#and once again im home alone when a standoff like this happens

[beanyowl]

being terrified of spiders but also not wanting to kill them bc they're literally just vibing means I hype myself up for 20min before getting close enough to dump a bowl on top of them and say good enough in hope someone else can help me deal with the situation later

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

Art credit goes to @stormcallart

By Drazzilder

You're an escaped test subject from a United States testing facility. You have been on the run for years when one day you meet the man that can change everything.

Chapter 1: Regret

The soft sounds on the morning are suddenly interrupted by the harsh noise from the alarm clock. A large hand tiredly aims for the off button which is found after a few attempts. The man attached to that hand wakes up begrudgingly with some groans and cracking joints. He slowly gets up to get ready for the day, heading toward the bathroom. As he enters, he sees his reflection, but he doesn’t hold on it long. He can’t stand the sight of himself. The man in the mirror may be Endeavor, but Enji doesn’t like what he sees. He should be happy on his 40th birthday but he can’t stop his mind from racing. He hurt his family; his first son died from his own power, his youngest was scarred by his mother, and the rest of his children where mentally neglected and abused by Enji himself. Enji’s wife, Rei, couldn’t handle the stress and guilt from everything and ended up in a mental institution soon after hurting Shoto, but by then it was so bad that she took her own life two years ago.

Enji sees all of this when he looks at himself in the mirror. It affects him so much that looking makes him sick to his stomach. He quickly looks away and gets ready for the day.

Coming into the kitchen, Enji sees Shoto, getting ready for school with the help of the nanny Hina. Fuyumi and Natsuo already left for school. Hina is the fourth nanny they have had in 2 years. She has been there the longest because she knows no one else will stand the family and someone needs to be there for the children. Plus, she is the only one who can actually stand up to Endeavor and is not afraid of him. She knows he would never hurt her.  When Hina looked at Enji, the look on his face made her stop what she was doing.

“Everything ok Mr. Todoroki?”

“I’m fine…” he answered in a gruff tone, letting her know that he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Im off to school dad, are we still training this afternoon?”

“Good, and yes we always train on Wednesdays!” Sounding more annoyed than anything.

They finish up breakfast and getting their things ready for the day. They soon left the house and went to their final destinations. Enji made it to his agency and meet his secretary.

“Sanji, after I’m done with today’s paperwork, where is my patrol going to be today?”

“Sir, you will be taking the northern end of Tokyo”

“Very well. Thank you Sanji”

“Sir?”

“Hmm?”

“Happy Birthday.”

Sanji is the only one to acknowledge the day let alone tell you happy birthday. She has been working for you for years and knows almost everything that has happened. Enji knows he can trust her with anything so of course she would be the only one to wish him a happy birthday. Enji quickly finished up his paperwork, at least quickly as he could. He squinted and moved the papers so he could read everything clearly. “I’m going to need glasses soon” the man thinks to himself but is to stubborn to actually go get them. After this. is done, he takes a quick lunch and heads out for his afternoon patrol of the city. He does a few heroic acts here and there, but overall the day seems to be quite boring. He is kinda glad because all he wants to do is go home and sulk. That is, until Sanji called.

“Sir, there is a bomb threat at Shibuya crossing!”

“Why are you calling me? Just send some of the sidekicks to handle the bomb.”

“Sir, he is asking for you and the whole crossing is being held hostage. The man has a dirty bomb, please!”

“Alright, I’m on my way!” He says as he rushes off a full speed.

As Endeavor arrives, he assesses the situation, and it’s not ideal. There are hundreds of people on the ground face down, the other hero’s and police and in a standoff with the lone assailant in the center. The man is dressed in tailored suit. Everything is fitted perfectly, not even a single strand of hair is out of place. How he managed to hold everyone hostage quickly becomes clear as he is voicing his demands.

“Ah! Endeavor, I was wondering when the number 2 hero would show up. Be careful what you do, as you can see, I am wearing this fetching bomb vest with matching dead man switch! See how it brings out the green in my eyes. Oh, I almost forgot, the rest of my ensemble is filled with anthrax, one of a kind thread thread makes this silky smooth lining. Plus, shoulder pads are coming back into to style this season, so why not make them special! As you can see, if anyone makes any wrong moves, all of these people will suffer because of you!” The man finishes his speech with an evil laugh. Endeavor knows that he can’t do anything which is just making him hotter as his flames grow brighter around his face. The villain takes one quick look at Endeavor. “Better watch your temper” he quips, “we wouldn’t want to get all hot under the col…..” The villain stops.

Everyone looks almost in shock as the villain has stopped completely. He can still move his eyes and blink but he is completely immobile. No one moves because they are afraid what ever is happening will end just as suddenly as it started. That is until one person gets up and starts walking toward the villain.

You are frail looking, very thin, eyes sunken in, bags under your eyes. Wearing tattered clothes with matching long shaggy hair, representing the years you have been on the street. Your eyes are the most startling part of you as your left eye is completely white with no sign of a pupil and the other is black with red glowing iris. You look at Endeavor and just say “Stand back” in a weak voice. You are so tired but you can’t just sit back and let people get hurt. As you walk closer to the villain, his eyes show more and more fear. He now knows it is you holding him still. Once your next to him, you place a hand on the bomb vest and give it all your attention. As this is happening, the other heroes are yelling their concerns for your safety. “Sir, it’s not safe” “You need to step back” “Sir are you alright?!” All of these go over your head as you are concentrating on the task at hand: saving these people.

Suddenly, the bomb vest starts to glow a little, just enough for Endeavor and the other heroes to notice. A flash of light and then darkness again as everyone notices the bomb is gone. Just as fast as the bomb disappeared, a large explosion happened overhead. “Was that the bomb?” “Did he teleport it away?” “What happened?” Hero’s rush to the villain and detain him. Endeavor approaches you because in his gut he knows something is wrong.

“How can this man have a teleportation and a body controlling quirk?” He thought as he gets next to you. Suddenly, you cough up some blood and collapse from the effort you put out. Everything was too much for you in the state you were in. Your body could not give anything more. Endeavor catches you and he looks right at you as you try to reach his face while barely being able to say “Help me…” as you pass out completely.

Next Chapter

[christopher-the-cube]

Whumptober 2020

No 2. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY “Pick Who Dies” | Collars | Kidnapped

AO3

There’s a mission. 

There’s a mission, and everything is perfectly normal because they are the Umbrella Academy after all, and there are always missions. Everything’s perfectly normal.  

It’s a bank robbery.  

It’s fine.  

It’s normal.  

Luther goes in first, signals the rest of his siblings to come in after making sure the coast is clear, and once they’re all inside they start dispersing. He puts Klaus on lookout duty, sends Allison and Ben to scout the perimeter, figure out where the hell the hostages are being held. 

Then it’s just him, and Diego, and they split in opposite directions, searching for the thieves they were promised. 

It’s fine.  

It’s normal.  

They’re not even fifteen minutes in when things start getting ugly. 

The thing is-  

The thing is, they’ve been in the public eye since they were thirteen-years-old. They don’t really hide their faces, or their names, or their respective abilities.  

Criminals learn.  

Year, after year, after year, it seems criminals learn to expect them, to prepare for them, to figure out every single little detail that they can about them. They really haven’t been able to rely on the element of surprise in a pretty good while.  

The first goon Luther runs into is covered head to toe in black kevlar, which means Diego’s knives are going to be completely useless in this one mission.  

And it’s- fine.  

It’s annoying mostly, but Diego’s good at hand to hand and Luther’s pretty sure he’s not going to let a bullet proof vest stop him. Still, he starts feeling uneasy, gets a weird feeling low in his stomach, because- really, if they prepared for Diego, then who the hell knows what else they prepared for? 

The goon, as expected, charges towards him.  

But it’s whatever.  

Luther’s got superstrength.  

He deals with him, keeps marching forward.  

The bank has marble floors that look disturbingly similar to the ones back at home, and Luther keeps getting distracted whenever he catches sight of them. Between that, and the wood panels, and the occasional gold light fixture, he feels right at home.  

And that’s-  

Not particularly a good thing.  

It makes him jittery, makes him a little nervous.  

It’s eerily silent, too, just like home.  

The only sound he can hear is the squelch of his own shoes, his breathing, slightly agitated.  

It puts him on edge, the thought that something bad is supposed to be happening but there’s nothing at all. They were told there was an active robbery in place but he can’t spot a single robber save from that one guy he got rid of, and there are no other people, either, no hostages, no stray civilians waiting things out.  

He keeps walking. 

He keeps walking, and he keeps walking, and he keeps walking.  

He starts edging and edging towards the back of the bank, a maze of hallways and strange little rooms. Everywhere he looks, everything’s deserted, until- 

Until it isn’t.  

Luther takes a sharp left, walks into a random room, and thinks oh , oh there they are.  

The robbers.  

The hostages.  

Three men, all black kevlar, guns the size of their heads nestled a little too comfortably in their arms, pacing the room, walking left and right.  

At least a dozen hostages.  

It just doesn’t look good.  

Luther’s likes to think he’s got enough experience to be able to tell when someone’s just waving a gun around for the sake of it and won’t likely use it, and- to tell when they will, when it’s just a matter of waiting , and waiting , and doing their best, and fervently hoping the casualties will be kept to a minimum. 

It’s something about the way they stand, he thinks, about the way they carry themselves.  

These men are not afraid to spill some blood.  

And- 

If it wasn’t bad enough already- 

Between it all, Allison.  

Between it all, Ben.  

And, oh, they truly did prepare for them.  

They’ve got Allison with tape over her mouth- around her entire head, really. Sticky gray holding her jaw still, going around her lips and her cheeks and her hair, a job messily done, probably while she struggled and tried her best to squirm away.  

It’s gonna be stupidly painful to remove.  

Then Ben. Innocuously sitting. No restraints. No tape. No anything. But he’s immobilized all the same, unable to use his one strength against the robbers.  

They’ve got him sitting right in the middle of the hostages.  

If he were to release the Horror, they’d all be dead in a matter of seconds.  

So- 

No rumors, no eldritch.  

It’s- 

It’s fine.  

It’s fine.  

It’s not ideal, but it's fine.  

Luther takes a breath, waits to be spotted.  

It happens easily.  

He can see that Ben and Allison spot him the second he walks through the door, but they don’t really do anything. That’s good. Best not to make any sudden movements.  

Then it’s one of the goons, freezing where he stands, “Hey!” he barks, and his gun is suddenly pointed towards him.  

But that’s fine.  

Luther was expecting that.  

The others point their guns, too, and then it’s a standoff, Luther against the three men, the three guns. He remains stoic. He does not make a single move.  

“Which one is it?”  

“The strong one. I think.”  

“Don’t let ‘im get close then.”  

They know who he is.  

They know to use his strength against him.  

It’s fine.  

It’s fine, really.  

“Gentlemen,” Luther says, his voice carefully level, “I’m afraid I don’t like what you’ve got going on here. I’m gonna have to ask you to let these people go.”  

He receives a snort in response.  

“Not happening.”  

They stare at each other for a long, long time.  

Enough time that Luther thinks maybe they’re put at ease, maybe they won’t see him as such a blatant threat, maybe he can make a move, maybe, maybe, maybe-   

He takes a step forward.  

“Hey!”  

He takes another step.  

“Stop moving!”  

He takes another step.  

“You fucking- fucking stop moving!”  

He takes another step.  

“I said stop, damnit!”  

And- 

One of the men, the one closest to the hostages- 

“Stop! Stop! Fucking-”  

He sounds desperate, he sounds willing to do just about anything. Luther keeps getting closer and the man keeps stepping back, and he’s waving his stupid gun around like it’s some toy or something, and he’s not shooting Luther , so that’s good, but then-  

He turns around and puts a bullet in between a hostage’s eyes.  

Just like that.  

Blood and brains and bits of gore go flying, splattering all over the walls and the floors and- on Ben, on Ben’s face, and his chest, and his hair, and his eyes, and his mouth.  

Ben takes a sharp breath, snaps his eyes shut.  

There’s a wave of reactions from the hostages, whines, and cries, and disgruntled sounds, and Allison snaps her eyes shut as well, looks away.  

Luther doesn’t look away.  

He can’t look away.  

He can tell the man who fired grows agitated, holds the gun impossibly tighter, gains a crazed edge.  

The blood is strikingly bright. 

Luther can’t look away.  

“Step back,” the man barks at him, gesturing with his gun.  

Luther doesn’t really move.  

He-  

He doesn’t really handle it all that well, every time someone dies in front of him. It doesn’t matter how many times it’s happened, how many times he tries to convince himself he did all he could do and the one to blame is not him but the one who pulled the trigger.  

It’s still a life lost. On his watch.  

It’s still his fault.  

“Step back,” the man repeats, louder this time, and another one of them takes it as his cue to all but throw himself at Luther, to try and- tackle him or something, restrain him, and Luther-  

Well, they did warn the guy not to get close.  

He’s got superstrength.  

He pushes at the man’s shoulder, twists his arm until he’s dropped his own gun, kicks at him, pushes him down , makes sure he stays down , and- 

“Hey, hey, hey!”  

It’s the other guy. 

And Luther thinks he can probably reach him if he moves fast enough, but then there’s also the other guy to worry about, and- 

And suddenly- 

Suddenly-  

Suddenly that man, the trigger happy one-  

He reaches for Allison.  

He grabs a fistful of her hair and tugs harshly, pulls her towards himself, and she whimpers , and she’s got tape over her mouth but her whimper is stupidly loud, anyway, crystal clear, and the man holds her close with one hand, pushes his gun against her temple with the other one.  

Luther freezes.  

The man laughs.  

He laughs, and he laughs, and he laughs, “So that gets you to slow down, huh?”  

Luther doesn’t like the way that man is holding his sister, the way he’s holding that gun.  

There’s blood all the room, there’s chopped up meat, a cooling body. There’s Ben, splattered with sticky warm red, his eyes open wide, his hands balled into fists, shaking minutely.  

Luther doesn’t like the way that man is holding his sister. 

“Let her go,” he says, barely a whisper.  

“What was that?”  

“Let- let her go, you don’t know what you’re doing.”  

The man considers him, “How about you walk away and I’ll think about it?”  

But Luther shakes his head, “I- no, no, I can’t do that.”  

“You sure?” the man barks, and then he’s yanking forcefully at Allison’s hair all over again, and-  

And Allison doesn’t make a single sound this one time.  

She just stares right at him, her brown eyes full of something heavy.  

“S-Stop!” Luther says, and he’s stuttering , and he doesn’t know what to do, and he ends up searching for Ben, and Ben’s not really in a vantage point at the moment, either, in between civilians, unable to use his power, but he ends up searching for him all the same, desperately , urgently , “Ben-” he starts, but then-  

“Oh, no,” the man says, and he smiles big, all teeth, “No, no, no,” then he’s- walking towards Ben, five short steps, and he’s dragging Allison with him by the hair, and he’s stepping over the dead body like its nothing, and he’s pushing past the civilians without a care in the world. He looks at Ben in the eye, lifts his chin up with the barrel of the gun. “You’re not gonna try anything funny, are you?”  

And Ben shakes his head side to side, sits painfully still.  

“Leave him alone,” Luther says, and he’s taking a step forward without really meaning to.  

“Stay where you are!” the man barks, waving that damned gun around, “Don’t fucking move or I’ll fucking blow his brains out!” 

 And- 

God, god, god, Luther does stumble to a halt, he does, he absolutely does, but the momentum of his previous steps throw him forward, leaves moving still, for another second or two.  

“Alright, that’s it,” the man says, and he raises his gun, pushes it into Ben’s forehead with enough force to send him tumbling backwards and scrambling to lean on his elbows to try and straighten up, and the man goes to push the trigger, but-  

“No!” Luther yells, at the exact same time that Allison squeals something out as well, unintelligible, a jumble of words.  

“No what?” the man barks, “I’m fucking sick of you freaks, you’re so fucking-” and then, he stops. He stops, twists his lips into a smile, something wretched. “Tell you what,” he says, looking at Luther in the eye, and his casual tone clashes against the horrible words that leave his mouth, “Pick who dies.”  

Time slows down.  

“What?”  

The man looks stupidly smug, amused, like he’s enjoying this, “Pretty boy or pretty girl,” he says, gesturing at Ben and Allison respectively, “One of ‘em is dying. Your pick.”  

That’s more or less the moment in which Luther realizes if he doesn’t play his cards right, they’re not all coming out of this room in one piece.  

He likes to think he’s got enough experience to be able to tell when a person’s just spitting out threats for the sake of it and won’t go through with them, and-  

To be able to tell when he’s genuinely being asked to choose between the lives of his brother, or his sister. Two of the people he loves most in the entire goddamned planet.  

This guy-  

He seems the type that wants an answer.  

Seems the type that wants pain, that revels on it, that won’t stop until he’s made his victim suffer.  

And-  

Luther realizes, with a petrifying panic, he’s the victim here, in this scenario.  

He’s the one who interrupted whatever the hell these goons where about to do, he’s the one who made them mad, made them angry, he’s the one this man in front of him is placing all of his wrath in and now he wants to make him pay, to make him suffer, and the way he’s gonna do it is not by hurting him, but by hurting his siblings.  

“Take your pick.”  

Luther takes a breath, shaky, unmeasured. “Why- why don’t we calm down for a second? There’s no reason to-” 

“I’m not repeating myself,” the man hisses, angry, angry, angry, “Take your fucking pick already,” and-  

And his grip on Allison’s hair tightens, and he pulls at her hair, nearly lifts her off the floor by her hair, and she cries out, and she whimpers, and- 

“Shit, Allison,” Luther blurts, going to step forward but not daring to. 

And the goon smiles, “Ah, this one?”  

And suddenly the gun’s right by her head and- 

Luther realizes, horrified, that he said her name, that this man asked him which one of siblings to murder on cold blood and he said her name, “No,” he says, now, sharply, urgently, “No, no, no, that’s not what I-”  

And the man stares at him, and- 

His smile.  

His smile is the stuff of nightmares.  

“The other one, then,” he says, letting go of Allison, dropping her down like a ragdoll, “Good to know,” and then- 

In the blink of an eye, he turns around and he shoots Ben in the chest.  

Just like that.  

Bullet, after bullet, after bullet.  

Three times.  

It’s funny, but- in the blink of eye, in the blink of an eye , Luther has enough time to understand exactly what’s going to happen and why, he’s got enough time to understand it’s going to happen, whether he wants it or not, and it’s going to be his fault, always.  

He manages to catch Ben’s eye right before it happens, see panic and understanding sweeping his factions, turning his expression into something devoid of emotions, numb, something reigned by fear and nothing else.  

“Luther,” Ben mouths, right before the first bullet hits him.  

He drops down hard against the marble, and Allison screams.  

The thing hits him front and center, and they’ve all taken enough anatomy lessons to understand there’s no coming back from that, but still, in the blink of an eye, Luther gets the urge to kneel down by his side, to push at his wound, to keep him alive -  

And Ben gurgles, and coughs up blood, and chokes out a pained noise, and-  

And another bullet hits him. 

And then another.  

And then-  

He stops moving.  

He just stops moving, stops breathing, too.  

Times slows down.  

Time stops existing.  

The man with the gun starts laughing hysterically, mad cackles echoing all around them.  

Then Allison’s starts screaming and doesn't stop, her cries intertwined with sobs, and Luther has the distant thought that maybe she should try and avoid crying with the way her mouth is covered. Doesn’t she know she could choke to death like that?  

Times slows down.  

Time stops existing. 

Ben’s not moving. Ben’s not breathing.  

There’s blood pooling around him, a sea of red.  

Ben’s-  

Ben’s dead.  

Ben’s dead.  

(“Pick who dies.”)  

Luther took his pick, didn’t he?  

Luther was a bad leader, and a worse brother, and he couldn’t handle a simple mission, couldn’t handle that responsibility, that duty , to keep his family. 

It’s-  

It was a simple question, wasn’t it?  

Pick who dies.  

He should've said me , should’ve said  me, me, leave my sister alone, leave my brother alone, should’ve said, should’ve begged, kill me, let them leave, kill me, please.

[pinkvhs]

this has been a long time coming

ive detached from jack / dont watch jack anymore. i’ve poured so much into this story that involved the egos that i just....can’t let it go. so, im making ocs for the story instead. 

inspired by @lilakennedy . . . here is some info about my boys

Marvin the Magnificent➜ Marvin Lir MacKenna 

age: 27- from the 1920s

Brown wavy hair that goes to past his ears a bit

Blue eyes

Height: 5′7″

irish & welsh ( mother from wales father from ireland ) 

an illusionist / performer 

 Stage performance & regular attitude are a complete 180. Very bold on stage and confident but once he is off he is more reserved and calm

Best friends with Daniel

Knew Daniel for years, since they were around 10 years old. Extremely close bond.

Doesn’t believe in spirits but is very cautious / superstitious 

Gets powers whenever he and Daniel accidentally summon Phonus at Daniel’s Birthday/Halloween party. When it was just the two of them alone. 

He tries to attack Phonus since the monster killed Daniel 

but once he made contact with the demon, he was immediately teleported into our timeline. He took some of Phonus’s powers as a result 

He ends up getting burn marks on his arms/hands and face due to trying to physically fight Phonus when he was furious 

He has powers now, some he doesn’t know he can do yet. But his powers are: ✪= Not used often. ✦= strongest. ✧=weakest

✦ Empathic Element Manipulation ✦✪Fire Manipulation, ✦✪Necromancy, ✦Telekinesis,✦Kinetic Charging

✧✪Electricity Manipulation, ✦Magical Wall Generation, ✦Teleportation, ✧Intangibility, ✧Healing Hands, ✦✪Naturakinetic Combat

Riley finds him and helps him on his feet to find a place to stay

The two of them become close friends eventually, it takes a long time for Marv to warm up to people in this strange new environment- still tortured by that night. 

He blames himself for Daniels death every day. 

With his new unknown powers, he tries to go back in time to stop all this from happening. 

He opens up about his powers to Riley and the truth. 

Riley is beyond amazed that powers and magic exist, he tries to help Marv with his powers. 

He ends up needing to find a sort of job to stay at his home, so he tries the one thing he loved- entertaining people. With his magic, he dumbfounds audiences. 

However, once things were just looking up, his fire magic (the strongest) goes wrong.

He ends up catching a stage set on fire, causing injuries to hundreds. 

He panics. Riley tries to calm him down. But he can’t take it, he is convinced that he is destined to cause harm with these powers. 

He vanishes to a place by the sea and isolates himself, causing people to believe he died in the fire accident. 

He spends his time trying to prefect time travel and is consumed by isolation. though, he does attract wild life to him. they are very at ease with him

Refuses to use his fire magic 

One day, he comes across Viktor’s body on the shore. He takes him in quickly to his small home that he protected in case Phonus ever finds him.

He revives Viktor to come to. The stranger is a total mess and he tries to heal the man, but Viktor grabs him on reflex. So the man patches himself up

The two live together for a few months as the injuries heal up

Viktor convinces him to visit Riley again, so he does.

He teleports there and leaves a note stating that he is alive. He can’t bring himself to see Riley face to face

In the end, he tries to fight off Phonus. He fails miserably

He returns to his home, having Riley there with him. He gives Riley his powers because he doesn’t want to die and these powers go back to Phonus.

He trusts Riley with his life

Once Riley is given the powers, he passes away.

When his body is all alone peacefully at rest in the home, without any magic to protect it, Phonus finds the body

But no magic

The demon still takes the body. Using it to wake him up again and look into his mind to find out where the powers have gone

He remains a soul bounded victim to Phonus and reunites with Daniel

Both under Phonus’s control

Chase Brody➜ Noah Oliver Dodge

age: 29 - from our timeline

messy brown hair thats dyed blonde at the tips of it

brown eyes

Height: 5′9″

American

Dropped out of university and works part time at a local electronics store

loves to break things and try to fix them up again and make it totally new! 

has a passion for computers and likes to make his own computer 

he also loves film and had dreams of making a film 

a disaster cook but god help him he tries 

Father of 2 girls 

childish and fun loving 

reckless at times 

loves nature and going on walks / hikes 

met his wife in high school (been together since they were 16) 

they go to the same university, his wife studying to be a nurse 

at 18 he accidentally gets her pregnant and her parents arent the happiest about it

they get married at 19 

he becomes a stay at home dad and drops out to take care of their baby till she finishes nursing

they end up having another child once they get a small apartment together 

his daughter is friends with Viktors daughter and thats how the two families meet 

His wife actually works with Viktor and didn’t know at the time

his wife divorces him because, even though she does love him, she can’t keep working like this just to get by. she needs security and they dont have it. 

he is allowed to see his kids still but at the time it was very painful for him

he lives alone in that apartment, often calling Viktor to talk and invite him over so he doesn’t do shit he regrets 

he talks about how Viktor is so lucky to have such a wonderful life and wishes he could have that (since he doesn’t know the truth)

Viktor and Noah become very close and often have their kids over at each others houses

he hears news that Viktor is missing and becomes a mess. he is alone and doesnt know what to do. 

he tries to make it known that he is missing online, making posts and videos as much as he can to get peoples attention 

he visits the Valentin house hold and offers his wife any help thats needed, despite knowing all the turmoil they went though. he cares about the kids and doesn’t want them to worry. 

Henrik Von Schneeplestein➜ Viktor Alexis Valentin

age: 32 -from our timeline 

short grey hair

extremely pale blue eyes

pale, almost sickly skin 

Height: 6′2″

German

Doctor that specializes in internal medicine (meaning he focuses on helping adults) but also is a surgeon

Father of 3 girls

loves to bake! 

a hopeless romantic actually

he is very cold and standoff ish but once he loves you, he LOVES you

blunt to a fault still though

cares about people. more so than his own well being

extremely loyal

met his wife in university. he took an anatomy art class 

his wife helped him improve his drawing skills and the two became close

he fell for her very hard 

they get married and live in a house that they saved up for (with extra help from both of their parents)

once settled, they have their children 

his wife is a biology teacher with a minor in art teaching! 

he takes family trips whenever he can to the beach! his kids love the ocean!

he comes home one day to find his wife cheated on him- he suspected this for a while now. he found a shirt underneath the bed, thinking it was just a gift for later down the road for christmas or something. he went to fix it when a piece of paper fell out of the pocket. her phone number

he never gets mad at her. he blames himself

he thinks he isnt perfect enough

he becomes extremely distant and cold, more than before. never knowing when to bring it up

the two of them grow apart but still live together

they make sure not to worry their children though, they dont want them to think its their fault. 

he never brings up this information to Noah because he doesn’t want him to worry. 

very envious of Noah though and wish he would smack him. Noah has a wife that loves him and he wishes that Noah could wake up and see that and fix his actions. 

he does break down one night and tell Noah everything that happened

one day at the office, a man came in with a horrible neck injury. 

he typically sees people who just need some medication or the worst injury being a bite from a dog, but even that wasn’t bad. 

he rushes to take care of the stranger. once they were alone for a brief second, he gets trapped inside. 

Phonus used Daniels body in order to get to the Doctor. He attacks and possesses Viktor. 

Once Phonus is done using Viktor, he takes him to a cliff near the sea

He is snaps his neck and lets the body fall into the ocean. 

Eventually, he washes up to shore where Marvin is

he stays with marvin for months while he heals up himself, he refuses to get any magic help

once he decides to leave marvin has a hard time letting go, he is worried viktor will fall victim to phonus again 

he leaves to go home but once he reaches the steps, phonus finds him again. 

Jackieboy Man➜ Riley Lee Young

age: 23 - from our timeline 

very curly blonde hair

green eyes

skin that tans pretty easily 

the most muscular out of the lads but isnt extremely buff 

Height: 5′6″

American

Lives alone in a small apartment 

a college student, unsure what to major in but possibly wants to be a vet

LOVES animals! 

a vegetarian ! 

a pretty good cook actually! 

has a heart of gold and sees the best in most people, though he isn’t stupid. he knows there are terrible people in the world that can’t change and deserve punches to the face

he watches pets and volunteers at animal shelters!

he also babysits Viktors kids to get some money

was kicked out of his home. Viktor found out about it and bought him a small apartment to live in. (he would of offered Riley to stay but he has issues at home that he doesn’t want to subject Riley to on the daily)

he is the girls big brother figure and he loves to pay pretend with them ! 

He meets Marvin and they eventually become friends

he helps Marvin gain back confidence, giving him a place to stay, and helps him actually feel . . at home in this timeline 

when he finds out the truth that marvin is from the 1920s and has powers he cannot get over how cool it is! calling him a super hero and showing him comics that he has. he helps marvin try to get a better hold on the powers

he was around whenever the fire accident with marvins powers happen, he tries to calm marvin down but ends up alone. left to wonder what happened to his friend. 

When he has to start university up again he has to let the Valentin family know that he can’t be around as much as before but will try to help out if needed 

Viktor’s wife ends up calling Riley one day and begs him to come to the house as soon as he can for Viktor has been missing for days now

Riley puts up posters and gets the news out that Viktor is missing as much as he can around the city. 

He still goes to university but spends a lot of time in the Valentin household. Visiting on holidays and the girls birthdays. Having no news of Viktor. 

he later on gains marvins powers, his mainly being electricity and strength. 

he is set on finding phonus and fixing things for marvins sake 

Jameson Jackson➜ Daniel Edmund Thomas

age: 27 - from the 1920s

slicked short black hair

brown eyes

Height: 5′7″

British

a charming, bold, charismatic man 

an actor and musician, exceptionally good on piano

very witty and clever

lives a rather extravagant life 

very close friends with Marvin, trusts him with his life

on his 27th birthday on Halloween, he throws a party

he loves to mess around with guests and asks Marvin if they can have a a seance

they try it to entertain the guests, but nothing happens (to marvins relief) 

the party continues on till its just marvin and him by the end of the night

they try again to contact from the beyond

they succeed 

he comes face to face with the demon. an invisible hand causing him to kill himself. making Marvin watch 

he becomes Antiphonus’s personal toy 

his mind becomes warped and he loses all sense of who he used to be

he tries to fight back, but once he does, his tongue is cut out of his mouth. never to be able to voice for help again 

his body now bound to Phonus becomes a personal pin cushion. being cut open and inspected to see how far humans have come with healing themselves. to see how far a human body can handle things

being trapped with phonus he starts to believe that Marvin caused his death. he believes everything phonus tells him and is set on killing marvin 

he becomes very aware of realities all thanks to Phonus. 

Antisepticeye➜ Antiphonus

age: unknown. 

an immortal being / demon

seems to have been around for centuries 

first appears invisible, then a shadow figure, to a pitch black faceless figure that takes on more of a human shape - till finally, he appears to look like Daniel 

he is fascinated with humans, very curious and destructive 

he takes Daniel in as a host. he rests inside of Daniel’s body till he is strong enough to mimic the physical outer appearance of him

when he possesses people becomes stronger. he doesnt have full control right away, it takes him a bit of time to warm up once again to how powerful he used to be. 

he can see into his victims mind when possessing them, he knows all what Daniel knows / remembers. Daniels fame, fears, friendship. family, love- he knows it all. 

He uses this to his advantage to keep Daniel around without fighting him back- using Marvin against him

he is after the powers that he accidentally gave to Marvin on impact

he travels to the dimensions he has access to and time lines in hopes to find Marvin, taking Daniel along with no choice

he lands in our dimension and timeline to sense that his powers are close by

He ends up sabotaging Marvin’s performance with fire magic in order to kill him or capture him but it fails- he looses sight of him

While he is searching through the streets, he over hears talk about the human body. He comes across Viktors practice building and opens the door a crack. He can sense so many souls and blood in that building and gets vastly curious. He notices people injured and ill, waiting for care. He hatches an idea. 

 He returns to Daniel and possesses his body. He takes Daniel to an alley way close to the building, away from the eyes of others. He grabs the sharpest thing he can find and plunges it deep into the side of his neck and carves it out slowly and rips it out. 

He quickly makes Daniel reach the building and barges in, causing everyone to look on in horror. The nurses there rush to his aid as Phonus makes Daniel gasp and hold his neck to try to stop the bleeding. Nurses page for Viktor asap as they get Daniel to a stretcher and room fast.  Viktor arrives shortly after and is fast to help Daniel. Daniel just looks at Viktor and tries to nod. 

Once the nurses leave for a brief moment and its just him and Viktor, Phonus makes the door lock them inside.

Viktor goes to inject him with medication but Daniel reaches out and grabs Viktors arm. He say to Daniel that he knows needles are scary but you need this now, let go please. Daniel sits up and twists Viktors arm, causing Viktor to wince in pain while looking shocked. 

He grabs Daniels hand with his free one and tries to pry it away, but can't. Daniel kicks him away, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. He gets up from the bed. The lights inside the room begin to flicker faster and faster. Electronics in the room flickering on and off, radios and tv consumed with fast stations, fluctuating volumes, and static. Viktor gets to his feet and hears all this noise and sees this horror in front of him. 

Phonus leaves Daniels body, causing Daniel's wound to disappear. Phonus stands in front of him.

He gets inside of Viktors mind to find all that he can about the human body and the amount of pain that it can handle. 

He sees in Viktors mind a young man with curly blonde hair. And for a brief moment inside of Viktors mind, he sees Marvin 

in the end he ends up taking Marvin captive but finds that the powers are gone. 

he keeps marvin around because he sees too, that he gave that blonde boy his powers

so he is on the hunt for Riley 

[derpyslurpy-da-derp-master]

A Super Soft Rant About Shizuku Tokikaze From Akiba’s Trip

there’s only a handful of characters where just looking at them makes me all

And this sad adorable precious little gem right here is one of them

like ffs i have an actual problem i love her way too much

Who is Shizuku Tokikaze? I’m glad you asked, absolutely nobody considering there literally isn’t an actual fandom for this game!

Shizuku both a Nighteater (a mythical being) and is one of the handful of girls in Akiba’s Trip the MC, Nanashi, can romance. Shizuku is the very first girl the player meets, said meeting being her saving your ass, you saving her ass in return but also getting yourself badly hurt, and Shizuku, in order to save your ass once more, turns you into her familiar by kissing Nanashi. How’s that for an introduction? And no, my love for her has nothing to do with the intro whatsoever. 

I’m not gonna bore you with more lore bits and am just gonna go into why I love Shizuku so much

For one, her voice is just so calming and nice to listen to, her voice is always soft and even, and it’s very apparent that she’s trying to keep her emotions hidden but despite her neutral tone she still emotes quite frequently and it’s easy to tell what she’s feeling. There is however one point in the game where she COMPLETELY breaks the neutral tone and it’s one of my favorite things ever because HOLY CRUD A SNEAK PEEK AT HER ‘NORMAL’ VOICE and it’s also so freaking funny, her voice starts out the normal calm tone like ‘Your timing is perfect. Also... *embarrassed screaming*’

Personality wise, oh my god she’s just so great I love her so m- aaaand im rambling again. At the start of the game she’s used to being alone and is quiet and reserved and almost stand-offish, but as the game progresses she starts getting used to being around people and learns to love Akihabara, saying the city itself feels like it’s alive with just how many people bustle about, happy to go about their days and lives.

Theeeen she’s asked to join two of the other girls in a cosplay contest and have everyone sit down to watch the entire series they’re going to be cosplaying and as the first few episodes go by Tohko (one of the other girls) is getting tired of watching it and asks if they can stop, specifically asking Shizuku if she’s tired of it yet, thinking she’ll agree since she’s all quiet and standoff-ish but then Shizuku quietly says she finds it interesting which is enough for Nana (Nanashi’s sister) to start it up again and after the 4+ hours it takes them to watch it all Tohko is exhausted and groaning and soo upset and meanwhile over here Shizuku has been moved to tears by this anime and asks if she’s worthy to cosplay her favorite character. Yep you guessed it Shizuku loves anime now. She goes out later on to buy a figure of her favorite character with Nanashi helping her navigate the best otaku shopping spots and they find it and she’s so genuinely happy and full of wonder me super happy. 

She’s like a little kid discovering their favorite thing?? She lived in a rural area so she’s never seen anything like this before and now she has and she fell in love with it?? She’s so excited and happy about it?? I love her so much??

But that’s all just cute positive traits, what could possibly make me almost unhealthily attached to this girl?

Well you know how I love her to bits? She feels the exact opposite. Shizuku, under her neutral tone and love of anime, is an incredibly self-loathing individual. This is for many reasons, because she couldn’t stop the monsters on her own, because her little sister ran away after leaving 50 pages of pure hatred explaining how much she hated her and how she never wanted to see her again, because she turned Nanashi inhuman like her to save his life and he can never go out fully into sunlight again, and because of a dozen other things that also aren’t even remotely her fault. 

I spent the whole game feeling so much love and sadness over this girl because she spent the whole game discrediting and self deprecating herself no matter how many times her friends/family told her she was worth it, that she was so much better than what she gave herself credit for.

And in the end of her route when she’s about to head back to her home despite desperately wanting to stay, when she says she doesn’t deserve to stay because of what she did to Nanashi, he shuts that down immediately. He tells her that doesn’t matter, and...

Shizuku finally gets it through her head that the people around her genuinely care about her, that it’s okay to stay in Akihabara, that there are people who are going to love and support her no matter what. This scene made me start crying because while it’s going to take time for Shizuku to unlearn the unhealthy habits and attitudes towards herself she’s adopted, she’s going to be okay. She’s going to be loved and supported the whole way and it made me cry because that’s what I had been wanting for her the whole game and it actually happened.

So yeah, Shizuku x Happiness is my OTP for life thank you for coming to my ted talk

[vjjeons]

whaddup!! i’m acacia (satan). i’m twenty years old, i use she/her pronouns and i hail from the pst timezone! i’m super excited to be in a lil ol’ group again because i haven’t been in one since like… idk?? but enough about me — let’s get to the good stuff aka my girl, veronica jeon. it gets pretty lengthy, so if you just want the overall version of it just scroll to the very end! anyways, if you like this, i’ll take it as an invitation to IM you for plots, so be careful!! ♡

jennie kim + cis female + she/her — have you met veronica jeon? they are a twenty-one year old artist/barista known as the philophobic. a pansexual scorpio, they are independent + bold, as well as stubborn + cynical. their soulmark is a crescent moon on the left ring finger, and they can feel the emotions of their soulmate.

BACKGROUND + TRIGGER WARNINGS: abuse, death, drugs

to kick things off, veronica grew up with just her mother around. her father had always been MIA. so, she doesn’t have a lot of memories involving him. therefore, her mother dated an array of men. often times neglecting her daughter, with the exception of the times she brought in successful report cards.

when she was thirteen, her mother married a man who physically abused veronica any chance he had. especially when mrs. jeon started cheating on him. so ronnie recoiled around her art for a few years.

being alone as an only child, she had to keep herself entertained. she started off by doodling with just a pencil. but, eventually expanded with acrylic paints and water colors. thus ultimately discovering her love for the arts!! 

she isn’t exactly sure how she’s going to find a successful career path through her beloved hobby. which is why she picked up her job as a barista to make some actual cash flow.

when veronica turned sixteen, she thought of tracking down her father in hopes of reuniting with him. this lead her to her grandmother’s house. who eventually had to break the news that her father had died from a drug overdose before she was born.

though, the news was shocking. it didn’t leave her feeling empty. instead, she found something better — her grandmother. she instantly connected with the woman and eventually found herself making her grandmother’s home as a sort of safe haven.

her grandma even supported her with her arts. buying her any supplies she needed and giving her suggestions on places she can find more muse. basically fulfilling the mother role veronica desperately needed.

but one day while visiting, the woman had passed in her sleep. this took a toll on ronnie considering how attached she became to her grandmother and her home. she would have to return back to her mother’s and her step-father. when she went back, the man attempted to abuse her again. however, she ratted him out. ultimately sending him to his imprisonment.

once she turned eighteen, her mother had packed up her things and left the girl behind. though, ronnie was fazed by the woman’s actions. nor did she feel any lose considering how little she cared about the other.

but good things do happen to v! one day she received a letter explaining that she inherited her grandmother’s fortune. (which she often uses to pay off her apartment bills.) along with a small journal with letters and locations to keep veronica on the right path. to stray away from the hatred and negativity and turn those emotions into something beautiful.

PERSONALITY + RELATIONSHIPS

PERSONALITY: she is charming, creative, and witty. however, she can be quite cynical, stubborn, and reserved. she has that tell it like it is personality. she just calls it likes she sees it. even if she’s not exactly right. she’s witty and intelligent. she’s very particular when it comes to most things. she wants things done correctly. so she often runs by the quote, “if you want things right you gotta do it yourself.” she doesn’t like relying on others to get things done when she knows she could do it faster and better. a little bit of a ocd queen. she’s one of those people that set their mind to something and goes through with it until the end. she has a way with words. her silky soft voice makes it easy for her to manipulate people. (unless you’re close to her, then they can see past the bullshit.) but don’t get her talking about feelings. because you’re gonna just hear crickets if you do that. she’s sort of an introvert. over the years, veronica had to work hard to become the person she is today — someone who is hopeful, who sees art and beauty everywhere, even in the ugliest parts of the world..some days, it’s a little harder, but she never gives up. she’s slowly growing out of her tough head of hair and morphing into a young woman so beautiful over the years, but also at times, terrifying?? self destructive?? even if she’ll never let anyone see her deteriorate her insides sigh. basically she’s a hot mess. but she tries her best to hide that shit. yeye sweg.

when it comes to FRIENDS veronica can always use some of ‘em. she possess the qualities of a good friend loyal, honest, trustworthy. however, she can be quite pessimistic. which might be a reason why she doesn’t have as many friends. once her mind is set to think a certain way it’s hard to persuade her to believe otherwise. she’s the type of friend to listen to your problems, but be prepared to listen to her unwanted opinions – all of them. she’s also the type to put a friend in check when they need it. she thinks of it as trying to convince them to see the bigger picture. first impressions is something she might not be very good at. while she isn’t exactly the definition of rude, she tends to not filter then things she says. overall, i would say that she might just need a handful of friends, a whole bunch of acquaintances, and her a ride or die.

please flood her with ENEMIES. i know for a fact that she has these. being so boldly opinionated and all. you know this girl has more than enough haters. sometimes she has some very evil intentions. she’s vengeful and irrational. but, don’t get me wrong. she’s not pure evil. veronica does have some good intentions, she leans more to the chaotic evil side. deep deeeeep deeeeeeeeep down the girl is trust issue central when it comes to letting people in. she can’t help it. she has abandonment issues thanks to her parents. therefore, she might come off as standoff-ish to new people. she keeps her circle tight. so maybe they think she’s cliquey? or she could have pushed people away. she’s like that one rihanna meme, them: you can’t just cut people off. ronnie: *holds a pair of scissors* she doesn’t have problem with letting people go. so maybe people think she’s a bitch because, “how could you just drop our five year long friendship like that.” and she’d just shrug. but really, she’s hurting beyond repair and will go home crying while eating a thing of ben & jerry’s chunky monkey. and there’s always that possibility where a friendship just didn’t work out. maybe they just stopped having time for each other and now it’s just mad awk. whatever it is, an enemy would b beaut.

as for LOVERS. veronica is a fucking cynic. love ain’t real and life is cold. she’d rather just be alone and happy than in a relationship and suffering. she sees so many people around her settle for less. (her mother being a prime example of that.) especially when she’s giving advice for friends. she doesn’t think people should be so easily manipulated by the concept of love. she knows there’s a difference between wanting someone and wanting to be with someone. and in her eyes, most people only settle for the sake of companionship. it’d be a hard mission to win this girl over. but not impossible. she’s definitely been on a few dates and had a couple of relationships. though most ended quickly due to the realization she only fell for their smooth talking and nothing more. 100% dabbles in the quick hook ups for the sake of fulfilling those needs. though, if the right person were to come along… she’d be loyal to them, completely devoted to just them.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

sooooo, my lazy ass actually found the power to make a RELATIONSHIPS PAGE. peep it, tell me what you think. if you can’t find something your muse fits, throw whatever ideas you have right at me! i’m so down for whatever.

MISCELLANEOUS

in a nutshell, she’s an angel with a halo unbalanced with horns, not a devil but not a saint either?? kind yet has a backbone. softer than what she seems like. humorous and witty though understanding. mistrusting but willing to let loyalty speak. veronica is a hot mess dealing with personal issues by lashing out on those around her. she’s loyal, but manipulative. opinionated, but easily offended. intelligent, but sometimes argumentative. she’s a bit of a feminist. trusts no bitch. but if you’re her friend, she’s chill as fuck. though, she’s a bit hesitant when it comes to making new friends. since she’s likes being a lame outcast. but really — she just doesn’t know how to process her good thoughts into words. she’s a barista and a tortured artist. she’s independent, hardworking, and determined. muse inspo for her: kat stratford (10 things i hate about you), samantha borgens (stuck in love), michelle (spider-man homecoming), and a hint of blair waldorf (gossip girl). anyways, give her girl scout cookies and she’ll love you til the end of time.

congratulations ! you made it to end ! if you read all of this… i love you. i only ever write so much bc… it gets me in character lmao. also, i wrote all of this the second i woke up. so don’t mind the grammar mistakes and what not. HENNYWAYS… i would really love to plot with everyone. so just slide into my DMs and we can get things started!! luv u *blows a kiss*

[indigomasquerade97]

A Shift In Perspective pt3

Okay, here’s the final part to my entry for @arc852 . Enjoy!

'Where the bloody hell is he?' Jack asked aloud, glancing again at the clock on the wall. It was nearly lunchtime, and Mark still hadn't returned home. He'd been gone nearly twelve hours now.

Jack fidgeted on the couch cushion. Mark had never done this before. He'd never just stay out all night like this.

Worst case scenarios began to form in his head. What if Mark had gotten hurt on his walk? Or kidnapped? What if the giant goober was dead? If anything had happened, there would be no way for Jack to find out. He couldn't open the door or windows, and even if he somehow found a way outside, he'd just be walking aimlessly in a world built exclusively for humans. And if any of them saw him, they were likely to snatch him up and he'd be stolen away from his search. Away from his best friend.

There would be no way for him to fight them, and they wouldn't listen to his pleas for search and rescue. He was just a dumb animal to humans, after all. Why would they ever listen to him?

Click.

Jack's head snapped up at the noise. The front door was creaking open. He sniffed, wiping at his wet eyes. He stood up, determined to hide his moment of indulging in depressive thoughts. He had a giant to reprimand.

As soon as Mark walked through the hallway, Jack let him have it.

'Mark Edward Fischbach! Where the fook have you been? I was worried sick, dude!' He yelled out, used to having to raise his voice to be heard by his human. His natural loudness helped immensely. Mark froze, his relieved smile turning into one of uncomfortable shock. Yeah, you'd better look uncomfortable, Jack thought irritably. How dare his human scare him like that!

Then someone was chuckling. A human wearing a dark cape sauntered in after Mark, looking thoroughly amused by the standoff.

'And I thought Takota was a handful.' He joked. He seemed amused that both of them had green dye through their hair, though the humans was a lighter, more vibrant colour.

'Uhhh... who's that?' Jack asked, trying to repress his initial fright at being around an unknown human. Mark was here. Jack was safe.

'Um... this is Jason.' Mark introduced awkwardly, and Jason waved pleasantly. He was shorter than Mark by a few inches, and younger than Jack first thought. He couldn't be older than eighteen. But he seemed non-threatening.

'Okay, pleasantries aside... Mark, where were you?' Jack demanded. Back on track. I'm mad at 'im!

The two humans shared a glance. Mark looked like he was lost for words. Jason looked amused, silently laughing at his struggle.

'Um... would you believe me if I said I was abducted by giant aliens? And Jason's one of 'em and saved me?'

Jack glared heatedly. Really? Mark was going to go with a ridiculous story like that?

'Do I look like a fookin' idiot?' He asked. Jason snorted, failing to hide his mirth.

'He ain't bluffin, half-pint. I got him and a bunch o' others out of the beginnings of a major slave trade. We only just got around to getting him home, since he's been trying to convince me to come for a drink the last hour.' Jason said, smiling warmly. Jack rounded his glare on him.

'Look, I know you humans think my kind are stupid and gullible, but aliens don't exist!' Jack declared. Jason raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

'A hundred years ago, humans didn't think you guys existed, either,' He said, leaning forward almost ominously, 'Just because you haven't met one, doesn't mean we don't exist.'

Then something frightening happened. Jason's form began to melt and pixilate, becoming a swarm of colours that squirmed and waved before returning to their initial pristine shape. Jack felt himself pale, especially when the kids eyes began flashing different colours.

'Expand your horizons, eh mate?' Jason said, leaning back casually with a small chuckle.

'Uh, anyone want something to drink? Okay, in here.' Mark quickly led Jason into the kitchen, which gave Jack a moment to compose himself. He blinked, a hand clutching at the thick fabric over his heart. Jesus, that was terrifying!

Mark returned soon after, holding a bottle cap full of soda and a giant cookie. He gingerly placed them in front of Jack.

'I, uhh... I'm sorry about scaring ya, dude,' Mark said timidly, smiling hopefully, 'Forgive me?'

Jack glared at him, then glanced at the cookie bribe. It was a chocolate chip, and looked delicious.

'Never! I'll never forgive you for abandoning me!' Jack declared dramatically, bending down to drag the cookie closer, 'I'll just take this with me!' He sat down and pulled off a chunk, taking a bite. Just as chocolatey as he'd hoped. Mark was smirking at him almost triumphantly. Jack pointed at him mock accusingly.

'This means nothing!' Mark laughed, gently nudging him with his knuckle. Jack nearly did a double-take; the familiar action was much slower and gentle, as opposed the the careless speed Mark usually portrayed.

'Whateva you say, leprechaun.'

'You two are adorable, you know that?' Jason said, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. He held a small cup of water in one hand, which he didn't drink from.

'You aren't gonna have your drink?' Mark asked. Jason smiled, gently placing the cup on the coffee table.

'To be honest, this form can't actually consume food or liquids like that.'

'Then... why did you come over?'

'Truth be told, I wanted to see your relationship with Jack,' Jason said, looking sheepish, 'You guys really are close friends, huh?'

'Yeah...?' Jack said, glancing up at Mark. But he was too distracted to notice his silent look of inquiry.

'Actually, I was wondering if you two would like to partner up with us,' Jason continued, sitting down in a chair opposite them, 'I need to send a memo to my mentor so she knows this planet is liable to go down a dark road. We want to try and avoid that if possible.'

'And... where do we fit?' Mark asked. Jason sighed.

'This “pet trade” is unacceptable,' He said heatedly, 'I want to create a movement to outlaw the trade and form legal rights for the smaller folk.'

The two friends glanced at each other. A movement to put an end to the horrendous trade? Sure, their friend Phil was a lawyer and was doing what he could to help, but there was little support from the general public to support such a reform. But, if the alien truly wanted to help...

'How would we do this?' Jack asked, his interest peaked.

'We need to show the population that your kind is not the stupid, lesser beings that the media claims you are. If we can prove that, we can begin to show how both your species would benefit from a mutual agreement rather than a master/pet one,' Jason explained, 'They need to see a Tiny being treated as an equal rather than an animal. With enough exposure and prompted discussion, eventually the people will become more open to the idea and we will have a stronger case.'

'Well... it's Jack's choice, really.' Mark stated after a moment.

The two looked down at Jack, who felt put on the spot. He gulped, thinking it over. Their friends were very vocal about their views of Tiny's, and they were practically ridiculed for it. If they went on a higher scale like this, that mild ridicule could morph into full blown hate and death threats. It was risky...

But he thought about his family back in Ireland. They were constantly in fear of being discovered by humans. And if they ever were, they would be damned into a life of servitude for some human. There was no guarantee they would find a kind human, and even most of those still saw them as mere animals. If they could do this, they would not have to live in such fear. They would be free. He, and all his other friends would be free of the looming threat of losing ones free will.

'I want to help.' He declared, feeling determined. Nothing would deter him from this!

'Excellent,' Jason said, standing up, 'I will get in contact with you at a later date. For now, I need to get everything sorted.'

And then Jason fizzed out of existence, leaving no trace of his presence. The two friends were left alone. They looked at each other.

'So... you were serious before? About him being a giant to you?' Jack asked.

'Yeah.'

'… Did he grab you? Or pick you up?'

'… Yeah.'

'Did ya squeal like a wee girl?' Jack grinned as Mark blushed with embarrassment.

'A little, yeah.' Jack began to cackle with amusement.

'Ha! Oh jasus! Now you know what its like!'

~

Marshal strolled through the hallway, practically ripping his hair out. He tried desperately to ignore the men squabbling around him like seagulls, but found it harder than he thought.

'Sir, please-'

'Slow down-'

'Mr President-'

You have been missing for hours-'

'Where have you been?'

They were too loud. He needed to get away. He needed to think. He needed time alone!

He rushed towards his office, the gaggle of men still on his heels. He sighed, turning to face them once he got to his door.

'I will inform you of my whereabouts at a later date,' He said, discretely backing into the room, 'But for now, I need a few minutes to recuperate myself.'

He quickly shut the door, locking himself from their concerned demands. He sighed, resting his head against the cool wood. It was nice to be alone for a moment, even if he could still hear their muffled voices on the other side.

He turned to his office, the symbol on the polished floor shining despite the relative dark. Faint sunlight lit up the edges of the closed curtain, and he reached out to switch the light on. The lights remained stubbornly off, despite the repeated attempts.

Marshal sighed in annoyance, rubbing his temple as he strolled towards his desk. Light outages weren't common, and it made the actual occurrences all the more annoying. But he didn't open the door to inform anyone of the problem. If he did, the room would be invaded by the very people he was trying to get away from. But maybe a nap would be better than catching up on paperwork, anyway?

'Afternoon, sir.'

Marshal gasped, flinching back at the unexpected voice. His big chair spun around, revealing a pretty teen girl. She was wearing modest clothes, all black and making her partially blend into the dark. She had her arms crossed, a serious glint in her blue eyes as she silently appraised him. He took a deep breath, frowning at her. How did a sixteen year old girl get passed security?

'Who are you?' He demanded, 'How did you even get in here?'

'You can call me Ashley,' She said, smirking as she added sarcastically, 'and I fazed through the wall.'

'You aren't supposed to be in here!' Marshal said, stepping closer so he would loom over the shorter girl. His attempt to seem intimidating fell short when he tripped over his own two feet, planting a hand on the desk to keep himself from falling on his ass. She rolled her eyes at the pathetic attempt.

'I have to disagree,' She said, calmly standing up, 'We have a lot to talk about.'

Marshal shook his head, turning his back to her. He had to call in security. While he doubted the girl was a real sort of threat, he still couldn't allow someone to simply break into his office.

But he froze when he noticed the second intruder, idly throwing an apple in the air like a softball. Marshal felt his heart begin racing. Familiar dark green eyes, flaming lime hair, shimmering grey cloak... Jason smirked at his look of horrified recognition.

'Hey mate,' He muttered, cocking his head as he tossed the apple again, 'Didn't I saw we'd see each other again?'

Marshal opened his mouth to scream, but a slender hand covered it and effectively silenced him. He struggled against the girl, but her willowy form betrayed her strength. She had no trouble dragging him to his chair, dumping him into it.

Marshal was near hyperventilating, eyes darting between the two beings. There was little doubt in his mind that the two were aliens, though he didn't know how they were able to appear before him like this. Weren't they meant to be huge?

'W-what do you w-want with me?' He demanded, trying to keep himself from stuttering, and failing miserably. The girl looked sheepish, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Jason's hard expression never changed as he tossed the apple.  

'Your planet is progressing to the point where our enemies are becoming aware of you,' She said, shrugging apologetically, 'We need to form a contract with you so we can legally get involved when they inevitably attack.'

'But... your just talking to me?' He asked. First contact should have been important enough to warrant a meeting with all world leaders, right? Then why were they only talking to him?

He flinched when Jason snorted, twirling the apple absently in his hands. As it was twirled, Marshal noticed a large slice had been cut out. With how he concentrated on twirling the fruit, it was almost reminiscent of a calming exercise... His eyes were quite red at that moment, though he never looked right at Marshal.

'Don't let your head swell, mate. The others are talking to other leaders as we speak,' He said, eyes flashing as he looked up to glare heatedly, 'Your not special enough to warrant special treatment!'

'Okay Jay,' Ashley warned, placing a calming hand on his shoulder, to which he backed down immediately, 'The world leaders will be getting in contact soon enough. We just wanted to have a word with you first.'

Marshal gulped, believing he knew exactly where this was going.

'Word about what?' He asked, hoping playing dumb would help him now.

'About that.' Ashley said, nodding to the cage sitting on a nearby desk. It was empty, the bowl of pellets untouched. His young female Tiny was instead sitting on the desk with her blanket over her shoulders, contentedly munching on a slice of apple as she watched the confrontation. When their eyes met, she smiled, but her eyes were full of dark glee and resentment.

Oh fuck...This isn't going to end well.

The end?

[thatweirdmod]

Windowless Moviemaker Chapter 5: Onus

Windowless Moviemaker

Chapter 5: Onus

A few weeks have passed since I had that vivid dream, and today is Sunday.

I'm off from both work and school, and Kidney called me out for an afternoon stroll around the park, saying that he wanted to talk.

So, here we are now, walking under the shade of overhanging branches with birds chirping the day along.

"Jeeto," Kidney starts. "We've become people with very different priorities. Right now, I'm keeping my nose clean, and thinking about my family and future. Sounds responsible, but you know something? I haven't felt this free in ages."

I just keep walking beside him and listening with my head down, waiting for the punch.

"I burned the bag and clothes I wore on those nights. I wiped my hard drive of all the movies and destroyed the DVDs.

I dumped all my tools and supplies. Now the only relics tying me to that dark past now are my own memories... and you, Jeeto."

"So," I say plainly, "You wanna throw me away too."

Kidney opens his mouth to speak again, but I cut him off.

"It makes sense. I'm a liability to you now. Besides," I add, "we can't even pleasantly reminisce as friends anymore. All that'd do is drag you back to places you'd rather forget."

"You're right," Kidney agrees solemnly. "But there's another thing I need to tell you." He stops walking and turns to me, so I stop with him. Resolve burns in his gold hazel eyes.

"Stay away from Krin and my mother," he tells me in no uncertain terms.

I blink at him.

"I told Mitchol the same thing," Kidney continues. "If any of you touch them, you won't get away with it. That is a guarantee, even if I have to blow the roof off of your whole schtick and expose myself in the process."

I scoff aloud. "Heh, you're a big man now, ain't 'cha?"

Kidney narrows his eyes at me, his frown warning me.

I go on anyway. "From the day you backed out on the school roof, I knew we couldn't really be friends anymore. We had fallen out, but I tried to pretend that things were okay. And do you know why?" I ask.

He stares at me without wording a guess, hints of disgust and dread on his face.

"Because I thought it might come in handy to preserve our relationship. And it has. You see," I elaborate. "You've let me into your house a few times recently.

You were cautious, 'casually' hanging around the bathroom when I went to make sure I didn't snoop around, and walking me to the door when it was time to leave.

You always kept a careful eye on me-- except when we were playing video games in your closed bedroom. For there, I surely couldn't touch Krin.

But, that bedroom just so happens to be the place where you sleep with her."

His face pales as he helplessly waits for me to finish.

"You like to say you don't need a bitch to take care you, but you can't even clean that cluttered room of yours. It's no wonder you never noticed the mini camera hidden between all that junk."

“So you really...?” Kidney says breathlessly.

I laugh in satisfaction. "You're so good and gentle with Krin, little Kidney bean. So different from how you usually were with the women we'd take. She really must be 'something' to you."

My second fit of laughter gets cut short by Kidney grabbing me by the collar. "You son of bitch!" He yells, balling his fist to deck me.

"Hey, easy there." I say calmly. "You're in no position to be threatening me, or any of the other members."

We stay in a standoff for a while, until Kidney begrudgingly releases his grip on my shirt.

"Your willingness to throw yourself to the dogs in order to protect Krin was noble. However, now you see that if you expose us, we'll throw both of you to the dogs.

I probably don't have to explain this to you, but on top of the shame, stigma, and ostracization it brings, incest is illegal here.

If the videos I took got into the hands of law enforcement, it could mean jail time and criminal records for both you and Krin. How's that for 'family and future'?"

Kidney stumbles off the path and backs into a tree. He buries his face in his hands, groaning miserably.

I chuckle, watching him. After a while, he lowers his hands and looks up at me with quivering eyes.

"I'll kill you," he states. "I'll kill each and every one of you."

"Really? Good luck with that." I say nonchalantly. "A physical fight doesn't worry us, even on the off chance that your uncle Stoulfer stands with you.

We have Mitchol's friends, including Redhand Heriolt. It's an easy guess why they call him 'Redhand.'

"Before I kill you," Kidney says, unwavered. "I want to know: is it just my sister, or do you bastards want something else from me?"

"Mitchol and the others wanted you blackmailed for extra insurance. Since you wore a mask while filming, they weren't confident that the website videos would be enough to ensure your silence.

But me? I never fretted about that. The pursuit of a better life and the pursuit of justice are two opposite things in your case."

"So all you yourself really want is Krin, then?" Kidney asks.

"Bingo badaboomgo."

"Why?" He demands, shaking his head in frustration. "Why does it have to be her?"

"Oooohhh, are you dissing your own sister, Kidney?" I tease. "Come on, she's a beautiful girl."

"I know there's more to it than that." He insists. "Do you want to hurt me? Is that it? If so, then come here and hit me in my face like a man, instead of using my little sister to get at me!"

"Wow, look at what an assumption you've jumped to," I say airily, then resume my walk down the path.

"Come back here!" Kidney shouts after me.

I wave goodbye without bothering to look back.

"Just remember," he says. "I have something you don't. You're nothing but an empty coward. And that's what you'll always be, Jeeto."

I wrinkle my nose in disgust at the whole event. Since when did Kidney turn into such a shounen protagonist? To think we used to be friends.

Well anyway, I've got the rest of the day ahead of me, and there is some shopping I need to do.

Man, I feel like a woman, looking through items for self defense like this, but I pick up the pepper spray anyway.

Next I need to get some batteries for my new taser. I push my cart down the aisles, avoiding eye contact with shoppers in the other "lane."

Despite my cool demeanor, Kidney's claim that he would kill me concerned me. It seemed genuine. I could backtrack, apologizing and promising to leave him and Krin alone.

However, he knows me well enough to never believe me. I would pounce when he let his guard down, because that's the way I am.

Have you ever tried to catch an unfriendly animal? I have. With every step closer, the animal's decision making process grows more frantic. When I'm close, backing it into the corner, I can read in the fearful verdict in its eyes:

"The only way out of this is to do something extreme."

What follows is an action with all the force of the animal's existence behind it.

It can be a mad dash, where the animal takes a daunting risk, such as cutting close past the threat or jumping a wide gap. It could also be violently lashing out and tearing into the offender.

"Flight or fight." I muse to myself.

It's also worth noting that in the most pathetic of animals, there is no verdict in the eyes. There is only the fear at imminent death. Those are the ones that freeze.

I've backed Kidney into a corner and given him all terrible options. That's a risky thing to do with a person. In such an arrangement, the best you can hope for is to short circuit the person and cause them to shut down and submit.

Problem is, Kidney isn't one to freeze. This kind of iron maiden-esque situation doesn't foster, in flighters or fighters, the long-suffering complacency that's ideal for long-term control.

Hmm, I realize I need to revise my plan.

What am I getting self-defense stuff for? Do I intend to wait until he comes after me to do anything? Even if I fight him off, what then? Get him arrested for assault? Let him go home, so as not to push him over the edge?

Even though I have more nukes in this cold war, I may be in a standoff with a loose cannon. To what extremes would Kidney go?

Argghhh! This is such pain. That does it; I'll convene with Mitchol about what to do with our turncoat. I get my phone out and text him.

"Can you get Redhand Heriolt, Costriel, and Nethandre together for an online chat meeting with us tonight?"

When Mitchol doesn't respond, I decide finish up shopping. An hour passes and I'm at home, munching on a BLT at my computer.

A reply finally comes. I dive for my phone and confirm that it's him.

The message reads: "wat 4? and no."

I frown and text back: "It's about Kidney. He told me was gonna kill all of us. We should do something."

I use the time while Mitchol is typing to peer through my blinds. Whew. He's not there.

My phone buzzes again.

"lol XD. im busy so mayb nxt week"

I go back and forth with Mitchol, trying to get him to see how dangerous Kidney is right now. At the end of it, he says,

"lemme repeat. NO. just chill. we got K by da balls. ur bein such a lil bich jee"

"At least meet me during lunch at school tomorrow," I insist.

"fine"

I end up showing up early to school on Monday, and I'm antsy all throughout the morning. During math, I noticed that Kidney's desk was empty. What could he be absent for? He looked healthy enough yesterday.

As soon as the final bell to lunch rings, I rush out of class and charge up to the roof. I throw the door open, gasping. Fuck. Mitchol isn't here yet. I grind my teeth as I picture him dragging his feet on the way here.

I'm checking my watch every few seconds. Once 3 rage inducing minutes have passed, the roof door swings open. Kidney pulls a cigarette out of his pocket, leans against the fence, and lights up.

"Well?" He says, puffing smoke.

I can't tell whether it's the smoke or the words causing me to choke. I finally manage to speak in a very low voice.

"I've decided that we need to get Kidney off our backs, in a permanent kind of way."

"Huh? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Mitchol inquires, straightening up.

"Yes."

He quirks his mouth in displeasure. "That's something I'd rather avoid doing. There's no blackmailing a dead guy into denying that he was the victim of a crime. If they were to get even a shred of evidence on us for murder..."

"That's why I wanna make it look like there was no crime in the first place."

"You mean stage an accident or a suicide?" Mitchol scoffs. "I know you're thinking Redhand will be able to work that out, but not on your life.

There'll be trained pros examining that body and scene. Their attention to detail is so crazy good it's like they've got magic eyes that show them every little mistake killers make."

"We'll just have to find out exactly what type of mistakes they are picking up on, and make sure we don't make them. Besides," I add, "you're acting like Redhand's never gotten away with this."

"Dumb luck and dumb cops." Mitchol dismisses me.

I sigh. "What about a disappearance then? We won't have to worry about any examiners with 'magic eyes' that way."

"More reasonable than your last pitch," Mitchol allows. "It gives the pigs less to work with. But, you've gotta be thorough. If anyone knows you've fallen out with Kidney, don't get anything suspicious in your recent purchase history.

Leave no sign of a struggle. Let 'em take it lightly, thinking he ran away. Get rid of the body. And I don't mean dump it into some water and hope it sinks.

I mean obliterate it. Feed it to dogs. Burn it to char and crush it, then sprinkle it in remote woods. That kinda thing."

I nod approvingly.

"But you know what the clincher is?" Mitchol says. "After you've done all you know to do, detectives still might find that little pesky thing you didn't. I'm just not convinced Kidney's enough of a threat to take that risk for."

"Well I am," I say in a biting tone.

"If you wanna dance the robot with the death row you can suit yourself." Mitchol says. "But I want nothing to do with it, you hear?"

A few days of anxious stagnancy pass, and now I'm at work, sourly stocking shelves.

The only way I knew how to contact Redhand without Mitchol's help was to leave comments on adesireisfulfilled, requesting that he email me. He's the 2nd high moderator, so it was likely he'd see them.

However, my comments kept getting deleted shortly after being made. When I didn't give up, I got sent a message saying:

"Recent comments posted by you have been removed by moderation. Continued harassment and spamming on the website will result in the suspension of your account."

I click my tongue as I arrange the SpaghettiOs. The convenience store is empty, so Roodle approaches and talks to me.

"Your friend Kidney hasn't stopped by for while."

"Oh," I respond, not sure what else can be said.

Her milky eyes analyze me. "Is he a touchy subject for you right now?" She asks with concern.

"We just can't get along anymore," I explain without explaining.

"Oh, I know how it can be with friends sometimes, but I don't know about that," Roodle says, well meaning but unknowing.

"I've found that if you just sit down and talk out your differences, you can get through most spats. The main thing is, you gotta be willin' to listen."

"It would be nice if that worked with Kidney. That way, he'd come back and start buying Creamtastical Bars everyday like he used to."

"Mm-hmm!" Roodle concurs with a big smile. "He was good business. So, consider it your job as part-time associate to get back to chummin' and get him back in our store."

It's harder to force than usual, but I smile back at her. "Thank you, Roodle." I say with just the right amount of sentimentality.

I know I've done it right when she gets that brief expression on her face. It's that mixture of melancholy and happiness, that gold plating of subtle, wholehearted seriousness that turns simple, wooden moments into small memories.

I've touched her heart, and deceived it seamlessly. What an ego booster.

I push the raw, predatory pleasure that I feel inside out through a mold, which makes it take shape on my face as a warm pleasure of gratitude and comradery.

Looking at her, however, I accidentally let an inappropriate bit of wonder creep onto my sweet face. Goodness, she actually cares about me.

Is there a difference between playing the role of a good person all the time, and actually being a good person?

Maybe the 1st category has to think deliberately to make moral choices, and it comes to the 2nd category naturally. I was sure that the 2nd group was a myth, until the face of this naive angel was unveiled to me.

And then, the glass doors part like servants for their king, and Kidney steps through. Roodle turns her head, and says, "Welcome back!" Then she winks at me and returns to the register.

He nods to her in greeting. My breath catches thickly in my throat when he turns and looks down at me, kneeling with canned goods in my hands.

Kidney's face is coldly blank, but his eyes hold a promise. I stare, unable to do anything else. He passes me, saying nothing, and goes to the back-- to the freezers.

He buys several types of ice cream, but leaves with the crinkle of a devil in his pocket that only I notice. Badump. Bump bump badump bump! My heart makes my body shake.

I go through the rest of my shift doing everything as diligently and thoroughly as I can, as if that will make it last longer.

As night draws closer, I curse Mitchol viciously in my mind. And if Redhand saw my comments and ignored me, fuck him too.

Adesireisfulfilled wouldn't be half of what it is now without me, and yet they're gonna stand by and let me be killed?

At last, the glass doors part for me, like a shield-wall of traitors. I poke my head out and look either way before stepping out onto the concrete.

There's no one around except the bugs buzzing around the dim streetlights. I begin walking, tense and snapping my head around at every new sound.

When my house appears before me, I almost don't believe it. When the relief starts to wash over me, I whirl around, thinking that's just how Kidney would want me to feel before he struck.

My voice comes out quieter and more rapidly than I mean for it to. "I know you're there," I say, feeling slightly crazy.

With wide eyes and sensilla lined ears, I examine all 360 degrees within my radius. Nothing? I retreat up my driveway walking backwards, only turning to open the door.

My shakiness must be visible, because my little sister Sota scoffs when she sees me. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." I say firmly.

She shrugs. "Somehow, you seem even weirder than usual."

I tune out her words, instead choosing to observe her smooth legs and round bottom when she turns and jogs up the stairs in her green short shorts.

My mother comes around to greet me. "Sota has a point," she says, scrutinizing me. "Did something happen at work today?"

"No," I state. "I don't know what you guys are talking about."

I notice the weight that's melded into my hand. I'd forgotten about it until now. I thrust the grocery bag towards my mother. "Here. It's the stuff you asked for. Don't worry about paying me back."

"Well okay..." My mother says.

As soon as she takes the bag, I run up to my room and close the door behind me. I lean against it, gasping and trembling. Tears well in the corners of my eyes, and a small, sighing whimper is squeezed from my throat.

I've gotta get it together. I can't be acting like this.

I push off the door and make to collapse into my computer chair, but something on the floor in front of my closet catches my attention.

It's an empty syringe. Fuck. I thought I made sure to keep all my tools put away. Don't tell me I've been getting sloppy with things like this too.

I pick it up and open the closet to pull down the box and hide it where it belongs. A dark figure is in front of me. The gasp is cut off in my throat, my air blocked. A bitter sting stabs my neck, and I fall into darkness.

I peel my eyes open, unnaturally lethargic. The sight before me seems familiar-- a grey ceiling and white lights.

I roll my stiff neck down, and see Kidney sitting on the bed in front of me. I jump weakly, but find that I don't move at all.

Many ropes are snaked tightly around my body, binding me to a heavy chair. It's a terrible thing, being trapped in a hard chair with a sore ass, your future murderer in front of you.

"Can you hear me, Jeeto?" Kidney asks. His voice is calm like in my dream, but not pleasant.

I reluctantly respond in hoarse words. "I can hear you."

"You know what I said the other day."

I listen with baited breath.

"I spoke with an overheated head." Kidney says.

If this is a ploy to get me to open up, I'm afraid it's working.

"I've decided that whether or not that has to happen depends on you, Jeeto. To start, do other members have the videos you took of me and Krin?"

I open my mouth to reply, but he stops me to make a qualification.

"If you lie, I'll find out about it. You won't be leaving this bunker until I've confirmed the truth of every answer you give me."

"I understand," I rasp obediently. "I gave them to Mitchol, but I don't know if he gave them to anyone else."

"Do you wanna give a guess as to whether or not he did?"

I respond honestly. "He probably distributed them around his inner circle. Not only for safe keeping and power over you, but also because of the sheer drama of it.

Sex between a brother and sister is something his friends would naturally be curious to see."

Kidney's face twitches in anger. "Is that what you thought too, when you were spying on us?" He speaks in an acerbic, low tone. "Were we just some morbid, 1800s circus spectacle to your perverted, judging eyes?"

If I weren't in this position, I would laugh at Kidney's delusional umbrage about the way his incestuous relationship is viewed by others. "Of course that's what you were," I think, but I don't dare say it.

"I was intrigued," I say. Hopefully it comes across as honest, but not too insulting or patronizing. "I thought, 'So this is what was so precious to Kidney.'"

"Nevermind," Kidney says abruptly. "How do you usually contact Mitchol? Are you in communication with any of the other members? How do you talk to them?"

"I usually just text Mitchol, though if it's something long, I'll email him. I'm not in contact with any of the others."

Kidney pulls my phone out of his pocket. I instinctively bristle at seeing another person handling it.

"I appreciate that you've told me the truth," he says, sneering. "None of the members, save for Mitchol, are in your contacts list. Now, let me give you another chance to earn some more brownie points with me."

I peer at him through my brown bangs, wondering what shitty thing he's going to ask me to do.

"Tell me, what interests Mitchol? What could you say to him to get him to meet you in a secluded place at night?"

I think for a while, mumbling to myself, "Uhm... erm..."

Kidney slams his fist against the bed's head board. "Rack your fucking brain!"

"Um.. I could invite him out to go hunting. No... tell him I'd brought a top quality subject to the bunker. It'd be for business too, so it doesn't totally contradict what I said about us not being friends anymore."

"What kind of 'top quality subject'," Kidney inquires. "Does he have a girl he wants?"

"I remember him talking about one named Phoebe he takes English class with. She's kind of a loner, has long, reddish-brown hair, and works weekends at the arcade."

"Interesting. And if he asks how you got her, what would you say?"

"Mitchol's tailed her before, and he said she'll sometimes go out late. Phoebe likes to pick up fast food milkshakes and sip them on park benches at night, gazing up at the stars. So, I'd say I took her then."

Kidney nods tersely and makes to text Mitchol with my phone, but before he sends the message he asks once again, "You're sure he'll come for this?"

"Mitchol believes she's a virgin, and he told me he'd prefer to eat her before she "spoils."

With that, Kidney sends it off, and we wait.

Eventually, Mitchol responds. "He's mad," Kidney says, showing me the reply:

"DUMFUCK y wud u take my grl b4 i was rdy? now i gotta drive far or she'll b wasted."

"But, nicely done." Kidney finishes. He flips the phone closed and tosses it onto the bed. Then he takes something out of his pocket.

I squint at the object. "Is that...?"

"Oh this?" Kidney says. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your new taser. It was for me after all, wasn't it? But I guess I was supposed to be on the other side."

Shit. If Mitchol isn't careful...

"Anyway," Kidney says. "Since we're going to be waiting for awhile, we might as well chat to pass the time."

"That'd be fine, if your idea of chatting wasn't just more interrogation."

Kidney raises his eyebrows. "You're getting uppity with me now? Don't forget you're tied to a chair, completely at my mercy. All things considered, I'm being pretty nice to you."

"Hmph," I say. "Your niceties have only been performed out of necessity, necessity which ceased to exist the moment Mitchol agreed to come here."

I observe the furnishings of the room. "It appears I'm occupying the only un-tippable chair here. Guess I'll have to give up my seat once your guest arrives."

"Fine, so it's more interrogation, Kidney admits. "Just tell me this time, why did it have to be Krin? Why did you want her so badly?"

"Because you wanted her so badly." I confess. "You proudly hoarded Krin all to yourself, taunting me and barring me from pleasure."

I sigh. "You had a point the other day, you know. Because the way you insulted me before... it made me feel like I had to put you in your place."

"Yes," Kidney says gravely. "I never should've said so much." He lowers his head moves his lips silently. It looks like he's breathing a prayer or an apology.

He walks behind me, and then that acrid prick finds my neck again. I sink down under. A long and short while of nothing passes, until the oblivion begins to part again.

I open my eyes slowly, disorientated and sore. I find that I'm sitting on the floor, bound in ropes and propped up against a cold wall. I hear screams and curses, so I laboriously turn my head to see what's going on.

"Tell me!" Kidney yells, punching Mitchol in the face. He's really in my chair now, and I lived to see it.

When my eyes adjust more and focus on Kidney's face, I see that it's bloodied and bruised. Even with the taser, he had some trouble getting Mitchol.

Blood dribbles from Mitchol's mouth as he says, "Just calm down, man." He groans in pain. "Look, whatever you think I did, it's not what you think."

Kidney growls, but decides to leave it at that for now. "Jeeto," he says, pointing a red smeared finger at me. "You're awake. I'll get back to you in a minute."

He turns back to Mitchol, "Tell me who you gave the videos to."

"I already told you," Mitchol responds. "I didn't send 'em to anybody."

"Why not?" Kidney demands."I... I just didn't get around to it."

"Liar," Kidney hisses. He storms over to his bag and yanks out a leather whip. It snaps as he flails it out at Mitchol.

"Liar, liar, liar!" Kidney chants the word over and over again as he thrashes the shrieking young man's clothes and skin to ribbons.

Despite myself, I loose a boistrous laugh and heckle Mitchol. "I told ya so, aye?"

Mitchol's gritted teeth tremble as hot tears stream through the blood on his face. "Okay..." He mewls, almost inaudibly.

"Huh, what was that?" Kidney asks.

Mitchol bursts out in a fit of crying. "I said 'okay!' Man... shit. I thought you'd get madder if I told the truth *sniffle*, but I actually gave the vids of you and your sister to Costriel and Nethandre." Repressed whimpers rack his body.

Kidney's lips are tightly pursed, and his face is wrinkled in intense disgust as his eyes bear down on Mitchol. "Those two, they're your mutual friends with Redhand Heriolt."

"Ye-yeah," Mitchol says.

"So it's perfectly plausible, then," Kidney continues, "that Redhand has the videos as well."

Mitchol perks up a bit. "Look... I can set him up for you if that's what you want."

Kidney sneers. "As a matter of fact, that is what I want. And I want all the others too, so I'll offer you a deal, Mitchol.

You work with me to erase every copy of those videos, and help me take down everyone who has them. Then, I'll let you go."

"Really? Thank you!" Mitchol breathes.

"There is a prerequisite, though." Kidney says. "Swear on your life that you won't bother me or my family again after I free you."

"I swear, I swear." Mitchol says. "I won't bother you, your sister, or anybody ever again."

"Very good." Kidney says, then turns back to me. Once he's close, he kneels down and leans in so we're at eye level. My breaths shiver in and out as his gold-streaked eyes bore into my face.

"Listen to me." He says. "You might think this is going to end tonight, but it won't. You will watch and live as I take everything away from you that you took from me and Krin."

My eyes widen as I realize where I heard him say those words before.

"I will destroy the most precious thing to you-- your films. I will take your dignity. I will grind you into nothing, until you lose even your will to live."

My stomach turns. Kidney lips twist upwards wryly when he finishes repeating the curse from my nightmare. Chills crawl along my skin.

"How?" I ask with barely a voice.

"'Luna of Night, eyes of borrowed light, make my own so very bright. Sands sublime, recorder of the subterranean mind, with you, let me intertwine.'" He says.

"It's like what I said that night, when I was in bed..."

"A chant, it just came over you, didn't it?" Kidney says. "You don't know why, but you repeated words you'd never heard."

"I saw the cosmos, and then I saw you." I say.

"Just before I invited you to the park to talk that Sunday afternoon, Kidney says. "I was taken through space to Mother Moon as well. At some point, I scooped up a handful of her white sand.

In each grain was a dream, and I found yours. Once I saw the manifestation of your subconscious, of your malice and lust, I knew that I had to stop you somehow."

"Ahahaa..." I laugh just like I did in the dream, and Kidney tenses. "What the hell is going on?" I weakly ask both him and the universe.

"Maybe you'll find out once this is over." He answers.