#but yea like. just this one small breadcrumb i have tells me that like

[morikawamirai]

i swear everything i see that actually mentions mirai in any way shape or form fucking forgets about fucking.

WEAKNESS TIMESTAMP 0:55

[rosenmarille]

First of all: that One Day bit is quality content. Second of all I read "3.5 for Holly" and am Highly Interested

HI yes! i will explain, however i first have to correct myself. its actually a part 2.5, not 3.5. like i mentioned in the other post, the part is called “heart unbound”, this is about 25 years after battle tendency, when holly is in her early 20s!!

the rest of this im gonna put under the cut

so the setting. joseph (43), suzie, and holly (21) live in new york, smokey is in georgia, lisa lisa (75) is Somewhere in the states, erina and speedwagon have passed away (sad). its 1963! the speedwagon foundation has continued expanding, with joseph and lisa lisa closely involved after speedwagons death. they’ve mostly moved their attention into new territory, but still have all their old research kept. stands aren't a thing yeeet, but its been long enough that the pillarmen have faded into unpleasant memory.

until one night the power at the swf hq goes out for just a moment too long, and santana manages to escape.

joseph and lisa lisa are contacted asap, and they decide to travel down to texas and find him (preferably take him out for good this time). holly, who has grown up hearing about jojo’s wild escapades, really wants to come along. she knows some hamon! she can defend herself! come on!! (yes i said it, holly learned hamon, do you think having lisa lisa for a grandmother would result in anything less?) anyway, joseph and lisa lisa Really don't want her to come since it could be really dangerous and they'd rather not put her in harm’s way.

so holly (rich, unsupervised) books a plane and goes after them.

we skip to texas!! joseph and lisa lisa investigate at hq and the surrounding area and find practically no trace of santana or where he might have gone. when holly arrives, she decides that since she can't look into hq without getting caught, she’ll ask around with locals, and manages to hear rumours about a new sort of cryptid (only appears at night, weird anatomy etc), both cattle and people have been disappearing, but on a very small scale. she looks into similar stories and realizes that santana must be moving south, though what he's planning, she doesn't know. but she will follow!! (and leave breadcrumbs for her family to pick up on this pattern too, she guesses. not so helpless now, huh?)

so this goes for a while, taking her down into mexico, until she is pretty sure that she can triangulate the missing people reports accurately enough to actually Find him. holly isnt stupid, she doesnt think she can win in a battle against a pillarman. what she’s hoping to do is prove herself to joseph and lisa lisa by prepping and helping out enough for them to then take care of the problem. she's an adult now and she doesnt appreciate being treated like a child. (you may say this contradicts how she behaved towards joseph in part 3, but to that i counter: she's in her 40s in that one, and her being an adult is established enough that she knows she can act a lil silli without that being put in question)

but hey!! she does find him!! she decides to stalk him for a bit, see what he does. so she happens to be there when santana attacks a young woman (midnight snack), who pulls a KNIFE instead of running away, so Holly rushes in and deflects an attack with a quick hamon swipe. santana has learned from his previous hamon encounter and instead of sticking around, he decides it isn't worth it and absconds instead (smart). (at this point you might notice this is the first fight of the part. yeah it be like that in this one. call it battle untendency) 

holly and the woman (who later introduces herself as Maria (no last name yet; but named after Maria Maria by Santana (lol)) also get out of dodge and hide out in an alley, where maria decides that she needs to know what the fuck that Thing was, yesterday. magic?? sparkling?? hello??? and hollys like uhh hah yes so. that's an ancient semi immortal vampire creature? and this is sunlight breathing magic, which he's allergic to. yea. and maria is like ................yeah okay i buy it. teach me sunlight breathing magic, i wanna come.

maria side paragraph! she's our oc and we love her. remember that awful scene from the santana arc with all those prisoners and the one kid who doesn't get sacrificed? that's her older brother. he was “let go” but “let go” basically did just mean “free to wander the desert and find civilisation maybe”, so when he did eventually find his way back home, he'd been severely traumatized, plus on death's door. other prisoners had been turned into vampires to test on the pillarman discovery, so the word “vampire” is something he'd have heard and conveyed to his family, who didn’t. really believe him. he also hasn't really recovered from that experience :( then the war happened and maria's dad served in it, and afterwards decided that his other child needed to know how to defend herself, and maria learned how to handle a knife, as well as how to physically fight. their family managed to avoid post war financial problems for the most part, and maria was able to finish her studies! she's a pilot :)  she is, however, harbouring very deep anger and resentment for what happened to her brother, and has not really had a face to direct that anger towards, so it's been on a relatively low burner for the most part, but now there’s talk of vampires and a person she can blame for her family’s trauma.

they exchange notes and she realizes that yeahh, that is pretty much exactly what her brother had told them, so it was true. hah :) yes actually, i would like to learn vampire killing magic please holly. and holly, who didn't really want to bring someone with her, but kind of does believe in accidents not being a thing, decides that yeah, she probably should bring maria along. and sure!! if they have to deal with sanata again, why not teach her hamon!! they share stories and continue to follow the trail while they train together, and become really close friends! jobro time.

we've now reached the first third of the story.

we travel further south!! soon, holly begins to realize......... ohh..... the temple they found santana in.. that's south of here, isn't it? oh huh. what could he want there?? the masks have been destroyed as far as she knows?? she doesn't know enough first hand to know what significance there could be, but the girls prepare for anything. maybe a big weapon the researchers had not been able to identify?? MOre pillarmen, secretly living underneath the temple??? 

(there are gonna be some scenes that involve lisa lisa and joseph figuring out where they need to go, and maybe also realizing who set that trail, maybe they have smth else going on, who knows) 

holly and maria follow santana and eventually do find the temple, and prepare to stake it out, hopefully hopefully not alerting him to their presence, because that would be.........bad. (tho tbh marias kinda itching to try out vampire begone magic. wouldn't You want to if you suddenly learned how?) neither of them have ever been here so they're honestly pretty floored by the temple interior, the tunnel that leads into the main chamber dark and uninviting, with who knows what hidden dangers are lurking about. 

and then they see him. santana is investigating the place where the pillar had been cut out of the structure, the stone masks crushed and broken, strewn around the floor, running his hands over the broken stone. Then he walks to one of the murals carved into the wall, a large one, similar to the one speedwagon had been investigating, with the 4 faces representing the pillarmen, and he lingers there. dips his head, then walks back to the empty space of the pillar and sits down where it was, crosslegged, and closes his eyes. and then he stays still. what does That mean?? 

the girls decide this is enough, they should fall back and formulate a proper plan, maybe wait for joseph and lisa lisa to catch up. buuuut we can't have that be the end of it, and so something happens, maybe one of them trips? steps on rubble that falls loose? they make a noise. and get noticed. 

change of plans! fight now! except there isn't an attack? they stay still but “i know you're there.” damn it. battle formation, stances ready, they make their way into the chamber, where santana hasn't moved at all. he's still sitting there, but he's looking at them now. holly asks what he's doing here, he asks the same back. she says not to play dumb, hes been killing people this whole time, he has to answer for that! and to that, santana honestly looks a bit confused because. has he? in his defense, he's not human, his prey is humans. pillarboy has to eat.

marias like “well? aren't you going to attack us?” and he's like “not unless you bother me.” and closes his eyes again. the girls aren't sure what to make of this.

santana side paragraph: first of all, this is a santana stan account. name one (1) thing he's done wrong, canonically. woke up in a strange place. captured?? got his bearings, tried to Leave and was accosted! shot some nazis (go king), and finally only snapped when joseph got mad he didn't laugh at his clownery. anyone would get murderous as a result. tried to escape further, ultimately was stopped and detained Again! morally, he's above joseph. 

so they're just standing now. since their earlier encounter where holly used hamon, santana refuses to talk more at first, but holly has the bright idea to get his trust by having maria restrain her and then stand back with her weapon -- a show of putting herself in a helpless position and promise she wont attack. that’s enough for santana to agree to come closer and have a proper conversation.

holly asks again why he's here exactly? what's here? and he tells her that if she Must know, he's waiting. waiting for what, she asks. and maria looks back at the carvings and realizes “oh. there should be 4 of them.” now santana looks mildly uncomfortable, and holly rememebers that “oh fuck, dad killed all of them.” and then “wait they were evil tho??” and then again “wait fuuck, didn't the leader guy say they left this one behind in mexico on purpose? oh man does he Know?” holly finds herself in the position of “not only do i have to tell this guy his friends aren't coming because they're Dead, they also kinda abandoned him.” yikes.

meanwhile maria is kinda pissed that her one chance at revenge might have just been taken from her. she still blames santana for what happened to her brother, and she refuses to let that go. she’s too stubborn and proud for that. and now, especally since holly seems to be focused on creating a bond, it feels like a slap in the face. so she kinda… snaps, ruining their chance at resolving this peacefully and causing santana to run off again. she and holly have a fight. it sucks.

soon after that joseph does find holly and he Does send her home. maria, after explaining her intentions, stays with them. holly is heartbroken :( after shes gone, joseph and lisa lisa make a plan to trap santana, aimed to go off in a few days prep, and during this, maria is starting to realize that that... really isnt the right thing to do... shes now had some time to sit alone with her guilt and regret about how she handled the situation, ssso she gets an idea on how to make up for it...

meanwhile holly is sitting at home and is sad, until suzie drives her somewhere in guise of going to a fancy lunch with smokey (whos in town), but really she drives her to the joestars airpad where her friend marua(!!) is already waiting in front of joseph’s plane, which, turns out, she hijacked in the south and flew all the way up here, and suzie tosses holly a bag with clothes and stuff and tells her to hurry up and get going :3

and hollys all "but what about lunch with mr smokey? :o" and suzie winks at her and says "don't worry, he's waiting for me to tell him everything went well at the restaurant ;)" and then holly gives her a big hug, runs to her friend and hugs Her, and they are off to fly back south to save some lives. on the way, maria apologizes and explains -- how she had harboured this resentment for so long that the sudden target for her blame put in front of her, plus the immediate removal of it were so jarring that she acted impulsively... she knows santana isnt at fault for what happened with her brother... and now she just hopes they make it in time.

as luck would have it, they catch up with joseph and lisa lisa just in time to jump between them and santana (maria accidentally cuts off joseph’s prosthetic hand in the process and freaks the fuck out before realizing it’s fine) and try to talk it out. it’s a tense few minutes, but holly is determined and stubborn, and she manages to get her dad and grandma to see her side of things and santana is saved! they find something for him to eat, giving him the energy to heal his wounds. pillarmen absorbing shit never gets old.

And from there it’s mostly just everything getting settled down and smoothed out. they get back in touch with the swf and tell them the problem is handled. santana turns out to be a relatively peaceful dude when his life isn’t being threatened, and he becomes a good friend with all four of them, but especially holly and maria. they help teach him about the modern world and he decides that he’s going to do some travelling and learn about the history of his culture and other ancient mesoamerican cultures he interacted with in his youth, and he shares the things he learns with the swf so they can get the info about where theyre needed etc.  maria gets hooked up with one of the many therapists we decided work at the swf that has experience with the supernatural things she and her brother have gone through. holly, maria, and santana stay in touch and go on regular trips together. holly receives many post cards.

it’s all really good and happy :) thats heart unbound baybee!! <33

[overwatchimaginations]

Oh my gosh, I love you writing!!!! It gives me life!!!! Especially the way you write McCree! Is there anyway you could write a fic where the reader lives out in the country and happens upon Mer!Cree in a lake or something? Maybe he's injured and she has to take care of him, and how they fall in love with each other? Thanks!

((A/N - I’m glad you like my writing! Enjoy!))

—

The wicker picnic basket swung slightly in the crook of your elbow, your step perky and light. Twigs snapped under your feet, the leaves from the trees providing some shelter and coolness from the glaring sun. The scent of damp earth wafted into the air, and you knew you were close.

The dense woods opened up into a clearing, which in turn lead onto something magical; a large lake with glistening water and white crested ripples. You gently placed your basket on the ground a few metres from the water’s edge. You stretched your arms up above your head, needing a break from the walk you had just completed, and a lazy smile crossed your face.

Your arms shot down and your brows furrowed when something glinting in the water caught your eye.

No. It can’t be.. Can it?

Your grandparents used to tell you stories about the lake. But they were stories and nothing more. Your mind was just clearly playing tricks on you. You shook your head, clearing the cobwebs. You opened the basket and laid out the thin blanket, brushing out any creases.

“Ahem”.

Your head shot up. You let out a small scream, quickly clasping your hands over your mouth and stumbling backwards. There was a man that appeared to be.. naked?!

You weren’t sure. You didn’t want to look.

“Doll, I didn’t mean t'frighten’ ya’. I just need- ah- need some help is all.”

His face was painted with pain, hands clutching his ribs on the left side, a slight trickle of red seeping through his fingers. He kept his bottom half hidden in the lake which you were very thankful for.

“I- erm, don’t know if I can help.. You might need a hospital?” You suggested meekly.

He let out a stiff chuckle, fingers clasping into his side even more.

“I can’t do that, sweetheart.”

Oh great. He was probably a criminal.

His cinnamon orbs looked into yours, desperate, his lips paling.

“Come out then and I’ll see if I can help.”

“Again.. Can’t do that.”

You frowned, crossing your arms.

“Why? I can’t help you otherwise.”

He swam forwards a bit, coming to lie his back on the bank. Something splashed where his feet should be and something shimmery and green broke the surface.

“No. You’re having a laugh. This is a dream.”“I’m ‘fraid not.”

He leant his head on the earth, grimacing. You gingerly took a step forwards, realising the wound on his side was greater that what you had originally thought, distracting you from your wild thoughts. You grabbed the blanket you had carefully laid down on the ground moments before and bunched it up, passing it to the stranger. You didn’t want to get too close. He grunted in thanks and pressed the fabric down on his side, ceasing the bloodflow.

“What..”“Am I? A merman.”

Blunt. He shifted around, restlessly.

“But, how?” You questioned, confused.“How’ve you got two legs?”“Well.. From my mother and father. What type of question is that?”“Exactly.”

You rolled your eyes.

You perched on the edge of a nearby rock, elbows on your knees and chin resting on your hands.

“What’s your name?”“McCree. Jesse McCree.”“How did it happen?”“Got involved with somethin’ I shouldn’t'a.”

His eyes fluttered close, the heat from the sun drying off droplets from his bare skin.

“Hey. Don’t go to sleep.”

You stood up and gently nudged his arm with your foot.

“McCree?”

His hand holding the makeshift bandage went limp and fell to his side.

Shit.

—

He woke up in the same position he blacked out from, lying awkwardly on the bank of the river. His side was in pain, a hand coming to touch it, only to find his ribs bandaged up and it stinging slightly. He frowned. What had happened?

“You’re awake.”

He eyes shot over to where you were sitting, still perched on the edge of the rock and some breadcrumbs scattering the clearing.

“You should eat, you look a bit pale.”

You offered half of your breadroll to the merman, him taking it gratefully.

“Y'know, we only usually eat whatever we can find in the lake.”“Think of it as a treat.”

You offered a small smile, him returning it.

You glanced up at the sky, noticing the birds quietening down and the breeze becoming chilly.

“I should probably be heading off..”

You looked down at the half eaten roll in your hands. After saving this stranger you had kind of lost your appetite.

“Don’t?”

You met his eyes, your eyebrow cocked in surprise.

“My cottage isn’t far away.”“Please?”

He fluttered his long lashes, a hint of a pout on his lips. You relented, sliding down from the rock to now sit on the soft earth. You took in his features as he rested, his eyes yearning for the water. His hair was dark and shaggy, matching his coarse beard. Hair covered his chest, what skin was bare was a tanned tone.

“What’s ya’ name?”“(Y/N).”“Pretty.”

Your cheeks heatened. The woods around you were darkening, and you weren’t too fond of wanting to walk back at night.

“I’m sorry, I really should go..”“No worries, doll. Come back tomorrow.”

It was more of a command than a request. You nodded your head in reply.

“Keep the er, 'bandages’ on. It should help with your injury.”“Will do. Thanks, darlin’.”

You smiled slightly at the pet name, taking your basket by the handle and trudging back through the forest to your cottage. Once inside the safe enclosure of your home, you laid your weary head to rest to think about everything that had happened today.

You’d soon learn there were a thousand different ways to say 'I love you’.

—

The next few days you had gone back to the edge of the lake, just to check on McCree and how his wound was progressing. He would say thanks in his own unique way.

“Ya’ got pretty eyes.”“Mm, ya’ sure know how to cook.”“Well that’s a cute lil’ number ya’ wearin’ today, sweetheart.”

You’d learn to accept his compliments, not entirely brushing them off. He would love the way your cheeks would blush, how you’d turn away to try and hide your flushed face. He was relentless, making you come back to the lake every day because he wanted to see you and well, you craved him. He was so fascinating.

You’d ended up learning about his species’ history, which wasn’t far off what you were told as a child. His deep chuckle would erupt a couple of times, dismissing some things you said as silly. What could you say? You wanted to know reality from fantasy.

You had no reason to come back to the lake once McCree was fully healed. You’d found out some fisherman had speared him after they gloated about.. Well, he became sullen and quiet at that point, but that was all you needed to know. There would hopefully be no scar. Weeks passed and you began to enjoy his company even more. There was never a lull in conversation, the only quiet times was when you would both lay on the bank, your legs dangling in the water to keep cool and watching the ripples go by.

One of these times, Jesse had placed his hand on top of yours, cheeks tinged with pink and eyes focussed ahead. You looked down at your fingers that were entwining, heart fluttering.

“Walk home safe.”“See ya’ tomorrow.”“Your beauty shines bright as the sun.”

His cinnamon orbs would sparkle when he saw you, unable to keep in his excitment. You too would not be able to stay serene, wondering what on earth had happened for you to fall in love with this hybrid.

Love.

Is that what it was?

“Jesse.”“Yea, darlin’?”

You were sitting on the grass, legs crossed and pretending to be engrossed in a book, your shades covering your eyes from where you were staring at him.

“What.. is this?”“What is what?”“This. Us.”

He was lying on his front, propped up on his elbows, his magnificent fins gently splashing the water.

“I mean..”

He scratched his head.

“I’m not really sure. What d'you wan'it t'be?”

“I don’t know.”

You plucked your shades off, placing them beside you.

“Well come over here 'nd I’ll tell ya’.”

You tilted your head, but did as he requested. When you were in arms reach, he grabbed onto your ankle making you stumble. You practically fell on top of him, but he had twisted his body round so he was on his back and you were lying on his front.

“Jesse, what’re you doi-”

Soft lips pressed against yours, eyes fluttering closed in response. Large hands tickled up and down your back. You returned the kiss, your hands clawing at his chest wanting more.

He gently pushed you back, only so far so that your noses were still touching.

“Does that answer your question?”

You nodded, pupils blown, lips smiling and slightly swollen. He pulled you in, nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

“I love ya’, (Y/N).”

“I love you too, Jesse.”

[terezisexbuttpyrope]

fourth breadcrumb

“Wow he is a hard nut to crack.” Sarah commented, leaning back in her chair as she observed the alien across the street with small binoculars. The four had landed on Fafts a week ago, and though they had found their target almost on the first day, he had evaded or thwarted their efforts to squeeze any information out of him. 

“Why are you so surprised?” Allura asked, raising an eyebrow. “He’s a black market dealer of quintessence. I figure it’ll take a lot more to get him to talk. I didn’t expect to get the information in such a straightforward method, honestly, I figured you’d use your phone to hack something.” 

“Nah, according to Krisox he doesn’t keep his data on electronic equipment. It’s all paper or in his memory. Mostly in his memory.”

“Well that would have been nice to know a week ago.” Keith grumbling. 

Sarah blinked, confused. “Did I not....?”

“No, you didn’t.” Allura said with a chuckle. 

“Oh...sorry....” 

“Got any other ideas beside strong-arming the info out of him?” Lance asked, returning with their drinks. “I get a feeling he isn’t likely to be broken by force.”

“Or persuasion.” Keith added.

“Bribes maybe?”

“We don’t have that kind of money.” Sarah said grimly. 

“We’ll think of something.” Allura assured them. 

“Oooh, hoverbikes!” Sarah cooed after they finished their meal and were walking back to their ships, lightly jogging over to where a dozen hoverbikes were parked. 

“You ride?” Keith asked, surprised, joining her. 

“Only recreationally.” 

“Hey-Well, if it isn’t the curious humans.” a voice said from the adjacent shack. 

“Holy shit Raz, how many businesses do you own?” Sarah asked the black market dealer they had attempted to interrogate for a week. 

“More than you’ll ever learn about, now scram.” 

“Hey, I was just looking! I used to race a lot, I miss it a little.” 

“You used to race hoverbikes?” Lance asked incredulously. 

“Believe it or not, Lance, I like to have fun sometimes.”

“Were you any good?” Raz asked gruffly. 

Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Yea, I’d say I was decent.” she said cooly. 

“I’d have to see it to believe it.” Keith said smugly. “Can’t beat me, that’s for sure.”

“I tell ya what-you two race, and I’ll give the winner one.” 

“What?” Allura asked in utter disbelief. “You’ll just give us one, just like that?!”

“Well there’d be a few conditions...”

“Such as?”

“I’d need the winner to do a few races for me, nothing much.” 

“I’m down.” Keith said, stretching. 

“Keith, you are not down, this isn’t why we-” Allura began, before Sarah cut her off.

“The winner races for you and you give us the intel we asked for.” 

“Depends how good the winner is.” Raz said with a dark chuckle. “Lost my last racer to rival teams. Been unable to participate in the underground racing ring since.”

“Okay. Deal.” 

“Sarah!” Allura chastised. “You still haven’t fully healed....”

“I can do this, no problem.” Sarah said confidently. “When do we start?”

“Now’s good for me.” Raz said with a smirk. 

“Sarah, I really wish you wouldn’t do this. Just over a week ago you could barely walk!” Allura insisted an hour later, after Sarah and Keith had suited up. 

“I mean...sure, it’s reckless.” Sarah conceded. “But there’s a chance we might get the intel we need to move forward. And I’ve got this.” 

Allura threw up her hands, exasperated. “Just be careful.” she grumbled as she stepped off to the side to join Lance, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest angrily. 

“You sure about this?” Keith murmured as he got on his bike, helmet under his arm. “You still really haven’t recovered...”

“Look, let’s just do this, okay?” Sarah grumbled. It was true, it still hurt to even move around. But they had a chance to really move forward with their quest to find Shiro. She wasn’t about to let it pass them up just cause she had a weak human body. She smirked a little knowing they were in for the surprise of a lifetime. 

“Okay, when the screen goes green, go.” Raz said on the opposite side of the bikes from Allura and Lance. 

Sarah lifted her gaze to look at the screen, excited as she felt adrenaline flow through her. The screen turned yellow and she lowered her gaze, staring straight ahead; eye on the prize. Raz had said it was a rough-terrain course, which didn’t surprise her. Though most of the tracks on Stiea K2 only simulated rough terrain, she had done a few races with her sister on mostly uninhabited planets. It was really the only form of teenage rebellion she took part in. 

When she saw the screen turn green out of her peripherals, she was off. All of her worries were wiped away as the wind blew her hair around wildly. She wouldn’t exactly call it her “element”, but it was damn near close; she lived for this feeling. The rush of the wind, the sheer speed of the bike....it was exhilarating. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Keith catching up to her. Thinking quickly, she used a passing rock formation to launch herself up and over him, causing him to gasp in surprise and lose ground. When she was back parallel to the ground she was laughing, leaning forward to push her bike faster and leaving him in a cloud of dust behind her. 

“Holy shit, Sarah!” Keith called as he pulled his bike to a stop, a full thirty seconds after she had. 

“I daresay I beat you.” she said with a giggle as he took off his helmet and ran over to join her. 

“You are just full of surprises.” Raz said gruffly. 

“You have no idea...” Allura murmured, smiling conspiratorially. 

“So I get a bike. And answers. And in exchange, I race for you.” Sarah said, one hand on her hip as she held her helmet with the other. 

“I want you both. You’re both faster than any other racer around these parts.” 

“That wasn’t the dea-” Sarah began, before Keith cut her off.

“Fine, I’m game.” 

“Good! First race is in a week.”

“First-give us one piece of information.” Sarah said, smoothly cutting off his exit. 

Raz glared at her for a moment before he sighed in defeat. “Fine. I get quintessence from crystal caves. You can melt the crystals without losing the energy with a special machine. Now that's it until your first win.” 

Sarah nodded and stepped aside, allowing him to leave. 

“Sarah, I’m really not sure about this.” Allura said later that night as she changed her friends bandages. 

“I know....I know...” Sarah murmured. “I’m...I know I’m being reckless. And I am a little scared. But...” she trailed off, shrugging. Luckily, Allura understood and nodded. 

“I know how badly you want to find Shiro. I just wish you wouldn’t put your life on the line, you know he wouldn’t want you to.” 

“At least I’m not destroying the universe.” Sarah quipped, earning her a small smile from Allura. 

“These guys are really intimidating...” Allura commented the day of their first race. They were gathered in the starting area, Sarah and Keith two of a total of ten racers. Their competitors were rugged and imposing, a stark contrast to Sarah and Keith’s clean, youthful exteriors. They didn’t seem to pay them any mind, for which Sarah was grateful. It would make it all the better when she beat them. 

“Yea...but I’ve got something they don’t.” Sarah said with a devilish smirk. 

“Skill?” Lance asked.

“Experience?” Allura guessed. 

“I’m skinny!” Sarah answered with a laugh, causing her group to join her. 

“I suppose that is helpful in something like this.” 

“Damn straight!” Sarah said happily, causing Lance to choke on his drink. 

“Riders to their bikes!” the announcer called. In the flurry of movement, Lance and Allura barely managed to wish their friends good luck before they were hastily ushered off the track. 

“Kinda funny that they put us at the front for handicap reasons.” Keith smirked, donning his helmet. 

“They’ll learn their mistake prolly five seconds in.” Sarah quipped, adjusting her helmet. “Let’s show em up big time, yea?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

“I hope you’re famished, darling. Cause you’re about to eat my dust.” one of their opponents said from behind them. 

“Oh, I am positively starving!” Sarah said giddily, making Keith laugh and the biker blink in confusion. 

“When the screen goes green, go!” the announcer said, bringing all the riders to attention. Sarah and Keith bent forward, eager to start. They had kind of silently agreed that this would be a race between just the two of them; they’d easily leave the others behind. 

She saw the screen turn yellow out of the corner of her eye, staring straight ahead at the track that laid before her. She and Keith had been allowed to practise on it a few times, so that there would be no surprises in an effort to make the race more “fair” for the newcomers. She felt devious knowing that they didn’t need the handicaps, but they were going to use them all the same. 

The screen went green and she was off, bent low over her bike to lessen the drag. At the first turn, she tooks a split second to look behind her, laughing as she saw her and Keith’s lead. She saw him smirk and accelerate, pulling up beside her. “Oh no you don’t.” she murmured with a grin, pushing herself close against her bike. 

The two were neck and neck most of the time, their competition a small blur behind them. “God, are they even trying?” Sarah called, causing Keith to smirk. 

Allura and Lance ran up to them when they pulled across the finish line, relief clear on their face. The announcer declared Sarah the winner with Keith being an extremely close second. The group moved out of the way for the other racers, who pulled in fifteen seconds later, glaring at the two winners. “I don’t like the way they’re glaring at you two.” Allura murmured. 

“Oh, they’ll get over it.” Sarah said casually, as Raz ran up to them excitedly. 

“I don’t think they will, Sarah.” 

“That was amazing!” Raz said as he got closer. “Keep racing like that and we’re sure to win the grand cup!” 

“How many more races are there?” Keith asked coolly. 

“Only four. The more races you win, the more information I’ll give you.” 

Sarah sighed heavily. “Fine. Let’s get out of here and then you pay up.” 

Over the course of a month, Sarah and Keith won two races for Raz. With each win, the resentment of the other riders grew and grew. Just as Allura had thought, they did not take kindly to the newcomers beating them over and over again. Sarah ignored it at first, but when one of the rival riders followed her back to her ship from an errand, she could no longer deny that their competitors were indeed dangerous and her and her team should proceed with caution. They took to moving their ships every other night, just to be safe. They didn’t know what the other racers were capable of. 

They would soon find out. 

“Ready for another win?” Sarah laughed with Keith as they walked to the starting area.

“Don’t be so cocky, Sarah.” Keith teased. 

“Ha, look who’s talking!” 

As they swung their legs over their hover bikes, Sarah noticed that the other racers were staring, but their eyes weren’t hostile. They looked like they....expected something. “Keith, I don’t like the way they’re looking at us.” she murmured uneasily. 

“Yea...I don’t much like it either. Allura, you get that?” 

“Yep.” Allura chimed in over their comm units. “I’ve got an eye on all the feeds spread out over the track. Doesn’t look like there’s anything out of the normal. Think they might have sabotaged the bikes?” 

“No, they can’t have.” Sarah said assuredly. “Raz said the bikes are locked up tight as fuck just before races.”

“I mean there’s a couple weeks between races, where are they then?” Lance asked. 

“With their respective owners. I have no idea where Raz keeps his so I presume his security is pretty tight.” 

“Well stay alert, just in case.” Allura warned as the screen went yellow above them. 

“Will do!” Sarah chirped. 

The screen went green and she was off, speeding ahead like she usually did. Sarah tried to keep Allura’s warning in mind, but she always had so much fun. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Keith was also enjoying himself.

When she took the first turn, the tables turned. 

“Sarah!” Keith cried out as she went spinning off the track into the rocky wilderness. She lost all sense of direction, focusing on holding onto the hover bike, not sure what else to do. Someone had definitely sabotaged her bike. 

The vehicle hit a rock formation and she was launched, flying through the air before hitting something hard, blacking out as her body exploded in agony.

“Sarah!” Allura cried as she landed Darling close by the girl and Keith. “What happened?!” 

“I don’t know!” Keith said, on edge. “She took the first turn and her bike went wildly off track and when I got here she was unconscious a-and she’s bleeding...”

“I told her she shouldn’t race, she hasn’t healed from the druids yet.” Allura said, her tone panicked as she picked Sarah up. “Keith, you take Lance and tell Raz what happened. I’m going to take Sarah somewhere safe, somewhere we haven’t been yet.” 

“What can you do?” Lance asked as he and Keith hopped on the latter’s bike. 

“I don’t know, I’ll do what I can.” 

“Good luck!” 

Allura nodded as she closed Darling’s hatch, taking off and activating the small craft’s invisibility. She flew to the other edge of town, landing behind a strange rock formation surrounded by dry brush. After she had Darling squared away, she knelt down next to Sarah, scared by the small girls laboured breathing. The princess began undressing her friend to attend to her bandages, her hands shaking slightly. 

“I’ve told you about the machine I use and a brief history of quintessence mining. You didn’t win this one, so no information.” Raz said angrily, glaring at Keith who was in his face. 

“Sarah almost died.” he said, his tone dangerous. “You didn’t tell us these racers might try and sabotage or hurt us. That wasn’t part of the fucking deal!” 

“Not my problem! There’s one more race and you better win otherwise that's’ it.” Raz snapped his fingers and two hulking aliens came out from the back of his office and roughly grabbed Keith and Lanc, forcing them out. 

“What do we do?” Lance asked as they made their way back to Krisox’s ship. 

“I’m gonna have to do the last race alone.” Keith sighed. “I’m still faster than all the others so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I wonder why only Sarah’s bike was sabotaged and yours wasn’t.” Lance mused. 

“Mine was.” Keith said grimly. “It just didn’t work. I checked the bikes after I found Sarah.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry, I disabled it and hid my bike. It’ll be fine for the last race.” 

“I think we should pull out.” Allura said after the Paladins met up with her. “It’s just not worth the risk anymore.” 

“But we need more information!” Keith argued. 

“I know, but it’s not worth risking your life for!” 

“For all we know, Shiro’s somewhere in danger right now. The more information we get the faster we can track him down.” 

“Lance?!” Allura said, turning to him abruptly. 

“Uh...I think you have a point....but we do need the information.” he said thoughtfully. “Tell Raz that Keith will only race if we’re promised something big.”

Allura glared between them for a moment before sighing huffily. “Fine.” 

“So that’s the new deal.” Lance finished the next day, informing Raz of the change. “You promise us a big piece of information, like your buyers’ names, or we walk and you don’t get anymore wins.��� 

Raz glared at him and Keith for a moment. “You mentioned the name I’ntayn once.” he said, throwing the two off guard.

“Uh-yea? So?”

“I’ll tell you where she is.” 

“What?!” Keith almost shouted. 

“You heard me. Win, and I will tell you where she is.” the alien leaned forward. “But you have to win, no matter what the others do to you or your friends or your bikes. Deal?”

Keith set his jaw and nodded. “Deal.”

“Where’s your little girl friend?” one of the other bikers said the morning just before the final race. Keith growled at his cocky grin, but otherwise ignored him.

“Patience yields focus...” he repeated to himself. He couldn’t risk losing. Not when Shiro was possibly at stake. 

He swung himself up onto his bike, which he had triple checked for sabotage, and bent low, itching to go. He knew he could outrun them, if he could get around them; his starting position was in the very back. 

The screen went green and everyone took off, leaving large dust clouds behind them. Keith deftly weaved between the other racers, ignoring yells of outrage. Some of them abruptly pulled in front of him, blocking his path, but he quickly slid to their other side and sped around them. It didn’t take him very long to reach the front, much to the other bikers’ dismay. 

“You aren’t walking away from this!” the frontrunner yelled to Keith as he gained on him. The two had already left most of the others behind.

“Oh I think I will! I’m walking away with this win cause I have an advantage that you don’t.” Keith said with a smirk, pulling up next to him.

“And what’s that, human?” 

“I’m a skinny little bitch!” Keith laughed, quoting Sarah as he rocketed ahead. 

When Keith pulled over the finish line, he jumped off his bike, paying no mind to the cheering locals and the rival bikers coming in behind him. He made a beeline to Raz who was beside himself. “You did it! You won, thank you m’boy!”

“Where’s I’ntayn? I want an exact location and how to get there now.”

“Tsk tsk, you get right to it, don’t you? No time to celebrate?” Raz asked, before grumbling under Keith’s glare. “Fine. Follow me.”

“Okay here’s the coordinates, he said I’ntayn lives in some kind of temple with monks.” Keith said as he plugged the numbers into Darlings navigation computer. 

“Okay, let’s get going. I don’t want to spend another second on this dreadful planet.” Allura said appreciatively. 

“Is Sarah okay to travel...?” he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper as he glanced at the girl sleeping on the pull out bed. 

“We don’t have much choice.” Allura answered grimly. 

Keith nodded. “Let’s get out of here then.” he said, leaving and jogging over and into Krisox’s ship. Lance closed the back hatch behind him and they rose into the air, watching Darling move with them before taking off into space. Keith followed close behind, eager to get to I’ntayn and find out what she knows. We’re coming for you, Shiro. he thought. We will find you.

[alexsanchezbressler-blog]

Reports from South Texas, 1995-1999 (fiction)

1. Facing east toward her door of peeled white paint, Gladys genuflects the air an arm’s length in front of her with an eight-inch kitchen knife. She is cutting clouds.

It’ll be fat rain today, she mouths.

She wears a simple night gown, purple silk with a pink hibiscus print. The slippers on her feet used to be white. Her hair used to be black. Her face is long from wearing heavy skin, and the ridge of her brow casts a soft shadow over sunken eyes and gated eyelids. When she hears the gentle topple of a plastic cup coming from the back of her home, her right ear flicks back half a centimeter, and she knows in her bones that someone has broken into her house. She waits on the living room couch in silence, a broom to her left, the eight-inch knife to her right. Her body sits mute, save for the lonely scuffle of slippers on wood.   “I know that you’re back there. Come out now.” The hollow cluck of the fallen cup remains the only sound from the back of the house. Gladys pictures it now: a stranger, forty, one scar on the peak of his right eyebrow. No gun, only rings. He wears work boots and there’s paint on the jeans his father used to own. He will push her around if he must. But this is not the figure that walks into Gladys’ living room, silent and barefoot on the linoleum floor. This is Eric, only a boy. He has chocolate on his face and will now be led back home to his mother. ¡Víborito! — 2. Ray Gomez would like a loan on his homework. He’ll study later, with interest. — 3. Cardenas’ Grocer on the corner of Culebra and Bandera. That’s where Maria has been sent to pick up novelty shirts for her father’s side of the family. “Maria, why don’t you get them something to remember this place by, huh? Something original”—Maria’s mother, Patty, says that last word in Spanish, filling it with air rather than the hard clunk of a “g.” It is the first time Maria has heard her mother speak Spanish in months. “Get them the shirt with the lime-green print and the black background. I used to wear those suckers for days.” In the corner of the house, Maria’s niece Carmen is picking up small porcelain rabbits and placing them on the floor. Everyone lets Carmen do her own thing—she has a bit of a speech impediment, and she often has trouble communicating what she needs to say. It’s easier, what with both sides of the family converging in the two-room family home, to leave Carmen be with her bunnies. “Yea. They were loco for me at Cardenas’,” and Maria bites her lip one sinew too hard trying not to pity her mother. The walk to Cardenas’ is hot, so Maria makes a game of trying to read billboards through the heat waves rising from the pavement. She crouches on her knees to get the right angle. Bill Miller Barbeque. Maybe she’ll buy a wet brownie and some sweaty tea. Mario’s Bakery. Or perhaps she’ll snag an empanada. She knows the town well enough, but it’s been a while since she’d walked around the West Side. The whole family is in town for her grandmother’s funeral—including her father’s very Jewish relatives. They are fine people. They will go to the Riverwalk and sit with the other tourists, each holding a menu larger than a map of the United States. They’ll see the Alamo. They’ll learn that the Alamo didn’t always have the signature façade you see on stamps and brochures, that it was only added when someone figured out how to make money from all the death that happened there. They’ll see the Tower of the Americas after the wake for Maria’s grandmother. All the while Maria will explain to them why, yes, she is aware that the job market for English majors is rough in this economy, that, yes, she has heard about Teach for America. Maria buys three T-shirts of thin cotton. She thinks about how she has grown up half-Jewish, herself. She knows the prayers: Barukh ata Adonai…and so on. Every holiday season was spent with a multi-colored Christmas tree in the corner and a menorah by the window. Maria enjoys spending time with the Jewish side of her family, in their element of the D.C. suburbs. But as she makes her way back from Cardenas’, Maria peers at a Fallas Paredes discount clothing store and St. Jude’s Cathedral. This is not Bethesda.

When Maria arrives back at the house, the whole family is lined up ready to take a photo. “Ay Maria! We didn’t forget you. We were just setting up, that’s all.” The family glistens like fish in a barrel.   Maria walks over to stand by her sister. She leans over and whispers through a couple inches of black curl: well at least Mom’s having a good time. Maria’s sister nudges her with her hip, all while holding Carmen who has been saying jeez jeez jeez on repeat for the past five minutes. “It’s cheese, honey. Chuh. Chuh.” “So, Patty, tell me. What was it like growing up here?” This from Daphne, who wears a new hat with an embroidered logo of the Texas state flag and a slogan that reads, Everything’s Bigger in Texas. “It was fine. I used to have these little dolls, like these knock-off American Girls. I’d go out back and play nurse with them, and I’d get these huge roofing nails, maybe three inches long. They were left over from when my Dad first built this place. Anyway, I’d have these dolls, and I’d say, ‘Allllllll better,’ and I’d stick ‘em in the arm with one of those nails, just like a Tetanus shot. Ha! We made our own fun.” “That must have been so hard, Patty.” “What?”

Maria makes time to see the backyard. When she was alive, Maria’s grandmother was a meticulous gardener, and she’d curated a gallery of bluebonnets and sunflowers, tomatoes and pears. These days it is wilderness. Maria has to keep her feet moving, rather than risk having fire ants coat her calf. The blue metal swing-set that Maria and her mother both grew up on is now rusted and hidden beneath a sheath of vines and leaf litter. A mop lays strewn in the middle of the cacophony, and when Maria picks it up, it remains stiff in the same flayed position it had on the ground, frozen in time and stale microfiber.   From the corner of the yard a rooster emerges, reminiscent of a velociraptor amidst all the weeds. Maria remembers stories about her grandmother and the neighbors. Like that one time when her grandmother saved a kid from the fighting cocks next door. They say he was bleeding and on the ground, a massive beak tearing at his arms, blood and feathers springing forth like dust from that dirty kid in the Charlie Brown series. They say Maria’s grandmother leapt over the fence and ripped the boy from the cage, that she stared down the cock, and with an air of finality she glared at the animal: No. Me. Toques. Maybe this rooster is the progeny of those original fighters. Maybe this one is related to the brute that almost took out that kid. Maybe not. Maria stares at the animal for a moment, and with a swift yank of the arm, she whips herself into a straight posture, and salutes. “No me toques, little chicken!”

Back inside the house, Maria could have sliced the air with a kitchen knife. All her tíos have congregated in the back room, flipping through old family photos. Patty and Carmen, who still holds a porcelain bunny, remain with three or four members of family-cum-tourists, as Maria’s father has gone out to buy ice. “Jeewwws. Jeewwwss.” Maria bites her tongue, stifling a laugh. Patty stops explaining what a telenovela is midsentence. She whips around to see Carmen standing with a small pout on her lower lip, as she repeats her soft incantation: “Jewwwsss. Jeewws!” “Carmen! Stop that right now. Right. Now.” Conversation resumes. Maria sits down by the window unit and listens in. “So when did you first learn English?” Daphne digs her toes into the foam of her flip flops as she waits for a response. Patty takes a sip of Snapple iced tea. “Well I grew up with it.” “Yes, but how is what I’m asking.” “Jeewwwss. Jeeeewwwwws!” “Uh. I don’t know, I just kind of talked to people?” “They didn’t have ESL at your school?” “I didn’t need ESL.” “Mama, Jews. Please, Jews.” “That must have been so hard, Patty.” “What was so hard! I spoke English!” “JEWS!” Everyone looks at Carmen then, as she stomps on the ground in her bare feet. Patty is on the verge of giving her some Benadryl to fall asleep quick. Daphne cocks an eyebrow, wondering what kind of education this kid is getting. Maria sits near the cool air, watching as a tear falls down Carmen’s face. And Maria says, “Honey, do you want your chanclas?” Carmen melts in relief. And Patty translates: “Oh. SHOES!”

— 4. Gary lives on Calle Valencia. It is a short strip lined with squat houses and metal fences that, when shaken, sound like tin jingle bells. On this street people drive at a slow crawl, rolling the pace at which a cigarette eats itself. The stray dogs demand such attentiveness. And yet, there are those who insist on driving in haste down Valencia, causing mothers to grip and pull their children toward their hip. Once, Gary was out by the chain-link, looking to grab the mail. He wore a green bathrobe with purple socks on the street textured like a concrete Pollock. He left small bits of cotton fray in his wake: breadcrumbs on a familiar route. As Gary grabbed the mail, a tan Chevy and a faded red pickup the shade of a rooster’s beak drove past—hood to hood—as one driver zoomed backwards and the other nudged him along. From above, you’d see something vaguely homoerotic about the whole scene: two front license plates, kissing, unabashed and speeding forty down Valencia, all while the cotton puff of Gary’s hair swiveled and judged as he gripped the daily mail. Today, a dog leaps onto a fence, shattering the chain-link with a moan.   — 5. They say la matanza, the slaughterhouse, steals the sense of smell. But it didn’t take one cent more than that from Ramón.

Ramón lies on a twin bed, ninety-six and sporting a full head of gray hair. His room is an anachronism: a vintage spring bed framed by a chrome IV drip, chipped paint lit up by the small green and red blips from his family’s phone chargers. Even his breathing, which is thickened by a swollen tongue, sounds ancient against the sharp tin beep, beep, beep of his heart monitor. “A Sunkist, please. Will someone please get me a Sunkist.” Ramón is old enough now that his words begin to lose their definition when he speaks—will hun-wun get me uh zun-kids—blending together like the last ninety-five years of his life. His grandson, Danny, flits into the room like a squirrel, holding a small orange soda in a glass bottle. Danny places the Sunkist on Ramón’s dresser next to a full cup of cold coffee without making eye contact. At the last moment, Danny turns, catching the yellowed porcelain of Ramón’s sclera, and he runs out the room with only a few slips from his slick crew socks. Ramón settles into his bed, keen to the clips of sound that flood his last room.

“You should spend more time with your grandfather, Danny.” “Ok, Mom. Okay—he scares me, though.” “He’s just old, he won’t bite. I promise. Listen. When he had his stint in the Navy, he was a chef. When he came back home, he kept cooking for the whole family, he was so used to it by then. We’d all be sitting in the living room and he’d walk in—you know how lanky he is, he’s a tall guy—with a tray of twenty biscuits. And he’d also make this toast with meat and gravy on it. Called it SOS. You know what SOS stands for?” “Save Our Ship, right?” “Nope. Shit On a Shingle. Or so he tells us.”

Ramón never quite falls asleep. He is thinking. He thinks about the last time he saw his friends, and how they remain so perfect in his memory (Billy’s curl of hair falling on his left eyebrow, Miguel’s beer belly growing rounder by the year). He remembers the white plaster of their work uniforms, the puff of double-sweaters layered underneath. The clear plastic masks that covered their faces from the splay of cattle blood. The cattle blood. The relentless pff, pff, pff of air bullets, stunning the animals into unconscious spastic kicks. The large drains that pocked the floor of la matanza. He remembers the knuckle punches they gave each other at the end of the day, small tokens of intimacy sterilized by the thick of industrial rubber gloves.

“I know that you are hiding there.” Danny freezes up on the other side of the wall of Ramón’s bedroom—how did he know I was hiding here? Ramón licks his cracked lips, waiting to see if his grandson will come in the room. He does not. I hid once, thinks Ramón. Yes, I hid from her. Ramón glances at the bed across the room, empty now for three years. He shuts his eyes, searching for the truth of their first encounter… …Break time, twilight, la matanza. They are standing under the orange halogen that isolates the break porch from the dark night. Miguel slips a flask from the pocket of his innermost sweater and shakes it in front of Ramón’s face with a cheeky grin and wide eyes. Ten minutes chatting pass. From the edge of the clearing, beneath a flurry of pecan trees, Ramón is the first to spot her. A woman. Ramón taps Miguel’s arm with the back of his hand, gesturing toward her with the flask. The woman begins to walk toward the porch, hips swaying, eyes locked in as if they were tied with taut fishing line to the boys on break. When Ramón squints, he swears that she is looking straight at him, but with his eyes unadjusted to the night he cannot tell for sure. The woman’s legs begin to shuffle, closer, closer to one another. She does not fall to her knees: she melts. Her arms collapse to her side—what in hell, mutters Miguel, who begins to trip back toward la matanza—and the woman’s skin takes on a scaly gleam. Her body attenuates, and she slithers, the diamond of her head and the ruby of her eyes still locked on Ramón; she is staring at Ramón. Una víbora, por Díos. Miguel is gone. Ramón is stock-still, frozen in the white plastic muffle of his sterile uniform. That is, until the woman sticks out a forked tongue, long and body-pink, sharp. She becomes an eight-foot green viper. Ramón runs and hides inside the chrome warehouse of la matanza.

But this is only his memory now. In walks Danny with a tray of street tacos bordered by three quartered limes. Ramón remembers a time when he could smell food in the house. He remembers when all he could smell was the scent of cattle hide. He remembers when he could only feel the pull of air on the walls of his nose. But the tacos taste fine enough.

“Danny, do you know how your grandpa and grandma met?” “No, Mom, I don’t.” “Well, my Mom loved to tell this story, so here it is. Apparently, she was watering flowers out by her front yard, over at her old home near the slaughterhouse. You remember I showed it to you? She’s minding her own business and up comes your grandfather. He stands by her flowers, staring real close at this butterfly—a monarch, I think. “Naturally, Mom asks, ‘Can I help you?’ “And your grandfather, so smooth, keeps looking at the butterfly. He says, ‘I bet these butterflies traveled thousands of miles, just to smell your flowers.’ And Mom tells him, actually, they’re drinking the nectar. That they’re hungry, so they have these long tongues that unfurl to drink up the flower. And Dad looks at her right in the eye, and they fall in love right there.” “Seems a little weird to me.” “Yea, well, it was the ‘50s.”

The clicks and beeps of Ramón’s machines become frantic. Ramón is silent, but his eyes remain wide as he stares at the spin of his faded white fan. Danny and his mother are by his side. Tears, tears, prayers, and candles. The callouses of Ramón’s hands are rough on Danny’s palm. The whirs of machine begin to fade. His last breath in: a hard rush of air through the nose. His last breath out: a small mutter, a prayer, and a greeting. Mi víbora, mi víbora, mi amor. —