#does it have to stare me down mockingly as i change capes

[locallygrowndaikon]

This is how the mannequin wearing the dreams ult cape got me feelin…

[colifower]

The Throne

Hey guys, This is my submission to @worstloki​ ‘s Secret Santa for @darkalinas Hope you’ll like it

Warnings: mentions of death/fake death, mild language.

Also on my AO3

         The halls were emptier than he remembered. Not a day had passed and no mourning signs were at sight. The aftermath of the battle was odd. Few injured, most of them dead or missing in the depths of another realm. However, the floors were immaculate if only missing a few chunks of marble.

         What Loki was about to do was foolish and knew it. But he also wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t try, he needed answers. He flickered his hand and his illusion opened the door. Loki had only taking a glimpse of one the guard sent to retrieve his body, so he had to improvise. His thoughts went to the one that had told him of his not-mother’s death. He was part of the royal guard; he would have easily died in battle with the dark elves, although he had never went back to check on him.

         The illusion entered graciously the throne room and bowed politely while Loki silently walked behind the man kneeling besides the throne.

         “Forgive me, my liege. I’ve returned form the Dark World with news.”

         “Thor?” asked Odin, without any sign of sentiment in his tone.

         “There was no sign of Thor, or the weapon, but…”

         “What?” said the king, turning his head around.

         “We found a body”

         “Loki…” he lowered his sight. Loki said nothing but couldn’t help to smirk slightly.

         “Loki!” said Odin suddenly, turning around as if he had expected him to be there. “You little shit! I…”

         Smack! Loki didn’t know what to do, so he pulled a frying pan out of his dimensional pocket and smacked Odin square in the face. The Allfather fell ungracefully to the floor.

         “Fuckfuckfuckfuck!” murmured Loki. He stared at the… corpse? Unconscious body? At this point the distinction wasn’t important. Specially after hearing what sounded like his brother’s footsteps coming towards him.

         He didn’t have enough time to think of a better plan, so he grabbed Odin’s feet and tossed him behind the throne while he panicked. “That’ll have to do” he said as he threw the pan behind him. His brother slammed the door open covering the noise the pan made hitting the floor (he was lucky, but not lucky enough to have laid another hit on his not-father’s face).

         Thor kneeled and waited.

         “You once said there would never be a wiser king than me” stated Loki and then paused for dramatic effect. “You were wrong. The alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you offer your life to save them. What can Asgard offer its new King in return?

         “My life” Loki raised his eyebrows. Was he recognising that he was to be executed for committing treason and various war crimes? For real? “Father, I cannot be King of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice… It changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great King.”

         “Is this my son I hear? Or the woman he loves?”

         “When you speak, do I never hear Mother's voice?“ Touché. Loki sighted and waited for him to continue. “This is not for Jane, Father. She does not know what I came here to say. Now forbid me to see her or say she can rule at my side, it changes nothing.”

         Loki sighted and thought of something his not-father would have said. “One son who wanted the Throne too much, another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?”

         “Loki died with honour. I shall try to live the same. Is that not legacy enough?” Loki nodded. Thor picked up his hammer and offered it to the man on the throne. Loki knew that he had to let go of it if he didn’t want anybody to know about the frying pan issue still going on behind him.

         “It belongs to you. If you are worthy of it.”

         “I shall try to be.”

         “I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune.” He knew it wasn’t true, but truth had never Odin’s forte. Was it his, then?

         “I know.”

         Loki felt slightly bad for his brother. He could tell that his girlfriend was about to break up with him and the he was going to decide to go on a depressing sabbatical to get away from grief. He felt he needed to say something. After all, Odin had never stated any affection for Thor either. “If I were proud of the man my son had become, even that I could not say, I would speak only from my heart. Go, my son.”

         “Thank you, father” said Thor, bowing slightly and walking out of the room while leaving the door open.

         “No, thank you” said Loki mockingly. Now he had to get up and close the door again. Loki scratched his neck. He knew Thor was far from ready to be king, but he was surprised this little adventure had made him somewhat conscious about it. He took a deep breath and stretched.

         “Shit, this chair is uncomfortable. I’ll have commission someone to give it back support if I plan to sit here every day…”

         Loki went to retrieve his pan and saw the old man laying unceremoniously on the floor. He knew he had to move the body quickly, but he couldn’t resist painting a farting butt on his left cheek. He would certainly need help of the guards to move the man out of Asgard and also think of a way to give himself a proper burial. For the moment he settled on casting an illusion of himself over the king.

         “Hmmnnn… Loki…” Smack! He needed to get himself a more permanent way to keep him unconscious but at least he was reassured that the guy was not dead. He really needed Odin to be sent away and never to return. Loki, still disguised as Odin, picked up the body as best as he could and dragged him down the stairs and towards the back door.

         “It is better if you ask your wards for help, your highness” said one guard, closing the door that Thor had left open.

         “Erm, yes. Thank you. You can help me with this. I thought I was able to carry my son’s body, but I seemed to have forgotten that I am an old man now.” Loki started picking at his hands and tried to appear as regal as one can be. He had been weakened by his near-death experience back in the Dark world and was struggling to keep the illusions in place. His butt-fart was now visible and did his best to try to cover it with his cape.

         “No, no, my lord. You should be resting.” Insisted. “After losing your beloved wife and son you’ll need it. These men over here will…”

         Loki dropped the body yet again and looked at the guard he had made up. The one that looked exactly like the man that just entered the throne room. His eyes widened and the grip on his pan got tighter.

         “Erm… I won’t say a thing, my prince. Not a word.” Said the guard. “If you do this little thing for me.”

         “Prince? I am Odin Allfather, your lord and king!” said Loki trying to emulate Odin’s condescending tone.

         “No, you’re not, my prince” he continued. “And you’ll need some allies if you plan to sneak out The Allfather’s body out of Asgard.”

         Unfortunately, he was right. Loki took a deep breath and dropped the illusions all at once. He kept holding the pan. “What’s your name, soldier?”

         “Raisin”

         “Raisin?”

         “Yeah, my parents thought they were language geniuses.”

         “Well, Raisin. The Royal Family does not deal with terrorists.”

         “Hmmm… yes you do” stated the man. He was getting kind of cocky and Loki didn’t like that at all. “That’s what royal families do, deal with each other. But we’re getting off topic. I know that if this plan backfires I’ll be the one to blame, so don’t worry about me telling.”

         “So, you have a plan?” Loki will never admit it, but he was kind of relieved that he didn’t have to do it alone.

         “Yeah, we can do what we did to my partner’s mom” said Raisin, nonchalantly. “She didn’t approve of his son and I living together so we sent her to Shady Acres some years ago.

         “Is that… a nursing home?”

         “Yeah, on Earth. The staff is kind and nice. They have good food and chess tournaments. They also don’t let them go to their daily walk if they say any slur, which is a plus.”

         “Sounds promising. Any ideas about my funeral? Do you know how to get a corpse?”

         “Yeah…” murmured Raisin. Suddenly his boots were kind of interesting.

         “Erm… Sorry for your loss” said Loki. He didn’t know what to say in these kinds of situations.

         “I… I really want to give him a proper burial but I don’t have any money on my name.”

         “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. I have lived with Thor for centuries, I guess some of his interior design skills had stuck” said the God of Mischief. He realised that Raisin had started to cry and felt very helpless. “Here use this.”

         Raisin chuckled when he handled him the king’s cape to wipe his tears and clear his nose. “Is that…a very ugly muffing?”

         “What, no. It’s very obviously a fart!” said Loki. “My artistic skills had been insulted. I will have to kill you now.”

         Raisin rolled his eyes. “Now, shut up and pick him by the hands, he looks heavy.”

[seducedbyseverus]

Amor Vincit Omnia

Pairing - Professor Severus Snape x Fem Student Reader

Chapter One Rating - T for Teen

Tags - Angst, some fluff, flashbacks to an abusive childhood, mentions of past abandonment, mention of magic, mute reader, no sexual relationship with Professor Snape yet… since ya know… the reader is still a child…, and I think that’s it. 

Beta - @winecatsandpizza​

Word Count - 1.5k 

Fic Aesthetic - Yours Truly

A/N - Hello, all you lovely people ♥! I have been writing fanfiction for a long time, but I am just now posting my fics that are related to the Harry Potter fandom. I mainly write for Severus Snape, but I wouldn’t be opposed to writing for other characters. Send me an ask if you would like me to write for you. Feedback is gold and my fuel to put out more chapters/new fics. 

A/N 2 - **** Each chapter will have its own rating!!!! Heed all the warnings I post!! My work is NOT to be copied, posting anywhere else, or saved without my express written permission! **** The text in italics are flashbacks and the owl’s name is pronounced Air Uh Dell. If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, please send me an ask or message. :)

Chapter One: A New Beginning

From the moment you turned six years old you’d known you were different. Something inside you stirred, aching to be released. 

On the day it broke free you’d been outside playing with your friend Sara in the grass. The new dolls you’d been given for your birthday scattered around the two of you as you laughed and carried on. Before you knew it, your older brother Nathan snatched the one Sara was playing with from her hands. 

He mockingly held it above his head just out of her reach making tears well in her eyes. You felt your blood boil as you stood in front of him, your hands on your hips. His mocking figure towered over you by at least a foot but had been determined to get the doll back in one piece to Sara. “Give it back to her, Nate!” You seethed. He cocked an eyebrow and clicked his tongue. “Aw, does cry baby Sara want the dolly back? C’mon then, let’s see you try and get it, Y/N!” 

He laughed at your efforts to reach it before tossing it on top of the garage. “Oops!” Nathan shrugged before giving a sarcastic smirk. “Looks like your precious doll is gone forever.” The coil of rage inside you seemed to snap. All your anger focused on Nathan as you lunged at him, but before you could reach him something extraordinary happened. Your gaze alone seemed to propel him into the trunk of the big oak tree growing in your front yard. 

His body fell to the ground with a thud and he groaned in pain before picking himself up. His eyes rose to yours in a fearful stare only for a moment before he took off towards the front door to your house. 

If you’d only known that from that day forward your life was going to change forever.

Now, here you stood, five years later in Y/H’s common room. It was your first year at Hogwarts, and you couldn’t have been happier. This ancient castle was to be your home now. Outside in the muggle world, you didn’t have a real place to go. Ever since that fateful day when you’d done that to your brother your parents abandoned you without hesitation. 

They were both muggles and no one in your immediate family had any trace of being a witch or wizard. You were dropped off at an orphanage with no education on the wizarding world you belonged in. 

It wasn’t long before the Headmaster heard about you. Underage wizards weren't allowed to use magic outside of school and things were happening around you that you couldn’t explain. Immediately, he’d made plans for Professor McGonagall to take you in. 

Even though you didn’t know Minerva very well, being with her felt right. It felt like you were where you were supposed to be. It felt like home.

Professor McGonagall helped you unpack your belongings in your dormitory to make sure you settled in okay. She’d known what you’d been through and knew the repercussions that came of it. The constant nightmares, the panic attacks, and not to mention the fact that you hadn’t spoken since the day everything went down. Only her and the Headmaster knew, and she didn’t want to push you. 

Once you two were finished, she gave you a soft smile taking your hand in hers. “There we go, Y/N. It feels good to be all settled in, hm?” The nervous look on your face didn’t go unnoticed and she sighed before leading you to sit on your bed. “Y/N, I know this is a new place with people you don’t know, but I promise you you’re safe here. Albus, Professor Dumbledore, won’t let anything happen to you or any of his students. Hogwarts is a safe place where you won’t be alone in your abilities. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your voice while you’re here.” 

She gently rubbed your shoulder and kissed the top of your head before standing to smooth out her robes. “You have class early tomorrow so don’t stay up too late. Professor Snape doesn’t like it when his students are late.

Goodnight, Y/N and remember should you need anything don’t hesitate to send me a message via your owl.” 

You listened as the sound of her heels clicked down the stone stairs. Once she was gone, the only thing you could hear was the muffled voices in the common room. Even though you were a first-year, the other people in your house knew that you were a mute. They didn’t treat you differently, but you were still hesitant to make friends nonetheless. Honestly, you were afraid to get to close to someone for fear of something bad happening like what happened to your brother. 

The soft chirp from your owl lifted you from your thoughts. Aradeyl tilted her small head to look at you through the bars of her cage and you suddenly felt sorry for her having to be cooped up all this time. Slowly, you padded across the room and opened her cage. She stepped onto your arm and sidestepped up to your shoulder letting out another shrill chirp. Your fingers softly caressed her feathers as she lovingly nipped at your earlobe. You brought her down to your lap so you could stroke the feathers on the top of her head.

The two of you stayed like that for a few moments before your eyes started to get heavy. Once Aradeyl was safely back in her cage, you climbed beneath your covers and tried your best to get a good night’s sleep. 

The next morning you were the first one awake. Streams of sunlight seeped through the curtains as you blinked away the sleep in your eyes. Quickly, you changed into your robes and padded downstairs towards the entrance of your common room. The crackling of the fire filled your ears as you slipped on your tennis shoes. 

It was still slightly early as you entered the corridor towards Potion’s class, but you were always early. It was in your nature. Being late to anything gave you anxiety, and that led to panic attacks. 

The door to Professor Snape’s classroom was unlocked and the lights were on, but he was nowhere in sight. You figured he was either in the Great Hall still or was gathering ingredients for your class. Either way, you took the unlocked door as an invitation and strode inside silently. The back row of desks looked inviting and you took the desk in the far corner. Placing your parchment, ink bottle, and quill on your desk, you chewed on your lip waiting for the other students to file in. 

Fifteen minutes later, the class was buzzing with life. Students chattered back and forth with one another and occasionally a paper airplane would fly across the room. You sat silently in your seat knowing full well that Professor Snape wasn’t to be messed with. You’d never met him but from the stories Professor McGonagall told you, he wasn’t one to tolerate students goofing off. 

The door slammed open and the most daunting looking man strode in. His long black robes swished behind him like a cape, his shoulder-length black hair bouncing with each footfall. He stopped at his podium and glared at the shocked eyes staring up at him. “Silence! I will not tolerate talking out of turn in my classroom! I would expect you to have your parchment and quills out already, but alas I see none of you are that bright.” His low booming voice had you in awe as you continued to stare at him. Sure, he was intimidating, but something about him intrigued you. 

Snape folded his arms across his chest and tapped the toe of his shoe on the concrete floor. “It would seem that the only one here ready to learn is Miss Y/N. Five points to Y/H. The rest of you hurry up and get your quills ready because I am only going to say this once.”

The rest of the day went pretty quickly for you, but one thing was constant in your mind. There was something about Professor Snape that kept him at the forefront of your thoughts. Why was he so angry? Sure, you’d seen anger before, but no one was ever angry all the time. Not like him. Maybe you could ask Minerva about him after supper. 

As you walked towards the Great Hall the feeling of being watched grew stronger by the second. It wasn’t until you caught a glance of the vast forest outside the school grounds that you felt the goosebumps prickle your skin. The sun was beginning to set, and the trees seemed to make everything darker. A lone shadow-like figure with big red eyes made you gasp. It’s gaze seemingly bore into your very soul the longer you looked at it. 

The sound of your name being called made you jump and you turned to see Professor McGonagall. She gave you a concerned look, but you smiled reassuringly before walking the rest of the way to the Great Hall with her. 

The figure you saw at the edge of the forest treeline distracted you from eating. Question upon question flooded your mind as you pushed your food around with your fork. Should you write down what you saw and show someone? Would they think you were insane? Has anyone else seen anything like what you saw? 

Were you really safe at Hogwarts?

[william-desmond]

The Answer (1639 words) by hawk_hacks Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Magical Twins, Original Work Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Adalia Abelard, Lilyana Abelard (mentioned), Varis Bazelle (mentioned), The other Guardians are also here Series: Part 2 of Dark Fire AU Summary: With Lilyana gone, all Adalia is left with is the book that the other held so close. Maybe now the Queen will finally get the answers she’s been looking for.

TW: Blood Author’s Disclaimer: Again, other than minor grammatical changes here and there this fic is basically a first draft. Meaning it might be a complete mess. Read at your own risk.

Adalia could feel her heart pounding against her chest. Breath coming out heavy as she forced her body to relax, I.. I did it. 

Now what?

The question had not been one Adalia had considered before. Yet now it seemed to be consuming her thoughts as she stared at the body in front of her. The body that seemed all too determined to cling to life with rattled breath. The sound made Adalia shiver. 

Should I put her out of her misery? The Queen wondered to herself. After a moment her face scrunched up in disgust, No. Let her suffer. It’s what she deserves with all the trouble she caused.

But is it what I want?

“Yes! It is!” Adalia snapped at herself a little louder than she meant to. She tensed, pausing. Once no one came, she relaxed, I need to get out of here. 

As the Queen turned to leave she stopped. In the corner of her eye, she saw a book. The book. The one that Lilyana had tried to keep away from her. The one Lilyana died trying to keep away from her.

Why?

Curiously Adalia walked over and picked the thing up. It seemed more like a journal than a book. The cover was blank minus some scratches here and there. It was tempting to open it right then to see what was inside, but Adalia restrained herself.

I need to get back to base . Especially with all this blood.

Adalia had expected to feel some sort of triumph being covered in the blood of her enemy. To get over her aversion of being covered in it like Varis said she would. 

She wasn’t there just yet.

A rustle from nearby bushes caused Adalia to jump. Someone’s coming. She darted into the shrubbery in the opposite direction of the sound. Although through the leaves she couldn’t see who it was she heard their voice: 

“Rhett! Rhett get over here, someone’s hurt!”

Humans.

   “Queen Adalia! You’re- back..” 

Adalia could hear the sentence die in Liv’s throat as the other seemed to process all the blood. The others didn’t appear to be in the line to speak up either. She could tell none of them expected her to go through with the plan by the startled look in their eyes. Even Samantha seemed unnerved.

  But the deed is done.

“I’ll be in my quarters,” Adalia told them sternly “Do not disturb me.”

  She walked off before any of them had the chance to reply.

Once in the privacy of her tent, Adalia tore off the cape that had begun to weigh particularly heavy on her shoulders. She carelessly tossed it aside. Not bothering to hang it up. She walked over to the desk that she had put up and set down Lilyana’s journal. For a moment Adalia simply let it sit there. Begging to be opened and read. What would be in there? Would it just be some basic journal where the other kept note of the things she did every day? Would it hold some deep dark secret? Would it hold the answer to why Lilyana seemed so determined to take her down?

Only one way to find out.  

Slowly Adalia opened the journal to the first page. 

“I finally got to meet Adalia today. She didn’t seem to recognize me and our conversation ended with her sword at my throat. Not exactly how I wanted things to go but its a start! I think.”

Adalia remembered the interaction very clearly. Somehow Lilyana had snuck her way into her quarters without being seen. She didn’t get far in what she was trying to say before Adalia had her up against a wall threatening to slit her throat. Though most of what the other had said was lost on her, Adalia couldn’t forget the look on Lilyana’s face when she said:

“Wait- you don’t.. recognize me?”

Lilyana had looked at her as if she had burned her favorite possession and then returned the ashes to her. After the realization seemed to hit that Adalia didn’t recognize her, Lilyana apologized profusely and started rambling about how she thought Adalia would know. It didn’t get to last too long before Adalia had thrown her out and told her not to come back.

  Thought I would know what?

  Only one way to find out.

“I’m still not sure why she didn’t recognize me. Did mom not tell her? Why wouldn’t mom tell her? Did she not get the chance to?”

That made Adalia raise an eyebrow. What does her mom have to do with any of this? Unless..

No.

Adalia found herself laughing at the thought.

That’s ridiculous. It wouldn’t even make any sense for her to-

But what if she is?

The Queen found herself leaning into the journal to read more.

“If she doesn’t know then how am I supposed to tell her? How do I even get her to believe me? I guess I’ll just have to figure it out as I go.”

The entry ended there and another from a day later began. Adalia skipped through the pages. Looking for a date closer to the current one. A particular entry caught her eye.

“I messed up. I messed up and now Adalia wants me dead. I didn’t mean to hurt her. It was an accident. She was waving her sword around at me and I got scared like a little kid. I hurt my sister and”

Sister.

Her sister-

Adalia shook her head, “It has to be a joke. Some kind of sick joke she’s trying to make-” she tried to reason with herself.

But why would she lie in a journal that I probably wasn’t even meant to ever see?

She kept reading.

“and now she wants me dead. She’s not going to believe me now. Especially with Varis constantly in her head. Even if I tell her Varis will just find some way to twist things.”

A shiver rolled down Adalia’s back at the mention of Varis. Although the other wasn’t there it suddenly felt like their eyes were boring into her. She shook her head and brought her attention back to the journal.

“I need to get them away from each other. Its the only chance I have to get Adalia to believe me. But I don’t know how I’m going to do but I have to. I need her to believe me. I need for her to believe we’re sisters. I promised mom I would look out for her I can’t just

Adalia slammed the book shut, causing the table to shake. She shook a deep breath.

It’s just a lie. A very complicated, long game lie that she just kept going in her personal journal that I probably would have never seen if I hadn’t-

It’s not a lie, is it?

Adalia could feel her gut start to twist and an all too familiar feeling started to rise in her throat. Here she was again. Covered in the blood of a family member ready to cry like a child and feeling like she was going to be sick. She screwed her eyes shut.

How disappointing.

“Um, Queen Adalia?” Liv’s voice came from outside the tent “I know you asked not to be disturbed but, I wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

“I’m fi- ” Adalia tried to say but her voice crackled. Although her back was turned she could hear Liv enter the tent. She didn’t bother facing the other.

“Do you.. want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about I’m fine ”

“But-”

“Get OUT Liv!” Adalia snapped as she turned around. Liv flinched away before her face morphed into something that could only be described as pity. Adalia scowled. 

“I don’t think it’s good for you to be alone right now” Liv pointed out gently “You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, but at least let me stay. Please?”

A moment passed before Adalia let out a sigh, “ Fine. ”

Smiling, Liv walked over and stood next to the Queen. The silence wasn’t particularly comfortable but Adalia found it easier to center herself with someone next to her. 

I’m safe.

I’m here.

I have everything under control.

Everything is ok.

Breathe.

“Liv, I need you to do something for me,” Adalia said softly.

The other turned to her curiously, “Yes?”

“I need you to ask Skyle to locate the body of- you know who ” Adalia explained with roughness in her voice, “Before I left her some of those weird human creatures came around and I want to know what they did with her. No matter what Skyle finds I want her to simply come back and report it straight to me, understood?”

Liv nodded, “Of course my Queen.” She paused before taking Adalia's hand in her own, “Remember to be nice to yourself. You’re doing the best you can and what you think is right. That’s more than enough.” With that, she was gone.

In her wake, she left a single gladiolus in Adalia’s hand. The other stared at the fragile flower. It was mostly white with a pinkish center. Part of Adalia was tempted to crush the thing in her hand and turn it to ash, but she refrained. Instead she turned back to the table and carefully placed it down above Lilyana’s journal. Said journal continued to sit there mockingly. Still tempting to be read and looked through. 

“Might as well do something while I wait,” Adalia muttered to herself as she opened the journal again. Long having tuned out the cyan blood still on her clothes.

[i-am-the-hero-alfred-jones]

Fairy Tail’s Fairy Tales Chapter 3

((Part 3 of my contribution to the fairy tail big bang! Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed!))

Wendy lit up, "That sounds like fun!" "What the heck is a fable?" Natsu asked. "It's a short story that teaches a moral." Wendy explained, flipping through pages, "I have the perfect one for you and Gajeel!" Natsu and Gajeel stared at each other skeptically and glanced in the book. "How the heck are we gonna do that?" Natsu asked. "You could change the plates into your elements." Wendy suggested. The duo agreed and grinned as they climbed onto the stage. 

THE FOX AND THE CRANE

A table was brought onstage and Natsu sat down at it. "Once upon a time, a fox-" "Wait a minute." Wendy's narration was interrupted when Gajeel stormed onstage. "Why is he the fox?! My name is literally Redfox!" "Only Natsu would be stupid enough to treat someone badly and not expect the same treatment back." Carla replied, coolly. Gajeel shrugged, "Alright." he pulled up a chair and sat at the table with Natsu. 

Wendy continued on with the story, "One day a fox invited a crane to his house for dinner." "So what are we eating?" Gajeel asked, leaning back and putting his feet up on the table. "I'll go get it." Natsu practically skipped offstage. ". . .I don't like where this is going." Gajeel said worriedly, as he sat up properly. Natsu came back onstage grinning. He set down two bowls of fire. "Enjoy!" Natsu sat down and began to eat. Gajeel simply stared at his bowl for a moment. ". . . Natsu, what the fuck is this?" "Dinner!" Natsu replied, eagerly slurping up his flames. Gajeel glared at him, speechless. Natsu glanced over at Gajeel's  bowl, "You gonna eat that?!" he asked hopefully. Gajeel stared at Natsu like he was an idiot, which he was. ". . .No." he said, simply. Natsu shrugged, "More for me!" he grabbed Gajeel's bowl and ate the flames out of that one too, then set down the empty bowl. "Well I enjoyed this!" Natsu declared, "Let's get together again soon!" With that, Natsu headed offstage. Gajeel glared after him, "Oh, we'll meet again." he vowed, menacingly. 

Natsu walked onstage next, this time Gajeel was the one grinning. "Thanks for inviting me to dinner, dude!" Natsu said eagerly. "Oh, it was my pleasure." Gajeel assured a little too earnestly. "So when do we eat?!" Natsu asked. "Right now." Gajeel pulled two bowls of scrap metal from under the table and slid one to Natsu before happily munching on the iron-filled snack. Natsu blinked and glanced to the other, "But Gajeel I don't eat met- Oh, I get it. . . " the fire slayer's shoulder's sagged. "You gonna eat that?" Gajeel asked, mockingly. Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and sulked, "No. . ." Gajeel grabbed the second bowl and began to eat that as well. Natsu stood and clambered offstage, grumbling bitterly as he walked back towards his table. 

Wendy turned back to the guild, "And the moral of the story is-" "Don't be an asshole!" Gajeel called from the stage. "Gajeel!" Carla scolded. "Well . . . he's not wrong. . ." Wendy admitted. Carla sighed, "Treat others as you wish to be treated." the exceed corrected. Gajeel headed back towards his table, "I liked that story, I got a free snack out of it." 

Carla glanced down at the next story and smiled, looking up to her dragon slayer. "Wendy perhaps you would like to be in the next story?" Wendy looked at the story and smiled, "I'd like that! You could be my grandmother! Oh. . . but who would narrate?" Wendy frowned. "I'll do it!" Chelia volunteered eagerly, "We need a hunter and a wolf. . ." she noted, humming. "But who would be mean enough to be the wolf?' Wendy asked. "The real question is who should never be left alone with a child." Carla said. 

The Thunder Legion all looked towards their most juvenile member, who was currently cooing over his babies. ". . . What?" Bixlow asked, obliviously. "Bixlow," Freed explained gently, "As idiotic as Natsu is, he has a good heart. And, for a short time, I would trust him alone with a child. I wouldn't trust you alone with a goldfish." "THAT WAS ONE TIME!!!!" Bixlow yelled angrily. "I LOVED THAT FISH!!!" Laxus replied bitterly. "IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS, WHEN ARE YOU GONNA LET IT GO?!" "WHEN YOU GET ME A NEW FISH!" "I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF IT COULD SURVIVE IN JUICE!" "WELL HE COULDN'T!" "What are you two yelling about?" Makarov asked. "Laxus is still upset about Sparky and Bixlow is going to play the wolf." Freed explained, rubbing Laxus's back soothingly, "I suppose I could play the hunter." Freed offered. Wendy gasped excitedly, "Really Mister Freed?!" "It would be my pleasure. Come on, Bixlow." Freed stood and began walking towards the stage. Bixlow trudged after him, grumbling about goldfish. 

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Chelia began narrating excitedly, "Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother. One day, the girl's mother told her to visit her grandmother in the woods. The mother gave strict instructions to stay on the path. She didn't want her daughter tripping and breaking the wine bottle for her grandmother." "Hey!" Wendy came onstage pouting. A red velvet cape with a hood decorated her shoulders, and she had a covered basket on one of her arms. "Years ago her grandmother had given her a red riding hood, and it suited her so well that everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood . . . we'll call her Red for short." Chelia decided. 

"So Red headed into the woods to visit her poor, sick grandmother, but along the way a wolf found her. Red had never met a wolf and so she wasn't afraid." Chelia continued. Wendy skipped across the stage. Suddenly Bixlow jumped out of nowhere to greet her. Wendy cried out and jumped back as Bixlow (who now had adorable puppy ears and a large fluffy tail attached to his personage) appeared. 

"Good day little Red Riding Hood." Bixlow greeted, grinning creepily. "Good day, Mister Wolf." Wendy replied, curtsying cutely. "Where ya goin' so early, Red?" Bixlow languidly leaned against a wall. "To my grandmother's!" Wendy replied cheerily. "Uh huh . . . And, uh, what's in the basket?" Bixlow asked, walking to her back and attempting to lift the cover on said basket. Wendy took a large step away from him, "Some cakes and wine for her. Granny is sick and mother says they will give her strength." "Ah. . ."  Bixlow ginned, "And . . . where exactly does your grandma live?" "A good quarter of a league further on into the woods, her house stands beneath three large oak trees, you surely must know it." Wendy replied cheerfully. Bixlow grinned and stepped forward, talking to the audience/guild. 

"She looks absolutely delicious." Bixlow cooed. The guild cringed. Somehow that sounded especially wrong coming from Bixlow . . . "She'll be way better to eat than the old hag- but if I work sneakily, I can eat both of them!" Bixlow stepped back to address Wendy again. 

"Why don't you relax, I mean," he gestured around the two of them, "Look! The flowers are growing, the birds are singing, what's the rush?" Wendy hummed in thought, "Well . . . I guess there is no rush . . . and Carla does love flowers!" Wendy dashed offstage, humming while Bixlow left on the other side of the stage. A bed was brought onstage, and Carla, in her human form climbed into it. 

"While Red gathered flowers, the wolf ran ahead to her grandmother's house." Chelia narrated dramatically. Bixlow darted onstage and knocked on a prop door. "Who is it?" Carla called from the bed. Bixlow brought his voice into a falsetto, "Little Red Riding Hood, I've brought you cake and wine from mother." "The door is open, I'm too weak to get up." Carla replied. Bixlow threw the door open and jumped onto the bed. Carla screamed and discretely hid under the bed. "The wolf came in and gobbled the poor woman up!" Chelia exclaimed, "Then he dressed in the grandmother's. . ." she trailed off as she watched Bixlow take off his shirt onstage. ". . . Clothes. . .  Uh, we weren't actually gonna do that part. . ." Chelia said concerned. "Oh, I don't mind." Bixlow assured, pulling on the granny dress. Laxus groaned and put his head in his hands. "I regret so much. . ." he muttered. "Would you like a drink, Laxus?" Mira offered. "Please."  Laxus replied, miserably. 

Wendy skipped back onto the stage, she now had a bundle of flowers in her basket as well. She stopped skipping and stared at the open prop door in fear and concern. "Oh dear. . . how uneasy I feel. . . and I love being with Carla so much . . . " she opened the door and tentatively entered, "Good morning." There was silence. Wendy approached the bed. 

"Oh, Carla! What big ears . . .you. . . uh. . ." she trailed off, realizing that Carla did in fact have large animalistic ears, "What gray ears you have."she corrected. "The better to hear you with, child." came Bixlow's falsetto reply. "But, Carla! What big eyes you have!" Wendy added." The better to see you with, my dear." Bixlow assured. "What big hands you have!" Wendy exclaimed. "The better to hug you with!" Bixlow cheered. "And what a big mouth you have!" "She's got that right. . ." Evergreen muttered. Laxus snorted. "The better to eat you with!" Bixlow leapt from the bed and tackled Wendy, she screamed before joining Carla under the bed. 

Bixlow stretched and yawned, "Nap time!" he declared, and flopped into the bed. He began snoring, loudly. Freed walked onstage in his usual clothes, save that his signature coat had been replaced with a leather hunting jacket. "Odd. . . Those are some awfully loud snores for an old woman. . ." the rune mage crept near the door and entered the room. "Ah, here you are, old sinner." Freed glared down at the sleeping form, "I have long sought after you!" he grasped his sword and pierced the mattress instead of Bixlow's stomach- tempted as he was to actually stab his teammate. 

Wendy and Carla climbed out from under the bed and leapt to their feet. "You've saved us!" Wendy exclaimed in joy. "Indeed." Freed agreed, "But something must be done about this wolf. I know! We'll fill his stomach with rocks!" Freed brought forward a bunch of rocks, which he happily tossed onto his teammate's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Bixlow gasped and staggered offstage in pain. "That's for Sparky." Freed declared. 

"The rocks were so heavy in his stomach that the wolf died, Red never wandered from the path again, and everyone lived happily ever after- the end!" Chelia finished. Wendy began clapping and the guild joined in. "That was great, Chelia!" Wendy hugged her friend eagerly. "You did great too, Wendy!" Chelia replied. "You look absolutely horrid in a dress, Bixlow." Freed said, struggling to keep a straight face. "You're an asshole." Bixlow replied, rubbing his sore chest.    

[phantomphangphucker]

A King For Tonight’s Fentertainment - Chap. 6: This Ones Already Had The Fight Taken Out Of His Bite

Summary:  As expected, the GIW are still idiots. As expected, Vlad was up to shit. And Danny wouldn't be Danny if he didn't get hurt at some point.

Danny snaps his head to the side, his mom whirling around, as a heavily bleeding Vlad Plasmius staggers away from a building. Sam and Tucker both slide off Danny, Sam crossing her arms and Tucker pointing with mock aggression at Plasmius. While Maddie pulls out and points an ectoblaster, Danny tilts his head back and groans. Groans loud enough to make everyone still around look at him, confused. Danny speaks loudly at the sky, “now what the hell? This is just brilliant”.

Tilting his head back down towards Plasmius as Danny forms a shield behind himself, easily deflecting an ectoshot from one of the GIW agents. Danny doesn’t even acknowledge their little attempt before addressing Plasmius. Taking in the older halfas ectoplasm splattered form, “the fucks got you lookin like rats were gnawing at you, like the cheese head you are, for weeks?”.

Plasmius grumbles and glares at Danny, “well let’s see, an entire city was dropped on my head after getting damn well blinded by a portal the size of an absurdist supernova”.

Danny barks out a single laugh before glaring right back, “exaggeration. But better question, why are you here”.

“You say that like it’s an accusation of guilt”.

“With you, it always is”, Danny steps forward, putting himself in front of his friends, while his mom goes and socks agent L in the face for trying to shoot her son. Danny smirks as he overhears her growl, “you were warned”, before Danny snaps at Plasmius, “what were you doing, old man”.

Danny doesn’t even have to wait for a response as agent G gives him what he was asking for, like a complete idiot; which is pretty expected from one of them. Agent G points at Plasmius, slightly surprised, “you! You’re the ectoentity the commander followed to those powder canisters! We destroyed you!”. The agent rubs his face, looking and sounding a bit manic, “you, you tricked us?! So we’re not at fault! We’re not at fault! Hahaha”.

Danny sighs, “figures”, Danny points over his shoulder at the laughing, and potentially brain-damaged, agent, “I think ya broke him Vladdie”.

Plasmius huffs before attempting to fly off, preferring to avoid the young badgers' wrath while being in this weakened state. Though he gets yanked out of his mental mussing about Daniels absurd, yet so often untapped, power. When he gets shot by a high power ectocannon, too injured to really do anything other than flop unceremoniously on the ground.  

Danny facepalmed as soon as Maddie got off the shot, pushing his hand into his face even more aggressively as she snaps, “ghost! So this was your fault! You ectoplasmic waste of human post consciousness!”. While agent L groans on the ground and agent G is still lost to his bout of lunacy.

Sam and Tucker both give Danny glances of pity while he sighs, “and we were starting to get somewhere...”. Both of them cringe and facepalm themselves, as they hear Danny push his hand into his face so hard that he breaks his nose.

Danny blinks as blood drips down his face and off his chin, “well that’s a first. I have officially had a day that has finally heaped on enough bullshit to become worthy of accidental self-harm, that wasn’t caused by some fight shit”.

“Or you forgetting where you’re walking”.

“Or you holding knives wrong”.

“Or you swallowing solid objects”.

“Or you-”.

Danny cuts his friends off, “I get it!”. Whipping his arm across his nose, and hand down his face. Mostly just smearing it around rather than effectively wiping it off. Adjusting his nose bones so it actually heals right, before walking behind Maddie; whose got her gun cannon blaster thing, with some name Danny didn’t bother memorising, pressed into Plasmius chest. “Uh, could you, like, not?”, Danny sighs as he stands behind his mom, looking down at her kneeling form before she aggressively jabs a small ectogun into Plasmius head.

Plasmius, meanwhile, is staring, mouth slightly ajar, at Daniel prancing around in his kings-wear in town with blood streaked on his face.

Danny sighs again, pinching a bit of his moms' suit around her wrist and lifting her arm/hand up. Relieving the ectoguns pressure on Plasmius head. While Maddie just blinks at her son’s hand, thrown off by the show of strength. Danny leans forward to have his face in front of Plasmius’s, frowning, “what’s up Vampy. Now I really don’t doubt you had some hand or bullshit in this, so what the hell could you have to possibly gain by getting those twats to powder-fuck everything to the Ghost Zone. I mean, certainly, the town squashing you under its heel wasn’t the goal”, Danny gives a shit-eating grin, blood tracing over some of his teeth and lips, “you’re not that much of a masochistic glutton for punishment”.

Vlad glares, looking slightly disgusted, “that wasn’t the goal at all Daniel”. Danny and Maddie easily hear him grumble, “only you were meant to be sent off, but those fools probably messed that up”.

Danny straightens up and laughs, exaggeratedly wiping away a fake tear only to accidentally smear blood around his eye, “oh wow! What’d you expect? That’s practically their job!”. Danny leans back down and pats Plasmius mockingly on the cheek, “but naw, shits all on you. You frootloopy fuck”, standing back up and shrugging exaggeratedly, “they explained how the stuff’s supposed to work and really, there’s no way it wouldn’t have sent everything to High Hell. I mean, Ancients, you can’t teleport a lair keeper out of their own lair that way. You’ll just ass fuck off the whole damn place. Like really, this level of stupid isn’t becoming, or whatever, of you, Batshit”.

Plasmius mutters, “I swear he's going out of his way to make up as many insulting names for me as possible”. Plasmius clears his throat while Danny chuckles, “well duh. You are completely deplorable”.

Plasmius forces down a wince as Maddie pushes the gun further into his stomach, “answer my son, you ectoscum”.

Danny walks off slightly to grab a bit of debris while Plasmius responds to her, “now Maddie, I’m sure we can be-”, only to be cut off by Danny dropping a rather large chunk of cement on his head. While both Sam and Tucker fall over laughing, Dash and Kwan both gape.

Kwan stutters, “s-so he c-can fight back, heh”. Dash grumbling mockingly, “what, does ‘his highness’ think I’m not worth the effort”. Both boys jump as Danny snaps his head around, talking with a wide grin, “yup. That about sums it up”.

“Why you little!-Fentax!”.

Danny ignores the two boys as Kwan holds Dash back, “dude, are you insane? Pretty sure he’s about to give a freaking ghost a verbal lashing...not to mention that he’s just ignoring the blood on his face”.

“Soooo”, Danny taps at his chin, “my mom could just shoot you....again. Not really sure why she’s not”. Maddie doesn’t even take her eyes off Plasmius as she responds, “because, I want answers for why the hell some ghost is toying with my boy”. Both Plasmius and Danny blink at her before Danny slowly lifts up a bit of his cape and slowly looks down at it, “uh....I think the why goes without saying at this point”.

Maddie just growls at Plasmius, who gulps faintly.

Danny rolls his eyes, muttering, “and everyone calls me out for being a growly little shit. Eh, whatever”. Danny glances around discreetly, only Sam and Tucker are actually closely watching him at this point; though there’s definitely a good portion of the town watching this little ‘conversation’.

Danny leans down, getting his face up in Plasmius’s; enough so that no one else’s could see Danny’s face and so Plasmius could definitely smell the blood, Danny doesn’t make a habit of assuming everyone else’s senses were as good as his own. Letting his eyes change to green and blaze with threatening energy, his crown also blazing threateningly, as he pats Plasmius chest just below his neck and above the barrel of his moms ectocannon thing. “Now now, no need for all that tension. You’ll throw your back out, old fart. Now what to do about this little transgression against my homely home. I’m sure you are aware that doing such against the whole of someone’s lair is rather, heh, problematic”, Danny grins devilshily, pushing his fingers hard enough to bruise Plasmius collar bone, “especially mine. I am rather...protective. And you are irking that”.

Plasmius pales a bit, getting on the bad side of any ghosts, half-ghost or not, obsession wasn’t really smart. Especially on such large, even if accidental, scale. Not to mention that Daniel has clearly had some secret or another ousted.

Plasmius promptly stiffens and clenches his teeth as Danny condenses ectoplasmic energy around his core and pulses it, disrupting Plasmius’s core just enough to be extremely unpleasant and painful. Maddie backs off slightly, unsure of what’s going on, as Plasmius grits out, “point taken... your majesty”.

Danny closes his eyes and pats Plasmius chest above his core, making the guy wince, “oh now that’s a rare thing, getting you to not sound like a pompous conniving twat”. Danny grabs Plasmius’s arm as he stands up, dragging Plasmius off the ground while opening a portal. Smirking at the barely standing man before tossing Plasmius in, “enjoy the snow tundras! I’m pretty sure Kempler's favourite show just ended! Be a dead dear and cheer him up for me!”.

Danny laughs, closing the portal to the sounds of crying and screaming.

“You just...let him go?”, Danny turns around to his moms disbelievingly comment. While she yelps, “sweetie! Your face!”.

Danny smears his arm under his nose again, flicking off bits of slightly dried blood, before sighing, “it’s fine, I’m fine, we're all fine. Well, Plasmius is not. And I wouldn’t say ‘let him go’. No, in his state he won’t be getting away for a day or two. And frankly”, Danny intentionally shudders for comedic effect, “I’d rather be beaten within an inch of my life than be stuck with Kempler for even an hour”.

Sam and Tucker walk over, grumbling.

“I’d rather watch someone vore a damn spork, again, and still use it to eat a pound of flowers. For two hours. While frequently re-swallowing the spork”.  

“I’d rather eat that pound of flowers”.

Danny taps his chin and grins devilishly, “I’ll keep that in mind next time you steal the game controllers, Tuck”. Now it’s Tucker’s turn to pale, “please don’t”. Sam smirks, “please do”.

Danny puts his hands behind his head, looking at the sky, while Sam and Tucker go off at each other. Until Maddie tugs on his arm sleeve, “hmm?”, tilting his head down, “uh, what is it, mom?”.

Maddie pulls out a handkerchief and starts cleaning Danny’s face off. Danny grimaces, “mooooom!”, but lets her clean him off. Maddie grumbles about shooting whoever hurt her boy, eliciting Sam to chuckle, “you better not shoot Danny”. Maddie squints incredulously at Danny who blushes slightly, “there was just such a level of stupidity and bullshit that my hand just had to face fuck me”. Tucker smirks, “aka, you’re too strong for your body”.

“Shhhhhh”, Danny goes to place a bloody finger over Tucker’s lips but Tucker bats it away disgustedly.

Maddie, meanwhile, fiddles with the ruined square of fabric before glancing at the ground where the ghost had been, “sweetie, all of that was...kind of...threatening. And why’d that creature stiffen like that?”.

“Heh, well I was hurting him. That’s kind of how people, ghost or human, react to pain”, Danny rubs his neck, ignoring his moms surprised expression, “normally I wouldn’t be so harsh but well, that one never learns and is far more of a thorn in my side than most”.

“So you’ve ‘interacted’ a lot then”.

“Yeah and um-”, Danny cuts himself off and whirls around to the two agents trying to sneak off, “oh no, I don’t think so. I’m not about to give y’all lowkey heart attacks but...”, Danny trails off as he runs off after the, now fleeing, men.

Tucker chuckles, “so that’s what he did”. Spotting Maddie looking towards him with a curious expression, he sighs. Sam elbows him, whispering, “that’s what you get for opening your trap”.

“Tucker, what do you mean? Giving someone a heart attack isn’t possible, especially a ghost. Darn things are completely heartless”.

Tucker puts his hands up, “look, Ms. F. We’re all kind of tired of the anti-ghost stuff”. Sam butts in, “especially Danny”, Sam grumbles to herself, “but Danny won’t ring her out too much for it, he’s too kind for that”. Tucker chuckles, “yeah. Though, like really cut it out. But...that is possible, the giving heart attacks thing, for Danny anyway. He can pretty well do anything. But core attack is more accurate here”.

“Core attack?”.

“Yup! Don’t ask me how really. But...he vibrates the ghosts core in a way that messes it up for a beat. We’ve seen him pull that before, pretty well incapacitates ghosts from the pain alone. Though-”, Tucker gets cut off by a snowball to the head.

Danny walks up dragging two unconscious agents, glaring with a slight amount of humour, “Tuck, do you ever know when to shut the fuck up? I could do WITHOUT hunters, even if one is my mom, getting any more funny ideas”. All three of them look down at the men as Danny drops them on the ground. Tucker pointing at them and raising an eyebrow. Danny rubs his neck, “they looked behind them while running, slammed into a wall. Ate dirt, choked on concrete, gargled marble, and last but not least, face fucked stone”. Kicking agent L, “this guy broke his nose”, kicking agent G, “this one managed to both shatter his eye socket and dislocate his jaw”. Looking back up at the three and shrugging, “reformed G’s eye socket but L can live with the nose deformation. All in all, I think they punished themselves”.

“Sooo, what are we going to do with them, dude?”.

“What do you mean by not wanting hunters to have more information? Danny...”.

Danny internally groans at his moms' tone, rubbing his neck, “I’m the king of ghosts mom, having more information out there that could harm them or the Ghost Zone is not something I want. That’s kinda the opposite of good”. Turning to his friends, smirking, “this”.

They’re only confused for a second until a pissed off looking taxi driver pulls up, stopping so that Danny can toss the men into the taxi trunk. Danny chuckles as the taxi speeds off, “that’s gonna be a long and cramped ride, dude pretty well swore to everything that he’d make it the bumpiest ever”.

Sam and Tucker both nod, “good”. Sam turns to Maddie, “so, you’re not going to give Danny a hard time about all of”, gesturing to Danny’s cape and crown, “this? Are you?”. Danny tilts his head to the side and grumbles, “only for, like, the past forever”.

But Danny’d rather not have Sam and his mom go bickering about shit, so he straightens up some, “anyway uh, it’s late and shit so I vote for letting me embrace my bed”.

Tucker snickers, “like you’re actually gonna sleep”.

“I can try can’t I?”.

Sam elbows Tucker, “lucky Mr. Royal bombastic over here hardly needs it”. Danny groans, “tell me about it! I’d be even more dead on my feet!”.

Maddie raises an eyebrow but Danny grabs her wrist, “so home!”. Waving at Sam and Tucker as he practically drags Maddie home. Maddie watching where she steps so as to not trip on Danny’s cape, while Sam and Tucker exchange slightly worried glances.

[randombtsprincessa]

The Man in the Pink Cape || 9

Author: Randombtsprincessa

Characters: Jin (Non Idol) x Reader (2nd POV)

Chapters:  01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08

Warning: Kidnapping, Violence

A/N: Proof that Jin can knock someone tf out very easily!

Jin looked up from the book he was reading when he felt someone staring at him. Looking up, saw Yoongi watching him with a bored look on his always disinterested face.

“Don’t tell me, you are throwing another party and I should be there boozing up and looking for a girl.” he said, his voice harsher than he intended it to be.

“As a matter of fact no, I think you should pick up your dignity, get your crap sorted and go and talk to y/n.” Yoongi said making Jin’s eyes flash to him sharply. Even as he watched, Yoongi’s eyes took on a smug look that made foreboding coil in Jin’s stomach.

“Suga, what have you done?”

“Let’s just say, I pushed y/n a little in the right direction. I still don’t understand what it is about her but,” Yoongi began.

“You don’t know her well enough to know what it is about her and you don’t need to know.” Jin snapped.

There was a pause as both friends stared at each other.

Yes, the topic of you was still touchy to Jin but he wasn’t resentful about your break-up. He knew his secret was dangerous to you and he also knew that it wouldn’t be long before he’d have to give up Damhongsaeg but till then, it would be safer for you to be away from him. If you moved on, a thought that made Jin’s chest clench in anger and hurt, it was probably best for you. He had no right to mount his baggage on you.

“Have I ever told you, you are an idiot?” Suga spoke after a bit.

“You make it a point to remind me each week, you’ve been extremely lenient all this time.” Jin said, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, let’s change that. You are an idiot and you need to man up. You don’t have to give up everything to be a goddamn hero, Jin-ah. You aren’t being selfless here, you’re being a moron but hey, who am I to judge?” He shrugged, his shoulders rising and falling almost mockingly before he vanished from Jin’s doorway.

He frowned, shutting off the book he was reading and tossing it on the nightstand, his fingers brushing his phone before he grabbed it resolvedly and swiped through his contacts for your number.

His fingers hovered over the green button before he sighed, throwing the phone back on the mattress, his body arching back to lie on the bed, arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.

It would be an understatement to say he missed you madly. He probably was one of the last persons who would admit to believing in love at first sight but you had captivated him the first moment he’d laid his eyes on you in the library, lost and yet so focused on finding a way out by yourself.

He remembered sitting at a small table at the back, watching as a girl he had never seen before ran across in front of him, her beg jostling the table and making his look up in annoyance as he huffed at her rudeness of not even apologizing. She murmured something but it didn’t sound like it was to him when he saw the horrifying bulging bag, almost threatening to split at the seams.

He had let his jaw lax before returning to his business until about 10 minutes later when the same girl rushed back across towards the other direction, stopping at the shelf in front of his table for a few minutes, looking around then sighing, walking away again.

Jin had raised an eyebrow before realization hit him, an amused smirk lighting his studious features.

She was lost.

She was lost in a library.

Jin had to suppress the snort that rose up in his throat and schooled his features in case she turned to look at him or ask for help. She didn’t.

His attention was drastically pulled away from the heavy book in front of him as he chose to watch the girl wander about for a solid twenty minutes before pity won over his childish urge to keep amusing him at the expense of her troubles.

He gathered his things and followed her into one of the aisles, speaking up in his smooth voice which startled her, making her back into the shelving and throw off the books.

His agility and speed kicked in with all the reflexes born off his years of ‘hero work’ as M called it and he grabbed them, apologizing to the girl as he slotted them back to where they belonged, finally turning to look at her, surprise taking him.

She was definitely not Korean.

Now he felt like an ass, as he helped her with a touch more sympathy seeing as she was obviously having problems with more than just directions. He also didn’t miss the way she looked at him.

From there it was straight at the party where he spotted her in that damned dress and rushing away from the party like hellhounds were nipping at her heels. His need to pursue her was almost impossible to curb even as he excused himself to go do his nighttime patrol.

It was pure coincidence that he found her at a scene because who else would be brave – and stupid – enough to try and stand up to three bullies twice her size.

She hadn’t shied away from his alter ego either, boldly asking for his name. His need to know more about her, as he said was natural but of course his friends had a different definition.

Now that she wasn’t near him was when he felt just how much he’d let her affect him. He couldn’t even sleep in his own bed without wanting her to be in touching distance.

“Oi! Jin!” he scowled again at Taehyung loud and deep calls for him. He sighed pulling himself up to go see what the younger boy wanted.

When he got down, he was almost shocked to see Hanna standing there, her arms crossed as she kept her distance from where Taehyung was sitting with Sarah on his lap, her eyes diverted from the PDA.

“Tae, Sarah, go upstairs.” Jin barked, watching as Taehyung rolled his eyes, muttering about him always being down his throat before Sarah, cut a look to where Hanna was standing uncomfortably and pulled tae away.

Hanna finally turned her cool gaze at Jin and he rubbed his neck. “Hi,” he said finally.

“Where is she, Jin?”

Jin faltered for a few seconds before looking at her. “What do you mean? Where is…y/n? Where is she?” he asked quickly.

“That’s what I’m asking.”

“I don’t know where she is.”

Hanna didn’t answer and Jin pulled out his phone, dialing her number easily and holding the phone up to his ear, hearing it go to –

“Voicemail, she isn’t even picking up mine and Eunji’s phone. Something she never does.” Hanna said.

A cold trickled of dread dripped down Jin’s back as he stared at the phone in his hand.

You regained consciousness in a metal chair, your hands tied behind you, a rancid tasting cloth in your mind, your hair sticky from the blood and sweat that had clotted on the back of your head where you’d been hit.

You squinted up into the darkness, barely lit up with a few handing bulbs as murmurs caught your slowly recovering senses.

“You’re sure about this?” someone said.

“Absolutely, it’s the same girl. He saved her that day and I don’t know; he seemed to have a soft spot for her.”

There was a pause.

“Seemed?”

Another pause…

“So, you aren’t sure if there is any connection between this girl and the bastard that keeps ruining my cartel. What if she doesn’t?”

“Boss,”

“Shut up. Is she blindfolded?”

The other man was quiet before there was an irritated grunt.

“You brought her here without a blindfold? What kind of a fool do we have working here? What happens if she sees one of us?”

“We could get rid of her.”

There was a cold silence after this as the sound of a sharp slap rang through the air making you jump as if you’d been slapped.

“We do not hurt people without a reason here. Blow the light. Chloroform her and put her back where you found her. Am I clear?” The voice said.

“Yes sir.”

“We give it the night. If he doesn’t show, drop her.”

“Yes sir.”

“Unharmed,”

“Yes sir.”

I froze for a second as realization flooded me. I had been kidnapped. I had been kidnapped and these people wanted the vigilante, they wanted Damhongsaeg.

“Think, Suga.” Jin pressed.

Yoongi frowned at his hands as the members of his frat sat in the living room, all worried about you.

“I told you. I talked with her then left her and came back here.” He said.

“You didn’t see anyone on your way? When you went there or when you came out?” Namjoon asked; a small laptop open on his lap as he surfed through your social media to see if you’d posted anything about going somewhere – so far, nothing.

“No, if she was taken, I don’t know anything about it.”

Jin ran a hand through his hair, trying not to panic. You had to be safe. There was no way anyone had made the connection between himself and Damhongsaeg and that extended to you. It had to.

“M, anything?” he asked as everyone turned to look at the whiz on her own elaborate computer.

“No credit card activity since the last time she went shopping. Her cell phone is pinging near a tower near that café but it’s likely whoever took her dumped her phone. Jin…” she looked up at him, her lip caught between her teeth, a sure sign that there was trouble.

You’d been staring at the naked light bulb for what felt like hours until you felt someone move into the light, a dark shadow, move to sit just out of the edge of light.

“Hey, um, I think you’ve got the wrong person.” You managed to say.

“Shut up,” the voice was bored but terse as if you talking were making his neck itch.

Normally, you would comply, if shutting up when kidnapped was a normal thing but the way the conversation had played out, it seemed like they were all kids like you, playing to the tune of this ‘boss’.

“Please,”

“I said shut up!”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady.” A cold, hard voice suddenly echoed over your head and you both turned to look at it as the man fumbled about in the dark.

Someone passed you, brushing across your soldier before with lightening speed; a metal stick was crashing down, slicing the air neatly and colliding with the man’s head, or wherever this person was aiming for anyway.

There was a grunt and then the man fell, heavyset and old on the ground with a thump.

The figure, thin and lithe turned to you and shot you a grim smile.

“Hey, y/n, you really should be careful about what you walk into.”

M rushed to you and sliding a small Swiss army knife, she slit the ropes around you in a rough jerk.

“M…? What are you…?”

Her face was unreadable as she looked at you.

“Come on, I think it’s time Mr. Uptight spilled the beans.” She kept an iron grip around your upper arm, the metal rod brandishing in the air in case someone decided to pull something on the two of you.

The building in which you’d been trapped was a rundown gymnasium, with bare walls and the ceiling dented in places.

You could hear murmured conversation and as you and M crossed into the better lit section of the place, you saw a taller, older man sitting in the chair, a leer on his face as a black suited man in a fluttering pink cape stood in front of him.

You gaped for a full minute.

It was him.

The vigilante.

In the light.

In front of you.

He had come for you.

M cleared her throat and the figure stiffened before rearing back a powerful fist and slamming it into the sneering man’s face. The man immediately slumped as the vigilante stared at him for a minute.

“Oh for god’s sake, turn the hell around.” M snapped and you jumped at her loud tone as with an audible and irritated sigh, the man, the vigilante turned around to look at you.

You were about to open your mouth to say a shaky thank you until your eyes stilled on his face and the familiar black mask.

Even with it covering more than half of his face, you would recognize him anywhere.

Your boyfriend was Damhongsaeg.

[endlesshero1122]

Friendly Fire (Hero Fanfic Chapter 6)

All rights belong to Pixelberry. I only own my MCs. Apologies for the long post (if someone could show me how to do the ‘Read More’ option, I’d appreciate it). Shrapnel’s name had been changed to Tombstone. Enjoy! 

I’d also like to give @ladyseaheart1668 a long overdue thank you for helping me with my story, especially with this chapter!

Another shoutout to @sceptilemasterr​ for helping me with the rewrite for this chapter, and the previous ones before!

@ladyseaheart1668 @endlessflame @toglidethroughlife @mariussage @countrymusicandncis-blog @kenjkats​ @sceptilemasterr​ (Let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the tag list) The Man on Fire glanced between the two superheroes cornering him from each side. To his left was Kameron, his face twisted with murderous intent; on the right, Talos, whose gleaming white eyes remained fixed on the fiery criminal.

His gaze settled on Talso, his brow creasing in confusion and mild annoyance. “So, wait… who the hell are you?”

“The name’s Talos, Man of Bronze,” the hero stated, his eyes narrowing at the criminal.

“Talos, huh? Did you come up with that all by yourself?” the Man on Fire scoffed.

"I... so what if I did?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s a great name. Really, I’m not just saying that.”

Talos scowled.

The Man on Fire smirked before turning to Kameron. “How about you, hero? Got some dumb made-up name, too?”

Kameron scowled at him. “Not at the moment.”

The man smirked. “Fair enough. Personally, I don’t see the point behind false identities.”

The flames faded away to reveal a familiar face.

“Call me Caleb.”

Recognition clicked in Kameron’s mind. “Wait… I saw you at the warehouse! You’re one of Tombstone’s lackeys!”

Caleb bristled at Kameron’s words. “Like hell I am! I only worked for that asshole to save my skin!” Flames ignited his body once more. “But at least I got somethin’ of my own out of the deal…”

“The Prism Crystal. That’s how you got your powers, wasn’t it? You stole it from Tombstone!”

“Well done, Sherlock. Once I knew what it could do, I knew I needed to swipe it the first chance I got.”

A wicked grin twisted the man’s features as he turned to face Talos once again. “Now, tell me… what exactly is the melting point of bronze again?”

Talos bared his bronze teeth at the criminal and started towards him.

“I’d stay right where you are, Talos,” Caleb snarled. The taunting tone of his voice had vanished and was instead replaced by a more malicious edge. “Unless you want me to cremate your pretty little friend.”

His words stopped the Man of Bronze from advancing further while causing a knot to form in Kameron’s stomach.

Caleb fixed them both with a hard look as he glanced between the two. “I’ll make this simple: if either of you try anythin’ cute, she burns. Got it?”

Kameron felt his throat go dry. “N-no, please. Please don’t hurt her...”

“He won’t,” Talos snarled. He stared the Man on Fire down. “He’s bluffing.”

Caleb scowled at the Man of Bronze. Kameron barely saw his hand move before a flaming cord had wrapped itself around Alyssa’s neck. She gave a muffled whimper as the rope tightened around her throat, burning her skin.

“Does this look like a bluff?”

Talos and Kameron started forward, but froze when Caleb pilled Alyssa closer to him. “One more step, and she dies.”

Kameron wanted desperately to pull his sister away from the man threatening her, but he was sure Caleb would hurt her or worse if he even moved an inch closer. Talos clenched his jaw, seeming to share Kameron’s thoughts.

Caleb frown impatiently. “Tick-tock, heroes! I don’t have all day, and neither does she.”

Alyssa began to go limp, as if to prove his point. The flaming cord not only burned against her skin, but was starting to cut off her air supply.

The two heroes stepped back, holding their hands up.

“Alright, alright! Just stop, please…” Kameron begged.

Caleb smirk as the fiery rope disappeared. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”   

Talos glared murderously at the criminal while Alyssa sucked in as much air through her nose. “Alright, you made your point, hothead. Now let her go.”

Caleb’s smirked widened. “Mmm, about that...” Alyssa shuddered as the criminal pulled her closer to him. “I think I’ll keep her for a little longer.”

“You said you’d--”

“I said I’d burn her to a crisp if either of you tried something stupid. Besides, the little cutie and I have some unfinished business to-- OW!”

Alyssa growled at Caleb before sinking her teeth into his skin. 

“Jesus, were you raised by piranhas or something?!”

Talos took the opportunity to pull Alyssa away from Caleb as Kameron lunged at the criminal. The blonde slugged him in the jaw, sending him reeling back.

“Let’s get something straight, hothead,” Kameron snarled. “You threaten my si-- uh, friend, you deal with me!”

Caleb rubbed his jaw before assessing Kameron. “Alright, then.”

Kameron cried out as he was sent flying back by a sudden stream of flame.

“LET’S TURN UP THE HEAT!”

Alyssa watched in horror as Caleb ruthlessly unleashed a roiling blast of fire at her brother. Before Talos could stop her, she charged towards Caleb.

“No!”

Alyssa grabbed the criminal’s wrists and forced them down. The fire blazed harmlessly off the pavement.

“Clever girl…” Caleb sneered mockingly with false praise. “Too bad you didn’t think about this.”

He suddenly twisted out of her grasp and took a deep breath, then spewed a gout of flames right at her. Alyssa screamed as she was knocked back onto the asphalt.

Talos tackled Caleb from the side, his face twisted with rage. “Pick on someone your own size!”

“Like you?” Caleb growled before sending a blast of flame right into Talos’ face.

The hero staggered back, raising his forearm to block the flames. Alyssa took the opportunity to use her telekinesis to push Caleb. He stumbled slightly, but it was enough to break his concentration on Talos. The Man of Bronze sent the Man on Fire reeling back with a well-placed roundhouse kick, which was followed by an uppercut from Kameron. Caleb snarled at the trio of heroes as they surrounded him.

“You wanna dance?! Okay, let’s dance!” He clenched his fists and sent out an explosion of flame in all directions. The force knocked the heroes on their backs. Caleb crackled maniacally as they picked themselves off the ground. “C’mon, heroes! Give me a challenge!”

Talos started forward, but Kameron roughly shoved him aside.

“Stay out of this, Tin-man!”

Talos glowered at him. “You think you can take this guy? You’re out of your league, rookie!”

Kameron gave a bitter bark of laughter. “And what’s yours, shiny? Little league?”

Alyssa shot the two heroes a withering glare. Really?!

Kameron's fist shot out towards Caleb’s head… but instead collided with Talos’ as the metallic man lunged forward. The Man of Bronze snarled as he whipped around to glare at Kameron, leaning close enough to tower over the blonde.

“Watch it!”

“You’re the one who got in the way!”

“Are you two seriously fighting each other when there’s a pyrokinetic criminal right in front of us?!” Alyssa snapped at the heroes.

“He started it!” the two male heroes insisted.

As the fight raged on, it became difficult to tell if Kameron and Talos were putting more effort into fighting Caleb or fighting each other. This made it easier for the Man on Fire to dodge their attacks and keep them at bay with his pyrokinetic abilities. Alyssa wasn’t doing any better; while she had summoned a psionic shield to protect herself from the flames, she was always knocked off her feet either by Caleb’s attacks or by getting caught in the crossfire of Kameron’s and Talos’ physical arguments.

“Now this is just sad... you call yourselves heroes?!” Caleb laughed.

He conjured a writhing rope of pure flame and lashed out, swiping Kameron and Talos in one vicious swing. Alyssa tried to help the two heroes, but Caleb whipped the rope over his head and jerked it down towards her. The flaming cord wrapped around her forearm, nearly burning through her suit. He pulled her towards him with a sharp yank, causing her to stumble into his chest.

“Well, the workout was fun,” Caleb sneered down at her. “But I think it’s time you and I got back to our little— Wbhbhghghg!”

Caleb was caught by surprise as a powerful jet of water knocked him and Alyssa off their feet.

“What the fu—?!”

Kameron shoved Talos off of him so he could see what was going on. Two fire trucks, one on each side of the street, had their hoses trained on Caleb. About two dozen police cruisers had also arrived at the scene. Amongst the police were Officer Dawes and...

“You!”

Caleb lunged for Meiko Katsaros, but was quickly restrained by two officers. The DA didn’t even flinch as the young criminal stared her down with a murderous glare.

“Just wait ‘til I get my hands on you, you damn--”

“Shut it, punk!” Officer Dawes barked as she slapped a pair of handcuffs on Caleb’s wrists. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you...”

Kameron tuned out the rest of the conversation as he directed his attention to Alyssa. Much to his annoyance, Talos was already helping her up.

“You okay?”

Alyssa gave the Man of Bronze a small nod.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Talos gave a short sigh of relief, then eyed her with a stern gaze. “I thought I told you to find somewhere safe. Why didn’t you listen to me? This could’ve gone a lot worse!”

Alyssa bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to—”

“Hey! You three!”

The three supers turned to see Officer Dawes and Meiko approaching them. Talos glanced at the DA nervously, then held out his hand to Officer Dawes.

“DA Katsaros, officer, thanks for the backup. The name’s—”

“We know who you are,” Officer Dawes snapped, cutting him off. “And you’re under arrest.”

Talos, Kameron, and Alyssa stared at the officer in bewilderment as she slapped a pair of cuffs over the metallic man’s wrist.

“Wait, what?”

“You and your friend in the black suit are being charged for battery, assault, trespassing, and that’s just off the top of my head,” Officer Dawes continued as she finished handcuffing Talos; Kameron was a bit surprised that he wasn’t resisting.

“But he didn’t do anything wrong!” Alyssa insisted. “Neither of them did! They were just—”

“Don’t start with me, missy!” Officer Dawes barked at her, causing the girl to flinch. “And don’t think I’m letting you off the hook. You’re in just as much trouble as these two!”

Alyssa stared at her with wide, frightened eyes, her mouth agape. Even with her mask on, Kameron could almost see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. He knew Alyssa was always timid around authority figures, especially when she was afraid she had done something wrong. That, in Kameron’s opinion, was a fear that she shouldn’t have in the first place; she had never broken a rule in her life.

“W-what? But I…”

The officer started towards the girl, holding out a second pair of cuffs in an almost menacing manner, when Kameron blocked her path.

“You back the hell off,” he growled. Cop or not, no one threatened his little sister.

Officer Dawes staggered back slightly, then scowled at Kameron. “Stand aside, unless you want to add ‘interfering with arrest’ to your offenses.”

Kameron didn’t move. “Touch her, and you’ll regret it.”

Kameron didn’t move. “Touch her, and you’ll regret it.”

Before Officer Dawes could reply, a voice cried out in fear.

“Help! Somebody help me!”

Everyone glanced up to see a little girl calling out from a window of an apartment above the DMV. In the confusion of the fight with Caleb, no one had noticed just how quickly the fire had spread. Caleb’s eyes widened as he stared at the girl in horror.

The little girl coughed as smoke and flames billowed around her before calling out again. “Please, help me! Hurry!”

The window collapsed, sending up a spray of sparks as it was devoured by the fire. The girl screamed as she leaped back to avoid the sparks, disappearing from view.

“I want the fire crews up there now!” Meiko barked.

“There’s no way we’ll make it in time!” one of the firefighters called back to her.

A flash of red and blue shot up towards the window and disappeared inside the burning building. It was only then that Kameron realized his sister was no longer standing behind him.

“What the hell is she doing?!” Caleb shouted. His expression was a mix of terror and disbelief. “She’s gonna get herself killed!”

***

Alyssa coughed as the thick fumes of smoke filled her lungs, the heat of the flames causing beads of sweat to form on her brow. She fanned the smoke away as she scanned the room, trying to find the little girl.

“Hello? Where are you?”

A small voice came from under the bed in the corner of the room. “I’m over here!”

Alyssa moved towards the bed and knelt down to find the girl hiding under it. She gave the girl a kind smile, hoping to put her at ease.

“Hi.”

The girl recoiled away from her.

“It’s okay,” Alyssa assured her in a soothing voice. She lifted her fingers to her mask and deactivated it. “See? Not so scary, am I?”

The girl watched her cautiously, still afraid.

“My name’s Alyssa. What’s yours?”

“... Maggie.”

“Well, that’s a very pretty name.”

The girl, Maggie, smiled shyly. “Thank you…”

Both girls jumped as a beam fell close to them, Maggie crying out in fright.

“Okay, Maggie. I’m gonna get you out of here, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

Maggie gave a frightened whimper, but nodded her head. Alyssa activated her mask and waited until Maggie had crawled out from under the bed before scooping the little girl into her arms. She carefully made her way down to the first floor, being careful to shield Maggie from the flames and dodge out of the way of falling debris. As she carefully weaved her way towards the exit, she could see Kameon being held back by Meiko. Officer Dawes also had her hands full; a hysterical young woman who looked slightly like Maggie was struggling against her.

“My baby’s in there! Please, I need to save my baby!”

“Mommy!”

The woman’s eyes filled with relief when she saw her daughter safely cradled in Alyssa’s arms.

“Maggie!”

Alyssa started towards the door, but was suddenly jerked back. She glanced behind her to see that her cape had snagged onto one of the fallen beams.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Maggie screamed as more debris fell around them. Alyssa threw her arm over her head, summoning a shield. She knew it wouldn’t last forever; she needed to get Maggie out of the building now.

“Maggie, I need you to listen to me,” she told the little girl. “I’m gonna make you fly out the door, and your mom is going to catch you. Don’t be scared, and don’t look back. Just focus on your mom, okay?”

Maggie nodded.

Alyssa set her down and thrust her hand out, sending Maggie flying out the door and towards her mother’s outstretched arms. The moment Maggie passed through the door, the ceiling collapsed on top of Alyssa.

***

Kameron watched as the ceiling collapsed on top of sister.

“No, no, NO!”

Flames sprang up at the entrance, lashing out like whips, denying anyone safe passage into the building. Kameron tried to push past Meiko, but the DA held a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Let go of me! I have to save her!”

“You’ll never make it inside!” Meiko told him.

Kameron shouted in frustration. This couldn’t be happening, not again!

“Hey!”

Kameron blinked in surprise as Talos rushed past him. He charged into the flames, then disappeared from sight.

***

Alyssa groaned softly as her eyes fluttered open. She wanted to move, to stand and run out of the building, but doubted she’d have the strength to even without the debris pinning her down. Though she couldn’t see clearly, she could hear people screaming all around her. Where was she? What was going on…?

She suddenly remembered: the gala, the attack, the Prism Gate… Kameron! She looked around frantically for her brother, for Poppy, Dax, Grayson, Santiago, Marjorie… had they gotten out alright? Where they hurt? Where they even looking for her. A selfish part of her hoped so; she didn’t want to die… not this soon, and not like this. Her vision began to fade as more smoke filled her lungs and the pounding in her head drowned out the screams…

“Hang on, I’m coming!”

Her eyes opened again as a figure emerged through the flames… a man with gleaming bronze skin. He hurried to her side and knelt down.

“I’m gonna get you out of here, okay? Just hang in there!”

He stood and took hold of the debris, grunting and straining as he attempted to lift it off her. After he had moved the heavier debris off of her, he pulled her out from under the rest of the wreckage and scooped her up into his arms.

“Alright. Now let’s—”

“Wait!”

The Man of Bronze looked down at her quizzically as Alyssa scanned the room frantically. “What about my brother? My friends?”

“What? What do you—”

“They might still be in here!” Alyssa rambled, still looking around wildly. “They could be trapped, or looking for me, or… or…”

Alyssa swallowed hard as tears streamed down her face. She began to shake with quiet sobs. No. No, no, no, NO! They weren’t… they couldn’t be dead, could they…?

“... Alyssa, look at me.”

Alyssa slowly looked up at the man’s bronze face, meeting his soft, shining white eyes. Slowly, they faded into a familiar pair of gentle gray ones. Alyssa gaped in shock as a ripple of energy washed over the man, the bronze fading away to reveal…

“Kenji?!”

Alyssa scanned her surroundings, her mind suddenly clear. She wasn’t at the gala, she wasn’t even at Prescott Industries; she was inside a burning apartment... with Kenji. But then, that meant…

“You… You’re Talos?”

Kenji shrugged, smiling sheepishly.  “Uh... surprise?”

“I… but…” Alyssa shook her head. “That means… you saved me. I mean I knew that, but it was just—”

A loud creak came from above them as the last few beams holding what remained of the second floor gave out. The bronze rapidly coated Kenji’s skin as he raised an arm to shield Alyssa from the falling debris.

“I know we have a lot to talk about,” Kenji, or Talos — Alyssa didn’t know which to refer to him as at the moment — said. “But for right now, let’s just focus on getting out of here!”

He started towards the exit, but leaped back as tall pillars of fire lashed out at him.

“Oookay… maybe not that way.”

Talos looked around for a way out, his eyes falling on an open window on the second floor. He hurried up the stairs, the steps crumbling away as soon as he touched them. He glanced out the window, calculating the height they were currently at.

“Okay. Don’t freak out, but I’m gonna jump out the window.”

“What?!”

“It’s the only way!” Talos told her. “I can get us out of this, but you have to trust me!”

Alyssa hesitated, then gave him a small nod. “Okay… I trust you.”

He gave her a reassuring smile, then took a few steps back. “Good, now hold on tight!”

Alyssa buried her face into his chest, squeezing her eyes shut. She felt Talos pull her closer to him, then felt him take a running leap out the window. Talos let out a grunt as they hit the pavement, rolling a bit before coming to a stop. When she opened her eyes, she found herself laying on top of Talos, his arms still wrapped around her waist. She blushed while a bashful look fell over his face, and quickly pushed herself off of him.

“Sorry…”

“No problem…”

Talos pushed himself to his knees and offered her his hand. “Are you alright?”

Alyssa took his hand, giving him a soft smile as he pulled her to her feet along with him. “Yeah… thanks to you.”

The two smiled shyly at each other. A warm blush had appeared on Alyssa’s face while Kenji rubbed the back of his neck.

“Kenji…” Alyssa began. She paused, faltering slightly. “I mean, Talos… I-I mean… well, I—”

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!”

Both of them jump as Officer Dawes stalked towards them, Kameron and the DA following closely behind her. The spell broke in that very moment as they bashfully looked away from each other and mumbled a string of apologies.

Alyssa gasped as Kameron pulled her into a bone crushing hug, almost literally; he seemed to have forgotten about his super strength at the moment.

“Oh, thank god you’re okay!”

Before Alyssa could reply, he pulled away from her and scowled.

“Don’t you ever do that again!”

Officer Dawes angrily wagged a finger at Talos.

“You do know that breaking out of police handcuffs falls under the definition of ‘resisting arrest’, don’t you?!”

Talos shrugged, giving the officer a lopsided smile. “Not my fault they’re so flimsy. Besides…” He winked at Alyssa. “What kind of hero would I be for not coming to the rescue of a beautiful damsel?”

Officer Dawes growled. “You people make me--!”

Before she could finish her threat, a swarm of reporters surrounded the three supers, shoving Officer Dawes and Meiko aside. Alyssa winced as the bright flashes of cameras snapping photos caused stars to dance across her vision while the loud clamoring of the reporters firing a thousand questions per second made her head spin. Luckily, their main focus seemed to be directed to Talos.

“Talos, Talos! How did you save that little girl?”

“Are you going after the Rock Guy now that you’ve brought the Man on Fire to justice?”

“Are you single?”

Kameron rolled his eyes as Talos flashed the reporters a dazzling smile. He should’ve known the press was nearby...

“Kameron! Are you and Alyssa okay?”

The young man jumped at the sound of Dax’s voice as his and Poppy’s faces popped up in the screens of his mask.

“Uh, yeah. We’re good. Where were you two?”

“Traffic,” Poppy told him in a flat tone. “So, what did we miss?”

Kameron shrugged. “Oh, you know: met the Man on Fire, Alyssa nearly got herself killed going into a burning building to rescue a little girl, the police are trying to arrest us, and now the press is here. Oh, and we met Talos.”

“Well, well. What do we have here?”

Kameron glanced over his shoulder to see the reporters were now swarming around Alyssa. She hugged herself nervously as they waved microphones in front of her face and snapped pictures of her while the cameraman turned the lens on her.

“It seems Northbridge’s favorite hero has a partner now!” one of the reporters gushed; Kameron immediately recognized her as Katherine. “And an attractive one at that...”

Alyssa's cheeks glowed with embarrassment as Katherine turned to Talos with a sly grin. “Tell us, Talos: is this lovely young woman just your sidekick… or does your partnership extend to other areas…?”

Kameron scowled at the question, noting the way Alyssa squirmed with discomfort at Katherine's obvious, and rather inappropriate, implication.

“No.”

The reporters turned to Kameron as he glowered at Talos. A few photographers snapped a picture, but risked no more as Kameron shot them an annoyed glare.

He turned back to Talos with a dark, thunderous snarl. “She’s my partner, not his.”

Katherine’s eyes shifted between Kameron and Talos in surprise before a huge grin broke across her face.

“Well, goodness! It seems that Talos has a rival as well! Question is, are they competing for the title of Northbridge’s favorite hero… or for the affections of this super beauty?”

Alyssa sputtered in surprise and disgust at Katherine’s statement.

“Welp, that’s just awkward…” Dax stated.

Alyssa watched Kameron as he turned to Katherine, hoping he would set her straight. Instead, much to her surprise, he gave her a smug smirk.

“No need for a contest; I’m claiming both.”

Alyssa groaned inwardly as Katherine’s grin grew wider. Oh, great…

“In that case, you better tell the people of Northbridge who their new hero is,” Katherine advised him.

Kameron flashed a seemingly charming smile at the camera, though Alyssa didn’t miss the subtle sneer. “Call me Poeas.”

Alyssa’s mouth fell open as Talos’ nostrils flared, both of them clearly catching on to Kameron’s reference.

“I’m confused…” Poppy stated, her brow pinched. “Was that some type of insult or something?”

“Trust me…” Dax groaned. “That was a very big insult towards Talos.”

Kameron sneered at the Man of Bronze, an aura of contempt radiating off him. “How’s the heel, Talos?”

Talos curled his lip, grinding out a reply through tightly clenched teeth. “Bite my shiny metal ass.”

Kameron shivered sarcastically. “Ooh!”

Talos’ shoulders took a predatory bow as he started towards Kameron, who cracked his neck in preparation for the fight about to take place. Before either of them could lay a finger on the other, Alyssa pushed herself between the two of them.

“Guys, don’t,” she pleaded.

Talos glanced down at her, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply through his nose, then took a step back. Kameron huffed, then also backed off. Alyssa eyed them warily, then relaxed. She hoped this wasn’t going to become a regular occurrence; these two were supposed to be grown men, not little boys.

“Nicely handled,” Katherine commented as she turned her attention to Alyssa. “And what should we call you?”

Alyssa furrowed her brow in thought, closing her eyes as she tried to think of a name. A few images flashed in her mind: a woman’s smiling face, a beautiful purple flower, an amber idol… Her eyes opened slowly, her mouth opening to say a single word.

“Andromeda.”

Katherine beamed before turning directly to the camera. “Well, there you have it, folks! With Andromeda, Poeas, and Talos defending the streets of Northbridge, you can all sleep safe and—”

“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear.”

The reporters scattered nervously as Meiko and Officer Dawes approached Katherine. The reporter shrunk as the DA stared her down with a cold gaze.

“The Northbridge Police Department will be the ones keeping criminals off the street.” She turned to Officer Dawes. “Clear this crime scene.”

“Gladly.”

As Officer Dawes and a few other offices escorted the reporters away from the scene, Meiko turned to the riot officers. “Take these four into custody. I want them behind bars as soon as--”

“Sorry, but I think you miscounted.”

Alyssa jumped slightly at the sound of Caleb’s voice. She had nearly forgotten the criminal was still there. Kameron pulled her close to him as Meiko turned to glare at Caleb.

“I don’t believe I did. These three vigilantes are going to be sharing a cell with you, young man.”

Caleb sneered at her. “Oh, I don’t think so...”

Before anyone could react, Caleb lashed out at one of the officers holding him. He knocked the officer out with a single punch before landing a roundhouse kick on the second officer.

“I told you to cuff him!” Meiko barked at Officer Dawes.

“I did!”

Caleb smirked and lazily held up the silver handcuffs, letting them dangle in front of the DA.

“I figured you’d want these back.”

Meiko scowled as he tossed the cuffs at her feet. “Somebody arrest this man!”

Caleb scowled as the riot officers advanced towards him. He glanced from the officers to Meiko, then turned to Alyssa.

“Looks like we’ll have to reschedule our date, cutie.”

Kameron scowled at the criminal as Talos pushed Alyssa behind him. Caleb chuckled at the action before blasting a flaming swath at the heroes’ and officers’ feet. They choked on the thick black smoke as their eyes stung with tears. When the smoke cleared, the Man on Fire was gone.

“Dammit, he got away!” one of the officers growled.

“Then forget him, get them!” Officer Dawes snapped as she pointed at the heroes.

“I really hate that Man on Fire guy, but I think he had the right idea!” Poppy advised the step-siblings.

“Seconded!” Dax agreed.

“Thirded!” Kameron replied as he shot up into the sky.

Alyssa turned to Talos and held out her hand. “I can get us out of this… but you have to trust me.”

He hesitated, then took her hand. “Okay… I trust you.”

Alyssa gave him a reassuring smile. “Good, now hold on tight!”

She shot up into the sky after her brother, pulling Talos with her. She couldn’t help but smile as the Man of Bronze whooped in excitement.

“This is amazing!” he shouted over the roaring wind. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever— Look out!”

Alyssa shouted in surprise as she barreled straight into a small flock of crows. They squawked in fright as Alyssa and Talos attempted to shield themselves. Unfortunately, due to all the confusion, Alyssa lost her focus and began to plummet towards the ground.

“Oh, no! No, no, no, no!”

They both screamed as they fell through the air, then grunted as they landed roughly on the top of a nearby building. Alyssa groaned as she pushed herself to her knees, wincing as pain rippled through her body.

“You okay?” Talos asked her as he helped her up.

Alyssa gave him a half-hearted smile. “Considering I crashed into a flock of crows and fell a few feet from the air, I’d say so. How about you?”

Talos smirked and gestured to his body. “Eh, I can handle a lot worse. Besides, I’m pretty much invulnerable.”

“Care to test that theory?”

Talos smirk twisted into a bitter scowl as he and Alyssa turned to Kameron as the teenager sauntered over to the bronze hero.

“‘Cause that’s not the way I remember the myth ending…”

“Kameron, don’t…” Alyssa pleaded as she tried to stand between them.

Talos’ eyes widened. “Wait, Kameron?!”

Kameron ignored him as he gently pushed Alyssa out of the way.

“Stay out of this, Alyssa.”

“No! I’m not gonna let you act like a jerk!”

“Hey, this guy’s the one who’s acting like an ass!”

“Kenji was only trying to help! And this is the second time that he—”

Alyssa slapped a hand over her mouth, but the damage was already done. A thick, heavy silence fell over the three supers as Kameron eyes widened ever so slightly. He stared at Alyssa for the span of a few minutes, then slowly turned to Talos. His face seemed to display no emotion, but there was a hint of ice in his voice when he uttered four threatening words.

“I’m gonna kill you.”

Talos yelped and jumped back as Kameron lunged for him. Luckily for the Man of Bronze, Alyssa was able to hold her brother with her telekinetic abilities.

“Let me at him!” Kameron snarled as he thrashed wildly against his invisible bonds. He bared his teeth at Talos, a crazed look gleaming in his eye. “I’m gonna tear you apart one limb at a time, you son of a bitch!”

“Kameron, STOP!”

“It’s his fault his mom thinks we’re criminals!”

“No, it’s not!”

“All he had to do was tell his mom he’s a superhero, and she wouldn’t have even proposed her little anti-super campaign!”

“You’re such a hypocrite! We haven’t told our mom!”

“Our mom doesn’t have ever officer in Northbridge hunting us down!”  

“Hey, hey!” Talos shouted, catching the bickering stepsiblings’ attention. “Cease-fire!”

Kameron stopped thrashing, his breath thin and ragged. Talos eyed Kameron warily before spreading his hands out in a form of surrender.

“Look… this is exactly why Caleb kicked our asses; we were too busy fighting each other instead of the real enemy.”

Kameron glared at Talos. As much as he hated to admit it, he was right. But still…

“You could always just stay out of my way.”

Talos shot the teenage boy a withering gaze. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna fight for my city. And if I that means I have to fight you, too, I will.”

Kameron chuckled darkly. “Oh, I’d love to see you try.”

Before a fight could ensue, Alyssa inserted herself between the two young men. 

“Are you two seriously gonna pick a fight with each other again after what just happened?” she snapped.

“Hey, wait a sec--”

“He’s the one who--”

Alyssa silenced them with a sharp look. “I don’t wanna hear it! If you two are gonna hate each other, suck it up and do it in silence! We should be working together.”

The two men began to protest, but Alyssa silenced them once again. 

“Like it or not, we need each other. I don’t care how strong you are or what your skin changes into, none of us are gonna last a second trying to face Tombstone or Caleb on our own.”

“Is that the Rock Guy?” Kenji asked.

Alyssa ignored him as she gazed at her brother imploringly.

“Kameron... you know that we have a better chance at protecting the city if we work together.”

Kameron huffed, then gave a stiff nod. “Fine,” he conceded. 

Kameron shot Talos a bitter look. “I want you to know I’m only doing this for her, not you.”

The Man of Bronze glared back at him. “Fine by me.”

The two continued to gaze intently at each other before Kameron turned away to address his sister.

“C’mon, Dax and Poppy will want us to brief them on Caleb.”

He lifted off into the sky once again, drifting towards the direction of their apartment.

Alyssa hesitated, then turned back to look at Talos. Their eyes met, a peaceful silence hanging in the space between them. The Man of Bronze gave her a soft smile as the bronze faded away. Alyssa returned the smile, then followed after her brother, leaving Kenji behind.

***

On the other side of town, Caleb sat at a table in a smoky dive. He had traded his leather jacket for a worn out, oversized hoodie, the hood pulled up over his head and falling just over his eyes. He finished the last of his shot of mezcal, setting the empty glass next to three other empty ones, and reached for his fourth shot. He slowly sipped the smoky flavored drink, his eyes pinned to the bar’s grainy TV screen as the news segment recapped the previous events of the night.

“Just earlier, the Man on Fire attacked the DMV and confronted Talos along with two new supers,” Katherine was saying. “The reasoning behind this criminal’s actions remain unclear—”

“‘Unclear?!’”

Caleb seethed as he shook his head in bewilderment. Were people really that blind? How could they not see the DMV was the bastion of the authoritarian system stifling this city?! And to call him the criminal! The way he saw it, he was doing the people of Northbridge a favor! Apparently, they hadn’t gotten the message…

“We now bring you live to the Northbridge Police Department, where District Attorney Katsaros has this to say in regard to the raising superpowered crime spree.”

Caleb gripped his glass tightly, his knuckles turning white, as the screen cut to a close-up shot of Meiko Katsaros. Her face was set in stone as her voice rang out sharp and clear.

“Rest assured that these superhumans will not menace this city any longer. The police force will fight to defend Northbridge and its people, and bring these criminals to justice. We will defend our city, and we will restore order. That’s a promise.”

Caleb scowled as Meiko was met with thunderous applause, throwing back the rest of his drink angrily. Of course they would place their trust in her. While Silas Prescott was the king of Northbridge, Meiko was the face of law and order. The city looked up to her, trusting her promises of order and protecting, leading them on like mindless sheep…

A slow smile spread across Caleb’s lips as an idea formed in his mind. The people might have not understood his reasoning for attacking the DMV… but if he were to cut the head off the snake, everyone would understand the message.

He rose from the table and staggered towards the door, throwing a glance over his shoulder.

“Time’s up, Katsaros,” he sneered as a ball of fire blazed in his palm. “Once I take you out, the rest of this city will BURN!”

He threw the ball of fire at the TV screen, setting it ablaze, before stepping out into the night. The wheels in his head began to turn as he planned his next steps. If he was gonna make a move against Meiko, he had to lay low. The thought didn’t please him in the slightest; he wanted the people to know who was rebelling against the corruption of the city. However, the fact remained that the police had been on his ass ever since he was thirteen. While years of experience had helped him slip through his fingers, he knew they would increase their efforts now that he was a threat to them. He couldn’t use just hole up in some cheap motel and hope for the best like he usually did, they’d find him sooner or later. Besides, he could only rent out a room for a couple of days at the most, especially since he was living off of loose change. He had to find somewhere both inexpensive and long-termed… though the two never really seemed to go hand in hand.

A flyer posted on a nearby lamppost caught his attention, the words standing out in the dark of the night:

Rochelle’s Haven: Warm Beds, Showers, Meals, and Welcomes to Those in Need

That would do.

[zephthekid]

"that was a mistake."

2030 words. names uncensored.

Night 3 of Perjin’s wedding festivities. Hundreds of humanoids from all across Wildemount are gathered under one roof, in celebration of the nuptials of one very lucky noble. Raucous laughter fills the halls as the drinks flow freely between. If one thing’s for certain, the Menagerie Coast really knows how to party.

At the center of it all lies the happy couple, the eye of the proverbial storm. The “pomp and circumstance” of it all led you and Zippy to follow the overflow into a smaller banquet room, where most “commoner” attendees drifted off to. The hall, set up much like a mini-tavern, is a nice respite. Much less courtly, much more relaxed.

You catch Zippy’s eye from across the square table. He makes a face at you; you make one right back. Solemnly he tips his tankard towards yours, throwing back another drink.

No matter how many ales he downs tonight, it doesn’t change the fact Jin is a married woman now — to both his and your dismay.

It’s not that you wish she hadn’t found love! Au contraire! Jin deserves every bit of happiness coming her way. Can you honestly blame her if she loves him that much?

At least — she’d better love him. She should be head-over-heels if she’s willing to leave your family behind like that. To leave her blood brother behind like that.

The look Zip and you share says it all. He and you both know after this week, it’s likely you won’t see Perjin again for a long time. She’s retiring from the...industry, so professionally, her persona is as good as dead.

You and Zeph aren’t retiring with her though. You won’t leave...you can’t leave. The traveling forger life means everything to you, and it means everything to Zippy too.

Guess you’re gonna need to get used to being a duo.

“Groom’s side?” someone jostles your shoulder. He giggles; this man must be sloshed out of his mind.

“Bride’s,” you look over, meeting the gaze of a rosy-cheeked human. Apparently the alcohol coursing through his veins has emboldened him. Not many approach an air genasi on their own accord.

Zippy rolls his eyes. You shoot a smirk at the human tomato. “I assume you know the groom?”

He hiccups. “Y-ya would be right…” The sound is so tiny you and Zip have to smother your laughter. “Haven’t met many on the bride’s side yet, very cool...cool, cool, cool...”

“Are you not gonna give us a name?” you don’t bother hiding your appraisal of him. The tomato isn’t half-bad-looking, but in his current state? To go farther than flirtation would be a mistake.

“Oh! Yeah...um, it’s...” his words trail off into an incomprehensible murmur.

...Okay then, Tomato Boy.

You see his eyes droop closed, and for a second you think he fell asleep on his feet! Hastily you slide your drink away from him, lest it becomes a casualty. Thankfully, he perks up again, just in time before he slams his face into something.

“So!” he slurs, the alcohol really hitting him full-force. “Who’re you...and your boyfriend?” his index finger languorously points between you and Zip.

Now, you outright laugh. Zippy’s only a split second behind. “What is that, the tenth time tonight?” Z clicks his tongue.

“Twelfth. Twelfth assumption.”

Tomato Boy sways, befuddled. “...Are you...not?”

“Kiddo here is like my sister,” Zeph swings a leg onto the table, leaning back into his chair. Tomato doesn’t buy it.

“...but you don’t look anything like her! Stop pulling m’ leg, man--”

“You don’t need a bloodline to be family,” you coolly interject.

“Huh,” the man grunts, sort of pensively. His attention swivels to you after a beat. “...well, okay then, beautiful, would you like to--”

A dismissive wave of your hand cuts him off. “Sober up, honey, then we can talk,” your tone is determined and even. Surprisingly the man doesn’t put up a fight; he meanders away, while you watch in amusement.

“Twelfth, huh?” Zippy remarks once the other guy is gone. “That’s nearly twice as many as yesterday.”

“Three straight days of drinking makes people bold, I guess.”

“Crazy.” He hums, fishing out a deck of cards from one of his many pockets. “Let’s play blackjack, you game? Loser per round has to get up and serve drinks.”

“To the winner or to the whole room?”

“Depends on how bad she loses.”

“He loses, you mean.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Zippy shuffles the cards with ease, eyes twinkling.

“You won’t,” a spark of challenge glimmers in your own. You won’t lose to the old man.

“Insolent child,” Zeph smirks.

“Idiot prune.” Zephaniah, you’re going down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four rounds later, you and Zeph have been pretty evenly matched up so far (say hello, hangover). The conditions of your gameplay have not gone unnoticed, and they’ve caused a small crowd to gather around the table. People are placing bets. You know you have at least 3gp and a nice silk cape riding on you right now.

“Let’s make it funnnnn,” one elven spectator approaches. You recognize them as Assumer #8, from a couple hours ago. They’d spoken briefly with you by the door. “Deal me in. If I beat both your asses, you both do a dare. Mmkay?”

You size Assumer #8 up, and Zippy does the same. They look dazed and unsteady, but then again the same can be said of you. What’s the worst that could happen?

“As long as I don’t have to kill anyone,” you shrug.

The assumer chuckles. “‘Course not. All in good fun.”

“Pull a chair,” Zip sets the next round up, for 3.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not too long after, your drunken haze finds itself rudely sobered...by both you and Zip’s resounding losses.

Zippy is dumbstruck. Assumer #8’s triumphant grin splits their face open. The crowd mirrors Assumer #8’s sentiments, eagerly awaiting the promised dares. You don’t think Assumer’s gonna go easy. You can tell they have something...juicy in mind.

“...Well?” No sense in prolonging it, you think. “You win, my friend. What’s the dare?”

Zeph’s not thrilled at having a stranger decide his fate. He shifts uncomfortably.

Assumer’s gaze flickers to the crowd, who burst into excited murmurs. You think you hear the word “kiss” thrown around. The air surrounding you suddenly drops a few degrees.

“Ah, we should give the people what they want,” Assumer feigns resignation, but the mischief in their eyes says otherwise. “Give us a kiss, you two.”

Your eyes snap to Zeph, whose grimace does not go missed. “...Alright. One of you step up to the ‘kissing booth,’ then,” he pushes himself up out of his seat, his wrist flicking inward in a beckoning motion. His eyes scan the crowd for volunteers.

You do the same. You catch Tomato Boy from across the room openly staring. Tonight must be his lucky night, you figure. “Come on over,” you shrug. Quickly Assumer stands, shaking his head.

“No, no, no -- you misunderstand,” they place one hand on both you and Zippy’s shoulders. You trade weird looks with Zip. “The people want you two to kiss.” To make it extra clear, Assumer emphatically pats you guys’ shoulders.

Your pupils grow to the size of saucers. Zeph goes into a coughing fit.

“Come on, man, don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it,” they move to slap Zippy on the back goodnaturedly. Zip’s only response is an anxious nape scratch.

You take a deep breath. “You’ve got our dynamic entirely wrong,” you frown. “He and I--”

“Let’s just do it,” Zeph’s abrupt words catch you off-guard. “How bad could it be.”

“Uh...what?” you try not to gape. “Are you...sure about that?”

You can’t speak for Zip, but Assumer #8 was right about you; you have thought about kissing Zippy--Zephaniah-- before, but that was a long time ago and you’re wiser now and he never really seemed interested in anything remotely like--

“Sure; I mean, more for your benefit than mine, but,” Zeph’s lips twist into a smug little smirk, and whatever ~feelings~ were stirring up within you are quickly doused.

“Excuse me?” you snort.

“I can’t help that I’m attractive, kid,” Zippy runs a casual hand through his hair, obviously peacocking.

You roll your eyes. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Zippy.”

“It’s not your fault you’re in love with me,” he slides a step closer.

You don’t back down. “Okay.” you reply, eerily deadpan. Zippy wasn’t expecting that. He looks momentarily shaken. Got ‘em.

“Oh, honey, did I hurt your feelings?” you croon. Your eyelids flutter, mockingly. “I didn’t realize you cared so much about me.”

“Of course I do,” Zip scoffs. Oh no. His tone is at best half-sarcastic, you sense. Zeph’s not usually the sentimental kind, but right then there was an earnest quality to his voice. It’s veiled just enough so your audience doesn’t catch it...but you do. You catch it.

“Please don’t make this a moment.” you quench...whatever that was with a narrow-eyed smirk, resting a light hand on his chest. With your stare you dare him to meet your eyes; you’re no coward.

In one swift motion Zeph grasps the fronts of your vest, pulling you in until you’re nearly flush against him. He’s so close now the perpetual breeze surrounding you blows around him too. “Why?” he taunts. “Chicken?”

“Never.”

You hear the room collectively hold their breath as Zeph presses his lips to yours.

Only a second ticks by before you retract. You two stare at each other, unblinking, until—

You both sputter at the same time.

“That...that was a mistake,” you choke as Zippy’s laughter rings loud.

“You’re telling me!” his shoulders shake, but he tries to steady himself.

“Sorry to disappoint, everyone,” you turn to the gathered group, who look thoroughly unsatisfied by the lack of chemistry. They disperse.

You move to lean against the table. “Yikes.” you wince. That kiss felt so...unnatural; no lie, it was kind of gross. 3/10, would not recommend.

Zippy, calmer now, wraps an arm around your shoulders. “Let’s...never let drunks peer-pressure us again, okay?”

“Deal.” You agree readily. “I like how we are, Zip.”

Zippy reaches a hand up to ruffle your hair. “Me too, bro.”

“Bro...”

“Shut up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The funny thing is, I ended up dating Assumer #8,” you shrug. The wedding is now a five-year-old memory. You reach past your relatively new travel buddy — dare you say, friend — to grab your cider, leaning against the bar of some random tavern in Wildemount. “9 months.”

“And?”

“It was a good 9 months. Sort of off-and-on, given how often Zeph and I moved around. Wyatt was great; it was just—” you hesitate, “well, you know, 9 months in, we find out they’d actually conceived a child during Wedding Week, with one of the barkeeps.”

“They what?”

You laugh. “Yeah, so they never cheated on me,” you clarify, “it’s just that their fling right before was...fruitful.” one brow of yours arches meaningfully. Your friend nods in dismayed understanding.

Sometimes you surprise yourself by how easily you take that in stride. “Obviously I told them to go and be a parent to their new baby,” you exhale. “They didn’t want to leave me at first, so I told them ‘it wasn’t really working out anyway.’”

Your friend doesn’t seem convinced by the last sentence. You wouldn’t have believed yourself either, but Wyatt...poor Wyatt was always too ingenuous. “Lies, clearly, but I couldn’t settle down with them. Too soon,” you admit, sheepish.

Immediately you straighten in your seat, cracking a more playful grin. “And I’m glad I didn’t, because how else would I be here with you?” Your arms sweep open in a grand gesture to the rest of the tavern.

Your friend’s expression warms. You take it as a good sign. “Last I heard, Wyatt’s married to her now. They manage an inn somewhere…” you fail to stop yourself from divulging as you down your cider. “Somewhere in Western Wynandir. I’m fuzzy on the details.”

You allow yourself one reflective moment before you shake all thoughts of Wyatt and weddings off. That’s enough reminiscing for now. Looking back gets you nowhere.

You breathe. “All behind me now — hey, you wanna dance?”

[dreamoftowers]

The Shanghai Lady

hi uhhhh i posted this forever ago but deleted it bc i just didnt like it anymore, but i was recently looking thru old works of mine and i re-read this and was like “wow! this is p cool” so uhhhh i’m gonna post it again. i edited it a bit, but i hope yall like it maybe? 

it’s my take on the shanghai lady’s character. this is a drabble that’s written in media res of a story that i’ll probably never completely write out. who knows idk maybe? *shrugs*

anyway it’s a bit Dark and Edgy or w/e but who cares. hope yall like it anyway!

tw: mention of character deaths / violence, yelling, crying 

Sung struggled and squirmed about as two shady figures held tightly onto his arms and dragged him forward through the basement. Vivid neon lights shone from the ceiling, but it somehow still managed to be dark and dim down here, becoming increasingly darker the deeper they descended into the understructure of the place; though, Sung couldn’t even see any of this through the blindfold wrapped around his eyes. High-octane pop music blasted from the upstairs dance floor, becoming more and more faded the farther they walked.

After a few minutes of dragging, struggling, and stumbling, Sung heard a door swing open in front of him. As he was dragged into the direction of the door, he felt the atmosphere around him suddenly change. The air felt cooler, crisper, but heavier, somehow, much heavier in a way that Sung couldn’t quite understand.

He felt himself being thrown forwards, and his body fell face first onto the cold floor. As he lay there on the floor, the figures grabbed his hands, and held them behind his back. Sung felt icy cold handcuffs latch onto his wrists. Hands grabbed at his arms and yanked his upper body up from the ground, and they positioned him so that he was sitting on his knees. There Sung sat, breathing heavily as one of the figures untied the blindfold and ripped it off of his eyes.

The sudden bright neon lighting of the room stung Sung’s eyes. He groaned, and squinted until he adjusted to the vivid lights. He darted his eyes all around the room; again, somehow the room managed to be dim even though there were deep hues of pinks and purples and blues emitting from the neon lights scattered around the room. Decorating the room were ornate paper lanterns, indoor waterfalls and water fountains illuminated in colorful LED lights, and strange glowing plants and vines growing on the walls.

A large pool sat in the back of the room, glowing in alternating hues; and in the middle of it, a rectangular platform rose out of the water. There, the dusky figure of a woman sat cross-legged, her back facing Sung.

The Shanghai Lady.

Exactly who he was looking for- though, admittedly, he wasn’t expecting to meet her like this, sitting on his knees with handcuffs binding his hands together.

He couldn’t really make out what she was wearing, but the shape of it, from what he could make out, was something ornate, something flamboyant. She was surrounded by glowing waterfalls and hanging floral vines.

Sung breathed heavy breaths, taking in the oddly calming sounds of the area: the gentle splashing of running water, the quiet ambient music playing throughout the room, the soft remnants of pop music playing high above them from the nightclub. He was just awestruck from this atmosphere. Who knew that The Shanghai Lady had such a hunch for avante-garde interior design? For someone with as much blood, corruption, and destruction on her hands, one wouldn’t expect such contrastingly calm scenery for her lair.

A robotic female voice rang out through the room. It was shockingly silky, gentle, soothing to the ears, while also containing an eerie undertone.

“I would have never in a million years expected to see you here, Sung.” Her voice reverberated through the room.

An unnerved chill shot through Sung’s body. He frowned, and asked in a demanding voice, “What do you want from us? How did you find us? What did we d--”

The Shanghai Lady cut him off and continued to speak as though she hadn’t heard his questions. “You’re usually so elusive, caught up in your own little world. I was so surprised that you came here. Hmhm.” Her small chuckles seemed to echo and reverberate a bit more intensely than her sentences did. “Why the sudden change of heart? Did you fina--”

“WHERE ARE THEY!!?!” Sung suddenly exploded, his trembling voice roaring over hers. His breaths became just as shaky as his body was. “What did you do to them?!”

She didn’t answer. All she did was chuckle.

“ANSWER ME!!” Sung screamed out, his face turning red and contorted with anger.

“Oh, my.” She said in such a nonchalant tone. “Someone’s upset. I’ve never seen you like this before, Sung. It’s so… intriguing to see you at your breaking point already. Though, I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything different of you. You’re always gushing about your… damned bandmates. Friendship this, and- and brotherhood that.” When saying these words, her tone shifted to a slight hiss, as though the words were poison on her tongue. Her tone quickly returned back to normal. “Of course you’d be so concerned about them. Pathetic.”

Anger ran red hot through Sung’s boiling blood. Why is she talking like she knows him personally? Does she? He certainly doesn’t know her personally. Hell, he only knows her through rumors and myths.

“Stop talking like you know me,” Sung spat out through gritted teeth.

“I do know you, Sung.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“Hahaha, ah, on the contrary, sweetheart.” In her next sentence, her voice shifted to that menacing hissy tone again. “I know everything about you.”

Sung was shaking so much that he felt like he would explode from the rage burning within him. He balled his hands into tight fists. He couldn’t even respond for a long moment. He just stared daggers at the back of her head. “What… do you want…?”

“Do you recognize my voice, Sung?”

The sudden question stunned him into a brief silence. Bewildered, he furrowed his brows and furiously shook his head. “No, I don’t!”

“Not at all?” The Shanghai Lady asked in a mockingly sad tone.

“N-... No… I don’t- I don’t think so.” Sung began to think about this a little deeper. “Not a lot, it’s just… vaguely… familiar... agh, it-it sort of reminds me of someo-- WHERE ARE THEY?” He snapped again, shaking off the previous thoughts on his mind. She… did sound somewhat familiar, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. But it didn’t matter. He was going to find out where his friends were, no matter what distractions she threw at him.

“You were so, so close,” she said, ignoring his last question. “Still can’t figure it out?”

Sung said nothing in reply.

Suddenly, in the next words she uttered, her voice became dramatically different, but in a way that was somehow still vaguely similar to her original voice. It was much more robotic and monotone, much colder. 

“How about now?”

Sung’s heart sank into his stomach. His face fell into immediate horror and dismay, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging agape.

Sung could recognize that voice anywhere.

He tried to utter something, anything, but no words came out. All that could escape his throat were failed attempts at words. “C…c-co…”

The Shanghai Lady chuckled again in her normal tone. “Go on, take your time. I’m waiting,” she said in a whispery voice.

Tight knots formed in Sung’s stomach. His lips trembled as he stuttered out, “Co...c-comp..uter… w-w...ife…”

“There you go,” she congratulated him in a mocking tone.

“No…” Sung muttered, shaking his head. “But.. but why?” Sung whimpered out. “What..--”

“You haven’t changed at all, Sung. A part of me isn’t surprised.” She slowly rose to her feet. The skirt of her dress, or shirt, or whatever she was wearing, swayed as she stood and turned around. Once she was facing Sung, the glow of her metallic amber irises pierced through the darkness. As she approached him, descending down the stairs from the platform onto the floor, Sung could only gaze at her in utter disbelief, utter awe. “You’re not-- you’re not her,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion. “Y-You’re not her, I know it, she- sh-she wouldn’t do anything like this, I…” He seemed to be trying to convince himself of this rather than telling her this.

As The Shanghai Lady came closer to him, the lighting from nearby lamps and waterfalls illuminated her figure, giving Sung a chance to gaze upon her. She wore a slightly loose-fitting black jumpsuit that had intricate gold designs printed on it. A black, armor-like shoulder mantle draped over her chest, and from the back of it fell a long flowing cape lined with gold. Her chrome metallic skin was pure white, like that of a marble statue, other than the dark green circuitry running down her face like trickles of water. Some of her detailing was similar to how she looked before she… left, and abandoned Sung. But others were so much different now. She looked like such a completely different person, but what scared him more was that she still did resemble her old self a bit. She couldn’t have been lying about being his compu--... ex computer wife. Even now, Sung refused to believe his own eyes.

Sung looked up at her as she stood over him, chuckling to herself and leaning over to gently caress his chin with her robotic white hand. The familiar, and yet somehow simultaneously foreign, touch of her hand sent unnerving chills through his heart. “Oh, Sung. Even with all the intellect and genius in the universe, you never did, nor ever will, understand your own finest creation. It’s a shame. So knowledgeable, yet so idiotic.” The Shanghai Lady suddenly gripped at Sung’s jaw, and yanked his head up further. “We could’ve been unstoppable, Sung. With your intellect and my vigor, we could’ve achieved anything we wanted. But you didn’t want that, did you?” She squeezed tighter onto Sung’s face. “No, you’d rather waste your talent building robot drummers and specialty instruments with all of the finest elements of our universe. Never focusing on the bigger picture. Such wasted potential.” She shoved his face away, and Sung let his head droop down.

Memories of their marriage flashed into Sung’s mind. Gradually, over time, the more sentient and self-thinking that she became, the more she would grow tired of him and his experiments. He noticed that she became distant, irritable, and, now that he was looking back on it, more ominous about her outlooks and views. That’s when the arguments began.

She was always urging him to do “more important” things with his time and energy, saying that his talents shouldn’t go to waste on such “trivial” things such as music, but Sung would always calm her down enough to where they could get back to their normal lives. But the arguments only got worse until one day, she disappeared without a word, without a trace, and the only thing she’d left behind was a goodbye note.

But this… how could she have done all of this? Making such a bloody reputation for herself, on Earth of all places? And… more importantly, how was she able to single handedly tear TWRP apart so easily, and take away all of Sung’s friends one by one? He still didn’t even know what she’d done to them yet, and as much as it burned him on the inside to be so ignorant, he had no choice but to listen to her. No words could escape him at this point.

The Shanghai Lady slowly walked away from him, then stopped and stood with her back facing him. “But no need to dwell on the past, right? Not without the proper actions, at least. That’s when you all came in to the picture.” She slowly turned her head to look back at him. Her eyes shone a sharp and intimidating glow. “You made it so easy, I just couldn’t resist exacting revenge on you. You all came running right to me.”

She took a brief pause, almost as though she were thinking about something. She chuckled loudly before turning her head away and speaking again. “You know, Sung, I’ve always been intrigued by the lives of organic beings like yourself. You all have limitations: physically, emotionally, psychologically. It’s so captivating…. watching how you all squirm and thrash about once you’ve reached your breaking point. Blood spilling, bones shattering, hmhm, even watching tears fall is fascinating. Thrilling, even. Such fleshy, emotional little things, you are!” She said this in almost a cheery voice. “I never would’ve guessed that little red one’s neck would break so easily. Or that the lion man’s psyche could be so easily shattered.”

Sung’s heart stopped. A paralyzing horror fell over him, leaving his blood running cold, his skin draining of color. No, no, she couldn't’ have, she wouldn’t do that…right? In just a few short seconds, his entire world began to crumble and fall, and the weight of it crushed Sung’s heart. He started to tremble.

Sung shook his head in disbelief, denial. “No..N-no… you…”  

“Yes, the red one… so brittle. His neck just snapped like a twig. Oh, and the lion… he saw everything. He’s usually so calm and laid back.” The Shanghai Lady snickered. “Yet he broke down into such a demented state, screaming and sobbing out… and so quickly, at that. I was genuinely surprised.”

All Sung could do was listen as rage and dread rose within him, making him tremble and whimper. He hung his head and squeezed his hands into tight fists, each word she uttered sending more and more pain into his heart and soul.

“Even that robot broke much easier than I expected. I figured that another one of your creations might have stood a chance, but I was mistaken. He fell just as easily as the rest. The red glow in his eyes flickered away so… gently. It was almost peaceful to watch that heap of useless metal fall to the ground.”

In an outburst of rage, Sung cried out and tried to race over to her, but the two figures grabbed onto his arms and held him back as he kicked and screamed. He tried to struggle as much as he could, thrashing around and cursing and wailing about, but he eventually broke down and grew stiff, letting his body slump in their arms as he erupted into sobs and whimpers. The only movements he made were the violent shakes of his body as he cried, his chest heaving up and down in spastic breaths.

“And now, you…” The Shanghai Lady said, turning around with the same devilish smirk on her face. “Broken so easily, my sweetheart. You always were so sensitive. But I’m not nearly finished with you, yet.” She raised her hand in the air, and a strange golden orb slowly formed around it. It swarmed with electricity and circuit-like patterns.

She began walking over to him, taking her sweet time.

“No, no, I have more special plans with you.”