#and by extension; that Buddy would be mentioned at some point; as would his grandfather

[thatonecrookedsmile]

So, I've recently been reading Fade To Black for the first time, and I'm making more and more progress. And at the moment I'm currently am, I have already read chapter 21 of this book.

I just wanted to put on record here that I became a different person after reading this chapter. I have been changed. I was saddened. And most importantly, I was destroyed. (ok, that's a pretty heavy word. I didn't cry, but feelings were definitely felt). This book goes hard, I believe.

Oh and also, since I got past chapter 23:

Joey Drew. I'm Gonna Kick Your Ass. Sleep with your eyes open tonight.

That's all. Have a good day everyone.

[honestsycrets]

Bridal Price VIII: The Final Price

Author’s Notes | this is the last in the series. i feel so accomplished, i’m actually finishing things this year. 

❛ pairing | hvitserk x reader

❛ word count | 2067

❛ genre | multiseries

❛ summary | reader clings back onto hvitserk after the death of most of her family. hvitserk speculates whom might have brought on their demise.

❛  warnings | mention of arson, ‘cheating’

Your looms, your beautiful silk from England and fine thread were all gone. The fire devoured everything under your feet. Only dark ash remained. Your father’s body-- your sisters trapped inside, they were all gone. Vaði kept at the ashen site while Hvitserk’s boots kicked through, looking for the right area. You fall upon the ground in your olive green dress, pulling open a small chest of your father’s treasure to go with what little remains that there was left.

“Here.” Hvitserk drops beside you, pushing apart the floors to pull out a chest. He lifts it into his arms while you take to the locks, popping it open and looking at the fine treasure left there.

“I am happy that he died well.” You say, running your finger over the top of the chest. “That way perhaps he went to hel instantly.”

Your father was no warrior. For the war upon Ragnarok, you doubted that Odin would call him to the battlefield. Through it all, Hvitserk had been there. You couldn’t explain why he was. A prince that took Ake into his home to be cared by the healers. She finally seemed to come back to her normal self but… she was burnt. It was anyone’s guess what would come of her.

“He did.” Hvitserk says. “Your sisters as well.”

You glance over to your old fuck buddy, nodding. Vaði had been through to clear the remains before you had gotten here and so you had come through to find your father’s remaining treasure buried away under the floorboards of the home. You retrieve a coin of gold your father had buried away, looking upon the head of Ecbert. He always boasted of going with Ragnar on his raid of Lindisfarne.

“Except for Ake. I will have to keep her with me.” Your voice hinges on fear that he can almost taste on his tongue. What man would take on dual responsibility? “It is unlikely she’ll marry now.”

The burns were… well, extensive. He’d gotten in trouble for pulling the dress of her body, as evidently, he was not supposed to do that. Still now she sat under salves for which the basket around your arm had both yarrow and lily that you would shortly boil in butter to apply as a red salve. Even ribwort that you would later boil in the same for a blue salve.

“Whatever man you find would be lucky to have two seamstresses.” Hvitserk says evenly while tucking the trunk under his arm. He offers you out a hand to help you leap over the ask and grime in your cute flats.

“What changed, Hvit?” You walk slowly with him, setting your palm to his firm bicep. Vaði had given him permission to touch you and bit by bit had you turned back to him. Enough that he could feel less shameful when he touched you.

“What do you mean?” He looks past the ones staring upon you. The streets are full, bustling with life from the Kattegat’s people going on their way. It isn’t as if you could blame them. Life went on. The day was beautiful-- the sky, clear.

“You’re not begging.” You note.

Ah, begging for you to take him back.

“Thought it would be annoying.” Hvitserk answers. You both stop in front of the marketplace, looking out toward everyone that sells their wares. After a moment you signal him closer to those that sell goods from far off places. After such a traumatic past few days, you could use something sweet. Sweet like the cherries imported from Spain. You have a soft sigh on your lips, debating just… what to do or say.

“Thank you, Hvitserk.”

He shifts, glancing to motion behind you. The blacksmith sweeps closer with several large steps, clearing his throat when he’s close enough behind you. You shift on Hvitserk’s arm uncomfortably and he notices as much.

“You’ve chosen to marry Hvitserk?” He rumbles, trembling like your hand around his arm. Hvitserk thinks it strange enough but more so when you look down to your basket without speaking much to him.

“I take it that is why he is touching you.” The blacksmith continues rambling in place, folding one thick arm over another.

“That is the case.” He barks back. Usually he was the man to be quiet, time his responses-- but for some things, there was no timing. He brushes past the blacksmith and carries on his way toward the Great Hall where Aslaug had allowed your sister and you to stay.

“What was that wretched thing about?” He asks. You look aside, running your hand up your forearm along the fine fabric of the dress Queen Aslaug had allowed you to wear.

“He has been pressing me for marriage since father passed.” You explain with prudent concern. A blacksmith was always in good company-- especially one so well known to the Ragnarssons as the one in Kattegat.

“Why did you not tell me?” Hvitserk closes the distance between your bodies. You lift your hand to his firm bicep, looking between him and your ailing sister who lays on a bed of furs.

“I had other concerns.” You say. “And maybe… it would be a good arrangement that I should marry him. We will not have lodging soon and food less so. Marriage is all about alliance, after all.”

“Who said that you would be uncared for? I have no intention on pushing you out.” He explains.

“Your mother is gracious when it comes to her own agenda… but I don’t know where I fit in that.” You expand on it. Of course you knew that Queen Aslaug was a great, merciful woman on any well doing heathen. To live in her home with a crispy, oh bless your Ake, sister? It had to be with intent. Hvitserk sways, looking back to Ake while pursing his lips. The strain brings wrinkles to his chin, the soft curls of his facial hair waving on his jawline.

“Then you will marry me.”

“Hvitserk… I...” You come to your basket beside Ake, taking out the lily and yarrow that you had brought to make her a salve. You hold them in your lap, rolling your lips into your mouth in pensive thought.

“There is something wrong with a man who offers marriage because you are without family!” Hvitserk supplies. “What if he had something to do with it?”

“But I am not sure I want to marry you. You didn’t even remember my name.”

“What is a name anyway?” He turns the corner, kneeling before you. “Names are lost to time. In time no one will remember my father Ragnar Lothbrok or my grandfather Sigurd who slayed Fafnir.”

“You believe in such things?” You could almost laugh.

“The point is not that.” Hvitserk grumbles in a low rumble, sending soft chills up your arms. “The point is… to marry me. Experiences outweigh name. Which, if we are counting, you are (Y/N) daughter of Geir. And I promised your father I would take care of you.”

You glance up, abandoning your pestle to stare into his deep green eyes. Eyes that stand so far apart from the shocking blue ones of his brothers and father. When you were in bed with him, running your hands through his curls fiddling with his hacksilver pendant, you wondered just that sometimes. Then he would laugh and ask what you were looking at, crawling over your body for another round.

“You… what?” You shake your head. “He was alive?”

The admission could have broken you. Hvitserk walks forth.

“There was nothing we could do. He was pinned, dying well. His only dying wish was to care for Ake and you.”

Your head hangs, looking to the lily in your lap. Hvitserk slides down beside you, reaching out to take your hand in his. It’s been a long time since he groveled at your feet. Before Geir died when Vaði considered looking at suitors for you.

“You know I would care for you. Regardless of marriage or dying wishes, but his wishes make it that much more important to carry out.” Hvitserk smooths his thumb over the top of your hand, bringing you to his lips. His moustache tickles the top of your hand as he plants a chaste kiss over the top. You scrunch up your shoulders, head shaking slightly as your eyes bead with wetness.

“I love you, Hvitserk… but you hurt me. How do I know...”

“I know. I know, and I hate that I have that power over you, (Y/N). If I could take it back, I would. I make a terrible boyfriend.” He says. At least he was owning up to it.

If you were signing up for another round of being his last to fuck, you didn’t want this. If you were signing up for days of waiting for his kisses or wondering what woman could twist her hips better, you didn’t want it. You especially didn’t want to be a part of the Ragnarsson’s list of what is hot to fuck and what is not--

“Marry… him…” The voice is a forced whisper. Glancing around, you realize that it’s Ake who speaks, despite Aslaug and Ivar at the corner eavesdropping as was their typical. You glance to them then to your charred sister.

“Huh… what?” You ask her with nothing short of a apprehensive grimace. She turns her head toward you, finally speaking for the first time since the accident occurred.

“He’s stupid, but not a bad man.” She gives a deep sigh. “And we are all tired of hearing you two mope.”

At that you finally do laugh. Behind the leather strapped curtains, you can hear Aslaugh stifling her meek laugh. A chortle can’t help its way out of Ivar’s lips. Hvitserk gleams hopeful eyes at you and so you give a quick nod.

“I’ll marry you, Hvitserk Ragnarsson.”

This time its Hvitserk who lets loose his playful laugh, jerking you up onto your feet. The feeling of being flightless hits you like a bird, and if you were a bird, you would have been an enraged chicken. You don’t quite like being off the ground!

“Hvitserk!”

“Sorry!” Hvitserk says, setting you back down upon the ground. He takes your hands, spinning you in with your hands crossed in front of your chest. Your back collides with his chest. Playfully he nudges you, motioning you to look back to him.

“Kiss me.” He says. Your eyebrow perks at him, as if to say for all his trouble, he should owe you a kiss! “Come, for the price I will have to play for your mundr?”

He had a point. Vaði would most certainly milk that price in order to help Ake get back onto her feet. You lean back toward him, gliding your lips against his for one smooth tongueless kiss. He leans forward aching for more but just as quickly as the kiss began, it ended.

“But--”

“We can save the rest for the wedding.” You say.

“We’ve already fucked!” Hvitserk complains. Quickly spinning out from him, you slip out of the room in a sprint through the Great Hall. Your sandal clad feet thump upon the rough planks, rushing past the guards that kept Ake and you safe. A jaunty gathering of men drink on the many tables.

Hvitserk clicks his tongue angrily, colliding with the hard-- hard iron chest of your cousin who stands like a wall between you and him. What was it with obstacles to his kisses and love today!? Ubbe stands beside him. Sigurd most definitely probably wasn’t that far along either. Vadi folds his arms.

“Now that the blacksmith is taken care of.” Vaði states. His armour, splattered with blood. “We have a bridal price to discuss with Ubbe and Bjorn-- the morgengifu and mundr, right, my new brother?”

“Uhh--”

His pockets were already screaming. The best seamstress in all of Kattegat. He would dare say in all of Midgard! Could he even afford you? Ubbe pulls out his bag of coins, flicking them up into the air and motioning to his belt full of rabbit pelts. A true brother wouldn’t let him pay on his own! He would owe Ubbe for years… but as you stand beside them, wiggling your fingers playfully at him, he wouldn’t take it back for the world.

@two-unbeatable-beaters, @igetcarriedawaywithyou, @kylobien, @titty-teetee, @breathlessouls, @nejijjeoroo, @bcat1291, @readsalot73, @mslothbrok (no mix), @romanchronicles, @captstefanbrandt, @ailucascen, @michaeliskindahot, @naaladareia, @cbouvier23, @the-geeky-engineer, @dorned, @lisinfleur, @tephi101, @akamaiden, @ethereallysimple, @venusloviing, @happylittlepuppydog, @beyond-the-ashes, @slutforrpg, @hipsternoionlylikeunicorns, @mixedwiththemoon, @sparklemichele, @alicedopey, @lif3snotouttogetyou, @rubyquartzshades, @noregretsandyeteveryregret, @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol, @deathbyarabbit, @unacceptabletatertots, @beyond-the-ashes (no sig), @babypink224221, @titty-teetee, @ivarandersen, @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla, @moose-squirrel-asstiel, @icarus-fell-in-spring, @piebytheocean, @strangunddurm, @atequilahead, @rekdreams247, @justacrush, @ivarswonderlust, @peachesnpisces, @elenawrit, @equalstrashflavoredtrash, @roxxck, @dylanowhyyien, @ilvebeenabad, @vikingsmania, @huntingbears, @my-little-wolfe, @seize-the-droid, @moondustmemories, @colourmeinblue, @ilvebeenabad, @queenmissfit,  @hallowed-heathen, @neeadinghugs, @mblaqgi, , @triumphantreturnofpies, @dmv49, @attorneyl, @iconicvaleria-blog, @lovelynerdytraveler, @tierneygonzalez, @zabee113, @meganjudee, @sdcyumyum, @ms-allenbrown, @pancake-blonde, @ivarswickedqueen, @starkiddreamer, @austenkingmylady, @thisisparadisemylove, @pinkrockstar19, @jeowjungkook, @end-of-night, @yaminax-kuss-a , @gruffle1, @arses21434@natalie-rdr, @tempt-ress, @thevikingsheaux, @poisonedjoinery, @smokealone, @chewythecatus, @laughinglikenialler, @lefrenchfrye, @mybarnesmyhero, @vengefulflange, @imcreepininyourheartbabe, @therealmrshale, @that-goodgirl, @supernaturalvikingwhore, @athroatfullofglass @igetcarriedawaywithyou, @kylobien, @titty-teetee, @breathlessouls, @nejijjeoroo, @bcat1291, @readsalot73, @mslothbrok, @romanchronicles, @captstefanbrandt, @ailucascen, @michaeliskindahot, @cbouvier23, @naaladareia, @cbouvier23, @the-geeky-engineer, @dorned, @lisinfleur, @funmadnessandbadassvikings, @tephi101, @akamaiden, @ethereallysimple, @venusloviing, @happylittlepuppydog, @beyond-the-ashes, @slutforrpg, @hipsternoionlylikeunicorns, @mixedwiththemoon, @sparklemichele, @alicedopey, @lif3snotouttogetyou, @rubyquartzshades, @noregretsandyeteveryregret, @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol, @deathbyarabbit, @unacceptabletatertots, @beyond-the-ashes (no sig), @babypink224221, @ivarandersen, @queen-see-ya-in-valhalla, @moose-squirrel-asstiel, @icarus-fell-in-spring, @end-of-night, @gruffle1, @lol-haha-joke @arses21434,  @smileyparrots, @Moosemittens13, @miss-artemis-wild, @two-unbeatable-beaters, @wonderwoman292, @wish-i-was-a-mermaid, @fangirls94, @mcuimxgine, @killerb00sdeath, @heartbeats-wildly, @boo20017, @acacheofstrange, @shaelyn102, @astoryoffireandlight, @smokealone, @shaelyn102 @laketaj24, @peaceisadirtyword, @ly--canthrope@cris101071 @daughterofthenight117 @unassumingviking

[mobius-prime]

121. Knuckles the Echidna #22

Dark Alliance (Part One of Three): You Say You Want a Revolution…

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Jim Valentino Colors: Barry Grossman

So fair warning - this arc is very politics-heavy. I've already criticized the inclusion of politidrama plotlines in the comic before, despite my own personal interest in them, so I won't go over it again. What I will go over is that this arc also includes quite a few tasteless references to the Nazi regime of World War II, starting with the intro page. See, every issue in this arc begins with, rather than the traditional intro page that recaps past events and introduces plot points to come, instead a speech or quote relevant to the current story. This one is a parody, if you will (though played completely straight) of the "First They Came" poem by the German pastor Martin Niemöller, referring to how many people stayed silent while the Nazis oppressed and enacted genocide upon groups that those in silence didn't belong to. In this altered version, "Anonymous" claims that Robotnik came for hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits, and foxes first, during which the speaker stayed silent as they were an echidna and didn't want to get involved, and so by the time he came for the echidnas there was no one left to speak up for them. Of course, quite aside from the fact that this is completely disrespectful to the real-world situation that the actual poem describes, that's not even how the Robotnik coup went down. Robotnik, upon dethroning King Acorn, pretty clearly just started roboticizing all Mobians indiscriminately without regard to their individual species. Not only that, but he didn't even get a chance to start on the echidnas, as all of them were either contained in their pocket universe on the Floating Island, or hanging out in Albion, which it appears Robotnik never even knew existed. I don't know, the whole thing is clearly an attempt to seem really intellectual and deep on Penders' part, but it just comes off as insensitive instead.

Anyway, onto the actual story. We open in the house of High Councilor Pravda, who appears to be the main political leader of the city. In the dead of night, Pravda is awakened by a window smashing downstairs, and angrily stomps down to confront the intruder, believing it to be "dingo trash up to no good." Instead, he is dragged out of his house roughly by several Dark Legionnaires, while the leader, called Kommissar (her title, not her name), admonishes him for his apparent hypocrisy regarding his anti-technology stance.

Well, she seems lovely! As she has her people drag him away, we pan to Haven, where Knuckles is demanding answers from his grandfathers on his father's whereabouts. To his credit, Sabre is genuinely apologetic to Knuckles, believing that they should have been a lot more forthcoming with him a lot sooner, but Knuckles really isn't having it, and can you blame him?

As a side note, this is about the point in the comic where the eyes of characters such as Knuckles and Tails, formerly depicted as black pupils as in the classic games, start to gain some color. We already saw it with Tails a little while back during the Sand-Blasters two-parter, and it's very inconsistent between issues (for example, you'll notice his eyes are blue instead of purple up there), but you'll start to notice it in screenshots from here out before their designs finally stabilize to their modern forms, similar to their designs from the games.

While Knuckles continues to demand to see his father, we ourselves see Locke, who is dropping off Remington, Julie-Su, Lara-Le and Wynmacher back in Echidnaopolis. Remington asks him how things went with Lara-Le again, and Locke acts like he's all regretful that he couldn't woo Lara-Le back to him or something, which like, really man? You're divorced and haven't spoken properly in years, and she has a new fiancé now, did you really expect to just manage to sweep her off her feet again and get remarried? Julie-Su tries to approach Locke to thank him for saving the whole group, and finds herself recognizing his appearance somewhat. Upon asking, she's shocked to find out that he's Knuckles' father, and asks him about Knuckles' whereabouts. Remington ushers her away before they get a chance to speak further, probably to protect Locke's privacy, and as he jokes with her that it seems like she actually cares about Knuckles, Locke muses to himself that his son is likely furious with him, which, yeah, not far off there buddy. He has an idea of where his son might have gone, and as he speeds off in his air vehicle, we jump over to the Kommissar, who has by now dragged her captive all the way back to the Dark Legion's current hideout… and oh boy, inside we get to see a familiar f- …uhh… okay, well, I won't call him a familiar face, because we've never seen him looking quite this messed up before, but it's Dimitri, okay? It's Dimitri back on his BS.

Guess he had to have some, uh, extensive reconstructive surgery after his rather literal fall from grace. And unfortunately for everybody who doesn't want to be ruled over by a cyborg'd up monstrosity of a dictator, he's got a new takeover plan in mind for the city!

Back in the more civilized areas of Echidnaopolis, Remington is having his driver take Wynmacher and Lara-Le back to their apartment when they find the streets blocked by a protest from dingoes, agitating about their lack of housing and accommodations within the city. Remington tries to resolve the situation peacefully by requesting that if they must protest, to at least let traffic pass while they do, but at that moment a giant flaming fireball comes out of nowhere and starts wrecking the place, and the whole thing devolves into a big brawl between the protesting dingoes and the watching echidnas.

Remington calls Haven for backup, and while I'm not sure who exactly in that nest of grandpas he expected to go rushing out of there for something as simple as a protest gone wrong, luckily for him he mentions Lara-Le over the comm, and Knuckles immediately enlists Archimedes' help to poof him out there to help his mom. Meanwhile, we get to see that Locke has completely, thoroughly misjudged where Knuckles would be hanging out at this moment, having thought for whatever reason that he would be brooding inside the Chaos Chamber next to Mammoth Mogul's ugly frozen mug.

Now this is some well-appreciated character development from Locke. I've been heavily criticizing him this entire time for how he's handled his interaction, or lack thereof, with his son, and I'm glad to see that Lara-Le's admonishments seem to have gotten through to him. While he won't get a chance to catch up with his son right at the moment, at least we know the big talk isn't that far off in the future.

Knuckles and Archimedes poof into the fray on the streets, and Knuckles begins throwing punches at whoever gets close enough, which as everyone knows is the single best way to end a violent brawl - by participating! Despite being an echidna himself, he doesn't hesitate to throw punches at other echidnas in the bunch, with Archy adding some of his own fire breath into the mix. If anything, I'd say he accurately judged the situation, which is that the dingoes were peacefully demonstrating and it appears to have been an angry, racist echidna who threw the first molotov. General Von Stryker makes his entrance, and despite him predictably acting aggressive and blaming echidnakind in general for the dingoes' treatment, Knuckles actually agrees with him that the echidnas are being really crappy, and offers a truce so they can discuss what went wrong and how to resolve it. Meanwhile, back in hell - I mean, the Legion's hideout…

This is probably the single most disturbing page in the comic so far, if you ask me. This guy is begging, screaming, for mercy and they put him under like nothing's wrong and start doing surgery without his consent (obviously) on his brain. Dimitri, watching the proceedings, starts mwahaha'ing to himself about the whole affair, as apparently Pravda is the direct descendant of Menthor, the councilman who denied his and Edmund's proposal to use the Chaos Syphon all those centuries ago. He's determined not to get careless with his power again in the future, and now that he's defeated death by old age through the sheer power of adding more and more cybernetics to his failing frame every time something goes wrong, he's ready to get his long-due revenge.

In another part of the city, Knuckles and Archimedes poof right into the middle of the Chaotix, who are pleased to finally see him and hopefully get a chance to catch up. As he explains what was going on with the protest, Julie-Su arrives and gives him the "why" he was looking for, which is that, naturally, Pravda was kind of a racist ass and wasn't working very hard to ensure the dingoes would have housing built for them in a timely manner. However, elections for the position of High Councilor are coming up in a few days, and Pravda has ever-so-mysteriously been missing since the previous night, with his traumatized wife too messed up to be able to talk about what she saw. She slyly mentions when questioned that "a little birdie" gave her all this information, leading Vector to rather rudely blame her for "having friends in low places" and generally acting as distrustful of her as ever. Seriously, Vector's been kind of a jerk to her ever since she left the Legion, and you just know that situation is gonna come to a head sooner or later. But enough of them - let's head back to the Kommissar, who's having her people reenact Kristallnacht in the streets of Echidnaopolis! (Told you this arc is full of tasteless references to WWII…)

She reports in to Dimitri, who is pleased to hear about her progress on the senseless property damage and random citizens she's beating up for no reason. Like, the regime seems cacklingly evil enough to want to do this kind of stuff, sure, until you hear Dimitri's actual plan for takeover this time - he's implanted control chips into Pravda's brain, and is going to use him as a mouthpiece for the Legion's ideals in the upcoming election!

So, wait. You want to get your new mind-slave to cast your organization in a positive light, and at the same time you're having one of your main commanders go around smashing windows and beating people up in alleys? How is this master plan of yours supposed to work, exactly? That entire Kristallnacht page could be removed from the comic and not only would it not impact the story, it would make it make more sense than it currently does. I seriously think that it was only included to draw more parallels to the Nazi regime, because there's just no way it makes any real sense otherwise. Sigh, Penders. Why do you have to be like this?

[unovasrage]

black2 dialogue analysis / p1

start > castelia sewers

ASPERTIA CITY

Hyu: Hey! You get a pokémon yet? There aren't any pokémon Trainers around here, and I'm getting bored! What's that? ... A person named Bianca is giving you a pokémon? Really?!" Vera: When you get a pokemon take really, really good care of it, okay?

[ Hyu turns and simply stares at his sister. ]

Hyu: ... ... yeah. Alright. Come on. There’s something I have to do. And to do that, I need someone I can trust besides my partner Pokémon. A person I can trust! That's right! I'm talking about you!

Hyu is absolutely 100% blaming himself for seeing that Vera seems to feel she’s at fault for letting Purrloin get captured / that she couldn’t “take care” of her pokemon. B2 breaking Hyu’s heart from the very start like nobody’s business.

Hyu: You’re really lucky to get a pokémon! Once you get a pokémon, you leave on a journey right away. When you do that, I’m gonna have you help me out!

I’ll come back to these mentions of Hyu having protag support him later

Hyu: Let’s see how good a trainer you are! I’ll use my pokémon that I raised from an egg!

Hyu you okay buddy you literally just got that like 13 seconds ago

Hyu, first non-KO hit: I won’t forget the pain you just put my partner through! Hyu, defeated: I couldn’t achieve victory for my partner ... I won’t let myself forget this frustration! Hyu, after defeat: I lost ... this is different than battling with wild pokémon! Well, whatever. I’m just happy to know you’re a trainer I can count on! Cool. I’m heading off first! Get stronger!

Hyu is a pokémon empath evidence no.1 / he literally feels some of what pokémon he’s bonded to experience in battle. I’ll get to this in a different hc dump / dialogue analysis further down the line. He doesn’t realize at this point, though, and his big dumdum energy exists / he thinks it’s completely normal for trainers to be able to feel what their pokémon feel ( physically ) + understand their pokémon’s emotions with pinpoint accuracy

That said, he’s also using this pain to fuel his anger / his anger to fuel his determination and will to destroy Plasma.

ASPERTIA CITY > HYU’S HOUSE

Hyu’s Dad: To be honest, I don’t want my son to go on a journey. I mean, his goal is ... ... but there is no parent who doesn’t wish for their child to grow.

Hyu’s Mom: If Hyu loses his way on the path, or in life really, please help him, won’t you? He’s the kind of person who, well, who lets rage build inside him.

Hyu’s dad appears to be a retired black belt based solely on his attire. I’ll hc this later.

Hyu’s parents are 100% in the loop and in the know of how revenge-driven and angry Hyu is no matter how much he may have thought he was / successfully bottling up his anger aside from immediately flaring at the mere mention of Plasma or the raid on Aspertia. His parents have tried to dissuade him from the goal he set for himself / what he’s sworn he’ll dedicate his life to, yet they’re willing to support him regardless of his steadfast determination because he’s their son.

His father, at least, hopes that maybe if Hyu is allowed to complete this goal he’s set for himself, he’ll finally be able to move on -- he’ll finally be able to “grow”.

Meanwhile his mother knows her son, sees how stuck on revenge he is by the negative emotions (exclusively) he associates with Plasma, and how much of himself he’s putting into his promise to Vera. She can see how much getting revenge has completely and utterly consumed him to the point she worries he won’t have a path in life after he accomplishes his goal.

Lo and behold it is already canon on this blog that he was, and still is, lost now that he has no driving force for a goal in his life. So, Hyu’s mom, you weren’t wrong.

What his mother’s dialogue also shows is how well protag knows Hyu’s parents know protag / how much they know protag is a friend to her son because she’s basically entrusting her son to a neighborhood kid since she’s not going on the pokemon journey. It also indicates that if there’s one person that would be able to help Hyu on the path of life, and get to him through his anger / guilt / grief, it’s protag. 

FLOCCESY RANCH

Ranch Owner: Eh Herdier doesn’t normally wander off like this ... I’m sure he’ll come back soon. I’m just a little worried. Hyu: You’re “a little worried”? Are you KIDDING me?! Your pokémon might be lost forever! Whatever! I’ll look!

[ Hyu stomps off to look for the Herdier. ]

Ranch Owner: Jeez...

Alright Hyu is hot from the start, and immediately starts seething from the get-go because the owner is merely shrugging off the situation, which he’s acknowledged is odd. Although in a calmer frame of mind Hyu can acknowledge the trust in his pokemon / confidence he has Herdier will return, the switch in Hyu’s brain thinking about Plasma has already been flipped and that sort of acknowledgement isn’t going to happen. Hyu speaks snappily at the owner ( a grown ass adult, making Hyu himself seem like an ill-mannered, poor-tempered kid who’s angry for no reason ) because he has no reservations about full on yelling at an adult even though he’s just a teenager, and this illustrates that.

Hyu, searching for Herdier: Still, pokémon don’t just wander off on their own. In a worst-case scenario, it might be involved in some trouble!

Angry as he is at the dope of the Ranch Owner, you bet your everything Hyu is stressing internally and vowing he’ll literally exhaust himself to find this Herdier so that another person doesn’t have to suffer the same pain Vera did.

( Herdier returned, Ranch Owner basically just says “Thanks” )

Hyu: You’re awfully calm about this! Your pokémon might have been gone for good! Take better care of it!

[ Hyu stomps off, having quite literally triggered by the entire situation, and practically shaking with simultaneous anger and relief. ]

Ranch Owner: Hmm ... I wonder if something happened to him?

You can bet your ass Hyu was actually cussing @ the Ranch Owner, though this is a children’s game so ofc no swearing was written out.

Unfortunately through the course of getting his anger verbalized at the Owner, protag had to stand there awkwardly like when you go over to a friend’s house as a kid and they get in trouble with their parent and get disciplined right in front of you / would also have a pit in their stomach because they know.

Also who the fuck just asks “I wonder if something happened to him?” publicly / out loud / loud enough for someone obviously a friend to hear? That’s the equivalent of asking someone to their face “what is wrong with you?” Super rude and ouch how dare you but also I hate to admit the Ranch Owner wasn’t on to something.

ROUTE 20

Nothing of import.

VIRBANK CITY

Hyu: Shut it! You guys are the worst! You talk about saving pokémon, but you're just pokémon thieves! Don't think I'll ever forgive you! I'll crush you and your new plans! I can never forgive Team Plasma! Hyu, after defeating Plasma: Tsk! What a bunch of creeps! Hyu, getting ready for Castelia: I’m going to look for Team Plasma! I can’t forgive those guys!

Hyu undoubtedly calls Grunts every insult under the sun that he can possibly think of and string into words. He knows mere grunts aren’t the ones he needs to exhaust his anger / energy on, but he makes sure they feel his hatred nonetheless in any way he can manage. He can at least discriminate, however slightly, between Grunts and the people truly responsible for he / his family’s grief.

CASTELIA CITY

Hyu: That's a strange ship. A sailing ship in this day and age?

Hyu baby your dumdum energy is showing. Though I suppose even noticing that is being more observant / demonstrating greater intelligence than many people give you credit for.

Hyu: Did you find Team Plasma?! (If No): Augh! Those dirty pokémon theives! (If Yes): Uh ... thanks ... but you don’t need to lie to me just so I won’t be disappointed!

Hyu is fairly quick to pick up on lies / shorts of truth, even if they’re said with a straight face. This doesn’t mean he’s a human lie detector but he’s usually pretty good at it.

CASTELIA SEWERS

Hyu: I need you to get tougher! Even I'm going to have trouble taking them on all by myself ... Anyway, it's okay! I'll take care of healing our pokémon! I'm counting on you! Are you ready to go?

( if talked to ... )

Hyu, 1x: I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this, but I can’t forgive Team Plasma!

Immediately blaming himself for yet another person even having to experience Plasma.

Hyu, 2x: So this is the sewer ... well, it’s not as stinky as I expected. Hyu, 3x: Still ... pokémon live everywhere, don’t they? Hyu, 4x: If you don’t get strong, you can’t protect the things that are important to you!

This is a first allusion to how Hyu views himself as weak / not strong enough ( aside from the statement admitting even he might have trouble alone ) to protect what’s important to him, spurred first by being unable to protect Vera, her Purrloin, and by extension his grandfather.

Hyu, 5x+: Don’t worry about me! Let’s hurry and find Team Plasma!

[ Hyu approaches Plasma ]

Hyu: Hey! Team Plasma! You villains! ( ... ) Liberate? Ha! You’re just ordinary pokémon thieves! And what’s more, you use those stolen pokémon like they’re tools! Let’s do this!

Hyu is so set on defeating Plasma alone. He repeatedly tells the protag, “I need to be strong(er)”, “I need you to be strong so you can support me”, “I need you to be strong so you can have my back”, “Back me up, (name)!”. He perceives defeating plasma as a “me” task rather than an “us” in perspective of he and his childhood friend on an adventure. Even though he’s relying on protag for support, he’s not putting their responsibilities re: Plasma on the same ground as his own perceived responsibility.

Also when you enter Castelia’s sewers you’ll notice Hyu is waiting inside. You can bet your ass that he charged inside alone / didn’t think twice about waiting for protag but when he got in there he realized he couldn’t see shit, so he waited. This is why he said the “Even I might have trouble” bit earlier... he left it vague and open-ended intentionally. Throughout their time in the sewers, Hyu kept very close to protag.

[truthisgoldenau]

Character Bio: Pierce Graves

Born: January 1st, 1963

Race: Caucasian

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Tattoos: Full sleeve on his right arm, a mix of circuitry and gears and machine pieces. Matching set on his left leg.

Height: 6'0"

Personality: Can play at being nice when he wants, or if he genuinely is okay with the person he's talking to. Mostly an asshole, doesn't really give a shit about people.

The Graves lineage has been in Spring Valley for only a few generations, known as the family with icy eyes and chilled personalities. Henry Graves managed to escape that, gaining the ice blue eyes but not the abrasive personality his father was known for.

Pierce wasn't so lucky.

Born the very first day of 1963 to Henry and Jamie Graves, Pierce was quiet from the beginning. Jamie constantly worried something was wrong with him- grandfather Mortimer always assured her in his blunt way "He's fine it's a family thing".

He was also curious at a young age, constantly wandering off once he was old enough to walk and causing both his parents endless amounts of worry. He'd sit still when watching his grandfather fix things without an issue, and that gave Henry an idea.

When Pierce was about 4, Henry brought home a toy robot for him. Jamie was worried that the toy was beyond his age range and that he'd get hurt, but Henry assured her he'd be fine. It'd give him something to do that would maybe keep him occupied.

And it did- after awhile they had to keep putting the tools in the home out of reach so that Pierce wouldn't try to take the damn thing apart. He'd always stubbornly tell them he just wanted to know how it worked, and they'd respond "When you're a little older". That only held out for a year until even Mortimer told them to let the "damn kid" have the tools, "he's driving me nuts by asking me when he's over here".

By the time Pierce started kindergarten, he already knew how to read and write and take apart not only the toy robot but the small radio he had in his room. Kindergarten bored him; he wanted to be at home figuring out how things worked. He never really made friends, but he was fine without them.

At age 6 he discovered he had an unusual ability while fixing his toy robot, one that startled him but meant for a moment he seemed connected to the machine. He didn't know how to explain it and when his mom came running to the sound of him yelling in pain, he didn't tell her that anything had happened.

At age 9 he almost caused the same connection between his mom and a stove when he was startled while trying to steal cookies. Though he'd been practicing the ability, he hadn't known until then that he could use it on other people.

A better person would have not only kept it to themselves, but would have never used the power on anyone maliciously. A better person would have decided it was better to learn how not to use it as a reflex in bad situations.

Pierce Graves was not the better person.

He was a trouble maker, learning how to fight at a young age when the older kids in the neighborhood used to call him slow because he'd just quietly observe things. He got beat up a few times, to the point Jamie and Henry started to really worry for him. But he learned from these fights and one day after Pierce came home with a smug grin and only a few scratches, the parents of the boys showed up to complain about how badly their kids had been hurt. Pierce shrugged it off to say they deserved it.

The knowledge that he could connect other people to machines if he focused hard enough? It became his new secret weapon.

He could usually get away with using that power on someone for a few seconds to gain the upper hand- the connection wasn't without pain and it caused a distraction that could give him an opening. The other kids at school started whispering that he was some kind of evil creature. Pierce didn't care.

When Pierce was 11, his grandfather died of a sudden heart attack. It was the first time Pierce lost anyone, since the Graves family and Jamie's family weren't very large families to begin with and Jamie's parents were already gone to begin with. It was a bit of an emotional blow to Pierce- he'd expected his grandfather to always be around.

Pierce got into more fights in middle school, this time purposely trying to get bigger, tougher kids to throw hands with him. He got his ass kicked a lot, but eventually got exactly what he wanted. A test run to see how many individuals he could use his power on at once. It was 3 at first. Later he'd get more. But it was a good start.

By high school he was known for being incredibly smart, good with machines, and being a huge ass to everyone. He somehow beat up the leader of the school's "biker gang" which was really just a bunch of seniors with hand me down motorcycles who thought they were cool. This earned him a few friends, particularly when he figured out how to do some quick fixes for their bikes (which they usually paid him for).

He also got money for fixing things around the neighborhood he lived in. Word was if a machine was broken, Pierce could either fix it, stare at it long enough to figure out what was wrong with it and then fix it, or at least rig it in a way that it could then be taken to someone who actually could fix it.

At the age of 16 with all the money he'd saved, he decided he wanted tattoos. His "biker" buddies had graduated but he still wanted to look tough, and why not, it was his money, he could do what he wanted with it. His dad had told him he'd pay the other half of a used car if Pierce found one he wanted but Pierce didn't care if he had to ride the bus till he either graduated or dropped out. So he designed his own tattoo made of circuits and gears and other miscellaneous machine pieces, went to a somewhat seedy tattoo place in the main area of Spring Valley, lied about his age, and got a good portion of his design tattooed. The bus system to get back home to Summerton meant a long round about way where usually the trip would take an hour, and Pierce ended up misjudging exactly when he'd get home.

He got home late, to parents who had no idea he hadn't been at school, and who immediately realized their son had not only skipped school, but had gone into the city to get tattoos they didn't approve of. It nearly broke the family- Jamie was devastated at first, Henry was pissed, and Pierce kept defending it as his right to do what he wanted with his money. At a certain point he just decided he was done and left.

For 3 days.

It nearly drove his parents mad to not know where their son was, but it was a decision by both of them not to send anyone after him. Give him some space. They overreacted and it caused him to overreact.

So when Pierce showed back up they ended up having a civil conversation about it. It wasn't the complete fix that any of them really wanted but it was a temporary truce of sorts.

At least for awhile. Not too long after Pierce turned 17, Henry got a call at the dealership he worked at from jail. From a very sheepish sounding Pierce who had gotten arrested for stealing when he was supposed to be in school.

So Henry had to go bail him out because the last thing either of the two of them wanted was for Jamie to find out.

While Jamie never did find out about the whole thing (the shop owner ended up not pressing charges since everything was accounted for after the arrest), Henry had a talk with Pierce along the lines of "I know you're better than this. Can you please fucking try harder to be better than this. You're driving us crazy. If you can make it to your graduation next year without anymore bullshit, I'll buy you a motorcycle. Is that what you want? A bribe? Does that get through to you?"

Unsurprisingly it did. Pierce spent the next year and his half trying his damnedest to stay out of trouble. And trying to earn money through fixing things again. It was a bit of a welcome relief to his parents, and if Jamie seemed concerned about her son's change in attitude, she didn't voice it.

Pierce barely managed to graduate on time and true to his word Henry gifted him with 1981 Honda CB900F motorcycle in purple.

Pierce gifted them by moving out.

"I found an apartment out closer to town. And a job at that gimmicky mouse place with the robots. They might, MIGHT let me fix them. You guys deserve a break from me."

While neither of his parents wanted to say it to their son's face, it was a bit of a relief although a little bittersweet that so soon they'd be saying goodbye.

They helped him move into his new apartment, and Pierce started working as a dishwasher - at the newly opened Chuck E. Cheese.

(Pierce applied to two places with robots in the Spring Valley area when looking for work. One was Chuck E. Cheese, which had opened a year before. The other was a place called Fredbear's Diner, and he didn't even get an interview for that job.)

For 3 years he worked at Chuck E. Cheese. He only ever got to fix their animatronics once- corporate had their own technicians they sent out to maintain the mechanics, and didn't trust some kid who said he had tech experience. But their technician didn't show up one day and they desperately needed a fix, so the manager remembered that Pierce had mentioned mechanical experience on his resume and asked him to come up with something.

When the corporate technician was able to stop by to fully fix the animatronic, he said the temporary solution was enough to actually hold it over without a problem until it needed more extensive repairs.

In 1984, Pierce's only friend at the Chuck E. Cheese, his manager Janet shoved a newspaper ad in his face.

"That Fredbear's guy is hiring a mechanic. If you don't apply I'm firing your ass so that you have no choice but to apply."

It wouldn't even have taken the threat to make him do it. Though it wasn't talked about much at work because Fredbear's had been a rival business, it was well known in Spring Valley for being a friendly place to visit and work. The owner was apparently some rich guy, and if the rumors were true, he'd only closed Fredbear's when his parents died because they left him a ridiculous amount of money and he was planning to open an even bigger restaurant.

Pierce immediately applied for the job and desperately hoped he would get it this time. Or at least an interview. He didn't even mention to his parents that he was trying to get a job at a place where he could maybe work with animatronics on a regular basis out of fear of jinxing the whole damn thing.

So he nearly died when he actually got a call from Frederick Fazbear offering him an interview.

"Yeah I can make it that day, where at?"

"The new building, it's mostly done and all the animatronics are here so I'd like to show them off."

Of course that would be the day that Pierce barely made it out of work on time, didn't have time to change, and showed up to an interview for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in a Chuck E. Cheese work uniform.

Frederick Fazbear was a man of good humor though, and seemed unconcerned about the uniform, the tattoos ("are you kidding, why the hell would I judge tattoos, my wife keeps having to talk me out of getting more!") Or even the fact that he couldn't even say he'd ever worked on machines like this before. In fact, he was so laid back that Pierce was concerned that this man had successfully run a business, but he sure as hell seemed exactly like the 'rich guy who just wants to have fun with his money' person that everyone talked about.

Fred showed him the animatronics and told him "there's a few quick fixes some of these need at the moment, they might be new but some have loose joints and such that I'd have to fix anyways so see what you can do, I accidentally schedules another interview overlapping with yours so I'll be back when I'm done with that yeah?" And left him to it.

It wasn't even that difficult to fix everything that needed to be fixed, and he even found a few things he didn't expect Fred had even noticed. By the time Fred came back, Pierce had gotten as much as he could in working order. Fred seemed genuinely surprised, and said he'd call later in the week about the job.

A week never went by so slowly but just when Pierce was beginning to suspect Fred might have found someone who wasn't a 21 year old with no real experience fixing animatronics, he got the call saying he was hired as the mechanic for Freddy's.

In the remainder of 1984, Pierce ended up getting the go ahead to come up with a gimmick for the extra animatronic Fred had accidentally gotten, and the pieces for Foxy the Pirate fell into place, although the suit pieces would have to be commissioned and the programming set up. Not that Pierce didn't figure out how to program the things- he'd taken to reading everything about computer programming he could get his hands on in the last few years and knew enough to work from there.

There was one animatronic that Fred told him would not be in the line up by the time they opened. Spring Bonnie, one of his two originals from the diner, had been damaged heavily during the move because the moving company forgot to tie him down and the springlocks had malfunctioned and destroyed both the suit and the endoskeleton.

"Those springlocks were always finicky and we stopped wearing them as suits because they were too dangerous, I shoulda just had Henry take them out. The plan is to one day get this in working order again, but no rush."

(Henry Emily was the mechanic at Fredbear's, but turned down returning as mechanic for more animatronics to move back to Hurricane, Utah with his wife and kids.)

Freddy Fazbear's Pizza opened in December of 1984 with a huge crowd on opening day.

Foxy was introduced in the middle of 1985.

Pierce was the only mechanic for all the animatronics, keeping up with every problem both mechanical and computer wise, as well as fixing any of the arcade machines in the building when they were on the fritz. It wasn't for lack of trying that he remained the only mechanic either; there was nobody else that Fred checked out that he felt he could take a chance on.

Pierce thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing though even if the extra time he spent on Spring Bonnie meant he often lost track of time and worked till the very late hours of night on it. After an incident where someone tried to break into the place at night only for Pierce to scare the shit out of them, Fred hired a night guard to watch the place. It sure as shit didn't stop Pierce from working late and sleeping in the booths, but word got out that between the night guard, the "spooky" free roaming animatronics, and the mechanic who would definitely fight you, it wasn't worth it to break in.

It was by accident that Fred discovered Pierce had the powers he had. Mainly because Pierce found it easier to find and fix problems if he connected himself to the damn machine in the first place, and that didn't come without certain trade offs. Although the animatronics were certainly the most stable connections he'd found. Fred surprised him one by night by coming back to stay, learned about the power, and ... Shared that he also had the same abilities that he'd never learned how to use. Pierce promised to teach him how to use it because dear God, that was dangerous to not know how to use that power.

Despite the fact that Pierce was friendly with Fred, he never really got on those terms with anyone else. After all, he'd bullied the day guard Jeremy in high school (why pay for comics when you can steal them from the local adopted ginger kid, right?), one of their servers was a sweet little Christian woman who was so concerned about Pierce's salvation that he just straight up tried to ignore her, and the prize counter kid thought he was super punk but Pierce could see through the act. Not to mention they ended up getting in a fight at a poker game between employees and Pierce broke the kid's arm. Somehow nothing ever came of that except everyone just avoided him more.

In August 1987, 3 things happened.

Fred Fazbear and his wife became parents to their twin boys on the 8th.

Pierce came down with the flu between the 7th and the 14th.

And a different health and safety inspector came by than their usual cheerful fellow.

This inspector deemed Foxy the Pirate as a dangerous animatronic, stating that parent complaints called out the seemingly overly sharp teeth and hook as being a risk to children, since the animatronics were free to move among the crowds. Jeremy, in charge of taking her around for the day since both Fred and Pierce were gone and they had no official co-owner, tried to argue that the animatronics had never hurt any kids, that their mechanic had even rigged special motion sensors I them to make sure of this, and that no one had ever called Foxy too dangerous before, but this inspector wasn't having it.

She gave him a document stating that Foxy had to be off the floor by January 1st, 1988 at which time any modifications would have to be filed and inspected before the animatronic could return. She told him to relay the message to Fred that it was because of their safety record they were even being allowed to have the animatronic finish out the year.

Fred stopped by a few days later with his wife and boys in two to show them off, and Jeremy relayed the news then. Pierce still hadn't returned.

Fred told Jeremy he'd relay the news to Pierce; Pierce would only listen to him about this most likely.

As expected, the news didn't go over well. Pierce considered Foxy to be his- Fred always agreed to that. The fact that the Mangle wasn't too dangerous added to the bad mood the news put Pierce in, and Fred didn't want to argue with the man about it. He was tired from his newborn sons and had only come into the building to talk to Pierce.

"I can throw some modifications on him now, then when they come back in January we can skip all the bullshit and get him back out before he even has to stop being around!"

"Pierce, they have to do this a certain way-"

"Fuck that!"

"Goddammit Pierce, for five seconds just shut up! You're not to do anything regarding Foxy besides minor repairs until after the new year, do you understand?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I'm done arguing about this. If they say Foxy is a danger, it's a danger. I understand your point that we could get it out of the way, but the last thing I want to worry about it trying to get Foxy fixed. I already pay you too much overtime as it is to fix Spring Bonnie, the last thing I need is you fucking adding to the ungodly amount I pay you by coming up with fixes for Foxy."

"Oh, so first you thank me for pouring every ounce of spare time I can into your goddamn pet project but the moment mine needs to be fixed, suddenly I'm overpaid? Is that it?"

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"Sure you didn't. I've been working my ass off trying to get that fucker back up and running to the point that I never want to see that goddamn thing again but I still spend hours of my life trying to get it in working condition while fixing all your other goddamn animatronics, begging you for some goddamn help and the only guy you get is some spooky motherfucker who we had to fire within a week. And now you decide that I'm paid too much? Now you decide that me throwing in the extra effort isn't worth it? Would it be better if she'd found Freddy dangerous? Or Chica? Maybe we should go throw some springlocks on her, maybe then she'll shut down the whole damn place, AND I CAN FINALLY STOP COSTING YOU MONEY!"

"I've been trying to find help. No one has any experience. You don't realize how hard-"

"I didn't have any experience either, and yet you trusted me. At least, I thought you did. Apparently I was wrong."

And after that, the friendship between Fred and Pierce completely dissolved. Not that Pierce stopped doing his job, but every now and then, animatronics would seem just a little bit off. Or their joints would be a little bit loose. He still worked late but not that late and Sam the night guard told Fred that it no longer seemed like Pierce wanted to be there.

Between juggling his kids and his job, Fred kept figuring it would blow over.

Fred had to interact with him to tell him that Katherine O'Malley, one of their most well known regulars, had asked for the Foxy birthday show for her son Finn. It would be the last birthday show Foxy did, and seeing as it was for a regular, Fred wanted it to be special.

Pierce agreed to set up something special.

The real plan was to just... Mess with Fred a bit. Freak him out. Maybe scare him. Pierce had these interesting abilities to connect people to machines, and well, the animatronics were good anchors. You attach a person to an animatronic, the animatronic will act more human.

It wasn't like it was hard to slowly turn the AI levels down on the Toy animatronics, since they'd also be on stage that day. It wasn't like it was hard to have the Puppet set up more like an animatronic and less like just a jack in the box. It wasn't even hard to set up cues in the birthday show for these other entities to be nearby; it wouldn't even be unusual if he played his cards right.

Sure, Fred kept asking him about why the Toy animatronics seemed like they were less enthusiastic and slower to react. Sure, Damian the prize counter kid kept giving him odd looks when he went over to check his adjustments to the Puppet. Sure this whole idea was petty and might get him fired, but he kind of didn't care.

On November 13th, 1987 the entire plan was in motion. The show started without a hitch, as Pierce expected. And he was all set to finish off the set off when Foxy went through his preprogrammed routine to move closer to Finn.

Except that instead a smooth fluid step forward and kneeling down, the animatronic seemed to catch on something and fall.

In the split second pause before the screaming began, Pierce lost focus enough from the unplanned accident to go ahead with the rest of his plan, and not long after Finn started screaming on stage, it was echoed by more pained screams from the rest of the building, and the Toy animatronics appearing to freak out.

He meant to drop the connections. Foxy had just grievously harmed a child, something he hadn't expected, and his reaction was out of pure shock. He meant to drop the whole petty revenge scheme.

Until he the pain hit him and he realized his arm was very suddenly and surprisingly encased in gold. His leg the same, both leaking red from the gaps where the springlocks tightly locked into his limbs.

He somehow retreated into Parts and Services, trying to figure out what was happening, trying to reason this as not being real, when an equally gold hand came into his field of view.

"Need a hand?"

Spring Bonnie was awake. Spring Bonnie was alive. Spring Bonnie was offering to help him up.

This was real. Fred had retaliated. And he

Had no options.

He took the hand offered and disappeared. ("C'mon Springtrap, we have to leave." "My name is Spring Bonnie!". "You're a springlock death trap, so I'm calling you Springtrap.")

To everyone else, it appeared as if the loose board on stage at the Freddy's was intentionally set up by the mechanic to get back at his animatronic being deemed dangerous. He was the only suspect in their case, although no one was so sure what had been done to the kids beyond Finn. No one understood why an unfunctioning animatronic also disappeared.

And Fred never told a soul that he knew exactly what had happened.

And for the next 18 years, Pierce Graves was considered a missing person by society.