#and meanwhile they just sit there watching the carnage unfold

[empresskadia]

Have a Jinda

Halo: Reloaded - Foodie

In the lively hub of the UNSC’s mess hall, where the air buzzes with the chatter of marines and the clang of utensils against trays, a scene straight out of a comic book unfolds. Linda and Kelly, Spartans extraordinaire, are engaged in a feast that would have lesser mortals waving white flags in surrender. Their table, groaning under the weight of an absurd amount of food, looks like it’s hosting a banquet, not dinner for two.

Linda has temporarily traded her rifle for chopsticks, navigating through her ramen bowls with a focus that’s borderline comical. It’s as if each strand of noodle is an enemy combatant meeting its doom. Meanwhile, Kelly’s tackling her slices of stuffed-crust pizza like there’s a prize at the bottom. She’s all energy and enthusiasm, her laughter echoing off the mess hall walls as she stretches the cheese to ludicrous lengths, only to snap it off with a chomp that’s decidedly un-ladylike.

The aftermath of their culinary carnage is a sight to behold: empty milkshake glasses standing tall among the ruins of boneless chicken boxes, the cheeseburgers demolished to the point of being unrecognizable, save for a few stray bits of lettuce and the odd sesame seed looking lost and forlorn on the empty plates.

Across from this spectacle of Spartan appetite sits John, his own meal laughably modest in comparison. He’s got a solitary bowl of roast beef, looking tender and juicy, sure, but lonely on its bed of mashed potatoes. The gravy looks like it’s trying its best to make the meal seem more substantial, pooling around the meat in a valiant effort. His drink? A simple glass of milk, standing there like it’s lost.

Catching John’s slightly bewildered gaze, Kelly can’t help but tease, “John, you do realize you’re a Spartan, right? Not a finicky cat.”

Linda, with a rare break in her ramen-slurping marathon, chimes in with a grin. “Yeah, John. That’s not dinner, it’s an appetizer. What’s the main course? Air?”

John, unfazed by the ribbing, leans back, an amused smile playing on his lips. “Well, I like to think of it as strategic eating. While you two demolish the food supplies like it’s the eve of an apocalypse, I’m here, savoring the finer things. Quality over quantity, ladies.”

The banter flows as easily as the drinks in the mess hall, the kind of light-hearted teasing that comes from years of shared experiences and battles fought side by side. Linda and Kelly, undeterred by John’s jabs, dive back into their feast with a gusto that’s both admirable and slightly terrifying.

“Strategic eating, huh?” Kelly says between bites, “Watch me strategically demolish this next pizza slice.”

Linda, ever the competitor, shoots back, “Race you to the bottom of the ramen bowl?”

John just shakes his head, chuckling at the spectacle before him. The scene is absurd, a reminder of the strange normalcy they’ve carved out for themselves in a life that’s anything but.

John’s gaze is an unwavering beacon of focus, fixed solely on Linda. She, unaware of the intensity of his attention, is wholly engrossed in the artful demolition of her meal. Her movements are fluid, almost graceful, as she navigates through her feast with the precision of a seasoned warrior. It's a sight that, for John, never grows old; every little thing she does, every small gesture or fleeting expression, holds him captive.

Caught in his silent observation, he watches as she deftly twirls her utensils, her hands sure and steady. To him, there’s a kind of poetry in the way she eats, a captivating dance of strength and grace that speaks volumes of the woman she is—fierce, unapologetic, utterly mesmerizing.

Linda, sensing the weight of his stare, pauses mid-bite, her eyes flicking up to meet his. There’s a moment, charged and electric, as their gazes lock. “Hey, Chief,” Linda finally snaps, catching the tail end of his stare with a fork mid-air, paused like she's about to conduct an orchestra with a piece of grilled chicken. “You’ve got that look again. Like you’re trying to unravel the mysteries of the universe, but it’s just me stuffing my face.” she teases, her voice a playful lilt that belies the heat rising in her cheeks.

Without a word, John rises. The suddenness of his movement draws the attention of those nearby, a collective pause in the hum of conversation. In a few strides, he’s at her side, his hands gently but firmly lifting her from her seat in a bridal carry that’s as unexpected as it is smooth.

The room falls into a hushed anticipation, watching as he plants a kiss on her, passionate and deep, a public declaration that’s as bold as it is tender. It’s a moment out of time, the world around them blurring into insignificance. When he finally sets her back down, the look in his eyes speaks volumes, a silent promise that needs no words.

Returning to his seat, John picks up his utensil as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

Linda, on the other hand, is left utterly flabbergasted. Her usual composure is shattered, replaced by a flustered, bewildered state that’s as rare as it is endearing. Her face, a canvas of emotion, blooms with a heat that could rival the sun, her usual quick wit momentarily lost in the whirlwind of what just happened.

For a beat, the mess hall is eerily quiet, the collective breath of the audience held in suspense. Then, as if on cue, the space erupts into a cacophony of cheers and hoots, the Spartans and marines alike showing their approval in the most boisterous way possible.

Rubbing the back of her neck, Linda finally finds her voice, her words a mix of embarrassment and admiration. “Show-off,” she manages, though the warmth in her eyes and the quirk of her lips betray the affectionate undertone of her jest.

John, with that same undiminished smile, merely shrugs, a silent acknowledgment of the truth in her words. “Only for you,” he replies, his voice low but clear, a testament to the depth of his feelings, laid bare for all to see.

Stop dude this is so cute!! Also Kelly has me cracking up. The girls like to eat 🥺

AND I THOUGHT I POSTED THIS BUT IT WAS SITING IN MY DRAFTS. I’M SO SORRY

[asknerdizzy]

Sirens Call Arc 3/3

“Did you kill all of these people!?” Izzy exclaimed mortified at the scene before her. Haven herself had to looked away from Kerberos holding her hand up to her mouth.

“No f***ing sh** Sherlock. Did you figure that out all by yourself toots?” He drawled out, not at all fazed by the carnage he had created.

“Now if you a**hats could get out of my way. That would be fan-f***ing-tastic. Or would you like to join the lot of ‘em”

“That won’t be happening.” Shard glared having his stand [Another Way Out] put up a barrier that surrounded Kerberos.

With a smirk Kerberos looks up and down Shard humming to himself. “You’ll be fun. I’m Kerberos, and this is my little friend [Pink Party].” Setting down the Stand Bow to the ground. A pink looking stand with a muzzle appears behind Kerberos in the barrier. The Stand proceeds to rapidly claws at the barrier, soon tearing it to shreds.

Shard takes a step back shocked as Kerberos pounces at him. As he does this, [Pink Party] destroy/ the floor beneath the two of them. Having them fall to the next floor. Izzy scrambles over and grabs the bow, and tries to go after Shard. Ready to jump in after him, but she’s,stopped by Haven.

“Now that he’s distracted we can get the bow to a safe location.”

“But I can’t just sit here while Shard is fighting that man! I should back him up however I can.”

“I think Shard can take care of himself. Either way, you don’t know the situation enough to go jumping down there Willy nilly. You could get in the way, or worse, get hurt.

Izzy thought it over and reluctantly had to agree.

“Let’s go to the roof. It’ll be hard for anyone to try and get us from up there.”

Izzy looks over at the hole, and reluctantly follows Haven. Wishing the best for Shard.

———————————————————————

Meanwhile Shard and Kerberos land with a loud thud on top of a huge aquarium full of colorful exotic fish. A crack forming at the impact, but the glass is somehow still intact.

Kerberos is the first one to get up. He crouched down as he allows his Stand [Pink Party] to scratch him for a partial transformation.. His wolffish grin becoming more feral as his canines grew to fangs, his nails extending into claws, and his ears becoming more wolf like.

“C’mon it’s time to Party! Come at me!” Kerberos growls out as he goes in low to slash at Shard. A barrier blocks the assault. With Shard deftly dodging out of the way.

Kerberos goes to attack Shard again in a flurry of blows. Leaving Shard with many cuts and bruisers as he keeps dodging each attack with his stand until he had an opening to upper cut Kerberos in the face.

His head flings back and he tumbles backward. However the opening made way for Kerberos to badly cut Shards arm in the process.

By how things were going so far Shard wouldn’t win. It was time for a different plan. Looking down he saw the cracks in the aquarium. That could work…

“I hope you like fish!” Shard uses [Another Way Out] and his own fist to further crack the aquarium until it finally broke underneath them.

“SH**!” Kerberos curses as he falls, fully submerging into the aquarium, while Shard stands on top of a barrier to keep him out of the water.

Trying to swim back up Kerberos is blocked by multiple barriers. Angry gurgling and pounding ensue, as Kerberos keeps trying to get out of the water. His best bet was trying to break the glass on the sides or swim up, but he keeps getting bombarded by barriers. Making it impossible for him to do any substantial damage to escape.

After a few minutes Kerberos passes out much to Shards relief. He mulls over if he should save him, and ultimately decides to jump in and drag Kerberos out. He should have some information that could be useful to the SPW. First and foremost Shard puts anti-stand cuffs before he starts to preform CPR on the man. Coughing out water Kerberos becomes alert for a moment, but passes right back with a swift karate chop from Shard to the neck.

Shard slumps over wet and exhausted on a nearby table. He used some of his coat to wrap around the worst of his wounds as he caught his breath.

“Wait…Am I forgetting something? Sh** I left Izzy alone!”

He shoots back up with new vigor running back to the theater floor where he last saw her.

———————————————————————

Izzy and Haven make it up to the roof without any trouble. “Okay give me a moment I have to call the SPW for some backup.” Izzy readjusts the bow in her grip as she pulls out a portable phone. After a few back and forth Izzy hangs up.

“They should be here any minute now. All we got to do is wait up here.”

“I-mmh-this may be unprofessional of me, but can we do a victory hug. This is my first mission and it being a successful and all….” She trails off bashful about her request.

“It’s totally fine! Come here.” Izzy pulls the taller woman into a big hug.

“It’s too bad that I have to do this.” Haven says as she brings out a dagger tipped with paralysis venom, plunging it into Izzy’s back. “We could have been such good friends, but you just had to commit the deadly sin of getting in my way.” Havens voice becomes intertwined with a deep masculine voice. As they push the dagger deeper into the paralyzed Izzy. They stab her again and again in multiple areas to make sure that she couldn’t do anything, and pushes her to the ground.

Everything was happening so fast she couldn’t react. Izzy coughed up blood, and found herself unable to summon her Stand. Internally she was panicking, and starting to get woozy from the loss of blood. She looks up at Haven trying to figure out what was happening. If she had to guess, it appeared as if there were two separate beings in front of her, but using the same body in harmony.

How could she have been so stupid to be tricked like this so easily.

“You should really consider not using code words. I just had to torture one of your members for it and you completely trusted me. Though I think it helps that I’m such a good actor.” They say more so to themselves, as they yank the bow out of Izzy’s hands. “Now I think I’ll be taking this.”

———————————————————————

Ardram finally arrives at the casino running inside. As he’s running he fetches the watch inside his coat, and opens it revealing a tiny bunny Stand inside. “Okay where is she!?”

“Noneedtobesorude. She’sotheroof.” [Out Of Touch] blurts out rapidly. Ardram clamps the watch shut, putting it back into his pocket. He full on sprints up, pushing whatever gets in his way to the side

Once he reaches the roof he found horrible scene unfolding before his eyes. A passed out Izzy lying in a pool of her own blood, and a blond haired individual, with a flickering being next to them. It wasn’t a Stand, but he couldn’t care less at that moment as he saw the blond standing over Izzy about to plunge a dagger into her chest.

Immediately Ardram uses [Fools Gold] to have a gold spike come up and try to impale the offending individual. They dodge at the last moment and look over at Ardram with a smirk.

“I think that’s our cue to leave.”

“Oh no you f***ing don’t.” Ardram yells with a look of pure unbridled rage on his face. As gold starts to cover the roof.

“Oh, I think I will.” They say as they go over to the ledge of the roof. “You could one, fight me right now, but she’ll certainly bleed out to death before our spar ends. Or two, you could ignore me and get her to a doctor. In the hopes that she’ll live. I think we both know which choice you’re going to make.”

Ardram just grits his teeth as he runs over and gently picks up Izzy. “I’m going to f***ing kill you once I see you again.”

“Oh do try. It’ll be a futile effort though.” With that Haven jumps off the building. Shadows enveloping them into darkness. Leaving no trace of them ever being there or the Stand Bow.

Ardram runs down holding Izzy’s body close to his own. He could still hear and feel her heart beat, and she was still warm to the touch. She could make it. She will make it.

He finds Shard when he running over to him looking quite pale , but looks even paler once he sees the horrible state Izzy is in. Ardram reluctantly hands her over to Shard with an unreadable expression on his face. “Heal her.”

Shard summons his Stand trying to stabilize her enough for when the paramedics would arrive. Ardram had to walk out for a moment to collect himself. He wasn’t much help when it came to trying to keep people alive, unless he made them undead. He found himself in the theater where the auction happened

Ariel stirs, and opens her eyes to see Ardram. She knew who he was from the debriefing her boss gave her, and by the look on his face the plan worked. She grins wanting to gloat their victory to the vampires face, “Looks like the boss’s plan worked. Is the pint sized b**** dead, or is it that masked freak? Hopefully both of em are rotting.” She cruelly laughs.

Without a word a gold spike erupts and pierces Ariels skull. Killing her instantly. “Oops, my hand slipped.” He numbly states, not even sparring a glance at the woman. He leaves the room once he hears the sound of sirens and rapid footsteps approaching.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 272: (Directed by Michael Bay)

Previously on BnHA: The My Child Soldiers Academia arc finally started to live up to its name as Tokoyami became the first (but I assure you not the last) victim of traumatic mental scarring courtesy of Horikoshi’s sick games! So he and Dark Shadow showed up to stop Dabi from murdering Hawks and were all “please don’t kill our mentor.” Dabi was all “AH BUT YOUR MENTOR KILLED SOMEONE ELSE, AND ISN’T THAT JUST LIKE THE HEROES THOUGH, THEIR HANDS ARE SO STAINED WITH BLOOD” and then he tried to set both of them on fire several times in succession. Hawks was all “Tokoyami just run away while he’s in the middle of his five-hour sermon” and so they tried but Dabi followed them! But then Geten was all “ALL RIGHT EVERYONE... CHILL” and fucking froze everything for no discernible reason, and Tokoyami fled the building with an unconscious Hawks in tow as the battle raged on. The chapter then ended with Gigantomachia being all “I smell my master!” and standing up, hahaha oh fuck.

Today on BnHA: Well you guys are not going to believe this, but it turns out that Tomura waking up is actually a very bad thing. A “worst case scenario” if you will! Because, get this, he has a quirk that can destroy anything, which spreads from whatever he touches to fucking everything and everywhere else. Gosh, if only we’d known about this since like 35 chapters ago. If only we’d had a spy among the villains who could have warned us, and three entire months to plan our attack, and literally every single hero in Japan on call to help us when the time came. Anyway so you’re really going to be shocked by this I’m telling you, but it turns out that when a crazy powerful person who wants to destroy everything finally wakes up, he immediately starts destroying everything with his crazy power. So X-Less dies and Crust dies and everyone else runs, and meanwhile the kids, who are on the outskirts of the city finishing up the evacuation, stand there in shock as the plot rampages toward them ready to swallow them whole. The chapter ends with Deku powering up to FORTY-FIVE PERCENT YEAHHHHH, and oh shit. Finally we’re doing this.

I am not even remotely done with all the shit I’m supposed to be finishing up, but fuck it, I need a break and reading the new chapter is by far the funnest thing on my current to-do list, so!

OH SNAPS MY BOY HAS FINALLY OPENED HIS EYES

IT ONLY TOOK HIM... OKAY LOOK I’M NOT GOING TO GO BACK AND COUNT ALL OF THE CHAPTERS, BUT LET’S SAY... FIFTEEN. ...HUNDRED. CHAPTERS TO FINALLY SNAP TO IT AND COME JOIN THE PARTY. BUT IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT! PROBABLY. AHH LET’S JUST READ ON

-- ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohm --

[puts on glasses and unfolds map while poring through a mess of scribbles on post-it notes] -- hold up, if my calculations are correct, I’m pretty sure “somewhere a bit further from the hospital” is, in fact, where a certain THREE TROUBLE-PRONE DISASTERS ARE CURRENTLY HOLED UP. AHHH

can it really be true. are we finally rejoining our protagonist and his buddy cop friends after 97 years. how will everyone react to Deku reacting to Tomura waking up ahhhh

so Burnin’ is yelling at the civilians to let them know if they have any family or friends who need assistance evacuating

god I hate the fact that this is a fucking understatement

they’re not taking any chances after Kamino and Fukuoka huh. fool them once, shame on you. fool them twice, oh shit. but there will not be a third time! no one fucking destroys three cities in the span of six months on their watch, no sirree

(ETA: ...)

lol the kids are trying to get the elderly citizens on a bus to evacuate, but a lady is trying to give them candy and Kacchan and Ochako are of two different minds on whether or not to accept

Kacchan is absolutely right about Ochako’s motivations, but in her defense, who the fuck turns down free chocolate

IIDA!!

FUCKING CHRIST JAPAN IT’S 200 YEARS IN THE FUTURE AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T SWITCHED TO DIGITAL RECORD-KEEPING? WHY IS THIS THE MOST REALISTIC THING IN THE ENTIRE MANGA TO DATE. MY GOOD SIR, IIDA IS LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH, ALL RECORDS AND BUILDINGS ABSOLUTELY CAN AND WILL BE COMPLETELY OBLITERATED IN THE CARNAGE TO COME. I’M SORRY TO BE THE ONE TO INFORM YOU OF THIS, BUT DAMN IT SOMEONE HAS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

(ETA: I sure hope these poor bastards had good insurance.)

also. this man here who looks like Beaker from the Muppets, who presumably has the power of Doing Anything Those Wacky Flailing Inflatable Tube Men That You See Outside Of Car Dealerships Can Do. ...yes. that’s it. that’s an intentionally incomplete sentence with a subject but no predicate. I just feel like we should all sit and stare at him for a good thirty more seconds before continuing on with our lives

OH MY GOD

THEY’RE EVACUATING THE PETS TOO AHHHH. EXCUSE ME CERTAIN SOMEONES WHO THINK ALL HEROES ARE “DIRTY.” I SEE YOUR ARGUMENTS AND RAISE YOU THIS ONE SINGLE PANEL. YEAH THAT’S RIGHT. NOW WHAT DABI. AT A LOSS FOR WORDS I SEE. YOU JUST SIT AND PONDER THAT FOR A WHILE

is... this... a space shuttle man

is this literally just a man with a Boeing for a head. FUCKING QUIRKS THOUGH!!!!! ~*~wild~*~

OH MY GOD AND WE’RE BACK

time for some HORCRUX SHENANIGANS!! IS YOUR LIGHTNING BOLT SCAR BURNING DEKU. I CAN’T BELIEVE HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED IS BACK AHHHH

so now he’s slightly hunching forward with his hands pressed together and Todoroki is immediately sensing that something is wrong ahhhhh

(ETA from like 5 days later: I had that as “Tokoyami” instead of “Todoroki” for the better part of a solid week you guys. SHOUTO YOU WERE GONE FOR SO LONG I FORGOT YOUR FUCKING NAME whoop.)

here come dat angst. here comes Horikoshi’s hand beckoning the trio closer and welcoming them to the pain parade ahhh. from now on that’s how I’m ending all my sentences btw. it just seems right. ahhh

OH MY LORD OH MY

ladies and gentlemen, YOU WERE SAYING DEKU DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT LATELY? HE’S NOT INTERESTING ENOUGH AS A PROTAGONIST, IS HE? well maybe that’s because Horikoshi has been saving this one juiciest of plot nuggets for a rainy day precisely like this! BRING ON THAT CHOSEN ONE ANGST AHHHHH

anyway so yes it is indeed OFA speaking to him in the form of Lil Bro a.k.a. the first user

lol I’m trying to think of commentary but it’s difficult seeing as I’M ALREADY SCROLLING DOWN TO IMPATIENTLY READ THE NEXT PAGE

lmao the fuck

okay Princess Zelda. can you get any more flowery with those descriptions though. A TRANSCENDENT BEING. A SUPERLATIVE ENTITY. A SUBLIME, PREEMINENT ORGANISM. FREED FROM ITS SHACKLES. UNFETTERED BY ALL EARTHLY LIMITATIONS

OH MY GOD

it absolutely boggles my mind that this guy is somehow still alive. ??! how many chapters and panels has it been now. he’s like the goat in the t-rex pen in fucking Jurassic Park. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET EATEN ALREADY

...

do you... want a blanket. ...?

(ETA: do you ever just. wake up and you’re like “ah shit it’s cold”, and then you destroy an entire city. mm.)

do you all suppose X-Less is fully aware that he’s about to die though? he hasn’t even moved. I imagine that sitting next to Tomura actually is much like sitting next to a giant t-rex. like he has to know there is no getting out of this alive. poor guy

damn Mic isn’t even looking back he’s just running back into the main room where all the rest of them are

wow this fight is still going on

I don’t know why, I just expected it to all magically be over all of a sudden now that we have bigger things to worry about. do you guys remember when we were all worried about the High End Noumus being the biggest threat. hahahahaha

(ETA: moment of silence for ALL OF THE FUCKING HIGH ENDS lmao. that did not go how I expected that plotline to go AT ALL, but at least we got the best fucking battle in the entire manga out of it.)

jesus CHRIST ENOUGH WITH THIS

WE GET IT TOMURA IS DANGEROUS AND SCARY AND EVIL AND AWAKE!!! JUST PLEASE GET TO IT ALREADY GOD I’M BEGGING YOU

FINALLY

goddammit. my reaction to this should have been much more “!!!” and “OH SHIT”, but he dragged it out so much that my initial reaction was one more of relief than horror. maybe it’s because of the way I read the chapters, constantly pausing to do commentary as I go along, but whenever a chapter has a ton of panels of people just staring into the distance awash with dread, it really stands out to me lol. there’s only so much I can write about that kind of thing. ah well at least we’re finally getting to the action

I genuinely can’t tell if Ujiko is frightened that he’s about to be disintegrated by Tomura’s quirk, or excited that Tomura is awake

maybe both lol. well don’t worry you’re not gonna die that easily, much as you would not catch me complaining if you did

thanks Gran

lol where was all this speed throughout the rest of this arc though. “we’re only competent when the plot necessitates it” huh. is that right

oh shit it’s destroying the rest of the lab

those are all of Ujiko’s collected quirks, right? someone please tell me if this is a good or a bad thing. on the one hand if they’re all destroyed it means Tomura can’t get them and Ujiko can’t make any more Noumus. but on the other hand this means they won’t ever be able to give them back to the original users (if any of them are even still alive). and also that’s a lot of evidence that’s being wiped out as well

oh shit they didn’t know about this?!

even after Deika City, you didn’t put two and two together?? even with all of Hawk’s intel?? what the hell did you think happened there?

well this explains why everyone was so la-dee-da-no-rush about capturing him though. well that’s on you guys. next time maybe don’t waste 20 minutes uselessly battling redshirt Noumus while Mirko has to do everything herself

anyway so I feel like people other than X-Less are almost certainly going to die here, and fuck. I’m not ready for any of this

AHH THE KIDS

BIT SLOW ON THE UPTAKE THERE KACCHAN LOL. FOR A MOMENT YOU HAD ME WORRIED THERE WAS SOMEHOW A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THREAT APPROACHING FROM THE OTHER SIDE, BEFORE YOU TURNED AROUND TO LOOK WHERE THE OTHERS WERE LOOKING

ALSO JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT SHOUTO’S DAD IS IN THAT HOSPITAL, ALONG WITH THEIR TEACHER! HERE. COME. DAT. ANGST

LOOK AT THIS CONSPICUOUSLY INTACT BUILDING AS IT STANDS THERE ALL OMINOUSLY WITH THE NEARBY BIRDS AND CRITTERS FRANTICALLY FLYING AWAY

I want to see it crumble so bad. now this is the kind of foreboding cinematic disaster movie bullshit I can get into

FFFF WHY IS THIS PANEL SO HARD TO SEE

THERE’S TOO MUCH CHAOS AND TOO MANY PEOPLE LOST AMIDST ALL THESE SHATTERING AND FALLING TUBES, BUT I NEED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS SAFE AHHH

...okay so I see Ryuukyuu in the top right, and I think that’s RockLockRock on her back. Thirteen is clearly there in the bottom center, but I don’t know who that is next to them. and then of course Gran and Mic on the left. and a bunch of others spread out in various other places, but... where the hell is Aizawa??

OH THANK GOD

FUCK YOU HORIKOSHI, I KNOW FULL WELL YOU’RE NOT JUST GOING TO KILL OFF THE WORLD’S PREEMINENT DAD STRAIGHT UP OUT OF THE BLUE HERE, AND YET I STILL FELT ANXIETY AT THIS LAST PANEL. HOW DID YOU EVEN

BITCH YOU BETTER LET THE FUCK GO BEFORE I --

!!!

oh my god I gasped in real life. stop making me fear for the lives of main characters!!

he. he --. crust. he. ...

I literally stopped reading and had to stop and cover my mouth with both of my hands I’m

silence. no screaming. no flailing. no freaking out. just silence

shit. rest in peace you old sedimentary bastard. respect to you for saving the father of my children in your last fleeting moments. I still have not the slightest idea how you rose through the ranks to somehow become the sixth fucking highest rated hero (HERO BILLBOARD CHART, IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT. ARE YOU FEELING OKAY), but you sure did go out with style though

also this may be tacky of me to point out during such an emotionally charged moment, but one second Aizawa is wearing his goggles like normal, and the next they’re suddenly pushed up onto his forehead so we can see the anguish in his bloodshot eyes. there was no reason to do that other than angst and we all know it. so yes Shouta you dramatic bitch, I am calling you out. why Horikoshi felt he had to add to your many accumulated traumas is beyond me. you don’t deserve this and I am so, so sorry

OH GOOD I WAS JUST ABOUT TO ASK WHERE THE FUCK ENDEAVOR WAS

seeing as we just went over this with Gran, I will take the high road here and won’t ask why you’re only this fast now and couldn’t have been this useful this ages ago back before Tomura woke up. oh wait does sarcastically saying I won’t bring it up count as bringing it up. well whatever. middle road, then

sob I’m getting flashbacks to the end of Return of the Jedi when they’re all frantically flying out of the Death Star as it explodes

friendly reminder that Ryuukyuu, clearly the fastest one here despite carrying like 20 people, was number 10 in the rankings for some unknown reason. again, r.i.p. Crust you well-meaning geriatric soul

also just a stray thought, I hope it’s clear now why it was so important to give Deku those additional quirks. at a minimum he needs Blackwhip and Float just so he doesn’t instantly die the moment he’s in Tomura’s general vicinity. sob I’ve joked so much about flying quirks and here they are becoming fucking prerequisites now

anyway so Ujiko is mourning the loss of his lab, which again, good riddance mostly. but r.i.p. that evidence though

(ETA: nah the “total loss” part is referring to how the heroes fucked up so soundly and thoroughly. anyway no one would blame Mic if he accidentally dropped Ujiko in the midst of all this chaos, I’m just saying. I guess they need any intel he could still provide now more than ever though.)

OH MY GOD!!

LAUNDRY HERO WASH?! THIS SUDSY BOI CAN ACTUALLY KICK ASS WHAAAAT

oh my god oh my god it’s still spreading??!

fuck fuck fuck at this rate it’ll reach the kids

(ETA: that happened really fast actually.)

-- oh FUCK NO you had better NOT FUCKING TOUCH FUCKING PIXIE BOB, I WILL MAIL MYSELF TO JAPAN PANDEMIC OR NO PANDEMIC. DO YOU NOT SEE THE SIGN THAT SAYS “OFF-LIMITS.” RESPECT THE SIGN

SOB SHE’S SO BADASS BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S STILL DISINTEGRATING FUCCCCCK. FUCK MY LIFE, FUCK EVERYTHING

AHHHHH

I can’t tell if her earthbending was able to stop it or not?? god help us all if it didn’t, I’m not even sure what else could stop it at this point

SHUT UP UJIKO!!

they really did. only to fuck it up completely at the finish line. well, the man most singularly responsible for it is dead now, again r.i.p. Crust you useless old legend

lmao despite myself

“by a miracle, or maybe through sheer will” even he acknowledges that Tomura waking up was basically complete bullshit. yes blah blah yadda yadda got zapped by some exposed wires explanation science. because we all know that getting electrocuted will fix you right up when your heart has stopped and you have completely flatlined. you can definitely trust Horikoshi on this and there’s absolutely no need to google how defibrillators actually work

also is he somehow wearing a cape now. again by a miracle or maybe through sheer will

YESSSSSSS

(ETA: one has to wonder what Ujiko’s plan was, assuming this scheme had actually played out. were they just banking on Tomura not waking up cranky and disoriented and wanting to test out his power. his quirk doesn’t exactly distinguish friend from foe here I’m just saying.)

the part of me that goes all “ooh ahh” when all the buildings explode in Independence Day is singing inside. but never fear, the rest of me is appropriately horrified though. what was that Burnin’ was saying about the city becoming a large-scale battle zone? sob

also this page sure serves as a nice refresher for exactly why Tomura Waking Up Was Bad, which was inexplicably a topic of some debate in recent weeks. yes in spite of everything the villains are still the bad guys who’d have thought. almost as if the purpose of humanizing a character is to show that they’re human, not that they’re right

WHAT’S THIS NOW???

WELL I’LL BE. IT’S BEEN AN EVENTFUL THREE MONTHS, APPARENTLY!??

HOOAHHHHHHHH

IT’S A BIRD IT’S A PLANE IT’S A BADASS OH SHIIIIITTTTTT

finally finally finally!!!!!!

THE SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN, REPEAT, THE SHIT HAS HIT THE PROVERBIAL FAN. THE PLOT IS FINALLY HAPPENING, REPEAT, THE PLOT IS FINALLY FUCKING HAPPENING AHHHHHH

and there is no one coming to save them this time. no one to arrive at the last second and say “it’s all right now because I am here.” they have to save themselves. they have to save everyone. the training wheels are finally coming off. the safety net has been removed. after 272 chapters, the story has finally reached a point where these kids, these children, who in spite of all they’ve been through have been protected and shielded from the worst of it up till now, will finally have to be the ones to save the day all on their own

and they are not ready. but also maybe they kind of are??! but they definitely are not. and oh god oh god oh god, FINALLY WE’RE REALLY DOING THIS. TIME TO FIX THE MESS THOSE SILLY GROWN-UPS MADE, CHILDREN. YOU GOT THIS

[tahnex]

Road to Graduation Chapter 2

Chapter 2 time! I’m going to try (emphasis on TRY) to upload these chapters once a week, probably on a Saturday, but it depends on what the best day to post the chapters are as to when it’ll come out.

“Penny?! What are you doing here?” Ruby jumped with surprise; weariness completely forgotten. Everyone else, whilst not as quick to forget the tiredness seeping through their bones, was equally surprised.

 Penny saluted and grinned from ear to ear, “I’m on a top-secret mission from General Schnee and Professor Goodwitch.”

 Everyone turned to look at Professor Goodwitch. She rolled her eyes and glared over her glasses at the seven teenagers before her, “Miss Rose, you and your teammates can return to your previous dorm to reacquaint yourselves. Miss Polendina, Mr Arc, Miss Valkyrie, and Mr Ren can follow me. We have several things to discuss.” Turning on her heel she marched through the doors. Penny smiled, waved at Ruby and then followed her. Team JNR sighed as one, before following after the two polar opposites.

 Yang waited for Professor Goodwitch to be completely gone before muttering “Guess she’s in more of a witch mood.” Ruby stared at her, Weiss shook her head, and Blake placed a hand on Yang’s shoulder comfortingly. “Okay, okay, so it wasn’t the best in the world but I’m out of practice.”

 “Let’s just go back to our room and get some breakfast.” The four of them started walking to their old room, but at Weiss’ words Ruby looked up eyes wide, “No you cannot have Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes for breakfast, they’re hideously unhealthy.” Ruby’s face fell.

 “Please Weiss? I haven’t had them in months!” Ruby begged, looking at Weiss with big silver eyes, her bottom lip sticking out slightly. Walking a couple of steps behind the pair, Blake gave Yang a knowing look and held up two fingers, whilst Yang held up one, the pair of them betting on how long it would take Ruby to convince Weiss to let her the sugary coated cereal for breakfast.

 “No, they’re drenched in sugar and the last thing I need is you bouncing off the walls” Weiss’ voice was still quite strong but Ruby sensed weakness and moved closer, bending her knees slightly to put her below Weiss’ eyeline and looked up at her.

 “Pretty please? I promise not to eat them again for aaaaaages…” Ruby quivered her bottom lip after she finished talking.

 Weiss looked into Ruby’s eyes for a moment, taking in everything about her, before “…F-fine.” She caved into Ruby’s puppy dog eyes, knowing she could never hold out against her partner for long.

 “Yay! Thank you Weiss, you’re the best partner ever!” Ruby jumped in the air punching her fist, before hugging the smaller girl next to her.

 “G-get off me you dolt! And it’s the last time you get them until at least Christmas!” Weiss tried to scold her partner, but Ruby was too happy to really take notice of her.

 Yang grinned at Blake “I win that one, Ruby hasn’t pulled the puppy dog eyes out in a whiiiiiile.” Blake rolled her eyes and smiled as the four of them walked down the hallways and finally arrived back at their old dorm room. They all looked to Ruby and motioned that she should be the first to go through. Smiling, she pushed their door open and found the room, not exactly how they’d left it.

 “Where are the bunk beds?!” Ruby cried stopping in the doorway.

 “Pretty much the whole school got taken over by Grimm, did you REALLY think everything was going to be exactly the same as it was when we left?” Weiss sighed as she walked around Ruby and leant her case up against one of the beds.

 “Awwww” Ruby’s face was crestfallen as she dragged her feet across the floor and sat down heavily on the bed next to Weiss’.

 Blake spoke up as she moved her case up against the wall, “We could always make it how it used to be?”

 “N-“

 “Yes! That’s exactly what we’ll do!” Ruby jumped in before Weiss could object, only for a loud and long gurgle to come from her stomach and Ruby’s cheeks to go pink. “…After breakfast?”

 Even Weiss couldn’t keep a straight face once Ruby’s stomach began to growl and the others started chuckling before the four headed down to breakfast in the hall. As it was a week before school was due to start back up again, they were the only four in the hall, and after getting their food and sitting at a table, they glanced around a little sheepishly, feeling out of place in the giant room. Yang was quiet the whole time, and under the table Blake slipped her hand onto Yang’s leg and gave it a quick squeeze, letting her know she was next to her. Yang breathed out slowly and heavily before smiling sadly back at Blake and starting to eat her breakfast, whilst opposite them Weiss and Ruby had noticed the short exchange of glances and smiles but left the two partners to it. Ruby looked down and took the first spoonful of Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes from the bowl and put it in her mouth. Eyes glazing over, she thought there was nothing that would ever taste this sweet, nothing could ever taste so good (other than chocolate chip cookies and milk of course!), but for breakfast? This. Was. Heaven.

 Yang burst out laughing as Ruby started to wolf down the cereal as fast as her arms would move, splattering milk all around and Weiss immediately started berating the redhead to be more careful or else she’d choke. Blake smiled and started to chuckle as well, laughing even more when Ruby tried to apologise to Weiss with a mouth full of cereal, nearly causing Yang to fall off her seat she was laughing so hard.

 Having finished their breakfast (with Ruby managing to get through three bowls of cereal before Weiss could stop her), the four girls headed back to their dorm, Ruby speeding off ahead of them, leaving petals in her wake. “Bet Goodwitch forgot about that side effect of having us back” Yang chuckled as she strolled leisurely along, arms behind her head, Blake beside her and Weiss slightly in front of the two. Ruby suddenly appeared again, skidding to a halt.

 “Comeonyouguys! Whyareyousoslow? Letshurryitup!” The words shot out of her mouth almost too quick to catch before she turned and was gone again.

 Weiss sighed heavily. Why did I give in to that excitable idiot so quickly? This is going to be a disaster. I really need to stop letting her convince me. But she just looked so...She shook her head vigorously. No. Not the time for those thoughts.

 “Come on you two, if we don’t hurry up she’ll probably try to make the bunk beds by herself.” Weiss started to jog after Ruby only for the red tornado to come back, barely screech to a stop in front of her, grab her hand and, with hardly a chance for Weiss to say “Ruby, wait...” the pair were both off, a swirling red and white blur around the corner.

 Yang looked to Blake and smirked, “Now that those two are gone, shall we actually hurry up or just continue to take a slow walk back?”

 “We probably should hurry up, or else Ruby will try to make the bunk beds all on top of one another”

 Yang pouted, “Awww no fair, I wanted to take a nice long walk around campus before going back...” She ruined the pout by grinning wildly at the end.

 Blake felt something in her stomach flutter, “On your own...or with me?” She asked looking at the floor, not sure why she was so nervous to ask.

 “Obviously with you! There’s no one else I’d want to go with,” Yang replied immediately before realising what she’d said, “O-of course that’s if you’d want to do that with me.”

 Blake brushed a bit of hair off her face and murmured “Yes. I‘d like that.” She smiled shyly at Yang, trying to keep the butterflies in her stomach from overwhelming her completely. “But we should probably go rescue Weiss from your sister.”

 Yang rubbed the back of her head with one hand, not looking Blake in the eye, “Yeah…yeah I guess we should catch them up.” The rest of their walk was mostly silent but neither of them minded, each content to just be in the other’s company.

 A couple of doors away from their room they heard a high voice call out “Ruby for the love of Dust, just stop for a minute!” The door was open and there were ropes on the floor next to one bed, a very loose knot attaching one to a single bed post, an exhausted Weiss, and a very hyperactive Ruby bouncing on the spot, clearly unable to stop moving. Weiss turned to Blake and Yang as they walked in and mouthed “Help me...Please.” Blake gave Yang a look who rolled her eyes and went over to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Ruby to look straight into Yang’s eyes.

 “Ruby, why don’t you do as Weiss says and let her take the lead on building the bunk beds ok? She’s your partner so help her out with this?”

 Ruby stopped bouncing, nodded, turned to Weiss and rapped out a salute. “Yes, Madam Schnee, what are your orders?” Ruby could only keep her face straight for a second or two before bursting into a massive grin and going back to bouncing on the spot.

 Weiss sighed. “Tie the ropes around each bed post first, and make sure they’re as tight as you can make it.”

 Ruby saluted again and zipped to the first bed post, redoing the knot again and again until it was as tight as she could make it. Blake and Yang meanwhile wandered over to their beds, stacking some hardback books on top of each bed post before the two of them threw the mattress off Yang’s bed and put the frame on top of the books. After checking it was as secure as they could make it, Yang grabbed her mattress and sheets, put them back on her bed, and sat down next to Blake to watch the carnage unfold on the other side of the room.

 After a few minutes of enjoying the sight of Weiss try to wrangle Ruby to either stay still out of the way, or to do what she’d actually asked, Yang and Blake got up and helped their teammates set the bunk beds back up. When they had all finished the beds looked like nothing had changed. Weiss sighed and brushed some stray strands of hair off her forehead, then suddenly realised something, “Wait Blake, where did all those books for your bed come from?”

 Blake suddenly looked down and away from them all, “Well...when I...left...Beacon, I didn’t really take any of my luggage back to Menagerie with me, so all my books stayed here. They must have been gathered up by one of the professors and then put back in the room before we arrived earlier.”

 Weiss accepted the explanation and decided she needed to clean off after dealing with the hyperactive dolt and putting the bed up, so said to the room in general “I’m getting a shower.” Grabbing her suitcase, she marched to the bathroom and went in.

 Yang looked at Blake, shrugged, then climbed onto her bed and pulled her scroll out, flicking to her favourite game, “Now then, how many updates have I missed? What?! 39 gig? Oh boy I have SO much to catch up on...”

 Blake sighed a little then curled up on her bed, pulling a book out, discarding the bookmark inside it, and started again from the beginning. The relative calm was only broken by the faint sounds of rushing water from the bathroom, and the soft thumps of a teenager bouncing on the spot. After a minute or so of the soft thumping starting to drill into her brain, Blake looked up to Ruby, “Why don’t you start coming up with some new team exercises or moves we can practise? Other than briefly back in Atlas, we haven’t had much time to just practice as a team together.”

 “That is the best idea! I’ll come up with so many awesome new moves!” Ruby immediately grabbed a pencil and some paper from the desk and zoomed up to her bed. Lying on her front she kicked her legs back and forth whilst humming a quick tune to herself as she started to work on new practice sessions and team moves.

 Weiss opened the door, dressed in a more casual (for her anyway) white blouse and light blue skirt, savouring the feel of her bare feet on the carpet. She’d wrapped her hair up in a towel to get most of the water out and she padded over to the dressing table in the corner of the room, sat down with one leg resting over the other, placed her scroll on her knee and started to dry her hair with the hairdryer she’d brought with her, knowing that none of the others would have thought to have brought one with them.

 Just as she was finishing drying her hair, they all heard a commotion in the corridor. Yang looked to Blake who had got up with a strange expression on her face, almost like she was unsure of what she was hearing. “Blake? What’s up?”

 Blake tilted her head slightly to one side, “That’s…interesting.”

 “What?” Yang sat up and put her scroll to one side, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

 “It seems we’ve got a new neighbour.”

 By this point the three girls didn’t need the ears of a Faunus to hear a recognisable pair of voices getting ever closer.

 “I’ve never tried that many pancakes before. It was definitely an experience!”

 “Well Ren knows the best way to make pancakes, his are always so much better than the school’s, but it isn’t fair to get him to make that many pancakes when we’ve only just got back, plus it’s SO much easier to order them from the school caf, as I can get UNLIMITED maple syrup as well, cos when Ren makes them he only lets me have a small amount of maple syrup for each when the best way to eat pancakes is to smother them in it.”

 By this point, the voices had gotten loud enough that Team RWBY had got up and wandered over to the door and stuck their heads out, Ruby climbing on top of Yang to see over her head.

 “Penny!” Ruby scrambled over Yang’s head, causing her hair to get ruffled, and if it had been anyone other than her little sister Yang would have blasted them into next week, but it was Ruby…a hyperactive-not-thinking Ruby, so she let it go. But just this once.

 The redhead sprinted the few steps to jump at Penny and give her a massive hug. Jaune ducked under Ruby’s swinging legs and kept walking to their dorm room, head slightly bowed and a dark expression on his face. He barely even noticed the others before walking into the room and going straight to the bathroom. The three girls looked at each other, then turned to Nora and Ren for an explanation.

 “Professor Goodwitch told us that to graduate we need four people in a team.” Ren answered the questioning looks, “So Penny is now part of our team.”

 At this the whole of Team RWBY turned to look at the android, even Ruby who was still swinging from Penny’s neck giggling. “That is absolutely correct! My secret mission from General Schnee and Professor Goodwitch is to gain control of my new powers, and to protect the Fall Vault. My second mission from my father is to learn more about being a human and interact with you more.” Penny beamed as she said it, “So for other students to accept why I am here, and so that they can graduate successfully, I have joined Team JNPR! I will be an excellent teammate and will not let you down.”

 She suddenly looked a little downfallen “But I do not fully understand why Jaune is so angry. I thought he wanted to graduate…”

 Nora looked slightly awkward, “It’s…it’s complicated Penny, come on. I’ll show you your new room!” Brightening up as she changed the subject Nora skipped to the dorm door and started to take Penny on a tour of the room. Ren shrugged and followed the two girls in.

 Ruby sat cross legged on the floor, breathed out, and suddenly dropped her shoulders, yawning massively, “I’m exhausted.”

 Yang looked at Weiss, “You let her eat that much cereal, you’re dealing with her comedown.” Lifting her hands up in the air she walked back into the room, Blake following behind her.

 Weiss sighed and shook her head “Come on you dolt, get off the floor.” Ruby wasn’t in the mood to move much, if at all, so Weiss ended up having to sling an arm over her shoulders, lift her up and try to convince Ruby to walk the few steps back to their dorm, taking the majority of the weight on her shoulders whilst trying not to blush too much at Ruby being so close.

[myrinthinks]

I’m finding myself in an ongoing feud with the mouse population around our house.

I use the garage for early-in-the-year gardening purposes because it already had a sweet wooden table built along one wall when we moved in and since it’s always been a dream of mine to have a setup like that (yes, I know I’m a nerd), I gladly adopted it. I put all the materials I need for proper propagation (is that really what it’s called in English? My dictionary is insistent on this word as the biological usage, but I’m not convinced) of all my vegetables there and have been sowing and planting there since late March. Remember this for later as you accompany me on a necessary tangent.

Now, because our flat is way too small for a family of three adults, we have my mum’s old warderobe in the garage as well; we use it to store our winter clothes, some bed stuff like thick pillows, and some bags. About two or three weeks ago, my mum discovered – in one of the drawers – mouse excrements among the sorry remains of what was formerly one of the thick pillows. She got me to help her take out the drawer and look for other evidence of mousing (there was plenty) and to gather all the stuff to wash/disinfect.

I then went to open the second drawer to see whether there was any damage as well and, lo and behold, the mousling was sitting on top of its downy throne and looking directly at me! We stared at each other for a few seconds, then I robotically moved my head to the side to stare into the abyss like I’m on The Office and slowly closed the drawer again. Meanwhile my mum, who was standing two metres away from me, continued to make a weird, high-pitched, ongoing sound in the back of her throat, which was honestly the most bizarre aspect of this whole situation. She is not afraid of mice at all but she so very much Did Not Expect To See A Mouse that she just had to utter this sheer feeling of weirdness in whichever way.

In any case. When I re-opened the drawer, the mouse had fled. We took out the drawers, cleaned everything, threw a lot of stuff away because apparently mice love eating the airtight plastic we put around our winter clothes, and thought, oh well, we live on the edge of the forest, these things happen.

OH YES THEY DO, THAT AND MORE!

Because a few days later, I entered the garage to look after my seedlings only to find their containers either upended or dug up within an inch of their lives. Thankfully the mice seemed generally uninterested in the plants which had already sprouted so all my plants themselves remained intact, but they absolutely loved the sunflower and cucumber seeds and threw not only their soil but also their empty shells everywhere. I swore, cleaned everything up, put a lid or stones on top of things, and thought that would be it. Well. It wasn’t. Because a few days later, like an utter fool, I forgot to cover the plants one evening. And the same scene of carnage unfolded before mine eyes once again.

So in a (very collected and calculated, obviously, it’s not like I screamed a little or anything!) rage, I moved all of my containers onto the balcony where I deemed them safe. Which they were. Apparently. Because three days ago, I went out to greet my plants in the morning only to find that the mice had lifted the cover of my professional seedling tray to wreck the place once again. (My sturdy little peas, who are fast growers and have borne witness to all of this from the very beginning, must be utterly traumatised by now.)

I have now been mounting all of the containers on top of each other, with the tastiest seeds being at the very bottom so that the mice must open three other trays first before they get to them, and so far, it seems to be working well. But I know that they’re out there, hiding, lurking and watching, and just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike again. But I’m prepared now. So let’s see who, as we say in German, has the longer breath between the two of us. Let’s see.

[weheart-dianelockhart]

So Little Time VI

This story might not be relevant come next Thursday (FINALLY WE MADE IT), but it sure is fun to write! Enjoy!

“Nine letters!?” This was too much for Diane to take in all at once.

“They came to the office first. You were still recovering and I didn’t want to slow anything down. So I told Kurt.” As Marissa spoke she could feel her voice becoming more tentative as Diane’s expression dropped.

She stared at the counter, not realizing her knuckles were turning white with the sheer force of her grasp on the marble.

“And then we started getting them here. After the fourth one, I consulted an agent.” Kurt continued cautiously, waiting for her to blow at any moment.

“An FBI agent?” She clarified, not raising her gaze.

“Yes. A friend of mine. I asked him to look into this guy and...”

“And what, Kurt. No secrets.” Her eyes bore into his.

“And he’s a suspected domestic terrorist.” Kurt watched closely, gaging her reaction. A single blink was all he was allowed to see. Her stomach turned in somersaults.

“After his wife died, he went nuts. Fell into a bad place and took money where he could. The Damask Gang got to him and he started doing their dirty work. He’s got access to hundreds of weapons.” Marissa chimed in, helping to fill in the gaps. Though she wasn’t sure that statement would put Diane’s mind at ease.

Diane took a step away from the counter and transitioned into a pace. The severity of the situation setting in. This was her life they were talking about. Her life that was suppose to have been taken away a mere few weeks ago. If it hadn’t been for Kurt’s perfect timing, they wouldn’t be sitting in this kitchen.

“They don’t think his vendetta against you has much to do with the gang, but he’s wanted for a lot of deaths. The FBI thought it would be best to put you under protection.” Kurt wanted to get everything on the table, meanwhile kicking himself for not telling her earlier.

“Surveillance?!” Diane spun around.

“You didn’t even notice them. They were just placed to keep you safe. And when the letters continued coming—“

“I started taking all of them to the lab for prints. But, so far, they can’t find anything.” Kurt finished Marissa’s thought.

Diane, still absorbing, returned to her bar stool. She nodded slowly.

“What did the letters say?” She asked softly, her shaky voice unrecognizable to even herself.

Marissa and Kurt hesitated. He spoke first, “The first ones were direct threats to you. Describing...” he couldn’t bring himself to finish.

“Describing what he would do to you if...you know.” Marissa had dreaded this explanation.

Kurt stared at the counter. Diane slipped her hand into his urging him to continue.

“Then they got more specific. Like he was watching you. So I upped the security and was meeting with them today to discuss their plan on moving forward.”

Diane’s spine chilled and she visibly shuttered at the thought of her every move being monitored.

“So that’s where I was today. I didn’t think it would take all afternoon and I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Diane blinked and shook her head. She could not remember a time when she had felt that petrified. The feeling was sickening.

“That day that I went back to the office. When the two of you looked like you’d seen a ghost? I’d already gotten a letter?”

Marissa held up three fingers causing Diane’s eyes to widen.

“And now this one.” Marissa held up the newest envelope. Kurt quickly took it and ripped the side. Unfolding the letter, he scanned it, his expression turning glum.

“What does it say?” Diane inched closer.

Kurt looked over the paper and gave an audible sigh.

“It’s about me.” Diane snatched the letter from his grasp and felt her heart sink as she read.

I’m becoming impatient. I can’t sit around all day and watch you prance around. You want this to go away. Fine. Let’s make a deal. That husband of yours seems like a fair trade. A life for a life. Justice.

The sound of Baker’s voice pounded through her ears. Justice. His last word before he thrust the cold blade into her abdomen. Dizziness set in and she held onto the island. Kurt was on his feet before she could think, steadying her body with one hand resting on her back and the other holding her shoulder. Marissa jumped up and poured a glass of water.

“Look, nothing is going to happen. We are under 24-hour protection and this damn fool wouldn’t dare get close to you.”

She hadn’t noticed the tears pooling in her eyes until they spilled freely. “But it sounds like he’s not afraid to come after you.”

Kurt looked to Marissa who shrugged in empathy. “Could you give us a minute.”

She gave a nod and took the letter into the living room.

“This is unfair to you,” she whispered, “It’s so unfair.”

“He won’t get to you. I won’t let him.” Kurt squeezed her hand and leaned in to find her eyes.

The guilt was unbearable. This never should have involved him. Diane sat up abruptly and pulled away. Standing and straightening her skirt, she wiped sharply at her cheeks. “You have to go.”

She turned on her heels and headed for the bedroom.

“What are you talking about?” Kurt called after her, “Diane.”

When he reached the bedroom, she was pulling out clothes from the closet and dresser. The pile on the bed was growing by the second.

“Woah, woah, Diane stop.” Kurt approached her as she brushed passed him on the way to the closet once more. Another pile of shirts was tossed at the bed.

“You can’t stay somewhere that isn’t safe.” The tears were back and her hands were shaking.

Kurt did the only thing he thought would help. He intercepted her next cross to the dresser and wrapped his arms around her. Stronger than she was, he was able to pull her close with barely any struggle. She resisted at first, whimpering at his contact, but finally relaxed into his embrace. Her knees could not hold the weight of her exhaustion and they buckled just as Kurt moved them to sit on the bed. She sat with a gasp and immediately sucked air through her teeth. Realizing she had twisted and disturbed her heeling abdomen, Kurt let her go slightly.

“Are you ok?” He squeezed her shoulders.

She started to nod, responding to the present question, but soon found herself shaking her head no. It was hard for her to distinguish what was shaking more; her hands, head, or thoughts.

“I’m not going anywhere. That’s final.” Her head was resting against his chest as her body came down from its sudden adrenaline high.

Diane couldn’t will herself to speak. Her breathing returned to her version of normal and the pain in her stomach caught her attention. Wincing, she sat up from his arms.

“I might have overdone it.” She stood and moved to the floor-length mirror. Pulling up her shirt, the bruises were revealed, still every shade from blue to yellow. Her stitches, dominating the left half of her exposed stomach, remained intact. They would continue to dissolve as the weeks progressed, according to her doctor, but they provided a constant reminder.

Kurt’s eyes followed her and soon his body did the same. Taking one wrist, he freed her from the mirror’s reflection. Placing her on the bed, he began returning the clothes to their drawers and hangers. Diane watched her husband tidy up the carnage of her panic.

“I just can’t watch you get hurt.” She spoke after a few moments of silence.

“Who said anything about getting hurt?” He kneeled in front of the bed.

“We can’t predict his next move. And if it was you I would never forgive my–“

Her sentence was severed by the sound of glass breaking in the kitchen. They froze, not breathing until they heard Marissa’s voice, “Sorry! Trying to get another glass of water!”

Restarting their breath patterns, they started chuckling at their paranoia.

“Look at us,” Diane remarked. Cupping his face, she continued as her smile faded, “This is fucking insane.”

[purkinje-effect]

The Anatomy of Melancholy, 26

Table of Contents. Go to previous. Go to next.

As Preston vanished through the office door at the other end of the room in search of the stairs which led to the roof, ‘Choly turned to Sturges with a mess in his brain.

“Which of you would have gotten in the power armor, if I hadn’t come along? You said you’d had the idea before I got here. Surely, you’d drawn straws. MmhH,” ‘Choly waved his hands around, struggling to think, “rock-scissors-paper.”

Sturges knitted his brow and shrugged as he turned his back to resume picking at the data on the desk terminal.

“To be honest with you, we hadn’t gotten that far before Preston herded you inside. Apples to apples, at this point.”

“Do you want to help me help Preston from the balcony? I have spare guns.”

At ‘Choly’s urging, Angel produced the 10mm and .38 pistols and held them out in its pincers to the refugees’ handyman. Sturges only glanced over his shoulder before continuing, hunched over.

“No thanks. I’ve got a pistol. I’m... better tasked to sorting out information,” he shied. “I’ll take a fistful of .38 bullets if you’ve got any to spare, though.”

“Just as well, then.”

Angel set down a case beside the terminal, and followed ‘Choly to the balcony door. The chemist sat on the shallow shelf of a balcony, which lacked a guard rail either from damage or wear, and hugged the wall while he stared at his syringer rifle to strategize. He pushed his glasses up on his scrunched nose with a tremulous sigh. He still had five lockjoint syringes left, but the rifle wouldn’t have the fire rate or the ammo quantities required to give Preston a useful amount of cover aid. For now, he’d commit to the .38 because it had the better scope of the two bullet-based weapons, and absently, he requested it from Angel.

The scope. ‘Choly rubbed at his cataracted, chem-weary eyes from beneath his jamjar lenses. Despite the occasional bullet from the street ricocheting off the stone walls behind them, he didn’t even remember Angel hovered beside him until he’d already administered one of his last doses of Calmex to the fold of his elbow and leaned into the wall while it took effect.

“Sir, we’ve had this discussion once before,” it started, more terse with him than with the raiders firing at them. “You might have experienced ailments before we got to Lexington, but the chems have only deteriorated your health further. You’ve convinced yourself that they’re helping you function better, but you’re worse off than you’ve ever been. They’re eating holes in you. Holes only taking more chems can patch up--and for only so long--”

“--Nh. Now’s just about the last time to be riding me, Angel. You’re trying to tell me the chem habit’s slowly killing me. Rapidly maybe. But I promise you--if I hadn’t used it just now, we would all surely die. And I know for a fact that after what I did to Jared’s group, the survivors wouldn’t even use you for scrap metal.”

The Handy-Bot froze in place, wounded as the heavily modulated and unrestrained tone took hold in its owner’s voice. Slowly a rage built up inside it as it spoke.

“I would assert that I won’t always be there to coddle you after your bends upon bends of terrible choices, Mister Carey, but you and I would both know that would betray my programming. Now if you’ll excuse me, Mister Garvey requires my services far more than you do at present.”

It stormed off back inside, to later exit the front door, and it wasn’t until the damaged Mister Handy started tearing apart raiders with the circular saw attachment on one of its two remaining tendril limbs, that the chemist recalled that its laser attachment lay somewhere in the museum, thus robbing the robot of its ability to ranged attack. Angel had had no reason to follow him onto the balcony, other than to check on its owner. He nodded his head askew with a sour furrowed lip, acknowledging yet another poor decision on his part, but he did not linger on it.

If he didn’t clean this mess up, he’d have far more messes to clean up.

Preston jumped feet first off the roof, and ‘Choly bolted to attention at the impact wave which the velocity of the combined weight and gravity of the power armor created. ‘Choly didn’t hesitate to bank on the pseudo-tectonics knocking all the nearby raiders unsteady, and he fired an endangerol syringe on Gristle before slinging the syringer rifle onto his back. He dry-swallowed as he switched to the .38, and aimed a shot right at Gristle’s throat. About the time it would have landed, Gristle was torn whether to put his attention and rage to the chemist or the power armor clad Minuteman, and no one could tell whether it had been ‘Choly’s bullet or Preston’s as the minigun finally powered up to spray out a hundred bullets in a minute flat.

Before the sickly raider figurehead had even dropped to the rubbled concrete, he burst open with hungry bloatflies. The five of them immediately proceeded to opportunize the fresh injuries the minigun had wrought of the raiders. As ‘Choly looked on, frozen, he thought it had to be so much more painful than a horsefly bite. He grinned, wide-eyed and delirious that the flies were doing his bidding, even now, by helping rid Concord of raiders.

Preston stay motionless far longer than it took the overheated minigun to cool down and power back up, slowly shaking his head in disbelief. He let out a cracked, demanding yell and fired another spray, aiming for the flies more than anything else. Meanwhile, Angel zipped to and fro across the street, whistling a jaunty vaguely patriotic tune, mowing down raiders that had missed any of Preston’s bullets. One bloatfly missed fire altogether, and landed on a sawed-apart body with the intent to lay eggs. The Handy doubled back and chopped it in half with a tut-tut, not missing a beat before continuing on its path to clear the street.

All the while, ‘Choly sat frozen, watching the unfolding carnage. How many bloatfly darts had he fired the day before? Had any of the chems, the psycho included, somehow mutated or cloned the larvae in situ? If Gristle had incubated this many bloatflies to full gestation, how many had Jared? He distrusted his memory as to how any of the previous day had transpired, and just trying to make sense of it all got him sweating.

His eyes focused past Preston, past Gristle and the raiders, past Angel, and a whine came from deep in his lungs. The sewer grate, which had covered the sidewalk drain near the municipal plutonium well at the end of the street, flew through the air and landed a block away. From the sewers emerged a creature larger than even Preston in the power armor. Scaly. At once bot hulking and lanky. Spiraling, deranged black horns sweeping back from its head but goring forward. Its teeth jutted from its slightest insinuation of lips. It let out a roar and displayed two-foot-long black claws before it rapidly stormed forward and closed the gap between itself and the museum.

Instinctively, ‘Choly switched back to the syringer rifle, and loaded it with the remaining lockjoint. The monster was so fast that it took three attempts to shoot it before it finally lurched in place. Just as it fell over in rigor, Preston’s minigun hit optimum recharge, and he riddled the monster with bullets. The Minuteman’s heavy breathing was visible even through the simply plated armor.

“I don’t know how long the lockjoint will hold,” ‘Choly yelled down to Preston. “Unload everything you’ve got into that thing!”

The chemist fired another lockjoint syringe at the monster, for safe measure, and it regained just enough range of motion to lash out at Preston from its place in the street. Before it even connected with Preston’s leg, Angel descended upon it and chopped off the offending arm with zeal. If ‘Choly’s ears rang that badly from the echo of Preston emptying the entire remaining magazine to guarantee the thing was dead, it was a wonder Preston could even hear at all.

“Was that... the last of it?” Preston wondered aloud to himself, in disbelief.

“I do believe an all-clear is in order, Mister Garvey,” Angel praised. “Splendid!”

‘Choly didn’t stay outside long enough to receive any praise. Tears rolled down his face, though he experienced no fear or sadness, and he hobbled into the office to shepherd the refugees to regroup elsewhere.

“It’s over,” he told them with a fatigue. “Let’s meet Preston and Angel downstairs.”

“I’ll help you down the stairs, Mama Murphy,” Sturges offered with a pleasant insistence.

“Thank you, boy. You’re too sweet.”

“Jun, let’s follow,” Marcy urged.

Her addled, dark-haired husband didn’t seem to come back to earth, though he complied in coming with her to stay with the group. ‘Choly wondered if it was trauma, or possibly chems, since Mama definitely had some access to them.

“Do you need help with the stairs, Carey?” Sturges asked as he focused on careful taking Mama locked arm-in-arm. “I’m sure Marcy would help you, since your Mister Handy hasn’t come back inside yet.”

“I-- I’m fine,” ‘Choly spouted off, giving the Longs a dismissive wave. He took the stairs one at a time, steadying himself with his cane as he went. “Just get yourselves down to the atrium.”

“Fine by me,” Marcy muttered bitterly.

“Hey, isn’t that your Handy’s laser attachment?” the handyman wondered as they neared the bottom of the flight of stairs between the third and second stories. “Marcy, maybe you could show your gratitude for Carey’s help today, by retrieving that for him. It’ll be easier to repair Angel later, with all the original parts.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” She did as asked, softening in awareness that she’d sounded ungrateful, but not softening enough to sound apologetic.

As they all arrived at the ground floor, Preston came inside, no longer wearing the power armor, and accompanied by Angel. He immediately rushed up as Sturges was helping Mama to sit at one of the waiting line benches, eyes wide with a mixture of concern and relief.

“Take it easy, Mama Murphy. You okay?”

“I’m fine, Preston,” she bluffed. “Quit your fussin’. You’re the one we should be tendin’ to.”

“I’m fine, too.” He straightened, not realizing he hadn’t assessed if he truly was. “Shaken, but okay.”

“Does anyone require refreshments?” Angel came up with a canister of fresh water in its pincer, and handed it to Mama Murphy. “Madam, the first canister has your name on it.”

“I am a little thirsty, I admit.” She smiled, patting Sturges and Angel both on the hand. “But really, stop fawning over me. We’ve all been through a lot.”

“I think we all could use a drink right now,” Marcy jabbed.

“I might not have been able to bring my full wet bar with me on such short notice,” ‘Choly offered with a pleasant smile, missing the sarcasm altogether, “but I’m sure I have something stronger than water, if that’s to your liking.”

She flinched when he took her comment seriously.

“I, no. Water’s... strong enough for me.” When Angel handed her the next canister, she first offered its laser back to it, which it put in its limited storage space appreciatively. Then she nodded with a small gratitude, and split it with her husband.

“All the same.” ‘Choly smiled self-consciously, feeling like none of them trusted him in that moment. Not even Angel.

“I have never seen anything more horrible in my life,” Preston remarked, eyes a mile away. “That deathclaw... I must have woken it up when I jumped down from the roof. Or maybe from all the gunfire.” He got lost in thought a moment, and straightened his hat a little better, from it having gotten mashed down on his head inside the helmet. “Damn it all, we got lucky.”

“What the hell was that thing?” The chemist sat on a bench to himself and set his cane in his lap to rub at his face. “A deathclaw? What could that possibly have once been?”

“...Where did those bloatflies even come from?” Preston continued, still locked in struggling both to and not to recall the course of events. “They came out of nowhere... I can’t have seen it right. They, they didn’t come out of that raider... Did they?”

“You... you saw right,” ‘Choly replied, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. “I put them there. I’m sorry you had to be the one to deal with them. I forget not everyone handles insect encounters as smoothly as I do.”

Preston snapped back to reality and faced ‘Choly with intensity on his face.

“I’m not even going to ask for clarification on that. Especially since the raiders chasing after you were screaming that you wiped out their home base. That’s... impressive. I can’t say anything nice, except say I’m impressed. There are settlers nearby who’ve been plagued by Jared for some time now. Suppose they can sleep easier now, thanks to you. And so can we, hopefully. It’s not much, but here’s a case of fusion cells. It’s the least we can do.”

‘Choly put up both hands and refused them, but an explanation for the refusal came poorly.

“Give them to Angel. ...It was my fault they even got that difficult to contend with in the first place. If I’d only taken down Jared sooner. But instead, I indulged them for months with whatever chems they wanted. I’m just glad they didn’t get to the worst of it until yesterday... Oh, oh yes, yesterday... I’m sorry. I realize that’s... when they tore after the lot of you...”

“They’ll do me wonders once my laser’s repaired, Mister Garvey! Thank you.”

“You dismantled that outfit, just you and Angel,” he told Carey as he gave the ammunition to Angel. “That’s impressive in its own right. Those raiders were manipulative and deadly. The fact they’re gone is monumental. You deserve a piece of recognition in it, no matter how you went about it, and no matter what you did for them before turning the tide.” The Minuteman paused a moment, working on his phrasing. “Before I went up to the roof, you said something about being on the right side of history for once. I don’t know what kind of shadow you might have ever walked in, but I think today proves better than anything that you can do the right thing when you put your heart in it.”

“I hope your heart stays true, kid,” Mama pitched in. “‘Cause you’re gonna walk a long, hard road. I saw it.”

“You. You saw it.” ‘Choly readjusted his glasses and sniffed.

“The sight’s sometimes foggy, but it ain’t a liar. You’re a man out of time. Out of hope. But all’s not lost. I can... feel it. You’re not supposed to be here.”

‘Choly frowned, exhausted beyond words.

“I just had my house burned down by raiders. Where the hell am I supposed to go?”

“Look. I know how I sound. But you have unfinished business. Something about succeeding... no, exceeding? Hopefully that makes more sense to you than it does to me. But I don’t need the sight to know where you should come in the mean time. Come to Sanctuary with us, Carey.”

The chemist removed his glasses to wipe all the sorry from his face, leaving only terror and loathing.

“...Lowell. Bozhemoy it just doesn’t end, does it.”

“I’m... tired. Maybe you bring me some chems later. The Sight might paint a clearer picture then.”

“Mama Murphy, we talked about this,” Preston objected sternly. “That junk... It’s gonna kill you.”

“Shush, Preston. We’re all gonna die anyway. We’re gonna need the sight. And our new friend here, he’s gonna need it, too.” Dismissing contention, she stood with a grunt and started for the door. “Let’s get goin’. Sanctuary awaits.”

“All right, folks,” Preston announced. “Thanks to Angel’s and Carey’s help, it’s safe to move out. We’re headed for that place Mama Murphy knows about: Sanctuary. It’s not too far, she says.”

“She knows about it?” Marcy snipped acridly, dead-planting where she stood and holding her husband with both arms. “More like she had one of her ‘visions’ while she was stoned out of her gourd. And now you want us to just head out on a wild goose chase based on no better plan than ‘Mama Murphy saw it’?”

“It can hardly turn out worse than--”

As everyone erupted into bickering, Sturges threw up his hands, his can of water still in one, and tutted everyone.

“Ho-- Hoo--- Hold on. Everybody just take it easy,” he soothed. “We’re all in this together, right? So Marcy, you have a better idea of what we should do next?” She said nothing, glowering at Mama, who ignored it. Sturges grinned slyly. “...Anybody...?”

“I know where it is,” ‘Choly admitted. “Sanctuary Hills. I’ve been there. Only a few months ago. Last I checked, it’s... it’s all but abandoned.”

Everyone stared at him, stunned but unsurprised that he’d sided with Mama.

“Well then, Sanctuary it is. Let’s just hope it lives up to its name.”

“Let’s go, Jun.”

“Oh. Uh, ok.” The first words ‘Choly had heard come from Jun in his entirety of occupying the same room as him.

On their way out of the Museum, Angel stopped in front of ‘Choly, who followed last, and he sighed in defeat.

“I’m not thirsty,” he uttered, eyes wild with desperation.

“I simply wished to offer to carry you, Mister Carey. It wouldn’t do for me to neglect to at least offer.”

“Always have to be the b--” He smiled in bitter apprehension, eyes on the door and not Angel. “No, no, I’ll do it myself. Don’t you worry. You take care of everyone else.”

“As you wish,” it sighed in resignation, recognizing the reaction for what it was. It rushed up alongside to offer Mama Murphy to carry her in the same way it would carry its owner. “Come along, Madam! First Class!”

“You make me feel like a queen, Angel,” she sigh-smiled, hugging the very top of its chassis once she had mounted the Handy. “An old gal could get used to this kind of attention.”

The tears shifted from flowing out of stress to flowing out of hurt, and all Carey could appreciate as they exited Northwest out of Concord was that he was dead last, and that none of them could see the hurt he wore on his face.

Marcy and Sturges looted the raiders for weapons, rations, and viable leather armor, and Preston got back into the power armor to bring it along with them. ‘Choly approached the corpse of the reptilian monstrosity, and raised a claw with the tip of his cane. Too humanoid to be an alligator or crocodile. He couldn’t say he remembered horns or claws anything like these. From the looks of what was left of the raiders, none of the bloatflies survived either, larva or otherwise.

“What even was this thing before the war?”

“I’ve always known them to be whatever they are nowadays,” Preston replied. “I’m just glad it’s the first one I’ve ever seen face to face. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me keeping the F.C. We might need this suit of armor to defend ourselves in our new home.”

“No, no. Keep it. You need it far more than I do.” His wild eyes remained wet, but mixed with anxiety from the sustained presence of the power armor. “I... as long as I can keep this thing’s paw. Hand. Whatever it might be.”

Angel came nearer and wordlessly picked up the one it had severed before.

“A trophy?” the Minuteman wondered. “You can mount its head on a wall, for all I care. As long as we can keep moving.”

“...More like a reminder how little I belong here,” he uttered under his breath, falling back to last place again as they pressed onward.

Go to Next »»»

[a-goddess-called-infinity]

Chapter 5: Calamity pt. 3

Synopsis: We finally cut to Pearl, Steven, and Connie, though we find they may be late to the action. This is where we transition from the "prologue" to current events. Heads clash, questions are thrown left and right, and a brand new face appears.

Words: 2642

AO3 link here

previous - next - beginning

-

Pearl valiantly leads the way even though the two preteens trailing behind her were groaning and complaining the whole time. Particularly the not-as-fit Steven. It didn’t help that large portions of the old structure were broken, uneven, and at some parts destroyed. Still, the vigilant pearl was rather stubborn. 

“I knew we should’ve brought lion,” Steven groans. They left him at the house to keep guard. Plus, he didn’t seem that interested in coming, and it’s near impossible to convince the large feline to do anything he didn’t feel like doing.

“Now now Steven, this is good for you,” Pearl reassures, “Besides, we’ll be out of here in no time! It’s much more discreet this way too.” She earlier explained that since this is a gem-made passage, they wouldn’t be spat out into the heat of battle. She wanted to keep them safe after all, especially if this battle is like any she fought all those thousands of years ago.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Connie huffs, getting increasingly tired from carrying around her sword, “I mean, maybe it’s changed—”

“These caverns don’t just change,” Pearl scoffs, “they’ve just been… Damaged. Yeah, a little damage won’t stop us now will it?”

Steven and Connie exchange glances. Silence settles as they trek on a bit longer.

“Peeaarrll…”

“Yes, Steven?” She sighs.

“Can’t we just rest? For like 5 minutes?” He asks before plopping down against a rock. Pearl turns to reply when the caverns suddenly begin to violently shake. Steven shoots back up to his feet, “I didn’t do anything!” 

“Run!” Connie yells as stalactites begin falling. They blindly follow Pearl as she leads the way. She summons her spear to clear away debris in their path with elegantly calculated swings. Steven summons his shield and holds it above his and Connie’s head like an umbrella.

A large boulder crashes in front of them, causing Steven and Connie to skid to a halt. Pearl, however, continues to charge forward. She leaps up into the air and slashes downward with her spear. A wave of energy projects from the spear in the direction she cut, splitting the rock cleanly down the middle. Steven and Connie hurry through.

“Light!” Connie shouts, pointing to an opening where sunlight poured into the cave. They divert course to the exit of the caverns. The walls begin collapsing faster and faster behind them and the escape would be close. Even the incline they were running on began to crumble and descend. “We’re gonna have to jump,” Steven notes urgently. Pearl is already well ahead of them and out of the cave, but she had her hand reached out to them. 

They jump in unison as the incline fully collapsed. Arms interlocked, they reach out to Pearl.

Pearl grabs onto them at the last moment.

“I… Got you,” she says, straining heavily to pull them up.

Thankfully, they were able to help and pull themselves up. Once they’re in the clear, Steven and Connie collapse in exhaustion. Soon, the cave and their surroundings are still.

“See, I told you we’d be out in no time,” Pearl says, trying to remain optimistic as she rises to her feet and dusts herself off. She looks down at Steven and Connie, still on the ground of course, and frowns. “Ok, I suppose a rest is in order.”

After they caught their breath, Pearl urges them to trek onwards. They reach an overlook where they had an expansive view of the battlefield.

“Wow…” Steven comments breathlessly as the carnage unfolds. There is more apprehensiveness in the statement than actual wonder. All of those people and aliens dying and spilling blood and running each other through; it was a barbaric sight… Why did he insist on coming again?

Before Pearl can suggest anything, there’s a blast from somewhere above them. 

“What was that?” Connie exclaims.

“Look!” Interjects Steven as he points at the sky. Four objects fly away from Earth, leaving trails of green, purple, red, and orange. They watch in awed silence. 

Pearl’s attention returns to the field. “Seems that that caused the invading force to pull back,” she observes.

“So we missed the action?” Steven asks. There is an ambiguous mix of relief and disappointment in his voice. Pearl didn’t mind the notion.

“Well, I guess we can head back to the warp,” she says with a sarcastic shrug.

“Pearl, the cavern collapsed,” Connie points out.

“There’ll be another entrance,” she counters.

“Maybe we should find the others first,” Steven suggests. 

“Hm, you have a point, the others probably did get out first…” 

“Garnet, Amethyst, and Peridot got on a train which is infrastructure made by that city, maybe they’ll be closer to there?” Connie points out.

“Let’s go then!” Steven chirps. It’s clear Pearl had no choice but to go along with their plan. If she were to be honest, she was rather curious about this city and the technology it was bound to hold. Was there something on this planet that she, one who’s been here for thousands of years, she had yet to discover?

-

Back in the Wakandian tower, Steve and his team were trying to get a grip on what happened. By all means, they shouldn’t be standing here. Well, half of them anyway. Wanda had yet to wake up but she was in stable condition. The Mind Stone that mysteriously ended up in her hand zapped anyone that tried to take it, so they left it there.

“Alright, here are the four rogue stones,” Rocket was saying as he configures the table hologram they were observing to display the predicted path of the stones. 

“At this rate, they’ll be in the next galaxy over by tomorrow,” Natasha retorts as she observes their momentum. It’s a slight exaggeration, but not far off.

“We have one though,” Banner says optimistically, “We just gotta, uh…”

“Redo today’s fiasco with the big purple douchebag? Who, by the way, has the one stone that lets him teleport wherever he wants?” Sam points out. Uneasy and tired glances are exchanged. A huff is heard from across the room from a sulking Thor.

“My main concern is that warship loitering on our front yard,” Steve says to break the tension. A different image is pulled up, one that displayed Thanos’s fleet in just outside of their orbit. Their forces had been retracted off the soil itself, but the fleet is still hanging around, apparently.

“Well it’s obvious, they know we have a stone so they’re gonna take it first before they go for the others,” Rocket suggests as a matter-of-factly.

“Then why did they call a full retreat? Thanos is still kicking, they have leadership, they have a mission. So?...” Bucky counters.

“Unless he isn’t,” Thor says, calling everyone’s attention, “The beast needs time to lick his wounds if he’s going to try again, especially with only one stone in his arsenal.��� A short silence descends on the group. Okoye is eyeing the tear-drop gem Banner is still holding onto.

“I do wonder about those… allies that appeared today,” T’Challa ponders as if reading her mind.

“Those three bogeys?” Sam asks.

“Ah, four,” Banner corrects, holding up the gem.

“That does… nothing to clarify what you meant by that.”

“How much for that?” Rocket butt in.

“What? No, no I don’t even know what it, or she I guess, is,” Banner explains.

“She?” a couple of people echo.

“This rock was a girl at one point and she had crazy water powers. I would’ve been toast had she not showed up. She said she needed to regroup with some others so I had her follow me… Then she just poofed into thin air in the Blast,” Banner says, making hand motions, “She called herself Lapis Lazuli.”

“One of the others referred to herself as Garnet,” Okoye reports.

“So we got a team of people with weird abilities named after rocks helping us,” Natasha comments.

After a little longer of back and forth, T’Challa is called down to the city to handle an intrusion of some sort. Steve meanwhile left the others to check on Wanda. He bumps into Shuri on the way down.

“Oh, she’s up, and very frazzled,” Shuri reports unprompted.

“Thank you. Give us a moment, would you?” He requests. Shuri nods and continues on to wherever she was heading.

Steve found Wanda sitting on the edge of her bed looking intently on the Mind Stone. Her lips quiver as if she intended to speak, but she is too shaken to. 

“Wanda?”

She finally looks up, though the look in her eyes is slightly distant.

“O-Oh, sorry I—” she trails off and wipes her eyes. She made no attempt to continue that statement and simply sighs.

“Are you alright?” Steve asks as he sat down next to her. It’s a redundant question, but he wants to pull her back into reality.

Wanda shakes her head and laughs dryly, “You know when I first woke up a moment ago, I hoped dearly all of that was a bad dream, that I’d reach over and he’d still be there. But then I look and all there is, is this,” she says bitterly. If it weren’t for that cursed stone…

“Wanda,” Steve says slowly, “What happened back there?”

Wanda shut her eyes tightly, “You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me,” he says sincerely. He’d like to think not much phases him anymore, though that has been proven wrong from time to time.

Wanda shifts and sighs again, “When I destroyed the Mind Stone, Thanos used the gauntlet to reverse it and got it back. Once he added it to the gauntlet, something went wrong. The power wouldn’t stop, h-he even said that ‘this isn’t right’.”

Steve waits patiently for her to continue.

“He turned to me, I think? He wasn’t looking right at me. Must’ve thought I was doing something. That’s when I heard it, it was so terrible.”

“What?”

“Screaming. Terrible screaming. From… The stones.”

“The stones?”

“Yes, it’s crazy, but what else could that have been? They were chanting over and over ‘release us’,” Wanda finishes as she holds her head in her free hand. Steve vaguely thought of those strangers on the field but didn’t quite make a connection. Steve eventually gets up and thinks for a moment.

“You did what you could out there you know, don’t let it weigh too much on you,” he offers, “I’m heading back up… Do you want me to hang onto that?” he asks, referring to the stone. She shook her head. Without much more than that, he leaves.

Wanda looks at the stone once again. As much as she blamed it for everything, she was still inexplicably drawn to it. It defined everything she was, her power, her love, her mission, her tragedy.

She idly plays with it using her magic. She is reminded when Vision first told her that it was trying to tell him something and she messed with it then.

“I just feel you,” she whispers to herself. 

There’s something different now though. The way it intermingled with her power was the same, but it felt more active, alive even. It coiled and churned and pulled at her small, gentle streams of energy. It beckoned and soothed and thrilled her subconscious. Was this what it was like to have this thing in her head? Was this what it was like to be Vision? The familiarity was wrong and eerie.

Wanda…

She jolts and looks around. She is still alone. It didn’t sound like that was out loud, it was like another unknown voice in her head. Could it be?

Wanda… Help me…

“W-What?” she chokes out, looking back at the stone. It’s glowing a bit brighter, churning a bit more wildly.

Only you… Only you… Only you…

She isn’t sure what it meant by that, but she starts fiddling with it again with her powers. Brighter and brighter it grew until at one point it’s floating on its own as a great white light forms around it.

-

When Steve rejoins the others, three strangers are present; a tall lady with pale skin and a smooth, white stone on her forehead and two kids.

“Look, I don’t feel the need to explain myself to you, we contributed, the battle’s over, and now we just want our allies so we can get out of your hair,” she scoffs with her arms crossed.

“Pearl, they might not even know who we’re talking about,” says one of the kids, a boy with black curly hair and a pink shirt.

“What’s going on here?” Steve asks aloud.

“These three were apprehended just inside of the city,” T’Challa replies.

Pearl is about to retort when the boy interrupts her, “Yeah, sorry about that. I’m Steven, this is Pearl, and this is Connie. We came to help out and got separated from our friends,” explains, making gestures, “There’s a tall one with box-shaped hair, a short green one with triangle-shaped hair, a purple one, and a blue one with water wings…”

“Ah, so you are friends with those rocks,” Rocket quips.

“We prefer the term gem,” Pearl corrects.

“So you’ve seen them?” Steven says hopefully, ignoring their exchange. At that point, Banner came forward and grimly presents the blue gem he’d been holding, “She was looking for you guys before she—”

“Lapis!” Steven gasps as he interrupts Banner to take it from him.

“I’m really sorry, I tried to—”

“No, no, she’s fine, she’ll reform. Thank you,” Steven interrupts again, offering him a grateful smile.

“Reform?” he echos.

“Our power comes from our gem,” Pearl jumps in, “Our bodies are made of light, pure illusion.” The wheels in Banner’s head really start turning at that slice of information, wondering how these beings work.

“Slightly more relevant question,” Natasha interrupts, “Why are you here? How are you here?”

“To help fight! We’re protectors of Earth,” Steven answers enthusiastically. Pearl facepalms.

“... You’re children.”

“Well, I’m part gem,” Steven says, lifting his shirt and puzzling Banner even more. “And Pearl trained me to sword fight!” Connie adds as she held up her large pink sword. “So, where are the other three then?” Pearl asks as the conversation is getting derailed again.

“There was a report that they accidentally hitched a ride on an Outrider dropship as it was retreating,” Sam answers.

“They’re in space?!” Pearl exclaims.

“Well, they haven’t left our solar system yet.”

“Oh I knew it, I knew we shouldn't have come, this isn’t a gem issue I said but no one listens to Pearl anymore do they?” Pearl rambles as she began to pace. Steven futilely tries to console her. Bucky stands with Steve off to the side as things unfold.

“So what, are they part of the team now?” he asks. Steve shrugs, “They got wrapped up in this mess and helped, so I suppose. The infinity stones are our first priority, though.”

Suddenly, there is a scream from the lower level.

“It’s Wanda!” 

Steve and several other people rush down with weapons drawn. They were expecting an Outrider coming for the stone, but they happen a much different scene. The Mind Stone was nowhere to be seen, but there was a stranger in the room with Wanda. She had pale yellow skin and bright yellow hair tied back with a red band. She also had a red cape and a bright blue asymmetrical skirt connecting her arms with “wings”, covering a brown and off-yellow leotard. When she turns to them, she shockingly has the Mind Stone nested in her forehead.

“Who are you, and why do you have the stone?” Steve asks. Everyone tenses up. The stranger only smiles.

“Why, I would hope it’s obvious,” she starts. Her voice is soft and accented, making it strangely similar to Vision’s voice.

“I am the Mind Stone.”

[makbarnes]

Rise of the forgotten (Part 1)

Summary: The reader had just joined the Avengers, Steve was desperate as he searched for supporters and you happened to be on his list. It’s true he didn’t know the full extent of your powers but he knew you would be useful. You joined and after the arrest everyone had left you in the sea raft to rot. You took it upon yourself to break out and come back for them to regret ever leaving you there. What will happen when you do the thing the one you most love can’t forgive you for and you end up ruining your relationships and quite possibly the world. 

You paced in your cell, angry with Tony, Angry with everyone. Your heart ached however in hopes Rhodey was okay. It was never meant to go that far. We knew injuries were bound to happen, but Rhodey was never meant to be walking that line between life and death. You didn’t resist when they came to arrest you. It was your fault, you blocked Vision’s attack that bounced off of your blockade and hit Rhodey after Sam swerved. “This is all bullshit.” “We know this Sam.” “Who does Tony think he is?” “Oh just Tony Stark, the richest and most powerful man in the world.” You sighed and tossed the small rubber ball they had given you as entertainment. “Oh please, {Y/N} We all know you can beat anyone in here.” “And yet I’m still here. With you. I hope Steve made it.” You brushed your hair to the side and laid against the hard thing they called a bed. “Why do you care?” “Excuse you?” “You heard me. Why should you care?” “Look, Hawkey. Just because I’m the newest member doesn’t mean I care any less. We are all a team, or we were a team.” “You don’t even know why they are going.” “I know more than you, Why are you even here?” “Cap called, I answered.” “And ruined your family in the process.” You threw up a hand and ignored everyone’s chatter. You had fallen asleep quite easily, just waiting your time until Steve inevitably came to rescue you.

(Some time later)

That rescue never came, You had woken up and nobody was around. They left you, alone. You felt anger rising up inside of you. Past the tears of hurt and betrayal you hated them. You built those connections and they threw them away. Everything is gone. You waited. You bought your time and studied how your day went. You had the plan to escape, it all was reliant on your meals. The guards weren’t the problem, the security was easy to get through, Your powers could help with that. Just trying to persuade the guards to take off your power blocking cuffs. You grunted as another day started. You sat up in the darkness and counted down from six. The lights flicked on and you smiled at yourself for remembering. You stretched above your head as the guards circled around your room. “Enjoying the show boys?” You winked as the one smiled at you. “So what’s on my menu today?” “Breakfast, Physicals, Reading and then a guest.” “Ooo! I hope it’s you.” You traced your fingers over your glass wall and waited for them to bring you out. “Not so lucky there, Princess.” You giggled as he opened your door and the other pinned your wrists together. You rolled your eyes at the guards guided you to the lunch area. SItting alone in the large room you hummed to yourself and watch the guards switch out. There was a weak point. At least two less guards when the scaffolding team switched out, having to meet elsewhere it gave you ample time to call over your guards from this morning. He sighed as you approached you and watched you tug a bit at your wrists. “It pretty hard to eat with these on.” “You know the rules.” “Yes, I know. I am meant to sit here and not escape. I don’t care anymore. No team needs me and it’s actually nice having food and a place to live instead of living in the rain and starving.” “Don’t tell anyone I did this.” “Promise. Just want to use my spoon properly.” You sighed in relief as you rubbed your wrists before grabbing your spoon. “Thank you, kind sir.” You shared a laugh with the guard as he went back to his spot. Your eyes flickered with intensity as you held your eyes low. You lifted up few spoonfuls of oatmeal and wiped your mouth. You saw your energy pilling at the tips of your fingers as you wiped your mouth. “Hurry up, 10 minutes left.” You rolled your eyes at the guards statement and carefully folded your napkin over your bowl. “I think I have a little more than 10 minutes.” You stood as you felt your hands fill with your power. Quickly blasting a red blast at the guards you smiled as they both fell unconscious. Laughing with pride you stepped over their bodies and walked to the end of the hallway. You turned as you heard guards rushing and knew you had to hurry. You angled yourself towards the open hall and opened an orange portal. Smiling as you stepped through warm rays hit your skin. You jumped with joy on the beach and snapped your fingers together. “I still got it. Now let’s get to New York.” You looked over yourself and groaned. “After an outfit change.” You fluffed your hair as you walked to the closest town you could find. Seeing everyone enjoying their freedom made you erupt with jealousy. You had been locked away by the Avengers, fighting for your freedom. You growled and placed yourself in the middle of the street. As a truck came barrelling towards you everyone began screaming at you to move. Your eyes flashed purple as your hands contacted with the truck that soon dusted to the ground. As you turned everyone’s faces turned to terror and you laughed loudly. The faces that once held admiration for you, filled with fear bubbled a new emotion inside of you. You fired off another shot towards a small tourist shop and easily began walking down the street. Everyone was running as fast as they could to get away from you. You goal wasn’t to hurt anyone, you just needed a new outfit, why not have a little fun with it. You stepped over your carnage and stepped to find the perfect black dress with matching red heels. You turned and checked yourself in a broken mirror and grabbed some shades for your eyes. Glancing around yourself you compelled a black lipstick to your hand and easily spread it over your lips.  As you stepped away you began to plan out your next steps.

Meanwhile The Avengers had all been called to a meeting. Everyone sat with tense muscles as Secretary Dillard entered the room. “I will just cut to chase, {Y/N} escaped and she’s angry.” “What do you mean she escaped?” “This morning at 900 hours she convinced a guard to take off her blocking handcuffs and escaped. This is all we have. As you all know she is an expert in hiding. We don’t know the full extent of her even. With two or more infinity stones she is already a threat. I need to know you all will do whatever it takes.” Dillards clicked a button on the remote he carried as a tape played. They watched you destroy the town you had entered before departing behind a van. “Where is this?” “A small beach side town of Miami. We assume she plans to come here.” “OKay, guys. This is {Y/N}. We just need to talk to her. She will understand.” Steve cleared his throat as he looked at your blurred face in the video. “And if she won’t?” Bucky chimed in. “Then we won’t have a choice.” Tony uttered out as he rushed to his lab. Everyone began to get ready for your arrival.   “Steve?” “Yea Buck?” “It’s {Y/N}, I won’t shoot her.” “You won’t be fighting with us. She knows your codewords. Who’s to say she won’t use them.” “If she does, you can stop me, you did before. {Y/N} has shit on all of us. What makes you any different?” “This isn’t a discussion.” “Well it fucking should be. Considering who it is.” Bucky stomped off in anger and went to change whether they wanted him there or not he was fighting.

You stilled yourself in the street and let yourself focus on Avengers Compound. Your mind tried to drift to Steve and Bucky. You fought against your tears for a moment before remembering they left you to rot. ALONE. Growling in your throat you flashed in a portal to just outside of the surveillance of FRIDAY. Hiding under the cover of woods you watched everyone making war preparations, meaning they knew you were coming. You chewed into your lip as you spotted redwing floating above the building and taking a scan. You stepped out of the tree line and sent a heavy purple blast towards him. Redwing shattered into pieces and you dashed up the yard to tuck next to the building. Blowing up several of Stark’s cameras you made a distraction of setting off Tony’s bobbie traps. You tucked into your old hallway and tears pricked your eyes softly. “No, this isn’t your home anymore, they didn’t want you.” You muttered to yourself as you leaned against the wall. Seeing the light shining into the common room at the end of the hall you remembered walking down this hallway a million times for everything.

Bucky held you against his chest tightly as Steve held your things behind him. You had gone through severe experiments for the team to learn more about your powers. They laid you down on their shared bed and tucked you in safely. Bucky spent all night next to you while Steve berated everyone for pushing you too hard.

You grimaced at the memory and yet saw it unfolding in front of your eyes in an orange glow. “What’s happening?” You reached your hand out as they passed through your fingers. You followed them and saw the exact events of that night. Steve stomping away after giving you and Bucky a loving kiss. You quickly tucked against a wall as you saw Steve and Bucky come into view of the hallway. “Steve, enough. I am fighting.” “Bucky, it’s just for your own safety.” “I can protect myself, I need to be there for her. Just as much as you do.” You growled heavily and light your hand into a purple fire. “YOU TWO WERE NEVER THERE FOR ME!!!” You screamed as you shot the energy towards them. Steve pushed Bucky out of the way as you tauntingly walked towards them.”YOU TWO LEFT ME TO ROT IN THE SEA. YOU TWO HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE ACTING GUILTY WHEN YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHERE I WAS.” Your voice was deep and you knew your power had taken over then. A gleam of purple in your hands shined against the dark ground as Steve and Bucky looked at you with shocked faces. “What’s wrong boys? Miss me too much?” You blasted towards them again having Steve jump over the couch while Bucky ducked under the table. “{Y/N} Stop this before you hurt someone!” Steve begged as he stood up ready to battle. “Oh but Stevie, that’s exactly my plan.” You threw Steve against the wall and flashed his mind with Peggy. The last dance he missed, the feelings all a rush, enough to blind him from your next plan. “Please, just listen to him. This isn’t you.” “I’m afraid it is, James.” You cupped his face and felt his brush away a misguided tear. “You don’t have to do this.” “I do...and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry Soldat.” “What…{Y/n}, no.” “Please.” “Longing," “STOP!” "Rusted, Furnace.” “Please don’t…” Bucky pleaded as he reached for your ankles. "Daybreak," You said promptly as you turned away from him. Your russian began to falter but you soon caught your tongue as you let the tears fly down your cheeks. "Seventeen, Benign," “{Y/N}?! What are you doing?!” Tony’s voice fueled your anger as you hand the arch collapse in between the two of you. “Nine, Homecoming, One" “{Y/N}” Bucky spoke one last time before you turned to him. Kneeling down to cup his face you whined the final word. "Freight car.” You felt a part of your soul break as his face fell to a rest and he stood at attention. “Ready to Comply.” His accent was thick and you could tell how hard he fought against the words. “I’m sorry my love.” You sucked in a deep breath as you had Bucky move Steve to the couch. You pressed your lips to his forehead and disappeared with Bucky’s bike and your matching one.

[dispatchesfromafghanistan]

Bloody Ramadan

Dear All,                                                                                                                                 June 1, 2017

Greetings from tumultuous Kabul. You no doubt heard about the massive truck bombing here yesterday and about an attack a week ago on a Swedish charity guest house- near AUAF- where one Western woman was killed and another kidnapped. A few of you have written if I and AUAF are OK. Sorry to say that for most of us  here, this kind of horror, mayhem, brutality and carnage have become a routine part of life. Yesterday's explosion took place at 8:22 am during rush hour and in the heart of Kabul's 'Green Zone' very close to several embassies, the NATO/US forces headquarter and the presidential palace. There is speculation about how/why the septic tank cleaning truck laden with 1500 pounds of explosives passed through several check points to the intersection where it exploded. The tanker had been seen driving around city since 6 am . The massive explosion was felt throughout the city. It killed more than 150 and wounded about 500 ordinary working  men, women, children, young and old-almost all civilians. And it caused about $50 million dollars worth of damage to embassies, houses, businesses, cars and so on. It just looked and felt like a similar event in Iraq, Syria or Yemen. AUAF went into an immediate re-lock-down and no movement. Due to the fact that two of our Western colleagues were abducted more than a year ago, and that we lost 15 people in an attack on the Univ last August, and that we are a permanent target, we are very afraid and must be careful. So, although the university is open, all expats who must live on campus, have been under lock-down for about two months now. My wife Tahmina and I wept as we watched the unbearable pain and suffering unfold on TV. Please see attached links for some sickening and graphic pictures, and my early reports at Zaher Wahab Tumblr.This was the sixth such major atrocity so far this year, and 114th suicide attack in Kabul alone during the last six years.. Recall the attack on a Kabul hospital where about 50 people were killed and countless injured. The reaction here is open shock and outrage at the perpetrators, the government and its patrons (the US, and the west), and against Pakistan the hotbed of terrorism. Anguished families, members of Parliament, civil society, part of the press, and common people in the street are criticizing and condemning the government for its ineptness, indifference, and even complicity, and people are calling on the government to resign. Some are calling for open rebellion to overthrow the government. 

 This massive tragedy is simply a continuation and the latest of death, destruction, carnage, brutality, criminality, and systemic failure. By all accounts, this has been the bloodiest year since 2001. Civilian, armed forces and insurgent casualties are at a record high. There are about twenty different insurgent and/or terrorist groups-the Taliban, Al Qaeda, the Haqani group, and Daesh/ISIS the main ones- active all over the country; and they control half of the territory. The government, with help from US/NATO so-called Resolute Support, barely controls the cities. There are reports of insurgent cells on the outskirts of Kabul. There is fighting in twenty of the 34 provinces. Militarily, even general J.Nicholson called the situation a stalemate and asked for more troops But adding 3000 to 5000 NATO/US troops, or dropping the mother of all bombs on peasants is not going to end Afghanistan’s agony.. Recall that earlier there were more than 100,000 foreign troops and that many contractors from some 48 countries, on top of the 350,000 Afghan security forces here. But all that and the trillion dollars and 2500 dead Americans were unable to subdue the insurgents/terrorists. So president Trump and the US public must really think hard to find a nonmilitary solution to Afghanistan’s 40-year tragedy,  America's  longest war and permanent occupation. E. Prince, founder/president of the infamous Blackwater suggests an ‘American Viceroy’  in Kabul!

 Meanwhile, Afghanistan's misery index continues to climb. Unemployment, hunger, poverty, death and diseases, illiteracy, displacement, crime and criminality, drug addiction, violence, homicide and suicides, corruption, deepening ethnic conflicts, institutional breakdown, kidnappings, vice, human trafficking, nepotism, cultural decay, economic decline, polarization, government corruption and indifference,  and more surpass anything I have seen most places and certainly here in my whole life. It is very painful and enraging to watch this happen.

 Afghanistan's problems are very deep and complex. Its geography has condemned it to be the theater for proxy wars between Russia and the US, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India, China and others, Iran and the US, And Afghanistan itself and Pakistan. Its heroin industry has brought major international drug mafias into the country. Its open borders has made it the hub of smuggling weapons, people, timber, merchandise, marble, etc. Its trillion dollar minerals has spawned local and foreign economic criminals. There is a vicious verbal war among its major ethnic groups which could erupt into an open civil war any moment. There is a huge rural-urban, religious and secular divide amongst the people. Its overwhelmingly young population (70% under 30) is

frustrated, restless and angry. The illegal, illegitimate, corrupt, ineffective, indifferent and puppet government is simply unable and unwilling to govern. All in all, it is a country suffering from multiple and profound crises and on the brink of disintegration. So any kind of nation-building defies all theories and is a truly sisyphean task. But people of conscious must persevere.

 P.S. June 21, 2017

Since the big explosion, there was a huge demonstration in Kabul last Friday where police shot and killed seven and injured many. There was triple suicide shoe-bombing at a funeral on Saturday where 20 were killed and about a hundred injured. Yesterday there was an explosion at the grand mosque in Herat killing 14 and wounding many. The Jamiate opposition within and without the government is accusing elements within the government of actually colluding with terrorists, and are demanding that certain Pashtoon members of the government be fired and prosecuted. There are sit-ins by the opposition Jamiate Islami followers in about ten

strategic locations in Kabul bringing traffic to a standstill.  There have been for and against government demonstrations in several other cities. It is ramazn and hot here and many people are on edge.The government says that Pakistan’s ISI provided the explosives to the Haqani group to carry out the attack, and that the real target was the German embassy in Kabul. Several rockets were launched on Kabul last Monday night. The city is tense, on high alert and gripped by rumors, intrigue and angry talk. The government declared a holiday on Tuesday June 6 so to minimize any risk to the attendees in the ‘Kabul Process’ conference. There are security forces and tanks all over the city. There were even murmurs of an attempted coup. We are all genuinely worried, regardless of our station. The opposition, consisting mainly of Jamiat party members and some former government officials erected tents and conducted sit down demonstrations in 8 different parts of the city blocking main roads in the city center. This went on for a week, despite government and public efforts to end the road blockades. Finally, the police stormed the demonstrators at midnight on Monday night where two demonstrators were killed a dozen injured and a few taken away. The government and the opposition accuse each other of creating and fomenting the confrontation. The opposition is threatening nation-wide demonstration soon, The situation in the country remains very volatile. Both the UNMA and the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke of the country moving toward an ethnic-sectarian war.  There have been some deadly and spectacular insurgent attacks during this ramazan month in Kabul, Khost, Parwan, Logar, Helmand, and Nangarhar killing dozens and wounding hundreds. Furthermore, there were two ‘green on blue’ insider attacks killing and wounding several Americans. Here at AUAF, on top of the ‘embassy level security measures’, all the expats at AUAF were issued helmets and body armor just in case. Some of my colleagues have been so stressed that the University said it would buy people round trip tickets to Dubai or Delhi; quite a few took advantage of the opportunity just to get away for a break. My wife and I, though worried, concerned and pained by all this, are staying put and do the best we can to educate the young.

 http://www.afghanpaper.com/nbody.php?id=133894

http://www.afghanpaper.com/nbody.php?id=133914

[yesweranthere-blog]

Levin la Vida Loca.

It's been a while since we last had time to write an update. I can hear it now "How do you not have time when you're travelling?!" - well it's been a busy few weeks of running, racing, gorging, gardening and traffic counting.

We soon managed to escape our predicament of a caring for a Border Collie puppy with separation anxiety by heading to Wellington for a race we booked days ago.

The Cigna Round the Bays Half Marathon was a blowout. With 14,000+ racers over the weekend it surely would get our adrenaline flowing! All in all the race was well organised, with a whole range of pacers from 1:25 to 2:00+. Whilst waiting to start we also manage to bump into a few NZ Insta-running buddies!

A post shared by 74running (@74running) on Feb 18, 2017 at 5:31pm PST

With all of our previous bad luck, looks like today was taking a turn as we experienced quite possibly the calmest day in Wellington's history, making for a fast run for both of us. Sean managed to stick on the 1:25 pacer, with Bets keeping him in view. By mile 10 the pack of 20 of us that were with the pacer at the start had reduced to 3. Meanwhile Bets was fighting for a podium position with her female contenders. As an expression of pure competitiveness and stubbornness we both manage to cross the line with Personal Bests!

Sean grabbing a 1:24:05

Bets getting 2nd Female with a 1:27:17

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 18, 2017 at 1:08pm PST

After we celebrate with brunch and drinks we head on to our next stop, working in the garden a few hours a day in exchange for food and board in a town called Levin. Only after arriving in Levin, Sean discovers that it has been voted as New Zealand's most boring town more than once.

Either way we turn up to a family run dairy farm and meet the team of: Mum, Dad, 5 Kids, Au Pair, 2 Dogs, 1500 Cows, 4 Horses and a Goat called Billie, . This will definitely will keep us on our toes. Luckily the kids were more than happy to help us in our epic battle against weeds (even if it was riding on the back of the trailer whilst we work around them).

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 21, 2017 at 1:56am PST

We spend just short of a week here in glorious sunshine, whilst attacking weeds, touring the dairy farm, riding quadbikes, cleaning windows and watching the carnage unfold when all 5 kids are in the same room together. Truly a great week and our hosts were big travellers in their past. Plenty of conversation to be had there. It was sad to leave on a Sunday after a full week of running squeezed in and around our other commitments but eventually we do need to earn some actual cash... and this is where we are now... 

A post shared by Bets & Sean. We run and travel (@we.ran.there) on Feb 27, 2017 at 9:40am PST

Traffic counting for Wellington City Council, getting up at 5:15am to sit and count the pedestrians coming in to town....exciting stuff. At least we're being paid with actual cash! Hopefully we can get this to lead on to a few other odd jobs and we can pay for flights to Sydney for a vacation in a vacation!

You know how it goes, "Work to Live" not "Live to Work" and besides, someone's got to pay for our almighty food bill since we upped our running mileage!