#fuck I should’ve had White Spy smoke

[alrightberries]

our sorry little hearts

❈ pairing: levi ackerman x fem!reader

❈ genre: angst. ❈ word count: 1.6k

❈ summary: Levi hasn’t seen your traitorous Eldian face in years.

❈ trigger warnings: profanity. war. mentions of blood, death, and violence.

a/n: you’ve heard of enemies to lovers, now get ready for... lovers to enemies. this takes place during the liberio invasion aka S4 E6. based on a love like war by all time low.

(also don’t tell anyone but this is me lowkey warming up after not writing for so long)

There’s something oddly nostalgic about seeing you again on the battlefield.

Levi recognizes your usual battle stance; feet a shoulder’s width apart and hands tightly clutching the handles of your sheathed blades. You’re wearing the scouting regiment’s outdated white uniform, green cape hiding the leather straps your missing brown jacket usually would. He’s not surprised you’re not wearing your wings of freedom jacket, though; he was, after all, the one who sliced it in half during your escape with Zeke on the Cart Titan’s back. He hasn’t seen it, but he’s positive that a long scar runs down the length of your spine.

“Levi,” he hears you murmur, and he pretends that his heart doesn’t ache after hearing his name slip from your lips for the first time in four years. “I—... Levi,”

He feels his chest tighten. You still look as beautiful as he remembers you to be, and the fact that you still take his breath away is something he hates. It’s been a long while since he last stood on a battlefield with you. Only this time, there were no trees to swing from or titans to kill; no reassuring squeezes on the shoulder or cheeky kisses when no one was looking; no small smiles or stolen glances across the field as your horses galloped through Titan Country. No— this time, you wore different colors and fought on opposing sides.

“Levi, talk to me,” your tone is airy, said in what seemed to be a mixture of built up anticipation and disbelief. But there was something in your voice— something he couldn’t quite place. Was it relief? Longing, perhaps? Maybe even regret. But Levi pushes those thoughts aside in favor of gritting his teeth and giving his traitorous wife a stone cold stare. “Levi, talk to me, please.”

He refuses to reply. His hands are shaking from how hard he was gripping the handles of his blades, and he swears his heart was going to burst out of his untrimmed chest from how loudly it beat at his ribcage. There are about a million and one emotions swirling around his head— betrayal. anger. sadness. melancholy.

And he doesn’t know which one takes over him when he charges at you full speed.

There’s a grunt followed by the sound of metal clashing against metal, and Levi’s not surprised to see that your reflexes are still as sharp as they were before. His own cape whips in the wind when he turns to land another strike. But then he hears sound of your hooks digging into bricks, and he’s quick to take your little fight to the air in pursuit of you.

He knows he has to be at the plaza to save Eren’s ass but he also knows that he had at least seven minutes before he had to go. He’ll make this quick.

“Levi,” he hears you call out. You’ve led him further away from the plaza— maybe intentionally or unintentionally, he doesn’t know— and he’s only now realizing that you both stood on the side of a building, the hooks on your gears the only thing keeping you up. “My love—-”

“—don’t call me that,” his heart twitches and he sneers. It’s the first thing he’s said to you in years and god did you miss his voice, miss him in general. “Don’t you fucking dare call me that,”

“Levi,” you breathe, but the deep growl that escapes his lips is enough for your words to die in your throat.

“Stop,” he says. “You’ve lost the right to speak my name; you’ve lost the right to wear that cape,” his eyes land on the silver chain you wore around your neck, a gold ring hanging in the middle. It matched the one he had back home, the one he secretly held at night and kissed sorrowfully when he felt like breaking down. His voice is quieter, almost pained as he speaks, “you’ve lost the right to wear that ring. You’ve lost the right to even look me in the eye after what you’ve done.”

His words sting and your throat tightens when you once again remember the look of pure and utter betrayal in his eyes when you confessed you were a spy on behalf of the Marleyan government. The way he froze, hoping you were lying; yet the tears running down your cheeks and the apologies that slipped from your lips as you got down on your knees and begged him for forgiveness left no room for contest.

“Levi, we don’t have to fight, please just hear me out. I’m still the wife you loved—-“

“No,” he cuts you off. “My wife is gone. She died in the battle for Shiganshina.” your lip quivers, and he continues to speak. “You? You’re an enemy. You’re as good as dead to me.”

Your words once again die on your tongue when he charges at you, and you just barely manage to leap away. The edge of his blade scrapes against your thigh, and blood paints your trousers red when your feet land on the cobblestone streets.

Every attempt you make after, any attempts at conversation is silenced with a swift swing of Levi’s blades, almost as if he were seeking catharsis through violence.

You grit your teeth. “You’re never going to listen to me, are you?”

His silence and steely glare is all the answer you need, and you sigh. Your stance shifts, and the grip on your blades changes; you were finally taking an offensive stance, Levi notices. Blocking his blows wouldn’t be enough— you couldn’t reason with him no matter how hard you tried, and you couldn’t win with just defense. You had to outsmart him; you had to win. You had to.

“I’m sorry, levi, but losing isn’t an option for me. Not this time,” you murmur.

You didn’t want to fight him, he could see it in your eyes. But you were fighting for something, for someone more important than him. Your eyes— the first things he fell in love with, the ones that were usually fiery and full of life— are soulless, almost solemn when he sees you run at him full speed, and Levi pushes down the hurt he felt at the thought of you loving another as he charges at you too.

A tear silently falls down your cheek. You loved levi, but you loved him more. You were fighting for him, and he was waiting for you back at home.

There’s a grey little building in the Liberio Intermittent Zone, somewhere between the gates and the plaza. The gunshots and explosions just barely reach the drab building, and the smoke rising into the air is the only thing visible to the naked eye of the chaos unfolding at the plaza.

A Marleyan soldier, donned in white and war medals, stands in front of an open window. She’s got binoculars in her hands, and she peeks through the eye piece to watch as two figures fight. Their capes create shadows of black where they flutter, and their silver blades gleam in the moonlight.

She smirks. Your negotiation failed, just like she said it would, and now you had no choice but to fight to the death.

Good, she thinks, that Eldian scum’s doing her end of the bargain.

She leans back and a satisfied hum leaves her lips. She turns to look at the little boy, no more than four years old, sat on the bed. The red Eldian arm band clasped around his arm brings a grimace to the soldier’s face. She can’t believe she got stuck with babysitting some lowlife scum.

“Is mommy doing well?” he asks timidly. He doesn’t even know that you were out there about to murder a man, but the kid was smart; he at least knew your job carried a heavy weight.

“For now,” she replies. The boy’s jet black hair bounces slightly as he nods, and his slanted eyes are downcast, staring at the floor. His silvery grey orbs dare not make contact with hers.

The boy looked almost nothing like you— if anything, she was sure he looked to be the spitting image of his unknown father. Strong genes, the father must’ve had.

She finds amusement in how tense the boy was around her; at least his whore of a mother had the decency to teach the kid his place in the world. He was worse than an Eldian, the lowest of the low— he was half Paradis demon. He should’ve never been born. They should’ve beaten you to death along with your unborn child like she’d suggested when you came back from Paradis knocked up.

“You can kill me, but spare my baby, please.” she remembers you begging. “I didn’t even know i was pregnant. Not even the father knows.”

Still, maybe it was a good choice to keep both you and the demon child alive. As much as she hated to admit it, you were a skilled soldier— one of the best they’ve ever had. Threatening your life meant nothing to you, but threatening your child’s? All they had to do was suggest it, and you’d follow their commands like an obedient dog chasing after a dangling treat.

“When’s mommy going to come home?” the boy suddenly asks.

“Soon,” she replies, eyes once again gazing through her binoculars. “If your mother does her job well, she’ll be back soon.” There’s a telephone beside the soldier, ready to make the call should you ever stop fighting. A sniper awaits her signal.

“If she doesn’t... well,” she laughs. The door to the small room you called home is locked, and the loaded gun hidden in the soldier’s pocket is a weight she’s familiar with. “Do you believe in god?”

“No,” the boy shakes his head. “Who’s that?”

“Tell you what, kid. if your mother fucks this up, i’ll personally see to it that you meet him soon enough.”

alrightberries © 2020. do not modify or repost.

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[engie-ivy]

do you have a fic where remus confronts Sirius of believing he was the spy (like maybe canon divergence - they all live) and refuses to agree that just because there was a war doesn’t mean he should’ve not trusted him or used the excuse that he’s a werewolf not to believe him

Hi!

I have fics that deal with the suspicions and false accusations during the war! But these do take on a more Fluffy path, and eventually lead to them being understanding and forgiving of each other's behaviour😅

You might like the confrontation in

If Tomorrow the World Crumbles

“Well, what am I supposed to bloody think, then?” Sirius shouted back. “You’re obviously keeping things from me! How is this sketchy behaviour going to make anything better? Why couldn’t you just come talk to me, so you could have proven that you’re not-”

“Because I shouldn’t have to proof anything to you!” A hint of pain was seeping through in Remus’s frustration. “All my life I’ve had to proof myself to everyone, and all my life I’ll have to continue proving myself, simply because of what I am, but not to you. Never to you. You’re supposed to believe in me! You’re the one person who’s supposed to be on my side.”

And here's an excerpt from my longer fic

If Only You Knew the Whole Story

He’s sitting in a chair. His arms are handcuffed behind his back and his ankles are chained to the legs of the chair. Protective spells are placed around him, making it impossible to come any closer than half a meter in his vicinity, though there isn’t much he could even do without his wand. His long, dark hair is tied in a messy bun with loose strands falling over his face, and he still has the muggle clothes on he was wearing when he got arrested.

He’d been wearing muggle clothes a lot. When James teased him about it, he told him to go try and ride a motorbike in flapping wizarding robes and then come talk to him. No one particularly minded seeing him in tight fitted muggle clothes anyway, as the man has always been unfairly good-looking.

He looks up as Emmeline enters the room, his grey eyes empty and emotionless.

Sirius Black.

“I didn’t think you’d come back. You seemed rather pissed off when you left the last time.”

“I’m pissed off at you by default. But I did some fact-checking on your previous claims.”

Black rolls his eyes. “If you looked him up in the Animagus register, I could have told you-”

“Actually, I went to a more direct source.”

“Hello, Black.” Remus steps in the room, his eyes focused somewhere on the logo on Black’s worn-out band shirt, deliberately not meeting Black’s eyes, his mask of indifference firmly in place. Emmeline understands his need to not show any emotion in front of Black.

Black’s face, on the other hand, is a whole different story. It’s hard to imagine his eyes were so void of emotion just a moment ago, as a variety of emotions passes over his face.

Disbelief. Hope. Fear. Guilt. Pain.

When he speak, soft and barely audible, his voice sounds so broken that it sends a shock through Emmeline’s body. She can tell Remus feels the same, as his eyes snap up to Black’s face.

“Remus? Please...”

“I messed up, Remus. I messed up so bad. But if only you knew the whole story-”

“You’re going to tell me the whole story,” Remus interrupts, his voice cold and bitter. “The real story.” He opens his palm to reveal the small flask of Veritaserum.

Now, Emmeline was expecting anger. Anger as Black would realise he wouldn’t be able to make up stories anymore. Anger as he saw his plans of manipulating Remus with his lies go up in smoke. Emmeline may have understood shock, that they would actually dare to force him to take the truth potion, or maybe even panic, now that his ploy is officially over.

What Emmeline did not expect, however, was the look of sheer hope on Black’s face, like he’s a dehydrated man who has been wandering the dessert for days and Remus is holding a glass of fresh, cold water.

“Yes,” he says pleading. “Yes, please...”

It completely catches Emmeline off guard, and she can tell Remus is also thrown off. He stares at Black dumbfounded and seems unsure what to do next. He fumbles with the flask, opening it and sliding it across the table towards Black.

As they can’t get near Black with the protective charms surrounding him, Emmeline doesn’t know what they would have done of he had simply refused to drink the potion, but then again, that would have said enough of itself, wouldn’t it? Now, however, Black wastes no time in bending forward, taking the flask between his lips and throwing his head back, gulping the potion down.

After Black has dropped the empty bottle back on the table, he sits motionless in his chair, his eyes closed. Remus is staring at him intently, his mouth in a hard line and his knuckles turning white where he’s gripping the edge of the table. The moment can’t have lasted more than a few minutes, but it feels like an eternity. Despite all her talk about only doing this for Remus, not believing anything will come of it, Emmeline feels nerves coursing through her body. There’s a heavy tension hanging in the room and the air feels thick. Emmeline can only imagine what this moment must be like for Remus.

After what seems like hours, Black slowly opens his eyes. “It wasn’t me.”

So few words hardly more than a whisper, but their impact couldn’t have been greater if he had shouted them in their faces.

Remus’s legs threaten to give out from under him and he supports himself on the table, staring at the wood while gasping for air.

“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, it wasn’t me.” Black repeats the words like a mantra.

Remus lifts his head, and upon seeing the pain, hope and confusion on his face, Emmeline wants to run to him, support him and start questioning Black, but at the same time she feels like she needs to stay out of it for now, this needs to be between them.

“What wasn’t you?” Remus breathes. “I need to hear you say it.”

“Everything. Any of it. The murders, the betrayal. Rem, I wasn’t even the Secret-Keeper!”

“But... But...” Remus tries desperately to order his thoughts. “Peter?”

Black nods silently.

Remus shakes his head. “No, no. James insisted! He would never choose anyone but you!”

“No, he wouldn’t.” Black replies as he shifts his gaze downwards, sadness reflecting in his eyes. “Not until I convinced him to. Merlin, I thought I was so clever! A perfect way to throw them off track. Who would even consider it being anyone else?”

“But you told me it was you! Those evenings we spent talking about it...”

“I lied! I lied to you, Remus.”

Remus stares at him for a while. “You didn’t trust me.” It’s not a question.

“We knew there was a spy,” Black says, looking absolutely miserable. “We just didn’t know who.”

“And I was the logical choice,” Remus states. “I assume because I’m a dark creature?”

“Yes. It was because you’re a werewolf.” Black looks Remus straight in the eyes. “Because you have fifteen years of experience keeping secrets and hiding who you are. And you’re so damned good at it! Better than anyone I know. Dumbledore always chose you for the most secret missions. You were the only one amongst us no one had any idea of where they were going or what they were doing.”

“That wasn’t by choice!”

“I know, I know. Remus, you have to understand. We didn’t think you were the traitor, we just couldn’t be absolutely sure that you weren’t the traitor.”

Remus swallows and looks away. “What’s the difference?”

“The difference is that I felt with every fibre of my being that I could trust you and you would never hurt us!” Black speaks. “But at that time, I couldn’t allow myself to feel, I had to think. And logical thinking, shutting off all emotion, said that none of us could say with one hundred percent certainty that it wasn’t you. With Harry’s life at stake, we couldn’t afford to take any chances. It was best not to tell.”

Remus nods, but he’s still not meeting Black’s gaze.

“Remus, please look at me,” Black says earnest. “I need you to know this. We still would have died for you in a heartbeat, Lily, James and me. We still thought the world of you.”

“But I thought the worst of you!” Remus’s breath hitches. “I despised you, wanted to hate you! If I had found you that night, I would have...”

He doesn’t finish his sentence, doesn’t need to.

Black doesn’t look shocked, or even angry. He just looks immensely sad.

“Why wouldn’t you have? I fucked everything up, Remus. I lied to you, I trusted the wrong people, I distrusted the wrong people, I convinced James to take a path that lead straight to his death. And I can’t even do the only thing James asked me to do in case the worst would happen! I can’t even take care of Harry, like I promised I would. I abandoned him in my failed attempt at revenge, another one of my numerous mistakes. I literally can’t think of a single thing I haven’t screwed up these last weeks.”

Remus just stares at him. Only after a long silence, he speaks.

“You really are... you.”

Black just blinks at him.

“I mean, the boy who snuck out of the dorm to keep me company in the hospital wing, the boy who bribed the house elves to make my favourite chocolate cake on my birthday, the man who wanted me to stay with him when I had no place to live and never let me go, the man who once attacked five Death Eaters on his own because one of them had tried to use the Cruciatus curse on me... That person was not a facade, an act or a lie. That person was really you. You’re really that person.”

“Telling you I was the Secret-Keeper was hard for me, as it was the first and only time I ever lied to you, I promise.”

“I know,” Remus slides down in the chair across from Black. “And it’s okay, Sirius. It’s okay.”

Sirius closes his eyes for a moment. As he opens them again to look at Remus, they’re filled with relief.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “It’s just... You’re the only person who I couldn’t bear to see me as a monster.”

Remus smiles softly. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”

I hope you still like it, though it might not be exactly what you're looking for!

[smokeandjollyranchers]

do u want angst because caleb going absolutely bonkers and immolating someone after they hurt jester and she witnesses the whole thing?

(I made the most delighted face when I read this prompt, thank you, Major Character Injury inside)

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

For a former spy, a current spy, and the medley of skills the Nein have, they’re always getting their information wrong. Caleb barely manages to duck as a bolt of lightning flies past his head, the smell of burnt hair following. Fuck them, this woman wasn’t supposed to have backup. 

Next to him, Nott dashes out, taking aim as she runs, but the enemy human, a man taller than Fjord, and at least twice as large stand between Nott’s arrow and the woman they had been tasked with dispatching. The arrow slides off his armor, and Nott skitters back, but a few steps has her trapped in the man’s hands, scrambling. 

Caleb gets up again, but a giant lollypop flies behind the man’s head, connecting at the base of his skull. His eyes roll back into his head as he’s knocked down, Nott slipping from his grip and back into the shadows. Caleb looks over to where Jester is hiding, whispering in Infernal as she moves the lollypop. She gives him a wink before they hear a howl, and they turn their attention back to the woman. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

The woman’s name is T’ssa, she’s a known assassin who operates on the Manajory Coast, and she’s been hired to kill Yussah. Obviously, Yussah didn’t take the threat seriously, but he did in turn ask the Nein to catch her and turn her over to the authorities. After all, many people knocking on the door makes him appear approachable, and if there is one thing Yussah isn’t, it’s approachable. He told them they would be able to keep whatever reward was being offered as her bounty. 

When they had originally scouted her out, she worked alone. So they set up a meeting where Fjord was going to hire her, but she appeared with two other people, stacked in armor and weapons. 

It fell apart in seconds. 

T’ssa stares at the man just felled by the lollypop, rage in her milky white eyes. “I’ll kill you all!” Her voice is distorted by magic, and Caleb realizes just a few seconds too late what she is. Her flesh turns to shreds and a werewolf takes her place, elongated claws scraping against the ground. Fjord and Yasha are nearest to her, and she takes a wide swipe at Fjord, knocking him back a few feet, blood on his chest. Yasha manages to parry the blow sent her way, but T’ssa leaps over her, landing in front of Beau, Jester and Caleb. 

Jester blinks up at the creature, eyes wide as she takes it in. Beau and Caleb both begin to move but the creature reaches for her, broken voice slipping past blood stained teeth. “You killed him.”

Jester grins, her hands shaking at her side. “Fuck yes, I did.”

The creature snarls, running her claws through Jester and Caleb feels his heart stop in his chest. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

Behind him, he can hear Nott screaming, and Jester coughs, blood splattering the ground in front of her. Her hands wrap around her abdomen, but all Caleb can see is blood and shredded flesh. There’s a rush in his blood he hasn’t felt in a long time, and he clenches his teeth, moving towards the creature. 

Beau meets Caleb’s eyes, and she moves, up the wall, against a pillar, landing right between the creature and Jester. While Beau reaches down to move her, Caleb jumps up on the remains of the wall, his voice loud. “Hey! Abomination!”

The creature turns to him, and Beau grabs Jester, moving both of them out of the way. It looks like it might sweep at them both, but Caleb is already casting. Molasses smears across his fingers, and he watches the creature’s arm slow down. It growls, looking back at him, rage in its eyes. 

He’s essentially caught her, it won’t be too much for the rest of them to restrain her now that she’s been slowed. He can see Caduceus swarming the other member of T’ssa’s team, and the big man is still down, and their target is slowed. She bares her teeth to him, and Caleb stares at her, then back over to where Beau had landed with Jester, blood pouring from her wounds. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

He stares at the creature for a moment, and he walks a little closer. He can hear Nott calling his name, but he ignores her, taking a few more steps towards the beast, the fucking monster that ran her claws through Jester. The creature screams at him, and Caleb laughs back, components pressed together in his hands, and suddenly, she’s on fire.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

He watches her burn, he has to. It’s his penance, the least he can do. He hears her scream, watches her try and escape the flames, but she’s still too slow. She howls, and screams, and curses his name, and he stands there and watches. Until she’s nothing, until she’s just hair and burnt bones. His hands shake when he shoves them into his pockets, turning around to leave, to get some air.

“Caleb wait-” Beau calls to him, and he looks over his shoulder. Beau says something, but he doesn’t hear it over the look on Jester’s face. Her eyes are barely open, but he can see the fucking fear in her eyes, and what little grip he has on his sanity is slipping. 

He heads for the door, into the air, into the darkness, where he can’t see the body. 

He hears her screaming anyways. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

When he comes to, he’s on the beach. Somewhere. 

A couple glances tell him he’s not entirely sure where he is, but it’s okay. Honestly, he still isn’t ready to go back. His hands are still vibrating, and he shrugs out of his jacket, then his bandages, then his gloves. Why does everything he touch turn to ash, turn to smoke under his fingers. Caleb scrubs a hand over his face, exhaling a shuddering breath. 

Behind him, he hears movement, and he turns around, arms up, but he stops when he sees a little blue Tiefling’s head pop up from behind a bush. “It’s just me!” 

She’s never announced herself before, but then again, he’s not sure she’s ever seen him like that before. Unhinged…lack of control, poisoned, all of those things. He drops his arms, turning back towards the ocean. Jester ambles up next to him. She walks like she’s fine, but he can see how she’s curled into her side, just a little, and there’s a couple scabs on her face from earlier. They watch the waves for a moment, before he speaks, voice strained. “How did you…find me?”

Jester’s eyebrows furrow together, and she looks up at him. “I sent you a message, and you described it to me. Like…about an hour ago? You don’t remember that?”

He doesn’t, but he doesn’t need to tell her that. 

“Hey Caleb?”

“Ja?”

“What happened?” She asks, and he sighs, closing his eyes as he does. 

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that.” He murmurers, clenching and clenching his fists. “I know we weren’t supposed to kill her. I’m…sorry about that.”

“I really don’t care about the money, I want to know if you’re okay.”

No, I’m not okay. I’m never going to be okay. I’m seconds from falling apart like that at any moment. I need to go, I need to go, i need to go-

Whatever’s on his face, she shakes her head, and bats him, sort of gently, over his head. Caleb blinks, and Jester smiles at him, a little sad, but still bright. “I dunno what’s going on in your head, but you’re talking to me right now.”

“S-Sorry.”

“What happened?”

“I…I lost it, a little.” He tells her, running his hand across his face again. “I…I lost it. I’m…I’m sorry.”

Jester listens to him, resting her head against his shoulder as they stare out at the ocean. “You’ve got some shit you need to deal with, huh?”

“Ja, I do.”

“It does that sometimes, if you try and ignore it. It comes back up and it fucks you over and suddenly you’re doing shit you never wanted to, and…you don’t know how to stop it.”

Caleb nods, letting her lean against him. “It’s hard to remember where to stop, sometimes. It’s hard to remember where I am sometimes. It’s…”

Jester pushes past his arm, so she can lean against his side. He lets her, desperate for the grounding feeling of her body against his, and guilty for taking it. “You ran away.”

“I don’t…really remember doing that. But I’m sorry.”

“Beau said not to worry, that you’d be back, but…you didn’t look…like yourself.”

He shakes his head, glancing down at her. “I’m sure I didn’t.”

“Hey Caleb, did you kill her because of what she did to me?”

He stops breathing for a second, the question hitting him in the gut. He should’ve expected it honestly, he can’t believe he didn’t. “I…”

“Because I’m not mad. She…she really wanted me dead. I really hurt her, and…I saw what she looked like before she hit me, and she…she wanted me dead. I feel better, actually, knowing she’s dead.”

He doesn’t want her absolution, he doesn’t want to be forgiven for this, but the relief beats through his body with her words, and she turns to look up at him. “You don’t think I can handle the darkness, or the pain, or the horror of it all but…I can. So, when you’re ready to tell me that last little part of you that you’ve been keeping from me, I’m ready to hear it, okay? Just…you gotta give me the chance.”

Caleb nods, more to himself than anything. He carefully rests his arm around her waist, and she smiles. “I’m…still…I’m sorry it happened like that.”

“I think you were just being protective. That’s okay, I’m protective too.”

[robininthelabyrinth]

A Winter’s Tale - 4 - Ao3 link

Fandom: Flash, Legends Pairing: Mick Rory/Leonard Snart

Summary: Mick Rory is on a mission to save his family, and if it means kidnapping Mayor Leonard Snart, so be it.

Though he’s not expecting it to go like this.

(Dragons and Faeries and Metas - oh my!)

A/N: For the coldwave winter week, run by @coldwaveevents

Chapter 4: Gods / Myths & Legends + Fake Marriage / Pretend Relationship (+ winter traditions (bells))

———————————————————————————————–

"I can't believe that worked," Mick says, laughing as they take off in Garima, soaring away from the dragons even as the hall behind him begins to release smoke in a way that suggests that a pair of dragons (or more) have started arguing very loudly and in a way that suggests fire. "I literally can't believe that actually worked, you psycho."

"Man with a plan," Snart reminds him, but he's also grinning. "Though I must admit that one was particularly fun -"

"Oh, come on," Mick scoffs. "There's no way you planned that."

"It's all in how you define 'plan', Mick." Snart's voice is warm. "I've got, let's say, a unique definition."

"Yeah? Well, I'm listening."

"Step one: make the plan," Snart says, raising a finger. "Step two: put the plan into action. Step three: watch the plan go off the rails. Step four: throw away the plan."

Mick blinks. "That's..."

"Terrible advice?"

"Horrible advice! Why not make a plan that works the first time?"

Snart laughs. "Famous saying in my world," he says. "'No plan survives contact with the enemy.' Way I see it, there's two type of people making plans: spies and generals. A spy's got no choice but to be right the first time, 'cause they're fighting the truth. If they ain't right, they have to abandon their objective in order to save their cover - mission failure. But a general? You're fighting people, and people are weird and unpredictable, which means you know your plan's gonna go to shit when it hits reality. And if you know that, you're already prepping all sorts of other plans - including plans that are mostly improv."

"Like what you just did," Mick says thoughtfully. "When'd you start thinking of yourself as a general? As a mayor, sure, but as a thief...wouldn't you be more of a spy type?"

Snart makes a face. "You'd think so. But from a pretty young age, I was stuck working on crews that weren't that good. So I had to make lots of plans that assumed failure."

Given what Mick figures he knows about Snart's family life, that makes sense.

"So what you're saying," he says with a smirk, "is that you're as good as you are 'cause of practice?"

Oddly enough, that just makes Snart go serious. "No, not just practice," he says. "There's something I oughta tell you -"

There's a terrible clanging noise in the air.

Shit.

"Not now," Mick says, suddenly grim, feeling fear pool in his belly. "We need to get to ground. Now, before the sound stops."

"What is that racket?" Snart hisses, his hands on his ears.

"Bells," Mick tells him. "The People's arrival is heralded by bells."

When they're being sneaky, that can be a tinkle of small bells, barely distinguishable from the wind. But if they're not hiding themselves...

People who aren't familiar with the Fae, and even in Mick's world there are far too many of those, tend to hear that and think of the harmonious bells they know: church bells, or carolers, or even lone charity-workers standing on the street with pots for people to throw in coins.

The Fae, though?

The Fae aren't like humans.

Why should their idea of bells be any more human than they?

A thousand bells all at once, small and large and even gigantic - sound suggesting that you were inside the bell - with no order at all, one starting one stopping one ringing one tinkling one roaring -

Cacophony.

And the Fae like it that way.

"Why are the People here?" Snart asks. "I thought you said this was dragon territory -"

"It is, and I said the People generally don't like it. Generally. C'mon, Garima, hurry! I can smell the ozone!"

You don't want to be off of solid ground when the People are in the area. You especially don't want to be in the air.

The Fae are a little too fond of lightning.

"I thought you said you didn't have speedsters in this world!" Snart hisses.

"We don't -"

The world rips apart, and one of the People steps through, shaking out the sparks left over from the Underhill, their other world where no human could understand -

It's not just one of the People.

It's him.

The one who took Mick's family and set an impossible quest as the price to get them back, and all because Mick unwisely used his Sight to see the grotesque scar that rent the otherwise immaculate Fae's face in half.

"What are you doing here?" Mick growls. "I ain't done collecting your stupid shit yet."

The Fae smiles.

"No need to be rude," he says, his voice a pleasant trill of a tenor. He always sounds so gentle, and it's all a lie. "You should remember your manners. Just so: it is a pleasure to see you again."

He bows.

Mick scowls at him. "The feeling's not mutual."

"And a pleasure to meet you, as well," the Fae continues, inclining his head at Snart. "And your name is..?"

"Already known to you, if you're the one who gave my friend here his quest," Snart drawls, as craftily as any native. "But since we're being polite, what's yours?"

The Fae looks taken aback by that - or at least manipulates his face to mimic that expression - but Snart doesn't retract the question.

"That is a dangerous question to ask of one of my kind," the Fae says after a long moment, eyes slanting towards Mick as if offering him the opportunity to warn Snart of the risk he's taking.

The Fae can't be bound by giving their names to mortals, but that doesn't mean they like doing it. It pisses them off.

Mick crosses his arms instead. He should've warned Snart about it, yes, but he didn't, and showing weakness before the Fae is worse than any other consequences that might result.

"You asked for my name, and know it," Snart says. "I asked for yours, and I ain't got nothing yet."

"Unbalanced," Mick comments, clicking his tongue in disapproval even as his heart races. If this works, they'll have an advantage over the Fae, the ability to summon him, but he'll also target them -

Not that it matters, given that he already has Mick's family.

"You may call me Savitar," the Fae finally admits, caught in the politeness trap of his own making. His eyes glitter with anger. "And I come with a gift."

Mick tenses.

"I hereby cancel the rest of your debt, Seventh Son," Savitar declares. "What parts of the quest you have accomplished are enough; you may rest satisfied."

Mick freezes. If the quest is done - and Snart was part of that quest - they're not going to have time to think of a plan; the Fae will feed him straight to the spell and he'll be dead, dead at Mick's hands -

"You're so kind," Snart says, batting his eyelashes. "And us just at the start of the honeymoon, too."

Savitar blinks.

This time he really does appear to be taken aback, rather than merely mocking them with it.

Mick desperately wants to react the same way, but tries not to make any gesture or expression.

What honeymoon?!

There isn’t any, of course. They’re not married.

But –

There’s no way for Savitar to know that.

This might actually work.

"You - married?" Savitar asks.

"We're soulmates," Snart points out. That's true, but neither confirms nor denies the point.

Savitar looks thoughtful.

"You like politeness, don't you?" Mick says gruffly. He has no choice but to back Snart's play, and it's a lot better than the unthinking panic that had been his first reaction. "Well, interrupting's rude. You wouldn't want to get a reputation for being rude and interrupting a honeymoon, would you? "

"I would not," Savitar murmurs. His eyes crackle with white electricity, a sign of temper for the Fae. They've gotten to him - first his name, then this...Mick feels like he shouldn't be surprised by this, given that he's been rambling on about them all day and giving Snart time to plan, but seriously, Snart is really good at fucking over Fae.

Even when they pull one of their nasty surprises, like this one.

Mick grits his teeth. A surprise, yes, but only to him. He has no doubt that this was planned all along - and that a soulmate, willingly sacrificed, was the only ingredient they really needed from him.

Which means he's been running around for the rest of the items for no fucking reason.

Snart's shoulder brushes Mick's, helping him keep his temper.

They're both watching the thinking Fae, who nods, as if deciding something.

"Well played," he says, looking as if he's swallowing glass to have to say it - but the Fae are fair, in their own strange way, and Mick knows he has to acknowledge it when he's lost. "I have no means to check what you did in that foreign land, and to question your answer is to breach the rules of etiquette...very well played."

He bares his teeth into a smile, then, each one sharpened to needlepoint.

Shit.

"In that case, then," Savitar says, his eyes still crackling, "I will not interrupt your month, which is yours to treasure. And I cannot and will not retract my gift, which stands: your quest is over. And, to be polite, I invite you to my realm, to spend the rest of your honey-moon. And when the month is over, we may - proceed."

Mick wants to swear, but doesn't dare.

The Underhill. Savitar's going to take them to the Underhill, that strange and unnatural land of the Fae, and he's going to wait out the month Snart won for them, and then he's going to hurt them both.

Any plan they make will have to be made right under his nose.

Still - one month's repreive is better than nothing.

Snart glances at Mick, question in his eyes.

Mick nods, reluctantly. Snart did good, getting them the extra time, but there's no way to get around the Fae's little "invitation".

They have the spear.

They have a month.

Now to hope that that's enough...

[goffilolo]

Demsie of Midoriya Izuku part 12

And finally, after a long ass wait I present to you chapter 12, the longest chapter I ever wrote. It was a bitch to write but i hope you enjoy it. You can also read the fic on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11557743/chapters/34511609

Once again Izuku found himself on the hospital’s rooftop. It was a rather nice day, if one doesn’t count the catastrophe of a family reunion that took place mere hours ago. Although for someone who was admitted to the psychiatric ward after taking a jump from the top of a school building, the staff sure didn’t have any trouble leaving Izuku unsupervised out here. To be fair he WAS currently stuck in a wheelchair and the fence here was much higher and much sturdier than the one in his school, so yeah, fuck the hospital staff, they won’t even let you repeat your mistakes.

...Definitely not something he should say out loud in this place, lest his sweet release form goes to hell and he’s gonna be stuck for the rest of eternity in a white room with no doorknobs and a very unimpressed Shin.

Where was he?

Oh yeah, he was on the rooftop smoking a cigarette that he stole from his dad’s pocket while hugging him. ‘That is definitely a new low, even for me’ thought Izuku while trying not to choke, as his lungs resisted the offensive smoke. He never understood why people would start smoking, the stench was impossible to stand, the coughing was straight up annoying, not to mention the underlying knowledge that you’re basically giving yourself cancer. He never understood, but the curiosity was there, which is why when he felt the outline of the cigarette pack in the pocket of his father’s trench coat he thought to himself ‘Life is already so goddamn weird, this might as well happen’.

And it did.

Unfortunately his musings were interrupted by a sudden slam of the door, followed by a disheveled looking Shin.

“I am disappointed on so many levels, I don’t even know where to begin” said the doctor in his typical stone cold bitch fashion upon noticing the offending cancer stick in his patient’s mouth.

“Usually ‘Izuku, what the fuck?!’ is a good start-” replied the boy, as if he wasn’t struggling to breathe mere moments ago. And maybe, just maybe he would’ve managed to sound as smug as he hoped for, if it wasn’t for the coughing fit immediately interrupting his comeback.

“Alright, THAT’S IT!”

With that Shin stormed over to his patient and snatched the cigarette from his mouth and stomped it with his foot, while smacking Izuku on the back in a panicked manner.

The doctor continued to shout hysterically through Izuku’s cough attack “Goddamnit Izuku! You can’t just suffocate like that!” he continued to smack the boy on the back.

“Aaagh, I don’t even know how to do first aid!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW FIRST AID?! YOU’RE A FUCKIN DOCTOR!”

“I’M A PSYCHIATRIST, NOT A PHYSICIAN YOU DUMBASS!”

Fortunately for the two the coughing fit finally let go and all they were left with was the sound of their laboured breathing as the panic slowly dissolved.

Eventually Shin sat down on the bench with a grunt while looking off into the distance as both him and Izuku simultaneously let out a long, tired sigh.

“What a day, huh?” asked the boy, his voice hoarse, his ears not expecting an answer.

The doctor finally looked down at the crushed cigarette as he extended his hand in Izuku’s direction and made a grabby motion “C’mon, hand the rest of them over” he said “Don’t think I’m so naive as to think you don’t have more.”

The teenager mumbled something under his breath as he begrudgingly handed over the cigarette pack.

“The lighter too!”

“Ugh!”

Once again Izuku complied, albeit not without throwing Shin the dirtiest glare he could manage.

“Where did you even get those?” asked the doctor, eyes full of concern and curiosity as he looked over the cigarette pack in his hand.

“Took it straight outta my dad’s pocket when I gave him a hug” said Izuku in a nonchalant fashion hoping to get a kick out of the good doctor.

Now THAT left him baffled “You stole cigarettes from your dad who’s WHAT? A spy? Secret agent-”

“Mom said he’s technically a mercenary” corrected Izuku.

“-A mercenary!” exclaimed Shin, his voice once again filled with panic “Without being noticed! I don’t know whether to be impressed or concerned” he said as an afterthought.

“Please be impressed” said Izuku “I don’t ever get to impress anyone.”

“You’re insufferable!”

“Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself” replied the boy.

“Anyway what are you doing here all by yourself? Don’t you have Mrs. Todoroki to bother? asked Shin, motioning to the wide, empty rooftop.

“Not until four. What about you, weren’t you supposed to be managing a group of very angry people trying to get their shit together?”

“Don’t change the topic. I want you to tell me why did you decide to smoke. You know how unhealthy and disgusting those cigarettes are? asked Shin as he shook his head in disapproval.

“You know what they say” joked the boy “Suicide for procrastinators!”

Oh, he shouldn’t have said that.

“You know, it would be a shame if your release form accidentally fell into a paper shredder, wouldn’t it?” asked Shin with his trademark unimpressed tone and face of a disappointed mother.

“Fuck you Shin! We both know you wouldn’t be able to put up with me that long. Now spill the tea cause you sure as hell ain’t here for a smoking break” said Izuku. As much as Shin annoyed him at times, he could appreciate  the banter between them. He never had that with anyone else, which made him wonder if Shin’s questionable level of professionalism would be a problem, although the man did tell him a story of how he had to fist fight his way into getting a medical licence, so maybe being professional was overrated.

“Look Izuku, I’m not supposed to be telling you these things, due to the patient confidentiality but - Fuck it! - you will never believe who came to the group anger management session!” and here goes the remains of Shin’s professionalism, taken to the back alley and shot in the head by his thirst for drama.

“Endeavour?” asked the boy, eyes full of hope, mischief and murder.

“You wish! No, it was Bakugou” exclaimed Shin in his suburban gossip mom voice.

Now THAT was way more interesting than his smoking habits. Fuckin’ Bakugou Katsuki in anger management? Everyone and their grandma joked about him needing it, but it was also equally known that it wouldn’t happen.

Did the Bakugou Shitshow really affect him that much?

“And what was Kacchan doing there? He got lost or something?”

The good doctor looked uncertain. He knew he overstepped the boundaries long ago when it came to Izuku’s case. He never meant for it to happen, it just came naturally, but now with Bakugou as his patient as well he would have to start being impartial for the sake of both of them and whatever remained of his professional conduct.

His initial impression of Bakugou based on what Izuku said wasn’t the best to say the least. But Shin knows he needs to put those feelings aside if it means helping Bakugou in making a personal progress and amending for the things he did in his misguided superiority complex.

...That being said a little gossip never killed anyone.

And maybe, just maybe telling Izuku of Bakugou’s progress could help them both in some way. Time will tell.

“Surprisingly no-” said Shin “He came to the session on his own accord from what I could tell. Now, you should’ve seen his face when he realised I was going to be the one running the session. It was priceless!” laughed the doctor as he waved for Izuku to come closer.

“Fuck, this is better than those shitty telenovelas of yours. Tell me everything. How did he look? What did he say?” asked Izuku, firing of the questions in a child-like excitement that used to be so typical of him before the fall.

“Now, as I said I can’t say much about the session itself, but he will be coming back for one-on-one sessions, so you might end up bumping into him” warned the doctor.

“Oh FUCK NO! You gotta let me in on your schedule so I can avoid that!”

“You’ve been snooping around my office recently, shouldn’t you know my schedule already?” asked Shin, not even bothered about Izuku’s not-so-subtle snooping around confidential paperwork, because sometimes things be like that.

“First of all I have no idea what you’re talking about” said the boy, trying to feign ignorance, although his need for sarcasm took over relatively quickly “and second of all, even if I did I wouldn’t have looked at your schedule, only the official evaluation notes you submit to the board. Gotta stay updated on the shit you tell them about me.”

“You know what-” suddenly Shin was interrupted by a beeping sound coming from his pager. He took a quick glance at the device to check the room number.

“Well, it was nice talking, but it looks like Mrs. Todoroki needs me” announced the doctor as he stood up and adjusted his glasses, readying himself to return to the ward.

“Hey Doc! Wait up, i was gonna go and see Mrs. Todoroki anyway” said Izuku, trying and failing to make a rotation in his wheelchair to get to the door. Eventually Shin turned around and took a hold of the wheelchair’s handles, pushing Izuku into the elevator.

“For all the talk about elevator music I don’t think I’ve ever been in an elevator that played any music. Like are they ever real, or are the just some cryptids?”

“Izuku I wish you came with a mute button”

“Thanks, I get that a lot”

The rest of the elevator ride was silent. It was a good type of silence though, one that didn’t indicate tension or left either side feeling the need to fill ssid silence with useless chatter. More often than not Izuku found himself feeling quite content in the company of the eccentric doctor, Mrs. Todoroki, the gossipy four-armed nurse and Fuyumi-neesan. Over the years as his quirkless status left him isolated, the only silence Izuku experienced was the lonely, unfulfilling one. Now though, despite the situation he’s in, the boy can safely say that the past six weeks in the hospital felt better than the past ten years of his life.

“Ok, that’s just sad” said Shin, interrupting Izuku’s thoughts.

“Huh?”

“You were mumbling again” he explained.

With a quiet ‘DING’ the elevator door opened and the doctor stepped out, followed by the quiet, metallic screech made by Izuku’s wheelchair. Just as the two were rounding up the corner in the direction of Mrs. Todoroki’s room, Izuku bumped into the bespectacled doctor as he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

“Shin, what the-”

“Shhhh!”

The doctor quickly backtracked and peeked out from the corner they were standing behind. Izuku wasn’t sure what startled the doctor, but it must’ve been serious.

“Psst, Doc” whispered Izuku “why are we hiding?”

“He’s here…”

“Who?”

“Endeavour!”

Izuku couldn’t believe his ears. He rolled the wheels forward as quietly as possible to take a look, and sure enough, an angry looking trash can on fire known as Endeavour was standing in front of his wife’s room, accompanied by Fuyumi-neesan who looked somewhat panicked as she tried to calm her father down. Izuku quickly turned back and looked at Shin.

“Shit! he can’t be here. He’s only going to upset Mrs. Todoroki, what do we do?” asked the boy, his protective side taking over.

Izuku has grown very fond of the gentle woman, who suffered abuse at the hands of her husband along with her children. He could never understand how anyone could bring themselves to hurt her, yet here he was, faced with the very monster who did. He wasn’t a hero, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t help her.

“I’m pretty sure she called for a doctor to scare him away. I can’t tell him to leave without a reason, so we must do something to provoke him” mused Shin, the cogwheels in his head turning.

“I’ve got an idea” exclaimed Izuku, as loudly as he could without being overheard by the nearby flaming garbage can.

Shin felt skeptical, understandably so “Go on” he said nevertheless.

“We go out there and I start screaming like I’m batshit crazy, that will throw his off his rhythm. Then I grab a phone book and start hitting him with it, cause you know, phone books don’t leave bruises. While I do that you attack him from behind and hit him in the head. Once he’s out we take him to a secondary location and before you know it BAM someone’s gonna find him dead in the back of a trunk with his hand sticking out of the taillights three days later!”

Shin did not look impressed.

“Why-” he said, and if it wasn’t the most desperate and resigned tone Izuku has ever heard.

“Why are you like this?”

“What do you want me to say?” shrugged Izuku “The TV in the common room has access to Netflix.”

The doctor sighed once again, he expected nothing, yet he still managed to be disappointed.

“Look, I’m on board with the whole batshit crazy screaming, but none on the ‘found dead in the back of a car trunk’, deal?”

“Deal”

“So, do Do I just push you out there?”

“Yeah”

“Ok, but how crazy are we talking?”

“Forever-quill level of crazy”

“Jesus. Alright, let’s do this”

With a newfound resolve, the doctor once again grabbed the wheelchair handles and pushed his patient forward to do what had to be done.

Immediately Izuku started screaming like his life depended on it, while Shin schooled his expression to remain as impassive as possible. He’s sure they made quite a sight. Fuyumi looked over her father’s shoulder, very confused at Izuku’s behaviour, but Shin quickly mouthed ‘play along’ as discreetly as possible, to reassure Fuyumi and not have their charade given away.

As soon as the two got close enough Izuku started to shout nonsensical threats and insults at the man, hoping to antagonize him enough to get an aggressive response and get him kicked out.

“You fuckin’ pile of wombat shit!” screamed Izuku, trying to sound as angry and insane he was back during the quill incident.

To his credit Endeavour was so surprised at the sudden insult that he didn’t have the time to get angry straight away.

Although, being Endeavour his anger caught up to him rather quickly.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU INSOLENT BRAT?!”

“I KILLED GOD IN 2007 AND YOU’RE NEXT PAL!” screamed Izuku in a vicious manner, which cased Endeavour’s beard to light up in his signature flame.

He promptly turned towards the doctor, who seemed unusually calm and quiet despite handling an apparent lunatic “Aren’t you going to do anything about him?!” he asked, barely concealing his fury.

As always Shin managed to remain cold and professional when needed, which mostly occured when he had to bullshit his way through something as he answered the flaming man.

“Sir, as I’m sure you are aware this is a psychiatric ward, and this kind of behaviour is common in a lot of our more...unstable patients, so please try not to aggravate him further for his own wellbeing. On that note please put out the fire on your beard, as it is against our health and safety protocols to have any flame inside the building, otherwise I will have to get you removed from the premises.”

“YOU HEARD HIM, BEGONE THOT, BEGONE!” screeched the boy, waving his arms around in a chaotic manner, while Shin gently patted him on the head as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

By this point, Endeavour barely managed to put out the fire on his beard, gritting his teeth in fury only a step away from snapping, while Fuyumi did her best not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“See right here?! The fire! I have a proof” shouted Izuku “ YOU’RE THE DEVIL! YOU THINK THAT WITH THE GOD GONE YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT, BUT JUST YOU FUCKIN WAIT, I WILL STAB YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A HEART STRAIGHT OUTTA YOU AND TAKE YOUR PLACE ON THE THRONE YOU HEAR ME?!”

“This is UNACCEPTABLE!” shouted Endeavour, once again addressing the doctor, seeing as there wasn’t any chance of talking sense into the insane teenager in the wheelchair.

“You know what’s unacceptable?” asked Izuku, in an eerie calm voice as he looked the man straight in the eye, for the first time not hiding behind the curtain of insanity. He thought of all the things Mrs. Todoroki told him, all the things he has gathered from his hero analysis as he gave the man the sharpest, most cruel  glare he could manage.

He managed to catch the man off guard once again.

“It’s unacceptable how a swine like you is still walking amongst us. You think you’re so smart? You think I can’t see the coldness and cruelty oozing off your heart?”

“Listen here boy” snarled Endeavour as he took a hold of the wheelchair and got right up in Izuku’s face “I don’t know what is going on inside that crazy head of yours, but you better stop that right now, before I get really mad!”

Izuku tried to swallow down the fear as he felt the heat radiating off the man’s beard once again. ‘It's for Mrs. Todoroki’ he told himself. He was so close.

“Or what?” asked Izuku with a smirk, his tone getting dangerously low and quiet so that only Endeavour could hear him “You’ll beat me like you did with the rest of your family?”

Bam! Critical hit!

Which was ultimately followed by the man snapping and violently grabbing Izuku in his fury.

“ALRIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH!” exclaimed Shin as he motioned for one of the nurses to come over “Sir, you’re conducting yourself in a violent manner and threatening my patient, I am removing you from this ward, as well as banning you from any future visitations.”

The doctor and the four armed nurse both moved to pull Endeavour away from Izuku, but not before the boy has spat in the man’s face, wearing the most shit-eating grin to have ever graced the humanity.

As he was being dragged out, the angered man spared one last glance at the green haired boy in the wheelchair.

“Just you wait Endeavour” called out Izuku as he flipped the bird to the fuming man “This isn’t over. When I get out I will make your life living hell! I will set the whole world on fire if I have to!”

The man glared at the teenager, as his whole being became an embodiment of the wrath itself.

“This isn’t a threat-” said Izuku “-It’s a promise.”

Soon enough there was no Endeavour in sight and so Izuku turned to Fuyumi who at this point was barely holding it together.

“It’s ok, the trash was taken out, you can laugh now.”

Fuyumi doubled over almost immediately laughing harder than she ever did before. She felt hysteric, cathartic, so many things at once. No one has talked to her father like that, it was an amazing sight to say the least. Fuyumi knew that her father’s anger wouldn’t pass quickly after something like that, but for now she wanted to enjoy his defeat.

In the meantime Izuku wheeled himself closer to Mrs. Todoroki’s room and knocked on the door “He’s gone, you can come out now!”

The door opened as the white haired woman walked out hesitantly. While she wanted to laugh along with Fuyumi, her fear of Endeavour and concern for Izuku’s safety took over.

“Izuku, are you alright?” she asked, gently grasping Izuku’s face, turning it from side to side looking for any injuries.

“I’m fine, he just grabbed me suddenly at the end, but then I spat in his face and Shin and Ms. Shouji pulled him away” replied the boy, hoping to calm the woman down. Izuku himself was buzzing with energy, the encounter left him feeling a rush of adrenaline.

“I’m sorry” said Mrs. Todoroki “I didn’t want to drag you into this. I only called for Dr. Iyashi as a last resort, since I didn’t want to be alone with Enji.”

“It’s not your fault” replied Izuku as he hugged the woman in what he hopes was a reassuring manner “I wanted to say a few things to this bastard for a while. This was as good of an opportunity as any” he chuckled.

“As soon as I heard your voice I became so scared, I was so scared he would hurt you, just like hurt me and Shouto” she sobbed.

Shouto. Mrs. Todoroki’s youngest son. Izuku talked to the woman quite often and so he had a good grasp on the situation of the family. She talked about Shouto a lot, more often than not riddled with guilt, as she told over the same story of how she snapped and spilled boiling water on the child’s face, because it reminded her so much of her husband. The same story of the strict ‘training’ that Shouto was forced into by his father when his quirk manifested. The same story of her child, whose dream to be a great hero like All Might was shattered in a manner much different, yet just as brutal as Izuku. It was probably the first and the only time in Izuku’s life when he was glad to have been born without a quirk.

One day he was going to meet Shouto. He was already elbows deep in the Todoroki’s family drama, might as well go all the way. But that’s for later. Now he needed to comfort the woman who became like a second mother to him.

“I’m okay, you’re okay, he can’t hurt us anymore. Shin kicked him out of the hospital for good. He won’t be allowed to visit anymore.”

Speaking of Shin, the man just got back up from the reception, after having to escort the angry man out of the hospital and banning him from making any more visits.

“What you did-” he said while pointing at Izuku, still trying to catch his breath “-was the most stupid thing I have seen in my entire life. Do you have no self-preservation instinct?!”

“No”

“Thought so”

“C’mon Shin, don’t be so stiff, it was epic! I talk shit to Endeavour, spat on his face and got him kicked out of here. This couldn’t have been better!”

“Perhaps so, but still what did I tell you about being more careful?”

“I don’t know Shin, what did I tell YOU about not expecting miracles?”

“Dr. Iyashi!” called out Mrs. Todoroki “Thank you for helping me, and I’m sorry that I’ve put you both in this situation.

“Please don’t trouble yourself with it, it was about time this man got banned from here and as much as I’m furious with Izuku right now, he did do a splendid job in getting him kicked out” said Shin, wiping his glasses clean as he tried to give Izuku a reprimanding glare, although the effect wasn’t the same when he had to squint.

“Ok, cool! Now that this shitshow is over, how about we go to the common room and watch some Netflix?” asked Izuku.

“I wish I could, but I’ve got work to do” replied Shin.

“Don’t be like that Doc. WE are your work, you’ve gotta look after us so get your ass to the common room and look after us like a good doctor you’re supposed to be” said Izuku, already turning in the direction of the common room.

“Ugh, fine! But don’t think you’re off the hook after the stunt you pulled at the roof today” exclaimed the doctor as he joined his patient’s side and ruffled his hair.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

[team-fartress-over-crotch-blog]

*whispers* how would the TF2 mercs react if.. say... the Great Pyrenees died? Old age or other team fault, your choice.

HEY WHO THE FUCK GAVE YOU THE RIGHT-

Heavy:It was the saddest day on Earth. Or at least, Heavy thought so.He’s seen many deaths, but this one was… It was different.He had just lost a dear friend at the ripe age of 9 when a speeding vehicle struck him on a lonely route.Why the car was there, no one had any idea. It was bizarre and unexpected, almost like it was crudely planned…Cottonball was a beloved friend to all mercenaries, he was almost like a fuzzy son that couldn’t talk and ate trash occasionally.Heavy would be silent for days, even more so than before. He’d keep Cottonball’s collar, it was dented and dirty with several name tags his teammates had managed to put on it.It’d sit on his bedside table so Heavy could look at it when he wanted. Sometimes he’d roll over in bed during the night and just stare at it, hoping the dog would magically manifest in his old collar.Heavy would be the first to get over the death, but on rainy days he’d look outside the window and remember the times Cottonball would prance around the field, playing fetch with Scout.Heavy would smile and lay back into his chair proudly. He knows he and his crew gave Cottonball the best life a dog could have, he couldn’t have been happier.  

Medic:Medic had been deeply affected, but he didn’t show it. He was horribly lonely in his lab once again. There was no fur to clean up, no friendly nudges at his shins in the early hours of the morning, nothing tugged at his sleeve to pull him to bed, it was truly deserted.Medic even noticed Archimedes being affected by the absence of their furry friend. The sad little bird didn’t eat as much, he over preened and nestled silently on Schätz’s little bed.Medic began missing the trouble of cleaning up Schätz’s messy paw prints after a fresh battle or rain and sweeping up the massive amounts of shedding fur in the springtime.However, he finds a little comfort in fiddling with Shäzt’s favorite chew toy, a little cotton blue goose with a missing eye.Medic has always made deep connections with his animals, and Schätz was no exception. He knew the dog like the back of his hand but that only made the death worse.He’d curse himself for growing attached and cursed himself even more for thinking, “That’s just how life is.” He’d always have a counter argument with every thought he made, Medic became restless and soon spiraled into a deeper madness.Of course he had thought of bringing Schätz back, he was medic! He brought Sniper back to life before, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Medic had faith that Schätz was in a better state of being. Whether heaven was real or not, he’d figure Schätz was an exception.

Sniper:Sniper demanded a proper burial be planned as soon as possible. He was pissed, depressed and anxious all at the same time and had no idea what to do with himself.He couldn’t even bring himself to stay for the majority of the burial, he was far too proud to express any tears for the beloved animal.He’d stay in his camper for days on end, not going out or even driving along the country roads. His energy seemed to have been taken away when they lost Snowy.Sniper would lay in his bed or even sit at his table, smoking and reminiscing the times he and Snowy shared.One day, late in the winter month, Sniper looked out his camper window and gazed at the falling snow.In the distance, a small figure raced across the battle field.It was barely visible, but Sniper knew something was out there.He quickly threw on his hat and ran outside bare foot into the frost.The figure seemed to motionlessly move further and further away from him, but he didn’t quit. He couldn’t.Sniper’s leg went out and he landed in a soft snow pile that completely engulfed him.In a daze, he looked up to find the figure and saw that it was only a few inches from him.It's… no, it couldn’t be.Snowy’s transparent outline shimmered in the light. He rolled out his tongue and bent down to like Sniper, but just as he was about to make contact Snowy poofed into sparkly dust that got lost in the wind.Sniper laughed, wiping away his tears.Snowy came back to say goodbye. That’s all that Sniper needed.

Scout:He’d slam the door and stay in his room for weeks straight, only coming out to eat and use the restroom.When he did come out, nobody spoke to him. They didn’t know what to say or do, which made Scout angrier.Scout would feel so alone, so cold as he slept the day away. His cute furry companion was no longer snuggled against his feet at night and no longer waking him up with sloppy kisses.He’d be sitting in his bed, his knees tucked into his chest. He’d look at the floor for no reason at all, until he spots something just barely visible underneath his bed.Scout went on his knees to grab the object, but as soon as he’d catch sight of it, he’d freeze.It was Fluffy’s favorite blue and white sweater. Scout hadn’t realized that it was still in his room after all this time. With the sweater in his palms he’d weep once more until he couldn’t shed another tear. It had brought back memories of his teammates raiding every pet store near the base (which were, like, miles and miles away) and picking treats and toys for Fluffy.When they had gotten to the clothing section, Scout had found the cutest blue and white winter themed sweater and presented it to his crew.Everyone went up in a riot, shouting about how cute Fluffy would be in it and such.Scout’s smile would eventually come back as he replayed the memory in his head.He’d get up and walk straight out of the door with the sweater in hand. He’d simply place it on top of a mantle and leave for his room again.Engie had immediately taken it and custom made a frame for it to be hung above the mantle.After that ordeal, Scout had felt much better. He’d begin to tell his teammates funny stories of Fluffy that he had kept secret, such as it was Fluffy who spilt the glass of pigeon blood in Medic’s lab, not Scout (he always took the blame for Fluffy) and Fluffy was the one who dug holes outside and not gophers.He’d go on and on making everyone laugh and appreciate the time they had with their good friend, Fluffy.

Spy:Spy would mask his sadness with wine and ignoring the subject.Sure, he didn’t like the dog at first, but just when Mutt was beginning to grow on him, he died.I guess that’s what happens to everything he loved, they’d just go away eventually.But it was just a dog, he’d think.Just a furry, smelly Mutt that always barked and begged for food. It should’ve been annoying but… Spy couldn’t find it in himself to be angry at Mutt after all. Shit, he adored the old fool.Nature was merely taking its course. A cruel, merciless course. In fact, Spy felt that Mutt was some sort of bad karma on Spy’s end.Think about it, when Spy was finally settling down with his big family he just left.Just as he was beginning to bond with his son, he abandoned him.Now, just as was beginning to be at peace with Mutt, he died.Damnit, he missed Mutt. The sudden realization sat in Spy’s stomach like a block of ice.But, if he missed Mutt… Then surely, his family must miss Spy as well.A smile crawled on Spy’s lips.With every death comes a lesson, he supposes.

Soldier:Soldier is in a huge state of denial.Mop isn’t dead, he’s simply been deployed to more dangerous battles!Yes, he was at the funeral, but he thought it was practice run for when he and his teammates die. (He’s a bit screwy in the brain area but I luv him still)His crew is stuck in between feeding Soldier’s imagination or just explaining the concept of life and death. Soldier just continues doing his own thing, recruiting raccoons and talking to corpses. His teammates watches him for days, still debating on what to do.They finally decide to tell Soldier the truth rather than leave Soldier in his own thoughts, wondering when Mop was coming back.Engie has been unanimously voted to be the one to tell Soldier, much to Engie’s displeasure.Engie grabs two beers and brings Soldier outside to sit on the deck. He then begins to explain Mop’s death as Soldier sits there quietly, taking it all in.Soldier laughs, tears rolling down his eyes. This wasn’t the reaction Engie was expecting at all.Soldier didn’t wipe away the tears, he let them drop onto the soil below.Slowly, Soldier got up and walked away with Engie close on his heels.They had stopped at Mop’s grave which was shrouded with fresh flowers.Soldier squatted in front of the tomb stone and patted it.He gave a short speech, or rather a eulogy, describing the best times he had with Mop.Sadly, Soldier began to admit that he did indeed know Mop had died but… Sometimes reality was too hard to accept.He wanted to be in his own world for a while, one with Mop still frolicking around.Soldier hadn’t meant to cause any worry he says, he just liked being in denial.Engie pats his back gently, a small smile on his face. He was proud of Soldier, he never knew what went on in his head but now he had a bit more of an understanding.Soldier grabbed a dog tag with Mop’s name on it. He made it himself with a piece of scrap metal and an old tiny chain laying around. Mop’s name was messily engraved on it as well, which was also Soldier’s doing.He threw it around his neck and saluted the grave proudly, even Engie joined in.Then they made their way back to base in a comfortable silence.

Demo:Demo wouldn’t be all too sad. Yes, he loved Fang but he knew it would happen.He’d grieve for a while and giving comfort to his comrades.Demo would drink just a tad more though, everyone saw the difference.Demo would go to his room and sob there, he didn’t want to sadden his own teammates with his crying.He’d pick up every single one of Fang’s toys and bring them into his room. He’d play with them often when reminiscing.Fang’s favorite red ball could be heard banging against the wall in the middle of the night when Demo couldn’t sleep.One night, about a week in without Fang, Demo couldn’t stand the loneliness any more.He’d stumble outside for a walk, just to clear his head.He’d mumble to himself, sometimes not even understand what he said.Demo would kick up snow and throw rocks here and there.Just as he was about to pick up another smooth rock, he hears a small, weak whimper.Demo shot straight up in search of the noise. It was close, but quiet.He turned around and found a figure beneath a shrub, shivering violently.It wasn’t that hard to spot at all, it was small and black with wild, poofy fur.Demo quickly retrieved the fuzzy thing, gently petting its head and cooing.He ran back to base to find warmth for the poor thing.As soon as he stepped a foot through the doors, he was surprised to see that he was holding a small pup!How did it get there? Where was its mama?Maybe, this was a sign. A sign sent from Fang due to his untimely death.A sign of love because Fang knew Demo and his team would give the new puppy a better life than anyone else could offer.Maybe. Whatever the case was, Demo was happy to accept a new family member.

Engie:Engie wasn’t as much of a mess as the rest of his team.He would be one of the first of his crew to accept Alaska’s death, but it wasn’t easy.Engie was back where he started, all alone in his garage for hours on end.However, finding the strength to get back to work was harder than anything he had done before.Engie would be laying underneath his truck to give it a tune up when he’d shout for a tool.It took several moments before he realized that his partner Alaska was no long there to fetch tools.He’d sigh and roll out from under the truck, too emotionally exhausted to continue his work.Engie was no longer warm during the evenings or nights, since Alaska would sit on his lap and watch TV or look at Engie’s blueprints. (He has no idea what the fuck is going on, but he was very encouraging!)His energy was wasting away each time he found himself thinking about Alaska.Eventually he’d be up all night working on absolutely nothing in his garage. He’d do about anything to keep him distracted.One sunday night, Engie would hobble to his room for some tool when he’d spot something on his nightstand.It was a lovely framed picture of Alaska sun bathing on Engie’s truck.He cracked a smile and soon began to chuckle and laugh at his own misery.Why was he moping around? He gave Alaska the best life he could give.Alaska lived happily because of Engie, if it were not for him, Alaska might have died long ago.He looked at the picture again and found something within it that gave him that familiar feeling of inspiration.Engie practically ran to his garage and locked himself inside of it for nearly half a day.Once he was done, he’d take a step back and admire his work.He’d call in his teammates to check it out and when they saw it, all jaws dropped to the floor.Engie had custom made the truck bumper into the shape of a Great Pyrenees.The license plate had Alaska’s paw print right smack in the middle and for the final accessory, Engie planted a hood ornament of a dog name tag with Cotton written on it.Everyone loved it. Demo, Soldier and Scout were the very first to drive into town with the new look.Engie was glad he got out of his short depression and it was all thanks to Alaska.Engie keeps the framed picture in his garage now and he’ll look at it whenever he needs inspiration.Alaska never failed him.  

Pyro:He cried.And cried and cried and cried.When he wasn’t crying, he was screaming and lighting everything in his sight on fire.Nobody knew how to deal with Pyro at all, they were scared and too busy putting out fires to even check on him.Eventually Pyro stopped setting things on fire.Instead he had locked himself in his room and refused to come out.He had fully exhausted himself beyond repair.Pyro himself didn’t even know how to handle himself.He didn’t eat or sleep. He just curled up in a corner of his room and sat there with his knees tucked tightly to his chest.It was on for days, weeks even. It was surprising that he was even still alive.Every few days one of his teammates would go in and check up on him, but he never spoke.One evening, his door opened.He supposed that it was one of his teammates with a plate of food or a cup of water. He didn’t bother to look up.However, he felt a hand gently rub his shoulder.He looked up and-Surprise!His teammates had collected a ton of Marshmallow’s old sweaters and knitted them into a comfy blanket, just for Pyro.He cried.And cried and cried and cried.But it was out of happiness. His friends did care about Pyro!He hugged the blanket and jumped around in joy.His teammates smiled and clapped, it was refreshing to see Pyro happy after all this time.The blanket itself was not all that impressive. It had a few loose stitches here and a tear there, but to Pyro, it was perfect.

(Hey let’s add more to the angst- Cottonball was assassinated by none other than the Administrator herself. She felt that Cottonball was making her team too soft for her liking. So, she got rid of the problem. However, she didn’t expect them to find ANOTHER puppy. She’ll just have to try again… ((Spoiler alert, the team finds out and does everything in their power to protect the new baby)))

[megamanxfanfics]

S.IV - Ep. 17: A Grim Fate

---------------------------------------------------------- INT. FINAL WEAPON – Corridor - NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------

The whole Satellite Facility shakes wildly as X and Zero run down a metal corridor. They pass by a barred window, which is just another reminder that they’re in Space.  As they quickly dash and hop over two spike traps, X worries about what they might find. While Zero feels like they already failed. He shakes his head.

ZERO: Ah..  I'm sorry X.  

X: (surprised) Hm? For what?

ZERO: For pushing them this far.. I should've..  I should've listened to you.  Then maybe.. She'd be alive!

X stares at Zero with wide eyes as they continue to run to the end of the corridor.  He tries to think of something to say. Something supportive; but he's right. This was mostly Zero's fault. And now they were about to pay the Ultimate Consequence for it.

As they reach the end of the hallway, suddenly a cloaked reploid appears. Levitating slightly above them with a beam-sickle in hand, he resembles Death, itself. His red scars and blue eyes glow eerily amidst his shadowy face as he looks down upon them and laughs.

SIGMA: Hee hee hee hee…

[Insert Title Card: A Grim Fate]

SIGMA: This is amusing...  It really is X...

X immediately recognizes the voice. His face tightens up.

X: You're...  Sigma!  I KNEW IT!

ZERO: So it was you!

SIGMA: Hee hee hee. My plan to keep Repliforce and the Maverick Hunters at each others' throats worked perfectly! ...Double did a good job as a spy!

X: Why you...!

SIGMA: And you, Zero! Hee hee hee. Good work..

ZERO: (irritated) Hm!?

SIGMA: Hee hee hee, yes!  Simply brilliant!  You even defeated Colonel and Iris!

He looks away, closing his eyes with regret. The he snaps back at him, infuriated.

ZERO: ...You made me do it!

SIGMA: No. You wanted to destroy them! Allow me to remind you that I was once the leader of the Maverick Hunters.

-FLASH-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. THE FORBIDDEN PLACE – Abandoned Warehouse - DAY --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caption: 4 years ago…

Commander Sigma teleports to the area and walks up to CRIMSON CRUISER from the 7th Air Cavalry and HOIST GRIPPER’s 12th Mining Unit.

SIGMA: What’s our current situation?

CRIMSON CRUISER: (surprised) Commander!

SIGMA: Where’s that Red Maverick that wiped out Gamma’s Unit?

Hoist Gripper and Crimson Cruiser salute.

HOIST GRIPPER: (nervous, stuttering) In… Inside. He’s inside that door!

SIGMA: (smiling) You may leave now. I’ll take care of this personally.

HOIST GRIPPER: (surprised) By yourself, Commander?

SIGMA: I don’t want any more of my people being sacrificed!

Sigma walks into the warehouse, while Hoist Gripper and Crimson Cruiser look on in shock.  

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) Once upon a time, our roles were reversed.

He walks up to the brown metal doors and pries them open. He walks in and sees Zero staring at his surroundings.

-pan to-

—————————————————————————- INT. FORBIDDEN PLACE - Abandoned Warehouse - DAY —————————————————————————-

ZERO: Huh?

Zero turns around and lays eyes on Sigma. Upon sight, he charges at him with the intent to punch him.

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) You were just an idle threat, and I was the Savior of the people.  Heh…

Sigma looks on in fear at first, but calmly narrows his gaze and dodges to the left just as Zero reaches him.

ZERO: (surprised) Wha?

Zero immediately winds up a roundhouse kick, followed by a back kick with his left leg, but Sigma dodges both of them. Zero’s foot collides with the wall, bringing up smoke.

SIGMA: (v.o., narrating) But when we first met, I knew there was something different about you.

Zero charges after Sigma. Sigma runs towards Zero.

SIGMA: (growling) Hiiyaaaaah!

Zero punches at Sigma’s leg, but Sigma knees him in the fist. Sigma backs off as Zero wildly swings punches at him in all directions. Sigma dodges each attack.

SIGMA: (v.o., narrating) You had this raw anger inside of you that could not be matched!

Sigma counters with a kick, which Zero blocks until he is knocked into three metal barrels, falling to the ground. The barrels all display a Bio Hazard sign. Zero recovers and grins evilly as he continues his assault, which Sigma dodges easily.

SIGMA: (v.o., narrating) At first, I thought it was just misguided rage.

Sigma grabs Zero’s right arm, turns his body over, and slams Zero into the ground. He then tosses him up into the ceiling of the warehouse and smirks.

Sigma notices Zero still stirring, and looks surprised.

SIGMA: Hm?

Zero pulls himself out of the wreckage, rips off a pipe from the ceiling, and throws it at Sigma as he falls down.

SIGMA: (v.o., narrating) But then I realized that this was something else.  

Sigma blocks the pipe, and Zero lunges at him in mid-air with a punch. Sigma quickly slams his fist into Zero’s, and the two try to overpower the other. They both grit their teeth as white power glows around Sigma’s hand, blasting the two away from each other.

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) Something evil…

Zero lands on his feet and continues punching Sigma with no sign of slowing down. Sigma finally flees to a support beam above him. Sigma pulls out his beam saber and smiles.

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) You were insane.  And I welcomed the challenge.

Zero hops up to a support beam parallel to Sigma and rips off a metal pipe nearby. The two begin to engage in a sword fight, attacking and parrying three times before landing on a large pipe and then the ground. The two run after each other, both assuming an attack position. Zero and Sigma attack at the same time. Sigma destroys Zero’s pipe and raises his saber to strike from above, but Zero quickly dashes through and slices off Sigma’s forearm with his sharp gauntlet.

SIGMA: (surprised, in pain) Aaaaaaaaaargh!

His left arm falls on the floor, still holding his saber. Sigma picks up his sparking left arm and turns around; his face growing scared as Zero walks towards him, laughing at his victory.

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) You almost won that battle…

We pan up to the top of the warehouse and Zero proceeds to pummel Sigma with three strong punches. We then see a silhouette of Zero punching Sigma as he lands on the floor. Zero’s assault managed to rip off shreds of his face.

SIGMA: Uuuurgh…

Sigma turns around, but Zero sits on his back and grabs Sigma by the chin, pulling away at his neck, trying to rip his head off.

SIGMA: (grunting) Grrr… urgh…

ZERO: Heh heh heh… Haaaa ha ha ha!

A white “W” suddenly appears in Zero’s blue gem.

ZERO: (lightheaded) Oh?

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) …but I guess I just got lucky…

Zero’s pupils suddenly become very small. The gem emits a high-pitched sound that drives Zero mad. He releases his grip on Sigma and holds his hands against his head. Sigma catches his breath and looks at Zero with his one functioning eye. Then, he punches Zero with all of his might, breaking the gem and knocking him out.

When he sees that the Red Maverick is offline, he grins.

SIGMA: Heh…

-cut to-

—————————————————————————– EXT. FORBIDDEN PLACE - Abandoned Warehouse - DAY —————————————————————————–

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) You almost killed me that day…  So I decided to bring you in as a Maverick Hunter.

Crimson Cruiser and Hoist Gripper eagerly pace outside the warehouse. Sigma walks out holding his injured arm.

CRIMSON CRUISER: Look, it’s Commander Sigma!

HOIST GRIPPER: (smiling) Incredible! Now I’m sure that there’s no one who’s a match for the Commander.

Hoist Gripper stops pacing and stares at Sigma in shock.

HOIST GRIPPER: (gasping, surprised) What?

SIGMA: (struggling) Take that Red Maverick… To the Repair Center! And.. And call Dr. Cain! Haagh… I wish to have that Maverick studied. Haagh…

HOIST GRIPPER: Commander, are you okay?

SIGMA: (demanding) Silence!

He shoves Hoist Gripper away with his right arm and limps away. Crimson Cruiser and Hoist Gripper look on in shock.

SIGMA: (v.o, narrating) …but deep down, you and I always knew the truth…

-Fade to Black-

-FLASH-

-------------------------------------------------

INT. FINAL WEAPON – Gateway - NIGHT 

-------------------------------------------------

The room continues to shake violently as Sigma points at Zero with an accusatory hand.

SIGMA:  Zero!  You were a Maverick!!

ZERO:  What's your point?!  Are you that surprised?  That was years ago!

X's eyes widen in disbelief.

SIGMA:  Ah... Zero! You're most impressive! My point is that you’ve always had it in you.  And you always will… Hee hee hee. Repliforce are the fools this time! And it’s all thanks to that.. Maverick instinct of yours!!

ZERO: SHUT UP!!

SIGMA: Hee hee hehee. Now all that's left is to destroy Earth with the very weapon they made.

X shakes his head, snapping out of it.

X:  No!  I'll never let you do that!

SIGMA:  Try hard X.  Your life depends on it!

ZERO:  Sigma...  I will defeat you!

Sigma's eyes light up with a shadowy grin before he vanishes into the lair behind him.

X and Zero turn their heads to each other and share a silent, intense, determined nod before immediately dashing into the gateway.

They notice a life bottle on the floor, which Zero picks up and places in his compartment belt.  Then, they quickly enter Sigma's Lair.

-pan to-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. FINAL WEAPON - Sigma's Lair – NIGHT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

X immediately notices the familiar, ominous décor of Berkana's room and does a double-take.

X: What the-!?

He stares, intimidated by a large orange, horned skull that has been carved into the far wall. It holds an orange gem in it’s mouth, just like the one from Berkana's room.

-A purple flash cuts across the screen-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. BERKANA LABS – Berkana’s Chamber - NIGHT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

X remembers Berkana sitting on top of him, taking advantage of him.  Grinding on his pelvis, while he was helpless to move or do anything to stop her.

X: (v.o, narrating) I remember that orange gem. And staring into that ugly, fucking skull.  It was the only thing that distracted me from her…

He recalls staring at that orange gem, while he had to find the inner strength in his mind to overcome her.  He ultimately had to give her what she wanted in order to break free from her spell.  

X kisses Berkana on the lips for a long time, giving into her temptation, until he has the ability to transform into his Golden Armor and knock her off of him.  He grimaces in anger and gets up, feeling disgusted.

X: (v.o, thinking) A little part of me died that day. ..why did Sigma want me to remember this?

SIGMA: (o.s) Are you ready for your Final Journey!?

   -       The Purple flash cuts across the screen again -

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. FINAL WEAPON – Sigma’s Lair - NIGHT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

X snaps out of it as Sigma reappears in the room.

SIGMA: Tremble with Terror! You’re finished!!

X shakes his head.

X: (v.o, thinking) Damn him.  He's just taunting me!

X charges up and points his X-buster at Sigma.

SIGMA: Heeey!

As X fires, Sigma quickly advances with a swift dash and an underhanded cut across his chest with his beam-scythe.

X: Augh.

He falls down.

ZERO: Oh no.

Zero runs over to him and tries to clash saber with scythe, but after two parries, Sigma disappears and simply creates an energy orb, which multiplies as he floats a little higher above them.

The dark orbs roll down and arch above in Zero's direction, but he narrowly evades them with a few dashes around the room.

X blasts Sigma with rapid fire and charges up once again. The shots do nothing.

SIGMA: Heeheehee..

He disappears once again after X has fully charged.

SIGMA: Too late!

He reappears right above him.

X: Ah!

He /fires a charge shot right above him, but Sigma vanishes once again.

X: /Damn!!

Sigma reappears at X's side and performs another underhanded Scythe attack.

X is knocked down, slightly bleeding from his side, while Zero runs over to Sigma in anger.

ZERO: grrrrRRR. NO!! I won’t let you do this to us.

Sigma turns with a wicked grin.

SIGMA: Baahahah, Zero.. What’s the matter?

He poofs and reappears directly above Zero, whose had enough.

With a firm scowl, Zero lights up his saber and uppercuts Sigma with a fiery blade.

SIGMA: Gyaah!!

His robes erupt in flames and he quickly teleports above X, who is sitting up.

X's armor flashes to red and white as he performs Magma Dragoon's Rising Fire, directly underneath Sigma's charted body.

SIGMA: Rragh!!

He is burnt once again, before teleporting away to recover.

By the gate, he reappears and takes another swift dash at both of them with his scythe out.

ZERO: Burn him down, X!  Give it everything you've got!!

X: Right!

X charges up and performs a super Rising Fire just as Sigma knocks against him.  His scythe outreaches to Zero's position.

Zero tries to block it, but the force of the attack knocks him down to the ground, alongside X.

Sigma teleports above them and creates energy orbs once again.

SIGMA: Prepare to become Space Dust!

X & ZERO: No!!

They both roll out of the way and double-team him with their fiery upper cuts once again.

SIGMA: Gyaaaargh!!!!

Sigma lowers himself to the ground and finally pulls off his frayed robes.

SIGMA:

Are you ready for Round 2??

No longer resembling the Grim reaper, he exposes his chiseled colorful frame to them.  His chest and legs boast a vibrant yellow, silver and blue armor. His arm muscles look stronger than ever, while his large shoulder pads host two red boomerangs, each.  His red scythe spins swiftly in the air and wedges itself into the ground right by his feet. Sigma strikes a menacing pose, prepared to fight, proving that he is still quite a foreboding adversary. SIGMA:  Hee hee hee. Very good, boys! But not for long. You won't be able to evade this next attack! He grabs his scythe, jumps up and violently throws it right at X.  With the beam down, it acts more like a hammer, spinning rapidly in a full circle around Sigma’s floating body. The hammer-end catches X in the back, knocking him hard to the ground. X: AAAGH!!! ZERO: NO!!! The beam-scythe spins back into Sigma’s hand as he lands and turns around to face Zero. SIGMA:  I've been waiting for you Zero!  It's time for us to settle this! Zero shakes his head, enraged. ZERO: Fine by ME!!! Zero runs right into Sigma and clashes his purple saber against his beam-scythe.  They parry for three rounds before Sigma advances with a dashing lunge and plants his scythe into the ground violently.  The move causes Zero to flail back, while the beam scythe emits constant pulses of electricity through the floor.  X and Zero get electrocuted, while Sigma laughs. SIGMA: Aaaah hahahahaha!!!! He stands in between both Hunters as he unleashes all four of his smart-boomerangs.  One-by-one they float in mid-air.  Two hone in on Zero’s position and knock him down, while the other two attack X, who just got up. ZERO: Auff. X: Ackk! Annoyed, X turns around and shoots a charged buster at Sigma, who takes the hit with a grin. SIGMA: Ahh. Zero shakes it off and pulls out his saber again, but then the Boomerangs come back. Just as X and Zero are about to storm Sigma from both sides, the boomerangs bash into their backs and heads once again. X & ZERO: AAHHH!!!! They fall once again and become electrocuted by Sigma’s pulsing beam-scythe. SIGMA: Ahhh Hahahahahah!!!! I missed you boys. He grabs his scythe and lets them writhe in pain for a while, as his boomerangs return to their slots on his shoulder pads.

SIGMA: Look at you.  Pathetic, Weaklings!!  I thought you were better than this.

X inserts a sub-tank into his chest and swiftly rises to his feet.

SIGMA: (grinning, cocky) There it is..

X: (annoyed) Sigma!  You won't get away with this.

SIGMA: Oh believe me, dear brother.. I already have.

X: Hm!?

SIGMA: One way or another, I will destroy you and your entire world.  Be it today, or tomorrow.  That is a promise.

ZERO: NO!!!!

Zero gets up and surprise attacks Sigma with Raijingeki.  Sigma is stunned in the side by his electric stab.

SIGMA: Aaaaarrgh.

ZERO: Use Lightning, X!!

X: (gasping) Of course!!

His Force Armor flashes into yellow and black, as he shoots a lightning web right at Sigma's chest.

It wraps him up in electricity and he is forced to take the blast.

SIGMA: Agh..  If you think Web Spider's attack is going to take me, you've got another thing coming.

Slightly struggling with the web, he glares at X and fires lasers out of his eyes.

X runs right into the lasers and is taken down, quickly.

X: Ahh..

Sigma dodges Zero’s saber slashes until the lightning web on his chest eventually wears off.  Then, he punches Zero hard across the temple with his free hand.

ZERO: Gaahh!!

Zero falls to the floor.  Sigma dashes back towards his grounded scythe.  When he plucks it from the ground, he is struck in the back from another Lightning Web.

SIGMA: Aggh!

He powers through the pain, jumps in the air and resumes his spinning hammer-scythe attack, as he floats for a moment.

Once again, the scythe spins around Sigma’s body entirely.  Zero attempts to bat it away, but is only harmed by it’s mighty swing.  When it comes around to X’s position, he dashes away and charges up.

Sigma quickly grabs his scythe and throws it at X again.  The scythe wedges into the wall and creates lightning currents all across the wall.

SIGMA: Ahhahah!  I have you now.

He shoots his eye-lasers at the floor, and slowly points them up at X.

Zero gets up, dashes after him and takes a slash at Sigma, who catches his hand firmly with a grin.

SIGMA: Hahahah, not now Zero.  I’m busy..

While gripping against Zero’s hand, Sigma focuses on X, who jumps over the lasers and uses his thrusters to hover in the air, momentarily.

Sigma grins as he simply raises his head to point his eye-lasers at him.

ZERO: (struggling) Urgh.. Well, that’s too bad..

He points his broken buster at Sigma and unleashes another Raijingeki, right against Sigma’s ribs.

SIGMA: (hurt) Ouughh..

He strafes to his side, favoring his injured ribcage, but he still points his lasers at X.

X fires a Super Lightning Web, which gradually covers the entirety of the room.  Before long, Sigma is trapped in a huge yellow web of electricity, which only serves to deteriorate his armor.

SIGMA: Arrrgh.  What the-..  No!!!

Sigma’s lasers stop as he struggles to move out of the huge Lightning Web.

X lands.  Sigma continually gets singed by the electric trap.

X: I already told you, Sigma.  I’ll never let you win.

At each dash, Zero capitalizes on the punishment, hacking and slashing away at Sigma’s body.

ZERO: That’s /right!!  You /keep /coming /back and we’ll /always /find a /way to /Defeat you!!

At the final dash, Sigma uses Raijingeki and inserts it directly through Sigma’s stomach.

SIGMA: HHHOOOUUUUUURRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

He grunts and moans in pain as his body ruptures completely into a wild explosion.

The whole room flashes white and eventually settles into a calm silence.

X: What the-..

ZERO: …Did we win?

Just below them, the floor panels suddenly ignite and catch them off guard.

X & ZERO: Auugh!

They both fall into an engine room below, as the power source of the Final Weapon is revealed to them.

-pan to-

-------------------------------------------------------------- INT. FINAL WEAPON – Engine Room - NIGHT --------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, the Final Weapon is shaking as X and Zero land on their feet.  They take in the overwhelming sight of the Engine Room. It is powered by four huge ionic cores, which ominously glow in a bright blue amidst their glass tube and red metal casing. Wires surround them upon the walls, floor and ceiling above as the gravity of their situation becomes very clear.  If they fail, the Earth will be destroyed.

Large chunks of debris fall around them as if the weapon itself is going to blow.  X and Zero run over towards a gate ahead of them with concerned faces.

Then, a huge Cyborg appears and blocks the gate ahead of them.  With wires attached to the wall, a huge metal plated torso, sharp purple chest armor, thin silver arms and a huge gun in his hands, this Cyborg appears to be Sigma.  Above his metal face is a strange helmet, which bears Sigma’s gruesome face at the crown of his pointed head.

SIGMA: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Feel my incredible power! Drown in the empty vastness of space!

X narrows his eyes and clenches his fists.

Zero points a finger at Sigma’s new Cyborg body.

ZERO: God DAMN you, Sigma!!!  If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to DESTROY YOU!!!!

SIGMA: Ha ha ha!  You're finished Zero! Iris is waiting for you!

Zero flinches, just as Sigma pulls up his huge scope cannon. He fires a ray at Zero, but he dashes away, evading the blast.

X decides to switch to his Aiming Laser as his Force Armor flashes purple.

With his sights locked on, he unleashes a green blast, which is completely deflected by Sigma’s new shiny Cyborg frame.

SIGMA: Ha ha ha! That won’t stop me, you imbecile!!

Sigma interrupts X’s blast with a powerful ray of his own.

X: Aghh!

X gets knocked down.

[RADAR]: Analyzing…

Zero stands up to the Cyborg Sigma, until he sees three large metal heads enter in the room.

ZERO: What..the..Hell???

These new robotic heads resemble Sigma, as they appear around them.  One is yellow, another is blue, and the one before him is red.  

X: (reacting) Huh??

The red head juts out spikes from it’s right side, which blocks Zero from attacking the Cyborg body directly from below.

X: Uh, Radar?  Any ideas..?

[RADAR]: You have company… But they only serve as a distraction.  The Cyborg is the target.

X and Zero proceed to dash around Sigma’s ray blasts.  X bravely uses the blue head to prop himself higher in the room.  As the yellow head draws near, X kick-jumps off it’s face and fires a charge shot directly at Sigma’s Cyborg body.  He /catches him with a direct hit.

SIGMA: /Ackk!

With that, Sigma completely disappears.  The three heads, vanish and reappear in a new formation.  This time, the yellow head stacks on top of the red one, underneath the hole from the ceiling.  The blue head, near Zero floats toward him and spews out an icy mist from his mouth.

X: (gasping)   Zero! Look out.

ZERO: Whaaa! Shit!!

Zero dashes away and X does the same.  They both kick-jump up the yellow and red stack for safety.

The blue head only reaches so far, before it gives up and disappears, along with it’s yellow and red counterparts.

X: Whoa!

They both fall to the floor and land on their feet, abruptly.

Then a huge gruesome Sigma Head appears on the floor, behind X.  It has wires sticking out of his mouth, connected to the floor.  His silver brain is exposed across his disfigured forehead.  It appears as if his scar has gone directly through his purple eye and brain.  Upon sight, Zero almost wants to puke.

The gruesome head opens his mouth and pulls huge force winds into the room, directing X into his mouth.

X: Whaaaaaat!?  Aaaahghh!!! ZERO: eeeXX!!

Zero reaches out to X, who helplessly falls into Sigma’s mouth.

More debris and shrapnel are aimed at Zero, just as two of Sigma’s mini-heads appear to block him from protecting X.

ZERO: DAMN IT!!!!

He angrily pulls out his purple saber and cuts away at the blue head before him desperately.  After successfully destroying the blue head, Zero sees X cringe and wince in pain as his entire body glows.

X: aaaaaaAAAAIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

He desperately uses his base Nova Strike to escape, but it barely fazes Sigma.  Instead, it catches Zero off-guard, as X accidently rams into him.  Exhausted and hurt, they both fall to the ground.

SIGMA: HAAAA HAAHAAHAA HAAAA!!!!!

Sigma’s gruesome head fades away, as do the mini-heads around them.

X: Auuugh…  S-sorry, Zero.  A-are.. you.. okaay??

ZERO: (weak) I.. will be…

He pulls out a life bottle from his compartment belt and desperately drinks out of it.  Instantly, his muscles tone up and his scratches wear off.  Zero is able to sit up. Then he gives Zero an annoyed, focused look.

ZERO: Use it, X.  It’s time to give him everything we got.

X’s eyes widen as he reaches for his last sub-tank.  He inserts it into his chest, and re-energizes his entire frame.

X takes a deep breath as he slowly gets up.

X: You’re right…

He cricks his neck and powers up, just as all three Sigma heads reappear in the room.

X & ZERO: rrrrRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zero’s armor turns crimson and slowly darkens into black as he powers up.  X’s White and Blue Force Armor gradually darkens into his navy blue, purple and black Ultimate Armor.  His golden crown sticks up like spikes as an indication that his transformation is complete.

This time, the red head takes the lead, unleashing merciless fire upon them.  Rejuvinated, the two dark heroes quickly jump and dash around it.  X performs a needless Nova Strike against the red head, which is heightened and does not drain his power cells one bit.

The red head is destroyed and the other heads vanish.

Then, Cyborg Sigma reappears at the other end of the room.

SIGMA: Ya know, I was wondering how long it would take until you finally got serious.

X & ZERO: SHUT UP!!!!

SIGMA: Oooh!  That’s the spirit.

He points his ray gun at them again.  This time, Zero fearlessly uses his Ryuenjin, not caring about the consequences.

The metal heads reappear as obstacles.  One directly under Cyborg Sigma; the other two behind X.  X once again uses the blue one as a platform to raise his body higher, just as his radar blips.

[RADAR]: Use Soul Body, X.

X gasps.

X: Really??

He switches to Split Mushroom’s power as his Ultimate Armor recolors itself into brownish tones.

X: Let’s go!!!

He lets out a double made of pure power, which deeply affects the Cyborg body’s innards.

SIGMA: Gaaaaarrrrrghhhh.  Uuurrrghhh…

Both X and Zero’s attacks harm him until he retreats once again.

Landing on their feet, X and Zero turn around anticipating whatever comes next.

Then, in a triangular fashion the yellow, red and blue heads appear above and around them again.  This time, the yellow head takes the lead, firing electrical charges at them.

They manage to dodge a couple of blasts, but the rest catch them and slow them down.

X & ZERO: Aghh.

The three heads disappear and the ugly Sigma head reappears at the other end of the room. Zero quickly dashes in front of X.

ZERO: (brave) Not this time!!

Zero jump-dashes over to Sigma, who uses his force winds to push Zero away.  Zero dashes against the wind in protest, using his Shippuuga slash and Tenkuuha powered saber to cut away at Sigma’s hideous form.

Behind X, spikes form at the wall behind him. He gasps and desperately dashes toward their position as well.

He creates another Soul Body, but this has no affect on Sigma’s slimy face.

X: Huh??

[RADAR]: Different form – different weakness.  Analyzing…

X: Forget it!

He desperately switches to Ground Hunter on instinct and uses Jet Stingray’s manta ray guided missiles to crawl directly across the floor and into Sigma’s mouth.  Sure as anything, they work, causing three small explosions before Zero.

SIGMA: /Oh, /oH, /Whoa!!

Sigma vanishes in retreat allowing his mini-heads to keep them occupied again.

ZERO: That got him good, X.

X: Yeah…

The blue-head reappears and attacks them with it’s ice mist.

The two dash away, X blasts it with his Plasma Buster and destroys it.

ZERO: Nice.

X: (smirking) Hmph.

Cyborg Sigma appears before them once again, with a fully powered Ray Cannon.

SIGMA: The End!

X & ZERO: Huh?

He fires a thin beam against the corner of the room, which quickly travels all across the floor, above them and across from them, leaving a trail of explosions by their feet.

X & ZERO: AAuughghhh!!!!!

The two fall to the floor, affected by that.  Even in their ultimate forms.

ZERO: Shit..

X: (cringing) We can’t let him.. win!

X defiantly gets up and pushes through his pain.  Zero does the same.

Everything disappears as the three heads revert to their fire-attack formation.

X nods.  

ZERO: This guy again.

The red head blasts walls of fire from it’s mouth at X and Zero, four times very quickly.  They manage to dodge all of the fireballs this time, as it disappears.

Once again, Sigma’s horrid face appears at the other corner of the room.  X stands before him, prepared with his Ground Hunter.  Zero pulls out his saber, ready to go.

SIGMA: TIME TO DIIIEEEE!!!!!

He tries to suck them both up with his force winds.

X: Our thoughts exactly!!!

X and Zero defiantly jump over the blue head that serves to block them from a direct attack.  It’s spikes serve as a punishment if they stray too far from Sigma as well.

Directly in front of him, X shoots Ground Hunters into his mouth directly, unafraid of being pulled in. Zero makes unrelenting slashes with his saber as Sigma’s only form of defense is to push heavy debris and shrapnel at them. At close range, the two get cuts and bruises across their faces and bodies, but it’s worth it.  They’re striking him down with everything they have.  And they’re winning!

ZERO: DIE SIGMA!!!!

Zero dashes and performs another Shippuuga slash, which causes Sigma’s horrid face to overload and explode at last.

X & ZERO: (ecstatic) YEAH!!

The Cyborg Sigma appears behind them again and points his scope cannon again.

SIGMA: NEVERRR!!!!!  HAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!

He performs another detonating blast, but this time X and Zero are ready for it.  They jump on the other heads at just the right time, so the floor blasts can’t hurt them.

Then, Cyborg Sigma disappears and the metal heads take over.  The yellow head takes charge with electric blasts.  X and Zero dodge them accordingly.  Rhythmically.  

The metal heads reform.  This time the blue one shoots ice-mist from his mouth.  Sigma has become predictable.  X and Zero know exactly what to do.

They revert to their fire-attack formation, where the red head takes the lead.  Albeit difficult, X and Zero manage to dodge the flame attacks before they lose their patience.

X: That’s Enough, Sigma!

ZERO: Show yourself, Coward!!

Sigma abruptly reappears.

SIGMA: Oh, really?  I’ll make you eat those words..

He points his cannon at Zero and fires a blast. Then, another at X.  They both run around as the metal heads appear and attempt to crowd them.

ZERO: Pfft.  Whatever!

He creates a flame from his saber and ascends in an upward slash again, disregarding the spiked red head below him.

SIGMA: Gaaahhh!!!

X: You’ve become Predictable, Sigma.  This is the end of the line!!

X creates another Soul Body, which jumps into his torso, destroying his insides.

SIGMA: AAArrrrgghghhuuuggghhhh..

X: It’s a shame.  You thought you were clever by making us fight against the Repliforce, but I was onto you the whole time.

SIGMA: Ughhh..  yeah, right!

Zero uppercuts him with another flaming saber.

X: You may have gotten me with Double..  But I knew there was something wrong about that Bio-Lab that suddenly went active. And there’s only one person whose capable of attacking our Cyber Network like that from the inside.

SIGMA: Aghh haagh..  That’s funny, because that was actually Doppler’s final plan.

X: What!?

Sigma blasts both of them with his ray gun and they get knocked down. SIGMA: Cyber Peacock was his ace in the hole. Just in case everything went wrong.

ZERO: You think you know a guy…

Zero jumps after Sigma, but gets knocked down.

X’s eyes widen.

X: But he.. repented…!

SIGMA: That doesn’t mean he didn’t have a plan. He just wanted to hurt your base one last time; presumably before he betrayed me.. But by the time I was back on my feet, there was so much more to be done.  Now the Repliforce had existed!  There was a magnificent army right at my fingertips, just asking to be overtaken.

ZERO: Why yoou!

He gets up and raises his saber once again.

SIGMA: Ha ha ha.  Oh yes.  A mere revenge plot evolved into so much more.  Dragoon was a key factor in allowing that to happen.

X: DAMN IT, Sigma. He was our friend! And a good man.

X gets up again.

SIGMA: Hmph.  He harbored nothing but hatred and jealousy toward you two.  I merely awakened him to his true feelings.

ZERO: You started a /WAR, you sick /FUCK!!!  And I lost the Love of my Life over it!!  God /DAMN /YOU!!!!!  ////

Zero jumps and /slashes Sigma /twice.  Then he /hacks and /slashes away in a rage until he gets sloppy. ////

Sigma /blasts Zero down with his ray gun, and laughs in pain.

SIGMA: /AGH HAHAHAHAAA. Oh no, Zero. You only have yourself to blame for your mistakes and lack of self-control. As for you, X… Your naiveté was almost your downfall.  I knew Double would make a great Spy, but I didn’t think he’d actually kill off your entire Unit!

X: Damn it, that’s enough!  You’ve ruined our lives for the last time, Sigma.  I’ll never let you do it AGAAAAIN!!!!

X’s jetpack powers up as his Nova Strike ignites.  X launches himself directly into Cyborg Sigma’s torso.

SIGMA: AAAGGHHH!!!

X flares up and /performs another Nova Strike.

SIGMA: /OOOOAAAFfff…

X: I can promise you this, Sigma.  Each time you come back, I’ll be ready for you.

He uses Nova Strike again, still not breaking a sweat.

X: I’ll never let you destroy our World.

He unleashes a last Nova Strike, which finally overtakes him.

SIGMA: AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zero watches in awe as Sigma’s body wildly explodes before them. The entire Engine Room continues to violently shake.

SIGMA:  ...Hee hee hee.

X & Zero:  What's so funny?

SIGMA: This weapon is aimed straight at Earth already... No one can stop it...

ZERO: No!

X: Damn!

SIGMA: Ha ha ha ha ha!  Good bye, X and Zero!

The final light from Cyborg Sigma’s inner core erupts as a bright flash of light surrounds the room.

X: NO!  We’ve got to stop this.  There’s got to be a way!!

When the light fades back to normal, Zero looks at the gate ahead of them. With Sigma gone, there is nothing stopping them from finally going through.

ZERO: (alert) Come on!!

He dashes ahead and leads the way.

-pan to-

------------------------------------------------------------ INT. FINAL WEAPON – Power Reactor - NIGHT ------------------------------------------------------------

X and Zero run into the next room and run across the scaffolding, not knowing what to do.  Below them lies the laser itself, with Earth directly in it’s sights.

The two of them look at each other and share a solemn look of regret.  They know what they must do.

The wounded, and half-broken General slowly appears from behind one of the ionic tubes, with a similar look of regret.

X & ZERO: General!

GENERAL: X... Zero... I was... wrong. Sigma... he blinded me to the truth...

ZERO: It's okay... Rest.

He looks over to them and takes a deep breath.

GENERAL: ...The weapon can be stopped with my body.

X: But then you'll...

GENERAL: Many of my men have died. As their leader, I must join them. X, please forgive our foolishness.

X: General!

He salutes them both.

GENERAL: It's over for this soldier. Farewell...

General drops himself into the laser cannon.  

-Slow-motion effect as he falls down the narrowing barrel of the laser cannon.-

At the very bottom, his large body gets stuck and self-destructs, causing the entire space station to start to explode.

-The explosion accelerates into real-time-

ZERO: General!!!

The entire Final Weapon facility violently bursts into flames.  X and Zero can do nothing now, but act on their own survival instincts.

As the whole place explodes, they teleport to their last point marker.

-Fade to White-

----------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. OUTER SPACE – Final Weapon – NIGHT -----------------------------------------------------------------

The whole Facility explodes before the weapon can fire.  The mission was a success at the expense of General’s life.

At a closer glimpse of the exploding Satellite, we can see X and Zero flying in their stolen Repliforce aircrafts.  They are both parallel to one another, flying from a distance.

We zoom in to Zero’s aircraft.  He is donning his red armor once again.

He stares ahead of him and thinks about his birth.  After talking to Sigma, the memories of his origins have become a bit more clear.  And they disturb him.

-Flash-

----------------------------------------------------------------- INT. MYSTERIOUS LAB – Zero’s Capsule - DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------

In a dark lab, Zero recalls being built for the first time in a purple Capsule.  At it’s base there was a small skull and at the top was a prominent ‘W’.

We zoom in on his unfinished body.  Zero’s helmet is unfinished, bearing a far stronger resemblance to that of X.  His under-armor is painted red, white and black, and his core gem cover is intact. However the rest of his gems are missing, and wires are still connected to his head and chest.

The rest of his armor fades on, indicating a time jump.  Zero v1 is now complete.

A shadowy figure of that old man reaches out to Zero’s pod with a menacing grin.  His name still escapes Zero, but he knows that it’s a Doctor.  Doctor W…

Zero’s pod is now opened.  Dr. W is no longer in the room.  He sits up with his closed eyes, and opens them for the first time.  Upon opening them, there is an evil glaze set in his pupils.

-cut to-

----------------------------------------------------------------- INT. ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------

We cut to good Commander Sigma’s scared face upon their first meeting.

-Flash- ----------------------------------------------------------------- INT. OUTER SPACE – Zero’s Aircraft - NIGHT -----------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the aircraft, Zero looks at his hands with apprehension.

ZERO: So… This is what happened to me.  This is my fate!  I couldn’t save anyone after all.

He crouches down and winces with heartache as he puts his hands on his head.  

-fade to- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – Training Grounds - DAY -------------------------------------------------------------------------

He recalls those first days of befriending Colonel and Iris.

She used to hold on to Colonel’s arm like a child, almost as if hiding behind him out of shyness.  Colonel, the overprotective brother would stand tall and look down at Zero, untrustingly.  He never liked that about Colonel.  He was a good teacher though.

ZERO: (v.o) IRIS!

-Flash-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – Cafeteria – DAY -------------------------------------------------------------------------

IRIS: (giggling) Ah hehheheh!

Iris is genuinely laughing with closed eyes as she clasps her hands around his.

Zero is stunned by her gorgeous face as he cannot help but stare.

-Flash-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. Memorial Hall – DAY -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iris takes two steps with an older, worried face.  

IRIS: Please stop, brother!

-Flash-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. FINAL WEAPON – Battle Room – NIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The defeated Iris looks solemnly at Zero, but also at peace.  She makes a warm smile and gives him a final, loving look before she collapses to her death.

Zero will never forget her head suddenly turning over like that.

-FLASH-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. OUTER SPACE – Zero’s Aircraft - NIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zero looks down with grimace; his hands on the controls.

ZERO: (worried) Iris!  What if we reploids.. all turn out to be Mavericks after all…

He looks ahead of him and flies on.

Outside of the Aircraft, we pan over to his far right, where X is flying with thoughts of his own.

-pan to-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. OUTER SPACE – X’s Aircraft - NIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blue X stares out at the stars recalling the senseless war they just had and the mastermind behind it.

-cut to-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. MEMORIAL HALL – DAY -------------------------------------------------------------------------

X recalls meeting with Colonel just after Zero battled with him, the first time.  After Iris stopped the fight and took Zero home, Colonel walked outside and spotted X, who was there just in case.

Colonel points his red saber at the blue-armored X.

X stands before him ready, but unwilling to fight.

Colonel has a stoic face as he analyzes X and decides to attack anyway.

With a quick clash, Colonel’s saber is blocked by X’s gauntlet.

Colonel looks at X surprised and yells.

COLONEL: Raaaaaaaaah!!!!

-Flash-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – Docking Bay – DAY -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pudgy Double turns around with a fed up face as a red aura surrounds his body.  X imagines that first transformation, before his 17th Unit.

-Flash- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. FINAL WEAPON – Sigma’s Lair – NIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hooded Sigma floats above them with a grin.  His yellow armor can be seen as he offers them a pleased grin.

-FLASH- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. OUTER SPACE – X’s Aircraft - NIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

X closes his eyes and thinks to himself, quietly.

Then his ship gets a com-link from Zero.

X: Huh? Zero.

On a vid-screen, he can see Zero in his pod, exhausted with regret on his face.

ZERO: It’s.. good to see you’re safe, X.  I was really worried about you.

X closes his eyes.

X: Sorry about that.  You too…  I’m glad you’re okay.

ZERO: Don’t worry. It’s all over. Let’s go home and rest. We’ve earned it.

X thinks about their fight with Sigma before closing communication.  His Ultimate form comes from a dark place, and despite what Dr. Light said, he is still not entirely convinced that he won’t become a Maverick one day.

X: But Zero! What…  What if I become.. one of the Mavericks?

Zero looks up at X, truly surprised at that question.

ZERO: …Don’t ask such silly questions.  I’m breaking contact now.

X: Wait, Zero!! I’m-I’m serious.

Zero glares at X masking his own fears with a look of exasperation.

X waits a beat before sharing a new thought that is plaguing his mind.

X: Zero. If.. If I become a Maverick…  You have to take care of me!

Zero stares at his monitor, troubled. He finally allows X to see that he doesn’t have all the answers, but only for a moment.  He closes his eyes and decides to put on a front, once again.

ZERO: Don’t be ridiculous.  Now let’s hurry on back.

He cuts the feed and races his aircraft towards the Earth, below.

X stares at the closed monitor, intent on this plan.

X: Promise me.. Zero…

He looks up and accelerates his Aircraft, following Zero’s lead.

Both heroes fly down towards the Earth.  The Victory is theirs, but once again it has been tainted by fear of the unknown and far too many deaths to recount.

NARRATOR: (o.s, v.o) ...The battle has ended. Yet somehow, X doesn't feel quite right... ‘What caused all those robots to turn into Mavericks?’ ‘... Will it happen to me someday?’  These are his typical thought patterns, I have learned. But, has X just realized his tragic destiny? It appears that X will have to solve this mystery one day... Soon... …For some reason, Zero's memories of the past continue to haunt his mind. ...As a Hunter, it is his duty to go after those Mavericks... ...And at the same time, he knows that it could be his destiny to defeat his friend one day. Two different people. Two different fates. In the future... Zero's decision will lead two great Hunters to tragedy. The future is coming...  And I will be ready for it.

   -       cut to-

------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. OFFSITE CAMPUS – Secret Lab - NIGHT -------------------------------------------------------------------------

A tall reploid in black and gray armor closes his digital logbook.  The gold shines from his cuffs and impressive shoulder pads.  He adjusts the hat on his helmet as he turns around and faces the camera.  His dark blue eyes are rigid, but warm and genuine.  His chestplate represents the lapels of a Military Uniform.  The man offers a soft, thoughtful smile as he walks ahead, retreating to his quarters.

??????: Hm. I hope that’s enough, Dr. Cain.

-Freeze Frame.  Grainy effect-

-Fade to Black-

[katmac95]

Why the fuck do I have PTSD?

Some first blog post, eh?

I’ll be using this blog to say things that are a bit too long for Twitter, but things I still feel the need to say.

First, I want to talk about my PTSD and why I have it. 

Some people don’t like talking about their trauma. I need to. I don’t enjoy talking about it, but it does make me feel freer when I do. It gets it out of my head and off my chest, so to speak. And that helps me.

This post may not be pretty but it’s not supposed to be. The stuff I’m going to share is all very raw and rough, so its delivery will reflect that.

*deep breath* 

I’ll start from the beginning, I guess.

From the time I was small, my father beat my mother. Often, he did this in front of me. My mom left my father with me in tow after sixteen months of marriage, and they were divorced shortly after. I still remember him coming after us with a knife when I was a baby. I remember times when I’d hide behind the toilet and refuse to let anyone touch me. I remember screaming at the top of my lungs because I was scared to death and that terrified energy had nowhere else to go.

When they divorced, my father was awarded partial custody of me by the state. God knows how a man with multiple convictions of DV and drug possession could get partial custody, but whatever. He did.

During his visitation weekends, he would often: hit me, swear at me, call me names, hit me with a belt or other objects, hit my dogs, break my things, withhold medical care (I once broke my foot under his care, and he refused to take me to a hospital), didn’t feed me (I taught myself to cook at 5 years old because of this, though he’d get angry if I tried to feed myself on the days when he wouldn’t).

And when he’d get new girlfriends, he’d beat them, too (again, in front of me). I remember one night, my dad was mad at his long-time girlfriend (they were off and on for most of my childhood) for one thing or another, and he slammed her hand in a door and broke it. I was in the next room, and I still remember her screams and the mangled mess he’d made of her hand. She filed a police report against him, and he went to jail for that.

I believe he’d been to jail quite a few times by the time I came into the world. When I was a kid, I remember him being incarcerated three separate occasions. I’m pretty sure two of those three were for domestic violence, the other for drugs. Or perhaps vice versa. I’m not sure, but his buddy would always bail his sorry, stupid ass out. Even as a kid, I remember hating that buddy, and wishing my father would stay incarcerated until I turned eighteen. At least then, I wouldn’t have had to see him.

Yeah, so, about the drugs... My dad’s drug of choice was meth. Or, well, his buddies referred to it by its street name, aka “crank”. He smoked it, sometimes around me. It smelled like sweat, cat piss, and cookies, in case you wondered. Now, meth has a rep for being one of the worst drugs on the market, with good reason.

First, there’s the rush. The person will wig the fuck out, but at least they’re “happy”-ish… It’s mania to the extreme. If depression is a low, then meth is high, HIGH, H I G H. Some people gouge their eyes out, others talk seven miles a minute and make you watch Alex Jones and read Andrew Anglin (yeah, my father was a keeper). He was never quite “gouge out his eyeballs” bad, but I do remember some weird manic shit (he once hooked a package of hamburger meat to some jumper cables from his car because the government had supposedly installed nanotechnology in this particular package of meat to spy on him).

Then would come the downward spiral when the rush began to fade. His mania would very quickly shift to irritability, anger, paranoia, and he would threaten to (or actually) beat the shit out of me for “looking at him wrong”. Or he’d threaten to kill himself if I did something he didn’t like. Or he’d threaten to drive us off a cliff, to kidnap me, or to [insert suggestion here]. Being with someone coming down from a rush is fucking terrifying, to say the least.

Finally, there’s the crash. The user will become so tired, they’ll spend entire days in bed. They don’t eat, they don’t acknowledge their responsibilities, they just kind of lie there like they’re dead for the whole weekend and get upset with you if you ask them to make you food (even though you’re a child and afraid of burning yourself on the stove because you’re not tall enough to actually reach it yet).

Through all this, my mom did pretty much nothing, despite the fact that I told her literally every single weekend that I was scared my father was going to kill me. I implored her to ask for sole custody (the fact that I knew that term at six should’ve been a clue that I knew what I was talking about), but she refused because she was scared of him. I was, too, only I couldn’t do anything about it without her help. CPS was called twice on him, but I wasn’t bruised “enough”. And my mother was too afraid to act, so nothing was done. Though I estranged myself from my father at fifteen, he had partial custody in the state’s eyes until I was eighteen.

Next up, my childhood babysitter, who was a right piece of work. Her children would steal my belongings and then claim they were theirs (I remember this little foam souvenir I got from Seattle that her kids took, and when I went to retrieve it, I was punished). This daycare provider’s methods of punishment were archaic. She and my father would’ve been great friends, I think. This woman would punish us by literally locking us in a 2x2 coat closet for hours at a time. We couldn’t sit, we had to stand. We couldn’t make noise, we had to “think about our actions”. And it was completely dark; even the gap under the door was covered. Now, I was kid who–with my trauma history–acted out a LOT (I mean, daily), so I dare say I likely spent more hours inside that closet than out of it when I was 3 and 4.

Oh, and when she was extra angry, she’d step on our hands or backs.

Yes, that sounds unbelievably barbaric. Her daycare facility was closed down in 1999 or 2000, I think, because a parent threatened to sue (or did sue, I’m not sure).

When I was young, my dad used to leave me with people I didn’t know in our neighborhood, while he… well, I don’t know what he was doing, but I’m guessing it involved something illicit. Anyway, this one time, when I was six, he left me with a teenage boy who lived across the way (my dad gave him a few dollars to babysit or whatever). And this kid had seemed nice enough. But, part of the way through the day, we rode our bikes down to the local creek to skip rocks. The boy threatened to drown me if I didn’t let him grope me. I’m not proud of this, but I acquiesced. He got mad at me for resisting, and threw me and my bike into the creek. My dad got mad at me for it.

And onto the next trauma, which is definitely in the same vein as the last. I mentally and emotionally cannot handle going into specifics here, but when I was ten, I was raped by a doctor. I was then groped by another doctor when I was eighteen. This is the only chunk of trauma I will keep relatively private, because it remains the most traumatic experience of my life and I just can’t talk about, it other than to acknowledge that it happened and that I’m terrified of doctors as a result.

Last one about my dad, I promise.

My dad would sometimes show up at places where I was (school, out to meals, etc.). These were places he was not supposed to be, mind you, as he wasn’t supposed to see me outside of visitation weekends. Sometimes, he used to threaten to kill himself/ me/ others/ pets with his rifle (the only reason I knew he had a rifle was because he kept threatening to use it). He would physically block my exits, always had to control where I was or who I was with, and liked to grab my wrists to physically restrain me. I mean, he was the epitome of abusive white male. My father is the most vile excuse for a human being that I have ever had the misfortune of knowing.

While we’re talking physical abuse, when I was a kid, I had a scout leader. This one time, when I was fifteen, she was mad at me for “mouthing off” when I refused to do something (a chore, because I’d been doing all the chores and I didn’t think it was fair that I was always working while my peers had all the fun–that was a valid complaint, btw). She got mad, came up on deck of the scout boat, grabbed me hard enough to leave bruises, dragged me down a ladder by the arm, and physically prevented me from going back above deck until I had done the stupid chore.

Because I felt unsafe, I left the program and tried to join another unit. But they turned a blind eye (because that’s scouting in America). I left the program altogether and forfeited all the awards I’d spent multiple years to earn. I failed my junior year of high school because of the resulting period of depression (I also dissociated the entire year of 2012, and don’t remember 99% of that school year).

Throughout all of this, my mother was... I mean, she tried in her way. I believe that. But when I sought comfort or told her I was suicidal, she’d say things like I was annoying or she should’ve aborted me. So, while I’m sure she cared in her way, she didn’t (or couldn’t) be what I needed in a mother. She was often just as angry and unpredictable as my father, though far less violent.

My mom also tends to shut down or change the topic if the current one makes her uncomfortable. She’d often give me the silent treatment as a kid, until I dropped whatever it was we were talking about. Or she’d yell at me/ call me names/ whatever. Unfortunately, many of these conversations had to do with my abuse, so these hurtful things often came during times when she knew I was already vulnerable. While I believe my mother cares and has always cared, she was not able to protect me as a child, and I don’t know if I can make my peace with that. She wasn’t able to be what I needed, and that has weighed on me for most of my life now.

I’ve never really had a safe adult in my life to turn to. I don’t know if anyone can be what I need, but I know I still need it. And that’s a tricky place to be. My therapist has said I should’ve been placed in foster care, and I’ve often thought maybe my life would’ve turned out different—better, even—if I had been. Though, I suppose there’s little point dwelling on this; I will never know, and I’ll have to be okay not knowing. I just wish I had a safe “chosen family” to kind of balance out all the chaos. Like an anchor, I suppose.

I have tried to kill myself three times, the most recent of these attempts in September 2017. I regularly struggle with nightmares, suicidal thoughts, shame, guilt, anger, lying (I tell people I’m fine when I’m not, or that I’m taking better care of myself than I am), trouble focusing, and the list goes on and on. I also curse like a fucking sailor, in case you hadn’t noticed (it’s angry energy that needs a place to go... I’m not punching anybody).

So, that’s why the fuck I have PTSD.