#also once - when i was on wattpad and i was 12 years old ? - i saw shit abt ... like a nazi v. of germany being shipped w like ... fascism

[necrogfie]

the country human fandom is something .. they have like no canon medias, but they create stories that are so fucking funny tbh (like i just saw a tiktok of someone doing a sort of animation? where like the uk is hallucinating their ex bestfirend/lover after their married france for like ... their kingdom ?? and it's peak comedy)

[littlemoneytoes]

Buff Freddy

Hello everyone, I came up with an idea inspired by the amazing artist known as @saltv2. Her latest drawing gave me a funny story idea which I'm excited to share with you all. So, sit back, relax, and get ready for some good laughs and giggles. Also, forgive me if this looks different then the one I have written on DA and Wattpad I wanted to do some fixing of spelling and grammar

Year: 20xx when Goldie had almost taken over the pizzeria once again and had his adult-size body taken away for punishment and he is back in his old body

Freddy had been working hard for months, exercising regularly and taking care of his body to achieve his goals. He knew that he had to be in great shape to keep up with the demands of running the pizzeria and keeping his gang in line. One of his primary goals was to stop Goldie from taking over the pizzeria. Freddy was determined to keep his brother in check, and he put in a lot of effort to make sure that Goldie didn't cause any trouble. Despite his hard work, Freddy was still a friendly and approachable leader. He received a lot of attention from his gang, the toys, management, and even Mike. However, he didn't let the attention go to his head. He remained focused on his goals and always made time for his gang and the other employees. One day, while sitting behind the curtain on the stage, Freddy waited patiently for Goldie to come out and try to cause mischief. He was reading his favorite book, as he had always been a bookworm. The clock struck 12, and Freddy could hear his brother's giggle from behind the curtain. He put the book down carefully and stood up, but he bent down to make it look like he was still sitting. He poked his head out and saw Goldie holding a bucket of glitter glue in his paw and some rope. Freddy guessed that Goldie must be planning to prank one of the gang members. He knew that he had to stop it before Goldie got hurt or caused any trouble. Freddy was always a responsible leader, and he was willing to do whatever it took to keep his pizzeria safe and his gang in line. Freddy: Goldie, come here.

In a calm and firm tone of voice, he addressed Goldie, who was misbehaving. Goldie stopped and looked at Freddy, sticking his tongue out playfully. However, when he saw Freddy start to chase him, he took off running. Freddy, being a muscular bear, quickly caught up with Goldie, who looked back and saw how close the bear was. Goldie started screaming and tried to outrun Freddy, but it was no use. The commotion caught the attention of everyone in the area, including Mike, who heard Goldie's screams from both the camera and his office. Goldie: Aaaahhhhhh Freddy, I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!

The Golden Bear was running for his life while Freddy chased him in the pizzeria, fear evident in his voice. Freddy: I'm not going to hurt you, Goldie. Come here and give your big brother a hug. 😈😈😈😈😈 Goldie was frantically running through the dark, silent hallways of the building, trying to escape the grasp of Freddy, the muscular bear. His heart was pounding in his chest as he could hear Freddy's footsteps getting closer and closer. Goldie never expected Freddy to have gained so much muscle over the last few months, and he was terrified of what he might do to him. As Freddy was gaining on him, Goldie quickly teleported inside the vents to catch his breath and escape from the predator. He knew that he had to stay out of sight and avoid making any noise. He watched as Freddy searched for him, looking around in confusion and anger. Goldie waited patiently until he thought it was safe to come out and continue his escape.As Goldie poked his head out of the vents, he suddenly found himself in the tight grip of a big brother hug from Freddy. Goldie was scared out of his wits, thinking that this might be his last moment alive. But to his surprise, Freddy began to purr very loudly, as if to soothe him. Goldie soon realized that Freddy was not going to hurt him, but was trying to comfort him. Goldie broke down in tears, crying like a big baby. He felt relieved that he was not going to be harmed by Freddy, but still felt scared and helpless. Freddy continued to hold him close, cradling him to soothe the crying bear. After a few moments, Goldie calmed down and sniffled a few times. Freddy then carried him back to the backroom, where he placed him gently on the bed.

Freddy: Please stay here. I will get you some food.

Freddy gave instructions to Goldie before leaving the room to get some food for his little brother. He kindly asked Goldie to remain in bed and suggested that she curl up a bit to get more comfortable. He made sure to close the door behind him before heading to the kitchen to prepare some food for his sibling. T.B.C I apologize if the story was too brief. I ran out of ideas, but feel free to create your own stories about what happens next. Additionally, I believe sharing more AGA stories will help everyone ease their stress, whether it's related to the SaD incident, school, or relatives.

[asykriel]

Love is the Death of Duty - 2.

® do not repost or translate !

☆ Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x Male! Targaryen OC

☆ Status: Ongoing 

☆ Summary:  

“He is half of my heart.”

War made monsters of them all, but it also brought the two second sons together in a flurry of death, love, deceit and delusion. The story of Aemond Targaryen and the eldest son of Daemon and Rhaenyra, Maegor Targaryen, second of his name. 

☆ AO3 ☆ || ☆ Wattpad ☆

☆ CHAPTERS: (Prologue) / ( 1 ) / ( 2 ) / ( 3 ) / ( 4 ) / ( 5 ) / ( 6 ) / ( 7 ) / ( 8 ) / ( 9 ) / ( 10 ) / ( 11 ) / ( 12 ) / ( 13 ) / ( 14 ) / ( 15 ) / (16 from now on upcoming chaps only on-  AO3  ||  Wattpad  )

☆ Masterlist ☆ ||  ☆ Spotify Playlist ☆

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Chapter 2

"King Viserys of House Targaryen, the first of his name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm!" the Kingsguard's shouts, his voice echoes through the throne hall followed by the taps of a cane against stone. The council stops and everyone turns their head towards the noise. No one dares to mutter a word.

A frail old man makes his way slowly towards the Iron Throne, a golden mask covering half his face to hide whatever hideousness resided behind it.. He looks nothing like Maegor remembers him. Sick and weak, a vessel of the man he once was. If it weren't for the crown on his head he would not be able to tell that the feeble man before him still is his grandfather. 

He had pleasant memories with him as a child. Viserys loved his family dearly. But he especially seemed to love Rhaenyra and her children at the cost of hurting his own wife and children. 

The boy will be a fierce dragon one day, I saw it in my dreams. 

Maegor feels a bitter taste on his tongue looking at the old man. He also feels Aemond's eye observing the crowd. It burns right through him but he does not dare to meet his stare back nor to desert his relatively secluded place and move up front next to his family to face his gaze directly. Their reunion on the sparring grounds left him confused and shaken by his own fire and sudden feelings. 

Viserys stops for a brief moment to look at his daughter, his brother, his nephews. Not a single glance is spared to Alicent or their children. 

"I will sit the throne today." He pants, catching his breath. Viserys still has a flame flickering in him that refuses to die out. Not yet. That sole fragile flame is the only bit that was holding the Realm in balance. 

"Your Grace." The Hand of the King nods reluctantly. 

He's been serving as Hand since Jahaerys was King yet he still looked more youthful than any of the lords he serviced. Maegor had foggy memories with the Hand but he remembers him from six years ago, particularly his harshness towards Aegon and Aemond. It's enough to detest the Hand for that alone.

 His father warned him and his half brothers about Otto and Alicent Hightower thoroughly before they came to King's Landing, after all they were never ashamed to make their scorn known when it came to their family, especially Daemon and Rhaenyra. Always manipulating. Always spreading lies and rumors. Continuously seeking out to harm whoever could stand in their way. 

Be alert. Be on your guard. Those vipers rule in my brother's name.

Viserys struggles to climb the stairs up to the Iron Throne. The crown slips and falls with a clink. He stops, resting his forehead on the handle of his cane looking defeated but no one dares to rush to his aid.

"I'll be fine, I'll be fine." He mumbles.  A hand picks up the crown and steadies his weakened form, offering much needed support. 

"Come on." A familiar voice urges him further and he feels energized when he recognizes it as Daemon's.

The King's tired gaze meets his brother's. There's a storm of emotions behind Daemon's eyes but for the experienced eye it was as clear as day that he held no grudge towards Viserys. He loved him in his own way. Daemon guides him on the Iron Throne and Viserys slumps with a painful groan. His brother gently places the crown back on his head, and with a final apologetic expression he returns next to his wife and resumes his stoic posture. 

Maegor catches his father's sharp glance and takes this as his sign to abandon his secluded spot in the crowd and advance up front to take his place in between Daemon and his mother and in full view of Aemond and his own family. They make direct eye contact for a brief moment before Maegor swiftly turns his gaze to something that won't affect him the way Aemond does. 

Lykiri.

He settles to stare at the numerous swords making up the Iron Throne and starts counting them silently in his head to keep himself distracted. It has little effect like he initially hoped. His skin is burning again, he feels the same rush like before in his veins. It makes him irritated that just the very sight of the One Eyed Prince is enough to lose control over his emotions. 

Maegor hated not being in control. He needed to thank his father for inheriting his volatile temper. Daemon was renowned for his character, beloved and dreaded by all of Westeros, Maegor could just hope he wouldn't end up becoming so reviled like him. One Rogue Prince was enough for the Realm. 

Maegor also needed to thank Daemon for lecturing him about carnal pleasures, although he never felt the need or curiosity to go and experience them himself. Women did not interest him. Men did not either. He was thirsty for power not flesh. It was the sound of metal against metal and the threat of danger that made him feel hot. The dragons roaring that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. An opponent yielding in defeat after he beat him into submission. The soreness of his tired and battered body after a day long of training

Right now however, Aemond was making him feel like that. Just by looking at him, just by being in the same hall as him. Just by sacrificing an eye to claim Vhagar six years ago. Maegor felt guilty for a sin he didn't commit - or a sin he was afraid he would commit. These raging new feelings inside him were for sure a weakness he never asked for. But he needed it.

Seven Hells.

"Say it." Daemon says almost in a whisper next to him, eyes dark and full of danger and it snaps him back to reality. An ambush was laid.

Maegor was so lost in his thoughts about the Prince that he didn't hear the commotion or notice Vaemond Velaryon pointing with hostility towards them and spewing treasonous words. Six years of daily training with his father had made him keen of his body language and Maegor immediately noticed he was planning something. 

"Her children...are bastards!" Vaemond shouts right in his mother's and half brother's faces.

Maegor bristled up glaring at the Velaryon, a hand steady on Nightbringer. He didn't even notice that Daemon left his place and snuck behind the offender.

"And she is a whore!" Vaemond presses on. Numerous gasps and mutters start echoing throughout the half. Stares dashing from Rhaenyra to her three dark haired sons and back again to her.

Maegor moves in front of his mother and half brothers, Nightbringer in his scabbard and ready to be unleashed if the Velaryon dog dares to bark one more poisonous word against his family.

"I will have your tongue for that!" Viserys staggers, standing up and brandishing his Valyrian dagger ready to defend his daughter with renowned vigor.

Suddenly Vaemond Velaryon's body collapses in front of everyone as his father masterfully slices half of his head diagonally in one fluid motion. An execution so perfectly arranged the the man's tongue was still wagging against his lower jaw.

Daemon Targayen set down his sword, resting his hands on its pommel as he glanced up to his brother with aparrent boredom.

"He can keep his tongue." His father announced, dully, staring down at the corpse at his feet. Dark Sister was fed today.

Gasps of horror filled the throne hall and Maegor saw with the corner of his eye how Aemond jumped a step back in disbelief with a shocked expression. He does not have time to admire the One Eyed Prince's reaction for long as a man - from Vaemond's personal circle - rushes towards Daemon from his side, sword drawn ready to strike him down. 

He tastes blood.

Maegor surges forward - everything dark around him except for the target - and drives Nightbringer through the fool's abdomen. The man drops his weapon and grabs Maegor's sword in reflex and desperation as his mouth begins to fill with the blood that starts to choke him. 

"Die now, dog." Maegor sneers in his face, a vicious gaze in his eyes. With a harsh motion he  pulls out Nightbringer, the man's bowels spilling outside all over before he shoves his limp body with his foot so that he can join his master on the floor before them. The surge of adrenaline makes his hands shake on the handle of his blade.

"Disarm them!" Otto Hightower yells his order. 

All the men from the Kingsguard rush towards Daemond and Maegor with raised swords, quickly surrounding the Prince consort and his son at the command. The crowd gets more alarmed and begins to agitate. 

"No need." Daemon calmly says, stepping away from the bodies. He wipes the blood off Dark Sister on his cloak and rejoins his family. Daemon's commanding presence alone calms the situation as swift as he started it.

Something was telling Maegor that his father purposely let him have this kill. It felt good. He felt good. Powerful and untouchable. His ears were buzzing.

His first kill. 

 A personal message perhaps to everyone who might dare challenge their family. Daemon Targaryen was showing the world he was not the only one that was not to be messed with. And today the warning was loud.

With his back turned towards the Greens and the Iron Throne Maegor was still high on the feeling, so much so that he nearly forgot about Aemond until he felt he was being watched and he knew exactly who was observing him closely. That fire started burning hotly again, hotter than the rush he felt earlier slaying that dimwit. After Nightbringer was clean, Maegor turned to face him.  

Fuck.

The expression on Aemond's face made his knees feel weak. There was no trace of the shock in his eyes anymore when Daemon made his kill. No, now it was only desire. Arousal. Lust. Fervor. 

Maegor grabbed the pommel of his blade with both of his hands so tightly - painfully - that his knuckles turned as white as a ghost's. If he didn't, he was sure he would crumble to the ground next to those two corpses and join them in death.

I would curse the gods if I were not certain I am not the cursed one.

Aemond looked at him like he wanted to kill him. Consume him. He wanted him. He craved him.

Maegor was forgetting how to breathe properly, forgetting about everyone else in the hall with them. Right now it was just him and Aemond. 

AemondAemondAemond.. 

All the blood was starting to rush to every wrong place in his body. 

He needed an escape-

Viserys slumped back in the throne with a loud groan of pain. Alicent called for the maesters urgently and they start rushing to her husband. Some of the people start clearing the hall after the King is taken back to her quarters with loud mutters, still startled from the bloodshed. The new found commotion snapped both Princes out of their state. Aemond used the distraction to sneak away, taking what seemed to be a back room without anyone but Maegor watching him. 

Maegor sighed in temporary relief. He barely exchanged any words with his uncle but they somehow ended up quite literally devouring each other just from exchanging gazes alone. He wanted to throw aside reason and go after Aemond. The fire inside was urging him to give in to the chase. It was nauseating.

"My son, do you feel alright?" Rhaenyra asks, the voice of a worried mother despite her son having just killed a man with no remorse. Despite the scorching craving Maegor was feeling for Aemond. 

 "Yes mother. Quite alright." His throat is dry so his voice comes out almost cracking. The hand of his mother rubs his back soothingly. Daemon gives him a proud pat on his shoulder.

 Maegor just hopes that no one has noticed what the One Eyed Prince is doing to him. He hopes they blame Vaemond and his guard for his behavior. This stone hard facade he has been perfecting for six years is turning into sand now.

I am dying. And he is killing me slowly.

[pensat-i-fet]

A Manchester Affair (Rúben Dias): Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Chapter 12

Masterlist

Wattpad

"You sure it's ok?"

"It's ok Scott, don't worry. I had to babysit kids to get some extra cash before working for Bayern, I know what I'm doing".

"But it's three kids. Including two babies", he repeated once again.

"I know. It'll be fine!"

"You are the best, you know that right?"

"Of course I know", she winked at him.

Scott had come to Lucía’s house panicking. Because of some family issues, his sister and her partner had to travel to Scotland and Scott was going to be looking after their kids since his parents were also out of town. But the final day they were there was a day before a match and he needed to go stay with the squad in a hotel. Lucía, however, could stay home if she wanted, so she offered to look after them that day.

"Rúben is away that Saturday, right?"

"He'll be back in the evening, I guess".

"I'm ok with him helping you and staying with my nephews and my niece. Just so you know. I don’t think you’ll refuse any help you can get".

The topic of Rúben was always a weird one. Scott was a huge supporter of their relationship, but they hadn't met properly yet and she worried about how that would go. But every little comment like this one made her confident that they could actually be friendly towards each other.

"Ok, it’s good to know", she smiled.

"Well, I gotta go pick them up. Thanks again", he said, giving her a hug.

**

When Scott closed Lucía’s door and turned to go to the lift, he saw Rúben approaching the apartment.

"Hey mate", he said.

"Hi. I didn't know you were visiting".

"Just asking her for a favour. Nothing else".

The tension could be cut with a knife.

"I know Scott. And…sorry for, you know, what happened at the match".

Scott laughed. "I get it. I would have probably done the same".

He then extended his hand so Rúben could shake it. "Friends? For her?"

"Friends", said Rúben, shaking Scott's hand.

"Anyway, go see your girl. I have a very busy day ahead of me. I'll see you around, I guess".

"Yes. Bye".

**

"Did you bump into Scott? He just left", asked Lucía, looking to be completely transparent with Rúben.

"I did and we are friends now".

"You are?", she asked, surprised.

"Kind of".

That made her laugh, but also made her very happy. There was nothing she wanted more than for them to get on well.

"So, are you ready for the movie?", she said, laughing at him.

"Why can't we just watch a comedy?"

"Because we watched one the other day and it’s my turn to pick. Besides Scream has a lot of comedy in it!! It's the perfect combination".

"You said that about the last horror movie too", he complained.

"Stop being a baby and pay attention. The opening scene is so good".

**

Saturday arrived and it was time for Lucía’s big babysitting job.

Scott had a niece that was three years old and then two twin nephews that were still babies. Definitely a lot of work but she felt like she could do it. Right?

Only two hours later, she realised she wasn’t ready for it at all. The babies kept waking up at different times and crying because they probably missed their mum. Scott's niece was busy playing and didn't want to help out with her brothers. Well, at least she wasn't causing much drama.

By the time Lucía had to start making their dinner, her shirt had dried vomit on it, her hair looked like a nest, there were toys all over her living room and she even found some in the toilet. It was a disaster.

She threw all her nutrition knowledge out of the window and just made some fish fingers with mashed potatoes for her and Scott's niece. She wanted to put ketchup on then?…well, so be it. At least she was eating. She’d take any wins, no matter how small.

And speaking of babies, the veggie purée she made for them seemed to be well received until one of them started to spit it. Brilliant. 

How could parents do this without crying every day?

The idea of bath time totally made her want to bawl her eyes out.

"Someone is knocking on the door, I'll open it", she heard the little girl say while she started to walk in the door’s direction.

"No!!! You can't open the door to strangers".

"My parents let me do it at home", she said seriously.

"Yeah, pretty sure they don't, young lady".

When Lucía opened the door, she found Rúben there.

"Bad time to visit?", he chuckled, seeing the way she looked.

"I want to hug you but I'm so gross right now".

He let himself in and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yes, this is Rúben. My boyfriend".

"My uncle is more handsome, you should date him".

"Sorry babe, the jury has decided. I have to date uncle Scott".

“Who am I going to date then?”, said Rúben, pouting.

“Me!!”, said Scott’s niece.

“So that was her plan all along. She wanted you for herself but sent me to her uncle as a consolation prize”, laughed Lucía.

Rúben just shook his head and went to see how the babies were doing.

“Ok, honey. How about we take you to the bath now and then you can watch some TV while I bathe your little brothers?”

“Can I have ice cream while I watch TV?”, she said.

“Sure”, said Lucía, so tired that she’d give her a chocolate fountain if that helped.

When she walked past the spare room on her way to the bathroom, she saw Rúben holding both babies. They looked so tiny being held by him. He was bouncing them in his legs and making them giggle. And it took Lucía a second, or twenty, to realized she needed to stop staring and help Scott’s niece with her bath.

Three baths later, she was ready to collapse on the sofa. But it was occupied by Rúben, who had Scott's niece next to him, holding onto his arm while they watched TV.

"Everything ok here? Babies are sleeping".

Rúben turned to look at her. "All good. How about you take a shower now that it's all calmed down. I'll look after her".

"You're perfect".

"I recall you saying that the day we met, yeah".

She chuckled at his words and left to shower. They had come a long way since that dinner with Pep. 

When she got back to the living room, Lucía saw a little three-year-old girl hugging Rúben while trying to keep her eyes open to finish watching the movie.

“I guess I’m not the only one who likes your cuddles”.

He looked up at her and smiled. “I’ve got two arms”.

But when she sat next to him to cuddle to his side, a little hand slapped hers.

“No! Rúben is mine”.

“Is he now? Where am I supposed to sit then?”

“Next to me”, she said. And so that’s what Lucía did, shaking her head.

But not even 10 minutes later, the little one was already sleeping and so Rúben took her to her bed before coming back to the sofa.

“I think I’m allowed to be your boyfriend again”, he said before leaning in to kiss her.

They could have stayed in that moment for hours after such a tiring day.

“You don’t have to stay today if you don’t want to”.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“The kids will wake up in the middle of the night and you should rest after your match”, she said, putting her head on his shoulder.

“And you need to rest before your match tomorrow”.

“Yes, but it’s not the same. I'm not a player”.

“No, you’re more important than the players”, he said. “Imagine Varane hurts his ankle but you’re so sleepy that you start treating his arm. It would be on national TV. Embarrassing!”

Lucía turned her head so his arm could muffle the sound of her laughing. 

“Let’s go to bed then”, she said, grabbing his hand.

**

The night wasn’t as bad as she expected, even though she did have to wake up a couple of times to look after the babies. But when Scott’s sister knocked on the door, Lucía literally sprinted to open it.

“Thank you for looking after them. I hope it wasn’t too bad”, she said.

“It was ok, don’t worry”.

“But you aren’t doing it again anytime soon, right?”, she laughed.

“I’ll leave the babysitting to uncle Scott”.

“I’ll let him know he has to bring you with him to a Sunday dinner, so we can thank you for yesterday. And so everyone else can meet you”.

“I’d love to go, thank you”.

“Amazing! Thank you again. And say hi to my brother later”, she said, leaving and somehow managing to make it look simple to control three kids.

“I will!”

“That family will be devastated to find out you and Scott aren’t together”, said Rúben, making her jump. She thought he was still in the shower.

“Yeah, well”, she said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m joking”.

“Are you?”

“Yes, too early?”, he laughed.

“A bit”, she said, laughing too. “But you aren’t wrong. I think they are getting the wrong idea so Scott better let them know before they try to turn me into a McTominay when I meet them”.

“Just tell them you’ll be a Dias one day”.

“I’ll tell them I’ll keep my own last name”, she said, rolling her eyes. 

“So…”, he said, changing the subject. “Did that count as practice?”

Lucía turned to look at him with a frown on her face but quickly realised what he meant.

“Yesterday gave me the complete opposite of baby fever, Dias. Ask me again in a year. That’s how long it’ll take me to recover”.

“You know, they usually come one by one, not three at once”, laughed Rúben.

“Can’t risk it!”

**

The next day Lucía had a photo shoot to attend. It was one of the most bizarre requests she got, but the team was actually happy to get any type of promotion. I mean, was there a product they weren’t sponsored by? It was a bit ridiculous.

So there she was, on the set of Women’s Health, ready to pose for a couple of photos and talk about her job at United.

The guy who was interviewing her didn’t seem particularly friendly. He also kept on getting her name wrong, which was really annoying. Isn’t part of the job to make sure you actually know who you are talking to?

“Are you in a relationship?”, asked the journalist.

“I’m sorry?”

“I asked if you have a boyfriend”.

“I don’t see how that has anything to do with my job”, she said, side-eyeing him.

“Just answer the question. You are a young woman working surrounded by men, people want to know”.

Lucía almost felt like leaving the set at that moment, but seeing how he talked to her, she had the feeling that if she did that, the article would not be very flattering.

“I do have a boyfriend, yes”.

“Wasn’t that hard”, he muttered.

The rest of the interview went as well as she could hope for and then she posed for the photos. It was weird for her to be posing in these types of sport clothes. She was more used to just the team’s clothes, but hey, new experiences and all that. Everyone in the team told her to enjoy it, and she was going to try to do just that. Even if having a wind machine directed at her face wasn’t really her idea of a good time.

[kcuf-ad]

Yugioh GX: Rewrite Chapter 11 (The School Duel.)

Here it is: The Duel between North Academy and Duel Academy. Who will win this duel; Chazz 'Chazz It Up' Princeton or Jaden 'Get Your Game On' Yuki?

Also on my Wattpad, AO3 and Fanfiction.site (Name: kcuf_ad)

“So, our little brother is dueling?” The Princeton brothers heard as they heard from Chazz’s jacket, a little recorder, recorded all of the things they heard and even him defeating Jesse Anderson. Jagger looked at Slade. 

“About time he was useful and helped us.” Slade grinned as he looked at his younger brother, “Shall we?”

“Of course, Slade. We are gonna show how powerful our little brother is.” Slade and Jagger looked at each other as they began laughing, their plan on World Domination becoming closer and closer. 

The Day Of The School Duel

Jaden and the gang, aka Bastion, Ceilna, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis and Zane were chilling in the boat yard, waiting for someone to show up. They didn’t know why, well Zane did, but he was ordered not to tell them why. 

But that didn’t matter, as they are having the most serious debate of all time, “Hey, guys! Who do you think would win in a fight? A hippo or a rhino?”

“What makes you say that, Jaden?” asked Bastion as he was eating a Golden Eggwich, which he got 7 weeks in a row to the point he was nicknamed “The Golden Eggwich Of Ra” which was the cheesey name pun of Ra’s full card name.

“Oh, I think I get it.” Celina said, “Because they are like big?” Jaden nodded, “Yeah they are big, like chunky.” 

“It all depends where they are fighting. The weather to be exact.” pointed out Zane, who was actually interested in this debate, “Is it too cold for the hippo?”

“Or is it too hot for the rhino?” asked Chumley.

Syrus turned to the person who is representing Duel Academy, “Are we putting it in water or on land?”

“Because I feel like hippos do have the ability to beat a rhino in the water.” said Alexis as everyone nodded to that. “Due to their mouths.”

“True, rhinos do have pathetic mouths.” pointed out Celina. 

“Yeah, but I do think rhino do have the advantage in having a…beak of some sorts. Y’know, the thing on top of their nose.” said Jaden as everyone looked at him in confusion. 

“You mean a horn?” Zane asked as the Slifer Red nodded. 

As the conversation got deeper, Syrus was confused on one thing, “How much does a rhino weigh?”

Before any of them could answer that question, Bastion finished a bite of his Golden Eggwich, “An adult rhino weighs between 1720 to 3080 pounds while an adult hippo weighs at 3500 to 9920 pounds.” He said with confidence as everyone looked at the Golden Eggwich of Ra in confusion. 

“...How do you know that?” asked Alexis. 

Bastion was silent for a few minutes as he looked at them, he took a deep breath, “Once when I was 12 years old, I was curious on what are the heaviest animals, and I accidently walked in a university,” Everyone did a double take on that, “And just like that I am legally a doctor.” 

“Did…did you just admit to going through 12 years of medical school in less than a year?” asked Chumley as Bastion nodded. 

“How!?” 

“I think they didn’t care at that point or they thought I was one of those students that passed grades due to their intelligence, despite being an university.” 

“So, now I know who to go to when I break a bone. Cool.” said Jaden as he heard someone getting near so he went up and saw most students, some teachers and Sheppard near one of the boat houses. “When did you guys come here?” 

“About 20 minutes.” said a shocked Sheppard that one of his students is a doctor, “What the hell is wrong with my school?” “We heard,” Banner nudged him, “I heard from Foster that they would be arriving any minute now.”

“Wait, how?” asked Celina, “What, are they gonna arrive on a submarine or something?” She joked, but then as if on cue, a submarine appeared behind them, as all of them, sans the teachers, Sheppard and Zane, took a double take, “Well I be damned.” 

From the submarines appeared a few students, like Czar and Lucien, and then Foster. Foster walked towards Sheppard as both of the Chancellors shook their hands together, “Good to see ya, Sheppard old pal! How’s your bald head?”

“The feelings are mutual, Foster my man, but to answer your question, good, but how is your soon to be bald head?” asked Sheppard as both of them glared at each other, almost like they were about to fight each other, but they quickly laughed it up. “I missed you, bud!”

“Great to hear it! I missed you too, you old bag of bones!” Foster stopped laughing as he got a quick look at the other students. Some Ra, some Slifers, a girl in Slifer and of course Zane, “Ahh, how’s it going Kaiser? Got anyone to rival your position?”  

Zane crossed his arms and closed his eyes, “Well I can name a few.” two certain Slifer Reds looked in excitement, “But right now? None.” Both of them dropped their heads in shame. 

Foster looked around, “So remember that I said I was using a first year, right? So you haven’t picked Kaiser, right?”

Sheppard laughed, “Of course not! I love a fair fight, don’t we?” Duel Academy students cheered as Foster sighed in relief, they stood a chance against them. 

“Okay, good.” Foster then looked at the submarine, “Alright! Bring him in! We need to show them our strongest student!” The door was opened as more and more students, around 45 students went out, until there were, most likely 2 of them left. 

As then one of the students exited the submarine, “Hoo! Finally able to breathe!” yelled out the student as most of the students, Zane, some of the teachers and Sheppard widening, “Howdy y’all! Great to me cha!” 

“JESSE ANDERSON!?” yelled out most of the people, Zane was shocked, but didn’t voice his opinion. 

“Uhh, who?” asked Celina as Bastion turned to her.

“You don’t know Jesse Anderson?” he asked. 

“Can’t say that I do.” she claimed. 

“Jesse Anderson is the person that won in a tournament not too long ago with a…highly inconsistent bug styled deck and won one of, if THE, rarest deck of all time. The Crystal Beasts. Based on the gemstones of Julius Caesar's reign.” Bastion explained as Jesse rubbed his head in embarrassment as Celina looked at Jaden. 

“You just had to beat me, didn’t you?” she asked as Jaden nervously laughed as he walked up to Jesse. 

“Stop, you're making me blush.” said Jesse as he heard someone walking up to him, “Oh? Who are you?”

Jaden grinned as he reached for a hand shake, “Jaden Yuki! The representative of Duel Academy!” Jesse returned the handshake as he got a closer look at him, “Hey! Love the hair!”

Jesse laughed, “Thanks, I styled it myself! Yours cool too! Who is your barber so I can get a visit?” 

“Oh in Domino City next to the Duel Shop, can’t miss it! Also I can’t get over how cool your accent is!”

“Yeah, yours is sweet as well!”

Zane and Bastion, and many more students quickly realized something about them, “Wait…”

“Thanks man! Can’t wait to duel ya’!” Jaden said as Jesse got a little sad, “Hmm? Is something wrong, Jess?” 

“A nickname already?!” thought most of the North and Duel Academy students. 

Jesse rubbed the back of his head, “The thing is, I ain’t the guy duelin’ ya’.” Many widened at the sound of that, he wasn’t the guy representing them!? Who the hell is!? “But let me tell all of y’all, ya’ might know him!” He turned as he saw the door closed, “Oh. Guys, I think you need to open, I think he is going to suffocate!” 

Czar looked at the tiny door and realized what he meant by that as he used his strength to open the door. Jesse walked over, “You okay, over there, bud?” 

“Okay!? How the hell would I be okay!? I nearly suffocated there!” yelled a familiar voice as everyone widened at the sound of that voice. Jesse reached down to help his fellow North Academy student, and everyone gasped, “Finally! Fresh air at last - Thank you, Jesse - I couldn't have another minute of it!” He stood up as he looked over to everyone with a grin, “Hello, everyone.”

It was Chazz Princeton. He was no longer wearing the Obelisk Blue uniform, instead he wore a black trench coat, a black shirt, tight black pants and black shoes. Calling him the living embodiment of shopping at Hot Topic will be an understatement. 

“CHAZZ?!” yelled everyone, sans Zane. 

“It’s THE Chazz to you!” yelled a North Academy student. 

Jaden walked up, “Chazzorino! Buddy! Where have you been? And why are you here?” 

Chazz looked at him, with a tick mark on his head, “What the hell do you think I am here, to watch the duel?! I am dueling here!” Jaden gasped once again, “That’s right Jaden! I am here for my reve-”

“Sweet! I always wanted a rematch with one of my buddies!” Chazz looked, and so did the rest of the student body look at him in disbelief, like he didn’t insult him in the promotional exam. 

However, one Crystal Beast player had a different reaction, “Wait! You are buddies with Chazzy over here?” The Slifer Red nodded, “Sweet! Any buddy of my buddy is my buddy.”

“Wait, he lets you call him, Chazzy? I can’t even get him to say something nice. He has gotten softer!” 

“No I haven’t!” yelled Chazz as his blood pressure was going up more and more. 

Almost all of the students covered their mouths as they realized something. There are two Jadens/Jesses. 

“My god…” mumbled Celina. 

“Don’t lie to your buddy like that, Chazzy! You’re treating your monsters better!” The Dark Scorpions and Ojama Yellow nodded to that, despite only the Kaiser and the Slifer Red noticing them. 

“Oh that’s so nice of you! I can’t wait to hang out with ya’ again!” said Jaden as then Alexis walked up to him. “Oh hey, Lex.”

“Hey, do you see the resemblance of Jesse and you?” she asked. 

“Hmm. What do you mean by that?” asked both Jesse and Jaden as they tilted their heads in unison, and then they looked at each other, “HA! Jinx! You owe me a soda! HA! Jinx! You owe me two sodas!” They both laughed. 

Everyone in Duel Academy and North Academy had the same thought process, “OH MY GOD! THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!” 

Syrus dropped to his knees, “My sidekick gig is over!” He then cried anime style as Zane looked at his younger brother. 

“Sy, you do realize he will be here for a day at most. Right?” asked Kaiser as the younger Truesdale jumped in glee. 

“Yes! I forgot! Thank you, Zane!” Syrus then latched on Zane’s leg as the Kaiser tried his hardest to let him off of him. 

“Sy. Please get off me.” Try as he might, but he couldn’t get his younger brother away from him, earning a chuckle from Honest, but the Cyber Dragon duelist glared at the Duel Spirit making him look away. 

As the two North and Duel Academy were acting like they were best friends for decades, it was extremely easy to see Chazz almost explode from anger, all of them heard, helicopters coming near them, which didn’t make sense since they didn’t hear them coming a few meters away from them. 

“Hello, little brother!” As then like a snap of his fingers, Chazz was stiff as a rock as he looked up and saw his two figures from the helicopters. They are here. With the television crew with them. 

His brothers. Slade and Jagger. 

“What are you two doing here!?” he yelled as Slade laughed. 

“What? Can we watch our little brother duel in the School duel?” he asked as the helicopters landed. 

“Get out.”

“Sorry, but we can’t do that. We have important things to do.” Jagger said as he and his older brother walked out of the helicopter. All of the students didn’t want to get out of there, mostly because they didn’t want to get sued, much to the dismay of Celina. 

Slade wrapped his arm around his youngest brother’s shoulder, “How about we have a little chit-chat with you as you get ready for the duel?” Chazz, despite all of his thoughts saying otherwise, nodded as everyone started walking towards the Duel Academy for the School Duel. And then the television crew flew towards Duel Academy. 

Almost was quiet as they walked towards Duel Academy, they could tell something was wrong with the Princeton family. 

Key word: almost. 

“Alright, in the count of three; name your favourite Hashira.” Jesse nodded as Jaden started counting down, “3, 2, 1…”

“Kyojuro Rengoku!” both of them said at the same time, “What?!”

“Did we just become best friends?” and just like that Syrus fell to the ground as his best buddy just called a guy that he only known for 10 minutes is now his best friend, and Zane had to carry his younger brother, as it was impossible to drag him, on his back. 

“Yup!” 

“It took him a month to talk about the shows we like, but with Jesse it took him 10 minutes,” said Celina as she crossed her arms. 

The Golden Eggwich of Ra looked at her with a small smile, “Are you jealous?”

“No, I am not like Syrus. I am not jealous.” 

“Stage 1, Denial.” said Chumley as Celina looked at the Senior Slifer Red. 

“I am not!” 

“Are you sure, Celina? Because you look like it.” said the only Obelisk Blue girl that was friends with them. 

“I am not! Why does everyone say that?!” she then looked at the, what had to be long lost brothers, acting like they were best friends for a decade, “Am I?”

At Duel Academy

As every other student that wasn't part of the school duel and teachers sat down on their own side of the peanut gallery. Duel Academy was on the right side, Zane was on the rails,  while North Academy was on the left side, with both Chancellors on North Academy’s side so they can talk it over before, during and after the duel. As they waited for the duel, everyone noticed people setting up cameras, light and microphones for some odd reason. 

“Wait, what’s going on?” asked Sheppard as he looked at Foster. 

“Beats me. I don’t know how they managed to set up a television crew here so fast. But, is the winner of the School Duel gonna have the prize we had for the past 2 years?” Foster said. 

“Ahh, what the hay and of course. Let’s allow this to show how badly Jaden is going to defeat Chazz.”

“You mean, how badly Chazz is going to defeat Jaden, right?” Both of them glared at each other as an anime style lightning went towards both of them, making most of the students uncomfortable. 

Meanwhile at one of the many locker rooms of Duel Academy, Chazz was sitting on a chair, with Jagger on the opposite side and Slade standing. “Why are you here?” he asked, not making eye contact. 

“Why else? To show everyone in the entire world,” Chazz widened at the sound of that, they got an entire television crew and are filming this?! Why are they allowing this!? Slade walked over to his youngest brother as he gripped his shoulders, “You do remember our plan of World Domination? Do you?”

“I do, Slade. You rule the political world, Jagger the financial world and I the dueling world.” Both of the older brothers smiled. 

“Good, you remember it.” Slade released his hand from his brother, but then looked at his other younger brother, “Jagger, take out the briefcase.”

“Sure thing, older brother.” Jagger said as he took out his briefcase under the seat he was sitting on and revealed it. They were rare cards that anyone could wish for. They had the most powerful effects and archetypes and even the Red Eyes Black Dragon and Five Headed Dragon. 

“What is this?” 

“Your cards for the School Duel, little brother.” explained Jagger as Chazz took a good look at them. 

“Why would you give me them?” asked the youngest Princeton. 

“Easy, little brother. So you could destroy that punk. Humiliate him in front of the whole world. Make it a one sided battle. To see how pointless it is for them to go against you. So you could win.” explained Slade. 

“But I-”

“But I what!?” snapped Jagger as he stood up, “You have done nothing for this family! You are the most embarrassing thing the Princetons have ever had! You are the biggest SLACKER the Princetons had ever had! So tell me, but I what?!”

Chazz dropped his head and swallowed whatever was in his throat, “But I nothing, Jagger.”

“Good.” snarled Slade as he and Jagger exited the room as Chazz looked at the briefcase. From what he knows, the duel will start around 10 minutes, so he had enough time to use the deck and learn the combos, but he didn’t want to do that. 

He wanted to use the deck that was given to him by North Academy, a deck that he earned with his hard work, and not given to him out of pity. But he knows he couldn’t say no, they would most likely…

No, he mustn’t think that. In Fact he knows that he will beat Jaden without the use of his brother’s cards, he knows that, but the mere imagery of him losing was sending images that got worse and worse the more he thought about it. He walked towards the sink and thought about something. 

Around the same time, Jaden and Jesse were talking to each other, “Man, as much as I want to continue this conversation, I need to get ready for the duel. Sorry Jess.”

“Nah, don’t be Jay, I get it. Good luck out there, and tell Chazzy that I wished him luck too.” Both him and the Slifer Red fist bumped each other. “Well see ya’!” 

“See ya’!” he waved as Jesse walked off, he calmly walked towards some of the locker rooms as then he heard something that he shouldn’t have. Chazz hit the glass, not shattering it, “Man up, Chazz!” Jaden stopped as he looked towards his opponent’s locker room and saw him sulking like something was wrong. 

Extremely wrong. 

“Man up!” he dropped to his sink, “Show them that Chazz Princeton is no slacker. That you are worthy of the Princeton name. That you can win…and that you…can keep winning.” He dropped to the floor, with tears in his eyes and flew down to his cheek bones, “Over and over and that…you are…the best.” He was shivering, like he was scared.

Jaden really wanted to help him and comfort him, but he knew that was an invasion of privacy. He felt sorry for him. All this time he wasn’t a jerk to everyone because he liked it, it was because of them. 

“You have to…put your input in. Show them that you are the supreme. That it’s your duty. That’s the plan!” Jaden saw The Dark Scorpions and Ojama Yellow appearing and try to comfort him, “You can…win.”

Jaden walked off, feeling sorry for him and gritted his teeth. Hating every single fiber of his brothers’ existence. But there was a problem. As much as he wanted to help him, that would mean he would give up on the spot, making all of Duel Academy upset, but if he wins, he would make Chazz upset, which he couldn’t make that happen. 

He thought for a minute, before deciding not to tell anyone about this and duel him like he didn’t hear him. 

Meanwhile at a cafe at Domino City

A man was sitting down, watching the TV from the cafe. He was waiting for a normal Gearfried Espresso and a glass of ice water. It was currently the day he let two of his employees have a day off and he figured he could relax in the cafe.

The man had black hair with some yellow stripes on it, resembling something out of a crab. He had dark blue eyes. He wore a dark blue jacket, with some big red globes on his jacket and wore a black shirt with a red circle on it. He also wore black pants. 

A waitress came up to him, with his two drinks. “Here you go, sir.”

The man looked at her and smiled, “Thank you.”

“That’ll be 8 dollars for your Gearfried Espresso.” she said as the man got the money out of his pocket. 

“Here you go and keep the change,” he said as he gave her a 10 dollar bill.

She bowed, “Thank you, sir. Have a nice day.” He nodded. 

He took a sip as he watched a duel between Weevil Underwood and Mako Tsunami, which resulted in the Water user winning the duel. Before he could drink more of his drink he heard two voices that were very familiar to him. 

“Hey, Yusei!” 

“How’s it going man?” 

The man, now known as Yusei, turned around and saw his two, well adopted, brothers, “Jack! Crow! Come here, take a seat!”

The man known as Jack, aka Rin’s least favourite customer and Yugo’s favourite, had yellow hair that some of it were near his ears, earrings that had the most flamboyant way to write the letter A, a choker and necklace that was the weirdest way to write the letter V. He had purple eyes. If his appearance wasn’t loud enough, he also wore a jacket that was purple on the inside and gray on the outside, which also had spikes on his shoulders. 

The man known as Crow, was less loud, but not by much. He had orange hair and eyebrows, he had a blue headband, a piece of a motorcycle as his earrings and the weirdest face tattoo. He wore a brown jacket and a yellow shirt as he wore blue pants.

Both of the men went towards Yusei and sat down with them, “So did you hear the news?” 

Yusei looked at Crow in confusion, “What news?” 

“You know, Duel Academy and North Academy dueling.” Jack said as Crow nodded and Yusei looked at him, “It was announced just a day ago so we decided to watch it here while we are here.” 

“Yeah that’s right! I heard that the top representatives of both schools are dueling.” said Crow as Yusei nodded and both him and Jack picked up the menu. 

“Oh, that was the reason why Rin and Yugo wanted to have a day off, I thought it was a different reason.” Yusei chuckled, “But sure, I don’t mind watching a duel with you two.”

“That’s great to hea-”

“So what would you two like to have?” asked a waitress who was blushing as she looked at Jack, with a notebook in her hands. 

“Swordsman of Latte, please.” said Crow as the waitress nodded and wrote it down and then looked at Jack. 

“Blue-Eyes Mountain.” he said as the waitress nodded and went inside the cafe. As soon as she entered, Crow stood up. 

“What?! That’s 30 bucks! And you’re the only one here who hasn’t gotten a job!” he yelled as Yusei did nothing but watch this over and drank his drink. 

“First of all, it makes it feel like a million, second of all, I do have one, I duel, and third of all, like you are one to talk, you go to a police university!” He stood up and slammed his hands on the table. 

“At least I do something to help people around!”

“Oh and like I don’t entertain people while I duel.”

“You duel in a motorcycle, win 1 tournament and keep calling yourself “The Master of Faster”!” 

“At least my motorcycle doesn’t look like a bird!”

“Yours is literally a wheel! How do you see things?!” 

Before the two brothers could throw hands, Yusei, the only reasonable one here stopped them, “Guys, c’mon. How about we stop this while watching the duel, okay?”

“You’re right, Yusei.” Jack turned to Crow, “How about a bet?”

“Jack no-”

“What is it about?” Yusei turned to Crow in disbelief. 

“If the guy I root for wins, you pay for all of Blue-Eyes Mountain for a month.”

“Sure, but only if the guy I root for wins, you pay for my tuition for a month.” Crow offered his hand to which Jack returned. 

“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Both Jack and Crow sat down, waiting for the duel to start and their drinks while Yusei sat there in disbelief. 

“I can’t believe these are my brothers,” he thought. 

Meanwhile in South Academy

Many students sat back in their chairs, ready to see one of their rival schools duel it out and see who will win. Like at Domino City, it was announced a day ago which made the Chancellor, Marik Ishtar, set up at the biggest classrooms and are waiting for the duel to start. The classroom was similar in design to Duel Academy. 

One student in particular was waiting for two of his friends to show up. He had the darkest shade of green going all sorts of directions, a cowboy style hat, a bandage over his right eye, his eyes were a deep shade of blue. He had an orange coloured scarf, a beige coloured shirt and a small black jacket down to his hips. He also wore dark coloured pants. All over him he had belts. One on his crotch, one above his crotch and two around his arms that were that of a backpack. 

The one thing that was different from any other student there is a little detail like having a goddamn crocodile on his back! Which raises a lot of issues in South Academy. 

He sat back, ignoring all the terrified stares of the students around him for having a croc near them. Until he heard his friends coming near him, “Hey, Jim. Mind if we sit here?” 

The man now known as Jim looked at the two people that were his friends. The two of them looked like twins and the difference between them is one of them is a boy and the other is a girl. 

Both of them had green hair and light brown eyes. They also had pony tails. Both of them wore the South Academy uniforms, which were the same design as Jim’s. “Ahh, Leo, Luna, sure you can, mates! Shirley was worried you wouldn’t show up!” Jim pointed at his crocodile, now known as Shilrey.

The boy known as Leo gulped, “Oh, so-sorry Shirley, didn’t mean to make you upset.” 

“Leo, don’t tell me you are still afraid of Shirley!” yelled Luna at her twin brother, as Jim laughed, to him this was normal to how people were with Shirley, not in a bad way. 

“I’m sorry, Luna, but it's a crocodile that is legally in a school next to us!”

“Don’t worry, mate. Shirley only bites people when she is either interrupted when eating, change in weather or with people she doesn’t like, and she likes ya.” Jim assured the male twin, but he was still shivering behind his younger twin sister. 

“Look, if it makes you feel better, how about I sit next to Jim and you sit next to me, does that make you feel better, scaredy cat?” she asked as Leo looked at her. 

“Hey! I am not a scaredy cat!” he protested as Luna grinned. 

“Sure you aren’t. If you aren’t then you will sit with Shirley.” 

Leo dropped his head, “Fine, I am a scaredy cat.” he said as he sat down next to his twin sister. 

“Thought so.” she said as she sat down and gave Shirley a pat on the head. 

“Don’t worry mate, I am sure you will get comfortable near Shirley.” Jim assured Leo who had his head down. 

Meanwhile in East Academy

The classroom of East Academy, which was the same design as both South and Duel Academy, but way more advanced, every student, sans for two, teacher and even the Chancellor, Ryou Bakura, were waiting for the duel to start. 

One of the students was looking at his deck. It was called the Forbidden Beast deck, something akin to The Forbidden One series. It was a highly inconsistent deck with having one Spell to help the entire thing work. 

The student had semi spiky purple hair, glasses and black beads that were all over his neck. His style of clothing was the same as every other student, which were similar to that from Duel Academy, but only brown and orange, but the only difference is that he was the only one to show off his well developed muscles, which everyone stared at him for. He has golden rings all over his arms. He also had beige coloured pants. 

To most of them, he seemed like an average student, but to those who actually knew him, he was the former future heir to the Gecko organization. He would have been the heir if his little brother, who was actually the first biological child that the Gecko family had. The Gecko family had influence over the world’s petroleum, heavy chemical industry and information technology. 

“Mind if I sit near ya, good ol’ pal?” the man turned around and mentally sighed as he knew who he was. It was Sylvio Sawatari, the son of the Mayor of the town near East Academy. He did have yellow hair, which looked like bananas to him and gray eyes. Despite him being quite egotistical at times, the man knew he was a nice guy so he shook his head, meaning he did not mind sitting near him. “Thanks Adrian. So what are we watching?”

Adrian facepalmed at Sylvio as then a small teenager, with a lollipop in his hands showed up. He had light blue coloured hair, wrapped in a ponytail and had light green coloured eyes. “Seriously, Sylvio? It was announced that Duel Academy and North Academy yesterday, how do you not know?”

“Yeah exactly. Also hi Sora.” Adrian said as Sora looked at him, since he couldn’t talk due to having a lollipop in his mouth, “Yeah sure you can sit here with us.”

“Thank you.” The bluenette said as he sat down. 

Sylvio however scoffed, “It should be me dueling! What do those schmucks have that I don’t?”

Sora and Adrian looked at each other before looking at Sylvio, Sora sighed as he started, “No offense -” 

“And here comes the offense.” said Adrian as Sora continued. 

“You are honestly the worst duelist I have ever seen in my entire life. You would be there for the sole purpose of entertaining the kids before the real duel starts. How did you even get in?” he asked as Adrian tried to answer Sora’s theory. 

“Probably because of his dad.” he said as Sylvio shut up and sat down waiting for the duel to start. 

“Please, let’s just watch this duel in peace.” he said as both Adrian and Sora laughed. 

“Sure buddy.” said Adrian as the duel is almost starting to begin. 

Meanwhile at West Academy

“Alright students, I want all of you to pay close attention to the duel and take every single detail about it and what possible plays they have made. Am I understood?” said the Chancellor, Thelonious Viper, as he looked all over his students, like he was a military sergeant. 

The students were all trained to be like mercenaries and were trained to be the best of the best. The classrooms looked like something out of a military camp. “Yes, sir!” yelled everyone that was in it. 

He smiled that almost all of his students were like this. Didn’t take crap from anything, trained to the point of exhaustion and commanded the sergeant in every thing he says. 

Key words: almost. 

No matter what he did to 5 of his students, they always acted like they were in a normal school and not in the military. 

“Come on, Yuma! We are gonna be late for the duel!” yelled the green haired girl, with two different shades of green, wore the female uniform from West Academy and had orange eyes as she entered the classroom and took deep victorious breaths, “Finally! Sorry we are late!” 

“Don’t blame me, Tori! Ray thought we needed to go ‘The Ray Way’ and caused us to be late!” yelled the pink-black haired boy with dark pink eyes, wearing the West Academy uniform, now known as Yuma as he entered the classroom with an orange haired boy with purple eyes behind him. 

“Hey, what was wrong with my way?” asked the boy, now known as Ray. 

“We went to the sewers! I didn’t even know we had them!” yelled Tori as all three of them walked down the stairs. 

“Hey, at least we are earlier than Shark and Rio!” argued back Ray as both Rio and Yuma stopped. 

“Come to think of it, where is Shark and Rio?” asked Yuma and then as if on cue, a boy and a girl entered the classroom, with the girl dragging the boy with him. 

The girl had long blue hair, a lighter colour was down to her shoulders, while the darker shade was on her back. She had dark red eyes. She was most likely Rio, “Come on, Reginald! We are gonna be late for the duel!”

The boy groaned, known as Shark, or Reginald if you were his sister. Shark had purple hair that was oddly the same design as an octopus, and had dark blue eyes, “Do I have to, Rio?”

“Yes, or I could tell everyone here that you have a fear of onio-”

“Fine, I will.”

“Good.” She grinned as she looked Viper in the eyes, “Sorry we were late, Reginald here was being a baby and didn’t want to socialize. Oh hello guys!” Rio walked towards her friends, “Sorry we were late.”

“Don’t worry about it, and hey looks like our friend Axel is free to sit next too!” said Yuma as all of them turned to one particular student. 

The student, now known as Axel, was polishing his golden gun, that was also a duel disk. He wore the standard West Academy uniform, had dark skin, a very big nose, darkest shade of green for hair, dark brown eyes, impressive muscles and two golden rings around his biceps. 

“Hey, Axel! Mind if we sit here?” Axel turned to Tori and the rest of their friends. He shook his head and all of them sat beside each other. 

“So who do you guys think will win?” asked Ray. 

Shark shrugged, “Tough to say, we need to see how they perform though.” 

“Right on that, Shark. Let’s see.” said Axel as the duel will slowly begin. 

Back at Duel Academy

It has begun, the duel between Duel Academy and North Academy. A professional announcer walked towards the start of the arena and coughed into his hands before starting off.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the duel it sure would be to remember! The duel between Seto Kaiba’s main school, Duel Academy, and its main competition, North Academy, is in your grasp! On Duel Academy’s side, we have the duelist that changed the tides of Duel Academy, the Slifer Red legend in the Academy he is a part of, give it up for, Jaden Yuki!”

As Duel Academy cheered for the Slifer Red to show up, Jaden walked onto the Duel Arena, but less enthusiastic than he was a couple of minutes ago, which everyone, who were his friends, took notice of.  

“Is it just me, or does Jaden look sad?” asked Celina as everyone nodded to that. 

“I don’t understand, sure it is televised, but he is still dueling against North Academy.” said Chumley as Syrus tried to understand his, former, best friend. 

“Maybe he saw something that he didn’t like?” the bluenette asked as most of them looked closely. 

“Possibly.” said Bastion, “We have to see what is troubling him.”

The announcer cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone, “And on North Academy’s side, we have the former Obelisk Blue student that changed schools, the person that defeated the likes of Jesse Anderson, the King of North Academy, give it up for, Chazz Princeton!” 

North Academy erupted in cheers, yelling, “Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up!” as then the former Duel Academy student walked in, hair covering his eyes as he looked up, seeing his older brothers looking down at him. He gritted his teeth as he looked towards his opponent, “Alright, Jaden! I hope you are ready to be humiliated because I am going to…”

As then everyone from North Academy realized their cue and started cheering, “Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up!” confusing everyone, including the people that were watching this through the TV. 

Jaden smiled at Chazz, “Even when his brothers pushed him to the edge, he still is the same Chazz.” he thought, gaining new found respect for him as then he readied his duel disk, “Let’s see about that shall we!? Because I am gonna Jaden It Up!”

Everyone, sans Sheppard and Jesse, facepalmed when they heard this. North, South, East, West and Duel Academy, his friends, Slade and Jagger, the camera crew and the people watching the duel on the television. 

Celina then started off, “That's the dumbest BEEPing thing I have ever heard in my entire li- Wait, did I just get censored in real time?!” 

One of the camera guys then directed the camera directly to her face, “Of course! Even little kids are watching this so we have to make it so even they can watch it!” 

And just like that, all of the colour evaporated from her face, while the people near her aka her friends tried their hardest not to burst out laughing. Celina covered her mouth while  mumbling, “My little sister is watching this.”

Meanwhile in Domino City

3 young kids, around the ages of 5, were watching the up and coming duel between Chazz and Jaden, as then the only girl in the group gasped. “Guys! Guys! Look!” She pointed at the TV confusing her two friends. 

The boy with the black pompadour, a red bandana, a red nose, big eyebrows for a 5 year old, black eyes and a white sash around his shoulders. What was more interesting was that he had a shockingly tall body, almost looking like an 8 year old and kept talking in third person, “Gong is confused. Who is this lady, Zuzu?” 

Zuzu was taken back from the rude words towards her older sister, “Gong, how can you say that to my sister like that?”

The boy with a tomato styled hair, green on the top and red on the bottom, with red eyes wearing goggles with a star on the right side of it, wearing a Performapal MonkeyBoard shirt and pants, looked at Zuzu, “I don’t think Gong meant that to be rude, Zuzu, I think he didn’t know her very well.” 

He was in no way shape and form the voice of reason in the group, but he didn’t want Zuzu to get her fan out and smack Gong with it. “What is her name by the way?”

“Well, Yuya, her name is Cece.” she spoke with confidence, despite not correctly saying her older sister’s name. It was hard for a 5 year old, okay!? 

“Gong is sorry for not knowing your sister, Cece, but can we continue watching the duel, cuz it is almost starting?” Gong asked as Zuzu apologized and sat down, waiting for the duel.

In a different apartment in Domino City

Lulu, Shay, Rin and Yugo then began laughing as they saw the hilarious expression of Celina when she heard the news. While three of them are actually related to her, Yugo was invited due to being one of, if not, the most likeable person they have met, also because he was dating Rin. 

Yuto wasn’t there because he was still in the hospital, due to a certain overprotective brother, he was still getting checked on almost every day. 

“Oh my god! That is hilarious!” Lulu wiped a tear in her eyes as Shay took a picture of the TV. 

“We need to tell uncle and auntie about this, it will be hilarious!” suggested Rin, as the laughter settles in. 

At a cafe in Domino City

As the drinks came, telling the waitress they will pay for it later, all of them looked at the TV, Jack decided to pick, “I bet on Chazz.”

“You say that because he is like you only younger!” 

“Oh yeah, at least mine has a better look than that of the ugly Red, Yellow and Blue jackets, no offense Yusei.”

“None taken.” 

“I can’t wait for my guy to wipe the floor of yours.” said Crow as he took a sip of his drink, slightly burning his tongue. 

“We will see about that!” yelled Jack as he took a drink of his Blue-Eyes Mountain, savouring the last drop of it. 

At East Academy

As soon Celina was shown on the TV, Sylvio screamed and hid under the table, confusing Adrian and Sora. “What’s wrong? Is she your ex?” asked Adrian as Sora looked at him. 

“Bold of you to assume he can get into a relationship.” he said as Sylvio kicked him in the knee, “Ow, what was that for!” 

“For saying such rude comments to moi, and for your question Adrian, no.” He sat up as he glanced at the two of them, “I remember having a school project with her, and her cousin and dad came close to me and then…” he then shivered from the memory, and then they noticed what he meant and pat him on the back. 

“Okay, sorry for making you remember that, bud.” said Adrian as all of them looked at the TV. 

Meanwhile in Dubrovnik, Croatia

Two adults in a not old, but not modern style house, around the ages of 35, laughed at the chance of Jaden using his opponents catchphrase into his own. Both of them had a ring on their ring fingers. 

The male of the two, had creamy like hair, caramel eyes, glasses from too much work in Industrial Illusions, shadows under his eyes and wore a white shirt. He was half Japanese, half American, “Jaden hasn’t changed a bit since he left, hasn’t he, Jana?” 

Jana had brown hair, brown chocolate eyes wearing Croatian style clothing and laughed as well, but not in a mocking way. She was fully Croatian, “No, our little Jaden hasn’t changed a bit, Kenn.” Jana smiled as both she and her husband looked at TV, but her expression saddened, “It's a shame that we didn’t have a lot of time before he left in Duel Academy due to our jobs, you know?” 

Kenn nodded to his wife’s words, as he put a hand on her shoulders, “I know, but thankfully we will be free for the summer when he comes home so we can spend time with our son.”

Jana smiled at Kenn’s words as she then looked at the TV, “You’re right, thanks honey. Možeš ti to, sine! (You can do it, son!)” she cheered. 

Kenn smiled, but then sweatdropped. Despite being married to her for almost 17 years, he doesn’t understand half of the things both her and their son say to each other in Croatian. 

Meanwhile in Domino City

A lady of 40 years sat on a couch, watching the TV with her cat on her lap, petting it. She had dark black hair, black eyes and wore a smile that can brighten anyone’s day, if it weren't for the neglect of her husband. 

Lara Princeton, maiden name Manjoume, was once a happy lady. With a loving husband, a pet dog, and two kids that were only a few years apart. Not to mention they weren’t poor either, having money so they could have a loving home for their kids, due to her husband being a really successful entrepreneur, but one day it all changed when her husband, Gerard, had an idea, a horrible idea. 

A World Domination plan, right after her third child, Chazz was born. It was a secret that he wanted to rule the world with all three pillars of the modern day world. Politics, Slade’s job, finance, Jagger’s job, and dueling, her youngest child’s job. 

After they agreed to it, but not having her or Chazz’s consent, they decided to rule the world. After that day, everything that she cared for, her kids' love, her husband’s love, her dog all died that year. 

All except for one love that she now cares for more than anything, her baby’s, Chazz’s love. He was the only one to care for her, and it was returned. And as soon as he went to Duel Academy, she bought an apartment so she and her new cat could enjoy, despite Gerard, Slade and Jagger’s protests. 

She looked over and heard the name of her baby, “Chazz? My baby?” she looked over to see Chazz, but in a different uniform and school, shocking her, “What!? Why is he there?! Why are they there?! What did they do to my baby!?” 

She calmed down as she saw her cat’s worried face, she looked at the screen, “You can win this, Chazz.” 

Back at Duel Academy

As if he heard his mum’s thoughts he turned around, but saw no one there. He gritted his teeth, he needed to win this. He looked over and yelled, “Are we gonna duel or what!?” 

Everyone turned to the Duel Arena, the announcer started, “Alright are the duelists ready?!” both, Chazz and Jaden, readied their duel disks, “Good! Then let the duel begin!”

Chazz Princeton: 4000 lp

Jaden Yuki: 4000 lp

Turn 1. 

“I’ll start!” yelled Chazz as he drew his card, taking the first duel of the School Duel. He looked at his hand, and saw one card for his future combo, so he had to keep it for later. He took a card from his hand, “I activate the Spell card, Delinquent Duo! I need to pay 1000 life points (LP: 4000 - 3000.) so I can discard 2 cards from your hand!” 

Two gremlins appeared on the field, one with purple skin and the number 1 and the other with blue skin and the number 2. The one with the number snatched a random card from Jaden’s hand and sent it to the graveyard, but the other stayed on the hand. 

“Huh?” asked the Slifer Red as the one with the number 2 stayed on the field. “Why didn’t it take any of my cards, not that I wanted to take them?” 

“Because,” Chazz started, “You have to choose which card to send.” 

Jaden bit his lip as he took one card from his hand and gave it to the blue skinned gremlin, which threw the card straight to his graveyard. 

“Ahh man! Jay just lost 2 of his cards without him even making a move!” 

“This is so not lischus!” yelled both Syrus and Chumley. 

“Those dorks are right, but I am not done!” Chazz yelled as he took a card from his hand, “I summon Masked Dragon in attack mode!” A dragon with a beige and red colouring scheme appeared on the field, roaring at his opponent.

(Masked Dragon: Level 3 -  Fire Dragon - Attack: 1400. Defense: 1100.)

Chazz straightens his back, “That’ll do for now.” 

Turn 2. Jaden - 4000 lp - 3 cards

Despite Jaden being at a massive disadvantage, by not having a full hand, he still drew a card that didn’t mess with his strategy. He looked at his hand and frowned a little, this couldn’t have helped by much, but it will help him. 

He took a card from his hand, “I summon Elemental Hero Ocean in attack mode!” water appeared on the field, but was quickly evaporated as it revealed his Water Hero wielding his spear on one of his hands. 

(Elemental HERO Ocean: Level 4 - Water Warrior - Attack: 1500. Defense: 1200.)

Most of the student’s realized what Chazz’s plans were, as Bastion jumped up, “Wait, Jaden don’t at-”

But it was too late as the Slifer Red pointed at the Fire Dragon, “And here goes my counter attack! Ocean attack Masked Dragon with Surface Slash!” water appeared on the trident from Ocean as it went towards Masked Dragon and slashed it diagonally, making a small explosion. 

Chazz: 3000 - 2900 life points

Jaden: 4000 lp

At South Academy

Luna blinked for a second, “Did he just reference Demon Slayer in the School Duel?”

“I think he did.” answered Jim. 

Leo began sweating, knowing damn well that he wasted well over 100 hours on Hinokami Chronicles, “Ye-yeah, what a weirdo.”

Luna turned towards her twin brother, “Leo, do not speak, I know what you do in your spare time.”  

Back to the duel

Chazz returned the attack with a grin on his face, “You took the bait.” shocking most of the watchers, students and Jaden at the same time as he took a card from his deck, “When Masked Dragon is destroyed, I can summon a Level 4 or lower Dragon monster with 1500 or lower attack points from my deck, so come out, Armed Dragon LV3!”

A small light appeared onto the field as then a yellow dragon covered by spikes was summoned onto the field. 

(Armed Dragon LV3: Level 3 - Wind Dragon - Attack: 1200. Defense: 900.) 

“Armed Dragon!?” yelled Celina as most of them were taken aback, but not as much as Bastion jumping on his seat. 

“Great Scott! So that’s what Chazz was planning! Using a monster so he could safely summon his main opener!” Bastion then sat back down, “I just hope Jaden could do something against this.” 

Sheppard gasped, “Wait, Armed Dragon?! Isn’t that one of your strongest decks?! Foster answer me!” Foster laughed as Jesse talked. 

“Yup! And that was the deck Chazzy used to defeat me for the School Duel!” Sheppard’s eyes widened as if the deck defeated Crystal Beasts lost to them, how would Jaden defeat such a powerful archetype?!

“Face it, Sheppard old pal. YOU will lose this year, while I get the prize!” Foster grinned as Sheppard glared at the Chancellor. 

Sheppard turned towards the Arena, “Jaden! Don’t give up! You can win this! You can Jaden It Up! Jaden It Up!”

“Shut up, old timer!” yelled one of the North Academy students. 

Jaden turned towards Sheppard, “Okay, now I see where Celina was coming it sounding dumb.” He said as he took a glance at his hand and then took one of them, “Alright, I throw down a face down and it’s your move. Can’t wait to see what your Armed Dragons could do.” a card was set vertically behind the Water Hero. 

Turn 3. Chazz - 2900 lp - 4 cards 

“You want to see what they can do, huh!?” Chazz drew his card, “Well I will show you!” He pointed at his Armed Dragon LV3, “During the Standby Phase, my Armed Dragon evolves into its higher state!” Jaden’s eyes widened at the news. 

“So evolve and become Armed Dragon LV5!” the monster exploded with lights as the monster showed itself. It was bigger, bulkier, had way more fire power and spikes than the LV3 monster. As soon it was summoned it threw little punches, like it was ready to strike the Water Hero. 

(Armed Dragon LV5: Level 5 - Wind Dragon - Attack: 2400. Defense: 1700.)

As soon it was summoned, North Academy cheered, “Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up!” 

“Can they Chazz It Down?” Both Celina and Syrus yelled at the same time, and then they looked at each other, “That was weird.” was said in unison. 

Chazz looked at his hand and saw a card that he could use for Armed Dragon LV5’s effect, but at the same time, it was needed for a summoning of a powerful monster. He sighed as he smirked, “How about we go along and attack your Ocean with Spiked Spinner!” 

The Wind Dragon nodded as it went towards the Water Hero and his arms were swinging like crazy, but Jaden had a different idea, “Not so fast, Chazz! I activate the Trap, Invincible Hero! This card protects my monsters from being destroyed for this turn!” 

However, Chazz grinned, “Yeah, but you still take the damage!” The Wind Dragon threw multitudes of punches as the Water Hero wasn’t destroyed, but heavily injured. 

Chazz: 2900 lp

Jaden: 4000 - 3100 life points

Chazz gritted his teeth, hating the fact he can not summon Armed Dragon LV7 due to the effect of Armed Dragon LV5, which it needed to destroy its monsters, but still this was enough for the North Academy student as he took 2 cards from his hand, “You can go after I set two cards face down.” Two cards were set vertically behind the Wind Dragon. 

Turn 4. Jaden - 3100 lp - 2 cards

The Slifer Red drew his card and his eyes widened. He can use this right now! “During the Standby Phase Ocean can give me a Hero monster from my field or the ones chillin’ in my graveyard to my hand, but who says that's it?” 

He inserted his newly drawn card and exclaimed, “I also activate the Quick-Play Spell, Quick Summon! Allowing me to normal summon a monster even when I already summoned a monster!” Jaden took a card from his hand as quickly as possible, “And I choose, the Earth Hero himself, Woodsman!” 

A Hero with half his body made out of wood was summoned onto the field in defense mode. 

(Elemental HERO Woodsman: Level 4 - Earth Warrior - Attack: 1000. Defense: 2000.)

Many raised their brows, wondering why he would summon a monster in the Standby Phase, but who said he was done? “My good ol’ pal, Woodsman also has an effect during the Standby Phase!” Many widened, “I can now add my trusty Spell card, Polymerization, from my deck to my hand and don’t even think I forgot about Ocean’s effect!” 

A card appeared from the graveyard, to which Jaden took it, and then took out his deck, took a specific card, returned the deck back into the duel disk and placed the cards in his hand. 

And just like that Jaden was able to not only get a really good Spell, a card from his graveyard and back into his hand, have more cards in his hand now then what he started with, but he did all of this during the Standby Phase. Duel Academy went wild as they saw all of these plays, but North Academy returned the cheers even louder than before, almost defining them. 

“So what?! You can have as much cards you want in your hand, you can not defeat my Armed Dragon!” declared Chazz, but Jaden smirked as he activated a card. 

“Really now? Well let’s test that shall we? I activate Polymerization, so I can fuse Ocean and Woodsman on my field so I can Fusion summon!” both the Water and Earth Hero were then sucked into a Red-Blue Spiral Vortex, as Zane, Syrus, Celina, Alexis and Chumley felt a familiar presence. 

From the Vortex came a Hero with white skin, three blue orbs, one on his head and two on his shoulders with a red one on his chest. The Hero looked at the Armed Dragon and cracked his knuckles, ready for a fight. “Here comes the Hero to protect Earth from all evil, Elemental Hero Terra Firma!” 

(Elemental HERO Terra Firma: Fusion - Level 8 - Earth Warrior - Attack: 2500. Defense: 2100.)

At Dubrovnik

Jana gasped as she saw her son summon the very monster Kenn designed. She looked over towards her husband and pointed at the screen, “Look, honey, look what he summoned! It's the card you made!” She smiled, but then looked at her Kenn saw he was extremely close to falling asleep. 

“That’s great, honey.” he said as he then fell asleep, hitting the ground. 

“KENN!” Jana yelled in panic. 

Back at the Duel 

“It's the same monster he used against Zane.” commented Alexis as Bastion, the only person who hadn't seen the duel, looked at her. 

“He dueled Zane?” he asked as the rest of the group, even Zane on the rails, nodded, “How? Why? Did he not know his reputation?” 

“Trust me, he knew his reputation when he dueled him.” said Celina as The Golden Eggwich of Ra turned to her.

“He dueled him due to me almost leaving the island.” said Syrus as the only Ra in the group looked at the smallest one in the group. 

“And he lost, obviously,” said Chumley. 

Bastion clicked his tongue as his curiosity got the better of him, “How long did he last?”

“Six turns.” all of them said at the same time. 

“Ahh, alright then.” 

Back to the duel, Chazz took a step back at the powerful Earth Fusion Hero, but he shook his head. Sure it was powerful, but not enough for him to lose the duel in one hit, “And then I summon the Electric Hero, Sparkman!” He spoke too soon as the Hero in tight blue spandex appeared on the field. 

(Elemental HERO Sparkman: Level 4 - Light Warrior - Attack: 1600. Defense: 1400.)

He gripped his fist together with a bright smile on his face, “Here’s the best part of Terra Firma! I tribute a monster,” Sparkman then left the field as it was absorbed into the Fusion Hero monster, “And he gains the stats equal to the tributed monster until the End Phase!” 

“What!?” 

“Ahh dear, hang in there Chazzy!” yelled Jesse as Terra Firma’s muscles grew bigger. 

Terra Firma: 2500 - 4100 attack points/ 2100 - 3500 defense points

Jaden clapped his hands together as he then pointed at his Terra Firma with one arm, and then the other of Chazz’s Armed Dragon, “Now, Terra Firma will attack Armed Dragon with Earth Impact!” 

Terra Firma bolted towards the Wind Dragon, making a small holographic crater on the ground as it charged in for an attack, meanwhile Slade and Jagger sat there with an angered expression on their faces. 

“You better not mess this, Chazz.” Slade said with Jagger joining in, “Cause if you do, you will be sorry.”  

Terra Firma successfully punched Armed Dragon in the face, but Chazz had already activated one of his set cards, “Go, Defense Draw! During the damage calculation, I can negate the damage I would have taken and I can draw 1 card!”

Chazz then drew his card, but then activated his other set card, “And then, Warrior’s Will! After the damage calculation, if a monster would be destroyed by battle, I can send 1 card from my hand to negate the destruction!” Jaden tightens his hand as Chazz sends the card he just drew. 

“You are as tough as ever, Chazz.” praised Jaden as he looked at his hand, but he had nothing, “Your go.”

Terra Firma: 4100 - 2500 attack points/ 3500 - 2100 defense points

Turn 5. Chazz - 2900 lp - 3 cards

“Oh I am tough all right!” he said as he drew his card, “But how about I go a little more tougher, huh?! I activate the Spell, Level Up! I target 1 LV monster and send it to my graveyard,” his Wind Dragon disappeared, “So I can special summon a LV monster from my deck that is listed in its card text, so come out, the powerful, Armed Dragon LV7!” 

And then an explosion that was the size of the camera crew itself appeared and from it came out a dragon that made even the one previous one look like a pushover. Its wings were made out of metal. Its skin was way tougher and was covered by spikes. Its arms were bigger than some students. When summoned, its green eyes shined while roaring, making everyone, sans Chazz and Zane, flinch. When it was over, everyone stared at it. 

“Thank the goddess I am not the one taking those again!” Jesse wiped the sweat out of his forehead as he remembered his duel with the former Obelisk Blue. 

(Armed Dragon LV7: Level 7 - Wind Dragon - Attack: 2800. Defense: 1000.)

Before Jaden can look at it more, his eyes widened when he saw the attack points, “Wait, those attack points are-”

“Bigger than your Terra Firma, right?! Well, you are correct!” Chazz pointed at the Fusion Hero monster, “Attack! With Armed Punisher!” Armed Dragon LV7 raised its claw, and went towards the Fusion Hero, crushing it with no effort. 

Chazz: 2900 lp

Jaden: 3100 - 2800 life points

“TERRA FIRMA!” yelled Jaden as he saw his Fusion monster being destroyed in a quick way. He had thought about using a monster in his graveyard, but he thought about using it later, when he really needed it. 

“Ahh man, he just destroyed his strongest Fusion monster!” 

“This is horrible!” 

“This is so not lischus!” yelled Syrus, Celina and Chumley at the same time. 

Chazz grinned ear to ear as he looked at Jaden, “Your move, buddy.” he said mockingly, “How about you get your game on?” 

Turn 6. Jaden - 2800 lp - 1 card

“Don’t think I didn’t!” Jaden yelled as he drew his card. He frowned, not the card he needed, but could be used for later, but right now, he had better plans.

“I summon my pal, Elemental Hero Bubbleman!” Bubbles appeared onto the field, but were quickly popped to reveal his trusty Water Hero that looked like a certain caped crusader. 

(Elemental HERO Bubbleman: Level 4 - Water Warrior - Attack: 800. Defense: 1200.)

He then pointed at his Water Hero, “And when he is chillin’ alone on the field, I can draw 2 cards from my hand!” He drew two cards from his hand, and his eyes widened when he saw the two cards, and he smiled, “Go, Bubble Shuffle! If I control Bubbleman, both he and a monster on your side of the field switch positions!”

Both Bubbleman and the Wind Dragon listened to the command as both of them kneeled in a X position. 

Chazz scoffed, “How would that help? You wasted your normal summon on a monster with more defense points than attack points, and you wasted its effect on a card that does almost nothing!” 

Jaden, however, smirked, “Oh really? Did I forgot to mention the other effect of Bubble Shuffle? Well if I did, I am sorry, but I can sacrifice my pal so I can summon a Hero from my hand!” He then took a card from his hand, “Here ya’ go, my strongest non Fusion monster, Elemental Hero Bladedge!” 

As Bubbleman faded away, in his place flew down a Hero wearing a golden armour with blades sharper than any sword ever crafted. 

(Elemental HERO Bladedge: Level 7 - Earth Warrior - Attack: 2600. Defense: 1800.)

“His blades aren’t just for show, its also his effect! He can deal piercing damage even if the targeted monster is in defense!” Many widened as Jaden pointed at his Hero monster, “Go! Attack with Slice and Dice Attack!” 

Bladedge nodded as it went towards the Wind Dragon with its blades on his arms, and the Armed Dragon was too slow for the Earth Hero, as it sliced of its head, making an explosion. 

Chazz: 2900 - 1300 life points

Jaden: 2800 lp

“No!” yelled Foster and most of the North Academy students. 

“Atta boy, Jaden!” cheered Sheppard as he jumped in his seat, scaring most students. 

Jaden breathed in and out as he took the remaining card in his hand, “I throw down a face down, and that’s that.” a card was set vertically behind Bladedge. 

Turn 7. Chazz - 1300 lp - 3 cards

Chazz gritted his teeth as his hand was on his deck, needing a specific card, he looked over and saw his brothers looking down at him. “No…I can’t lose here! I won’t! Give me the card I need!” 

He breathed in as he then yelled, “My turn! I draw!” he drew, making a small dust cloud appear beneath him as he glance at the card he just drew, and grinned ear to ear, “Finally. This is almost the end.” He took the card that he just drew and replaced it with the second one, “I activate the Ritual Spell card, Armed Dragon Ritual!” An altar appeared behind the former Obelisk Blue as everyone looked in shock, sans Jesse and Foster. 

“A Ritual monster?!” yelled Alexis in shock. 

“They have that!?” 

“Ahh man, this isn’t getting good for Jay!”

“Great Scott!” yelled Celina, Syrus and Bastion at the same time. 

“For this summoning, I need to send a Level 8 or higher monster from my hand or field so I can Ritual Summon, and luckily for me, I have Armed Dragon LV10 in my hand so help me out there and welcome my newest monster!” Chazz sent a card from his hand to the graveyard, as an after image of Armed Dragon LV10 appeared only to be sucked in by the altar. 

From the altar, bursted out a dragon that made the previous one look like a minion in a video game. The size alone was enough to cover a half of the Duel Arena. Its arms and legs were made out of the strongest metal around, but its skin was crimson red with a thunder symbol on its chest. It's dark emerald eyes glowed as it roared, shaking everything in its way, “Here comes the thunder, Armed Dragon Kagerou Thunder!” 

(Armed Dragon Kagerou Thunder: Ritual - Level 8 - Light Dragon - Attack: 3500. Defense: 2500.)

North Academy roared in applause, “Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up!” while Duel Academy, sans Zane, looked in horror at the new monster. 

Meanwhile in Kaiba Corp

Seto Kaiba was watching the School Duel with his Academy and the sister school dueling and several things were going towards his mind. Like why is this televised, why did Sheppard agree to this, why is one of his students in North Academy, why wasn’t he informed of this etc. 

However the only thought he could say was, “Meh, my dragon is better.”

Suddenly, Roland appeared on Seto’s computer, “Mister Kaiba, please stop comparing your dragons, we need to know how to reach this year's quota!” 

Seto answered his assistant's question, “Blue-Eyes White Dragon!” 

Back at the duel 

“Wait a minute! I just realized something!” Slade looked at his younger brother, “He is not using the cards we gave him!”

“That explains why he is using that deck instead of the much more powerful deck we gave him!” He scowled as he looked at the youngest Princeton, “You better win this now or I swear, you will pay.” 

Meanwhile, a mother in Domino City was cheering for her baby boy to win, and Chazz, like he could hear her, smiled, before grinning towards his opponent, “If you think his look is scary, wait until you hear about his effect! When he destroys a monster, you take 300 points of damage for every Level of the destroyed monster! This is the end! Go, attack with Thunderbolt!” 

From the hand of the Kagerou Thunder, appeared a huge bolt of lightning, bigger than that of the target itself, and threw it at the Earth Hero faster than any one could react. 

“Alright it’s now or never,” started off Jaden as he took a card from his graveyard, “Necro Gardna’s effect activates!” His Fiend Type monster appeared behind Bladedge, “He can negate 1 attack, but I have to banish it!” 

The lightning went towards Bladedge, but was stopped by Necro Gardna, to which Jaden placed in it his deck box. Chazz gritted his teeth as he looked at his hand, but had nothing. “I end my turn and make it count.”

Turn 8. Jaden - 2800 lp - 0 cards

Jaden gripped the top card of his deck and took a breath, “Here goes something,” he said as he drew his card and smiled as he looked at Chazz, “Sorry that you used those resources for that cool dragon there, but time for a little make over with the Field Spell, Skyscraper!” 

Jaden then placed a card in his Field Spell zone, as Crowler shivered from his duel with the slacker, as the scenery changed to that of a city where Heroes could live in with massive buildings covering both of the duelists and Kagerou Thunder. Bladedge looked at the building behind him and decided to jump on it for a little dramatic effect. 

“Damn it! No!” yelled Chazz as most of the students, and Crow, cheering for the Slifer Red, knowing the full effect while most of the North Academy students were confused. 

“Bladedge attacks your Kagerou Thunder with Slice and Dice attack!” Many of the students were shocked, especially those in West Academy, but Jaden quickly explained it, “My Field Spell allows my Hero monster to gain 1000 attack points when it is battling a monster with higher attack points! Pretty sweet, don’t you think?” 

Bladedge jumped from the building and charged its blade at the Ritual monster, Kagerou Thunder threw a lightning bolt at it, but unfortunately for it (ATK: 2600 - 3600.), it was proven to be far weaker as it didn’t even scratch the Hero and slashed the monster, making a big explosion to which Jaden had a smile, but was quickly dropped when he remembered how big this was for Chazz, but he couldn’t choose between making him or Duel Academy happy so he still went along the duel. 

Chazz: 1300 - 1200 life points

Jaden: 2800 lp

Chazz gritted his teeth, as he looked at his brothers, who had angered expressions on their faces, making him worried, but mad at the same time, “All of that build up, only for it to…” he glared at the Slifer Red, “Fine then! I activate the second effect of Kagerou Thunder, I can add a Dragon type monster when it is sent to the graveyard!”

He took out his deck, took a specific card and returned the deck in his duel disk. 

“I end my turn with that. You can go.” said Jaden. 

Turn 9. Chazz - 1200 lp - 2 cards

Chazz drew his card, with a little more anger than he should have, and then his eyes narrowed as he looked at the card he just, but he nonetheless activated it, “It’s better nothing, but I activate Card Of Sanctity! Both of us draw cards until we both have 6 cards.”

Chazz drew 4 cards while Jaden drew 6 cards, a bad trade off, but to him it was better than the current hand he has right now. He grinned when he saw a powerful combo. 

He took a card from his hand, “I send a Level 7 or higher Dragon monster from my hand, so I can special summon, Pile Armed Dragon, in attack mode! Come here!” As then an explosion visible enough in front of the holographic buildings appeared as then a much more powerful looking Armed Dragon LV7 appeared onto the field, but this time, his claws were sharp as if they were like drills. 

(Pile Armed Dragon: Level 7 - Wind Dragon - Attack: 2800. Defense: 1000.)

“He summoned a Level 7 monster from his hand with the mere price of a card in his hand. Impressive.” noted Zane as Honest looked carefully at Chazz, like he was nervous at something. 

“If you think that was impressive, wait until you see this.” He took a card from his hand, “I can send an Armed Dragon monster from my hand to the graveyard, and a monster on my side of the field gains 300 attack points for every level of the card sent, and the monster I choose is Armed Dragon LV10!” He announced as the monster roared, nearly shattering the glass of the camera crew. 

Pile Armed Dragon: 2800 - 5800 attack points

“With those points…”

“He has enough…”

“To beat Jaden!” started off Alexis, as Celina continued and Bastion finished as Syrus was grabbing his hair and Chumley was biting his nails. 

“How much I have waited for this! Go, Pile Armed Dragon attack that Bladedge and win this duel with Dragon Driller!” yelled Chazz as his dragon reached back and threw its hand towards the Earth Hero, but Jaden was quicker than ever. 

“Not so fast, I activate Elemental Recharge! I gain 1000 points for every Hero on my side of the field!” he announced as a blue aura appeared, but quickly disappeared when his monster was destroyed in short seconds. 

Chazz: 1200 lp

Jaden: 2800 - 3800 - 600 lp

With now Chazz having double the amount of life points, North Academy cheered, “Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up!” 

Foster laughed, “Face it Sheppard, that prize is mine!”

“Oh it's not over until it's over! You can do this Jaden!” cheered Sheppeard. 

“Gee, thanks for the help.” said Jaden as Chazz took a card from his hand, “I end my turn with a face down, your move slacker.” a card was set vertically behind Pile Armed Dragon.

Turn 10. Jaden - 600 lp - 6 cards

And now with a new hand, Jaden drew with confidence as he looked at all the plays he could make, and smiled as he took a card from his hand. He looked at Crowler, as the doctor was confused right before he announced the play he was making, “Remember this play Chazz? Cause I do! I play Polymerization to fuse the Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix so I can Fusion summon!” 

His Feather Hero and his Fire Heroine appeared onto the field as they were sucked in a Red-Blue Spiral Vortex. From the vortex, on the highest building, came out a Hero with a dragon for an arm, while the other part of his body had an angelic wing. He had a dragon tail.  “Here comes my favourite Hero of all time, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!” 

Crowler was having a mental breakdown on the inside. 

(Elemental HERO Flame Wingman: Level 6 - Wind Warrior - Attack: 2100. Defense: 1200.)

“He summoned his Ace monster!”

“This duel is over!” 

“A spectacular finisher, I might add.” 

“Ahh yeah, Jay’s about to win!”

“This is so lischus!” The gang cheered at the same time, as Zane looked towards Chazz and he didn’t let his guard down. 

“Not yet.” Everyone turned to the Kaiser of Duel Academy, “Look at his posture and the way he is looking at the monster. It is clear that he has something in his hands.” The gang looked back at the Duel Arena, taking Chazz’s stance in mind. 

Jaden, however, was not done yet as he took another one of his cards, “How about I have another one of my favourites on the field? So here comes, my trusty pal, Winged Kuriboh!” A furball with wings appeared on the field in a X position. 

(WInged Kuriboh: Level 1 - Light Fairy - Attack: 300. Defense: 200.)

As soon it was summoned, many, and I mean many, of the females cooed, sans Alexis and Celina, as soon it was summoned, making Yugo, and to a certain extent, Yuya jealous, nearly rupturing Leo’s ears, Sylvio announcing how he deserves this much attention, making Adrian and Sora look at each other before shrugging it off. West Academy didn’t coo at all since Viper glared at all of them. 

“God, it's not even that cute.” said Chazz as he covered his ears and Jaden gasped. 

“Hey! He is adorable, you know!” he coughed in his hands as he then pointed at his Flame Wingman, “But how about you feel the heat?! Flame Wingman, attack Chazz’s Pile Armed Dragon with SkyDive Scorcher!”

(ATK: 2100 - 3100) The Wind Fusion Hero jumped from the buildings and went towards the Wind Dragon, combusting into flames as it broke the mini sound barrier and striked the monster full force, making an explosion. 

Chazz: 1200 - 900 life points

Jaden: 600 lp

Flame Wingman, after it destroyed the Pile Armed Dragon, flew towards Chazz as it opened the dragon hand directly on his face, making him gasp, “It was nice dueling ya’, but Flame Wingman’s effect activates! He deals you damage equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster!” 

Chazz, faster than he was before, announced, “Oh hell no! I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Armed Dragon Protection! If an Armed Dragon monster is destroyed, I can discard 1 Armed Dragon from my hand to the graveyard, and I don’t take any damage for the rest of the turn!” 

Chazz did so, as a holographic image of Armed Dragon LV7 appeared and took Flame Wingman’s hand and directed in a new direction, towards Raizou and Taiyou, and the Wind Hero shot the ball of fire and hit them. 

Crowler wipped a sweat from his forehead, “Thank god I wasn’t the one who got it.” Everyone turned to him, “What?” 

Jaden shook his head as he took 3 cards from his hand, “I throw down 3 face downs and call it a turn!” three cards were set vertically behind the Flame Wingman and Winged Kuriboh.

Turn 11. Chazz - 900 lp - 1 card

Chazz panted as he looked at his card, the only card that wasn’t an Armed Dragon card in his deck, the card that he got before this deck, the card he thought he hated, but soon to like, while showing it very differently. 

Ojama Yellow in his hand. 

He thought it was pointless as no matter what, even if he could draw a powerful card, it would be weaker than Flame Wingman, but even if he does attack Winged Kuriboh, it wouldn’t work due to its effect. 

While he was in deep thought, he felt a hand on his shoulders and he looked around to see Ojama Yellow smiling with him, “Don’t worry Boss! No matter what comes in your way, me and the guys will come together, even without my brothers!” 

Chazz smiled, finally feeling that someone else other than his mother cared for him as he drew his card and grinned. He inserted it, “I activate the Spell card, Pot Of Avarice!” A pot with different coloured teeth and a massive tongue appeared onto the field, “I can target 5 monsters in my graveyard, shuffle them,” He said as he threw 5 cards into the pot to which the pot turned around and shot two cards into his hand, “And then I get to draw two cards!” 

He closed his eyes, and took a peek and his eyes widened like plates. He has a chance! He took one of them, “I end my turn after I set a monster!” a card was set horizontally. 

Turn 12. Jaden - 600 lp - 0 cards 

“Alrighty then!” announced Jaden as he drew his card. “A Trap! And a one that could help next turn!” he thought as he placed the card in his duel disk, “I’ll first start by throwing down a face down,” a card was set vertically, almost filling his Spell and Trap Zone. 

He then picked up his Winged Kuriboh, “And now my little buddy is now in attack mode.” he then pointed at his Wind Hero Fusion monster, “Here comes the battle! Flame Wingman attacks your set monster with Infernal Rage!” 

From the dragon mouth of the Flame Wingman, came out fire that targeted and destroyed Chazz’s set monster, revealing it to be Armed Dragon Helper. Jaden then punched the air, “Don’t forget Wingman’s ability! He deals you damage equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster!”

Flame Wingman jumped in front of Chazz and shot fire at the poor North Academy student, making him stammer. 

Chazz: 900 - 200 life points

Jaden: 600 lp

Duel Academy went wild as one more attack and they would win, Slade and Jagger cracked their knuckles and North Academy remained silent, even Chazz. 

“Yeah! All he needs to do is attack with Kuriboh and Jay won!” cheered Syrus. 

“I knew Jay could…” started off Chumley as he saw Chazz trembling, everyone took note of this as they all leaned in, “...win?”

What started off was slow, almost like he was crying, but then he started laughing. It was soft, until every second it became louder and more maniacal, “HAHAHA! I gotta admit, you almost had me there! But you have fallen for my trap once more!” North Academy smiled as they saw the rest shocked. 

“What?!” yelled Jaden and the rest of Duel Academy, including Sheppard, but Zane remained silent. 

“Here it comes. What I was expecting.” he said. 

Chazz grinned as he explained, “When Armed Dragon Helper is destroyed, I can special summon an Armed Dragon from my hand, ignoring the summoning conditions!” He grabbed the left card, “I want everyone to meet the final evolution of Armed Dragon, Armed Dragon LV10!!” 

Chazz slammed the card on his duel disk and then his monster appeared onto the field. The monster somehow was bigger than that of the Skyscraper Field Spell. Its arms were made of the strongest metal around. Its wings were power sharper than that of the sharpest drills. Its body was like it was made out of blood. The monster roared, shaking the entire island. 

(Armed Dragon LV10: Level 10 - Wind Dragon - Attack: 3000. Defense: 2500.)

“Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up!” 

“Ama-amazing.” complimented Jaden as he took a step back. 

“Of course it is, it's the monster I was the most waiting for to crush you! So let’s see what you can do.” He grinned, as Jaden returned it. 

“Can’t wait. Your move.” 

Turn 13. Chazz - 200 lp - 1 card

“Alright then!” Chazz drew his card as then he pointed out, “I know what that furball does, even if its destroyed by battle, you still take no damage due to its effect, and I would be foolish to attack your Flame Wingman while that Field is up, so why not destroy them at the same time!?” Chazz took out a card in his hand, “I have to discard a card from my hand so I can destroy all of your monsters! See you later, Ojama Yellow.” he said as he discarded the said card. 

“Oja- What!?” 

“Why would he use that pathetic card in his deck!?” 

“Is he trying to embarrass us!?” yelled Slade and Jagger one after the other. 

A lightning bolt appeared on LV10’s hand as it threw at the monsters, as the rest of the monsters yelled in pain, “Flame Wingman! Winged Kuriboh!” yelled Jaden as he saw two of his favourite monsters destroyed. In one turn. And it wasn’t even the Battle Phase. 

He widened at the sound of that, “I finally beat you, Jaden!” yelled Chazz as he pointed at his dragon, “Finish this off, Armed Dragon LV10! WIth Static Orb Blast!” A ball of lightning appeared once more, but in the shape of a ball and the dragon threw it with the ferocity of an actual dragon. 

Jaden grunted, “So close, but so far! Go, Emergency Provisions! I gain 1000 life points for every Spell and Trap card I send, so I think I will send both of my left and right Trap cards and the Skyscraper!” 

Two cards, that Emergency Provisions was in between of, and Jaden’s Field Spell were sent to the graveyard as the scenery was changed back into the Duel Arena. The orb made out of electricity hit Jaden, almost making him drop on his knees. 

Chazz: 200 lp

Jaden: 600 - 3600 - 600 life points

Chazz gripped his hand as he felt like he was dueling against someone with 8000 life points, while he had only 4000 life points. He sighed as he took the last card in his hand, “I set a card face down,” a card was set vertically, “I end my tu-”

“Not so fast, Chazzaroni!” yelled Jaden as Chazz looked at him shocked, “I still have play left!”

“What!? How!? You have your field emp-” Chazz noticed a single set card on the Slifer Red’s field, “Oh you gotta be kidding me.” 

“Sorry, but it's true! i activate the Trap, Hero Fusion Time! I can banish monsters in my graveyard so I can Fusion summon a Hero monster, but its effects are negated!” Jaden explained as he took two cards from his graveyard, “I pick Sparkman and Flame Wingman! Like one man used to say, ‘It’s Hero Time!’” 

Both his Sparkman and Flame Wingman appeared on the field, but were quickly sucked in a Green-Red Spiral Vortex. 

“I wonder what monster Jaden is planning to summon.” wondered Chumley. 

“Well, there are 2 options. Since both of them are different Attributes, he could use either of them to summon the appropriate Fusion monster.” explained Bastion as the only two females decided to guess the monsters. 

“I don’t think it's Great Tornado, since its on summon effect would not be active due to his Trap card.” Alexis gave her opinion. 

“It could be The Shining, due it having an effect of gaining 300 for banished Hero, and it would be enough for the finisher.” said Celina. 

Zane heard Honest giving his opinion, “I don’t think it's either of them. The monster has a different energy than the other monster he used not too long ago, Zane.” The Kaiser nodded as he looked towards two duelists as he could feel, this duel is ending. 

“Here comes the newest evolution of Flame Wingman…” From the Vortex came out a Hero wearing the shiniest armour ever made as it glowed stronger than that of the Sun. The armour was white, with yellow outlines, angelic like wings, and the skin was green for some odd reason, but no one could question it as they covered their eyes from the glow, “Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!” 

(Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman: Fusion - Level 8 - Light Warrior - Attack: 2500. Defense: 2100.)

Chazz hopelessly starred as the monster, knowing that he had nothing to do. He looked at the ground. “I end my turn.” 

Turn 14. Jaden - 600 lp - 0 cards

Jaden looked at Chazz and knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn’t just quit right now. It would be unfun for both of them. It was conflicting with his belief. He didn’t care for winning or losing, he cared for having fun. He looked at his deck and shook his head, “I am sorry, Chazz, but I just can’t surrender.” 

He took the top card of his hand and didn’t bother looking at it, knowing it was a card that could not have helped him in this situation. Instead he raised his arm that was carrying his duel disk, “Here is the finale! Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 attack for every Hero in my graveyard, so here comes the Hero Role Call!” 

All the images of his Heroes appeared; Terra Firma, Ocean, Woodsman, Bladedge, Burstinatrix, Avian and Bubbleman, all crossing their arms. 

Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman: 2500 - 4600 attack points 

“Over 4000 attack points!?” yelled almost everyone as the Light Hero flexed its muscles, Chazz not even looking up knew he had to do something. 

“I am sorry,” he mumbled as he pointed at his Hero, “His effect is the same as Flame Wingman so let’s give our watchers a climatic finale, shall we?! Attack with Solar Flare!” From the hands of the Light Hero formed light as it threw at the Wind Dragon. 

“No…no. No. No! NO!” Everyone turned towards Chazz as he lifted his head as he activated his set card, “I WILL NOT LOSE THIS! I activate the Trap, Armed Dragon Explosion!”

“What!?” yelled Foster as he jumped in his seat, “That was meant as a last resort! I didn’t know he would activate now!”

“Chazzy, are you sure you are making the right call?!” yelled Jesse as Chazz ignored it. 

“I destroy an Armed Dragon on my field and we BOTH take half of the attack of the destroyed monster!” He yelled as his Armed Dragon LV10 exploded in a massive explosion. 

“Wait!”

“So-”

“That-”

“Means-”

“Both of them-”

“Will tie!?” the gang, sans Zane who was also shocked, yelled as they jumped onto their seats. 

“Are you sure you want to end this in a tie, Chazz?!” Jaden asked as he readied to raise his hands to block him from the holographic explosion. 

“Who said anything about ending it in a tie?!” Almost everyone gasped watching this duel, “Protection’s effect from the graveyard activates! If I would take damage from a Spell or Trap, my opponent will take it instead!” He took out a card from his graveyard, as a holographic image of Armed Dragon LV7, Ojama Yellow and even the Dark Scorpions appeared in front of Chazz, almost like they were protecting him from a real explosion. 

The explosion covered everything, except for Chazz’s field, as it destroyed Jaden’s Shining Flare Wingman leaving the Slifer Red’s field empty as then. The explosion was gone after a few seconds as then…

…Jaden fell down on his knees, meaning that…

Chazz: 200 lp

Jaden: 600 - 0 life points

CHAZZ PRINCETON: WINNER!

Chazz was declared the winner of the duel. 

No one dared to make a sound as then Chazz muttered, “I won…I won. I won!” he laughed as he yelled at the down Slifer, who had his eyes covered by his hair, “How does it feel like to lose, huh?! On your on turn nonetheless!?” 

He then saw Jaden tremble, like he was crying, making him grin that he was finally kicked down a peg, but then after a second later he lifted his head up and started laughing, “Oh man! That was amazing! Sweet even!” He began laughing harder as he got up, “You really Chazzed it up, huh?” He stopped laughing as he looked him in the eyes with a warm smile, “That was a great duel, Chazz.”

Chazz then realized something. Jaden didn’t care for winning or losing, he cared about having fun. A duelist who only cared about winning wouldn’t react that way unless their main goal was to have fun. He wasn’t cocky or self-centered, he just loved the game. 

As then Foster laughed, “I finally won this year, huh, Sheppard?” He shook hands with Sheppard, who didn’t say anything, but was still happy that Foster won one. 

He then looked at his students, “Now, everyone, why don’t we give Chazz his well deserved chant?”

Everyone in North Academy grinned as they started off, “Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up! Chazz It Up! CHAZZ IT UP!” 

Meanwhile in an apartment in Domino City

Lara then cheered for her youngest son, “Chazz It Up!” she said as she put down her cat on the other side of the couch, “I can’t wait to give him a phone call.” She said as the broadcasting ended. 

Meanwhile in Dubrovnik 

“So, Jaden lost, huh.” Kenn said he didn’t sound disappointed, far from it. He was glad that his son was on TV showing off his talent and his love of the game. 

“Yeah, but still,” He looked at Jana, “I am still proud of my little man.” 

“Couldn’t agree more.” he agreed as he took out his phone, “Let’s wait to make a phone call.”

Meanwhile in a cafe in Domino City

Jack Atlas jumped at his seat looking at his younger adoptive brother, “How does it feel to lose!? How does it feel, huh Crow?!”

Crow removed the hand away from his face, “Not good and don’t embarrass yourself in public, man!” 

Yusei looked at his older brother, “He’s right, Jack, you shouldn’t make yourself look like a fool.”

“Yeah, because he already is one.”

“Oh, I didn’t just hear Mister-I-Picked-The-Wrong-Duelist. Now go pay up!” yelled Jack as Crow stood up and went up to the counter, begrudgingly. 

As Jack and Yusei had their own conversation, a man in a gray suit, gray hair and dark blue eyes sipped his own Blue-Eyes Mountain, “Of course he lost. His Heroes aren’t anything compared to my Destiny and Vision.” he said as Yusei looked at him weirdly. 

“I am sorry sir, but did you say something?” he asked as the man quickly turned around. 

“No sorry, sir. Most have been your imagination.” He quickly finished his cup and left a 100 on the table. 

At the West Academy

“Alright, that’s it for now.” Viper turned off the TV, “Now I hope that you wrote everything that happened in the duel and all of the mistakes because it will all be graded. Put it on the table right now, or later. If I catch any copying they will be punished, am I understood?” Everyone nodded, while Yuma silently gasped, “Good. Now if you excuse me, I have an acquaintance to speak with.”  

As soon as Viper exited the classroom, Yuma loudly declared, “Ahh dang it! I didn’t pay attention to our notes!” He turned around to see his friends, “Hey, can I copy from you, pretty please with a cherry on top?” 

“Sorry, Yuma, but I don’t want to ruin my perfect grade.” said Tori as he looked at the rest of them. 

“No can do.”

“Dude, I haven’t paid attention.” 

“No.”

Yuma fell to his knees and cried anime style as Axel tried to remember the indigo haired girl, “She seemed…familiar.” 

At a certain Dueling School near Domino City

A teenage boy with two different shades of gray for hair, purple eyes, a blue sweater, beige pants, sockless white shoes, a red scarf and a necklace with a single photo on it walked in his father’s room. 

The room seemed like something out of a horror movie. The place was a laboratory, with multiple scientists roaming around with formulas, but the big thing was a bald man with an impressive stature near a tank that had, what looked like, a single eye. 

“Father, the duel between North and Duel Academy is over and I did everything to study every single move of the duelists.” the boy said as his father turned to him. 

“Don’t bother with them, Declan.” the man said as the boy now known as Declan, frowned, “Your skills surpass that of even that of the Kaiser of Duel Academy. If you truly want to do something with me, do it later. My acquaintance needs me.” The man walked towards his phone as Declan walked off the room. 

Declan walked into his room and sat on his bed, opening his necklace to reveal a photo of a girl with a teddy bear, a blue hoodie, pinkish haired with a shirt with both a blue and yellow colouring scheme. A single tear went down at the usually grim boy, “Riley.” 

Back at Duel Academy

While North Academy students were cheering for their students, before Chazz could enjoy any of it, his brothers ran towards him and Slade grabbed him by his shirt, “You idiot!” shocking everyone. 

“Wha-what do you mean?” Chazz asked his brother. 

“We told you to win! By beating him one sidedly, not a close to the hair win! Everyone saw him almost beating you!” yelled Jagger. 

“Even when you win, you fail horribly!” yelled Slade as he tightens his hold on Chazz. 

“Are you kidding me!? Even when I did all of the things that you told me, you still have the nerve to yell at me!?” he snapped back at his brothers as some students from both Duel and North came closer, while Jaden stood there, “Nothings ever enough for all of you! I try to listen to all of your requests, and do them and you still treat me like trash!?” 

That angered both of the Princeton brothers until Jagger raised his fist at his younger brother, “Why you-”

“STOP!” All of the Princetons turned around to see Jaden and his friends, including Jesse, behind him, “How could all of you be like that to your younger brother like that!?”

“Because he is our brother, not yours! Why do you care about him anyway!? Didn’t he throw cards at the ocean and then he was expelled for it?!” yelled Slade as he turned towards everyone. 

“You two aren’t his real brothers!” yelled Alexis as the thought of a brother like her older brother harming their little siblings infuriated her to no end. “Brothers don’t harm their siblings for fun!”

“And I thought I had a bad brother,” Syrus turned to his older brother, “Uh, no offense, Zane.”

“None taken, Sy.” 

“I don’t even understand why you are like this. Sure it was a back and forth duel, but he still won the duel didn’t he?” asked Bastion, “What made you both so angry about that?” 

“Because, we gave him cards that would have given him,” Jagger pointed at Jaden, “A one sided duel, but no, he wanted to use his own deck for what?!”

Chazz dropped his head in shame, “Because I wanted people to respect me.” he gritted his teeth, but Jesse stepped in. 

“Are ya’ kidding!? That’s the reason why y’all treating Chazzy so horribly? Because he wanted respect?!” Jesse angrily curled up his fist in a ball, “That’s just horrible! If ya’ think that he doesn’t need respect, then me and North Academy will go against that! Right guys?!” 

All of the North Academy students yelled, “Yeah! He deserves it! Chazz is the man!” 

Celina then smiled, “And that’s not different in Duel Academy, right?!” She curled up her hand in the air, like she was threatening them, which it worked since all of them, sans Zane, yelled at the same time, “Yeah!”

“And another thing,” everyone turned to Jaden, “Even if Chazz did use your cards, he would have lost for sure! He wouldn’t have won because of you breathing down his damn neck if you gave him that deck! So, if you would kindly,” he turned towards everyone as they all knew what he was about to say so they went along with him, “GET OFF THIS ISLAND!” 

Slade and Jagger weren't scared, not even a little bit, so Slade pushed off Chazz as he and Jagger went to exit the arena. The oldest Princeton sibling turned to them, “Fine. But the duel still worked, and don't think this will be the end of us!” 

Both he and Jagger laughed as the camera crew went with them. 

Chazz was silent, he never had this much help with him, Jaden saw this and smiled, “So! Everyone, I think Chazz deserves his victory chant!” everyone turned to him and then, Duel Academy and North Academy, Zane left the room in a different direction, began chanting. 

“Chazz it up. Chazz it up! Chazz It Up! CHAZZ IT UP!” The entire island was heard from Domino City as they chanted. 

Chazz didn’t know how to feel about this. Everyone was rooting for him, everyone stood up to him, everyone wanted to protect him from his brothers and he didn’t know how to feel about it. 

He wanted to cry tears of joy, as finally, he finally got what he wanted, but then his phone rang, and it was his mum. “Sorry to cut this off,” Everyone was shocked that he apologized, “But I need some personal time, okay?” 

Jaden’s phone rang at the same time and saw the phone contact that it was his parents, “Same here, I need some too!” He ran off as he began a phone call with his parents. 

He then ran off and then picked it up, “Hey mum.”

And just like that a conversation began mother and son as they began talking about how she was after she left, how his stay with both Duel Academy and North Academy was, how annoying Jesse is after he beat him and it was almost done as Chazz asked something, “Mum, I have a question.”

“What is it sweetie?” asked Lara, already nervous. 

“Would you still be proud of me even if I lost the duel?” He bit his lip and swallowed what was left as Lara looked at her phone. 

“Chazz, sweetie, I will always be proud of you.” A single sentence warmed his heart, “No matter what happens to you, if you lose or win, who you are dating, where you live or anything else, I will always be proud of you and love you.” 

A smile that no one has ever seen on the youngest Princeton’s face formed on his face, “Thank you mum, I needed it.” 

“Any time sweetie.” 

Chazz sighed as he saw Jesse running at him, “I gotta go, mum, the guy I was talking about is coming.”

Lara chuckled, “Okay, Chazz, talk to me soon.” 

“Will do.” both of them ended the call as Jesse finally got up to him, “Chazzy, we will almost go ho- Wait y’all were talking about me?” 

“Yeah, how annoying you are.” he answered as Jesse got him in a headlock type hug. 

“Aww, Chazzy, you really have changed!” Jesse said as he was crushing Chazz’s air pipe.

After a few minutes of Chazz struggling, he finally got himself free from the hug, “I thought bears hug harder,” he hissed in pain, “So what were you talking before?” 

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Jesse yelled, “We will go home almost right now! We have to hurry!” Jesse grabbed Chazz’s hand as they began running. Well the Crystal Beast player did, as he was dragging Chazz. 

Later

Everyone was near the submarine of North Academy, only Jesse, Foster and Chazz weren’t on it, in fact Jesse was giving Jaden a friendship shake, making Syrus drop to the floor once more. 

As soon as they were done with a fist bump, Jaden looked at Jesse, “Man see ya later, Jess.” Jesse nodded as Jaden looked at Chazz, “And you too Chazz.”

“Actually,” Chazz looked at the person he defeated, “I am not going anywhere.”

“What!?” 

“But Chazz, you are our best duelist!”

“Yeah, Chazzy, are you sure?” asked both Czar and Jesse. 

“I am, that’s if,” he looked at Sheppard, “If Chancellor Sheppard wants me here.”

Eyes were on Sheppard, as he let out a laugh, “Well of course I would let you in here! You were one of my best students,” some glared at the Chancellor, “so how can I say no?”

Foster looked at Chazz, “I will allow it as well, since you do belong in Duel Academy, oh and also. You can keep the Armed Dragon deck since I can tell they are ecstatic to be with you.” Some looked at him funny, but the 4 students that can see Duel Spirits understood what he meant by that as Honest nodded to that, feeling something warm in Chazz’s deck. 

“Alright then, I understand.”

Before any of them could say anything, Doctor Crowler yelled with a microphone in his hands, “Ladies and Gentlemen! Now to present the School Duel’s prize to the winning School! A kiss from Mrs. Duel Academy!”

Students were shocked to hear what they heard as they walked towards the stage, as Sheppard looked depressed while Foster ran on the stage. 

“Mrs. Duel Academy?”

“Is she cute?”

“Is she hot?”

“This school has a Mrs? Where's Mr. Duel Academy then?”

“Good question, Jess.”

“I never heard about this.”

“Sounds hot.” 

“Jay, be my wingman. K?”

Zane rolled his eyes in a quiet manner, “Don’t get your hopes up, Sy.”

Celina then turned to the Kaiser, “What do you mean by that?”

Zane, without making eye contact, as Sheppard started crying, “Just watch.”

“Okay?” she turned to the stage as Dorothy in a dress appeared on stage with lipstick on her lips. Celina’s jaw dropped. 

“Dorothy?!”

“She is Mrs. Duel Academy?!”

“Jay, I take back what I said.” 

“Now will the winning Chancellor come to the stage to get his kiss?” asked Crowler as Foster walked in, his eyes closed, and leaned in as Dorothy gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

Sheppard then bursted out crying, even harder than before, “I CAN’T WATCH!” he yelled as he ran away crying, while covering his eyes with his sleeve. 

Zane wasn't shocked. Not even a little bit. He knew how infatuated Sheppard was to Dorothy. One time when he was learning the arts of Cyber Style, he walked in Sheppard flirting with a picture of Dorothy. 

That memory never left him. 

After all of the shock, Foster and his students went into the submarine, back to North Academy, Chazz had one thing in his mind, “That’s a chick?” 

Banner walked towards Chazz, “Well since Sheppard is…having problems with his love life. I felt the honor of telling you something important.” All of the Slifers remembered when Blair entered the School as a boy and had a certain reason why she was in Slifer. 

“And that is?” 

“Since you are returning, you are technically a new student, and thus, you are starting as a Slifer.” explained Banner, “And thankfully, due to us having a free room, you can sleep in alone if you would like to.”  

“Wait what!?” 

“If it makes you feel better, the rats and cockroaches have gone significantly last week, so you can sleep soundly.” Celina cheered him up with a grin of her own. 

“This can’t be.” Chazz dropped to his knees, but was quickly pulled back up by Chumley. 

“Come on, guys!” Jaden turned towards the students, “Let’s give him a Slifer welcome!” All the Slifers grinned as even Bastion and Alexis were in on it, “S-L-I-F-E-R!”

“Can’t we just stick with, Chazz It Up?” asked Chazz in desperation as they continued it with his catchphrase. 

“How about Slifer It Up?” the Slifers cheered as they began, “Slifer It Up! Slifer It Up! Slifer It Up!”

“Stop it!” 

Nighttime 

As all of the Slifers, and Banner, walked towards the Slifer Red dorm, in the night, Jaden walked towards the new Slifer Red, “Hey, wanna play games with us? Bastion is coming as well.” he asked as Chazz thought about it. 

“I…will think about it, okay?” He asked as he walked in his room as some of the Slifers, and Bastion, walked in the dining room. 

Chazz entered and observed it. It was…slightly better than he thought of it before. Not good, but better than he thought. The room itself was different from the usual Slifer Red room. It had a TV, a massive bed, a green couch, a massive desk, a coat hanger. 

He sat on the bed and thought about today. He never thought it would end like this. 

It wasn’t bad by any means, just way different. 

From him dueling his arch enemy, to his brothers giving him cards that he didn’t use, to him being televised, to him beating Jaden, to him being stood up for, to him getting the respect from both North and Duel Academy, to his mum calling him. It brought a smile to his face. 

He could even feel his monsters, Dark Scorpions, Ojama Yellow, his old Union deck, and now, even the Armed Dragons being happy with their master. 

It felt like he was in a happy family, but then he was even invited to chill with the person he beat. 

He thought about it for a few minutes, before shrugging it off as he walked out of his room and entered the dining area. 

Celina, Chumley, Jaden, Syrus and even Bastion were on a single table playing Scrabble, “I will put my A to make A.” said Jaden. 

Chumley’s turn, “I will add to your A to make AT.” he did as he said that.

Syrus’ turn, “I will add onto your AT to make RAT.” he smiled as he did that. 

And now, Bastion’s turn, “I will add onto your RAT to make BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC.”  

Silence.

Celina then flipped the board as everyone else groaned, “Really Bastion?!” she yelled out. 

“This is the third time!” 

“You couldn’t have make it RATE or something else?!”

“Ti to uvijek radiš! Nikada više neću igrati ovo s tobom! (You always do this! I will never play this game with you again!)” yelled Jaden as they then turned to Chazz with a grin of his own,”Oh, hey Chazz.” 

“So…do you guys wanna play another game?” he asked as all of them smiled. 

All of them calmed down, “Sure, just let’s not play Scrabble since someone will ruin it.” She looked at Bastion. 

“Yeah! Let’s play a nice game of Monopo-

5 minutes later

“I AM NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN!” yelled Bastion as exited the dining room, as Chazz yelled at him.

“Good luck out there, buddy! You won’t survive 5 minutes in the real world!” he yelled. 

Celina slammed the table as she glared at Jaden, “YOU CHEATING PIECE OF SHIT!” and that was Zane and Alexis’ cue to leave. 

“I ti lažljivica koja misli that može dobiti što želi! (And you’re a liar that thinks she can get anything she wants!)” yelled back Jaden as Syrus and Chumley took all of the pieces away from them. 

“I am moving out and taking the kids with me!” she yelled as Chazz looked at her. 

“With you!? A person that is bankrupt?!” 

“Who do you think you are yelling at?!” 

“We have to go, before a fight is going to start.” whispered Syrus as both he and Chumley ran out of the dining area. 

Not wanting to see a bloodbath. 

Authors note: 

Fucking finally done! A GOD DAMN 18K WORD CHAPTER! WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF!? 

Anyways I hoped you guys enjoyed this duel, and chapter, I decided to add on this chapter more than anything and I had a lot of fun myself. I was on vacation last week when I post this, and I didn’t really want to write on my phone so here we are! 

Next chapter will be short, since there is no duel, so I wanted this to be long as hell so you guys would be satisfied. 

I added characters from other series so you can tell where they are in this story and made a couple of jokes inside of the series themselves. I also wanted to have some little clues on what you would be expecting in the other seasons. 

I decided to add the other Academies to see how they would react to that, even the kids' reaction to it. Like what I have with the Akabas, the exchange students and a certain other Hero duelist. 

Here’s a little hint for the next season. I decided to write 2 characters that will be in season 2 as exchange duelists, like in season 3, but they are in the Academies, so have fun guessing on who it will be. 

I made Chazz win this duel, because the poor boy needed it. I liked the duel, but didn’t like the fact that he lost. It would be way better if he had won the duel rather than him losing, gaining respect from both Academies. 

Fun Fact: This duel has the same amount of turns as the original did in the canon, and I didn’t really plan on it. 

Another Fun Fact: Jaden won’t be dueling for a long time, so guess how many chapters he does duel. 

I won’t be making the Gravekeepers since I can’t really fix it or change it, hope you understand. 

See ya guys later!

Made up cards: 

Warrior’s Will: A card that was made for the specific purpose of making monsters stay on the field after damage calc, might use this again. 

Armed Dragon Ritual and Armed Dragon Kagerou Thunder: Shoutout to duei for making this made up card, and I wanted for Armed Dragon to have different versions other than just Effect monsters. 

Armed Dragon Protection: Just some protection for Armed Dragons, nothing special. 

Armed Dragon Explosion: A Ring Of Destruction for Armed Dragons. 

Hero Fusion Time: A Necro Fusion for Heroes that is 100% based on Ben 10’s catchphrase, “It’s Hero Time!”

[kerie-prince]

We're Worlds Apart (8)

Draco Malfoy x American No-Maj!reader

series m.list | general m.list | previous chp

warnings: mentions of smoking, mentions of death

summary: Draco Malfoy is a pureblood wizard. Magic runs through his veins and has been since his birth. You're a Wiccan No-Maj; a non-magical being with ordinary blood through your veins, but practices what you call magick. And this very practice upsets your neighbor.

a/n: god, i had MAJOR writers block for this chapter. i almost got lost in the direction i wanted this series to go and i'm still figuring out a way on how to not let this drag out too long. i'm debating on adding this to wattpad but i don't know how to make aesthetically pleasing cover art so if anyone could teach a bitch how, lmk ✋🏼😩

(gif cred)

Blaise has been acting differently than usual. Not that you had too many complaints considering that you hardly knew him. Better words would be that from the short time you knew him, he started acting different. What was once two nights a week turned into him staying with you almost everyday.

It was kind of annoying, actually. He was here to see Draco, not some random person he just met.

One morning, he got up early and tried to make breakfast, but he had no idea how to work any of the muggle items so rather than your alarm on your bed stand you woke up to the smoke alarm.

You woke up feeling groggy but had a pleasant soreness on your inner thighs. Before you even brushed your hair or teeth, you rushed as much as you could to see what was going on in your house. When you stepped into your kitchen, your toaster was on fire and there was smoke everywhere. Blaise was just standing by it scratching his head. It woke you right up; you ran to your small laundry room and snatched the fire hydrant.

After you put the fire out, you turned to Blaise, “What the hell happened?”

“I guess now would be a bad time to ask you to make breakfast?” He didn't really show that he was sorry. Maybe on the inside he was, but would it kill him to show it? You rubbed the temple of your nose bridge to smooth out the growing headache. Now you have to buy a new toaster and make food for this man.

The bell rang through your house in the early morning. You set the fire hydrant on the counter and walked to the front door to see who it was that was outside. Probably, no, hopefully Theo coming to pick his best friend up to take him out to go anywhere else that wasn't your house.

Fate was decidedly not on your side today. The person that stood on your porch was none other than your mother. “Ma? What are you doing here?”

“Don’t be rude, baby,” she let herself in just like she used to walk into your room when you were younger living in her house. She looked around and had a scrunched up look. “Y/N, what is burning?”

Just when the situation couldn't get any worse, Blaise walked out to the living room also assuming Theo was here to see him. It donned on you now that Blaise was shirtless and his pajama silk bottoms were sitting dangerously low on his hips. You were glad that he was wearing underwear or else your mother would see more than she needed to.

Blaise stood shockingly still and wasn't sure what to do, so he just did the first thing that came to mind. “Hello, I'm Blaise. Nice to meet you,” he held his hand out for your mother to shake.

She stood with a look of horror on her face and kept her hands to her side. As if it was natural, she gave you a disapproving look before looking back at the man in your house. Blaise retracted his hand and looked at you, “I'll just be at Draco’s then.”

You nodded and stayed with your mother as he put on his shirt in your room and left. “Y/N… what are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Isn't it a long ride from Boston?” you sassed.

“Don't give me that. I wanted to come see you and… and I wanted to say that I’m sorry.” You could tell that it was really hard for her to say the last bit. “I shouldn't have acted the way I acted on Thanksgiving.”

“What happened, ma?” you asked with your arms crossed, “I know it's not because of Stephanie also practicing Wicca. And if it is, then I really don't understand.”

“I just… why are you still doing this? All of this? I get that you wanted to be closer to your grandmother so I let you do whatever you wanted–”

“You let me? You make it sound like this is some hobby!” you yelled.

“IT IS A HOBBY,” she animated with her arms, “Y/N, you are 26 years old. When are you going to move on?”

“This is ridiculous, I need you to leave,” you began to escort your mother out of your house. “No, I’m staying. This was my house–”

“No, it was Grandma’s house and now it’s mine. Goodbye, mother,” you closed the door in her face and turned against it to lean on your back. Your face was in your hands and you wanted to scream.

You checked the time on your oven and saw you still had 45 extra minutes to do whatever you wanted before you had to get ready to open the store. Since Blaise has been over everyday and you haven't opened up to him about your practice, you wanted to spend extra time to soothe all the negative and stressful energy that was building up inside you.

The closet hadn't been opened in a few days and once you were facing all your herbs, crystals, and oils, you immediately felt better.

“It's been a while, girls,” you spoke to yourself. You grabbed some oils, a sage and crystals to get ready. And you had lots of work to do.

—

“Alright, you are good to go,” Draco released a child with their parents. Work has since died down since the huge fiasco earlier in the month. There was still the question as to who and why it all happened, but he decidedly let it go for now.

Recently, he's been getting closer with you with small chats every now and then since the day in Manhattan. Draco deemed you as now ‘okay’ in his book. Your chats were simple but not bad.

One thing that for sure was odd was Blaise suddenly staying there every night. He never got an explanation, nor has he ever asked him. Blaise was acting kind of strange, but Draco liked to think it was due to being homesick.

Thirteen hours had passed and Draco’s day would finally come to an end. Ian and Ashley asked him if he'd like to join them on a drink, but he declined. Theo called him and let him know that Blaise was home, so he was going to drink with the two of them. He had yet to introduce his work friends with his best friends and was planning to before they went back to London.

As he pulled up home, he saw you sitting alone on your porch. You had a stoic look on your face and had a cigarette in between your fingers. Draco didn't think you smoked at all. He has never seen you do it once in the months living next to you.

He figured he’d just be a good neighbor and say hello. He walked over and knocked on the wooden porch to gain your attention. You were pulled out of whatever thought you were in the middle of and looked at him. “Oh, hi,” you greeted without your usual enthusiasm.

Draco went through his coat pockets for his own pack and pulled one out. He then realized that he didn't have one of those muggle lighters and tried to figure out how to light his smoke without magic like he usually did.

To you, it seemed that he just forgot a lighter so you pulled out yours and gestured for Draco to come closer. He leaned in and accepted it, “I didn't know you smoked.”

You chuckled to yourself, “Yeah, I uh, quit a year ago.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “You don't look like you quit.” He took a couple puffs of his cigarette and looked out on the street. You took a particularly long puff and slowly let the smoke out of your lips, “Well, when you have a mom like mine, you start up old habits again.”

“You’ve never met my father,” Draco commented under his breath, “She seemed nice when I met her.”

“She's nice to everyone but her own daughter,” you rolled your eyes. You let your cigarette out and almost started another one, but something stopped you. You leaned back into your chair and closed your eyes.

“Have you two always fought?” Draco asked. You kept at your position but opened your eyes. You gave it some thought before eventually nodding ‘yes’. “What about your father?”

The question seemed to have affected you; your eyes started getting glossy and your bottom lip quivered. Draco noticed. Should I not have asked that?

“He passed away when I was 12,” you sounded like your breath was cut short. Your hands reached up to cover your eyes and wipe away any tears before they could fall down.

As much as Draco and Lucius never saw eye to eye, he couldn't really imagine losing his father. Sure, Lucius was harsh on his son and always compared him to Potter, but Draco still cared about him. And he knew that Lucius loved him in his own way. Maybe you weren't all that different.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Draco consoled. You stood up to go inside. The weather was cold and your cashmere sweater wasn't doing you any good. “Thank you.” Draco let his cigarette out and told you ‘Good night’ before leaving.

Stepping down, he looked back and called for you, “Y/N.” You hadn't closed the door yet, so you looked back with your door held by your hand, waiting for whatever Draco had to say. “If you ever need to talk… I'm right next door.”

It surprised you to say the least. But it unexpectedly made you warm on the inside. “Thank you, Dray.” He nodded and waved before going home.

Inside, Theo sat on one of the chairs in the kitchen eating leftovers from the night before and Blaise was going through the Daily Prophet. “How was work?” the latter friend asked.

“Alright. Good to see you here for once,” Draco greeted. Blaise laughed without taking his eyes off the paper, “Can't a man be with his girlfriend before he leaves?”

“Ha, is that what you two are?” Theo teased from across the room with his mouth stuffed, “Look at Blaise; he finally settled down. Hell has officially frozen over.”

Blaise listed one hand to flip off Theo. Draco, however, felt a churn in his stomach. It was weird to hear Blaise call you his girlfriend. No one has gotten Blaise to call them that, but somehow you did it.

He wasn't really sure Blaise even knew what it meant to have a girlfriend, or even how to be a boyfriend. He never asked what they did knowing that he'd get endless teasing.

Draco grumbled to himself and went to his room. He changed into comfortable clothes and right when he was about to join Theo in the kitchen, he looked at his window for a moment. He peeked through his window and saw you through yours.

You sat on your bed with your legs up to your chest and your arms wrapped them close. Your face had no expression on it, but considering the conversation less than an hour ago, one could assume that you were sad.

“You fancy her, don't you?” Blaise surprised Draco, making the blond jump. “Merlin, Blaise, don't do that.”

“Well?” Blaise stood against the open door with arms and legs crossed. Draco rolled his eyes and walked towards the door, but Blaise didn't budge from his position. “I don't fancy anybody, now move.”

“I don't care if you do. But I do care when you lie to me. And yourself,” Blaise’s tone was threatening.

“Shouldn't you fancy her? She's your girlfriend,” Draco matched his tone. “Besides, if she was, shouldn't you be pissed if I did?”

“I do fancy her, but I'm not the one living next to her. Eventually, I'm leaving,” Blaise reminded his best friend. “So do us the favor and figure out whatever it is you want, or I'll find a reason to stay.” With that, Blaise left to his shared room and slammed the door.

What in Salazar is his deal? Draco thought. He walked up to his fridge and rummaged through all the containers of leftover food. I really need to learn how to cook.

Theo was still eating when he started talking, “Blaise has been pissy all day. What you reckon is his deal?”

“‘M gonna guess there's trouble in paradise and she's sick of him,” Draco jokes. His eyes land on the Chinese food from a couple nights ago and warms it up with his wand.

“Hm, as if,” Theo commented. He cleaned his mess up when he finished and turned to Draco. “Night, mate. Fingers crossed he doesn't yell at me and I have to sleep on the couch.”

“Night,” Draco replied and sat down on one of the high chairs. He thought a lot about you telling him about your father. He sat and wondered if you told Blaise. Maybe you even opened up to him about your… craft? Draco didn't know what to call it yet.

But he figured that if you did, Draco would be the first person Blaise would tell. And seeing as even Theo, the biggest mouth between the three, hasn't said anything, then that meant that you probably hadn't told Blaise.

And for a quick second, passing just as quickly as it came, he wondered if you would tell him first.

—

It was currently December 18th. Your dad's birthday. Usually you'd ride with your mother to his stone in Boston, but seeing as your latest argument was bothering you, staring at photos of him was going to be enough today.

You hardly remembered much about him since you were young, but you remember the good moments and some of the bad. The bad being the last of his days. His cancer was strong as it was caught too late by doctors.

The store was closed today per usual. You never had it opened on his birthday. Blaise was also at Draco's house. You'd ask him to have the day to yourself and when he asked why, you didn't explain.

Your door bell rang and you groaned, hoping it wasn't your mother again.

"Hey," your brother greeted you. "Y/B/N, hey. Come in, you're probably freezing." Inside, he took his jacket off and hung it on your coat rack. He sat on the couch and your cat ran to sit on his lap. "Sometimes, I think she likes you more than me," you chuckled as your brother gave her head strokes and she purred loudly.

"How come you're by yourself? We missed you today," your brother asked. You sat beside him and closed the photo book. "I didn't feel like fighting with mom again today."

"Y/N/N, I know she's hard to handle, but she needed you today," he reached out for your hand and squeezed it. "I needed you, too."

"Well, she has a funny way of showing it," you stared into nothing. You rested your head on his shoulder and wrapped your throw blanket over your shoulders. "Sometimes, I almost forget what he's like. His laugh, how he made Ma smile. How he smelled," you started.

Your brother was 8 when your dad died, so his memory was limited. But he still remembers how much he loved him. You both sat in silence, hands locked and the only sound being your cats purring.

"Mom told me you have a boyfriend. That true?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe? He hasn't said anything, and he leaves after New Years, so maybe not," you half-explained. What was Blaise to you? Did he feel anything when you were together? Was it just physical? You didn't know, and you never asked.

"Well, if he breaks your heart, I don't care where he lives. I'm beating his ass," your brother commented. You hit his shoulder and he laughed. "How's Steph? I haven't been able to call her," you asked.

"Oh. Um, we're taking a break." Your brother sounded sad. You sat up and looked at your baby brother. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think Mom just spooked her. But I'll get her back," he sounded only partly sure of himself. You nodded and rested back on his shoulder. He stayed for a few hours; watched a movie and had dinner before he left back for Boston to see your mom once more.

When he left, you sat in your room and lit up some incense to calm your nerves. Out your window, Draco's curtains were closed as usual. Something inside you wanted to talk to someone that wasn't your brother, Blaise, or even Miranda and Bianca.

It wasn't that Draco wasn't the best of friends, but you had an indescribable pull towards him, and you wondered if it was the same for him.

—

next chp

(っ◔◡◔)っ taglist: @beiahadid @malfoy-styles-wife @fivenightslaughter @juneballoon999 @leydileyla @fangirlanotherjust @originalsoulcollector @opiomancy @lipstickandloveletters @ninacotte @daedric-sorceress @frecklesandfirecrackers @hahee154hq @disartrous @oh-those-barricade-boys @lunalovecroft @bornforfangirling @c4th3r1ne @burnin-passion

[wendystales]

Memories - lrh (Chapter Eighteen)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Seventeen ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Chapter Nineteen

I remember the first time I really wanted to see New York. I must have been about 12 years old and was watching a random episode of Friends that was on TV. I saw those flashes of the city between one scene and another, and I thought it was amazing, the great stone jungle.

When I turned 16, my dad gifted me with a trip to New York, not because it was my favorite place in the world, but because it was on sale. There were 10 days where the only time I stopped to rest was bedtime. We went to almost every tourist spot, took thousands of photos and it was definitely one of the best trips I've ever been on.

Now, the city that I once wanted to know and live in, like the characters in Friends, felt like a prison. I wasn't there of my own free will or for a truly irrefutable proposal. I was there out of fear and passion, the most dangerous mixture.

I believe that at some point, a few months from now, I'm going to start loving New York, but right now, I can only feel contempt.

I pass through the arrivals gate, looking at those millions of unfamiliar faces, waiting for someone. I'm looking for a sign with my name or the logo of the Hastings Agency.

I find my name in the hands of a boy a little taller than me. Dark hair and fair skin, he needs sun. In an impeccable suit, but fumbling with his cell phone and notepad.

I approach slowly, able to hear his voice, replaying a million things. He said something about waiting for me to arrive and taking me to the hotel. Something about treating me kindly and not asking questions. I stop in front of him with a sympathetic smile, watching him widen his eyes and quickly turn off his cell phone.

“Miss McGonagall, welcome to New York.” he takes my hand, squeezing it and shaking it quickly. “I'm Edward. I will be responsible for your schedule.” I can't control the smile, noticing him nervousness. In other words, he was my Noah.

“Hi! Yeah, you can call me Marnie, that's fine. I prefer, actually.”

“Oh! Of course.” his cheeks turn pink. “Well, I'll drop you off at the hotel to rest and tomorrow at 8:00 am you should be at Valentino's studio for the rehearsal of the new bag collection. At 2:45 pm you should already be at Chanel's studio, they want to take your measurements and do some color and fabric tests for the fashion show at the end of the month. Then, at 5:00 pm, you will participate in the E! podcast, and I believe that after that you will be free for the rest of the day.” he passes it on to me as we head out of the airport.

“OK!” that's all I have to say.

“Sorry if I'm being nosy, but were you the one who required a lot of work for the next two months? I mean, you have a really busy schedule. If you don't want something, I can try to help.” he flips through the calendar while we wait for a car.

“No! It's OK. I was the one who asked. I was down for a while and I need to get back to work.” I give a slight smile, debating. "Hm, was the doctor I asked for by any chance be marked?"

“Yes! Wednesday at 3pm.” he smiles proudly, making me smile too. Edward seems like a nice guy.

We got into a silver car and went to the hotel. Along the way, Edward answers a few calls, closing in on his tasks. I seize the moment and close myself in my own world. I get my cell phone, turning it on and seeing that tsunami of people looking for me. Missed calls, messages, dm on twitter and instagram, everyone looking for me, but not him.

I lock my cell phone, trying to focus my mind on the new beginning I sought for myself. I admire the city through the car window, trying to find a piece of home there. I feel the phone vibrate in my lap with Kyleen's name, but I just decline the call. In seconds, the screen lights up again and several messages come in, I believe they are hers, but I don't even bother to look. I have no courage.

The car stops in front of the Intercontinental, and just like that, Edward jumps out of the car.

“Your loft, unfortunately, is not ready yet. So you're going to have to stay here for a few days.” he explains, heading towards the reception desk.

I stand behind him, taking in the details of the hotel. Before long, I'm entering a room on the 14th floor, with a beautiful view of the city. The bags are left in the small room before the bedroom.

I smile at my new “Noah” showing that everything is perfect.

“Good! I'll let you rest for tomorrow. Anything, these are my phones.” he gives me a card. "And you can call me at any time. I live near here, I will come in a few minutes.”

“Thank you so much, Edward. You are very kind." Again, your cheeks turn pink.

As he heads for the door, I start rummaging through my bags for pajamas.

“Hm, sorry if I'm not being professional right now, but since I believe we'll be working together in the next few months, I imagine a good relationship is essential, so you can call me Eddie.”

I open an even bigger smile, seeing that Eddie was willing to make a friendship, which is perhaps the thing I need most at the moment.

“Thanks, Eddie!” he smiles and this time he walks away, leaving me alone again.

I go back to looking for a more comfortable outfit, ignoring my cell phone blinking on the table as I muted it. I grab my clothes, heading to a shower and stay there for a long time, letting the water take everything.

When I get out of the shower, I pick up the bedroom phone, dialing my mother's number, I don't want to take the risk of answering any of my cell phone calls.

"Hello?" her lost tone makes me smile weakly.

“Hi Mom!”

“Hi, my love. How are you? Marnie, what's going on? Leah came here to say you left without saying goodbye. I called Luke, but he did not answer me and Noah said something about you being to move to New York, you told me it would be just a month.” I cover the phone, not wanting her to hear my cry, letting the tears fall. "Marnie?"

“I'm sorry, Mom.” I can't control my voice and pretend it's okay.

“Honey, what's going on? You can tell me. Mom will help you.” I realize she wants to cry too, and that hurts me more.

“I needed to do this, needed to get away from him.” the revelation comes out before I can see it.

"He who? Luke? Why? I thought everything was fine.” her desperate tone returns.

“I'm sorry I can't talk.” I close my throat, holding back tears. “I just want to let you know that I arrived well and that everything is fine.”

“Fine? Marnie, just look at your voice, your condition. I saw what you did to the apartment. Honey, things aren't fine.” now she was angry.

“Mom, please just trust me. I know what I'm doing.” Do I? I clear my throat, holding back the emotion. “I just wanted to call to say I got okay. Later we'll talk.” I hang up the phone before she asks anything else.

I head to the bathroom, drying my hair. I notice that yesterday's anger is still in me as I can't face my image in the mirror, refusing to look deep into my eyes.

With dry hair, I go back to my room, thinking about taking a nap, since I haven't slept all night and even less on the flight. I close my eyes, trying to focus my thoughts on something else. I think about that taxi I saw earlier, trying to park. Or people crossing the street without looking at the sign. At the cookie shop I want to see.

I manage to evade Luke's, my mother's, John's, and Noah's voices, giving myself more and more to the sleep that finally came. Far away, I hear someone knocking hard on the door, but I ignore it, as I had the same thoughts yesterday morning. But I wake up when the pounding comes back stronger and Leah's voice enters the room.

“Marnie Elizabeth McGonagall, open this shit now before I drop it and you know I'm capable of it.” I leap out of bed, running to the door.

She can’t be here.

I open the door, revealing Leah with perhaps the worst expression I've ever seen in the world. She was furious, if not more so. As she storms into my room without waiting for an invitation, I quickly look down the hall, seeing a couple look at me startled. I smile awkwardly, closing the door.

“What are you doing here?” I question, still not understanding.

"What are you doing here? And without warning anyone. Fading in the morning. Breaking up with Luke. What the fuck was that?” she screams.

For a second, I see that my amnesia was an issue with my plan. By not remembering my friendship with everyone, I really believed that I just left and everything would be fine. I didn't imagine anyone would cross the country for me, to understand what was going on.

And if Leah did it, it's a matter of hours before someone else does. They weren't going to leave me alone, they weren't going to forget me, and they weren't going to let this story pass. I need to push them away, but I don't know how.

"Go on, Marnie. What the fuck is going on? And if you tell me it's a job offer, I swear I'll fly at you without pity or mercy, and I'll slap the truth out.” she cross her arms.

I consider the last option a lot because I know she can do it. But I won't tell her the truth, that's not an alternative. I want to believe that if I don't back off, she'll see I'm not lying and won't attack me. And even if she tries, I just run away, I'm closer to the door and there's an armchair between us.

"But it is what it is!" I shrug.

“Stop it!” she screams. “Stop lying, Marnie. Everyone. Everyone knows you're lying, so why don't you tell the truth?” she waves her hands through the air.

“Because there's no other truth, Leah. Will I have to draw it for you?” I make the same moves she does.

“Be my guest!” she sits on the couch. I sigh wearily. I haven't slept for hours, I'm angry with myself and the world and now that I thought the situation was resolved and I just had to go on with my life, she comes and messes everything up.

“Why are you here?” I stay upright.

“I do not know! It must be cause you went crazy and disappeared without saying anything. Didn't answer my calls, no one had any answers about what was going on. So I took my father's jet and came to resolve this situation and I don't leave here without an answer at least.”

In the same way I laugh at Noah, I laugh at her, thinking it will fix everything. Leah carries the same expression as her brother, neutral, mocking.

“Why did you break up with Luke?” she asks quietly.

The mention of his name makes me shiver. I notice how my stomach turns and try to ignore it. I wonder if I can subtly extract some information from his state, but I don't want her to think I still care about him.

"Cause I wasn't in the mood anymore." I shrug, walking through space.

“My God, you've actually lied better.” I glare at her. “You know you're in trouble here, I know you better than anyone. I know you are lying and that you are going through some difficult situation. I even have my theories. So you're going to have to work a lot harder to trick me or get me out of here.” she cracks a smile, feeling victorious.

"Oh do you have? What are your theories?” I mock her.

“The first is that you really freaked out with amnesia and you can't handle it. The second is that you can't handle your feelings about Luke, it happened once before. And the third is that someone put some shit in your head and made you believe that everything would be better if you were out of the way.” I feel her gaze burning into me, looking for any reaction.

I let out a laugh, not forced, nervous that she got it right. Leah raises an eyebrow.

“You really traveled on your theories. Sorry, none are right.”

As if by magic, the answer appears to me. The only way I was going to get rid of everyone and go through with the plan without a hitch was to make her hate me. Make everyone hate me, just like I did Luke.

Just considering their hate for me makes my heart ache. But I need to do this. For Luke. For the boys. It's for their success.

“You know, a few months ago you were asked to be in a movie and you didn't take it cause you said you were a terrible actress. Isn't that right?” she gets up again. “Noah told me you said you were doing this for Luke, because you loved him. Marnie, what are you trying to hide?” she comes closer.

I feel dirty because of the attitude I'm going to take. It's low, very low, but I need her to hate me.

"Look who talks about hiding." I give a cynical laugh. Leah looks at me confused. "Don't you have anything to tell too?" she still doesn't understand. “You and Kyleen?”

Hastings freezes. The bitter taste of my act starts to fill my mouth. I’m sorry, Leah. I’m so sorry.

“How do you know?” she takes a step back.

"Who do you think closed the bathroom door on Ash's birthday?" I raise my eyebrows.

“Is not the same thing.”

“It isn’t? Aren't you hiding something from all of us?” I force a smile like hers a few minutes ago.

“No! Cause I'm not pushing everyone away, I'm not telling lies. And if you asked me, I would tell you the truth. Deep down, you know why I didn't say anything. You know my dad hasn't accepted Noah yet, that this is a problem in our family, and you know he wouldn't accept me either. You know that deep down I'm trying to protect both of us.”

“Oh! Do I?” I debauchery more. Right now, I feel horrible when I see your eyes water. I'm so, so sorry.

“I know what you're trying to do and I'm not going to stage it.” she walks past me to the door.

"Didn't you want to talk? I am talking.” Leah turns to me, straining the knife I carried in my chest, letting me see her crying face.

“You're trying to make me hate you.” now I'm the one who freezes. She laughs. “See how I know you? You are very predictable, Marnie. And as much as I know of your intention, I will not allow you to reach your goal. I hope that one day, not too far away, you realize what a big shit you're doing.” she opens the door, going. “Oh, and before I forget, since it's meant to hurt. Congrats, since your little chat with Luke, he's been locked in his room, needing Michael to keep an eye on him.” so Leah slams the door and strikes the final blow.

I bite the inside of my mouth, letting the tears fall. Honestly, I didn't even have the strength to hold back anymore. The rage burning inside me gives way to pain. I imagine Luke locked in his room, lying on the bed, hating me. Hating what we had and what we thought we had.

I walk over to my suitcase, pulling out a package, with the photos I'd taken from the box and the little white box he'd given me. I open it, holding the necklace with his name on it, the one he gave me.

Even knowing what I had to do, I wouldn't get rid of this necklace, I don't have the courage. It was easier to buy an equal one and put it in his hand. What he did to me would be kept with me forever.

““Closed eyes.” he fights.

"I have my eyes closed." I rebate. “Lucas…” I chide him, when I feel his lips on the back of my neck.

“Sorry, I got distracted.” I hold back the urge to laugh. “Closed eyes.”

"If you say it one more time, you'll get hit." I threat.

"How, if you can't see me?" right now, the urge to hit him is so strong that I follow the sound of his voice, trying to kick him. “Hey! No rudeness, otherwise you'll be left without a gift.” the false authoritative tone makes me angrier. “Good girl!”

“Go!” I kicked.

I'm startled by the icy touch against my neck. It's a necklace. Eagerly, I touch the pendant, recognizing the shape. He didn't do it.

“You can open it.” his hands move to my hips, hugging me.

With my eyes open, I run my vision to my neck, finding there a necklace just like his but blue.

“Happy Birthday!” he drops a kiss on my cheek.

I hold the blue quartz, seeing Luke's name engraved on the back. I let a stupid smile spread across my face, glaring at my boyfriend with the same.

"Want to explain why we're wearing practically identical necklaces?"

“It's a little obvious. Couples wear rings and I know what a problem you have with rings.”

“It’s not a problem.” I try to defend myself.

“It's just Alzheimer's. You know, in some people, it starts before they're 70 years old.” I hit him, and he laughs, before he hugs me. "Like I was saying, I know you're not into wearing a ring, so since I already had my necklace, I thought you'd have yours. That way we'll always be close to each other's hearts.” I rest my hands on his shoulders, standing on tiptoes.

"Have I told you I love you today?" I whisper, moving closer.

“Not after 5 pm.” he pouted, looking at the clock on the wall.

I don't know how I managed to kiss him with such a stupid smile on my face.

“Why do I like you, huh?” I question, stealing a little kiss.

“Because I'm cheesy and romantic. And even if you deny it, I know you get attached to it.” he opens a victorious smile.

"Don't ever say 'get attached' again." I beg laughing.

"What is it, bae? That was awesome.” he laughs.

“No!” I scream, laughing.

"What is it, babe girl? Don't you stick to my way of get in?” he keeps teasing me.

I place my lips on yours, determined to shut your mouth and thank you that it works. My mental reminder of “we're late for dinner” evaporates when his hands reach under my shirt. I scratch the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

“We're late for dinner.” he says against my mouth as I start to unbutton his shirt.

“Just say the traffic was like hell.” I suggest kissing his neck.

Luke accepts the idea, picking me up and walking me back to the bedroom."

It's not hard to know that we were late for dinner that day. But I didn't care, I had been given a necklace with his name on it, a necklace that showed how our relationship was getting more and more serious.

I also realize that the two times I got this necklace, at least once I ended up in bed with him. In fact, in both, but only one made it to the end.

“I hate myself.” I say tiredly, going to the minibar to get anything containing alcohol that makes me forget everything.

I call the front desk for two bottles of champagne and the biggest snack they have. I pick up the small whiskey bottles, turning one after the other, as if they were shot. I shake my head, wanting the effect to start faster.

“I hate myself. Leah hates me. Kiki must hate me now too. Just like Noah and everyone else there. Everybody hates me.” I turn the last one over, shaking my head once more. “Luke hates me. Hates me too much.” I comment, hugging the pillow.

I pick up a Polaroid of ours, staring at our happiness marked there. What am I doing?

I throw my head in my hands, lost. I wonder what might happen if I crawl into bed and don't go out for the rest of the month. Probably more people will hate me, but who doesn't hate me now? I mean, just get in line.

Awakened from the thought, when someone knocks on the door. For a second, I wonder who it was, then remember I ordered room service. I walk to the door, feeling the weight of the six small bottles.

My stomach churns and I feel an overwhelming urge to vomit as I land my eyes on the redhead in front of me. Red-haired?

"Bethany?"

[mx-barnes]

Drowning

(Stronger than All Other Loves/S.A.O.L)

Bucky x Reader

Summary: Maybe not everyone is cut out for love. You have had a pretty shitty life. First, you are “gifted” to Hydra by the asshole you had been calling mom and dad for nearly 12 years. Then you get turned into one deadly assassin which put Steve Rogers newly made captain of the Howling Commando’s on your trail and when he finally finds you his government then put you on ice for 70 years plus. After that, you have a stint with Tony Stark the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist which leaves you heartbroken and unwilling to try love again until you bump into Bucky Barnes. Will you be able to let him in or will you try and stop this too?

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: mentions of suicide/death, almost drowning to death, heartbreak, mentions of HYDRA, neglectful parents, HYDRA using reader as a weapon, Steve being sent to capture reader and bring them to the government, reader being put on ice, Swearing, Tony kinda being an ass I guess, mentions of reader past relationship with Tony

A/n: Ok so this is a story I started writing on my Wattpad and I decided to transfer it over here too. This is just going to be a short short miniseries. Everything is planned (wow I actually planned something for once). If this series goes over well I have an idea for a prequel where it is Stucky x reader. I don't want to put time into it if you guys don't like this one. Likes and reblog welcome. Also I am working on pt. 2 for Time will Tell.

Masterlist Series Masterlist

Dying is a natural part of life. Whether it be accidental, old age, murder, or suicide, it is normal. Death is something we must all face. Some people face it every day. Every day when their soul is crushed and killed. Suppressing the feelings that they feel for someone because they can't truly express them.

A jolt upwards and a shout, "Y/N!" sending water sputtering out your lungs.

The crushing pain you once felt in your chest is gone. Not entirely, but mostly. The heartache that was there before is still there, but the pressure around your body has lifted. Making it easier to breathe.

"What's up?" smiling softly you look up into the eyes of the person who has just pulled you from the lake. The greenish-blue eyes looking down at you. The dirty blonde hair falling against his forehead is soaking wet. A suppressed smile emerges onto his face.

"Well you just about died-"

"Steve I didn't almost die your overreacting I'm fine." Bouncing a yellow orb of energy across your fingers you sit up. "See completely fine," you say as it flickers out.

"You almost drown Y/n. You are most certainly not fine. I'm taking you to see Bruce."

"Steveeeeeeeeeee-"

"No arguments."

Steve was overprotective, to say the least. You never understood why. He was never like this with the others. He cared about you obviously but it seemed fickle to think it was anything other than him not wanting to lose his best friend at least that's what he told you. He was a simple and kind man you saw no reason not to trust his word. He cared for you everyone bugged you but it didn't seem to bother you much. He was a great friend everyone else thought there was something more going on with you two, but it didn't matter he was a good friend. You wouldn't want to screw up a perfectly good friendship. You always seemed to fuck everything up.

Steve was the one who set you up with this job. Your parents had started noticing some silly little thing you did when you were younger (it was the 40s not many enhanced humans were around). Yellow spirals floating around your head small jolts of energy. They started really noticing it when you turned 12. That was when they shipped you off to HYDRA. You were poked and prodded at for about 2 years before Dr. Zola decided to weaponize you. So began the training. The training you had endured made it almost impossible for you to feel. At age 18 Captain America or Steve Rogers was sent on a solo mission to find you. For 5 years you evaded capture. When Steve finally found you he somehow saw a tenderness in your eyes that you let seep through. So despite everyone wanting to execute you, Steve petitioned for you to be put on ice. So you were put under. At age 25 you were stashed away and hidden. So no one would ever find you.

Nearly 70 years later you were found. Steve had been found 4 years earlier and started the search to find you. It took everything he had but he had finally found you in a remote location underground in Osborne, Kansas. Bruce had helped to nurse you back to what seemed to be normal for the first year but soon you and Tony began casually flirting it grew into casual dating till you two had been going out for nearly 2 years. As if Tony had gotten bored he broke it off with you. You had fallen pretty hard so it was heart-crushing when he broke it off with you.

"Y/n. Y/n you there? Hello Y/n." Bruce's voice cut through all thoughts of Tony and the pain he put you through.

"Sorry Bruce, what was that?" Holding back the tears that wanted to spill.

"We need to run some test on why the water affected your powers."

"I'm fine I don't need them. It probably has something to do with the fact that I almost drowned. I'll be fine. Look see my powers are back I just needed some rest." Producing a yellow orb of energy and passing it off to Bruce you hop off the table and head towards your room before he can say anything. You feel bad for giving him the cold shoulder but you weren't really in the mood to be poked and prodded with needles once again in your overextended life.

You walk into your room and close the door behind you. Flopping down on your bed you hear a knock at the door. "Y/n you in?" a familiar voice asks. That voice still fills you with comfort but it also tears you apart. Your hearts jumped at the chance to hear him say your name once again. Now there he was on the other side of the door waiting for you to open it. "Y/n come on we need to talk. We can't be distracted on missions and I want us to at least still be able to work together."

Getting up you wipe the tears from your eyes. You don't even remember when you let the tears slip but there you were wiping the tears away. Checking in the mirror beside your door you see if you are even a little presentable before you open the door. You are so you open it. Tony looking down at you with a sad smile on his face. "What do you want Stark?" there was an edge there clearly meaning don't bother you. You're not in the mood but as normal he didn't read the cue.

"Listen, you were distracted this mission, what's up?"

Shocked you look back at him. Wanting to slam the door in his face but you resisted. "What's up? What's up Tony? What about the fact that you broke up with me!" yelling now you continue "You broke up with me Tony. We dated for almost two years and all of a sudden no warning whatsoever we break up. What did I do to make you unhappy? You know what don't answer that. I don't want to know. You don't deserve a second more of my time. So yeah we're cool. I am sorry I fucked up on the mission. Did you even remember it would've been our second anniversary today? I bet you didn't because I always had to remind you. So I am sorry for being distracted and I'm sorry that I almost died today. That's on me. It's on me for falling for you. It's on me that I love you. It's on me that I haven't moved on yet so just leave me the hell alone." You slammed the door in his face before he can get a word out.

Turning around and placing your back to the door you sink to the floor and sob. You know the entire tower probably heard your freak out but you didn't care. Everyone was convinced you two would get back together but it was officially over there was no hope for you two. Maybe that was ok you could grieve the loss of him and find someone new someone better.

Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path. -Anonymous

[meerkoetjes]

HELLO EVERYONE I’M BACK AGAIN WITH A TAG GAME. I got tagged by @delphiss tyy!! I intend to use this for evil.

1. Why did you choose your url?  Okay so actually my url originates from my wattpad days, when I wanted to rebrand at some point to something like ‘phoenix’ or whatever. Sadly all those names were taken so I went for firebirds instead. This was like 3 or 4 years ago, but when I got tired of my old url here about a year ago, conveniently enough firebirds was still free and here we are!

2. Any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them. Wouldn’t you like to know? But to answer part of this question, last August I made a sideblog to interact with a very very specific part of a fandom of something that got wiped out of existence in November (if you know you Know). I posted on there like 5 times tho so it was kinda pointless and I’ve deactivated it. On the other hand I’ve been thinking about making a sideblog dedicated to my favourite DC character but who knows if I ever will tbh.

3. How long have you been on tumblr? According to @memories I signed up exactly at 08/11/2016 1:53:00. I have no idea if this means I signed up in August or November tho

4. Do you have a queue tag? Ha no, everything you see on my blog is an immediate response to my monkey brain liking things. 

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? I always saw tumblr posts on instagram so I decided to come here myself.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? I love birds and also I was watching She-ra at the time I went about changing my whole theme so I thought that would be fun. In case anyone wants to know specifically, this is the ‘THE BOYS ARE IN TROUBLE, A SEAGULL TOLD ME’ seagull by the way.

7. Why did you choose your header? I wanted a wack header to go with my new eyesore theme so I edited it myself to achieve that (and it shows lmao)

8. What’s your post with the most notes? Uhh probably this one.

9. How many mutuals do you have? 11 apparently

10. How many followers do you have? 104 (but most of them are bots)

11. How many people do you follow? 181

12. Have you ever made a shitpost? Yea

13. How often do you use tumblr each day? I did a quick calculation based on the past week’s stats and apparently on average about 2 hours a day. I honestly thought it’d be worse tho so take that as you will

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won? If we’re limiting this to tumblr no. If we’re extending this to like instagram however,, 

15. How do u feel about "u need to reblog this" posts? Depends on the topic tbh. If it’s a serious thing that needs attention I’ll do it (but I would have done it anyways). However if it’s one of those ‘reblog this or your crush will fall in love with someone else (of course they’re usually much worse but I don’t want to accidentally trigger anyone’s anxiety by using those)’ I just go ‘nah’ and move on. 

16. Do you like tag games? Sure! I just never know who to tag and also I have this problem called oversharing which means my answers are always way too long lmao

17. Do you like ask games? ^^

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? Easily Crow!! He deserves it tho, they’re a genuinely funny person with great opinions. Also if you see this and don’t already follow his artblog @ghost-faerie-art go do it now!! And idk if Gaya is as much tumblr famous but I see it a lot in other people’s askboxes so I think that would count for something? 

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? Okay first of all most of my mutuals are minors and I’m decidedly not one, so abso-fucking-lutely not, that would be very Bad. But besides that I’m also aroace so y’know

On to my tags! I’m tagging my beloved mutuals @fluidhoneycomb @batman-is-build-like-a-cat @bi-felicia-hardy and @autistic-damian-wayne (Crow I left the chaos kids for u)! 

Also, if you’re still wondering how I will use this for evil, I know some of y’all have ConnectionsTM so like if anybody feels particularly called to use those and shake up the DC fandom with another round of tag games that would bring me great joy actually <3 

(Don’t feel obliged to do anything of this tho)

[segafan37]

Shadamy Snippets: Pain, Pain, Go Away

[Amy's POV]

Wet. Cold. I'm wet and cold.

My teeth chattered, and my body shook from the freezing temperatures that seemed to only surround me. Despite my body's protests, I quickened my pace. The ominous sound of heel meeting tile echoed behind me, but I shook the fear away and kept moving.

I can't look back. I can't face it now. My only mission was to get to warmth... And far. Away. From her.

I slammed the door unintentionally, but I didn't care much. Leaning my back against the door, I sighed a breath of relief.

"What a day." I moaned.

I dully looked about my apartment, then eyed my reflection being displayed from the mirror at the end of the hall. My hair, clothes, face, and body were drenched. My schoolbag, which I just registered was being smothered under my grip, was just as wet. I relaxed my hand and took a peek inside it. Thankfully, its contents were dry.

I sighed, with another moan.

"I am never going to listen to the morning forecast, again!"

I slouched to the floor as the events leading up to my unfortunate state kept playing over and over in my mind.

~ FLASHBACK ~

After chatting it up with Shadow, I had decided to take the bus home. A light rain had begun to fall when I had entered the bus. I didn't think much of it though. I just took a seat next to a window and watched the rain descend.

As I sat further into my seat, a foul smell reached my nose. My face turned up, and I quickly covered it, not at all being discreet. I tried to search for the source of the stench and soon realized it was coming from the purple fabric that covered my chair!

I turned in my seat to study the fabric closer and saw a large outline of an old stain. I cringed. I had a good sniffer and accidentally got a whiff of it too.

It smelled like a mixture of rotten tuna fish and BO. EW!! I was horrified. More trauma occurred when I realized the ends of my hair had just rested on that spot.

Quickly, I collected my belongings and went to take a seat on the other side of the bus. I wrapped my hair up into a tight bun and gazed at my old seat. I shuddered in disgust.

I can't wait to get my own vehicle!

The rain turned into a heavy downpour, as I settled into my new quarters. My stop was three blocks away from my apartment. I had no umbrella or jacket, and I knew if I didn't hustle, I would be soaked to the bone. Once the bus came to my stop, I moved as fast as my legs would allow, but it wasn't enough to prevent my current state.

Since our elevator stopped working, I had to use the stairwell and walk up the many flights to my apartment floor. I shivered and grumbled all the way there, only stopping to give a gloomy "Hey" or an occasional "Hi" to passersbys.

My attitude quickly changed when I felt her presence. I kept myself at a steady pace, not daring to look down at the person a few flights behind me.

I could feel her eyes piercing into me and sending all kinds of negative emotions. I was relieved when I reached my floor and my apartment, which laid at the end of the hall. When I was just entering my home, I could hear the stairwell door opening.

~ END OF FLASHBACK ~

"Well, at least she can't hurt me in here." I resolved.

Wow. That was pathetic, but I didn't care. It was the only thing that was keeping me happy.

I clenched my teeth, trying to control my chattering. I still hadn't gotten warm yet. I wondered what would be the fastest way for me to get warm. I hugged myself and looked about my home as if the answer was hidden amongst my belongings.

Maybe I should make some tea and stand by the fireplace? On second thought, a mocha sounds better! But hot chocolate is faster... Or perhaps I should take a shower?

A faint sound of a door slamming a few apartments down came to my ears. From where I crouched, I could hear yelling. It was hard to make out, but I could just interpret some of their conversation.

"That's it! I want that woman out of this apartment!"

"Martha, what's wrong!?"

"I've had it with her, John! I'm calling Jasmine. She needs to go!"

I leaned the back of my head against my door and groaned, gazing up at the ceiling.

Seriously! Now, she's trying to get her cousin to throw me out!? How could she do this to me! Wasn't her tongue lashing enough!?

I closed my eyes, as the balls of my fists tightened. I wanted a memory wipe; to forget everything that had happened, but I couldn't stop thinking about that horrible woman!

I sighed. How could a day so good, turn so wrong!?

An unpleasant smell reached my nose, and I realized that it was coming from me.

Yeah, I'll go for the shower.

With a huff, I slipped off my boots and socks, leaving them at the entrance with my schoolbag, and headed towards my bedroom.

Water dripped off my face and clothes, as I stumbled through my bedroom door. My once tight bun was now lop-sided and unraveling, and a mixture of rain, sweat, and stinky feet fumed from my body. I was a complete mess! I moaned again.

My conscious noted that I was doing a lot of that lately, to which I replied with an eye roll and another moan.

Do you really think that doing that will help you? My conscious questioned. If anything, you should go talk to her and get some closure instead of moaning and -

"Fine! Alright, already!" I conceded, silencing my little voice, and walked away into my bathroom. "I'll talk with her. But later."

I turned on the shower, and heated vapors soon filled the room. Steam engulfed me, as warm droplets washed away my pain. I closed my eyes and inhaled the warm steam, as my mind slowly brought me back.

I could see myself standing on the stage greeted by a roaring applause. My friends' whoops and cheers above them all! The initial shock I had, when my friends told me of the live-stream video they did, and the crazy comments towards Sonic. There was also my chance encounter with Shadow and the lovely chat we had! He actually gave me a lot to think about...

I even had a peaceful moment on the bus listening to the rain, before I discovered the stench. A chuckle escaped my lips. That was kind of funny now that I think about it.

I opened my eyes, still daydreaming. The shower water reminded me of the raindrops that trailed down my passenger window. I could just hear them, beating against the roof of the bus.

I didn't mind the rain. Some people thought of it as a bad thing or a nuisance, but I liked it... if I didn't get caught in it.

These were good memories. The right ones to think about. Everything was perfect! Then the heavy downpour came and her along with it.

I thought of how she approached me. Her face showed nothing but self-righteousness and reproach, and her eyes were full of hatred towards me. But for what! I never did anything to her, except exist! She thinks I'm the villain in this story, but I'm not!

Our conversation was short, but her words pierced like a knife!

To think my husband and I thought you were a decent young lady! We trusted you, brought you into our home, fed you! Thinking that we were being hospitable to a sweet young lady. All the while, we were being tricked by your pretty little face!.. and sadly, your little plan worked. But we see you for who you are now... a cunning, deceitful, little temptress!

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Excerpt from Shadamy fanfic “12 Years Later: A New Dawn”. YOu can read the rest of this chapter and more on Wattpad, DeviantArt, Quotev, or Webnovel.

[coreastories]

Greetings From the Winter Palace

FEB 12

Following the subdued elegance of the Corean Awards, we’ve seen and heard precious little of Her Majesty.

His Majesty the King’s office has also been quiet, although the king’s statements continue in the news. 

The palace website now has a static banner that the queen and the baby are well.

And then glorious day! The exclusive telecast message of Their Majesties’ holiday greetings. 

This is a late report about those messages, because unlike certain monarchies with territories across the world, Corea is a small (but wealthy) kingdom, and as such, the messages from their king and queen remain local. 

We were only allowed to publish certain photos. For complete disclosure, this author did scream in the powder room again, like usual, when confronted with these beautiful royals. 

Greetings came from the Winter Palace both for Christmas and the solar new year, and the Lunar New Year, Seollal, which has more significance for Coreans.

December 31st was rather mind-blowing. Previous holidays saw the king make his greeting from the throne room or the Audience Hall. 

But now Coreans would remember this beige couch forever. 

The King and Queen delivered their speech without fuss and without pomp, just two people so happy and also wishing their people the same happiness. 

Unlike Chuseok and Seollal, Christmas and New Year didn’t come with the usual formal greeting from the king and queen in their royal regalia. 

This one was sweet and very modern. It was published exclusively on the palace website with the very simple, “Have a happy Christmas and new year. We wish you joy and health.” 

This just whets our appetite and excitement for the family photos we’d get once these modern royals have children. 

And then just to mess with us, there was also this photo, venturing past sweet and into sizzling hot, which you wouldn’t get from any of the European royals in their stodgy suits and dresses. 

Whether this was a mistake, calculated or not, remains a hot speculation to this day. This photo disappeared from the website about an hour after it went up. 

We have sanction from the Royal Public Affairs Office to publish it here. But we would delete it if they change their minds, so save this photo if you haven’t yet! 

For Seollal, the king and queen published this intimate photo from Gyeoulgungjeon alongside their formal greeting in the royal regalia. Also exclusively posted on the website. 

Winter Palace tidbits

The people of Pyeongchang, particularly Gyeoulchon (literally “winter village”), the village adjacent to the palace, adore the queen. 

We’ve had reports that Their Majesties had excursions to the village, but if smartphones ended up capturing photos and videos, the villagers are being very possessive about them.

I suppose I’ll just have to visit to see any photos. Probably framed, I’m certain! 

We’ve heard talk of the king going to a public sauna. Now THIS is a crime for being undocumented in photographs, although I understand Corea’s men just sweat through their shirts instead of taking them off. 

I wonder if it was connected to the king being spotted several times running around the winter palace? Why? Photo below! 

We’ve also heard talk of the queen and several ladies having a moonlight sleigh ride. Why do these things happen when I’m not there? 

This time, the armed forces of Corea didn’t deploy (like they did when the queen was lost in Seoul-- see our report here) but light flooded the palace and Gyeoulchon, and the Air Forces have been called to assist. 

Introducing Soryeong (Major) Kim Jeong-han, who’s in charge of the ground combat force and military police under the Corean Air Force securing Their Majesties. 

In this photo, holding the gold plaque from Corean Century Awards for Excellence in the Armed Forces, which he received in 2019. 

We did get several delicious photos! Some from the villages, and some from the Royal Public Affairs Office. 

Go here for our report on the queen’s accident in November, which led to a shakeup in Corean laws and an old family going into exile. 

From the Royal Public Affairs Office: Her Majesty being shown Pyeongchang’s wildlife monitoring and preservation statistics for the winter.  

From an unverified source, circulating online: The queen spotted in Gyeoulchon

From an unverified source, circulating online: The photographer is apparently enamored of the queen’s face. I am, too. She’s flawless. 

On that note, while the villagers are keeping their royal photos to themselves, they did post about chatting with the queen. She asked about their children, their work, and they’ve asked her about her skincare. 

YES! Thank you, Gyeoulchon! 

Reports have been consistent that the queen’s answer to questions like this was washing her face with soap and applying moisturizer and sunblock. She also drinks a lot of water. 

I would love to get my hands on the queen’s dresser for a more specific dish on what the queen uses. Her Majesty’s soap is probably not like what we mere mortals know as soap. We have heard rumors of the organic, palace-milled soaps, formulated by the Lady Hae Soo, harking back to the reign of Gwangjong of Goryeo. 

Speaking of kings… here’s His Majesty looking very… well, fit, demonstrating the benefits of a fitness regimen. 

Ajhummas have told me that there’s a very archaic tradition of giving your wife your sweaty shirt to give her strength for her labor. 

Well, the king always looks like he smells good, even in this sweaty photo. And as someone who has reported on events attended by the royals, this author can honestly report he does smell good. 

And I think this is as good a place as any to end these tidbits. More to come soon! 

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

CoreaNews is back. Posting all the pent up posts. So sorry for being inactive. Hello, new followers! I’m more active on Twitter @CoreaStories, but also not much. I’m so awful with social. But I do reply there (takes me some time), and I’m still writing. I will finish these. Everything is outlined. Work just bit me in posterior hard. :) Check on CoreaStories on AO3 and Wattpad too. 

With very fond thanks to @di-elle​ for the image edits. 

Bonus points for everyone spotting the references to other K-dramas I've watched since I last updated. :) 

[heyyyharry]

Chapter 12: Closure

(from the My Girl Trilogy: Stay Mine)

…in which they’re the most happy they’ve ever been.

Warning: smut

Word count: 5.1k

AU: actor!Harry, older!Harry, younger!Y/N, (4-year age gap).

Wattpad link (Thea as Y/N)

There are three chapters left :)

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This felt like a dream. He’d awoken beside her so many times before but it wasn’t until this morning that it felt official. He lay on his side with an arm folded under his head, taking in her sleeping face. She looked so beautiful and serene, just staring at her alone gave him butterflies in his stomach. He thought he was too old to feel this way; butterflies sounded so juvenile, but he was way past feeling embarrassed about it.

As if she could read his mind, her mouth gave a subtle twitch, and he could tell she was awake.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Her eyelids fluttered as she blinked lazily at him. “I love it when you pull an Edward Cullen.”

Her voice was hoarse from last night, the memories of which made his hard cock jerk slightly. He stroked her naked side and dragged her closer. She nuzzled his neck as he kissed her forehead.

“You’re so warm,” she said. “And hard.”

He let out a small gasp as her cold fingers closed around his cock. All it took was her touch and Harry was a goner. Sex had been added to their morning routine a long time ago, but the idea of them getting to do this more often now that she lived here made it all more exciting.

They made love, and she’d come twice before he carried her to the shower so she could wash up and wouldn’t be late for work.

“There’s no need to rush,” she reassured him while he was washing her hair. “I’m buying us some more time together. I’m sure Eddie doesn’t miss me, but I’ll surely miss you.”

The beam on her face made his heart leap. He grinned, massaging her scalp while holding her gaze. “Look at you. We’ve only lived together for one day and you’ve already become clingy.”

She nodded and spread the soap across his chest. “By next week, I’ll be crying and hugging your legs when you leave for work. Don’t say I haven’t warned ya.”

He laughed and playfully bumped his forehead against hers. “Come on, Princess. Let’s get you cleaned and I’ll drive you to work.”

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Eddie was over the moon to see Harry again. He literally pushed right past Y/N before she could say hello and tugged Harry into a hug. Harry hesitantly patted Eddie on the back, eyeing Y/N questioningly. She could only answer with a shrug while trying not to laugh at Eddie’s fangirling moment.

“Congratulations on your Oscar nomination!” Eddie pulled back, gripping Harry’s arms and grinning from ear to ear. “It’s just two weeks away! Are you excited? What are you gonna wear? Oooh, how are you gonna style your hair?”

“Jesus, let the man breathe, Ed.” Alice emerged from behind one of the shelves and ambled toward them, her burgundy lips arched at Harry. “I’m so sure you’re gonna win. You’re the best actor of our generation.”

“You’ve never watched any movie the other actors were in.” Eddie’s remark earned him a warning glare from Alice.

Harry laughed and waved her compliment away. “Don’t hype me up. It’ll just make me cry harder when I lose.”

“Don’t say that!” cried Alice.

Eddie turned to Y/N, his eyes gleaming. “Are you gonna attend the Oscars?”

“Of course!” She tousled Harry’s hair and smiled widely. “I cannot miss a chance to see Harry cry in public.”

“Jesus, be optimistic, you two!” Alice yelled, and Y/N responded with a shrug, pursing her lips.

“Lose or win, I’ll cry anyway,” Harry interjected.

“See?” Y/N pinched his chin and tiptoed to kiss his temple. “Only I get him the most.”

“Disgusting,” Alice jokingly coughed as she rolled her eyes and told them she’d have to finish sorting the new arrivals. Eddie seemed relieved that Alice was gone; he was desperate to have Harry’s attention again.

“So.” A smile crept up to his face. “Have you written your acceptance speech yet? Or do you have someone write it for you?”

Y/N snapped her head up to look at Harry with her eyes wide. “I haven’t heard you mentioned your speech.”

“Don’t need one.” He shrugged and draped an arm around her neck. “It’s not like I’m gonna win.”

“Are you joking?!”

“Y/N’s right!” Eddie looked overly distressed. “You can’t possibly think you’re not gonna win.”

Harry pursed his lips and let out a sigh. “This is my first nomination ever. And have you seen the people I’m up against? I’m just happy I got nominated, really.”

“Baby.”

“Yes, baby?”

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows as she crossed her arms. “No, I’m calling you a baby. I’m insulting you.” The way she scrunched up her face cracked him right up. “I’m not joking! You have to take this seriously. What does Jeff have to say about this?”

“Up to you.”

“What?”

“He said, ‘Up to you.’” Harry chuckled. “So I guess it’s up to me.”

She scowled at him. “We’re so having this conversation tonight.”

“Uh-oh, is this where I regret asking you to move in with me?”

“You two are living together?” Eddie brightened, but then Y/N pressed her whole palm to his face and gently pushed him aside. If Harry didn’t know them, he might think she was the owner of this shop and Eddie was working for her.

“Have a good day, Eddie,” Harry told the lad and pressed a kiss to Y/N’s pouty lips. “I’ll pick you up tonight?”

Her expression softened with a beam. “I’ll stop by my place to collect some stuff. Once I’m done, I’ll call you.”

“All right.”

“Harry?” He turned, both eyebrows raised as she walked up to him and grabbed his face with both hands. He bit his lips to stifle a laugh since she looked so ridiculously serious. “Write that goddamn speech.”

“I’ll think about it,” he gleefully told her and ruffled her hair before heading out.

As soon as he got back to his car, his phone buzzed aggressively inside his pocket and he didn’t even have to check to know who was calling.

Gemma.

He considered her name for a long moment until he felt someone watching and spotted a random girl standing across the street, pointing her phone at him. This was why he hated showing his face in public. He waved politely at her and watched her squeal and run back to her group of friends. Hurriedly, he got into his car and drove off, crossing another crossroads before pulling over to answer his phone.

Gemma seemed determined to talk to him. He heaved a sigh as his thumb lingered above the screen, his eyes rolled skyward. Last night, he’d promised Y/N that he would give Gemma and Isaac a chance to properly apologize and explain themselves; he couldn’t back away now.

He slid his thumb across the screen and answered. “Hello?”

“Can we talk, please?” Gemma asked, sounding nervous and uncertain. “All three of us. You, me, and Isaac.”

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Okay. Where do we meet?”

“The coffee shop by your house?”

“All right. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“Thank you.”

Harry only hummed as he didn’t know how to respond to that. He hoped he could manage to keep his composure when he saw the two of them together.

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Gemma couldn’t recall the days when her family, all four of them, were happy together. She couldn’t recall how her parents had grown to hate each other. She didn’t even know what had been their first serious fight from which everything had fallen to pieces. When she’d been a little girl, her parents would always send her to her room before they’d started a fight. She’d thought they hadn’t wanted her to be scared. Now that she was older, she knew they had sent her to her room so she wouldn’t overhear something that would ruin her childhood. Somehow she was thankful for that.

However, one night, she had sat in the shadow of the stairwell, peering through the bannisters and eavesdropping them arguing in the kitchen. She’d heard something about a woman named Aleigh, or Alex, or Ally, and had assumed it’d been someone her parents had known from work. That woman turned out to be Emilia’s mother. Even back then, when Gemma hadn’t known who that woman was, she could already tell that that woman had been the reason for her parents’ endless fights, and she had resented the woman she’d never met before. She guessed she’d been right after all. Twenty years had gone by and that woman was still the reason for Gemma’s and Harry’s misery.

When Gemma had told Harry that Emilia’s mother was still alive and Emilia and Winton had been using him all this time, he’d been so calm it’d frightened Gemma. After much thinking, it’d occurred to her that maybe he’d known all along, not really known, but he’d felt something wrong and decided to overlook it all so he could live in the fantasy where Winton was good and misunderstood.

“I’m going to see him.”

“What?” Harry almost spilt the drink in his hand as he flinched. “Why? Gemma, this is—”

“I’m just gonna say a few words and then leave.”

Harry’s gaze jumped to Isaac. “Did you know about this?”

“Yes,” Isaac said.

“And you also agree she should go see the man who’s fucked us both over.” It wasn’t a question and Harry sounded genuinely pissed as he ruffled his hair and exhaled sharply. “Look, you don’t have to do this for me, Gem,” he told her. “The things I gave them, just...let’s just think of those things as an act of kindness. Just cut them out of our lives and get on with it. They don’t deserve that much of our headspace—”

“I want closure, Harry,” she blurted. “It’s easy to just cut people off but they’ll never really leave you alone until you have the final words.”

“You already wrote him a letter.”

“How do I know he’s read it? Besides, that was before I knew about the shady things he did with his new daughter.” She tried not to sound bitter, but from the look Isaac and Harry were giving her, she guessed it hadn’t worked.

“Okay, then I’d go with you,” Harry said.

“No way,” she scoffed.

Beside her, Isaac straightened. “Harry’s got a point. I can’t let you go alone.”

She whipped her head to him. “Winton’s not gonna hit me.”

All three of them froze. Harry mirrored her reaction with his eyes bugging out and his mouth hanging open. She couldn’t believe she’d said that.

“Gem,” Harry ventured, and her heart was thumping so loud it almost drowned out all the other noises. “You weren’t in a car accident the other night, were you?” She didn’t answer, but her unconsciously touching the bandage on her forehead had confirmed his guess. “That son of a bitch!” he half-shouted, receiving questioning stares from a few people around them.

“Winton didn’t—”

“Asher did that to you,” Harry asserted and then grabbed his phone. “I’ll call my lawyer right now.”

Gemma hadn’t got a chance to stop him when Isaac interjected, “Or we can just go to his house and beat the shit out of him.”

Harry slammed his phone down. “Great idea.”

“Stop! Both of you!” Gemma cried out and flung an apologetic glance at the couple sitting across the aisle, who were just trying to enjoy their breakfast in peace. She then turned back to Harry and Isaac, her arms folded, her fists clenched. “Just...let me handle this. I’m gonna handle this myself. I know you care about me but I’m not afraid of Asher. I mean, I was...but not anymore.” She shook her head to make the memories of that night vanish. “He’s gonna pay for what he did, but I’m here to talk about Winton and you’re not going with me, Harry. I want to speak to him alone.”

Harry was quiet for a moment, but he didn’t seem too opposed to the idea anymore. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked at last, his forehead creased. “About Asher and about...you two.”

“It’s...it’s me.” Isaac cleared his throat, giving Gemma a sideways glance. “I didn’t want to let you know—”

She held up a hand to stop him. “Isaac, don’t. You don’t have to take the blame. It was me,” she told Harry. “I was too afraid that you’d judge me and–and you’d get mad at both of us.”

“I would’ve got mad anyway,” he breathed. “But I’m not gonna abandon you or think any worse of you. You’re my sister and I love you, Gem.”

“I cheated on my boyfriend—”

“Who abused you.”

It hurt to hear her brother say the word. If no one had addressed it, she could have just pretended it’d never happened. But it had. Her ex-boyfriend had abused her, and it was just another ugly reality she had to face.

“Still, I could’ve left,” she whispered, eyes on her half-empty cup of coffee.

Harry reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Gem, he wasn’t allowed to lay a finger on you no matter what you did.” She looked up and met his soft look. “I promise I won’t interfere,” he went on, “but can you promise me you will fuck up his life?”

She exhaled a laugh and nodded. “Promise.”

Harry leaned back into his chair, crossed his arms and considered Isaac. “What are your intentions with my sister?”

Gemma face-palmed herself as she felt Isaac squirm in his seat, apparently unsure if Harry was being serious or simply joking.

“I just want to make her happy, H,” he said. “If you don’t trust me, you can ask Y/N—”

“Just as I was about to forgive you!” Harry gasped dramatically, and Isaac let out a laugh. He exchanged looks with Gemma. Both were relieved to know that Harry wasn’t against them. “I’m glad that you two are happy,” Harry continued. “This is a bit weird but...I’ll get used to it.” Then he pinned Isaac with his glare. “If you break her heart, I will kick your ass.” To Gemma, he said, “And if you break his heart, I will tell mum.”

“Classic.” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “By the way, congratulations. Heard you moved in with Y/N.”

Harry’s eyes went round. “Who told you?”

“Y/N told Alice who told Niall who told me,” Isaac said.

Gemma folded her arms on the table, leaning forward. “Alice and Niall, huh?”

Harry waved off her speculations. “Niall would’ve told us.” Then he jolted with a start. “Well shit, maybe he wouldn’t.”

“The next time I see him, I’ll make him talk,” Isaac asserted. He and Harry fist-bumped, and Gemma couldn’t stop the smile on her face.

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Y/N knew she’d run into him. He always got home early on Monday night, and still, she’d hoped she wouldn’t get unlucky. When had luck ever been in her favour twice a day?

She was locking the door with one arm carrying a box full of books when a voice came up from behind, “Do you need a hand?” And she felt her stomach clench and sweat trickle down her temple.

She looked over her shoulder, forcing a smile. “It’s fine, I got it. Thank you.”

Blake stood there with his laptop bag slung over his shoulder, waiting for her to finish, waiting for the conversation she’d been running from. Last night, she’d told Harry to talk to Gemma and Isaac and get his thoughts across, so she couldn’t possibly go against her own advice and avoid Blake until he moved back to the States. She might never see him again once he’d left, but she would never stop pondering over the things she could have said but didn’t.

She squeezed her eyes shut and slowly turned, curses springing up in her head. She hoped he couldn’t see past her tight smile, and if he did, it didn’t show.

Blake’s gaze fell to the box she was holding as he raised an eyebrow. “So you’re finally moving in with Harry.”

“Yes,” she answered then quickly added, “It has nothing to do with–”

“Me.”

Her mouth clamped shut.

She’d known this encounter would be awkward, just not this awkward. Her first instinct was to look around frantically as if seeking a place to run and hide. Blake seemed to notice her weird behaviours. He shifted from one foot to the other, staring at them like he normally would every time he got nervous. Whenever she saw him do something like this, she would see the sixteen-year-old boy she’d fallen in love with, then she would remember what he’d done to Laura, to her, and the picture of that sixteen-year-old boy would fade to black.

She heaved a sigh, held his gaze and nodded her head at the stairs going up to the next floor. He automatically followed. He put down his laptop bag beside his leg, and she hugged the box to her chest awkwardly. They sat on the bottom stair side by side. Something about the mood reminded her of their last afternoon together in Holmes Chapel. Their first goodbye. For all she knew, this could be their last.

“How did you meet Laura?” she broke the silence and watched Blake fidget uneasily. It was comforting to know that they felt the same about this situation.

“Her ex-husband was my professor,” he confessed.

“Well, shit.”

Her mindless response made him chuckle. “Yeah...Shit.”

“Were you in love?” This time, he cast her a questioning glance. “With Laura?” she ventured.

“No, I don’t think so,” he admitted. “I was really attracted to her. I’ve got a thing for smart and powerful women.”

She pursed her lips and released a long breath. “I mean, if I went to Yale, I would probably have a thing for smart and powerful women, too.”

He chuckled and waved off her comment. “Nah, it’s not Yale. I just always have.”

She blinked at him. When he caught her stare, she averted her eyes and tucked a strand behind her ear. He didn’t need to explain himself. She knew he’d meant her – she’d been the first ‘smart and powerful’ woman he’d fallen for, which should have made her feel flattered, but all she felt was sadness for Laura. Y/N knew what it was like to be wholeheartedly in love with someone who only loved one small part of you.

“Your book is still getting published, right?” Blake changed the subject, or maybe he really cared. Either way, she was relieved.

“Yes. Maybe I’ll send you a copy when it comes out?”

A hopeful grin lit up his face. “That’d be so cool. Can you sign it first?”

“Sure.”

Silence ensued.

“I’m not sure if you know this,” Blake trailed off. “But you smile the brightest when you talk about books...and him.”

Y/N was taken aback. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Blake smiled as if to tell her he wasn’t expecting a response, and it wasn’t until then that she noticed he also smiled the brightest when he was with her, even if they were talking about another man, the one she loved.

“I’m sorry for everything,” he spoke when she didn’t. “I was so selfish. I said I was doing it for you, but I guess I was doing it for me, too. I thought it could help me get you back, but it was never up to me to decide.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled. That sounded so out of place, but she didn’t know what else to say to him.

“Can we still talk sometimes?” he asked and bumped his shoulder against hers. “When I’m over you, of course.”

She was so relieved to hear his playful tone again. “And when will that be?”

He pursed his lips, his dark brows furrowed. “Let’s hope it won’t be too long.”

She said nothing, but she also wished that for him, and for them.

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Gemma’s hands were shaking as she held the shoebox to her chest and knocked on the door. A voice from inside the flat told her to wait just a moment. She shivered as it was the first time in twenty years or so that she’d heard that voice again.

The door was unlocked, and she was standing in front of the man whose face had become a blur in her memories. He was much older now, still, something about him made her feel like time had never passed, and it’d been yesterday when she’d chased after his car, crying and begging him not to leave her behind. The only difference was, he was in a wheelchair now, and she no longer wanted him back.

“Can I come in?” she asked in a neutral tone despite the emotions in his eyes. She knew it wasn’t because he was happy to see her again after that many years. Winton was just shocked and scared to see her after what he and Emilia had done.

He had no choice but to invite her in. She took a seat on the couch in front of him, the shoebox on her lap. The first thing she set eyes on was the massive picture of him, Emilia and her mother. Gemma’s heart sank as she bit her lip and looked away immediately.

Winton asked her if she’d like some tea, and she refused. “I suppose your daughter has told you everything.”

He seemed startled by how straightforward she was. What did he expect, though? ‘Hello, how are you, Dad’? Never in a million years.

“I-I feel awful–” he started, but she wasn’t interested in hearing the rest.

“Save it,” she cut him off. “I have questions and I demand answers.”

“Yes, yes...of...of course,” he stammered, unable to look her in the eyes. “You deserve that.”

She almost said he was in no position to tell her what she deserved, but then she contained her anger and went straight to the point. “Were you cheating on Mum?”

His eyes grew big. When he received a stern look from her, he lowered his head and whispered, “Yes.”

She calmly nodded. “Did you leave us because that woman was pregnant with Emilia?”

“Yes.”

“Was there anything real about the stories you told Harry?” she went on, fisting the hem of her dress. “The trainers. The day of his football match.”

“I was at the game,” Winton blurted, still not looking at her. “B-Because your mother asked me to come. But I could only watch you from afar. I was too afraid that you wouldn’t want to meet me.”

Coward.

She sat up straighter. “And the shoes?”

This time, he took more than a second to answer. “They were Emilia’s.”

Arsehole.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I swear I’m a better father now. Just ask Emilia–”

“You’re an arsehole,” she raised her voice, causing him to jump in shock. “I don’t care how well you treat your new family, but you don’t make people and abandon them. Harry was only five years old when you left us. I fucking chased after your goddamn car and you didn’t even stop to tell me why you had to leave. You’re...you’re a fucking coward!” She schooled her face, trying her best to keep her voice clear and calm. “You’re a shitty person and you don’t deserve our forgiveness. I’m just here to see for myself how pathetic you’ve become. And do you know what the worst thing is?” Tears stung her eyes as her voice dropped, “I cannot feel the slightest amount of joy to see you like this.”

He stared at her with a pained look on his face. She fought back her tears and slammed the shoebox on the coffee table. “Here are your daughter’s shoes.” And took out some bills from her purse, put it on top of the box. “Hospital bills,” she said before he could ask. “Harry told me to tell you you don’t have to pay him back. Not every act of kindness requires something in return. It was what Mum has taught us.”

“Gemma–”

She stood up quickly and straightened her dress. “If you or your daughter ever bother us again, our lawyers will contact you. Good luck, Winton. You’re gonna need it.”

The front door swung open, and Emilia froze when she saw Gemma. Gemma didn’t pay her a second glance as she made her way to the front door as brushed past Emilia into the hallway. She didn’t look back. It felt like a ton of rocks had been lifted from her chest.

Now she could finally breathe, and move on.

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.

.

“What are those?”

Y/N descended the steps of the building and shoved the box into Harry’s arms, grinning. “Books. This is just a corner of my bookshelf, by the way.”

He laughed and put it into the car before turning back to wrap his arms around her. She buried her face into his chest as he kissed the top of her head. It felt nice to just be able to hold her like this after a long tiring day. He could do this on repeat for the rest of his life.

“Maybe I’ll build you your own library in my house,” he said as she pulled back. “Like in Beauty and the Beast.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “I never knew a Disney reference could turn me on so much.”

“It’s me actually. I turn you on.” He pinched her chin and pecked her on the lips. “By the way, I talked to Gemma and Isaac today.”

“I talked to Blake,” she said nonchalantly. “How did it go?”

“Good,” he said, brushing her hair out of her face as a wind blew right through them. She pressed her body against his own and he wrapped her in his coat, leaving only her head exposed. “Is it just me or is it really weird to see them together?”

“It’s not just you,” she giggled, arms tightened around his waist. “But Isaac’s a really great boyfriend so don’t you worry.”

“Shut up! I don’t need that reminder from you of all people.”

His reaction got her laughing. “I’m yours. I always have been.”

He already knew that, but hearing it from her made his heart flutter every time. “And I’m yours.” He kissed her nose. “I hope you told Blake that when you talked to him earlier.”

Her cheekbones lifted as the corners of her eyes crinkled. “Blake told me I only smiled the brightest when I talked about books and you. So I think he knows.”

“Good.” Harry shrugged. “Maybe he does deserve redemption.”

.

.

.

When they got home, she told him to take a shower first as she had some work she had to finish. He assumed it was just her Uni assignments so he didn’t ask.

As soon as he stepped out of the shower, he screamed and almost tripped when he saw her standing right in the bathroom, holding some papers. She looked extremely serious even though he was naked and dripping in front of her.

“Okay, I have a few options for you,” she said, handing him the pages with her scribbles all over them.

He wiped his hands with one of the towels on the rack and took the papers from her. “What are these?”

“Your potential acceptance speeches.” She clasped her hands behind her back, grinning from ear to ear. “I wrote them at work and polished them up while you were in the shower. I don’t know what mood you’d like to go for so…” She peered over his hands and pointed a finger to each page. “This one is ‘Men also cry’. This one...is ‘I’m better than all of you bitches.’ This one, my favourite, ‘I don’t deserve this but maybe I do but I don’t wanna sound like a conceited asshole’. And here–”

He didn’t let her finish and crashed his mouth against hers. Startled, she pushed him away with a hand on his chest. Her cheeks were flushed, and it wasn’t from the steam. “What did I say about kissing me while I’m talking?”

He shrugged, grabbed her by the hips and her first instinct was to wrap her legs around his waist as he pushed her against the tiled wall. She was kissing him back when she saw the speeches she’d written scattered on the wet floor, and she let out a gasp so loud and patted him frantically on the chest. “Wait, you haven’t read them!”

He refused to put her down, his kisses trailing along her throat. “I’m not gonna use them.”

“Why not?” She pouted but didn’t protest when he unbuttoned her dress and let it fall to his feet. She wasn’t wearing underwear underneath, and he wasted no time to suck a nipple into his mouth. She moaned softly, fingers dug into his shoulders.

“Because I’m gonna write my own speech,” he said into her neck, smirking when she grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged his head back so he’d look at her.

“Really?”

He nodded and pressed a chaste kiss to her cupid bow. “It’ll be for the best if I write it on my own.”

Her expression softened at once. “I trust you,” she said, brushing her thumb across his cheek. “When will I get to read it?”

“At the Oscars if we’re lucky.” He nudged her head back with his nose at her jaw and left open-mouthed kisses down her throat. She’d slid her hand between them, stroking his cock before guiding it to her entrance. She was so hot and wet and ready for him. His eyes squeezed shut as he laughed lowly into her skin. “Maybe I’d take you on the stage with me...and propose to you in front of the whole world.”

She gasped and eased down on his cock with a hand on his shoulder. Her eyelids fluttered and her voice was strained as she joked, “Don’t make me break up with you on live television, baby.”

He kissed her mouth again and thrust all the way in, making her drop her head back against the wall, panting heavily. “What a little brat,” he said through gritted teeth. “Normal people would find it romantic.”

“Have we ever been a normal couple?” she asked and bit his lip. “Now stop talking and fuck me.”

[horansqueen]

You & Me : chapter 48

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34 || CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39 || CHAPTER 40 || CHAPTER 41 || CHAPTER 42 || CHAPTER 43 || CHAPTER 44 || CHAPTER 45 || CHAPTER 46 || CHAPTER 47

NOTES:

-4.1k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

READ AM CONVERSATIONS AGAIN ON WATTPAD HERE

- notes: thank you for sticking up by me and this story! thank you for reading, commenting, reblogging... thank you also if you’re a silent reader, and I know there’s a few. I know this isnt over yet, and ill write a long thank you with the last chapter but i had to say it here. THANK YOU!

ALSO! this chapter has BOTH povs. so will the next 2 (and final) chapters!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS HERE

Chapter 48

NIALL

December 2018

I had no idea how many pints we had swallowed but clearly, when we got out of the restaurant, I felt a sensation of happiness invade me and I was not really sure why. Louis said something funny and I laughed as we started walking down the street and I replied something that had to do with his girlfriend. He pushed with the side of his body and I started laughing again. It was a good thing we decided to get out to sober up a bit and I felt my eyes flutter when a cool breeze his my face.

It felt so good to be close to Louis again. I couldn't pretend I was totally okay with the fact that he had sex with Olivia but I knew it was a bit stupid of me to hold that grudge. It had been months and it was different now. it was completely different. I was with her and we loved each other, and I was going to ask her to marry me. Soon. Very Very soon.

"I wish I was there to see Liv's face when you'll ask her to be your wife." Louis let out as I glanced at him.

He was smiling fondly and it made me realize he was happy for her. He was happy for both of us. Suddenly, I knew exactly why Olivia had picked him as a best friend. They were so similar in so many aspects and if they hadn't had sex before, I would have said they could have been siblings... twins, perhaps. Not physically, of course, but mentally and emotionally, they were almost exactly the same.

"Definitely, you won't." I chuckled, glancing at him again as I pushed my hands in my pockets.

"Oh, I know." he shrugged, his lips still curled. "I mean, when you two started talking again, she told me she was going to get married with Dylan anyway but I could hear it in her voice that it's not what she really wanted. I told her that she should get married with you instead."

My eyebrows raised and I turned to him as we stopped walking. I was surprised that Louis said that since I was very aware of how mad he was at me after I broke her heart. It had broken our friendship in a way I thought could never be mended back together, but here we were, laughing and having fun the way we used to. He was the first one I told about the ring and somehow, it made total sense.

"Really?" I asked, glancing at him. "I wouldn't have thought but, thank you, Tommo."

"Look, no offense mate, but I did it for her, not for you."

It hurt slightly but I just nodded and licked my lips. It didn't change the fact that he knew Olivia had feelings for me, and most likely thought we were meant to be, and that was enough for me. I couldn't expect our friendship to be exactly how it used to be. Too many things happened, and we both had changed, but I still enjoyed this night and the fact that I was getting my friend back.

We kept walking slowly in silence and after a while, I frowned. I knew where I was and it took me a few seconds to realize why this place felt so important. My heart jumped in my chest and I held my breath when I saw the sign of the bakery a bit farther in the street. It was not lighted up but I could easily read it anymore and I stopped right next to the door.

"You okay Niall?"

I ignored him and moved closer to the door, leaning my forehead against the window just to look inside. I couldn't see the place I had seen her for the first time in over a year, but I could clearly see the spot where I had been standing. A bunch of feelings invaded me, the same feelings that had invaded me back then, when my eyes had fallen on her, and I had to swallow hard, as if my heart was threatening to jump out of my throat.

"Uh-oh," Louis started low. "Looks like it's about to rain."

I blinked a few times, staring some more seconds inside the bakery, and suddenly, something seemed to hit me. I had no idea why I had waited for so many months, I didn't know what the fuck I was thinking. I should have told Olivia that I wanted to marry her, I should have asked her to be my wife back in april, when I bought that damn ring. I had been ready to spend my life with her since that day I saw her again at the bakery and there was no reason to wait again.

I felt raindrops hit the top of my head and wet my shirt, but I just breathed in deeply and turned around, my eyes roaming on the empty and dark street.

"Mate, are you okay?"

Once again, I ignored Louis and without thinking, I started running. I could hear him yelling my name a few times behind me but I didn't stop : I just kept on running as te rain started falling even harder, pouring over me like a shower. I felt my white shirt stick to my chest and the sound of how wet my socks were as I ran on the sidewalk. I didn't even stop when I arrived in front of my house but for some reason, Olivia opened the door just as I was walking up the stairs. She was only wearing a shirt and panties and the sight made me swallow hard.

"Niall? Are you okay?" she asked with a frown, taking a step out as I shook my head, panting loudly, my lips parted and my eyes stuck on her.

"No, no Olivia, I'm not okay." I just let out.

She took a step closer and even if she was still protected somehow from the rain, I could see a few raindrops on her forehead. She brought her hand to my chest and saw her body quiver as a shiver crossed it.

"What's wrong?"

I could hear worry in her voice and it made me realize that no one in the world has ever loved me the way she loved me. No one in the world loved me as much as she loved me. No one ever would, and I didn't want anyone else to anyway. The love she was giving me in every word, every touch, every gaze... that love couldn't be compared to anything else I ever had the chance to get.

"I don't want to wait anymore, Olivia... I've waited enough." I pointed out, making her frown slightly and shake her head.

"W-What?"

"There's no reason to wait anymore!" I let out in an excited tone as I felt every fiber of my body boiling. "It's useless to wait! I love you! I want to spend my life with you!"

Her lips curled and her traits softened. "Me too, Nee." she admitted in a low tone, tilting her head and licking her lips.

"No, Liv, you don't get it." I let out, shaking my head, my lips curling even more. "I know i'll spend my life with you, I won't pass next to this chance a second time. I know I'll never ruin this again, because this is the most important relationship I've ever had and you're the most important person in my life. I want to share everything with you.. Every good morning's and good night's, and every grocery shopping trips, and... and netflix nights, and cleaning days. I want to be with you, and take care of you, and love you the way you deserve to be loved. I want us to know that as long as we have each other, we'll be okay, because we will. I want to complete you because you complete me, Olivia. I realized a long time ago that I can't live with you!"

"Niall," she started, shaking her head and frowning slightly again. "What are you saying?"

I reached for her hands and squeezed them hard in mine. I was completely drenched by then, but I didn't give a fuck. The rain kept falling on my face, sliding down my cheeks to reach my neck and soak me even more. But I pushed that thought away as I let go of one of her hands to dive one of mine in my pocket. I played with the ring with the tip of my fingers for a few seconds, making sure the small diamond was on top, and finally took it out. I felt her tense in front of me but got on one knee anyway, squeezing one of her hands again as I felt nervousness invade me.

"I should have done this a long time ago. I bought this ring in april, and I have no idea why it took me so long to do this. I wanted to find the right words, the right time, the right way. I just didn't realize that there was no right time, words or way. Because every moment is right. I could have asked at any moment and it would have been the right moment because you're the right person.

"Oh my... god." she whispered before swallowing hard. "Niall..."

"Liv, will you marry me?"

She stared at me and finally took a step closer. I held my breath when I realize she was now under the rain as it fell roughly and quickly on her. Her hair stuck to her cheeks and she looked down in my eyes, blinking a few times.

"Are these tears or is it just the rain?" I just asked, making her chuckle and shake her head.

"I love you so much, Niall James Horan!" she let out loud enough so I would hear her over the sound of the rain hitting the cement. "Of course I'll marry you! I've wanted to marry you since I was 6 years old!"

A wave of relief washed over me and I chuckled nervously as my whole body seemed to throb. I got up slowly, still holding her hand, and looked down at her as my lips curled into a fond smile. I really should have done that before, but they said 'better late than never', right?

"I'm in love with you." I whispered, touching her fingers to find the right one before sliding the ring on it without every looking away from her eyes. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me, I want to be your wife so bad, I can't even tell you how happy this makes me."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. My eyes closed when I felt her lips against mine and suddenly, I realized that everything was perfect.

                                                      ---

OLIVIA

I kissed him deeply but slowly, feeling his wet shirt soak mine as he pulled me closer. I let the fingers of both my hands slip in his wet hair and pull on it gently, before two or three of my fingertips slid down to his nape, playing with the very bottom of his hair. It made him shiver against me and I whimpered low in his mouth.

"I'm so in love with you, Niall." I whispered, my lips still brushing against his.

My eyes fluttered open and I moved my hand a bit before moving my head back just to look at the ring on my finger. It seemed unreal and for half a second, I wondered if I was actually dreaming one of these very vivid and realistic dreams I had, sometimes. They used to happen so often after Niall broke up with me. Perhaps I was still just in one of those dreams where I'm happy and I get everything I've ever desired. The diamond shined a bit when I moved my hand because of the light from the living room and I felt myself tear up.

I stared at the only human I was ever in love with and swallowed hard. I focused on the locks of his hair sticking to his forehead and at how beautiful he looked. No one else had ever made me feel like he did, and the feelings inside me were so strong I started feeling them physically. Somehow, my hole body started throbbing and I felt my legs weaken at all the strong emotions reaching me.

I felt his palms press more on my back and bit my bottom lip before gripping the front of his shirt and pulling him inside roughly. My lips found his again and I kissed him a bit too hard, perhaps, pulling his shirt over his head before doing the same with mine so fast I almost tore it up. I felt his hands on my naked waist and realized I had been half naked the whole time.

His hands moved up on my chest and I felt his thumbs stop right under my breasts as we kissed. I wanted him so bad... I wanted him like it was our last time... or our very first time.

He pushed the door with one of his feet but it stayed half open as I undid his pants and pulled them down. We ended up laying on the floor in the lobby, his lips running all over me as fat as my hands traveled on his back, neck and in his hair. The moment he pushed himself inside me made my back arched and I moved my knees up, keeping my feet flat on the floor.

"I love you so much." he whispered, his lips pressing against my neck, near my jaw, before he pushed himself deeper inside me. "F-Fuck, you feel so good."

I tilted my chin up and closed my eyes, realizing that I could hear the rain pouring outside. From time to time, I even felt a few drops reach for my legs and it made me think that it was probably falling on Niall, too. I pushed my fingers in his back and my nails sunk in his skin as he thrust in and out of me slowly but deeply. I felt dizzy when an orgasm started building up in the pit of my stomach but I pressed my thighs on each side of him to hold him in place before moving on my elbows to kiss him harder.

I wanted to beg him not to move but I didn't have to. He stopped moving over me only to focus on the way he was kissing me, and I could feel my heart beat so hard and fast that I felt like I was about to cum anyway.

"Mm, Olivia, you're gonna be my wife yea?" he mumbled as we kissed. "I should have asked before but I was so scared you'd say no."

I felt my heart jump and twist in my chest at his confession and shut my eyes tighter. "I would have said 'yes' Niall." I whispered. "There's not a single moment you could have asked in this lifetime when my answer would have been 'no."

He stopped kissing me for a few seconds and finally rolled us around. I held my breath, a bit surprised, but ended up staddling him as his hands ran on my thighs gently. My lips were still very close to his and my hair was falling around us, hiding our faces like a curtain.

"I can't wait to be your wife, Niall."

His lips curled slightly in a fond smile. "I can't wait to cherish you, love you, and support you for the rest of my life." he added in a murmur. "Now ride me, petal."

My lips curled more and I chuckled before sitting up.I started riding him gently, staring down at him and biting my bottom lip. I could still see a few locks of his hair stuck on his forehead and the sight of him naked under me made my whole body quiver.

"This is what I want to see every single day for the rest of my life." he admitted in a whisper, letting one of his hands slide up until my breasts, running his palm on them and brushing his fingertips on my nipples. "That honeymoon is gonna be something else, petal."

I smiled more and bend down slightly, holding myself with my hands on his chest. "That honeymoon is gonna last until we die."

He smiled at me and nodded. "It will."

I started riding him again, harder and a bit faster this time, and when his hand reached between my legs to rub my clit, I started shaking over him. He groaned low, reaching for my thighs and grabbing them hard while he closed his eyes tight. We remained motionless for a few seconds, just panting with our eyes closed, but after a while, my eyes fluttered open and I sent him a fond smile.

"C'mere."

I lied down next to him on the floor, not even caring about how uncomfortable it was, and I moved my hand up to look at my ring again. It was unbelievable but I knew it was true. If someone had told me, when I was a kid, that I was going to marry Niall, I would have laughed. Heck, if someone had told me that a year ago, I wouldn't have believed it. Now, however, it just felt right. It felt like the accomplishment of a lifetime. It felt like the obvious outcome of my journey. It felt like the epic conclusion that was meant to happen.

"I bought this in Paris, when we were at your parents." he just said, making my heart skip a beat. How could his voice still make me melt after all this time? "I just woke up one day and I knew it was the right thing to do. It was so obvious to me I didn't even doubt it or question it. Not a fucking second."

I turned my head to look at him, noticing he was staring at the ring on my finger.

"You're the love of my life, we should already be married." he pointed out with a small shrug, making me laugh. It made him turn my way and he raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"I mean you? Niall Horan? Wanting to get married so soon?" I asked, the left corner of my lips raised up. "Who would have thought? I mean, you'll be the first one in your band to be married. Even before Louis... even before Liam! If you think about it, it's quite surprising isn't it?"

He stared at me for a few seconds, but his lips finally curled into a smile too and he chuckled. "Yea, maybe. i mean, if you weren't in my life, I'd probably be the last one to get married, you're right."

"So it's because of me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows and turning my body his way.

"Yea. I don't want to marry anyone else, and if you weren't in my life... I don't even know if I'd get married. Maybe in my late 30's? Or 40's? Who knows?"

We stared at each other for a minute or two in silence. I was coming up to the conclusion that soulmates were real, and I was lucky enough to have found mine. Even better, it seemed like I was his soulmate too, and nothing could be more perfect that that. I couldn't say I wouldn't have married anyone but him, especially since I was so close to marry an other man, but I could say that I would never be happy with anyone else the way I was happy with him. There was something about this relationship that I wouldn't be able to get though any other relationship. I never felt like that for anyone else in the world. No one could compare. No one was Niall James Horan, and he was the only one I wanted.

"This calls for champagne."

I chuckled and he got up before extending his hand to help me up too. I grabbed his shirt on the floor but grimaced at how wet it was. Instead, I grabbed all our clothes spread on the floor and brought it to the washing machine as he walked up to the kitchen completely naked. I grabbed a pair of boxers for him and one of his shirt for me and walked back to the living room, closing the door and locking it. It was still raining hard outside and I looked by the window for a short moment before finally joining him in the kitchen. He had picked a bottle of champagne and I smiled as I stared at him. He was there, standing completely naked in the kitchen, a bottle of champagne in hands, trying to open it, and I tilted my head. The sight was fucking incredible.

"I brought you boxers but I'm not sure I want to give them to you anymore."

He turned to me with a smirk and I couldn't help but let glance down at his dick. He chuckles and opened the bottle of champagne with a 'pop' before pouring some in two glasses.

"Clothing is optional tonight, my love." he let out, raising his eyebrows. "In fact, it's forbidden to wear any piece of clothing."

He handed me my glass and I pressed my lips together, taking it just as he snapped the shirt and boxers from my other hand. I held my breath as he threw them away and let out a short giggle. I was never at ease while being naked, especially around Niall because his opinion mattered to me more than anyone else's, but the way his eyes roamed on my naked form and sparkled as they got back into mine... that was something that didn't lie. So I didn't have the body I used to have, and I didn't have (and never did) the body of the girls he used to date and fuck... but apparently, it didn't matter to him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked in a low tone, licking my lips.

He cleared his throat and took his own glass before turning back to me again.

"You look at me too, darling." he pointed out, avoiding my eyes.

"I know but... I don't know, you were looking at me... in a special way."

This time, he looked out and our eyes met. He took a step closer and my lips parted slightly. Fuck, I loved him, I loved him so fucking much I could literally die.

"I can't believe how lucky I am." he admitted in a very low tone. "I'm gonna make love to you every single day for the rest of my life. I want to discover and remember every mole, every mark, every spot." I felt his free hand run on one of my breasts and slide down my stomach. "I want to learn the best ways to make you horny, to make you dizzy, to drive you crazy and to make you cum. I was looking at you because I find it scary how close I was to never get you back."

I stared at him, my mouth slightly open, as I let his words sink in. My eyes fluttered but I kept them open and he brought his fingers on my back, brushing his fingertips on my spine.

"And you say you're not good with words." I pointed out, tilting my head and making him chuckle again.

"I'm getting better at it, right?" he laughed, taking a step back. "You mad eme practice a lot, without really realizing it."

i rolled my eyes with a smile and shrugged as he brought his glass up. "To you and I, to this relationship that will last longer than a lifetime. To you, because you're perfect for me."

"To you too, because you're the only one I ever wanted."

I clinked my glass against his and swallowed everything, putting the glass back on the counter. He did the same and filled them up again.

"So, how are we gonna tell everyone?" I asked, bringing the now full glass to my lips again.

"We're not." he said, leaning his ass against the counter, taking a sip too and making me frown. "We're eloping. Prepare your stuff, we're leaving tomorrow."

[lunewell]

The Norwegian Mermaid Association - Part 1

Word count: 1816

Written for MerMay

No TW or CW

Can also be read on Wattpad here

This is a little story I’ve been working on for MerMay, about an actual historical association that operated from 1963-1989. It ended up being rather long, so I split it into two parts, but here is the first instalment (:

Though safely placed a good distance away from the raging waves, the room of sailors and wives smelt overwhelmingly like fresh salt water and newly caught fish. Not that Morten could complain too much, as being served something other than fish and bread was a welcome change, even if it meant being enclosed in a tiny, wooden, scarcely-furnished room with 12 others.

“Doesn't she make the most divine food?” Leif commented to the others, who had creatively spread themselves on any available surface, be it the arm of the worn, uncomfortable chair, or squeezed tightly on the sheepskin covered couch. A chorus of sounds of agreement and nods, made Leif grin widely. He turned to his darling wife: “We should do this every time we return home from sea.” It was said with a semi- teasing smile, his blue eyes crinkled up.

“That’s a great idea, darling,” Hilde responded, tone matching his as she placed a pale hand on his shoulder, “I can’t wait to see you help me make the food!”

“... on second thought, perhaps once a season is more than enough.”

A light laughter came from the room, especially from Hans, Petter, and Kari, who- judging by their empty glasses and off-balanced movements- had already indulged themselves plenty in the alcohol department. Morten smiled too, appreciating the warm atmosphere of the room, and the ease and welcomeness that had swivelled itself within the smells of the ocean.

As not only the youngest but also the newest of the fishermen, he had originally been sceptical of the idea of attending the dinner party, having neither any sort of social smoothness nor a wife to bring with. Not that he wanted a wife, necessarily, as he had never quite considered himself the type.

However, the temptation of shelter and food (and, let’s be honest, the crippling loneliness), had lured him in like a sirens call into Leif’s and Hilde’s warm little wooden house. Lucky for him, it seemed that the others had a sort of strong kinship and bond that let him mostly sit back and observe the others laughing and talking, rather than needing to actively engage in the conversation himself.

“You really do have a God given gift as a housewife, Hilde,” said Ine- or was it Ina? No, definitely Ine, “We at the Norweagian Mermaid Association are so lucky to have someone like you.”

Morten almost spat out his water, ice blue eyes shot wide open. For what was the first time that night, he spoke, in a soft confused tone: “the… Mermaid Association?” He blinked owlishly, face warming up as all eyes- most that same blue colour- met his.

Anne was the first to realise where his confusion stemmed from: “oh dear,” she said, lips curled in an amused smile, “it’s not actually about mermaids. It’s the name of our women’s group, fighting for the rights of wives of seamen everywhere!”

“Oh,” Morten said, sheepishly, “that… uh, makes more sense. Odd name choice, though, considering historically mermaids were dangerous creatures, in line with trolls.”

“Names ‘cause we’re pretty as mermaids,” Kari said, hair messy and a slight slur to her words, “sing ‘s nice ‘s them, too. And-”

“Know a lot about mermaids, Morten?” Thomas interrupted, before Kari could go on her second drunken ramble of the night. Morten twiddled his thumbs, leaning back in the wooden chair and further into the corner, taking another sip from his glass before he answered.

“Yes. Always loved folklore as a child, be it trolls, Nokken, or mermaids,” he turned his head to look out the dirty window and into the fiery sky that implied a stormy morning, “when I was younger, I would dream about swimming around with a beautiful tail. Of course, silly dreams were all it ever was.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my years on the ocean,” Thomas began, “it’s that there are a lot of unknown things in the water, and what seems like sailor stories, might be closer to reality than what’s comfortable.”

“The old man had a point,” Hilde said with a smile, auburn hair swaying as she nodded.

“You’re not so far from 50 yourself,” he scoffed, earning him smiles and a series of teasing that Morten sat comfortably back and watched, glad to have the attention of him again. It was almost hard to believe that Hilde was 50, as her wrinkles were few, and her sea green eyes were still bright and filled with wonder. Though, Morten thought, perhaps it was simply the flickering candle light hiding secrets in its shadows.

The crimson evening stretched to a cloud covered night, moon shining dimly into the wooden house and the candle lights darting brightly around them. Kari, Petter, Thomas, and Inne had already left, leaving only Anne and Hans-, who, from what he had picked up had sons old enough that they needn’t return til long, himself, and the keepers of the house; Leif and Hilde.

Morten was certainly not at his prime. The exhaustion from the previous weeks on sea had really begun to take a toll; his dark brown hair was sticking out, his eyes were bagged, and he had very quickly moved himself to the brown sofa covered in sheepskin by the dancing fire in an attempt to quell the bone-deep chill that had spread through his body.

In the distance, he could hear Anne and a very, very drunk Hans giving their goodbyes, though he didn’t catch exactly what they said, as he couldn’t concentrate on the sound. In fact, he couldn’t concentrate much on anything right now, the lights blurring in his vision and the decorations around the room- from the plants to what was frankly a concerning amount of mackerel-themed objects, were swimming around him. He could feel the vice of a headache wrapping around his head like the jaws of a beast.

“Oh you poor dear,” he heard Hilde, who he hadn’t even managed to hear come in, sigh, “you look completely worn out.”

He blinked at her, willing his vision into focus. “It’s alright,” he managed to say, voice laced with drowsiness, “I was about to leave, anyway.” He reluctantly got up, gripping his pounding head as black spots entered his vision.

“In this state? Absolutely not,” Hilde protested, already pulling out a drawer to fetch what looked like a warm blanket, “no point in putting a young man like yourself needlessly in danger. This couch is plenty big enough for you.” She threw him a soft, wolly blanket woven in the pattern of a mackerel tail, the strength of the throw making it very clear she was not up for protest.

And even if he had foolishly attempted to protest her motherly instincts, she kept speaking. “Feel free to get some water if you’re thirsty- there’s glasses in the rightmost top cupboard,” she said, before making her way to what Morten assumed was the bedroom. “Goodnight, sleep well.”

There was something in her tone, almost sing-song like, that made him instantly relax and believe that he would, in fact, sleep well that night. It wasn’t long before she had blown out the last candles, smoke being added to the interesting concoction of scents, that he felt the serenity of night, calm as a pond, make him sink into the deep waters of sleep.

————————————

True to Hilde’s words, he slept better than he had in months, being awakened not in a rush like he usually was, but by the sound of rhythmic but hammering rain on the windows. He rubbed his eyes, stretching out and getting rid of the last remaining signs of his journey into the watery abyss. Looking out the window, he saw that true to his prediction, the morning was dark and stormy, thick clouds and heavy rain laying on a sheet that made it hard to see much of anything. Welcome to Stavanger, he thought almost fondly, well used to the city's frankly abysmal weather, only rivalled by a few Vestland cities, most notably Bergen.

He got up from the couch, and glanced at the clock; almost nine. Though comparatively late to when he usually got up, it seemed that Leif had been more exhausted than he let on, as Morten could easily hear his snores from the thin walls. In fact, listening closer, Morten could hear a lot from the thin walls; he could hear the angry seas, he could hear the sounds of talking crowds not too far away, and oddly enough, what sounded like singing.

Melodic, gorgeous, utterly encapsulating singing, sweet as wind chimes, unlike anything he had ever heard before.

In a completely uncharacteristic move, he found himself almost hypnotically making his way out the door and into the weather. Cold air whipped his cheek, but he found himself barely caring, continuing onwards even as his clothes became so soaked that they merged into his baby soft skin.

He made his way further to the coast and docks, walking past swaying trees and winding paths into the dark, wet stoney beach. By now, he was sure his lips were blue, his face wet from the rain, and yet he could not bring himself to feel anything but excitement as the sweet sounds came closer and closer.

And then, at the edge of a rock, at just the right splash zone for the sprays of crashing waves to hit him, he saw it.

Hilde, short, wavy auburn hair, big sea green, aging eyes, was laying on a rock, a mackrell's tail attached to her lower body, and blue scales sprouted across the skin of the arms she rested her head on. Her ears- inhuman, blue, and shaped like fins, perked up, and the signing stopped as she spotted him. Her expression was initially one of surprise and shock, but it washed away within seconds to a warm smile.

Morten gaped like a trout, and stared at her. He scanned her up and down over and over again, his mind having gone completely blank in a way to try to deal with the shock. Hilde took in his expression, and laughed lightly, though he didn’t see what was particularly funny.

“Well, girls,” Hilde said, and to his minds absolute horror, several more heads of scales and weird ears, among them faces he recognised as Anne, Ine, and Kari from last night, popped out of the water, “looks like we’ll be having a guest in the meeting today”

“So,” an unfamiliar brunette with dark skin and purple scales around her eyes said, “is this yet another sailor from your man's crew that will end up with one of our kind?”

Hilde looked directly at him, her smile teasing with sharp teeth. “Oh, I don’t doubt that. But, for now, let’s get back to the matter at hand, and let the weekly meeting of the Norwegian Mermaid Association, plus 1, begin!”

[thestanceyg]

Time for some more Darcyland Drabbles

A little drabble racing on the Discord server. Here’s all 4 of my sprints, so they’re below the cut because it’s kinda a lot. (Keep in mind all of these are a one and done sort of deal.)

Magnetism 1 She was drawn to him. That was certain. She hadn’t felt this way about anyone in a long time, and wasn’t that the funniest thing? She would have thought that she would never feel this way again after…. Well. After.

But now she did. Of course, it couldn’t have been a worse time to suddenly feel this animal magnetism toward someone. 

“Err, I suppose this isn’t the best time to say anything, but since we might die anyway, how about if we live we get coffee?”

The man shot her an amused look. “We’ll survive,” he said matter of factly. “I want that coffee.”

2 I’m just saying it’s super cute,” she smiled. “C’mon. You can’t tell me you don’t like it!”

He looked at the refrigerator speculatively. “I suppose you’re right,” he agreed, his hands wrapping around her waist from behind, his chest pressed against her back as he kissed the top of her head. “But for the record, I still think it’s a kinda weird idea.”

“Weird, but still cute,” she argued. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. 

She laughed a little as his fingers dug into her sides, tickling. Making pictures of their friends into magnets was her best craft idea yet.

3 “It shouldn’t work like this,” she said, pulling her glasses from her face and pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Well, it’s not like there’s a lot of precedent here,” Bruce sighed. “I agree that the magnetism in this instance doesn’t quite make sense, but it is sort of fascinating.”

She had to agree. They had definitely stumbled upon something new. “This could take us years to fully explore,” she said. “Not that I’m complaining, but this was supposed to be a fun side project and not the seminal work of my life.”

“Sorry,” Bruce said, even though he wasn’t. “That’s just how science goes.”

4 She felt drawn to this place like there was a magnet pulling her. It was an insistent urge. It wouldn’t let up, and she didn’t know why the thought of ignoring it left her breathless with panic. 

But following it? Following it left her breathless with anticipation.

It made no logical sense. Where was she going, and more importantly, why? But as soon as the thought entered her head, she remembered her grandmother who used to sit her down on her knee and tell her about the hope. How the hope would draw you to where you needed to be. Suddenly it all made a lot more sense.

5 “Watch closely,” Darcy commanded to the little one whose eyes were wide with wonder. She carefully dropped the magnet on the other side of the tank and the iron filings started to pull over to it, and the little girl’s eyes got impossibly wider.

“Wow,” she breathed. When the movement finally stopped, she turned her head. “Aunt Darcy, how does it work?”

“Science, which is magic that we study.”

The girl’s eyes lit up. Gotcha, Darcy thought. She’d be damned if another little girl thought that sciences weren’t for women. No little girl would have the rough relationship she had if she had anything to say about it.

6 She gripped his hand firmly and swung their arms back and forth a bit, trying to make it seem more like a joke than the desperate need it was, clawing deep in her gut. She tried to look at him out of the corner of her eye, but he was so damn tall that it didn’t give her anything to work with.

She pulled him along toward the ice cream cart. “You want a cone?” she asked.

Finally she looked up at him, and his smile was blinding. “Of course.” He squeezed her hand, and she realized that there would be no pulling them apart.

7 “Where are my damn fabric scissors?” she all be growled as she lifted everything off her countertop and threw it back down. The scissors were nowhere to be found. She lifted her eyes heavenward. So help her if someone had taken them and used them to cute anything that wasn’t fabric.

Just as she was starting to wonder if she would be murdering a housemate, Clint dropped her scissors down in front of her.

“So help me if…”

“I used them because they’re magnetic,” he said sheepishly. “I dropped my lucky paperclip and couldn’t reach it, but it came right to the scissors.”

Luminous 1 She was radiant, he thought. He had never seen someone who seemed to just glow with happiness like she did.

And she was his.

Officially and legally as of fifteen minutes ago. She had said he vows and he had said his, and they had signed the paper.

She was his sun, and now everyone would know it. He couldn’t wait to introduce her to everyone as his wife.

His entire body tracked her like he was a flower seeking her warmth. She was luminous and she was all his. Though, for tonight, he still had to share her with the people at the reception.

2 Jane couldn’t stop laughing. “Are you sure you’re using that right?” she asked through laughs that had turned into hiccups.

“Of course I’m not. I don’t know shit about how to use highlighter, but let me tell you, even if I’m totally wrong, this is how I’m doing it from now on. Look at me Jane! I’m luminous!”

Jane couldn’t disagree. She certainly looked like she was radiating some sort of ethereal light. Though she had moved from dew kissed fairy into something slightly more alienlike.

“Well budge over,” Jane said. “I need to get in on this.”

3 “This flashlight is garbage,” she harshly whispered to him. “We can’t see anywhere. How many lumens is this damn thing?”

He didn’t answer at first and she tried not to be upset about that. It wasn’t his fault they were now lurking through the abandoned hospital trying to find their friends and get out of there before the killer on the loose found them.

“I don’t know,” he said with a frown. “Whatever the bureau’s standard issue is. Maybe the batteries are running down.”

“We’re going to die,” she groaned.

“We won’t,” he argued. “You own me a Scrabble rematch.”

She couldn’t help but laugh.

4 “Look,” she breathed reverently as she pulled away from the telescope display. Everything was electronic now, and she had missed looking through the eyepiece in her backyard, so this was quite the treat. She waved him closer to the equipment.

Leo bend over and looked for himself. “Wow,” he breathed. You’re not wrong.” “Right?” she said. “There’s just something about being able to see the moon in your own backyard with such detail. How it illuminates the entire piece. It’s something that no modern display can replicate.” Her voice was soft.

He hummed his agreement.

5 “I can’t believe this is the bridesmaid dress you picked,” Darcy huffed. “Please tell me this is a joke and the real dress is totally different. Or it’s at least a different color.”

“Nope,” Simmons said with a soft smile. “I always imagined a bright bridal party.”

Darcy looked down at the offending fabric wrapping her body. It was like she was wrapped in some sort of tin foil that reflected yellow light instead of a rainbow of colors. It was highly disconcerting.

“Well we’ll all certainly be…luminous,” Jane said, trying to smooth over both of their feelings about the garment.

6 “I can’t believe someone tried to say that this book was some sort of ‘luminous beacon for book clubs everywhere. That it’s the quintessential read of the century’.”

“Agreed,” Pepper said with a curl of her nose. “This was…not good.”

“Don’t sugar coat it,” Maria argued. “This book was garbage.”

“The only way that this is luminous,” Darcy added, “is if we set it on fire.”

“I’ve definitely read fanfiction that was better,” Jane agreed, dropping her book on the coffee table.

“That’s not even hard,” Darcy snorted. “I’ve read Wattpad fic written by a 12 year old better than this.”

7 He had never seen her before, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t stop looking at her once he saw her. She was luminous. She radiated this softness and beauty, but also this intellectual and academic integrity that practically seeped from her pores. He hoped to introduce himself to her, but he wasn’t the only one that he noticed her beauty. She was surrounded by so many others.

But then.

Her eyes lifted up and met his. Suddenly she was smiling and walking his way. “Dr. Fitz?” she asked, her cheeks coloring. “I’m Dr. Darcy Lewis. I’d been hoping to meet you today.”

Gravity 1 She was on the ground. That wasn’t normally a problem, but it seemed she couldn’t get off the ground.

“Not so high and mighty now, are you Dr. Lewis?”

Her eyes scrunched as she felt the pressure pulling her down and keeping her there.

“What did you do.”

His smile was practically feral. “I finally figured out how to change localized gravity. It wasn’t even that hard. And you just walked into the field and got stuck in it. Now you’ll have to do what I say or I’ll turn it up until the force crushes you.”

She turned her head away. “I guess I’ll die then.”

2 “I don’t think the gravity of this situation is really hitting you,” Tony said with a pinched look on his face.

“Oh, I get it all right,” Steve argued back “IO just think that you don’t have any idea what you’re doing. Your solution is asinine.”

Darcy’s eyes bounced back and forth as she watched both of them argue back and forth,

“I’d kill for some popcorn,” she said, before inserting herself into the building argument that was now mostly about disparaging the other’s character.

She let out a loud whistle. “Listen up asshats. You’re both wrong.”

3 He was her gravity. He kept her grounded and secure. She had always expected love to be more like floating, but it wasn’t. At least not the way he loved her. He loved her exactly how she was. It made her feel more secure in who she was and what she was doing. His devotion to her was absolute, and he kept her from second guessing herself. She had never realized that feeling grounded could feel so liberating. Sure, there had been a bit of floatyness when they started, but if she was a balloon, he was holding her string, and she had never been happier.

4 “Maybe before we step out we should, I don’t know, check things like the air and gravity situation? Not to second guess anyone since I’m just the astrophysicist here, but, ya know, that environment might affect what we do when we get out there.”

The leader whose name she knew but refused to use, glowered at her. “You’re not in charge here Miss Lewis. Besides, you’re not here as a scientist. You're here for your social media expertise.” He practically spat the last words.

“It’s Doctor,” she countered. “And I’m here for both you absolute fuckwit.”

5 The situation was grave, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Of course, as soon as the thought entered her head, an explosion rocked the wall, blowing debris at her and pinning her down.

She came to unable to feel her legs. Well, that probably wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t the worst thing. She was pretty sure if she could feel them, she wouldn’t be able to think at all for the pain. Okay, the gravity of the situation had gone up. Well, nothing to do for it but get to work on a solution.

6 “Try defuyyyyinnnggg gravity!” she sang at the top of her lungs. She was singing so loud that she didn’t hear the door open and close.

“Oh Darcy,” Jane said as she turned the volume of the music down. “I realized it was a bad breakup, but I didn’t think you were this bad.”

Darcy snorted. “It wasn’t bad at all. This,” she gestured to the room that Jane noticed was covered in comfort foods and blankets, “has nothing to do with that. The breakup was unfortunately timed with my dissertation being denied.”

“What?” Jane said, the color draining out of her face before she turned the volume back up.

7 “Like, what even is gravity?” she asked, slurring her words.

Her companions stared at her. “Do you mean like in science?” Helen asked, her own words not fully enunciated.

“No,” Darcy said, shaking her head and immediately regretting it as the room seemed to tilt around her. “I mean, the drink,” she held up her glass and shook it in emphasis. It was luckily mostly empty and didn’t spill.

“I don’t think that’s the name of it,” Jane said. “It’s g something else.”

“Galaxy,” Maria said, put upon by her own sobriety. “It’s called a galaxy, not a gravity.”

8 “I don’t think you understand the gravity of this situation,” Jane said with a cruel smile. “You denied my best friend her PhD, and now no one can help you. No one will save you from the single stupidest thing you’ve done this decade.”

The man sneered at her. “That’s mighty presumptuous of you,” he said arrogantly. “You might have won a Nobel Prize, but everyone knows that had more to do with Thor than you.”

Jane just laughed. “You have no idea.”

Darcy pulled at Jane’s arm. “Come on. He’s not worth it. Stark’s already almost done ruining him. We need to prepare for my new presentation.”

The man paled and Jane’s smile widened. “Now you get it.”

Radiation 1 “Ummm, that was not a result I was prepared for,” Bruce admitted as he looked over at Helen and Darcy.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine any of us were expecting this,” Darcy agreed from where her skin seemed to have fused to his hip. “This isn’t really how radiation works.”

“Errr,” Helen said from the consul where she had moved a soon as the problem had arisen. “Which one of you recently had contact with an Asgardian?”

The looked at each other and Bruce said, “Last night? We were in New Asgard for a party.”

Helen sighed. “Well that’s a start,” she sighed.

2 The pain was radiating from her legs now and she didn’t like this new development. Sure, it meant that they probably weren’t a lost cause, but it was seriously interfering with her ability to think.

“Darcy?” a voice yelled before coughing. There was still dust heavy in in the air.

“Over here!” she yelled back after covering her face with her shirt.

There was a scrambling sound and then a soft curse and Sam Wilson was in front of her.

“A bit not good,” he said, looking from her legs to her face.

“Really? John Watson now?”

He smiled.

3 “Radiation therapy is my suggested course of action,” he said looking at her from across the desk. She wondered how many times he had had similar conversations across this desk. Probably a lot. It was kind of his job. She wondered if he had all the beats of talking someone through cancer treatment down. If his head was just a giant decision tree that took her answers and gave her the response he had given every time someone asked this question or made that comment.

“Okay,” she said after a deep calming breath. “I know what that means. Do I start scheduling with you now or is that later?”

4 The radiation the planet was emitting was fascinating. It wasn’t what she had been looking for, but she was glad to have found it anyway. “Move one quarter of a degree south,” she said to her tech that was running the telescope. “Read again and then change the spectrum. I want to see what else is going on with this plant.”

“That isn’t our mission, Dr. Lewis,” the intern argued.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. She was over snot nosed male interns thinking they dictated her research simply because of their genitalia.

“Not our mission. Mine. Do as I say,” she ordered.

5 The radiation fallout had been less than they had expected, but no less impactful. Coulson looked over at her. “You’re glowing” he said. 

She frowned. When she looked at herself she didn’t see a glow. She looked back up at him. “I don’t see a glow,” she argued. “Maybe it’s something only you can see? Try looking at yourself or someone else. Maybe your eyes were changed. Something that wasn’t visible before now is?”

He did as she said. “Maybe,” he agreed, looking around, “but you’re the only one I see glowing, and I don’t know what that means.”

6 Darcy’s tears were bitter and she didn’t feel like she had earned the right to cry them. She had known that radiation therapy was a last resort. She knew that the odds were against them. But knowing that and living the results were two different things. It had been just her and her dad as long as she could remember, and now it was about to be just her. The treatment had failed to bring about results. She knew it was just a matter of time now. It had always been just a matter of time, but that hadn’t stopped her from hoping. Now it looked like hope had run out.

7 “That color looks like it belongs on a door warning of radiation,” Jane said flipping her sunglasses down before looking at the dress again.

“Right?” Darcy said gleefully. “Isn’t it perfect?”

“I don’t know why you’re going out of your way to have a bad date. Just tell him no.”

Darcy frowned at her friend. “I can’t just tell him no. He’s a supremely arrogant asshole. He’ll keep bothering me until I say yes. This is much better. I’m going to make him think it’s his idea to never see me again.”

[simply-not-an-egg]

Harry Potter’s Sister Cliches

Alright so I wanted to look up some cliches and see how they compare, if they exist in my line of fics and if they did, how have I done them justice. All credits to this cliche list go to @/Purplemist14 on Wattpad from the third chapter of ‘Everything Wrong With HARRY POTTER Fanfictions’. I may do some more of these, but we’ll see. 

Of course, featuring dearest Willow-Violet Potter along with spoilers for future unreleased books so, you have been warned!!

1. The sister always has red hair and green eyes. Basically the exact replica of Lily.

- Alright, so, I’ll admit, I did fall down the trap of blessing Willow with the red hair and green eyes, and it is mentioned many a time throughout the fics that she looks like her mother BUT here’s a fun fact, if we were to rid her of the red hair, green eyes and obscene amount of freckles, she does actually look quite similar to James, arguably more so than Harry, specifically her smile of all things. In other words, the only reason she looks like her mother is because of the red hair and green eyes. Dye her hair and give her coloured contacts though along with a pair of glasses and she will basically just look like a freckled version of James Potter.

2. Either Harry’s twin, a few months younger or almost a year younger in the rare case.

- Willow is eleven months younger than her brother, although this fits timeline wise. She was also quite obviously an accident - Lily and James wanted another kid, but not during the time they were living in for obvious reasons. Of course she was not told this information, and either way she was loved by her parents and godparents.

3. Either dropped off at an orphanage, taken to Minerva, Remus or Snape, or just completely forgotten about until she starts Hogwarts.

- This is where the first cliche is really broken. Yes, she is initially taken in by Severus (later revealed that this was a plan done by Voldemort, as since discovering the kid existed he was like ‘hey she could turn on everyone she’s supposed to love and serve me’ and so wanted her to be taken in by his most faithful Death Eater) but, contrary to what most fics have, this f*cker abandons her with the only people he knows where to put her and that’s with Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy!! Some people who have not read the series or my previous posts may be confused as to why they would ever even consider taking this half-blooded kid in, but I’ve explained before and will do it again; Narcissa is a mother, she has very maternal instincts which have been seen throughout the main HP series, and Willow, at the time was barely five months old. To add to that she was found practically dead on their doorstep having been left out in the freezing cold with nothing but a thin blanket overnight. Narcissa was prejudiced, most definitely, but completely heartless? No (I mean, she risked her life to save Harry’s life in DH). And she was sure to make Lucius raise Willow the same way they were raising Draco because Narcissa was also a Black; I think she can see well enough and feel well enough what it’s like to be raised different from the other siblings.

She is, upon turning eleven, adopted by Remus but of course, naturally, he is her godfather and therefore rightful guardian, later parent.

4. She has a lightning scar on any other part of her that isn’t her neck, aka, the Girl Who Lived trope.

- Completely eradicated. Voldemort was there to kill Harry, not Willow. It’s as simple as that. Read your canon children or, if you really want to do this trope, please for the love of god develop a suitable plot in which this can take place.

5. Sorted into either Gryffindor or Slytherin.

- Now this one I did use BUT the thing is, the house she was sorted in matches with her personality and traits (Slytherin). So in this case it’s excusable, but if it’s just being done for the hell of it ... yeah, I’m not impressed.

6. Socially more active and is friends with the Trio, the Malfoy gang, the Weasleys and almost the entire school population.

- Guilty as charged, although once again I have done it in a way that makes sense according to canon. She considers Draco a brother because they spent eleven years being raised together; Crabbe and Goyle aren’t even friends of Draco in this fic, as Draco ultimately grew up a little less prejudiced knowing who and what Willow was; yes, Willow is friends with the Weasleys, specifically Fred and George, but none of their relationships are the whole nice straightforward sh*t you read about in every other fic. The three of them have perhaps the most complicated relationship between them ever (toxic to some degrees, sometimes even, especially as the 2WW takes place), something actually realistic that keeps to all of their characters. Now when it comes to the trio, Willow isn’t really friends with either Ron or Hermione?? She was one of Ron’s better mates to begin with, as he was one of the first friends she had, but they drifted apart more as they grew (and also after they broke up because Willow was honestly left pretty heartbroken after that), and Hermione, well, she’s only ever really been a mutual up until Willow’s fifth year and her sixth when they begin to form more of a friendship due to her (Hermione) being so alone all the time, and Willow needing someone that can emotionally support her when need be.

7. Sister nearly always replaces Hermione in the trio.

- Willow barely ever interacts with the trio. I could honestly count all the times they properly interacted on my fingers. 

8. Loneliest person alive, if she’s in Slytherin she’s bullied, and nearly always ends up in dangerous situations.

- In the series Willow is never actually alone, although feels that she is during her later teenage years, due to the simple reason that no one can truly understand what she has to put up with (also she does sorta force herself to be allienated from others, due to wanting to protect them and keep them out of harms way). She is bullied, yes, but once again it’s entwined into the canon, and by her fourth year no one f*cks with her because they all know that if they do she will not hesitate to bite back and hard. Now I suppose she does end up in dangerous situations, but once again, it isn’t always, and when she does it fits the canon. 

9. Always falls for Draco Malfoy.

- I was guilty of this in the very first drafts, 100% but now that I’ve grown and matured and learnt to understand characters more all I can say is that a) they’re basically siblings (covered in a previous point) and b) you honestly cannot convince me otherwise that Draco is one of the gayest beings in existence. Like you cannot tell me this f*cker isn’t at least a very male-attracted bisexual. You just, you can’t. It’s not possible.

10. Or the other love interest is Cedric Diggory.

- Literally ew. I could not, for the life of me, think of Willow and Cedric as a couple. Best buds? Hell yeah. F*ck buds? No way. They loved each other, sure, but it was purely platonic.

11. Lily’s brain, James’ attitude, brightest witch of her age.

- It is true that Willow has higher-above-average intelligence for someone her age but, here’s the thing, she’s autistic! This is never explicitly mentioned until the eighth book, which partially follows her adult life, but, yes, she’s canonically autistic (as is Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley and, he isn’t autistic, but James Potter has ADHD). Now when it comes to personality and traits, I’d say she’s a healthy mix of both, but there is also that bit of influence from the Malfoys (she is, to say the least, quite prejudiced towards house-elves, for example). There was also a sub-point about knowing hexes and spells and jinxes which can only be found in restricted books, but both Narcissa and Lucius were quite proud to have a kid as smart as her, and if she wanted to learn something, they just let her, which meant there was a LOT of her reading in the library at the Manor about all of the Dark Arts and objects and such like that.

12. Involved in every major event that takes place in the books, and she always saves the day.

- Once again, guilty as charged, although it all works with the established plot and characters and in her case the later things happen from a different and arguably more entertaining perspective (the perspective of a teenaged, forcbly created Death Eater who’s trying her best to save her friends and family while also not accidentally getting murdered by Voldemort in the process). She also never actually saves Harry. I don’t think there’s ever a time where she saves Harry from anything really, especially not the major things that have been mentioned in the HP series.

13. Minerva gives her a timeturner and she goes back to fall in love with Tom Riddle.

- I’ve never actually seen this cliche before, but oh god if this is one that anyone out there uses, once again, please read the canon; Tom Riddle cannot fall in love, timeturners only work for minutes at a time, not to mention if future Riddle saw MC time would f*ck itself up, and also that is a bit creepy imo (the whole MC with Riddle thing).

14. Hermione and Ginny are made jealous individuals who would do anything to rid the sister.

- No chance this will ever happen, nor has it ever happened. That is very OOC, thank you very much, and you ain’t seeing me take characters OOC unless the canon can make up for it.

15. Ron and Neville are never paid attention to; more or less just desperate crushes.

- While it is true that both Ron and Neville are in relationships with Willow at different times, this serves the plot and their character developments. They are also not forgotten about; Neville is barely mentioned after the break up as neither of the two have the courage to interact with one another again (until after the war where they become friends again) and Ron, as I mentioned, slowly drifts out of Willow’s friend circle, after the break up and as they grow older and develop different personalities.

16. Draco Malfoy is OOC.

- Anyone who has read my so far published books knows that Draco, seemingly is a lot better behaved in my series (which, to a degree he is), but all I have to say for this is that once Harry crushed the dude’s heart to bits in the summer before fifth year, this motherf*cker became one of the biggest d*ckheads you would ever meet. Usually he didn’t mean to be, but the dude lost the love of his life, and of course soon after war shit was happening; basically he was more or less going with the flow of things, but yeah, no, Draco sucked, a lot, in the later WV books. Until after the war and his mental state is a little healthier, but until that point, from age 15 onwards, he was more or less of the asshole you see in the HP series.

17. Severus Snape does not hate her.

- Haha, lol. Snape absolutely despises Willow, because she’s never let him live down the whole ‘leaving her on the doorstep to die’ business and you know, she sees enough of how much of a c*nt he is to other students and she may as well give him a taste of his own medecine.

18. All the professors adore her.

- There is only one, and that is Minerva, but even then that isn’t made a major thing until book four. Aside from that, every professor treats her the same way they treat their other students, as they should.

19. Hagrid is not mentioned, or barely mentioned ever.

- The only reason for this in my series is that he is not pivitol to the main plot. If he was, it would be a different story, but he isn’t, so there is no real need to mention him.

20. Cho Chang is either the best friend or Cedric’s possessive girlfriend.

- Too tired to go further into detail with this, but there is a whole-ass character arc I have for Cho in the series, that abides by canon and plot and character and actually does her justice. 

Anyway, this was really fun to do, I think I’ll do some more but we’ll see. I’m tired now - it is sleepy time. Goodnight guys!