#first time getting the PREPARE TO EVACUATE message

[storkmuffin]

msg 1. [City of Seoul] Boundary breach emergency message for residents of Seoul. PREPARE TO EVACUATE, and allow children and the infirm to evacuate first!

msg 2. [Ministry of Public Admin. & Safety] Informing you that the earlier message sent by the City of Seoul was in error.

What I did in the intervening time:

1. Text a mutual in Europe going, I don't actually know what they mean by evacuate. Would've been useful to do a drill sometime.

2. Turn on the news.

3. Wonder if I should take my cat with me or leave him here in my apt with all the cat food open and the bathtub filled with water.

[nakedwilbur]

Her weekend beach trip with her girlfriends had got an abrupt ending when they had to evacuate their rented apartment due to a gas leakage. But apparently her brother hadn’t got the message that she was heading home early and still thought he had the house to himself with both his sister and parents away for the weekend.

As a poor substitute to their ruined weekend, she had invited the girls to spend the day by her parents swimming pool and was preparing brunch when her naked and half-asleep brother stumbled up on her in the kitchen. Watching him standing in front of here, frozen like a deer in the headlight, it struck her that she finally had the chance to get her revenge on the little jerk for all the humiliation and frustration he had caused her throughout the years. Before he had any chance to react, she invited him to spend the day together with the girls, told him not to bother to get dressed since he was already wearing the perfect little boy swim wear, handed him a stack of plates, and pushed him outside to set the table just in time for the first of the girls to arrive. As she watched here stark-naked jerk of a brother blushing all over and desperately trying to hide his massive boner, she thought that this might turn out to be the perfect weekend after all.

[murdrdocs]

hellohello! i absolutely ADORE your writing and i would be honored if you would write something for me.

i'm thinking something like this;

the idea is that the whole group is watching a movie together, and reader and ethan are sitting across the room from each other, however, they're texting each other throughout the movie, each message riskier and riskier to the point where ethan has to excuse himself to the restroom. reader follows him and well the rest is history 🤷🏼‍♀️

plzplzplz do not feel pressured to fulfill this anytime soon and please take your time. drink some water and do something productive today !! mwah mwah 💋

tysm for the sweet compliments !! this is only suggestive 16+, no smut :)

there was a running joke in your friend group that something always went down during movie night. the first time, sam accidentally burned popcorn and the whole building had to evacuate. the second, mindy (somehow) spilled soda on the outlet with the TV plugged into it. the third, chad had an underlying, very contagious, stomach bug, and the entire group was out of commission for a solid week and a half.

tonight, there was nothing. the tara-sam-quinn apartment was fairly quiet, save for the boisterous laughter that erupted throughout the living room due to 'white chicks' playing on the (new) TV. the entire night was fairly quiet. there was nothing out of the ordinary happening.

not even your texts to ethan. mostly since those were especially ordinary.

it's not either of your faults that this relationship was going really well so far, even if the others aren't exactly aware of it.

which is why you sit on the loveseat with chad, and ethan sits on the couch with anika and mindy, both of you across the room from the other. you're alternating between looking down at your phone, watching the movie, and watching ethan's reactions to your texts.

the way his eyes would widen just a bit, and he would shift restlessly in his seat, was addicting to you. you couldn't help but continue to text him, letting your messages consistently get riskier and bolder, just so you could see his ears redden.

from the beginning of the movie, to terry crews singing 'a thousand miles', your texts to ethan got to the point where you had to lower your screen brightness and shield your phone from chad. which, not like he was paying attention. he had recently claimed that 'white chicks' was a national treasure that wasn't talked about nearly enough.

you hit send on another message, scrolling up to see how you went from saying 'hey' to ethan at 9:32, to telling him how you were wearing his favorite pair of underwear just a minute ago.

his phone vibrates twice, he picks it up without looking away from the screen, and then he glances down at the phone in his hand. you watch as he visibly gulps, and starts to type a response. you beat him to it.

'really craving your cock rn e :(( my fingers aren't cutting it anymore'

ethan jumps up so fast that mindy cranes her neck to look at him.

"dude, what the fuck?"

"sorry," ethan rushes out, his phone falling onto the sofa where he was previously sat. "just gotta ... take a massive piss."

mindy's turning back to the TV with a murmur of ethan's exclamation being "TMI", and you're watching ethan walk out of the living room and towards the bathroom, throwing a "sure" over his shoulder when chad asks if ethan can bring him another soda on the way back.

you manage to slip out less conspicuously, a prepared excuse on your lips that thankfully wasn't required. as soon as you're slipping into the bathroom behind ethan, he has his hands under your shirt and over your ass, pulling you into him with a rough kiss so that you can feel the bulge stiffened in his jeans.

unfortunately, chad doesn't get something to drink from ethan until the real brittany and tiffany reappear.

[girlactionfigure]

SPECIAL REPORT ON NORTHERN ISRAEL - WAR OF DRUMS

⚠️ Israeli and US media are reporting that the Israeli Security Cabinet had put a “deadline” for the end of January for the diplomatic efforts to make Hizbullah move north to the Litani river, if this will not be achieved till the end of January - Israel will begin a military operation against Hizbullah in southern Lebanon.

⚠️ Kann News quotes a Lebanese newspaper “Al-Jumhoriya” saying that an “ambassador of a major European country” conveyed a message to Lebanese officials that "a war is fast approaching Lebanon" and there is a growing fear that the situation will “go out of control”, as he put it. 

It was also reported that the American and French efforts prevented the expansion of the war as of now after pressuring Israel into giving diplomatic efforts a chance, but even this measure is reaching its end.

⚠️ Kann News reports that in an overnight telephone call with US Defense Secretary Austin, DM Galant had reiterated “Israel’s commitment to return the evacuated communities along the Lebanon border” and that “crucial decision point on the matter” is “approaching” DM Galant emphasized that Israel prefers to do this in a diplomatic manner, but at the same time is “prepared to do so through military force as well”

⚠️ DM Galant held another situational assessment yesterday on the Lebanon border with the troops stationed there:

"I estimate that as long as fighting continues in the south, there will be fighting in the north. But we will not accept this situation for an extended period of time. There will come a moment when, if we do not reach a diplomatic agreement in which Hezbollah respects the right of the residents to live here in security - we will have to bring security by force. I don't wish for war, I don't want to take it as a first choice, so we are trying to exhaust the diplomatic option. But if we have to use force in order to return our people to their homes - we will use force. This army is ready to protect the citizens of the country”

DM Galant also added :”If and when we’ll do it, we have to act properly. Like a knife, with great power, with high coordination. And I very much trust the fighters, the regulars, the reservists, the commanders, the brigadier general, the division commander - I hope we don't get to that, but I estimate that we’re approaching a military option.”

⚠️ Hizbullah deputy leader Naeem Qassem :”We do not care nor fear about the threats of the Israeli enemy. If and when it will expand its aggression it will receive a resounding and forceful response that will have a beginning but could have no ending”

The Hizbullah terrorist Ali Damush (deputy head of Hezbollah's executive council) said that “it is true that the "resistance" does not want to be dragged into war” but if it is “forced into one” it will not fear it and is “already fully prepared to confront it with all its strength and courage”

⚠️ Levi also heavily criticized both local and national governments, lack of preparedness to a war: ”We were presented with assessments of a 7 day blackout. No phone services, no electricity, no water, possibly no working sirens. No ones relaying this to the public” He urged Israelis to “purchase small generators, fuel, non perishable foods, batteries” 

⚠️ Minister Eli Cohen: "Establishing a Palestinian state is a reward for terrorism and a danger to the State of Israel. It will encourage the murder of Jews."

[huffle-dork]

Swap Across the CrystalVerse Chapter 11: Shadow City

Read Swapboys | Crystal’s AUs

Read SITCV | SATCV Masterpost | AO3 Link

Back upstairs, Jackie, Schneep, and Marvin all have their phones go off at the same time. Schneep is the first to check the message he's got. His eyes widen as he shows it to JJ, Chase, Bro, and Jackieboy. 

I think that Magnificent guy is here now. Someone else is with him too but idk who its too dark. 

Jackieboy and Chases's eyes widen too and Bro quickly pushes Jackie behind him as he looks around, eyes glowing with power. "We beat him... I guess that's good... no casualties here."

Marvin checks the message next. He gasps, leaning across the desk to get up in the librarian's face. "Look, this guy is here right now, you have to act now!" 

Meanwhile, Jackie shows Alt the message, too. 

Alt blinks and then pales as he sees the message. 

"Okay, okay, a-alright, sirs," the librarian says. 

He picks up a landline phone from the desk, presses a button, and speaks into the reciever as the loud BRAP! BRAP! of an alarm starts to play. "Attention all library patrons, please evacuate immediately. If you cannot evacuate, a staff member will show you to our hidden area." 

Immediately, there's a scramble. About half of the patrons disappear into thin air while the other half hurriedly run out of sight. Some of them leave their books behind, some of them take them with. 

Jackie frowns. "I thought the library was warded against teleporting," he says. 

"Teleporting in, yeah," Marvin says.

Alt whips around, trying to see if he can feel Magnificent's presence. "Fuck...!" He looks to the others, and nervously tells them, "O-Okay uh... for Mag be prepared for more black magic but also hypnotism! He usually goes for that first..."

"Hypnotism?" Schneep repeats, then glances at JJ. "Do you think that would work on us?" 

Only one way to find out, JJ says. 

Chase leans over to the elevator and sticks his head through the closed doors. Then he comes back. "The elevator is moving," he reports. "Either someone else has the worst timing or your Magnificent guy had to use it." 

"Heh. Kinda funny, actually," Marvin says. He pulls his mask down and the tattoos on his hands start to glow. "Okay, let's make our stand." 

Jackie turns into a wolf. He stumbles a bit, making a small whining sound, and licks the burns on his side before turning back to the elevator and growling.

Alt looks back towards the door with determination. He just hopes he has enough magic... it's been a while since he refueled. He then blinks and digs something out of his pocket and calls out to Jackieboy, "Jackie! Catch!" 

Jackieboy pops out from behind Bro and fumbles to catch Alt's pocket knife. 

Alt grins. "You said you were getting better with knives, right?" 

Jackieboy smiles and nods, flicking the blade open. 

Bro eases into a fighting stance, watching the door like a hawk.

And then... the doors open.

The metal doors go flying off as purple and green electricity blast them off. Magnificent emerges from the debris with a shit eating grin, his eyes reflective in the low light. "Well well well~! The annoyances beat us here it seems!" He tilts his head back with a sick grin, power radiating off him as he laughs, "Perfect." 

In a burst of static, he suddenly appears behind Marvin and tries to grab him.

Marvin spins around but is too slow to avoid Mag. He yelps in surprise and squirms against him. 

"What the--hey!" Schneep shouts, turning around. Jackie also turns, growling, and the two of them rush at Magnificent at the same time. 

Magnificent grabs Marvin by his arm and holds him tightly, giggling as he digs his claws into his skin. "Hello there, Marvin~! So nice to meet you!" He sees Jackie and Schneep attempting to get to him and wipes out a hand to send a blast of magic at them, driving them back. He then laughs and focuses on Marvin, trying to drain his magic.

Jackie and Schneep fall backwards, skidding across the floor. 

“N-no! Marvin!” Schneep gasps. 

Meanwhile, Anti strolls casually out through the broken elevator doors and scans the library. And his eyes land on one person in particular. He grins. "Oh hey, JJ! Are these the fucks you keep ditching me for?!" 

JJ backs away, fear and shock taking over his face. He unconsciously reaches up for his neck, checking that the high collar of his shirt is in place. As he adjusts it, he briefly reveals the scars on his neck he was hiding behind it. Some sort of terrible tearing happened there.

Alt stiffens as he hears the new voice and takes in his appearance. Jesus- this Anti really looked like him! Even his eyes! He shudders and trembles back and sees the scar of Jameson's neck. His eyes widen. 

Bro also seems disturbed by the sight of Anti but he steps in front of the others and growls, "Listen- I dunno who you think you are! But- Back off!"

“And I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care.” Anti bares his fangs. “But you look tough. Are you?” And he lunges for Bro. 

Bro bares his teeth and quickly manages to grab Anti's blow and throw him back. "The name's Bro Fantastic, you best remember it!"

Anti staggers backwards, laughing. "Wow--that's fucking ridiculous. But okay." His eyes drift over to Jackieboy. He grins and lunges for him next. 

Bro growls and then shouts as he sees Anti sprint around him to grab Jackieboy. 

Jackieboy shouts and tries to hold out the knife to defend himself but he quickly gets tackled to the ground. He tries to kick Anti off him. "H-Hey! Let go!!" 

Marvin gasps as Magnificent starts draining his magic. It flows freely, a sour power that burns slightly—but is strong and vivid. Marvin slumps, eyes rolling back in his head… 

Magnificent hisses slightly as he drains some of the magic but soon laughs as he feels it merge with his own. 

"No!" Alt shouts, trying to glitch over to help. But, then he stops and his eyes widen. 

Marvin’s tattoos start to glow brightly, so bright that the ones on his arms and torso can be seen through the fabric of his clothes. 

“I w o n ‘ t l e t y o u,” says a voice from his mouth—and suddenly a wave of green light bursts outward, a wave of concussive force.

Magnificent looks confused but then cries out and gets blasted back as the force hits him. He skips across the floor and is momentarily disoriented. 

Alt now glitches over to help, "M-Marvin?!"

Marvin's head lolls, eyelids fluttering. He's not unconscious, but he's on the very edge of it. 

Schneep also rushes over, checking him over. "H-his skin is hot," he gasps. 

Jackie growls and jumps for Magnificent, planning to pin him to the ground. 

Alt looks over Marvin with worry. Is there anything he can do to help? He stiffens though as Magnificent staggers to his feet behind them and laughs loudly. "What incredible power!" He licks his lips like a hungry cat and then lunges to try to grab Marvin again, just narrowly dodging Jackie's jaws. 

Alt glitches in front of him and tries to keep Mag back. He manages to make an electric bubble around him, Marvin and Schneep. 

Jackie misses attacking Magnificent and turns around, growling, getting in between him and Alt's electric bubble. 

"Jackie no you are still injured!" Schneep asks. "Damn it! Alt, let me out of here so I can kick this man's ass!" 

Anti laughs, grabbing Jackieboy tightly. Then, suddenly, he bites down on Jackieboy's shoulder, fangs passing right through his clothes. Blood is drawn. It feels so wrong. 

Jackieboy gasps and lets out a strangled scream as he's bitten, his back arching. He kicks weakly with his feet and tries to pull away but- his body is freezing up, feeling weak. 

Anti! No! JJ rushes forward, trying to pull Jackieboy free. Anti stops biting and smiles a blood-stained smile at JJ. "Oh? Why don't you help me instead?" 

JJ stops, quickly backing up, looking suddenly terrified. 

Bro screams in rage and tries to tackle Anti off of Jackieboy. 

Anti yelps as Bro knocks him away, but then laughs some more. "Alright then! Let's try again!" And he tries to bite Bro's arm.

Bro has arm holding Anti down, the other reaching up to punch his lights out as power blooms in his eyes. He then screams and nearly crashes to the floor as Anti's teeth sink into his arm. 

Jackieboy curls up on the ground, gripping where Anti bit him as his vision swims. 

Alt feels panic rising up in his chest as he breathes and tries to keep the shield up. At Schneep's shout, Alt grits his teeth and drops it for just a second. "F-Fine! I'll protect Marvin!" 

"Oh.. will you now, pet?" Magnificent grins sinisterly. But, the mutt is in his way. He sees his injuries and laughs, building up more purple fire in his hands, "Awww... is the puppy dog hurting? Here... lemme help~!" He lunges to attack him. 

Jackie the wolf quickly dodges by jumping to the side. As soon as the shield flickers down for a moment Schneep runs out, reaching into the pocket of the coat he's wearing and pulling out something thin and made of metal--a scalpel. He slashes it towards Mag. 

Magnificent laughs more, his eyes filled with madness. He hardly takes notice of Schneep until the scalpel is cutting down his arm. He staggers back then growls, throwing purple fire towards him. 

Alt's head whips over to the sound of his friends and he hesitates- then glitches out of the shield and leaves it in tact, going to try to grab Anti and glitch him away.

Schneep ducks and dodges, going faster than humanly possible in order to avoid the near-point-black blast of magic. He laughs. "They said you were powerful! They must have overestimated you!" 

While Schneep distracts Mag, Jackie jumps for him from behind. 

Magnificent roars in anger and tries to lash out his claws at Schneep. He doesn’t see Jackie until he’s tackled face first to the floor by the heavy weight. He growls and lashes out to find one of Jackie’s burns, trying to pump it full of even more black magic. 

Anti's eyes light up with sadistic delight as he drains Bro's blood. He doesn't even notice Alt grabbing him until it's too late. "Whoa!" he shouts after the glitching. "Fucking lightning magic!" 

Bro slumps to the floor, disoriented and dizzy. 

Anti twists around to look at Alt, grinning. "So? Now what?" And then he looks at JJ. "Come on, don't you want to help me?"

JJ covers his ears, as if that can help. "Come on." Anti's eyes turn red. "Help me." 

Alt breathes heavily, looking at his other self with wide eyes. His friends’ blood was dripping from his lips. Anger burns bright around him as his magic reacts to his rage, bright arcs of electricity sparking. But, his stomach drops as he sees Anti’s eyes turn red. 

It turns out covering his ears doesn't work at all. JJ suddenly lunges towards Alt. 

Alt glitches away, crouching down on the ground as he looks at JJ with slight fear. He then roars in rage and gathers up electricity to shoot at Anti.

Jackie yelps, jerking backwards, falling to the side as Magnificent pushes more black magic into his system. 

"No!" Schneep rushes forward, pulling Jackie back-- 

And then suddenly a face appears in front of Magnificent, a pale face without any eyes. "I've never done this before, but I think you deserve it," Chase says, and leans forward, disapeparing. Suddenly, Magnificent feels cold all over, down to his very core. 

Magnificent shouts out in surprise as Chase appears in front of him. He gasps as he enters his body and shudders. He grips at his head and yells out, “F-Fucking specter! Get out of me!” 

Anti dodges the blast Alt shoots at him, laughing. "Vamps are faster than you think," he says. "For example--" And his eyes turn red again. JJ suddenly attacks Alt from behind.

Alt staggers back, his fear evident on his face. He feels JJ behind him and manages to glitch away again. But, spots are starting to dance in his eyes. Still- he’s not out yet. His eyes burn green-white and then glitches over take his body- and out pops a black fox that snarls and rushes at Anti with a burst of electricity.

"Holy fucking shit!" Anti is not expecting the transformation, and immediately gets tackled by the fox, raising his arms to defend his face from the teeth and claws. After a struggle, he manages to throw the fox Alt off, and scrambles backwards. 

Alt snarls and claws and bites as much as he can before he gets thrown off. He barks at Anti, electricity snapping around him like live wires.

{Sorry,} Chase's voice says in Magnificent's head. {But I can't let you hurt my friends.} The cold gets heavier, and it's hard for him to move. But he feels himself get to his feet anyway. 

"I can do this for a little while, I think," Chase says through Mag's voice. 

Magnificent tries to scream and claw his way back to control- but he can’t. 

Schneep looks at Mag--Chase--impressed. "Nice!" he says, and Jackie barks and wags his tail. 

Jackieboy and Bro push themselves up and looks at Chase possessing Mag with wide eyes. “W-Well… that’s one way to stop him.” Bro says, trying to push himself up to his feet. 

Jackieboy can’t really seem to keep his eyes on Mag like this, gripping at his shoulder. 

Anti glances towards Magnificent, currently being possessed. And for a moment, he looks impressed. Then he shakes his head. "Fuck this." He gets to his feet, bleeding from various wounds, and walks around the circulation desk. "JJ, come home when the sun rises, we'll talk more then," he says. Then he ducks down and disappears into a shadow.

Alt yells out as Anti leaves and tries to stop him, transforming back and skidding in a collection of electricity and glitches right at the shadow’s edge. He looks at it and then yells out in anger, hitting his fist against the floor. 

JJ sighs in relief as soon as Anti is gone. He still looks a bit nervous, but with Mag also temporarily taken care of, the situation is a lot better. 

Sorry, Alt, he says.

Alt doesn't see JJ's apology as he's focused on the shadow.

"It won't last long," Chase says. "Is there any way you could knock him out or something?" 

Bro blinks and then grins, "Oh I could do that! I love doing that." He gets up and grabs Mag and starts to wind up a punch. But then he stops, "...wait this wont hurt you will it?" He asks Chase. 

"I mean... I can't really feel all that much, actually." Chase looks down and flexes Mag's fingers. "It's all weirdly numb. I could feel more as a ghost. So, it probably won't hurt." He smiles--such a sincere expression is strange to see on Mag's face. "So go ahead." 

Bro does look weirded out by seeing such a soft expression on Mag's face. So- he doesn't hesitate to knock the mad magician's lights out. Mag's body crashes to ground with little resistance. 

After Mag collapses, Chase's form lifts away from it, stretching. "Huh. It's weird, being in a body feels so... heavy." 

JJ turns his attention to Bro and Jackieboy and hurries over. It shouldn't be bleeding too much. Do you have bandages? 

Meanwhile, Marvin groans, lifting his head gently. 

"Everyone wounded over here," Schneep says. "I can look at you all." He drags Jackie, still in wolf form, over by Marvin.

Jackieboy looks Schneep nervously as he comes over. "... t-this isn't gonna turn us into vampires, is it??" 

As Schneep drags the injured into one place, 

The shield around Marvin flickers in and out before disappearing completely and Alt sways dazedly and then slumps to the ground.

Schneep shakes his head. "No, there is a whole process to become a vampire. You must first lose most of your blood, then drink a vampire's blood, then spend a full day enclosed--Alt?!" 

Jackieboy starts to look relieved at Schneep's explanation then jumps as he hears Alt fall. "Alt!" 

JJ hurries over and helps Alt up, guiding him over to the rest of the group. 

Alt dazedly blinks up at JJ and bonelessly lets himself be lead to the others, more spots dancing in his eyes. 

Bro hurries over and guides Alt to sit down, worriedly checking his temperature. "... I think he just used too much magic..." He mumbles. 

Alt slumps onto Bro's shoulder and mumbles quietly, "...'dun like vamp're me... s'aprick..." 

He really is a prick, isn't he? JJ agrees. 

Alt laughs loopily at JJ's signs and nods. 

Bro pushes back his hair with a bit of worry. 

Marvin raises his head. "...d' we w'n?" he mumbles.

Jackieboy looks down at Marvin and then laughs, patting his shoulder. "Yeah we did... you okay, mate?"

"Head hurts," Marvin groans. His eyes flicker over to Alt. And he reaches out and grabs Alt's wrist. "Schn'p, put my mask back on." 

Schneep nods, and does so. Marvin's tattoos flicker with light, and Alt suddenly feels a jolt of energy. 

"Wait a--Marvin you fucking idiot!!!" Schneep grabs Marvin's wrist and snatches back. 

"'m fine," he mumbles. "Th' mask helps. I stored some spare in there. Worry 'bout Jackie." 

Jackie lies where he is, ears drooping. "Oh... Jackie, we are getting you to the hospital right away," Schneep says softly.

Alt blinks blearily and then jolts slightly as he gets a burst of energy. He looks down at his hands and then back at Marvin in disbelief. "W-Why?" 

Marvin smiles weakly at Alt. "Looked like you needed it." 

YOU needed it, you dumbass, JJ says. 

"Yeah. But Alt's a visitor... Seemed, uh... right." 

Alt smiles gratefully at Marvin then quickly drags his bag out and digs through it, "I-I...! I can try a purification spell...! To help Jackie..."

Schneep looks at Alt. "That would be great, Alt. Anything would help." Jackie inches closer to Alt, putting his big wolf head on his lap.

Jackieboy looks at everyone and then swallows, "Should we all just... go to the hospital? T-Try to rest?" 

"I dunno... Mag not be out for long..." Bro mumbles. 

Schneep looks at the unconscious Mag. "Yes, people do not tend to stay knocked out for long when you hit them. Maybe we can find something to tie him up." 

Bro looks around the area, trying to think of something to tie up Mag.

Behind the circulation counter are some stretchy belts, similar to seatbelts. Most of them are binding stacks of books but in this situation it's probably fine to take them. 

Alt jumps slightly as Jackie lays on his lap. Then, he laughs. He gently pats his head and hurries to look for a purification spell. 

After a bit he finds the spell and starts to trace sigils over Jackie's burns, runes of light left hovering over them. He then finds Jackie's heart and holds his hand over it, pushing some magic into it with a whispered spell word. Light races from his heart towards the burns and the sigils pulse with magic then the light rushes over the wound like a wave, taking any sign of corruption away. 

Alt sways a bit again, a little dizzy but manages to shake it off. He smiles down at Jackie, "...I think that just takes care of the black magic... you might still need to get some things for the burns..."

Jackie nods at him. He backs away, sitting up... and transforms back into a human. He sighs. "Oh thank god. I was having difficulty changing for a while there. Thought I might be stuck. You don't want to spend too long in one form as a werewolf. Thanks so much, Alt."

 Alt smiles and nods, "Glad I could help." 

"Good to see you better." Schneep smiles. "We can pick up burn ointment on the way to the hospital for Marvin." 

"I don' need the hospital," Marvin mutters. "Jus' some rest." He closes his eyes--then opens them again when Schneep shakes him. "Jeez, Schneep. I promise I'm fine." 

"Better safe than sorry," Chase says.

Bro makes an ah-ha noise as he finds the stretchy belts and then grabs one. He hurries over to Mag and ties his arms behind his back. "There! that should hold him for a bit." 

"...I still think we should try to rest-" Jackieboy mumbles, "The TRVLR hasnt exactly had the greatest track record getting us home..."

“Well… if you all wish to rest, and if Marvin is sure he doesn’t need a hospital,” Schneep says slowly, “I think my flat is the closest to the library. I assume. I do not know where JJ lives.” 

Anti is probably going to be there, anyway, JJ says. And I’m sure none of you want to see him.

Alt narrows his eyes at this. He looks at JJ, "... what's his deal with you? He... he was... was controlling you."

JJ sighs. He looks tired. Anti is the vampire who made me. 

"Ohhh, that bitch was here?" Marvin says. "Man, wish I hadn't fucking... passed out. I would've punched him." 

"Alt beat him up on your behalf, don't worry," Chase says. 

Alt beams and looks proud and Bro ruffles up his hair, much to his displeasure. 

JJ chuckles a little. He does deserve it. As for how he was controlling me... there's a ritual a vampire can do while making another. In the period where their body is enclosed. It binds the new vampire to them, meaning that they have to follow commands given by them and can't go too far away from them. 

"Which is super fucking illegal, by the way," Jackie says. "Every Night Council in the country has forbidden it." 

Funny enough, that law went into effect the year after I was made, JJ says. Which makes me think Anti planned it that way. He shakes his head. He's not the worst vampire out there, I think. He has moments of humanity. But still... He gestures vaguely around them. 

The swaps then look horrified. 

“T-That’s… that’s awful…” Alt says quietly, shivering just thinking of having to follow every order given- never being to stray from the one who hurts you. He glances at Mag. “Sounds absolutely like something Mag would do…” 

Jackieboy mutters. “Even if he’s not that bad- he still bit the shit out of us. Let’s head over to Schneep’s flat and rest up. …at least for as long as we can before cat face wakes up.”

JJ sighs. It was worse in the beginning. I’m just glad that I have these guys now, as friends. 

Marvin nods. “We’re tryin’ ev’rything we can to help.” 

Schneep leans over and pats JJ on the shoulder. “Very well. Let’s go. I am sure Jack is waiting for us anxiously. Those who can teleport should meet us there once again.” 

————— 

Schneep’s apartment is on the second floor of a well-off apartment complex. The inside is neat, with mostly dark furniture that looks about a decade old. The living area has a comfy-looking sofa and a couple chairs, along with a coffee table, a TV stand, and some bookshelves, all tied together with a circular purple rug. A modest kitchenette is attached, with a couple stools and a counter. A hallway to the left leads to a set of closed doors, probably a bathroom and a bedroom. The front and right walls have windows, all covered in thick blackout curtains. 

“I do not have any food, but you may help yourselves to the drinks in the fridge,” Schneep says. “All of you are welcome in my flat.” 

The group piles in. Marvin has to summon Chase again, but everyone else walks in normally. 

“Bit crowded with everyone in here,” Jack comments.

“We’ll make do, your flat is really nice, Schneep!” Bro says, hoisting the still passed out Mag on his shoulder yet again. “…though man- getting real sick of carrying this guy.” 

“Maybe he’ll get brain damage from being knocked out so much.” Jackieboy snickers. 

"You can dump him on the sofa or that chair," Schneep says. "Or even on the floor, I don't really care." 

Bro unceremoniously dumps Mag on the floor and dusts off his hands. Then, he flops into a chair and checks over his bite wound. “…he bite me through my jacket! Fucking prick-“ 

"Vampire fangs are pretty sharp," Schneep says, smiling to show off his in turn. "Unless you wear something as thick as leather or very tightly woven, they tend to pierce through the smallest openings." 

Marvin and JJ crowd around the fridge, opening it up. After a moment, Marvin grabs a bottle of purple soda and passes a plastic bottle of red liquid to JJ (it's obvious what that is). 

Chase looks around. He drifts down the hallway, and back. "So you do have a mirror in your bathroom." 

"It has an aluminum back, I can see myself in it," Schneep says. 

Alt goes to glitch into a corner and digs around in his bag- finding some snacks and starting to tear into them. Jackieboy notices this and goes to hand him some more, just in case.

Jackie flops down in the nearest chair with the attitude of someone who's been here often and always sits in the same place. "Oh hey, you guys have snacks?" he asks Jackieboy. "D'you mind if I have something? I'm starving." 

Jackieboy laughs and nods, tossing him a protein bar. “See? You guys were making fun of me for taking a big backpack!” 

Alt huffs out a laugh and rolls his eyes. “We thank you for your Sage dad wisdom, Jackie.”

I'm truly very sorry for Anti, JJ says. 

"That fucker was acting more wild than me when I was a literal wolf," Jackie says. He accepts the protein bar. with a "thanks" and tears it open. 

Bro waves JJ off, “S’not your fault dude. He decided to be a motherfucking menace.” He tests his arm and nods as he can feel the punctures already starting to heal. 

Jackieboy takes out some of his first aid and starts wiping at his shoulder so at least it won’t look too bloody. Damn.. his white shirt though- 

JJ watches Jackieboy struggle with the shirt and walks over. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a small test-tube-sized bottle of pale blue-green liquid, which he hands to them. 

When you next get some soap and water, wash the shirt with that. A quarter of it should be fine for that amount. 

"You sure, JJ?" Marvin asks. 

You'll just have to sell me some more, JJ says, grinning. 

Marvin rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure." 

"Ah, Marvin, I need some more blood remover too," Schneep says. 

"Neither of you are getting discounts, by the way." The two vamps laugh. 

Jackieboy blinks and then grins, taking the bottle. “Hey thanks! I was really bummed this shirt was ruined. It’s one of my wife’s favorites.” He laughs. 

"It's a very nice shirt," Jackie agrees, grinning. "Schneep, if I got this shirt for you would you wear it?" 

"Maybe on my nights off," Schneep says. 

"It'd look good on you," Jack agrees. 

"So... now what?" Marvin asks, glancing at Mag. "We can't keep him in here forever." 

“Don’t worry,” Alt says as he hurries to finish his snacks. “I’m just fueling back up so I can get us out of here.” He shakes himself out and glitches easily over to grab a soda from the fridge and down that too. He starts to buzz with more glitches. “I need a decent amount to power the TRVLR.”

"The traveler?" Chase asks. "That's how you got here, then?"

Alt nods, pulling the device out of his pocket. “Yup- this thing is programmed to help take us to other worlds. It should be taking us home… but…” Alt’s mind wanders to his reading before and he pauses. 

“But…? Do you think you know why it’s not working?” Bro asks. 

Alt shakes his head, “no I… I still don’t know why… malfunctioning I guess but… Marvin and I read some cards earlier and… I think we still have a bit of a journey ahead…” 

Jackieboy scoffs slightly, “you got that from a card reading? Those things can’t actually tell the future…” 

Marvin raises an eyebrow. "Not normally, no. Do I need to remind you you're in a world with fucking witches and ghosts and supernatural creatures? And you think cards telling the future is absurd?" He grins. "Though I will say they're not always right." 

Jackieboy opens his mouth to argue but then quickly shuts it, turning red.

"Maybe something's happening... when you're traveling?" Chase guesses. "Like... I-I don't know what, actually. But if you can't figure out what's wrong with the thing, maybe it's something else." 

Maybe if you try heading somewhere with fancy technology they can fix it for you, JJ says.

Alt looks the TRVLR over, “I mean… it was damaged before… but it seemed to work just fine. Now it just… doesn’t. It’s not going where we want it to go.” He lets out a huff of a laugh. “…if we get lucky enough to find a place with good tech then… yeah. But… I don’t know…” 

Bro is quiet for a second before he gets up and smiles. “Well- now it’s kinda like our first trip again, huh, Alt? We don’t know where we’re gonna go next so- let’s just hope for the best!” 

Alt tries to give his brother a soft smile back. Then he sighs and glitches over, grabbing his bag and slipping it on. “…in that case though… I guess we… gotta leave.”

"Don't forget your evil version of me," Marvin says, gesturing at Magnificent. "I think leaving him here is kind of like leaving a vampire in a blood bank." 

Stealing from everyday blood banks is illegal by the Council, though, JJ says. 

"And other people need that blood," Schneep says. 

"Okay, it's like leaving a vampire with no morals in a blood bank." 

The swaps laugh. “Nah, we wouldn’t do that to you guys. He’s bad enough in our universe.” Bro shakes his head and loads Mag back onto his shoulder. Mag starts to stir, groaning, his face aching.

Jack laughs. He looks at the group and grins. "It was nice to meet you all." 

Jackieboy knocks Jack lightly on his arm, “You too! Nice to see a normal lad like me around~ keep these crazies in line, won’t you?” He teases. 

"It's practically my job at this point," Jack chuckles. "You too with your guys." 

"Yeah." Chase nods. "Nice to meet you, Bro. I know this is probably strange to see, but... you're cool. If that makes sense." 

Bro blinks at Chase and then smiles warmly. “It was nice to meet you too. It was weird at first but- you’re cool too. I hope you’ll figure all this out. Seems like you got a great team.” He smiles at the others too. 

"Thanks." Chase grins at him. 

"Maybe we can hang out more if your thing gets fixed," Jackie says, smiling.

Alt looks reluctant but then grips the TRVLR tighter, “I’m gonna come back- someday! I- I need to read things in that library! And properly look at Marvin’s shop! So… this isn’t goodbye.” He smiles, “We’ll see you all again.”

"I'm looking forward to it!" Marvin says, eyes alight with excitement. "We can exchange all the knowledge." 

"Good luck getting home," Schneep says. 

I'm glad to have met you for a while, JJ adds. 

"I hope we'll meet again," Jackie waves goodbye to them.

Alt nods with a grin and goes to grab the others. Jackieboy and Bro wave as Alt opens up the TRVLR and hits the jump button, bracing for their next jump.

They fall into nothing, and--it's almost expected by now what will happen. Their course shifts, like a swimmer caught in the rip tide and being pulled out to sea.

[steddieas-shegoes]

Just a little hurricane update since I’m focusing on finishing up an assignment for school and trying so so hard to finish this chapter tonight:

I’m dead center of it. It’s the first actual hurricane we’ve had where I am that’s been this bad in at least a decade. Since I’m central, I don’t have to worry that much about flooding, especially since it’s only an estimated 4-6” of rain for my area. The problem is the wind. I’m in an area where they’re expecting 60-90mph sustained winds and gusts of 110mph or higher. They expect a lot of tornadoes to pop up because of this, so we’ll be dealing with A LOT of debris in roads, downed trees and power lines, damage to houses, etc.

So it’s a guarantee I will lose power when it hits land tomorrow morning. I usually have intermittent service during storms where we lose power, so hopefully I’ll be able to check in at some point, but it’s kinda 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Last time we had a storm like this, we lost power for 3 days. Fingers crossed that’s not the case this time because I’ve got Shit To Do™️ and a hockey tournament to leave for on Friday. Anyways, we are as prepared and as safe as possible. We are not in an evacuation zone, though the counties to the west of us are due to being along the river and coastal areas. We have back up plans if we end up needing to stay with someone else nearby and plenty of things to do when we lose power.

If I don’t respond to messages tomorrow (or even tonight for that matter, I’m trying so hard to get a lot of shit done before the inevitable happens), it’s because I’m suffering through no AC and placing bets on half of the tree in my front yard falling down.

[ase-trollplays]

Gone

When Florah climbed out of his recuperacoon that evening, it was strangely quiet. It wasn't common for him to wake up before Karima, especially not during the cold season when his depression worsened and it took more effort just to get up in the evening. Even if she was still asleep, Robbie -- Her hive assistant drone -- would be scuttling about getting chores done or preparing breakfast, and he wasn't exactly quiet.

After wiping off the residual slime, he trudged to the bathroom to take a hot shower. By the time he emerged and returned to his room, an hour and a half had passed. Karima never allowed him to stay in the shower for longer than half an hour. "Spending that much time sulking first thing in the evening isn't good for you," she always said. Worry was starting to creep in now.

Once he was dressed, he hurriedly crossed the hallway and knocked on Karima's bedroom door. He was met with silence.

"Karima? Karima, I really need you to answer me," he said with trembling voice as he knocked again much more frantically.

Silence.

Worry immediately turned into anxiety as he shakily grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Had his heart been beating, it would have stopped short.

Her room was empty.

Karima was gone.

Florah ran downstairs and beelined for the indoor greenhouse in the hopes that she was tending to the plants there. She was not. He then checked the kitchen, living room, and downstairs bathroom. Still no sign of her. Not even Robbie was anywhere to be found.

"Karima!!" he called in a panic and threw open the front door to check the gardens around the hive. Snow crunched beneath his bare feet as he ran. She had to be there somewhere. She never, ever left their hive without telling him first.

He didn't locate her anywhere outside, either, but he did find what happened to Robbie. He screamed when he found the robot's body destroyed and pieces scattered across the snow under the trees. Despite not needing to breathe, he began to hyperventilate as an intense panic attack took over him. With trembling form, he raced back to the hive entrance to search all the rooms again when he noticed something taped to the door.

On the front of the door was a piece of paper that was blank save for a handwritten message:

We're even

His mind immediately shot to the worst possible outcome, and he stumbled as his legs threatened to give out. Florah fought off the wave of lightheaded dizziness before he could faint, and he snatched the paper from the door. He knew that handwriting all too well, and the purple hue the message was written in was painfully familiar. With a deep, shaky breath, he turned the paper over.

The regret was immediate, and he fell to his knees heaving and retching. For once, he was relieved he couldn't eat as he surely would have violently emptied the contents of his stomach had there been anything to evacuate. It was even worse than he feared. Karima wasn't even recognizable.

The photo showed the mutilated corpse of his moirail, her horns broken off and jammed into her eyes, her fingernails and teeth sat on a tray next to her body, and all too familiar sigils and runes sliced into her skin then burned closed, likely with the wood burner tool Allmah favored. Nails were driven into her ears, toes, and each segment of her broken fingers, and her arms and legs were partially flayed.

Perhaps the worst part of the image was the sight of Karima's gaping middle with her organs arranged around her on the table and her intestines pulled from her torso and hanging over the edge. There was blood everywhere covering not only Karima's body but damn near every inch of the table she was bound to.

Florah ripped and torn the horrid photo to pieces and threw them as hard away from himself as he could manage, which wasn't far as his entire body felt weak from shock. He felt chained to his spot slumped on his hands and knees in front of the door, and over an hour passed before he finally gathered the strength to stand and walk inside.

He walked through t he hive like a zombie, his thoughts an incomprehensible blur and his emotions suddenly muted and miles away. The quiet in the hive was deafening as he took a seat on the couch and let the mental fog consume him.

When did Allmah take her?

How did she pull it off?

Was there anything he could have done to stop her?

How long was Karima tortured before she finally died?

Two hours later, Florah finally moved from his spot and headed toward the kitchen. Despite the intense fog clouding his mind and muting his emotions, he was oddly focused as he rummaged through a drawer before pulling out a knife and pressing the blade to his throat.

He wasn't thinking about the fact the greenhouse and the gardens would die from neglect without him. Or about how distraught his friends and loved ones would be. Or even about Snelly, who would perish from lack of care just like all of the plants he and Karima poured their hearts into. None of it mattered.

His moirail was gone, and he wanted to be gone with her. What was the point of living if the one he loved the most wasn't there?

He pressed the blade into his neck.

...

He removed the blade from his neck and turned it to his forearm instead. Each graze of the knife slicing his skin was pure catharsis. After the tenth cut, his dissociative state started to clear and offer him clarity. With a deep breath, he threw the knife across the room and fell to his knees.

Whenever Florah broke, it was not delicate or neat. It was a loud, ugly, dramatic affair. His wailing could rattle windows. The tears fell like waterfalls. He was inconsolable for hours and extremely fragile for upwards of a day.

Tonight, however, it was soft. There was no despaired wailing, no curses or crying, not even a hitched breath.

Florah curled on the floor cradling his sliced arm and curled into a ball as he silently wept. He lied there, never moving even an inch from that spot, for the rest of the night. He stayed there all day as well, and the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that.

[cakeinpants]

Previous

"Mr. Malgaine, we can't waste time on this." Only now Pat noticed that there were two Sligs accompanying Malgaine. "Our priority is getting you to safety. Mudokons will be evacuated separately-" One of them started.

"I'll do what I need to do." The Vykker growled, making the sligs fall silent immediately. "It's not your job to command me."

Pat followed Malgaine as they rushed through the Palace's hallways, taking an unfamiliar route through narrow corridors with exposed pipes and bare plaster walls. His mind was overflowing with questions and growing panick. But he didn't voice any of it, silently following his master's order like he always did. Finally, Malgaine deigned to speak first.

"A large number of mudokon employees was reported missing and several artworks were vandalised with threatening messages. There are suspicions that the Palace was mined."

"M-mined?.." the Mudokon echoed with a tremble in his voice.

"Must be yet another group of rebels inspired by the stitch-mouthed..." The Vykker added. "We're going to Nolybab for the time the investigation will be going."

This can't be happening... cold claws of fear clenched inside him stronger and stronger, and that must've shown on the Mudokon's face. Malgaine glanced at him and said calmly: "I'm sure we're not in any actual danger, Patrick. But they have to take all the safety measures." Whether Malgaine believed it himself or not, these words somewhat calmed the Mudokon. Pat kept close to his master until they reached the airship docks.

The docks were filled with organised chaos of armed sligs directing the crowd, the sound of people's nervous murmuring drowning their sharp commands, metal detectors and sniffer slogs, multiple airships preparing for departure with people lined up for boarding. Some personal ships had already left and could be seen in the distance, while the Mudokon employees were still lined up on the platform and searched especially thoroughly.

"Mr. Malgaine, the VIP ship is that way-" the slig opened his mouth again, and got another furious look from the Vykker. Malgaine led Pat and his brothers to a platform in the opposite direction where a group of other Mudokon performers was gathered. There were a lot of familiar faces. Including the drone that always made him uncomfortable.. But right now he wasn't noticing anything or anybody. They're really leaving the Palace.. Everything was just fine. It was just a regular morning, and now suddenly home is dangerous and they're leaving the place where he spent all his life. It didn't feel real.

"But Mr. Malgaine, your ship is about to depart, you're the only passenger who hasn't boarded yet!"

"I know, I know, just give me a second oddamnit!" Then he turned to Pat and spoke hurriedly. "Listen, Patrick, I can't take you and the mudlings with me, but they'll take good care of you, just do what the guards tell you and don't worry. I'll be on that ship over there. It's departing sooner than yours, but I won't be far. Take care of your brothers. We'll be back together soon."

"Y-yes, Master." the answer sounded rather pathetic, as the terrified Mudokon lost any control of his voice.

For a short second the Vykker extended his arm and lightly touched the dancer's shoulder with his claw. "Keep it together. It's going to be okay."

"Yes, Master.." Pat repeated. He wouldn't take his eyes off the Vykker, worriedly watching him leave and make his way towards the airship...

Next

[maize-is-lost]

A very early sneak peak at the next Four Riders update:

---

“It’s amazing that no one's discovered PNF-404 before now,” Yonny comments as he watches their descent through one of the side windows. “It didn't take us long to get here, after all. I can't imagine this is outside of every Giyan colony's detection range.”

“Well it did take Olimar's message a month to reach us, based on the data logs we received, maybe the planet has some kind of natural interference!” Collin says, not looking up from his tablet.

“Don't tell me you're still listening to those logs,” Dingo groans. The Rescue Corps had been in transit for around a day, and in that time Collin had devoured the logs like a starving man being handed a plate of food. He had listened through them, transcribed them, made a timeline of events, Dingo was almost certain he had seen a spreadsheet in progress when he passed by a few hours ago.

Collin scratched at his chin with his tablet pen. “I'm telling you, there's something weird going on here.” The communications officer ignores Dingo as he groans and rolls his eyes. “If I'm right, only half of the original logs were sent out with The Transmission. Sure the ones included are informative, but there are crucial details missing!” He turns his screen quickly so Yonny and Dingo can see. “Like for instance, in Entry 58 he mentions someone named Moss, but it's never explained who or what Moss is! For all we know she's a hallucination Olimar dreamed up to cope with the stress!” Collin gesticulates wildly the more he goes on, fuming at the discrepancy.

“Entry 58? Weren't only 20 or so received with The Transmission?” Yonny cuts in.

“Yes!” Collin screams in frustration. “So what happened to the rest?”

“Maybe he just… Couldn't send them out? He was a freight driver wasn't he? Doesn't make sense for them to have Interstellar Radios as advanced as ours.” Collin seems to blue screen at Dingo’s suggestion, his jaw dropping as something seems to click into place.

“If Olimar's radio really wasn't that strong,” Collin looks back down at the tablet, tapping furiously, “then why send out the data logs in the first place? They'd only make it harder to send it out… What do you think, Russ?” When he gets no reply, Collin looks up from his pad and around to search for the Scientist. “Russ?”

As amazing as it is that Russ hadn't jumped into the conversation with all the details of a Hocotatian Frieght ship’s radio specs, Dingo does have to admit it's strange that they hadn't heard from him in so long. Russ stands by one of the windows on the opposite side of the ship, staring out into the space beyond. Dingo stands, craning his neck to see what's so interesting about PNF-404’s meteor field. It's just a bunch of gray rocks floating around-

Then he sees it. A flash of lighter gray in a sea of darkness and gray rocks. The thing he spots is cut to have flat sides and a uniform shape unlike the asteroids orbiting the planet. It spins, and he can see that the other side is damaged, with a massive hole in its side, but there's no mistaking it. He and Russ are looking at another ship.

“It's a probe ship, either meant to be unmanned or piloted by only one person. It's difficult to tell with the damages,” Russ reports. “Certainly not a freight ship like Captain Olimar would have been driving.”

Collin stands up to get a look, but the ship lurches and knocks him to the floor.

“Were we hit?” Dingo shouts, bracing himself and Russ against the wall of the ship.

Russ shakes his head. “It didn't feel like it.”

There's a crackle of static, and then Shepherd's voice fills the ship, “We're going down! Suit up immediately and head to the emergency escape system!”

The four Rescue Corp members scramble to pull their life support gear on as they rush toward the emergency escape doors. The four of them reach it fine, but Dingo still frowns. “What about the Captain and Bernard?”

“Presumedly they're preparing to evacuate as we are,” Yonny frowns before looking back at Russ. “Is there an emergency escape launch in the front of the ship?”

“Not one that will propel us away from the ship,” Russ says worriedly. “If they wait much longer, there's a chance they won't be able to clear the wreckage… Or worse, they may not have time to slow down before hitting the ground.” None of them need to ask for elaboration on why that's a very bad thing.

Dingo swallows. “Then let's go!” The others stare at him in disbelief. “We know the Captain can take care of herself, same with Bernard. What's important is making sure we can get out before it's too late!”

“Dingo’s right,” Yonny says as Collin opens his mouth. “Besides, Oatchi was up front too. The Captain will be able to track us down once we're all on the ground.”

Collin shakes his head. “Fine.” He lets Russ activate the emergency escape system, and then the four are falling through the air.

Dingo takes in a deep breath as the wind whips around him. He hopes he made the right call, leaving before the others.

He's so focused on the crew members still on the ship that he doesn't notice that Russ, Collin, and Yonny have fallen miles away until he's almost to the ground.

[direwolfrules]

3 Mandos and a Baby AU: Hijacking Death Watch

While Ursa and Alrich are in Sundari preparing their future Mand’alor for rule Bo-Katan is on Concordia desperately trying to set up a power base to take down Pre. Her Nite Owls are easy enough to recruit, most of them sided with her in her last life too. Really her main issues amongst her girls comes from Rook Kast and her insane group of True Believers.

Bo doesn’t really blame Rook for her sheer devotion to the cause, the girl wasn’t exactly a willing volunteer when she first came to Death Watch. Tor Vizsla’s old recruitment plan was basically just kidnapping kids and torturing/brainwashing them into obedient little attack dogs (Bo’s had a lot of regrets in her life, but one of the biggest would have to be willingly joining an organization that did that to kids). Sometimes it backfires really hard, like when Arla Fett full on snapped and killed Tor’s oldest son and preferred heir, Dral Vizsla, in the middle of the training yard.

The loyalty of some holdouts is easier to get than others. The Bralor twins and their brother have nearly deified Bo after she saved their little sibling from a training accident. The screaming match she had with Pre after, where she called him all sorts of names for putting a child in a live fire test, becomes legend amongst the Kyr’tsad. As does the shiner Bo proudly bears around base after Pre calls her to his office for “discipline”.

Bo can’t challenge Pre too much, tipping her hand too soon would get her killed. If not by Pre than by his followers or even, and the thought of this makes her shudder, his Sith backers. Sideous is just frothing at the mouth for an excuse to subjugate Mandalore, Death Watch provides the perfect humanitarian reason. She has to move in secret, for her people’s sake.

Young Lieutenant Patrok Ru-Saxon of the Sundari Protectors receives a mysterious comm message. It contains no words, only an address for somewhere in the lower levels of the dome city. He’s just gotten off a rather exhausting night shift and honestly he just wants to sleep, but the message gives him one of those feelings his buir said would make him a great investigator one day. Patrok follows the message, and there at the specified location is a folder, taped to the wall. He looks inside, blanches, and calls his boss to say he got an anonymous tip and they need to evacuate the Lily Flower Walkway and to get the bomb squad on the way right now.

Patrok may never know this, but his call that day saved the lives of 38 Mando’ade, 17 of whom were children on a school trip. Now every time he gets a message from that unknown comlink he comes running. He arrests dozens of corrupt officials, foils many Death Watch plots, and earns many promotions. Bo-Katan watches from afar and delights in her good judgement.

Pre is fuming. He’s lost so many loyal soldiers these past few years it’s been ridiculous. The Saxon brothers died when their Kom’rk’s stabilizers blew during aerial combat simulations. A faulty circuit led to a cascade failure in the part, and there went two of his best commanders. Ruusaan Jatte tried to change the mixture of her jetpack’s fuel again and wound up paying for the experiment with her life. His own cousin, Malos Vizsla, was caught red handed trying to poison ration packs heading to the Draboon system’s Protectors. Rather than face arrest and interrogation, Malos ended his own life.

Bo is having the time of her life. The Saxon brothers’ habit of never running a preflight check meant they never noticed a stabilizer circuit had been tragically damaged. Ruusaan Jatte’s love of experimenting with different fuel mixes provided the perfect opportunity to test out Amis’s newest explosive discovery (Ursa had told her over a bottle of netra’gal about how Amis had discovered if you add a very common accelerant to jet pack fuel, it’ll blow up. The fact that Ursa’s eyebrows were drawn on was not mentioned, though it felt relevant). And Malos Vizsla was just a happy accident. Those tips to Ru-Saxon were really starting to pay off.

[a-shade-of-blue]

Some campaigns I want to bring to your attention today:

As you may know, I am spotlighting Hazem’s campaign at the moment.

Hazem Khalil 

Please take time read Hazem’s story on his Tumblr account: @hazempalestine

Donate to Hazem’s family here: https://gofund.me/5977f50b

Currently €12,804 raised of €50,000 target.

Hazem is from Gaza but he moved to Belgium in 2018 for his studies. Since then, he has not been able to see his family in Northern Gaza. The area his family is staying at was recently bombed, and he had lost contact with them while it was happening. He was messaging me about it and he was really scared for his family. Luckily they survived and he managed to reach them eventually, but it was a really close call. He is trying to raise funds to evacuate his 7 family members (his parents, four brothers, and his sister).

I am also organizing this handmade bracelet raffle in order to raise funds for Hazem's family (UK only). See post here

Some other campaigns I would like to especially share here:

Dr Husam Farhat

Please take the time to read Dr Husam Farhat’s story on his Tumblr account: @husamfarht, @nedataya, @frhatfamily, @drfarhatblog, @shamfarhat1

Please donate to Dr Farhat’s campaign here: https://gofund.me/4b28130c

Currently $5,285 USD raised of $29,500 target.

Dr Husam Farhat has suffered the loss of many family members. His sisters Inas and Amal, along with their husbands and children, as well as his brother Mustafa, they have all been killed in a bombing. He has a wife and two sons, but their house has also been destroyed, as well as his office which was his source of income. Husam is also a PhD candidate, and has taught at several universities, but now he is faced with an uncertain future. He and his family has been displaced nine times, and they are trying to evacuate out of Gaza.

Bshaer and Intisar Abu Shamaleh

Please take the time to read Bshaer’s story here: @bshaeromars-blog

Please donate to Bshaer and Intisar’s campaign here: https://gofund.me/74e87f75

Currently $14,986 USD raised of $40,000 goal.

Bshaer was pregnant with her first child when the current genocide happened. Her husband Omar was killed in December by an airstrike when he was collecting fire wood for the family. Bshaer is now a widow and her daughter Ayla, born three months ago, will never get to meet her father. Aya faces a lot of health risks since she is unvaccinated. Bshaer also has 6 siblings. Intisar, Bshaer’s mother, is trying to provide for Ayla, and she is raising money to evacuate them out of Gaza.

Amjad Sido

Please take time to read Amjad’s story here on his Tumblr account: @amjadsido99, @amjadsido

Please donate to Amjad’s campaign here: https://gofund.me/0729ac5b

Currently €6,461 raised of €30,000 target.

Amjad has 2 children (Mosbah (6) and Abdul Rahman (3)). Mosbah had just graduated kindergarten. Amjad is also living with his mother and 5 brothers. The occupation has destroyed their house and killed his father and two of his brothers. Amjad and his children would have been killed too if they had not left the house at that moment. They are now displaced. And instead of continuing their education, his young children are helping him light firewood to prepare food. Amjad is also caring for his nephew as his nephew’s father had been killed. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza.

Click here for my Google Doc with my complete masterlist of all the Palestinian gfm asks I've received, updated daily (along with other verified ways to send aid to Gaza). I encourage you to read more of their stories, share them, and donate to their campaigns.

Thank you

[lemonlightt]

hello! what is HAPPENING with that tangled series. i'm intrigued

(long explanations welcome ^_^)

HI ANON. HI ANON. HI. HI. YOU CAUGHT ME AT A GREAT TIME. I'VE NEVER HAD SUCH A REACTION TO CAFFEINE BEFORE AND MY BRAIN IS BUZZING AND I CAN'T STOP THINKING THOUGHTS ABOUT MYTANGLED BLORBOS.

HI.

I HOPE YOU'RE PREPARED FOR ME TO MAKE NO SENSE. I MAKE SENSE TO ME AND THAT'S JUST GOING TO HAVE TO WORK. I AM ALL OVER THE PLACE RIGHT NOW :D i havent proofread this so it's just a bunch of FUCKING NONSENSE. hope this helps.

OKAY SO.

beginning with s1. s1 begins with the introduction to rapunzel and cassandra. in the original movie, when fighting gothel, eugene cuts rapunzel's hair (gothel used it to remain youthful and used rapunzel for the sundrop's restorative powers, cutting her hair + combining it with Testing Fall Damage they kill gothel). a year or so I THINK goes by and they mention that after the coronation, they sneak out of the castle behind her protective father's back and find black rocks. it returns her hair and she seems to have a connection with the rocks. cassandra insists nobody needs to know but them, maximus (the homse) and as far as i remember pascal (the frog/J chameleon).

ANYWAY. the episode continues and they decide to meet varian ("magical spooky guy") (he's just a teenager who likes alchemy and has audhd) (DON'T say it's magic. it's NOT magic). varian agrees to run some, admittedly painful, tests on rapunzel's hair and they discover it's unbreakable. anyway blablabla varian has these inventions to provide water i think to old corona and they malfunction and explode big deal/J but during that, rapunzel loses the results to the like. 81 tests.

the episodes continue with like, fun ducktales-gravityfallsy stories (similar premises like...Shivers....varian had a crush on cassandra in the same way dipper did with wendy. little FREAKS/j it's normal for kids to do that) until it gets to more important episodes.

the first of this collection is queen for a day. rapunzel takes the role as queen for the day (pretty selfexplanatory) and has to manage the wants of her people. the second day, it begins to storm BADLY. her parents have fallen over the edge of a cliff during their break due to the storm and rapunzel has to round up her people to keep them safe. they are contemplating evacuating the kingdom til the storm passes. meanwhile varian is trying to create a solution that will destroy the rocks and prevent their growth. but when he does this, he creates some like..amber thing that ends up trapping his father. he ventures to corona to ask rapunzel for help as she'd made a promise before but is turned away and essentially treated like a villain. rapunzel Can't help because she has a kingdom to manage and can't leave to save one person. varian is dragged away and he returns home. as his dad is being encased in amber he writes a note (but we never find out what is ACTUALLY written on the note, but it's addressed to varian). this is when varian begins his villain arc. the storm is caused by zhan tiri and she wants to completely destroy corona. the storm is redircted by a device made by lord demanitus

the next episode has one of the people kinda? working in favor of zhan tiri. she takes the form of an art teacher and tries to open a portal using rapunzel, lance and others to paint a withered tree.

xavier helps max and pascal create a potion that swaps rapunzels, cassandra and eugene's personalities to stop them fighting. they try swap back, it works, but it effects the rest of corona and borders on war. this iss resolved pretty quick,, not really the important part of the episode to Me. varian finds this solution and decides to use it to aid in getting revenge on corona and the princess.

rapunzel then receives a message from varian saying he's solved the mystery of the black rocks and needs her help to find the graphtyc. varian warns that "they will try to stop you" and "they" turns out to be the royal guard, sent by the king who has been lying to rapunzel for quittteee a while.

varian then goes to rapunzel for help in finding the last remants of the sundrop flower which could stop the black rocks. they work together to get to the vault to find the flower but varian turns on rapunzel. when he said he wannted this for all of corona, he lied, and wanted to use it to save his father. but this fails and he realises that the healing magic lies in rapunzel!

anyway, on rapunzel's nineteenth birthday, corona has an automaton attack sent by varian. itt'sss a pretty easy fix, but frederic, the king, locks her away in her room to stop her getting in any more danger (think like gothel but..good intentions <- this is a comparison that is made). ANYWAY varian uses ruddiger (his pet raccoon) and turns it into a huge beast to distract everyone long enough to to kidnap the queen which he goes on to use as bait to lure rapunzel to old corona to save ariana. they arrange an attack, with cassandra leading and then ready as i'll ever be happens. rapunzel and frederic decide to go around like..the back where varian wont expect them. SHOCKER. he planned for this all along. rapunzel agrees to let varian use her hair but only if he lets ariana go. it doesn't work on freeing his father. as this is happening, cassandra, eugene and the others fight off automatons. it seems futile at first but they discover the black rocks work against them and use the rocks to their advantage. frederic helps ariana escape and varian is PIASSED so he uses an automaton himself to beat them. it DOESN'T WORK! the black rocks kinda..i guess? protect her? she manages to control them to defeat varian and it works! varian is taken to prison for like, a year, but they're forgiving with him because he's only a kid and he lost his dad. they realise the rocks are trying to lead rapunzel somewhere rather than cause harm.

S2 BEGINS!

iiiiiii don't really have much to say abt s2. it's their journey through the outskirts of corona as they follow the rocks to the dark kingdom. they discovered they're being followed by the brotherhood (despite..one of them, adira, being a woman <- also acknowledged) and varian's father, quirin, is one of them. adira has a brother called hector who is. REALLY POWERFUL. hector is beaten with the eternal tree and adira. shit goes down. yeah. they get stranded on an island. they go to this like.. seashell place during a storm and. two episodes go by and on the third one cassandra enters a portal and is revealed that gothel was her mother, and left her for rapunzel's power. they make it to the dark kingdom and eugene finds out his dad is the ruler of the dark kingdom. his family SUCKED. they try to prevent them from entering the room containing the moonstone to unite the sundrop and moonstone. cassandra, eugene and rapunzel go in together and cassandra betrays them, taking the moonstone to fulfill "her destiny".

S3 TIME.

rapunzel returns home and corona is EMPTY. she discovers the sonarians teamed up with varian to take over. varian wants corona to forget about what he did and the sonarians just...suck. HELP. they turn his creation into something to Destroy corona and varian realises how they have been mistreating them and how he doesn't *really* want corona to be destroyed. he decides to join rapunzel and prove himself again. they are locked away but find an escape when eugene picks the lock. rapunzel and varian fight the sonarians on the hot air balloon but realises that it will crash into the buildings and destroy corona anyway. rapunzel uses the solutioon to destroy corona to heat up the hot air balloon and destroy it midair and she's saved by her own hair. umm. yeah

then there's a whole lotta filler episodes

then cassandra discovers the rocks also depend on her emotion. when she's afraid, red rocks form and it makes everyone else see their worst fear. eugene and lance are made to make a talent show to prevent people from getting too afraid because it like. turns people to rock. varian is afraid of people still hating him and is also afraid of the amber they're sing to stop the red rocks trapping someone else like his dad again. he's like. haunted by his father's pleas for help. rapunzel is facing her own fear with corona being covered in black rocks and cassandra conquering the kingdom. She's scared of losing cassandra forever. before this they realised they could not use the amber on the red rocks because of the... um.. Science.... and they had to do it on the Single black rock like....REALLY FAR UP. they both start to become this solid rock but just before it worsens, varian manages to pour the last drop of amber onto the black rock which prevents the red rock growth. everyones like YAYYYY varian ur so cools.

more filler.

cassandra appears during eugene's REAL birthday when rapunzel anhd eugene had both planned to propose to eachother. she asks for the scroll with the incantation she needs to control the black rocks. the person who has this scroll is varian. they warn varian not to give it her as he was the one decoding it. cassandra hears their discussion, they fight and varian destroys the written translation of the scroll. he tells cassandra that the only remaining translation is in his brain. TERRIBLE IDEA. cassandra takes him and uses the truth serum he used on the others in his villain arc (ithink) to get him to tell her the incantation without him realising she'd used it. he tells her. she builds herself a tower/castle where gothel had kept rapunzel trapped to send a message. they have a song and cassandra locks him in a cage so he can't escape and interfere with her plans. also there's a spooky ghost girl and she tells varian there's a secret fourth incantation which he must use the sun to find....rapunzel and eugene find cassandra and they have a onesided fight. eugene uses the ring rapunzel was going to propose with to help varian have a concentrated light source to read the incantation. it sets on fire but it's ok bc varian managed to write it down. they're freed and varian tells rapunzel the incantation. it's. SUPER powerful and it works against cassandra. and. yeah.

there's a ghost of gothel reported at cassandra's childhood home and rapunzel and cassandra both go to explore. they find eachother havea lil bit of an argument but decide to make a truce and work together. they discover gothels mirrors which..were kinda like diaries? if you touch them they replay that kinda memory. anyway, there's one missing mirror. you remember that lil ghost kid? that's zhan tiri. she places the missing mirror in rapunzel's sachel without the two of them realising and her whole thing is to make them split so she can take both the power of the sundrop and the moonstone from their hosts. blaghh shit goes down. the mirror falls out of the sachel and cassandra plays the entry. it's her..SINGLE..GOOD MEMORY of gothel. like. a shrivel of evidence that gothel wasn't all bad. anyway they argue over it and cassandra traps rapunzel in the cave of poisonous gas but pascal's smart and helps her escape and yeahyeah. anyway. at the end of the episode the memory replays and it's gothel gifting cassandra a music box to listen to whenever she missed gothel but when cassandra leaves gothel says smth like "that'll shut her up for a bit".

and.

now i have the last 3 episodes to watch til i finish <- afraid of finishing bc idk what else i'll do with myself other than try get rapuznel as a villager on disney dreamlight valley. i'll update thissss...probably tomorrow or sunday? anon i suggest you check back then bc iiii have no idea who you are to @ you, sorry dude! i imagine you anon'd for a reason but i wish i knew who u were so i could @ you when i updated. THANKS FOR ASKING. AND REMEMBER CHECK BACK IN LIKE 1-3 DAYS!

,.,,if not i'm sure rowyn will remind me HELP

[the-firebird69]

These people here these supposed good guys, the morlock, and some others are moving on us including will and Bill. This morning. And all over the world they say they're going after the citadel and may the boys suffer and so forth and we're going to wipe them out and we're going to hit these people for real. I'm going to take them down and any max that are doing it or having it done I'm tired of hearing these pipsqueaks and this is what they've earned with all their yelling and baby behavior juvenile screaming they look like idiots and they need to be put down like it is. But they are attacking us and as a whole and they're attacking our basis they plan to en masse and lots of them and it was given out this morning around 8:00 a.m. and we're preparing. You are not to help aid or a bet any of these warlock or Max or their associates if you're fine doing so you will be shot on site and interrogated. And we issuing orders for them to be eradicated from here they are not allowed to bother us and or our son and daughter. We do not want them on our son in any way it is not cover it is frequently wrong and absurd and people work tirelessly to stop them and we are sending troops here.

There are menace and they need to be stopped and we have to build up and erase tons of them first they're way too many.

They're planning on attacking in the Eastern hemisphere first and pretending that they're going to wait till night time in the Western hemisphere but you can see them amassing. Out of the 10% of the population but totally represent 15% including McDonald's and miscellaneous about 5% of prepping in both hemispheres and on the islands it is a huge Force it's larger than any force that we will have ever encountered and that anyone has including the clones. They're thinking of building up forces too and we can see them talking to each other and wondering if it's the right thing to do in the past they gang up on Mac proper and eliminated their bases and they're seeing Max just sit back and they don't intend to attack anything they want to get information we will fill you in further and keep you in touch with us we are to have you call us immediately to evacuate YOU our people using our method to contact us in secrecy only we will come as fast as we can in a shelter in place and lock your doors and close up your windows safely and don't answer the door for anyone if you are in dire need call us immediately and tell us your entire need we will arrive very fast this is an emergency message and we're going to send it out formally now

Thor Freya

They will be seeking hours out on the backside we are bringing troops out into the general population to intercept in a large scale you are not to engage if you're a civilian that you are to call us for assistance immediately using our method only

Zues Hera

Olympus this message is approved to go out

[stmaryslibraryios]

King’s Shilling by Mike Lunnon Wood

King’s Shilling by Mike Lunnon Wood

This is the second book in the series of  four books abut the military . The first one  featured St Marys Lifeboat. Although they are all fiction they are written with such panache and understanding of the subject that they are believable and obviously have had a lot of research devoted to the story.

HMS Beaufort, a naval frigate, is on her way back to Portsmouth after a commission in the South Atlantic. When passing Liberia on the Western coast of Africa she receives a message from HQ in London to divert to Liberia and assist in stemming a revolution that is causing problems as two militant factions are fighting to gain control of the country and the embassies of the UK and the USA are getting worried because the fighting is nearing the Embassies which are close to each other on the border of the capitol.

Whilst the crew of the ship think this revolution can soon be stopped and they can then continue on their way home, they get a nasty shock when they find that there are thousands of fighting warriors, fighting mainly for money, food and women and anything they can steal.

Some of the ship’s crew go ashore and quickly realize they are vastly outnumbered as the Africans turn against them. There are several hundred civilians seeking to escape the fighting and need be taken off by the ship. The Captain seeks help but it is slow in coming due to their isolated situation.

A force of Royal Marines are parachuted in and they help stem the tide of Africans now attacking the Embassies, while preparations are being made to evacuate all the civilians.

The evacuation that is carried out despite the enemy fire power is described in great detail and is not for readers easily upset as it is very graphic in the details.

It is a great story though if you like that sort of thing, but I did get a bit confused with all the abbreviations used and the military terms mentioned, despite having done four years in the RAF, but that was a long time ago.

Review by Brian

[insincmarineau]

How to Abandon Ship Safely

The decision to abandon a ship can have grave consequences and should never be taken lightly. Boaters and mariners abandon ships due to severe emergency cases such as capsizing and sinking. However, some abandoned ships when the boat is still partially submerged can also be extremely dangerous. It is harder for rescue to come and find people who are floating in the ocean in a life raft.

For that reason, it’s important to keep a clear head and remain calm. The very first step you need to take when you are debating when and how to abandon your ship is to consider if it’s truly necessary. Experts recommend that abandoning a water vessel should only be done when you are certain your vessel is going to sink. If you are confident that you and your crew are in danger if you remain, it’s time to leave.

Here is a simple and basic guide on how to abandon a ship safely.

-No matter what happens, try not to let fear dominate your thoughts and decision-making. Keep calm and stay organized. Take advantage of the adrenaline pumping in your veins and let this help you stay alert to your surroundings and all the things happening. These are the initial steps you want to take before you even look at your life raft.

-Put on all available waterproof clothing, including gloves, headgear, and life jacket. Make sure every person on board has a proper life jacket and they are wearing it. You can buy these items in your local boat shops.

-Collect your survival kit. If possible, get extra blankets or clothing. It’s good to have these in a dry bag for emergencies. Your survival kit should contain some flares, food and water, and a handheld VHF radio. This will help rescuers find you as soon as possible. Make sure to have a VHF radio with you at all times, even if conditions are great. This is one of the most important boat accessories you should have in your boat.

-Note your present position. This will help rescuers narrow down where to search. Be thorough with your location. Use a GPS to aid you in this. Confirm your location as you are preparing to abandon the ship.

-Send out a MAYDAY message. A MAYDAY is sent in emergencies only. There are other distress calls, like a “Pan Pan”, which request assistance but are less immediate. MAYDAY means you are in immediate, life-threatening danger.

Now that you have alerted rescuers, you will need to evacuate the vessel. Again, there are several steps to take to ensure your safety.

-Launch a life raft attached to your boat. Make sure it’s secured to your vessel on launch.

-Try to enter the life raft directly from the boat. You don’t want to get in the water if you can avoid it.

-Make sure all passengers and crew are accounted for. Once everyone is in the life raft, all safe and complete, cut your life raft free from the vessel. Do this as close to the vessel as possible. This ensures you have as much rope as possible. Slowly try to distance the life raft from the sinking vessel. Do this safely.

-Keep warm by huddling bodies together. Keep dry, especially your feet. If your model of the raft has any ability to keep you sheltered and dry, deploy it as soon as possible. Keep your raft dry as much as possible.

-Use your handheld VHF radio to make emergency calls. If you have not confirmed the location with the Volunteer Coast Guard, you should continue to do so now. The EPIRB can be secured with its line to the raft so that it can float in the water.

-Distribute sea sickness pills. Treat any injuries with your first aid kit. Arrange lookout watches. Keep watch for the authorities such as the Coast Guard or any other vessels. You may need to flag down a passing ship. Alert the Coast Guard of any injuries if applicable. Keep them informed of your situation so they can best prepare. Early communication is important.

-Try to avoid eating or drinking for the first 24 hours if possible. You will need to ration your food if a rescue does not come right away, so be prepared.

-Arrange for collecting rainwater. Ration water to a maximum of one-half quart per person per day, issued in small increments. Do not drink seawater or urine. If water is in short supply, eat only sweets from survival rations.

[gaegalsyd]

Let’s call it good karma

Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Summary: A mission gone wrong earned you a little friend, but what will this bring in your relationship with Natasha?

Note: repost! something went wrong with the first post idk what happened lol

TW: blood, injury, explosions

word count: 1.5k

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The mission will definitely not go according to plan. Although the whole team was already expecting the mission to be complicated, the moment you stepped out of the quinjet you knew that everything could go wrong. 

The quinjet landed a few miles away from your target location, and while scanning your surroundings trying to recall the plan, Natasha stood beside you. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?” she asked with her eyes scanning the small field where the quinjet is. 

“I don’t have a super hearing but I can tell there are civilians here” You looked at her with a frown. “I know, there was no anticipation for any civilians. And if there are, it shouldn’t be a whole neighborhood” she answered finally looking at you. Natasha may seem so stoic most of the time, but you know that she cares about the people around her. “Nat, this could go wrong and these people may not be aware of it” When she was about to answer, the both of you were called by Cap. 

“Tony scanned the location and it seems like there are many people around. This means we have to make some changes to our initial plan to lessen the damage” Steve spoke like the captain he is “y/n, although you and Romanoff have the same skillset, you will be assigned in evacuation. Natasha, stay within the range of y/n, and prepare for any threat within your vicinity ….”  Cap continued with his assigning while you stood closer to Natasha, your hand holding hers. She smiled a little then held your hand tighter.

As much as you want to hold her closer, the both of you need to keep it professional especially when on a mission. However, both of you are also aware that once you are back at the compound, you can freely hold her and kiss her. 

A few hours later, most of the civilians are already evacuated. Most of the team are also in the target location, fighting. Only you and Natasha are left in the neighborhood and are on the way toward the building where the extraction of information is centered. You split ways with Natasha to check more buildings faster and agreed to meet in the streets once every establishment is cleared. Through the comms, you can hear the other avengers warning each other about some bombs that are planted throughout the building. 

“y/n, we need to get to the building the others are in. We can assist in diffusing those bombs” Natasha said through the comms. After receiving the message from Natasha you heard a silent whimper from one of the buildings you are checking. You are currently in an apartment building and the room you checked looked like the building’s laundry area, that’s also where you saw a little girl around 7 years old crying in one corner. You approached the little girl who noticed you and as you crouched to her she slightly covered her body with her arms as if to protect herself. 

“Hello, I’m here to help you. May I know your name?” You asked the little girl, trying to sound comforting but you only received silence. “Uhm my name is y/n, are you injured or hurt?” Uncertainty overcame your voice, and the girl shook her head. You gave the girl a smile and stood to look for a blanket to provide some comfort for the girl. Once she was starting to ease with you, you decided to inform Nat of the situation. 

“Nat! y/n! Where are you? Leave the neighborhood premises as soon as you can, there are planted bombs along the street and it could go off anytime” as soon as hearing Clint’s warning you carried the girl but then you heard simultaneous explosions coming closer to your location, and by instinct, you protected the girl in your arms with your body. 

“y/n? Please respond to me, baby” Natasha’s voice rang through your ears and you realized you must have fainted after the bombs. Then you noticed the little girl beside you, surprisingly unscathed. Your leg is stabbed with some metal, your back hurt, your vision is still blurry, and you feel some blood trickling from your forehead. The energy you have left is enough to comfort the girl and to notice that you will need some assistance to get out of this place. 

“Are you okay? Is there anything painful?” you asked the girl. “No, thank you for saving me” the girl responded “I did say we are here to help you” you smiled at her “But if you feel anything bad you tell me. Okay?” the girl just nodded and offered you the blanket you gave her earlier which you used as a makeshift tourniquet for your injuries. You were about to rest your eyes when you heard Nat again through the comms.

“y/n? y/n? Answer me, please. I’m coming for you, just please respond to me so we know you’re okay” Natasha’s voice sounded so vulnerable and desperate to find you, to have some assurance that she will not lose her love. “Hey Nat, I’m okay. I’m with a little girl but extraction would be difficult” you responded weakly “Oh thank god, where are you, baby? I’ll come to you” There’s something in that response that felt off for you, where is the team? Are they okay? You thought to yourself. But instead of asking those questions, you simply gave her your location. 

While waiting for Nat, you looked at the little girl once again. “You’re hurt” she said with a look of guilt on her face. “It’s okay, my partner will come to get us and she’ll patch me up” you said with an adoring smile at the thought of Natasha taking care of you for the past two years you have been together. “My name is Stella, sorry I didn’t say it earlier” she said shyly. “Hey, that’s okay. You have a beautiful name, Stella” she smiled at you brightly and the two of you chatted a little while waiting for Nat. 

A few minutes later, some of the debris moved and revealed Natasha, with her face covered with some dirt and dried blood which you suspect is not hers. When she saw you, she immediately came close to you and kissed you. Her kiss is the same yet different. It is still filled with passion and love that always comes whenever her lips touch yours only this time there is some sense of urgency and a tinge of fear. 

“What happened to keeping it professional on missions?” you asked her teasingly after you separated for some air. She simply huffed and leaned toward you to connect your foreheads. 

“Two girls can kiss!?” you suddenly remembered Stella is here when she excitedly looked at you and Natasha. When you looked at the little one, she is smiling from ear to ear and her eyes are lit with fascination. You and Nat chuckled at the girl’s sentiment while also nodding. 

“Stella, this is my partner, Natasha. And Nat, this is Stella” Nat and Stella seemed to click immediately when they started conversing animatedly. You were surprised that Nat became softer with Stella as they talked animatedly. The thought of starting a family with Natasha has crossed your mind before, but you are also aware that you have limited options given you also went through the “graduation ceremony” as she had. “You’re so cool! I want to be like you when I grow up!” Stella exclaimed toward Natasha which you feigned hurt, although your body is hurting at least you’re having fun somehow. “Babe, you’re badass too don’t worry” Natasha teased then kissed your cheek. These interactions are lighthearted as if the three of you are basically trapped in a laundry room in the middle of somewhere.

“Nat, I almost forgot. How’s the team? There’s no extraction plan yet?” you asked Nat, as she moved to fix the tourniquet in your leg. “When I reached you, Fury has yet to arrive. We need him because the boys are still in the main building, they activated an airtight chamber to protect themselves from the explosions and now they can’t blow up the building to lessen the collateral damage” she said calmly, and you know she is this calm because she trusts Fury will assist the team. 

“I guess Tony is disappointed he can’t blow up the room” you responded jokingly at her but she is more serious now except for her eyes with some unshed tears waiting to fall. “I’m not worried about them, y/n. After the explosions, I knew they were safe, for a minute I thought I lost you” you simply held her face and wiped the lone tear that fell from her eye. “I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you. I promise” she just nodded and kissed your forehead. “Rest for a while, you’re badly injured, my love”

“Agent Romanoff, Agent y/l/n, a team is sent to escort you out of that building” Fury’s voice surprisingly caused relief for you. Natasha held your hand and in her arm is Stella, sleeping with a faint smile. “Let’s go home”

----

another note: the ending is abrupt because I'm planning on adding some parts for this... please lemme know your thoughts! <33