#an alien language and write completely differently and they fell through the ceiling. do you want to go chat with them or something'

[sesamenom]

browsing stormlight art on tumblr and ran into a post about how different dalinars life would have been with a somewhat healthier childhood and i think someone tagged it 'kaladin adopts young dalinar au' or something

anyways i propose a Make Everybody Worse au. teenage dalinar and gavilar get dropped directly into formenos and unofficially adopted by feanor a few years before the flight of the noldor. they both participate in the First Kinslaying/Oath/Losgar and then feanor dies. maedhros adopts them and then thangorodrim happens. maglor adopts them for a few years until mae gets rescued. they participate in the first few decades of the wars of beleriand, after which they get dropped back into the middle of alethkar.

on the noldorin side of things, m&m assume the random children they sort-of adopted (300some years before Secondborn were awakened) got killed somewhere in the battle. the kidnap fam situation now has the additional context of m&m having known even more pairs of children who died because of the Oath - one pair killed in the Second Kinslaying, one pair who presumably died in battle because they swore the Oath

on the alethi side of things, dalinar & gavilar are now Oathbound kinslayers who just lost five-to-ten parental figures and all their friends, and spent most of their lives being actively encouraged in war and military strategy. they also skipped the entirety of the navani-related conflict and are probably somewhat closer because of that. violence ensues.

[anika-ann]

Please don't take any pressure, but I wanted to ask when do you plan on posting , that soulmate story where they share skills

Hey nonnie!

Thank you for your lovely pressure-free ask 🥰

I an genuinely in awe you remember that thing 😍 There is some of it written, but I definitely want to finish Hell Froze Over before I start posting - I found out that really, writing two series at once makes no good to me 😫

The first two snippets are here

Buuuut, since you're very nice and I'm taking forever, here's another tiny sneak peek 🥰👀 Thank you for reaching out💖

Type: Soulmate AU miniseries - shared skills (see more in first peek)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: blood, violence, aliens (Avengers 2012), injured reader, language

-.-.-

“What the fuck is happening?” Megan whispered as you hid completely again, meeting her eye. You just helplessly shook your head, realizing that besides dust on your cheeks, there was a liquid – tears you hadn’t been aware of before and you noticed that her eyes were glassy as well.

“Don’t know. But there's some kind of Robin Hood taking those things down.”

“What?” she breathed out on a verge of hysteria and frankly, you felt exactly that, creeping into your chest. Your vision swam, head spinning and you barely felt the wound the glass had inflicted.

You scanned the café, finding people crawling as far from the display they could while maintaining crouched positions. Some had blood on them too, but no one seemed to have a life-threatening injury – no, the only threat that was there was came from something entirely else.

Another terrifying creature jumped straight into the middle of the café, breaking a table with its huge weapon, the cry of metal and plastic nearly lost in the hissing sound the monster was emitting.

Screams erupted from people’s throats from different directions, only attracting the thing’s attention. It turned its back to you and you quickly reached behind you, grabbing the platter you were served coffee on with shocking precision.

The cup rattled and fell to the ground with a crack and Megan hissed your name, pissed and terrified.

The creature barely had enough time to turn to the sound before the improvised weapon of yours hit it to its neck by the edge, cutting into the flesh and making it roar and stumble.

And then it snapped to you, no eyes visible and yet it shot you nothing but a dark, heart-stopping glare.

Your heart indeed stopped and somehow, the time seemed to slow down as well. In the second that lasted forever, your gaze flickered to the dessert fork which you knocked over from the table too – grasping after it; you threw it and saw it fly straight for the slit in the creature’s helmet.

But it was too late, you were certain – it must have already fired its gun and you knew your death was inevitable; those powerful beams reduced stone to debris.

You didn’t expect it to feel like this though.

It crushed you, a warm heavy weight and a flash of blue and red and darkness – but that was exactly what it was. Megan’s scream and a grunt that sounded like it was male made you blink your eyes open in shock— only to find yourself very much alive and staring at the ceiling, a big patch of blue and pale beige blurry in your field of vision.

Sharp pain in the back of your head made you hiss as did the pressure in your stomach, but the weight quickly disappeared, the blue replaced by an outline of Megan’s face appearing in front of you.

“Jesus, are you okay? Are you insane?!” she cried out and you groaned as you touched the offended place on your scalp, the source of agony pounding through your whole skull.

“Ow,”you whined and blinked several times, the outlines getting sharper and you could see your friend’s face clearly, angry and concerned as she repeated your name.

...

Yeah, I know that isn't telling much, but that's the point? 🥰

[lousimusician]

Sex Pollen Part 1

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Summary: You and Peter decide to break into your dad's lab when Peter comes across an interesting plant.

A/N: This is me aggressively ignoring the events of endgame by writing something with Peter. Also I think that movie fixed my writers block because I've been writing nonstop this whole week.

Warning: Language, smuttyish(kinda)

[Peter and the Reader are both 18]

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

Peter quietly observed you while you were hunched over your desk in the corner of your room, playing around with a piece of technology you stole from your dad.

Peter was currently on the ceiling, looking down at you. He was incredibly bored and as much as he loved to just admire you while you concentrated, he couldn't stand the silence that came with it.

He watched as you quietly got frustrated and leaned back in your chair, head back and eyes closed. Peter took this as his que and slowly lowered himself, upside down from the ceiling by a web. He stopped once his face was leveled to yours. He watched as you took in calming breaths, and the little furrow in your eyebrows form, telling him that you were thinking.

To say he was completely and utterly crazy for you was an understatement. Peter was head over heels for you and was pretty sure he'd die for you if it came down to it.

He felt his cheeks redden as he realized he may have been gazing for a little too long and realizing how creepy that was, decided to break the silence by saying, "I'm bored."

Your eyes shot open as you sat up quickly, banging your head against Peter's. "Oww." You whined. You pushed your chair back, putting some distance between the two of you so you could see him better. "Peter! Don't scare me like that."

Peter smiled sheepishly, rubbing the spot on his forehead that you bumped. "Sorry but, I'm bored." He said again.

You shook your head, fighting the smile that tugged on your lips. "Then go do something."

"Like what?"

"I dunno, be Spider-Man. I'm sure there's someone that needs to be saved." You said, maneuvering around him, to pick up the tech you were playing with. "How do you do that?" You said, referencing his position, "Doesn't all the blood rush to your head?"

"No." He said simply. "I don't wanna go out. I want to hang out with you."

"Aren't you literally doing that right now though." You smirked. As you admired the wiring you were staring at. 

"Ha ha ha." He said sarcastically. "I mean, I want to do something fun."

You looked into his puppy dog eyes and immediately found yourself giving in. "Fine," you sighed. "How 'bout a movie?"

"I dunno, we always watch movies."

"Okay then do you wanna go out or something?"

"No." He said shaking his head. "Whenever we go out together you get too much attention."

You paused. "...Well, my dad has been working on a new suit for you, if you wanna check it out."

"Wait really!?" Peter suddenly exclaimed, jumping up, which caused him to fall down on the ground, making you laugh loudly. "Shut up." He grumbled.

"Anyway, how does sneaking into Tony Stark's lab sound?"

"It sounds great, let's go!" He said, excitedly jumping up and grabbing your wrist, pulling you with him.

~~~~~~

While the two of you were scheming on how to break in. Bruce Banner had currently been the only occupant of the lab.

He stood with a gas mask on his face as he studied a plant in front of him.

A week ago, the Avengers had gone on a mission after a few aliens landed on earth and claimed they wanted to "Take over the planet". It had been pathetic really, the aliens were wiped out in half an hour.

But while on this mission, after Hulk had finished "smashing" the last of the aliens, he had reverted back to himself. Finding that Hulk had taken him onto one of the alien ships.

Bruce looked around at the strange tech, while he stood up, already heading for the exit. That was until something had caught his eye and started to draw him in like a moth to a flame. 

It had been a plant.

It stood tall, about seven feet in height. It was absolutley beautiful. It had pink flowers that mimicked the shape of a heart and it was quite literally glowing.

Bruce touched the plant, his fingers coming back covered in a pink dust, which he naturally assumed was the flowers pollen. He leaned in, realizing it smelled familiar.

But the strangest thing happened after.

His heart started to practically beat out of his chest and before he knew it Hulk had come back.

Once he had calmed down and turned back into himself an idea struck him. He quickly plucked a flower off the plant and stuck it in a box that he found in the corner of the ship.

Not a single Avenger questioned why he now carried a box with him on the ride home.

And now a week later, Bruce stood in front of the plant which had grown two feet after it had been replanted, running tests on what exactly it could be.

"Ah Banner." Thor's booming voice sounded, as he stepped into the lab. "I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to-" Thor stopped, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he looked at the plant that sat in front of Bruce. "Why do you have that plant?" He asked genuinely curious.

Bruce looked up at Thor, surprise written all over his face. "Wait, you know what this is?" He said, voice muffled by the mask. He stepped around the table to approach Thor.

"Of course." Thor said, mildly offended. "Where did you get this?"

"Found it after the mission last Friday. It made me turn into Hulk, so I figured it could be useful if Hulk ever chickens out on me again." Bruce quickly explained. "What kind of plant is it?"

"It's called a Sex Pollen Plant." Thor said, stepping around Bruce to approach the plant. "It belongs to that specific race of aliens we fought. The plant helps the aliens to breed since they find it very difficult on their own."

Bruce scrunched his face in shock. "What does it do?"

"The pollen arouses the alien that breathes in the pollen- that may be why you turned into the Hulk, it raised your heart rate. I'm immune to it of course."

"Wait- I brought a sex plant into the compound." Bruce asked in shock, utterly horrified of his own judgement on the situation.

"Yes and I suggest you get rid of it. I have heard the affects of the pollen on a human could be very severe."

"H-how do I get rid of it?"

"Hm, I suppose I'll do it then. How have you been able to contain it?"

"I had this box I took from the alien ship, but it's too big now, so I've been putting it in one of the quarantine rooms just in case."

"Alright, come with me. I may have something that can help dispose of it safely." 

"Okay, let me just lock up the lab." Bruce said.

The two of them stepped out of the room and Bruce pulled off his gas mask once the lab was locked.

Thor and Bruce headed towards the elevator, walking through the living room where the two spotted you and Peter sprawled out on the couches. They shot you two a greeting before leaving.

Peter's head snapped towards you. "I can't believe sending in Thor actually worked. Do you think either of them know what we're planning?"

You smiled, shaking your head. "No, I was too vague when I told Thor to get him out of the lab, and I love the guy but he isn't exactly the smartest person I've met. Now let's go, I don't know how long we've got." You said, trailing ahead of him.

You easily unlocked the lab, Peter following behind you.

As usual the lab was filled with tables with piles upon piles of weird tech, ranging from projects your dad or Bruce had been working on to discarded scraps that should've been tossed or moved out.

You immediately got distracted from the task at hand when you spotted one of your father's latest projects, "Alright, go find your suit." You muttered, walking towards the table.

Peter looked around the lab, trying to find some sign of the new suit he'd hopefully be getting soon. But to be honest, it was a bit of a wreck. With two scientsist's working there, the lab got a bit messy. So instead of Peter being able to locate the suit, which actually was placed nicely in the back of the room, his eye was drawn towards something else.

And it was beautiful, and definitely something he's never seen before.

Off to the side was a plant that had stood at two feet. Pink and glowing. And it was as if he couldn't control his movements while he walked towards the plant.

Now standing in front of it, his finger traced the petals of the glowing flowers, making his index finger come back with a pink dust on it, which he could only assume was its pollen.

He leaned in, breathing in it's scent.

He expected a normal flowery smell but, instead it smelled like you.

He pulled away for a second, and narrowed his eyes at the plant in confusion. But only for a few seconds, before being compelled to smell it once again.

Peter's eyes fell closed as he let the scent dance around him. There was no other way to describe it other than it being completely you.

Sweet and calming. It smelled like lavender and jasmine, with a hint of peaches, your perfume, your body wash, your shampoo, and that very specific scent that belonged to you and only you.

Peter was completely lost in it, breathing in deeply, treating it as if it was a drug he could never get enough of. The different layers of your scent completely engulfing him, making him feel warm and content.

His chest blossomed with warmth that spread down all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes and to the very crown of his head, that made his whole body feel like it was buzzing.

But he snapped out of the trance he was in when he felt a rush of blood travelling south. He tensed up, quickly turning around to see if you were still distracted.

He turned back around and backed away from the plant. And that was when he had noticed his spider senses had been going haywire. The hair on his arms standing up straight as goose bumps rose.

And whatever the plant had did to him was getting worse.

He felt warm, too warm. Like he'd start to melt soon.  

He leaned on the table behind him, panting. A flood of arousal coursing through him. 

From the end of the lab you heard Peter's panting breaths, causing you to look up and see his hunched over form leaning on the table behind him, sliding onto the ground.

"Peter?" You asked in concern. "You okay?"

He groaned at the sound of your voice, his eyes shut tight, trying to gain control of himself. But it wasn't working, inappropriate thoughts flooded his mind immediately wandering to what you would sound like letting out high pitched whines and moans of his name with that same voice, while he bent you over one of the tables and pounded into you hard.

He moaned at the thought, your eyes widening in shock at the sound not quite sure if he was in pain.... or if it was something else.

You stared at what was in front of him on the table, and knew whatever it was was the cause of Peter's state right now.

You quickly ran over, crouching down next to him.

You gasped, "Oh my God." His face was bright red as a thin layer of sweat collected on his skin. He was out of breath, eyes screwed tightly shut. But what caused your own face to turn red was the very prominent buldge in his pants. You cleared your throat. "Peter can you hear me?"

He slowly opened his eyes but immediately wished he hadn't, his pupils blown wide at the sight of you. Eyes trailing over every bit of exposed skin on your body, just picturing what it would feel like pressed against his own.

"(Y-Y/N)." He stuttered out a whine. "I-I-...S-something's...happening."

"Oh, shit." You cursed.

Peter wanted nothing more in that moment to pull you down into a kiss and pin you to the floor, grinding his hips into yours, but he still had enough mind to know how wrong that would be.

"Okay, alright, okay. This is what I'm gonna do." You said frantically. "I need to find Bruce-"

"No... d-don't go.." He didn't know why but he knew that if you left, it would only get worse. That even just your presence made him feel a little better and that he might just go insane if you left him. "Please... s-stay.."

It was too overwhelming, instead of his senses being dialled to 11 it felt like they were at a fucking 20 now. Hyperaware of you and only you, every movement, every breath, the beating of your heart, everything.

"What? B-but Pete-"

A gasp cut you off. Your head snapped towards the doorway, where Thor and Bruce stood.

"Thor, the kids got in." Bruce said in terror.

"B-Bruce!" You yelled in relief. "I- I don't know what's wrong with him- he just sorta collapsed, and he's acting really strange."

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, this isn't good." Bruce said rushing over to Peter. "Thor how do we fix this."

Thor looked down at him in pity, standing next to Bruce who was crouching on the opposite side of where you were. "The only known cure for someone who has been contaminated by a sex pollen plant is, well..sex."

Your head snapped towards Thor. "W-What?" You shrieked. "Is that what that thing is?" You started yelling angrily.

"Yes, and it must be with whoever's scent he smelled on the plant."

"Oh for fuck's sake, who brought a sex plant into the tower!"

"F-fuck, (Y/N)." Peter moaned loudly, eyes training on your figure. Getting more aroused at just how fucking hot you looked when you were mad. 

"Ah," Thor said, coming to a conclusion. "And it would seem that it would be you Lady (Y/N)."

You cleared your throat, opting to ignore Thor's last comment. "Okay what are we gonna do?" 

Thor looked at you in surprise, "Lady (Y/N) do you not know what sex entail-"

"Shut up Thor. I know how it works- but there's gotta be another way to help him." You gulped, looking down at him.

Bruce sighed, "I think- I think I'm gonna have to tell your dad. I'm pretty sure this isn't something I can fix in an hour by myself."

You huffed. "Fine, but we can't leave him here. Let's take him to his room."

You reached out and grabbed his arm, but at the loud moan he made due to the skin to skin contact you let go.

"I probably should have mentioned." Thor started. "That you shouldn't touch him."

"W-what? Why?"

"(Y/N) Please." Peter whined, trying to grab your wrist but you quickly pulled it out of reach.

You looked up at Thor. "It'll make him," Thor paused searching for the right word. "Eager? And you don't want that if you plan on looking for another cure- see he's trying to touch you now." 

Thor was right, just that small bit of skin to skin contact seemed to have sent Peter into a frenzy. Your head snapped down at him, as you realized he was just about to put his hand up your skirt. You quickly grabbed his hand, holding it in a tight grip so he'd stop getting handsy. Your other hand quickly grabbing his free one too as it came nearer.

"Fine, then Thor take him to his room."

"N-no." Peter stuttered. "Please, I-I need you." He said as Thor picked him up, making you let go of the hold on his hands. "No! Let go!" He yelled at Thor. "(Y/N)!"

Thor headed for the door while Peter began struggling violently in his hold.

Bruce shook his head. "Tony is not gonna like this."

You scoffed. "Y' think?"

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

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@cosmicparkerr

[library-phantom]

The alien of the opera

Is there anybody here reading fics with the 11th Doctor in 2020? Well, I always thought about the Doctor going to Paris and meeting The Phantom of the Opera (I’m not sure if there’s anything like this in Classic Who, I didn’t watch everything yet...), but realizing the Phantom isn’t exactly what he seems to be...so, since I’ve been rewatching some episodes from season 7B these last few days, why not write something with the 11th Doctor, Clara and The Phantom? This is very different from the other fics I wrote here and English isn’t my first language so, please, be nice and enjoy!

Summary: the Doctor and Clara go to Paris and weird events happen during the opera. After meeting Christine Daaé and seeing the similarities between those facts and a famous novel written by a friend of the Doctor, they realize there’s something very strange at the Palais Garnier.

Warning: mention of death. There’s no ships here.

(GIF aren’t mine)

“Clara, what do you think about a trip to Paris in the XIX century? We could see the Palais Garnier at its best!”

“It doesn’t seem bad to me. Come on, pull that lever!”, said Clara jumping next to the console while the Doctor had a great smile.

When they got out of the TARDIS they saw all the movement in Paris at night. Carriages, stores, coffee shops...Clara was looking at everything with attention, turning her head quickly to every side while the Doctor was walking by her side. After two corners, they saw their goal for that trip. The Palais Garnier had so many lights and there was a lot of people around there.

“What are our chances to see the opera tonight?”, Clara asked.

“More likely than you can imagine”, said the Doctor fixing his bow tie and getting the psychic paper from his jacket. 

They walked to the opera house, using their best serious expressions when the Doctor showed his psychic paper at the lobby. When it worked and they were allowed to get in the opera house, Clara couldn’t hide her happiness while looking around. A long staircase led to the theater and the hall had many chandeliers and gas lamps.

“So?”, the Doctor asked.

“It’s beautiful! I had no idea it would be like this!”, Clara said while smiling. 

They climbed the stairs towards the theater. The opera of that night was already beginning. The artists’ talent was amazing, just like the set production and the costumes. However, the main thing was the big chandelier, decorated with many crystals . 

The opera performance was happening normally when a deep voice echoed in a way that seemed to come from everywhere.

“Did I not instruct that box 5 was to be kept empty?”

Everybody was looking around searching for the origin of that voice, but nobody could find it. Clara turned to the Doctor confused, but he was also trying to understand what was happening. When the main actress began to sing again, her voice disappeared and she couldn’t sing anymore.

“Behold! She is singing to bring down the chandelier!”, the mysterious voice echoed again. That was when the chandelier began to shake in the ceiling, while the audience was screaming and trying to run to the exit.

As a way to try to calm the audience, one of the opera managers walked in the stage and said the opera would be resumed in some moments with miss Christine Daaé in the main role. To keep the people entertained while the cast was preparing with the changes, the ballet of that opera would be performed. Clara was still confused with everything that was happening and turned to ask the Doctor if he knew anything about all of that. She got surprised when she saw the big smile on his face and he was moving his hands with excitement.

“Doctor, what did you realize that I didn’t?”

“Oh, Clara, you didn’t notice the connections in all of this? A mysterious voice at the Palais Garnier, box 5, the chandelier, the change in the cast, the name Christine Daaé...none of this reminds you of anything?”

“No, I don’t think so...wait a minute! All of this looks like the story of The Phantom of the Opera!”, Clara said as she began to understand. The Doctor’s smile got even bigger. “But, all of that is a story, it’s just a book, it can’t be real...can it?”

“I think Gaston was serious when he said The Phantom was real. That’s weird, I didn’t believe it so much when he told me that when we were having tea…”

“Gaston? Who is...no, you mean Gaston Leroux? Did you meet Gaston Leroux?”

“Of course I did, a brilliant writer and a very nice man. I had a chance to meet him after saving him from…”

The Doctor was interrupted by the audience screaming when they saw a man dead in the stage, apparently he was hanged. Everybody was screaming to get out of the theater, but Clara and the Doctor tried to find a way to get to the stage.

He was scanning the dead man with his sonic screwdriver when one of the opera managers came to their side.

“Who are you? What is this thing?”

“Investigating. Yes, yes, we are investigators about weird events in the Arts. You can call me Doctor and this is my assistant, Clara. I have a feeling you know more about this than you show, mister…”

“I’m Andre. And none of this makes sense, all those letters and miss Daaé’s disappearance last night…”

“Ah! Where we can find miss Daaé? You know, she may be important for our investigation about these events, right, Clara?”

“Yes, yes, it would be very useful to talk to her”.

“Well, come with me. I’ll take you to her dressing room”.

Andre took them through a maze of hallways until they got to a double room. He knocked to announce themselves and a soft voice allowed them to come in.

“Miss Daaé, these investigators would like to talk to you about...well, everything that is happening here”, Andre explained while he, the Doctor and Clara walked in the dressing room. Christine was at her dressing table, but her face showed she was nervous.

“We would like to talk to her in private, if you don’t mind, Andre. Can we make you some questions later, if necessary?”, the Doctor asked as he looked around the room.

“Sure, you can look for me later. Excuse me”, Andre closed the door and left them alone. At the same moment, the Doctor began to scan the room with his sonic screwdriver.

“Are you really investigators?”, Christine asked with a trembling voice watching the Doctor as he walked around the room.

“In a certain way, yes. Now, what you can tell us about last night? Andre told us you were missing.”, the Doctor asked.

“It’s more complicated than it seems. You would hardly believe me…”

“We’ve seen many complicated things, believe us!”, Clara said as she sat in one of the armchairs.

“Complicated could be our nickname. Or middle name. Well, what you can tell us?”, the Doctor said while approaching Christine and keeping the sonic screwdriver in his jacket. 

“After my father died and I came to this theater, I’ve been having singing classes with someone. I used to think it was the Angel of Music, as my father always said. But, I saw him yesterday and he isn’t what I would call as “Angel”. He came through my mirror and took me to the underground of the opera house and showed me some compositions. He is known by everybody as The Phantom of the Opera, but he told me his name is Erik.”

“Mirror? Erik?”, Clara repeated as she looked at the Doctor. He gave her a little smile when he realized she was understanding the connections to the famous story. Then, he got the sonic screwdriver again and scanned the mirror. Christine was looking at him feeling confused.

“Could you see his appearance?”, Clara asked while trying to distract Christine.

“He was wearing a mask, but when I saw his real face...I don’t think I’m able to describe it correctly! His face was so deformed, his eyes seemed to be deep into his skull and his skin was so cold. He didn’t even look…”

“Human”, the Doctor completed still scanning the mirror before turning to Christine and Clara again. Then, he got away from the mirror, took Clara’s hand and walked towards the door. “Thank you for the attention, Christine. We will keep investigating and we will talk to you again. Thank you!”

“Wait, why we are leaving? We didn’t find out anything real yet!”, Clara said when they were in the hallway again.

“I think I know which alien we have here. Nothing dangerous or to be worried, we aren’t talking about daleks or cybermen. No, I think we are dealing with a krei! I must say he wasn’t so creative to create a human name using an anagram and…”

“Hold on, do you mean the Phantom of the Opera is an alien? Really?”, Clara said surprised.

“Yes, they are peaceful. They are mostly known for their melodious voice opposed to their appearance. They are very popular in intergalactic choirs because of their talent for the music. I was able to get his traces in the mirror. I don’t know how this one is here, but in general, there’s no reason to be worried. Except this one killed a man…”

“We will look for him, right?”

“Let’s get a shortcut with the TARDIS for the opera tomorrow night. I think we will get more clues about him”.

 The following night, the Doctor and Clara were at the opera house again. Christine had the main role for that opera and it was clear why Erik had such a preference for her. Her voice was truly beautiful and she didn’t make any mistakes. However, when she was having a duet, there was something weird about the actor that was singing with her. That was when the Doctor noted the fear in Christine’s face.

“That isn’t an actor. It’s Erik in disguise! I can see by his voice, it’s the same one that threatened everybody with the chandelier yesterday!”, the Doctor told Clara.

As soon as he said that, the opera stopped because of the chandelier that fell to the stage. As the audience was trying to get out, nobody noticed that Erik kidnapped Christine. But, the Doctor saw when he ran with her and tried to follow them through the crowd. 

They had to find a way to go to the underground. So, they ran to Christine’s dressing room to check the mirror again. Fortunately, that area of the opera house was empty and they quickly got in the room.

The Doctor came closer to the mirror and scanned again with his sonic screwdriver. After hearing some clicks and engines working, the mirror shifted to the side revealing a door to a dark hallway. He clapped in celebration and told Clara to follow him.

After some meters, the hallway led to a staircase that took them to a lake. They couldn’t cross it without a boat and they didn’t have time to get the TARDIS. That was when they heard someone crying. They followed the sound and found Christine sitting on the floor and trying to control her tears.

“Christine, everything is ok. We will take you back. Is he still here?”, Clara asked as she sat beside Christine.

“He left me here. He said he couldn’t keep his reign of music and he was grateful for me on helping him make his music fly, but the music of the night was over now. What does he mean with all of this?”, Christine said confused and out of breath. “The chandelier, everybody at the theater…”

“Everybody will be fine. I think our friend realized it isn’t safe to stay here and decided to run away”, said a calm voice from the shadows. They looked at the direction of the voice and saw a man with a persian appearance. “Don’t worry about him anymore, you won’t ever see him again”.

“Who are you? I never saw you here in the opera house”, Christine asked.

“I have been following Erik for some time, wherever he goes. That’s why I know he won’t come back here again. Forget everything that happened, miss Daaé. I say the same for you both. Forget everything about Erik, The Phantom and Angel”.

Before any of them could say anything else, the persian came back to the shadows. The Doctor walked to where the mysterious man was standing, but he didn’t find anything. It was like he vanished into thin air.

“Doctor, was this real?”, Clara asked uncertain.

“Yes, I think he was just as real as us”, the Doctor said still staring at the place where the persian was. Then, he turned to Clara and Christine. “Come on, we should come back to the theater. We need to take miss Daaé back to safety”.

Later, when they were in the TARDIS again, Clara was still thinking about everything that happened.

“So, everything that Gaston Leroux wrote was based in an alien? The story is real?”, she said while the Doctor was pulling levers to begin the trip.

“I think the story Leroux wrote is more real than he made his readers believe.”

“But, what happened to Erik? Why there isn’t any sign of him? I mean, did he really keep himself hidden forever? And who was that persian man?”

“Maybe he found a way to leave Earth. After all, he did tell Christine the music of the night was over. Maybe this meant he wouldn’t live with humans anymore. And Leroux actually had a persian man in his story...maybe we will never understand this mystery of The Phantom of the Opera in the end…”, the Doctor said while they entered in the time vortex. 

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 3

This is going pretty well, I think. Thanks again for all the support! It’s really helping me stay motivated to keep writing!

This is a continuation from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

Chapter 4

It was really bright. Like, stupid bright. Who has lights this bright? Ow.

Mike had to squint long before he could even think about opening his eyes. His nose really itched too, it felt like it was stuffed up. He reached up to scratch, but his hand was stopped by something that felt almost like a soft plastic dome. Maybe it was rubber? What the heck is this? He felt around, there were a lot of wires and tubes. Was he in the hospital?

“Ohhh…” his voice caught on his dry throat. “My… everything hurts. What the heck did I do this time?”

He moved his hand up to his eyes, shielding them from the light to try to get a look at the room he was in.

There were instruments attached to the walls, standing on wheeled carts, or hanging from the ceiling. Some were connected to hoses and nozzles. There were wires, screens, cupboards and drawers against several walls. The platform he was resting on had most of the wires and tube connected to or around it. There were diagrams posted on the walls, but not in a language Mike recognized. There was a beeping sound, like a heart-rate monitor, but the tone was higher and sounded like it was coming from some sort of musical instrument.

It certainly looked like a hospital. Just not like one he’d ever been in before. There was something… alien about it.

Oh.

Alien.

Mike gave a start as the events from the past few months rushed back. His scout ship, sent to do a quick orbit of Saturn to pick up an observation drone. The mysterious ship. Bright light. Then darkness. Cages. Food that could hardly be considered edible. Aliens that kind of looked like some ugly, hairy bug. Different needles, blades, vials, injections. He’d felt treated more like an animal than a human being. No, not even treated like an animal. More like a science experiment. Or a punching bag.

The machine in the background started beeping faster.

Oh no, he thought, Oh no, no, no, no. Where am I? What happened?

Clawed black hand reached to undo the lock. Exoskeleton clinked against the bars. They’d become relaxed around their prisoners. Thought they’d broken them. Complacent. Still dangerous. Just waiting for the right moment. That moment.

Them.

Two.

Where was Wenona?

The beeping was getting faster. A new sound started, a lower, longer sound.

They had snatched the guard’s weapon, knocked him unconscious. Locked him in one of the cells they’d been held in. They snuck their ways through the halls, taking out guards or officers when needed until the alarm sounded. They’d been found out. Even though they’d both been weakened by their time aboard the alien ship, there wasn’t a creature aboard that could stop them. Cuts. Burns. Scratches. Barricades. Blasters. They fought through them all to get to and take the control bridge. Wenona had been trying to figure out their position when another alien ship appeared on the screens.

Pain. Blood. The adrenaline was wearing off. It was getting harder to see, harder to stand up straight. Wenona helped him to hide. Tried to stop the bleeding.

Mike tried propping himself up to see if he could find Wenona. They’d both been captured around the same time. They’d been each other’s sole companionship during their time as prisoners. She’d saved his life. He needed to make sure she was still nearby, still okay.

The heart-monitor beeps got faster. The lower, longer sounding beeps got louder.

Mike pushed against the strange plastic-y cover. It moved easily enough, swinging away on hinges of some sort. He tried turning around to get a better look of the rest of the room. Owwww… ahhhh. It felt like every muscle in his body was made out of frozen rubber. He had been covered by a thin, soft blanket from the neck down. As he sat up, it slid down. He wasn’t wearing anything. The torn, bloody rags were gone. Probably a good sign, right? Whoever’s ship this is, at least cares enough to clean me up, and…  He felt his side with his hand, Those are new scars. Completely healed scars.

How long have I been out?

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was definitely alien.

If Mike had been standing, the alien would probably have been as tall as his chest. Looking at it quickly, one might mistake it for some strange, dry octopus, but the legs under the main part of the body was long and sturdy, ending in four stockier tentacle-feet. It’s skin was varying shades of brown ranging from the color of a dark chocolate candy bar to a lighter brown of a cardboard box with spots and streaks of purples and blues that must have formed some sort of camouflage pattern back on whatever planet it must have originated from.

“Krouschee fen glub you een denoo ing? You are abrehmf kroot. Dooka you understand kama I’mehs seraying?”

“What?”

“Dook. You. Underswand. Kat. I’mehs. Seraying?”

Mike looked puzzled at the alien. It didn’t seem dangerous. The features on its face looked… curious? Maybe even concerned?

“Umm… I understand you? Mostly.” Which was already saying a lot more than the previous aliens he had encountered. Good step. Good step.

“Kold on a momentehk. We’ve equipped you koob ap translator. It eereha take a momentehk to adjust, so I goos I will just keep talking until everyshringreh is sounding the way it should to you. Let’s see, I’m trying to thinkek of things to say, things to skray. My name is Demfar, I am the head medic. Todayshk I ate three kerber patties for my meal. Uh, I’ve been assigned to the ESS Gladius for nearly six of my world’s solar cycles. That’s about, oh.... I want to say about seven and a half deca-partecs?” He paused, he looked like he was running out of things to say. “Is this working yet, or not? Sometimes it takes only a few words to sync, but I’ve heard instances where it took half a day before it started getting everything translated properly. Can you understand me?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s working. I, uh, I understand you.”

A smile spread across Demfar’s face. Was it a smile? It at least it looked like it should be a smile. His large eyes creased slightly and the fins on the side of his face moved almost comically far upwards. Mike smiled back.

The fins on Demfar’s face dropped and his eyes widened. “Oh, my, I apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you. I meant no offense.”

“What? No, I was... I was smiling, it means I’m happy. I thought you were smiling, so I smiled back.” Demfar tilted his head to the side slightly. He lifted one of his tentacled arms and a small holographic display appeared and seem to hover over a small watch-looking device on his… um, wrist? Or wherever his “wrist” would be in comparison to Mike’s own arm. He seemed to be reading something. “Ah, yes. A smile. Your species often display your happiness by baring your teeth like that, I see.” He smiled again, though the fins on the side of his head did not reach quite as high. It was still enough to make Mike smile a little bit, though he made sure he didn’t show his teeth this time.

Demfar looked at Mike and then to the display again. “I do apologize. We learned as much as we could about humans from our ship’s internal database, but seeing as we did not have any humans aboard, it was quite limited. We’ve managed to send for more information, but it’s been slow. We’re still a ways out from the nearest Federation outpost, and communication is often disrupted by cosmic interference during warp.” The display disappeared and Demfar stepped toward Mike and lifted the blanket that was still partially covering Mike’s torso.

“Incredible,” Demfar murmured quietly.

“What?” Mike’s muscles tensed and he felt himself leaning ever so slightly away from Demfar. Breathe, he thought, it’s okay, he seems nice. He’s a doctor. I’m his patient. It’s okay. I’ll be okay. He’s a doctor… an alien doctor.

Demfar paused and gave Mike the same concerned look he had when he first came in.

“I understand you’ve been through quite an ordeal, but I can assure you, I mean you no harm human… uh, human…” the fins on the side of his face tilted back closer to the side of his head. “Oh my, do excuse my lack of manners. I have told you my name, but have not asked for yours.”

“Captain Michael Rockwell,” he responded automatically. “Uh, but my friends just, most people just call me Mike.”

“Mike, yes. Very good. Well, human-Mike, as I was saying, I mean you no harm. No one on this ship does. We are on an exploratory and diplomatic mission for the Galactic Federation to the outer sectors. Those that abducted and harmed you and your companion have been taken into custody and will be punished for their crimes. Now, about your injuries, we’ve done our best to-”

“Hold on, hold on, my companion? You mean Wenona? Where is she? How is she? Is she okay?”

“Wen-no-na? Is that her name? Yes, she’s fine, or at least as fine as one can be in such circumstances. Most of her wounds, much like yours, have healed remarkably fast. She’s been awake off and on for about half the day-cycle, but she has so far refused to speak to anyone. She took a good swing at me earlier when I tried to check her wounds after she first woke up.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” So she was awake. Good. Maybe if he could convince Demfar he was well enough, he could go see her. He scooted over and dropped his legs over the side of the platform he’d been resting on.

“Whoa now, hold on! Where do you think you’re going? I still need to check you out and make sure you’re alright!” “I’m fine. I need to make sure Wenona is okay. She’s probably freaked out right now, she needs me. She needs to know I’m alright.” He stood up, the muscles in his legs and lower back protesting the movement. The blanket that had been on him slipped and fell. Mike tried quickly to grab it before it reached the ground, and in doing so nearly lost his balance.

Oh boy, dizzy.

He righted himself again and wrapped the blanket around his midsection. Demfar looked more than a little dubious. “I’m fine, just a bit sore. I need to see Wenona. And I need some clothes.”