain fear.

Kat hit him across the chest. “We are getting out of here. Alive,” she said, squinting angrily at him for even insinuating the opposite.

They began to walk forward, out from underneath the rock.

“Oh, sh… shit,” Steve breathed as he fell to the side of the rock, using it to hold himself up.

“Steve?” Nancy said as she rushed to his side. “Jesus!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he unconvincingly reassured.

“Harrington, you’re the opposite of fine. Sorry to break it to you,” Kat said as she wrapped her arm around Eddie’s and held that same hand with her opposite one.

“No, no, no. Kat’s right. You’re not. You’re losing a lot of blood. Come on, sit,” Nancy said as she guided Steve to the ground. He grunted once he finally sat. 

“Oh!” Robin said, shocked. She finally got a good look at Steve’s wounds when she crouched down beside him. “Okay, so the good news is, I’m pretty sure, that wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms, or you start feeling really aggressive like you wanna punch me or something, you should totally let me know. Okay?”

“Robin?” Steve groaned.

“Yeah?”

  “I kinda wanna punch you,” he said, wincing.

“Sense of humor’s still intact!” she laughed. “That’s a good sign!”

Nancy had been tearing the edges of her skirt to make a makeshift bandage during Robin’s second rabies rant of the night. When Nancy was ready to wrap it around Steve, Robin got up to join Eddie and Kat. 

“Just gonna give them… some alone time,” Robin said when she rejoined the other (actually official) couple who both nodded in response. “So, Eddie, you’re doing pretty well, ya know, seeing as how this is your first time in the midst of this stuff.”

“I guess you’re right Buckley. I mean, I haven’t shit myself yet, so…” Eddie shrugged.

“Yet,” Kat said with a smirk. 

Eddie’s expression went blank. “Ya know what, Ramsay?” he said as he pulled her towards him, wrapping his free hand around her, caging her against his body. He then rubbed his knuckles on the top of her head. Not too hard, but not gently either. It was just enough to elicit giggles out of Kat as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

“Are you two always this sickeningly cute?” Robin wondered once they calmed down.

They just looked at each other, then looked at Robin and shrugged. Impulsivity took over Eddie as he then made a mad dash up a nearby rock to survey what was around them. Much like he did the other day to find the construction sight.

“So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?” he asked as Nancy guided Steve out from under the rock.

“Pretty much,” Nancy said.

Eddie nodded and began to make his way back to rejoin the group. 

“Wait!” Nancy said. “Watch the vines. It’s all a hive mind.”

“It’s all a what?” Eddie asked, stopping in his tracks.

“All the creepy crawlies around here, dude. They’re, like, one or something,” Steve said. “Step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.”

Kat’s body tensed up. She slowly turned toward Steve and Nancy. “Excuse me, what?”

Eddie nodded. “Shit,” he said as he began tiptoeing down the rock, avoiding the vines that encapsulated it.

“But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people obviously?” Robin asked.

“As far as I understand it, yeah,” Nancy said.

“Yeah, just… wanna go back to the hive mind thing for a sec. I, uh… I just killed some bats back there? With my mind?” she asked rhetorically, using her thumb to point behind her. “So did I just send a literal bat signal to Vecna? Telling him ‘Hey, hello, I’m here!’” she said, her voice being more and more high-pitched.

“What else were you supposed to do?” Steve asked, his face frowning.

“Um, I don’t know? Use an oar like everyone else? Keep my powers to myself?” Kat suggested facetiously.

“Kat, what do you want us to do? Apologize for being a little distracted by saving Steve’s life? Like, sorry we missed informing you about the hive mind, but you were just as gung-ho to dive down here as we were to save him!” Nancy rebutted.

“No, that’s not what I–” Kat sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “If you knew so much about this place, you just could have told us before.”

“We didn’t exactly know we would end up here,” Nancy said, her tone starting to show her growing irritation. 

“But you’ve dealt with this before! Everything is connected to this place. Literally! And that teeny little detail just slipped your mind, right?” Kat challenged, her anger starting to flare.

“We are still figuring this all out as we go! Come on, give us–” Nancy started to retort when Steve interrupted her.

“Ladies, ladies, ladies. Look, we wanted to find the gate. We never expected one of us, let alone me, to get dragged into it. You now know to, maybe, use your powers as little as possible. You found out before we got any farther from this point. You know now. And we’re all here. We’re stuck here. So how about we don’t fight and just figure out how to… get out of here, okay?” Even in his state, Steve still stepped in, being the dad of the group. 

The last thing they needed was a squabble amongst themselves. Kat knew that too, but her anger was a way to mask how she really felt. Afraid. She was literally surrounded by something attached to the very thing she was powerless to stop, or so she thinks. Even though something about this place is charging her up, it doesn’t take away what she viewed as her prior failures. More so, it acts like a constant reminder. 

When her bottom lip began to quiver, she quickly turned around and started walking away from the group into the woods.

“Kat, come on! I was just–”

Eddie held out his hand to stop Steve. “Just give her a minute, man. Let me… Let me, uh, talk to her, okay?” He turned to catch up with her.

“Kat. Kat, please. Come on, talk to me!” he called out after her. She pretty much power walked away from the group making sure she was out of sight and also out earshot. She knew when she stopped she’d have to face Eddie, face everyone. Her facade was crumbling and it made her feel weak. “Kat, stop,” Eddie demanded as he grabbed her arm tightly enough to turn her so she faced him.

Finally she stopped. She looked into his eyes for a moment, before biting her lip and looking up towards the thundering sky. 

“Sweetheart, c'mere,” he said as he pulled her toward her. His long arms wrapped around tightly, protecting her. She grabbed hold of his leather jacket, pulling him to her as much as she could, and nuzzled her head into his shoulder. She tried to take a deep breath, but her breathing was shaky. 

“No one knows what it’s like for me…” she whispered. His grip tightened around her a little more. He leaned his cheek on her head. “I’ve… I’ve been living in constant fear for… for the past month. First it was not knowing why and– and then I had to watch p-people die and..” She had to squeeze her eyes shut so she didn’t have a full on breakdown. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, she continued. “This… thing wants me. I don’t know why. And being here? Knowing everything is connected to him? I… I’m not strong enough to keep it together. I’m not–”

Eddie gently pushed Kat back. He put both of his hands firmly on her shoulders and even backed up a small step so he could be exactly eye level with her. “Kat, no one’s asking you to be the strongest one or to have it all together. You don’t have to hide that you’re afraid right now. I, for one, am fucking terrified. But you know what? Being at your side, even just being near you, I’m way less terrified, because I know you will stop at nothing to protect me, to protect all of us here, okay?”

She took a step back and sighed as she rubbed her hands over her face. “But Eddie–”

“No. No ‘But Eddie.’ Having fears is human. Being scared doesn’t make you any less of a hero. It makes you more of a hero. Clearly the only thing I’m good for is running away in the face of danger. But you? You aren’t. You face it. No matter how scared you are. Don’t you see that? Anytime Jason tried to start shit, when it was just us on the boat, facing those weird bat things, your fear didn’t stop you. Why are you gonna let it now? Didn’t… didn’t you say you felt that Vecna was somehow draining you? What if… what if that’s how he’s getting to you? Don’t let him win.”

She threw her arms around his neck, pulling herself up, so she could swing her legs around his waist. Once he steadied himself and got a better hold on her, she leaned her forehand down onto his. “You’re also good for pep talks,” she said before she kissed him. “And ya know, some other things too…” she laughed as she squeezed her legs tighter around him.

He checked over her shoulder to see how many vines were around the tree behind him. Luckily for them, this tree was relatively untouched. He walked towards the tree until her back was flush with it, then leaned up to kiss her again. “Just pep talks and… other things is all I’m good for, hm?” he whispered as he moved his hands up the backs of her thighs. She smiled as she nodded and kissed him, deeper this time, running her hands through his hair. When she gave it a tug, he couldn’t help but moan into her. “Kat… we can’t…” he said as she started to leave a trail of kisses down his neck. “We don’t… have time… Jesus Christ,” he breathed when she started nipping at his sweet spot.

She sighed when she let up. Pushing him back a bit, so she could hop down and get her feet back down on the ground. “I know… they’re waiting…” She didn’t fully leave the embrace they had, his arms still around her waist, her hands on his chest. Staring into each other's eyes, they tried to drag the moment out for as long as they could. Her hand cupped the back of his head to pull it closer to hers. They were forehead to forehead again, never breaking eye contact. “I really do love you,” she whispered gently. 

“I know,” he smirked.

“Oh my god,” she laughed as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Oh? Does she get my reference?” he laughed as he nuzzled his head into her shoulder. “Does she?”

Playfully, she hit his chest and pushed him back slightly. “Yeah, yeah, I do!” 

They both laughed as he pulled her close to him one last time. “But you’re so not a nerd, knowing not one, but two Star Wars references from two different movies.” He kissed her forehead before putting his arm around her shoulders and nudging her to walk back to the group.

She rolled her eyes again as she slinked her arm around his waist. “In my defense, they’re only, like, the most famous lines from the movies. They were everywhere!”

“Okay, so name both of the movies,” he challenged.

“A New Hope… and Empire Strikes Back…” she said reluctantly.

A huge smile spread across Eddie’s face. As they walked, he pulled her head closer to him to give her a smooch on her temple. “That’s my girl. A total, certifiable nerd. No use denying it now. Welcome. Join us!” he said with a devilish voice before he realized what he said. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry. Too soon?”

“Yeah… just a little,” she winced lightheartedly.

“You’re still a nerd,” he whispered in her ear, which made her laugh again.

When they returned to the group, Steve raised his arms in the arm air, but then winced. “About damn time! Jesus. What took you so–”

“Steve!” Nancy glared at him, causing him to clamp his mouth shut.

“No, no. It’s okay. Nancy, I’m sorry I was getting, uh, really attitude-y before,” Kat apologized. “I, um…” Eddie rubbed her back to encourage her vulnerability. “It’s really terrifying for me to be here, because I've seen… and heard… Vecna first hand. He… he wants me. I don’t know if he means to use me or kill me or both, but knowing that these stupid vines and bats and shit are connected to him… It just really wigs me out. So I’m sorry.” 

Nancy gave Kat a sympathetic smile and nod. “It’s okay. We’re all under a lot of stress and you… I can’t imagine how hard all this must be. But like I said before, we’re in this together, right?” Everyone nodded in agreement with Nancy. “So, um, any ideas what we should do now?”

“Okay, hear me out, if the Upside Down is the same minus all the people, then theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guiding the gate,” Robin suggested.

“I highly doubt that the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But guns? Yeah, sure,” Steve said.

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom,” Nancy admitted.

Eddie left Kat’s hold to cross his hands in front of him. “Wait. You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin interjected.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver,” Nancy said.

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one,” Steve muttered.

“Bad ass, Wheeler,” Kat said. “About having… the guns… not almost shooting Steve.”

“He almost deserved it,” Nancy said with a smirk on her face. The rest of the crew raised their eyebrows at each other. Steve and Nancy were too busy staring into each other’s eyes to notice. Eddie, then, took off his vest and hummed it at Steve, breaking him and Nancy from their trance.

“For your modesty, dude,” Eddie said. 

Nancy scoffed until the earth beneath them abruptly started to shake, knocking everyone off balance. Kat instinctively grabbed Eddie, who grabbed onto Robin as they hunkered down on the ground. Steve clutched Nancy, pulling them back against the rock, bracing themselves on it, while they all waited for the ground to still. Once the quake had passed, all they could hear was a creature baying in the distance while others were snarling all of which sounded different from the chittering of the bats. Whatever they were, sounded big and something none of them wanted to face unarmed with or without Kat.

“Yeah, so, uh, guns sound like a pretty good idea to me,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, me too,” Robin agreed.

“Shit, get me one too. Fuck, those sounded–”

“Terrifying?” Eddie finished Kat’s sentence.

“Uh-huh,” she gulped. 

“So what are we waiting for?” Steve asked after he put on Eddie’s battle jacket. He clicked the flashlight on and began walking toward the direction of Nancy’s house. She stepped over a vine and Robin, keeping up with Steve. Eddie, Kat, and Robin all scurried to get up and follow behind them.

previous chapter | next chapter

[its-a-me-lia]

Sparks become a Flame

LA!BuggyXFem!OC

Part 4 of Darling why are you crying darling

Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5| Part 6| Part 7

MDNI

Warnings: Cursing, violence

Lets-a go!

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A storm had rolled over the sea, and the crew found themselves making sure the captain didn’t get hoisted out into the ocean. None of the crew knew how to swim, Buggy would’ve surely died. Ava had stayed near the captain until they had made it back to land. Deciding it was best they stayed off the waters until it was safe to get back. She didn’t want to be washed out by a rogue wave. 

When the shipped rocked too hard she held onto his hand tightly. He looked down at her and she up at him. It felt right, it felt too perfect. 

Once on land, Buggy had made his way to set up camp. The crew started a fire and hunted for food for them to eat. Ava had dug her toes into the hand. It felt weird being on land. She felt almost homesick. But that wasn’t her life anymore. Her life was at sea with Buggy and the Buggy Pirates. And she was one of them. 

Despite how the rest of the crew looked, Buggy made sure that she looked different from teh rest of them. She wasn’t a freak, or one of his supporting cast. She didn’t belong to him, she was normal . She wore a yellow dress and sandals. He loved the way the color looked on her skin. Her medium length brown hair tied up in two top knots, with little frills falling to the sides. She was so god damn beautiful. 

Ava had tilted her head and looked over, seeing a couple of kids fighting to get their boat docked. She made her way over and Buggy had followed her. He wasn’t being clingy or anything. He was just making sure she didn’t get lost or worse. His face lit up when he saw the kids he had ‘Captured’ and ‘tortured’ just a little bit. He used those words lightly because they kicked his ass. He wasn’t afraid to show it either. 

“Heya Strawhats!” He yelled over towards the kids. They stopped what they were doing and Ava looked at the clownman. 

“You know them?” She asked, raising a brow. How did this guy, know a bunch of kids? 

He shrugged. “We go way back, remember I told you, I had a change of heart? They’re the reason why.”

“BINGO!” Luffy waved his arm up in the air, the green haired guy looked annoyed, the blond was helping the girl, and there was a guy that was off to the side that was trying to get his slingshot ready for any dangers. Ava laughed a little, what a Motley crew of kids. 

“It’s Buggy. But I don’t expect you to remember that now.” He shook his head. 

She enjoyed the interactions he had with them. It was almost like he was a father figure or a weird Uncle. She was leaning more towards the uncle. The crew and Buggy hot gotten the ship docked, and joined their fire circle for food. 

She learned that they weren’t just ordinary kids. They were all unique in their own way. Luffy, had eaten a devil fruit as well, his was the GumGum fruit. He could stretch his body to maximum limits. The kids and Buggy rejoiced on old memories, talking tales of old. She liked this.It felt normal. Nami was the navigator, she could see the world no one else could, she wished she had her mind. Zoro was a great swordsmith, told stories on how he fought the warlord Mihawk and lived to tell the tale. Usopp had told tales upon tales. Of exaggerated adventures. She doubted they were true, but his crew cheered him on. Sanji, cooked for them. It was the greatest meal she had ever gotten to taste. He wanted to find the all blue and be the greatest chef. She didn’t doubt that. 

“Hey, you don’t look like a clown. Why are you with the Buggy Pirates?” Nami had spoken to her privately. Ava had lifted her head up and looked at her as if she was caught. “Are you okay? Has Buggy captured you?”

Ava shook her head. “No, no. He’s not like that. No, h-he..” She swallowed. “He rescued me. Saved me. I’ve been with him for close to 7 months now.”

Nami raised a brow. “So he’s not hurting you?”

“God no, that’s the last thing Buggy wants to do to me. In fact he wants to stop any force from trying to cause harm to me. I was in a bad place before he found me. He’s helped me overcome that little by little.” She said with a little smile. She looked over at Buggy who was animatedly telling a story or shouting at the stretchy kid who was eating too much. 

“Oh my god, you like him.” Nami covered her mouth. 

Ava panicked and shook her head. “No, no. Please. Oh god no.” She hid her face. She was red and tried to hide herself. 

“I mean you like who you like. He’s not bad looking.” 

She laughed, embarrassed that she had been caught. “It’s just, he’s been very nice, and generous to me. He let’s me be. Sits with me when he wants to get away from his crew. I sit with him in his room and brush his hair. Everything is mutual between us. It’s just that I'm not ready to move to the next step. I am terrified that I will let myself be happy, and it’ll be taken away from me.”

Nami understood, she knew what it was like to let her guard down and want things on her own. Being taken away from her. She sighs and nods. “Yeah, I get that. I get why you’re guarded. Hell, I used to not let anyone in or get to know me. I was a thief and a liar.”

“Me too.” She looked at her hands. “I know, we just met, but I do feel like I could trust you. I don’t really have much friends. Buggy is my only one.”

“Yeah, it took me a while to trust my boys. Now they’re the best friends I have ever had. They got my back, and I got theirs.”

Ava smiled, things turned silent. They enjoyed each other's company, until Buggy walked over. Nami looked at him and stood up. “I’m going to try to stop Luffy from getting into the carcass of the food.”

Leaving them alone, Buggy sat next to Ava and smiled. “She doesn’t like me much.”

“Well you did have them tied up and almost killed them.”

Buggy froze. “You don’t hate me, do you?”

“I don’t think I could if I tried. Buggy, you’re a good person. I know you are, it’s why I like you so much.” She reached over and grabbed his hand. Lacing their fingers together, he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. 

He leaned his head on hers and closed his eyes. “You are something else you know that right?”

“Yeah, something else.” 

Again, the quiet surrounded them. “Come let’s take a walk.” Buggy stood up. 

Following his lead Ava got up and walked side by side with him. Their hands brushing against each other, she bit her lip and linked her pinky with his. This was good, this was calm.

“When…” She stopped, and started thinking again. “Um..” Why was she nervous? She pulled her hand away and clutched her hands into fists. “Fuck why is it so hard to talk? I never have a problem talking to you.”

Buggy stopped walking and turned to look at her. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s just me Ava, just me. You can say whatever you want.” 

She licked her lips and gripped her hands together and nodded. “You’re right. I’m just a little nervous, because I’ve been thinking about the night we spent in your room. I’ve been thinking a lot about you. You haven’t left my mind, I’m just trying to figure out if what i feel is real, or a false sense of hope. That everything is okay?”

Buggy took in a breath, relaxing a little bit. This was not what he thought she was going to say. “Oh? I’ve been plaguing your mind?” He teased her. 

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I. Whatever you feel Ava, is it in your heart? In your Mind?” He smiled. 

“My heart is pounding so fast right now, I am so scared you’re going to disappear. That this is a dream and I am going to wake up, be back home, and you never existed.” She shook her head, she can’t think like that, but she has to. She had to remind herself of what is real. The feeling of fear, and the fear of losing him. That was how she knew it was real. 

Buggy pulled her closer towards him, hugging her in a warm embrace. “I am as real as this is gonna be. You hear that?” Ava’s head was pressed against his chest. She felt and heard his heart beating in time with hers. They were in sync. Their hearts pounding, just as scared as the other. “God, I have never felt like this in such a long time.” 

The way his voice rumbled in his chest, almost as if she was inside of his chest cavity. She relaxed, she knew here that she wanted to bury herself deep inside of him and be with him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. 

“I don’t ever want to lose you. I don’t want to leave you.” she looked up at him. 

He looked down at her and leaned in closer. “Then don’t.” His voice was barely a whisper. Their faces so close, she could feel his breath on her lips. 

“CAPTAIN!” A shout broke their trance and he looked up. Now he was pissed, and Ava was embarrassed. 

Over by the fireside, the Strawhats and the Buggy Pirates were all on their knees, hands behind their heads, guns pointed at them. These guys weren’t marines. Buggy had taken Ava along with him not leaving her alone with their new company. 

Ava froze. 

Fear. She felt so much fear. She knew that silhouette very well. She feared it, standing at the foot of her bed as she pretended to be asleep. Standing next to her door as he pretended to leave the room for the night, see if she was really asleep. She swallowed as she locked eyes with a man she thought she had gotten away from. 

“Hello Ava. Did you miss me?” Jeremy smiled. 

It was a sickening smile, she realized it was the smile she knew all along. But this time she realized, it had always been menacing. 

“It took me some time to find you. Did you know that I know everyone on these islands? I too have eyes and ears everywhere.” He dropped the smile and sucked on his teeth. “You know it's a shame that I have to kill these people. I’m sure they're great guys.” He walked over to her and gripped her face in his hands. 

She stayed still. 

“You get your fucking hands off her.” Buggy pushed the guy back. He was seeing red. 

“Now, now Captain. I can do what I want, when I want. To whoever I want.” He stared at the clown with disdain. “And Ava is mine. She will always be mine. Isn’t that right sweetheart?”

“Y-yes sir.” The fear was brought back into her. Her voice was barely a whisper. 

“What was that, I couldn’t hear you.” 

She didn’t cry. But she felt a sob racking at her chest. “Yes Sir.”

“Good, I see you still remember your place.” Jeremy gripped her arm and pulled her to him. “I won’t kill the extras but him.” He pointed to the clown. “You are going to watch as I please my fiancee.” 

All Buggy saw was red, he was so angry. Furious. He had never held such hatred for a human being until he met this guy. He didn’t know what was happening, he didn’t know why it was happening. But the look on Ava’s face was motivation enough to stop being a coward, and protect the woman he loves. 

Buggy smirked. “I would really love to see you try, dick”

He held up his arm, his hand missing from it. The man’s eyes grew in shock, where the fuck is this clowns hand. Jeremy felt a tap on his shoulder, then a punch to the back of his head, knocking him out. 

The other men who had traveled with Jeremy charged at the clown, leaving the others behind. Ava saw the strawhats stand up, these men were about to die. Luffy geared himself up, Zoro had his swords out to play. She didn’t see the others, everything had happened so fast. 

“You guys can take the rest of them. But don’t touch Jeremy. He’s Mine.” 

Ava had never seen Buggy look so menacing and dangerous. This was the feared sea captain everyone knew about. He looked crazy. She saw the fighting, and heard the sounds. Every single person was fighting for her defense, she had never had that happen before. She took another glance at Buggy, he was fighting for her honor. He was really protecting her. 

Oh. 

Oh. 

She was so in love.

🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼🌸🌼

WOW! this is my longest chapter yet! I got so lost in writing i had to find a good way to stop!

[writingmysanity]

Stardate: 2020

A/N: this was actually written in 2020. I don't feel like changing it. this one may have actually been posted on my old Tumblr- I can't remember but I am locked out of it permanently but Tumblr so I can't check. welp- suppose a repost won't hurt. I like it still.

Word count: 591

Prompt: "shh, it's okay now, you're safe, I'm here."

A resounding crack vibrates through the ship, pulsing waves rocking it like a boat on the water. The captain swallows his rising impatience as he can barely hear over the resounding roar of the emergency systems clicking into place. Everyone's eyes are trained outside the window, looking around, expecting some sort of enemy. Pulling himself to his feet, Kirk shakes off the way touching his chair seems to allow excess energy to route through his veins.

"Scans, Mr. Sulu." He calls, his voice barely heard, but understood.

"No surrounding ships, sir." He states, voice raised to be heard over the alarms, just as it quits sounding. For just a moment, there is silence on the bridge, kirk fighting a small smile at the timing.

"Mr. Scott!" He calls again, waiting for the familiar thick accent to call back. "What's going on down there?" His eyes are still scanning the horizon, looking for abnormalities.

"A couple of friends circuit's, captain. Whatever that was, all it affected was the air cooling system." 

Theres a pause.

"Its going to get hot in here until I can get this figured out."

"Understood." Slowly, he turns back to chekov and sulu, nodding to them. "Anything?"

"A lot of excess electricity, sir, but still no ships."

"Sensors are reading the source to be behind us, captain." Natoya states, sulu taking his cue to turn the ship.

"Is that…?"

"An electrical storm… in space." Bones finished, everyone having been so preoccupied they didn't register the door sliding open.

Silence washes over the bridge crew again, in awe as they watch lightning crack across the surface of the storm, purple and blue clouds twisting and spinning.

"Uh, Captain." Scottys voice calls out again, an odd tension in the engineers voice.

"Yes, Mr. Scott." Kirk calls back, tearing his eyes from the image before him.

"You need to get down here… and being the good doctor, would ya?" Just before he cuts off, he swears he heard scotty speak to someone. Without so much as a glance, kirk, bones and spock race down to engineering, assuming nothing, and expecting everything.

But, whatever they were expecting, it wasnt this.

A young girl sat curled under scottys desk, trembling from every limb, clenching one of scottys screwdrivers like a knife, eyes like saucers.

"Where… where am I?" She asks slowly, trying, and failing, to hide the tremble in her voice.

"The Enterprise." Her eyebrows pinch as her eyes dart between her newest company before they stick to Spock, drawing in a shaky breath.

"The what?"

Bones bends down to her level slowly, hands up to show that they're empty.

"My names McCoy, Leonard McCoy, but my friends call me Bones. I'm a doctor." He assures, she nods slowly, tearing her eyes from Spock to face Bones. "What's your name, kid?"

Swallowing, she closes her eyes for a moment, sound slipping past her lips sounding almost like a whimper. "Ellie." 

"Alright… Ellie," Kirk interjects, voice softening, seeing the fear in her eyes. "How did you get on the ship?"

"I… I dont know. One moment, in the house of mirrors with my friends, riding out a storm, and the next, I'm here."

Kirk and Spock share a look as Bones approaches her slowly, light in hand. "Alright sugar, you're okay now. You're here, you're safe," He begins. "I just want to check you out. She nods, letting him look in her eyes.

"Can you tell me what the stardate is?" Her eyebrows pinch, again.

"Stardate?"

"The year, honey." She pauses, answering confidently.

"2020."

[wolfwritingwips]

it was a dark and stormy day, the worst one this side of the mainland had seen in decades. The small island of Arkham had been through its fair share of hurricanes and storms as had its occupants in the fishing town that lined its shores and craggy cliffs. Both were the hearty sort, neither the land nor its people keen on balking at the first sign of a stiff breeze, ominous cloud, or the waves that crashed and roared against the cliffs. You’d be a fool not to fear for your life in the face of a storm such as this one, though.

Arthur Lester did not wholly consider himself fine, in the mind if not in appearance, but for what it’s worth he did not consider himself a fool. He knew a bad storm when he saw one. He might not have the intuition or instincts of someone born on the island, but when you live in a place like Arkham as long as he had you begin to pick things up. And it didn’t take any supernatural skills to see that a storm like this meant bad news.

“It’s not looking good out there, Bella,” he called out to the woman before him standing by the small dock off the shore. She was a powerful person, stout and sturdy, and while she stood barely past Arthur’s ears she had a spark, a rolling flame in those deep brown eyes that flashed in the sparse cracks of lightning and thunder around them. She wore an intricate knit sweater with a heavy coat and a solid pair of waders pulled tightly over it. Her loose chestnut curls spilled out from beneath a woolen hat and swirled around her face in the blustering wind. Arthur watched as she began to haul her small fishing boat in from the shore with strong practiced hands. “You think?” She scoffed over her shoulder but the sarcasm was drowned out with another crack of thunder. “Here, let me help you with that.” Arthur shuffled hurriedly across the sand to meet her, grunting as he tried to shove the other end of the boat out of the water. “S’fine, Arthur, go home. You’ll catch a nasty cold if you keep standing in the water like that.” She tried to dismiss him but he showed no sign of stopping or letting go. “I’ll help carry it to the boathouse, how about that?” He managed between pants of air and splashing around in the choppy waves that licked at his his shins. “Then I’ll go home, okay? I don’t want—“ he grunted before pushing the boat a bit further inland— “you out here any more than you want me to be, I’m sure. Warm up, keep Faroe in and stay safe with Catherine for me, will you?” Bella sighed. She knew Arthur wouldn’t give up, and he’d probably wash away like a piece of driftwood in trying. “Don’t tell me what to do, friend.” She hauled the rest of the boat onto the sand in one great pull, dragging Arthur along with it like a crab to a wayward piece of kelp. “But fine. Only because we both know you aren’t gonna leave this til this thing is at the boathouse.” She freed a hand to emphasize and point at him, but Arthur caught that note of reluctant appreciation around the words. “I swear, Arthur. You’re gonna get yourself hurt trying to help me out one of these days,” she muttered under her breath. the two carried the small boat up the sandy slopes around the dock and through the tall whipping reeds along the hill to the boathouse. Thunder rolled and boomed with the dark clouds that came in from the sea, leaving no room for conversation besides the odd grunt or direction here and there. The whistling reeds stung Arthur’s arms and face on the climb up but he has no time to waste breath. Whatever happened had to be fast because he wouldn’t be able to bear it if they got stuck out in the storm like this. His legs ached from the climb and each boom of thunder and flash of lightning seemed to echo and spark in his bones but he couldn’t stop now. They were so close that he could almost see the roof of the boathouse from behind Bella. “Not giving up yet, eh?” She called out, curls wild and illuminated by brilliant white light before the near deafening crack that followed drowned out anything he said in response. She saw him shake his head, as well as the tremble in his bad leg. “Good. We’re nearly there, just keep steady!” with one great final tug they made it to the very top of the hill. “I’ve got it from here.” Bella dragged the boat out of Arthur’s arms and over to the sturdy wooden boathouse before he could get out a word of protest. When she emerged and came back over to him he allowed himself to lean a bit against her shoulder to catch his breath. They began to walk back down the hill. “You really didn’t have to do that,” he started, but she put a hand on his shoulder to quiet him. “No, you didn’t have to do all that for me. Probably would’ve been smarter not to, not in all this.” She nodded her head up to the rumbling storm around them. “But you did. So thank you.” A flash of lighting lit up their faces

[seabreeze2022]

Bahama Cruise 2022, Part 4, March 25. Wardrick Wells, Cambridge Cay and Bell Rock.

Todays excitement was a sailor who got hung up on the mooring ball directly in front of us. The mooring ball was fouled around some of his lines that were wrapped around his rudder and prop. So his boat is bouncing up and down in the waves. He has his mask and snorkel on, diving under this mess and trying to free the vessel. When it does come free, it is probably going to hit us. I told him to call the Park Ranger for assistance. His wife thanked us profusely. But he was too proud and refused any help. A very ugly storm front was bearing down on this goat rope. His boat is bucking madly up and down with him going back and forth from the deck into the water, then back on deck. This went on for an hour, and I knew he had to be exhausted.

At this point I have my engine going and am at the helm. Ready to drive my boat and mooring ball away from him, if he does free the lines and drifts down on us. I call the Park Rangers, explaining the situation. As you can see in the photo above, they show up in a powerful boat that could fix the situation. He waves them off and will not except help. Idiot!

I have watched this boat for an hour plus, having the rudder fouled and possible damaged. Personally I would not trust the rudder after this abuse, until it was inspected. After it was all done and he was free, it appears all he had to do was cut one bow line. Cheap skate idiot!

The pizza is almost ready! Our gas oven constantly goes off. So Nancy sits in front with her book and gets ready to relight the flame. Nothing is easy.

A catamaran came into the mooring field and provided some mooring entertainment. After they were secure, all eight got in the dinghy made for four; and went to the beach and park headquarters. Kept a watchful eye on them, but they made it back to their boat okay.

Above is a small map available from the park. We moved to the spot marked “yacht moorings” the next day. Pretty place, a little hairy to get here the way we came. There was one mooring ball left and we took it. The currents changes direction each 6 hours, spinning the boat. Problem was the winds were fairly strong and we just laid up alongside the mooring ball itself for several hours. Which is not good for the boot strip or gelcoat.

We took a couple of dinghy rides exploring the paths and beaches which we had to ourselves.

This was our first introduction to the “tour boats” popular in the Exumas. Which we term the “pig boats”. This boat runs from Nassau in an hour and does tours of the pigs at Big Majors, plus other stops along the way. These guys will run within 30 ft. of your anchored boat at full speed. It becomes dangerous just swimming around your boat. This spot in the park is a no wake zone, so it was tolerable.

This is the trail to Bell Rock, lined with old conch shells.

The cruisers mark the trails with whatever is available.

Bell rock on the “sound side”. Fairly calm day, waves usually crash along this shore.

This is our first close up look at the cliffs in the Exumas. It is easily eroded. There are many caves and under cuts along the coast.

This was our first cowry of many we found. Always found them washed up on the “sound” side, never on the “bank” side. We never kill a cowry, but we do keep the dead ones. This is as big as this species gets.

This is the fanciest sign we saw for a trail. It was about a 15 minute walk to “Honeymoon Beach”.

Nancy beach combing.

Beautiful sunset to finish up the day!

S/V Sea Breeze, Cambridge Cay, Exuma, Bahamas