#he’s gotta be prepared to carry him around! efficiently!

[talxns]

had this thought about how bruce had to change his training quite a lot when he took on dick as robin because it’s the first time he’s constantly responsible for someone and so being bruce he’s gotta be incredibly prepared right? so i imagine he gets dick to step on a scale in full uniform with equipment and takes down his weight. dick at this point knows that bruce is very obsessive about things so he might not know exactly why he’s being weighed but he knows it’s gotta be a practicality that bruce is applying somewhere. and yep he’s applying it in that now bruce does all of his regular training like long distance runs and climbing and swimming but with that added weight in addition to whatever other weights he uses

[fatefulfaerie]

Poor Timing

Calamity drills.

She hated calamity drills

They happened at least once a month, but were never consistent. They had to be a surprise, to prepare the castle for the actual calamity, and they had to be when Zelda was in the castle, otherwise what was the point?

Zelda never knew whether to take that as her father’s lack of faith in her preparedness, or her father’s belief that she was an integral part of the equation. She didn’t like either.

Bronze bells with ropes hanging from their innards were installed throughout the castle years prior and after a couple squires got a seriously scary talking-to from the king about ringing the bells as a prank, their echoing chimes always meant some form of orderly chaos.

Knights and generals would hurry to their assigned positions throughout the stronghold, some hurried to castle town, some took stances upon watchtowers, most were strategically placed within the castle, and they all had to learn to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Zelda and Link got to discover the millions of different ways to the sanctum, from the library if Zelda was reading when the bells rang, from Zelda’s chambers if Zelda was sleeping when the bells rang, all the way from the gardens if Zelda was trying to derive some peace from the daily promise of calamity when the bells rang. Even if Zelda was praying in the cathedral, Link would take her hand and run.

General Thorne was usually at the Sanctum waiting for them, ready to report to the king that yes, the maiden that bears the blood of the goddess and the knight with the sword that seals the darkness had made it in a timely manner. He didn’t seem to notice that the pair were always panting when they arrived, Zelda’s hands on her hips trying to take back control of her lungs with a bit of grace and dignity. Link, in contrast, would double over with hands on his thighs while he regained his composure. 

During the most recent drill, Zelda made a mental note to always carry a stamina elixir so that Link would be well-equipped to spring into action and defeat Calamity Ganon in a super-human manner.

She made the elixir the morning after that drill, yet the sweat from their run the day before still felt grimy upon her skin, so she elected to spend the rest of the morning in her private wash-basin, two doors down the hall from her chambers.

The surface of the water was laden with Warm Safflina and Hyrule Herb, the former to make the water warm and the latter to renew health. She tried to forget the calamity as she lay there, her head resting against the rim of the basin. Eyes closed, she could still feel the steam ebbing onto her face. She felt relaxed and content, and for brief minutes at a time, she could afford to not worry about her absent sealing power.

When the warm safflina wore off, she stepped from the basin with small splashes before crawling out unceremoniously. She wrapped a white towel around herself and reached a hand up to her hair. To no surprise, it was ridden with knots and unmanageable as she attempted to claw through it.

And then the bells rang.

Zelda froze, eyes wide and heart panicked. They just had a drill. This was not a drill. This was not a drill.

“Zelda!” She heard Link exclaim, he sounded panicked. He banged his fist on the door. He tried jiggling the knob “Zelda!”

The calamity was here, and she didn’t have her sealing power. A large, almost explosive thud shot her head to her right and out of her trance. Link had busted open the door by shoving his shoulder into it, but his eyes were closed and covered with one of his hands. The part of the face Zelda could see was red.

“Take my hand,” Link said, one of his hands extended to her. “We’ve gotta go.” Zelda nodded and did just that, running with him to the sanctum while furiously clamping at the towel to ensure it stayed closed. She could only assume that he had opened his eyes at some point, because he didn’t run into any walls.

She wasn’t sure whether she felt more ashamed about the fact that she didn’t have her sealing power, or about the fact that soldiers kept ogling at her in her condition, water still dripping from her.

Everything was a blur until they stopped at the sanctum. Yet, General Thorne was nowhere in sight, which would have confirmed that the Calamity had come if it weren’t for the fact that the calamity was also nowhere in sight. Zelda clutched her towel tight as she panted, staring at the empty sanctum and relieved for the moment. She leaned against a pillar as she caught her breath, and her gaze slowly drifted to Link. Zelda kicked herself that the thought didn’t cross her mind to grab the elixir. Then again, she didn’t even have time to get dressed.

“False alarm!” They heard someone yell from down below, and Zelda breathed an even deeper sigh of relief, closing and opening her eyes. “False alarm!”

The announcement was repeated at various volumes throughout the castle, and Zelda swore she heard a couple groans from nearby soldiers.

But not from Link. In fact, she’d never heard him complain in the slightest, he never even looked annoyed, it was either neutral or–and this was much more prominent recently–worried.

“How…covered are you?” Link finally asked when he caught his breath, refusing to face her and leaning against a column himself. Zelda blushed, did he think she had nothing at all?

“I have a towel,” Zelda explained, treading forward. “Down to my calves.”

Link still didn’t move, his arm against a column and his forehead against the arm. Zelda only really saw his back. His head shook.

“I can’t look,” he said.

“Link, really it’s okay,” Zelda started with a slight giggle. “I’m showing just as much skin as I do in my prayer dress.”

But he refused to open his eyes around her, even going so far as to ask her to walk behind him on their way back to her chambers. It was probably the proper thing to do, but Link seemed far more embarrassed than the other soldiers, who seemed to enjoy the sight until Link’s glare scared them away.

Zelda dismissed Link for the rest of the day once she arrived safely at her chambers.

“Apparently there was a fight in the mess hall,” Impa explained as Zelda got dressed. “Someone got thrown into the small bell down there, and that made others in the castle think there was another drill, so all the other bells got rung. They extend their deepest apologies. The king is especially furious considering the manner in which you were forced to make it to the sanctum. He removed the bell from the mess hall himself and warned all soldiers to take extra care to be aware of where the bell is in any given room.”

“Do you think Link was acting odd?” Zelda asked, completely off subject. It was as if she couldn’t wait for Impa to stop talking to ask the question.

“He’s a good young man, and an admirable knight attendant,” Impa answered. “You were in a vulnerable state. He did the honorable thing. I don’t think it was odd at all.”

Zelda thought upon that for a moment. Impa was right. He was just a good guy. Zelda was the one who wanted him to have looked, to have…

The unnecessarily dirty thought was one Zelda refused to humor. Her sealing power was more important. Today should have been another wake-up call, another reminder that the calamity could happen at any given moment, that she was still without her sealing power and Hyrule was still doomed.

She couldn’t afford to think about whether or not Link wanted to look.

[whosscruffylooking]

Bad Bounty Chapter One: Reunion

Sergeant Hunter x Fem! Bounty Hunter

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Maybe mutual pining? Nothing too gross.

A/N: hunter was already attractive in season 7, but i managed to suppress my feelings for an ANIMATED character. alas, the bad batch has cursed me and i have finally accepted that he is my latest comfort character.

“You hold onto friends by keeping your heart a little softer than your head.”

“Clone Force 99. Welcome back, ” Commander Cody extends a hand to Hunter who firmly shakes it.

“Apologies for showing up late, we-”

“Got stuck handling some unexpected complications during a mission. I understand Sergeant Hunter,” Cody winks.

“What have you got for us this time Commander?” Crosshair mumbles, twisting his toothpick around between his teeth.

“This one is going to be a bit different boys. It’s not exactly…sanctioned by the GAR. Let’s call it a favor for an old friend of mine.”

Crosshair straightens up, suspicious of Cody’s statement, “We may bend the rules from time to time, but we don’t do favors.”

“This is an efficient mission that ultimately will aid us in the war, provide you some easy target practice…and helps me relieve an old debt I have to pay.”

“Is there a reason you can’t do this yourself?” Hunter questions.

“We’ve been called into battle. Besides, this separatist encampment is one we have failed to infiltrate time and time again,” Cody responds.

Hunter shifts, struggling to comprehend where this is going, “What does attacking a separatist encampment have to do with repaying a debt?”

“There is a Senator stationed on Drahgor III…a corrupt senator at that. One who has a significant bounty on his head. My dear old friend is a bounty hunter I met on Ord Mantell. Your job will be to take out the clankers and retrieve any data you can from the main database. Meanwhile, my bounty hunter friend will secure the bounty and you’ll go your separate ways.”

“Who is this Bounty Hunter?” Crosshair inquires.

“Glad you asked,” Cody exclaims, “Y/N!”

The clone troopers twirl around to see you approaching them. Your manner is conservative yet confident. One thing you have become an expert at is never striving for attention. Instead, your presence demands it.

You nod at the troopers, “Clone Force 99, it is a pleasure to be working with you.”

Surveying the team, your eyes first fall on Crosshair. His distrusting look reaffirms the defense you raised long before wandering onto the landing platform.

Gotta keep an eye on that one.

Next, you glance over to Wrecker. A massive lug of a man, but he has the noticeable demeanor of a gentle giant. Something about him reminds you of a plush toy you once owned as a child.

Tech catches your attention next. He is clearly the intuitive one. He will either be a pain to deal with, or a beneficial asset.

At last, your eyes meet Hunter’s. Such a tiny gesture of nothingness feels like you’ve just been thrust into a timeless world of something far more significant. You quickly dismiss your gaze, but soon find your eyes wandering back to him. His eyes are already on you.

Tech quickly picks up on your silent interaction and nudges Hunter to break him of his trance. Hunter quickly snaps out of it and clears his throat. He is dumbstruck by his response. His heart beats recklessly.

Taking note of his counterpart’s vitals, Tech is left unsettled by the quickening of Hunter’s heart rate. “Hunter, I need you to focus on your breathing. Your heart rate is abnormally high.”

Setting your sight once more on the rugged clone trooper, you catch the ever-changing hue of his cheek…the one that isn’t covered in dark ink. A hint of red paints his untouched skin.

He clears his throat, “Erm-thank you for alerting me Tech. I’ll be aboard the ship.”

Cody shrugs his shoulders at you, “I guess you’ll brief them on the ship. Have a safe trip.”

“Thank you Cody, ” you clap him on the shoulder and follow the rogue crews lead onto their ship.

++++

𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚢

“Where are we going to go? We need somewhere we can set up camp that isn’t easily tracked, ” Echo declares.

“There is one place I can think of, but I’m not sure that Hunter will be a fan of the location, ” Tech announces apprehensively.

Hunter lets out a groan and tightens his fist.

Wrecker laughs, “Hunter doesn’t like this idea! Which means I like it even more!”

Glaring at Wrecker, Hunter abruptly stands and stomps off into the cockpit.

“Where is it?” Echo inquires. He leans in, intrigued by the atmosphere that has suddenly befallen the Marauder.

“Let’s just say…we’d have to get help from an old friend.”

“Ha! An old friend!?” Wrecker blurts out, “Try an old fla-”

“That’s enough, ” Hunter commands, having regained his composure, “We will attempt to make contact this evening and if we have no response by the morning, we will seek out other options.”

++++

All night Hunter stayed up, much to the dismay of his crewmates, awaiting an incoming communication. His mind told him that it would never come through; his heart made him believe…or at least hope otherwise.

He stretches his arms into the air, releasing a hardy yawn. Tech enters the cockpit, “Anything?”

“Nothing, ” Hunter responds with a hint of despair clouding his words.

Just then, a muffled echo transmits through the comms unit. Hunter nearly falls out of the captain’s chair as he scrambles to the commlink.

“This is Phoenix 178095 trying to contact Clone Force 99. I repeat, this is Phoenix 1780-“

“Copy Phoenix 178095, this is Clone Force 99,” Hunter announces almost frantically.

The only response is silence…until, “Hunter? Hunter, is that you?”

The rugged clones grasp on the comlink tightens, and he touches it to his forehead. His eyes are locked shut, his breath unsteady.

“Yes. It’s me.”

You hear his guttural voice and suddenly, your memories which you’ve strived to suppress come flooding back, knocking the wind out of you.

Attempting to swallow the lump that insists on crowding your throat, you press down the transmitter button, but fail to express your thoughts.

“What?” A menacing voice echoes out, “Lothcat got your tongue?”

You chuckle, pressing the comlink to your forehead, “well if it isn’t my favorite piston head.” Piston head, a nickname you have used to refer to Crosshair for as long as you can remember. You find it fitting because term is in reference to a droid, similar to the droid-like manner in which Crosshair carries himself.

“So!” Shouts a third, brooding and somewhat childish voice, “Are we bunking with you or what?”

“Yes Wrecker, you are more than welcome to stay here.”

“Thank you, ” Hunter softly says into the comm’s mic. His voice still brings warmth to your soul, although the communicator slightly alters it.

“Get here safely.”

“Always do.”

“I know, ” you affirm and disconnect the commlink.

Looking around at the empty room, which mere seconds ago was filled with the sound of your closest friends’ voices, you feel once again plagued by loneliness.

It has been nearly three years since you last spoke to them. Choosing to once again shove your feelings down deep inside you, rather than let the pain consume you, you prepare for their arrival.

++++

“Maybe one day we will meet again, when all of this is over. Perhaps then we will have the freedom to say all that we have long held in, ” you exhaust yourself in the effort to fight back the words that are bottled up inside of you.

A void and emotionless, expression spans across his face as he finally acknowledges the weight of the moment. A single tear threatens to spill over, and he clenches his fist to fight back the giant hole that is forming in his heart.

“Y/N, ” he utters, “I-”

“Hunter! It’s time for us to go, ” Tech calls out.

++++

Your entire body jerks to a standstill when you hear the hum of their ship landing.

Hunter feels a sudden sickening sensation throughout his body.

“Deep breaths, brother. You don’t want your little reunion to be overruled by sweaty palms and rosy cheeks, ” Crosshair teases.

Hunter groans, “We are here for a short period of time until we can safely get back to Kamino. Until then, this is strictly business as usual.”

“Whatever you say Hunter,” he flicks his toothpick into the garbage receptacle with perfect aim.

The leader of the clone force, known for being courageous, daring, and valiant has abruptly shifted to a timid and uncertain man. But that’s just it. He felt like a man. A feeling only familiar when around you. Every other day of the rotation, he is merely a defective clone—a misfit who despite his enhanced abilities, is thrown into combat, aware of the fact that he is completely dispensable. Because he is merely one of hundreds of thousands of others just like him, he feels like he is just another carbon copy dispersed off of a factory line. Yet, around you, he never felt that way.

He watches out the cockpit window and sees you emerge from your homestead. His heart somersaults.

“Shall we disembark Hunter?” Tech asks.

He nods.

You are so lost in your thoughts that you hardly notice the troopers exiting their ship. It isn’t until Wrecker has scooped you up into his arms that you are jostled back to reality.

“Wreck!” You cry out in excitement as you wrap your arms around him.

Crosshair lends you a wink that you flirtatiously mirror. It’s always fun seeing him fight back a cheeky grin.

Tech is clearly holding back, so you eagerly close the distance between you two and envelope him in your arms. Initially, he hesitates but rapidly works up the bravery to reciprocate.

Chuckling at his hold on you, you tease, “I don’t know who gives the stronger hugs! You, or Wrecker.” He quickly releases you and straightens his glasses.

“Who’s this?” You motion towards the pale, almost sickly-looking clone. In fact, he looks more like a machine than a clone.

“I’m Echo, ” he extends his hand to you. Accepting it, you introduce yourself in return.

Hunter appears from behind the group. Suddenly, you lose the ability to think straight, let alone speak. His eyes meet yours and you share a somber smile. Each taking a step toward each other, you close the distance between you. Unable to resist any longer, you throw your arms around him, drawing him tightly to you.

For a moment, he stands frozen. Hunter has imagined the feeling of taking you into his arms again more than he would like to admit. At last, he pushes his thoughts aside and encircles your waist with his strong embrace.

You can feel his heartbeat slowly accelerate; at least your heart isn’t the only one threatening to beat out of your chest. You seemingly melt into each other. His hands softly tracing circles on your lower back.

Knowing that this moment cannot last as long as you’d both like, you hesitantly pull away from him. His hands grip at your hips as if he is begging you to not stray from his grasp. Your heart yearns to pull him back into your embrace and to stay there with him forever.

Becoming aware of the world around you once again, you feel your face flush into a crimson red.

“Why are they just standing there like that?” Wrecker leans down to whisper to Tech.

“Sometimes, the most important messages do not need to be said with words,” he responds softly.

[fanmoose12]

GIRL UR FIC WITH MARLEYAN!LEVI AND ELDIAN!HANGE WAS INCREDIBLE OMFG?? levi was so so gentle with them and hange's badass as ever god can she step on me. and yeah levi defo looks hot in the marleyan uniform. zeke was sooo in-character too, i just love to hate him lol. AND OFC U HAD TO DO THAT TO KUCHEL 😭 would u ever consider making a second chapter?? we gotta know what happens after they run away together pls 😭😭😭

Hand-in-hand they made their way through the muddy, humid dungeons.

Inexplicably, illogically Hange trusted him to lead the way. Levi moved deeper and deeper into the tunnels under the city, but not even once did Hange stop him to ask where the heck he was heading to.

He glanced back at her, every once in a while, looking for a sign of doubt or distrust. Hange looked back, her gaze determined and unwavering. It made him wonder what made her believe in him so. It made him question if he really deserved this kind of faith.

Soon they reached the surface. The tunnels took them to the very outskirts of the capital, but even there, the sounds of fighting were deafening.

The red fires posed a stark contrast to the dark, starless sky. The familiar streets, the cozy cafes and shops, the gardens he used to walk through with his mother— it was all gone. Levi’s heart bled for the city he grew up with. But it was too late to go back now.

He made his choice. He did not regret it.

“C’mon,” Hange tugged at his hand, distracting him from watching his hometown’s demise. “We’re almost there.”

“Almost there?” Levi echoed, shooting her a curious look. “You know where we are now?”

Even for him, who had grown up in this city, navigating through the ruins was proving to be an arduous task. He had half a mind to go looking for Uri and asking for his help, surely the bastard who survived a revolution and a consequent massacre of its leaders could have lived through a war. But it seemed like Hange already had a solution.

“Well,” she lifted the corners of her lips in an enigmatic smile. “Let’s just say it’s not my first time in your city.”

Hange – Commander of the enemy forces, one of the most hated person in Marley – had walked through their capital, Levi realized. She had surveyed the city to the point of being able to navigate it even in the times of such chaos, and they were none the wiser.

And to think he couldn’t be more impressed by her.

Now Hange was the one to lead, and, just as she did before, Levi trusted her completely, following her without a whisper of complain.

Using the black alleys and empty streets, they reached the port.

“Now where is it…” she mumbled, eyeing the ships around her closely. A couple of moments passed, Levi patiently waiting for Hange to announce their next move. “There!” she cried out, pointing her finger at one of the ships. “There they are!”

Without saying another word, Hange started moving, dragging Levi along.

And with each step that brought him closer to that ship, Levi’s mind was filling with more and more doubts.

Hange had accepted him. It didn’t mean that her comrades would give him the same courtesy.

He almost tugged at her hand, almost halted her movements. He wasn’t one of them, he couldn’t just walk onto their ship and sail away like another soldier under her command.

But Hange didn’t seem to realize it. She dragged him onto the ship’s deck without a second of hesitation.

Cheers erupted from all sides as Hange had appeared. Levi got roughly pushed aside, as some soldiers ran to her, holding her in tight embrace.

Levi watched, unseen by anyone, as soldiers greeted Hange. They all smiled and laughed, speaking over each other to share the news with their Commander.

Surrounded by their warmth and love, Levi felt like an intruder.

He had his own squad before, good and loyal soldiers. They respected him and he respected them. But what he was witnessing now went beyond simple comradeship or even close friendship.

They were a family, Levi realized. The feeling of estrangement had become more apparent.

It reached its peak, when one of the soldiers – a tall young man with a long face - looked behind Hange and met his eyes.

The soldier reacted instantly. In a matter of seconds he pushed Hange behind his back and then raised his gun, aiming it at Levi.

Efficient, quick and loyal. Levi was impressed.

“Commander, be careful!” the soldier yelled, not taking his eyes off Levi. The others caught on immediately and surrounded Hange from all sides, protecting her. Their weapons were trained on him and their faces were hard and cautious.

“Wh—” for a moment Hange was confused. And then she started laughing. “No, no, guys, it’s all fine! It’s Levi!”

“Yes,” the tall soldier nodded. “That’s Levi Ackerman, Marleyan Captain and—”

“And my friend,” Hange finished, staring her subordinate in the eyes. “Lower your gun, Jean,” she ordered, then looked around the deck. “And the rest of you – we need to sail away as quickly as possible, so start the preparations.”

Jean was the first one to obey the order. Reluctantly – with his eyes still boring into Levi – he put down his weapon. One by one, the others followed his example. They saluted to Hange and went in different directions to carry out the command.

Hange sighed in relief as soon as the deck cleared out.

“That went better than I expected.”

“Really?” Levi grunted. “Then what was the worst case scenario?”

Hange shrugged. “You are lucky Jean was the first one to see you. In the worst case scenario, Mikasa would have noticed you. And she shoots first and asks questions later.”

“Lovely,” he deadpanned.

“Don’t worry,” Hange threw an arm over his shoulders. “They’ll come around.”

“So you don’t regret letting me come with you?” Levi asked with more caution in his voice than he was comfortable showing.

“And you?” Hange looked at him. “You don’t regret coming with me?”

He had no regrets, and thus he answered without hesitation.

“Not at all.”

[pro-fangirls-unsocial-life]

You’ll do wonderful with anything you write! But to help jump start your writing (as I know very well), Angst 14 & Fluff 11!!! ❤️❤️ - @snippy-tano

Thank you so much @snippy-tano for the inspiration! Although... I got a little carried away so here you go! A whole fic for you! 

Stitched Together 

Kix x Reader

Warnings: Blood. Mentions of injury and the treatment of that injury. Mentions of death.

You can find the prompt list here.

“Can you shut up for once in your life?” and “I think I’m in love with you.”

 You were running. The sun beating down on you as you ran through the camp toward the med tent.

 The transmission had come in while you were on your break. You had just been about to settle down for your first sleep in days after it looked like the campaign had started to calm down when your communicator beeped. It was from Jesse.

 Kix was injured. We are bringing him back to camp now.

At that, you instantly jumped up and put your boots back on as fast as you could. Now, with the med tent in sight, you saw Jesse and Hardcase carrying Kix between them on a small stretcher.

 The armor on his left side was shattered from his leg all the way up to his shoulder. He was covered in the tan dust that was constantly surrounding you on the planet and you could see blood seeping from one of the cracks in the armor around his middle.

 You ran up to the entrance of the tent, holding open the flap for the two carrying Kix inside.

 “What happened?”

 Jesse grunted as he and Hardcase lifted Kix onto one of the raised beds. “Seppies got word of our location. Kix here was working on a shinie when a charge landed near them. He threw himself onto of the kid to protect him instead of—”

 “What did you expect me to do,” Kix said with a wince as his right arm went to grip at his side. “I wasn’t just gonna leave the kid there!”

 You started to carefully examine Kix’s midsection, making sure that you were clear to take off his armor without doing any more damage.

 “And that is very admirable,” you said, quickly continuing your search, “but you’re the best medic that we have and one of the only senior field medics. We can’t afford to lose you.”

 “I can’t afford to lose you,” you thought, something tightening in your chest just thinking about not having Kix by your side anymore.

 “Oh, quit it with that,” Kix breathed out, his jaw clenching at the effort. “You’re just as good of a medic as me. Besides, it’s only superficial. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

 You rolled your eyes and smiled. Kix never was one to see the downside in anything.

 You heard Jesse start to laugh as he quipped something back at Kix, when your eyes landed on the piece of armor that was sticking into Kix’s side, blood still gushing from the wound.

 “Oh, kriff…” You meant to only say it to yourself, but your voice was just loud enough that the others could hear it.

 The tent went silent, all eyes turning to you.

 “What,” Hardcase asked. “What is it?”

 You leapt up, pointing at one of the junior medics that was awaiting your instruction. “Get me the surgery pack and the armor removal kit.”

 You rushed over to one of the storage bins and opened the drawer, grabbing a numbing agent, a sedative, and a blood cleanser.

 “Why,” Kix asked, his voice laced with pain and confusion.

 You walked back over to the bed, prepping the sedative as you looked at his face that was covered with pain. “A piece of your armor is stuck inside you and is still attached to the rest of your chest plate. Every time you breathe, it opens the wound more and you lose more blood.”

 Kix’s eyebrows shoot up in a mock laugh. “Oh, is that all,” he said sarcastically.

 “Shut up Kix! This isn’t a joke.” You stuck the sedative into his neck as the junior medic walked back into the room and handed you the armor removal kit. You then suck the numbing agent into his neck, telling the junior medic to prepare another one for his side once you get his armor off.

 He smirked, his head tilting toward you. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s kind of funny to be the patient and know everything that is going to happen.” He blinked his eyes a couple of times, the sedative starting to take effect. “First you are going to have to cut off the armor around the affected area. You’re supposed to give five inches of clearance on either side, but I usually make it bigger to give me more room.” His words start to slur as the numbing agent makes its way through his bloodstream and the crease in his brow starts to loosen. “Then you are going to scan to make sure the piece hasn’t pierced any organs, but that takes time and blood flows quickly.”

 You give him a hard look before you start cutting the armor around his midsection, being careful to avoid his small movements beneath the armor as he breathes. You can see the shard in his side open the wound a bit more, causing more blood to spill out.

 “Then,” he continues, his words all melding together, “you’re gonna have to get the piece out and stich up the wound and stop the bleeding.”

 You finish cutting the armor and carefully pull the piece from its place. “I know what I’m doing Kix. Trust me.”

 He keeps going, not paying attention to what you just said. “Course, I’ll probably be dead from blood loss at that point anyways.”

 You grab the second numbing agent from the medic, sticking it into the flesh a little ways away from the wound. “Don’t say that. You’ll be fine.”

 “S-just the truth,” he mumbles. “Most men with somthin’ like this don’t make it past the scanning.” You see his head loll toward Jesse out of the corner of your eye. “S-because the armor shard usually does too much damage on the inside.

 You grab the scanner, running it over the area slowly trying to keep your hands steady. “Damnit Kix! Can you just shut up for once in your life and listen to me! You’re going to be fine!”

 You see Kix look at you out of the corner of your eye, wishing that you could see his face.

 “You have to be,” you whisper.

 Taking a deep breath, you keep running the scanner over the area, worry creeping up your spine as you slowly see the results filling the screen. “Jesse,” you snap out harder than you intended.

 “Yeah,” he asks quietly, not knowing how to respond to everything he has just heard.

 “Get him talking about something else. Nothing that will make him too excited. I don’t need him moving. The sedative is going to take just a couple of more minutes to work.”

 Jesse steps forward, crouching down so that he is almost eye level with Kix. “What should I talk about?”

 “Anything, just get him off of this conversation.”

 “Alright,” he says, apprehension in his voice. “Hey Kix, remember that seedy diner we found last time we were on leave? The one a couple of levels below 79’s? The one that had those burgers you loved?”

 The scanner beeps in your hand. You look at the screen, holding your breath as you read the results.

 No internal injuries found. Organs intact and functioning at 100% efficiency.

 You breathe out a sigh of relief, hearing Kix reply.

 “Yeah!” He is talking slow, struggling to form coherent words as they all slur together. “I loved that place. And I loved those burgers.”

 You pick up the surgery tools from the kit, starting to take the piece of armor from his side. You motion to the junior medic whispering for him to be ready to hand you the stitching equipment.

 Right after you finally pull the huge, four-inch-long piece out of Kix’s side, you see him moving, his arm coming up to point at Jesse with a big dopey grin on his face. “And I love you guys so much. You guys are the best brothers a guy could have.”

 You look over at Jesse as you press gauze to Kix’s side, sopping up some of the blood before you start the stiches. “Keep him still Jesse.”

 Kix’s head moves to look at you at the sound of your voice, the grin still on his face as Jesse lightly holds his arm down at his side. “And you,” he slurred out. “I think I’m in love with you.”

 Your jaw drops open, your task at hand leaving your mind for a fraction of a second before you turn back to your work feeling a deep heat rising on your face.

 You see Kix turn back to Jesse out of the corner of your eye. “Y/N is really the best. I love them so much. They’re just so nice and -kriff- so gorgeous. I just wanna sweep’em of their feet and kiss’em like it’s the last thing I do.”

 His voice starts tapering off, the sedative finally overpowering his will to stay awake.

 “Jesse?” His voice is groggy and barely above a whisper.

 “Yeah, Kix?”

 “This’s gotta be our secret m’kay? You promise not to tell Y/N?”

 You look over at Jesse, his head looking between you and his brother before he settles on Kix, a soft smile gracing his face. “Yeah vod. I promise.”

 Kix hums. “Thanks, vod. You really are the best.”

 You take a deep breath, looking at the blood-soaked gauze in your hand as everything that just happened rushed through your head.

 You couldn’t think about that right now. You had a job to do and you were going to make sure that you could see Kix after this, regardless of what had just happened.

 You shook your head and took another breath before holding your hand out to the medic and taking the needle before pulling the gauze away from the wound and beginning your work.

*******************************************************************************************

It had been a couple of hours since you had finally finished with Kix. You were able to close his wound without any issue and his vitals had been stable ever since. And, according to your scans, the blood cleanser was working perfectly.

 You still hadn’t had a break since then, having to tend to the rest of the men who were injured when the rest of the group got back. There had been quite a few major traumas as well as the usual minor injuries.

 But now, after the last of the men had been taken care of, the tent was silent. It was strange to have so much peace in the atmosphere after such a long period of pure chaos but you were just glad that you could finally check on Kix again.

 All of the scans were the same as they were before. He was stable, and when you checked the stitches on his side, they were holding up beautifully.

 You gave a sigh of relief before turning to one of the screens across from Kix’s bed, your back turned to him. Once you had everything logged in your datapad, you turned to leave so that you could go sit by the entrance in case any late-night injuries came in.

 “You know,” you heard from behind you, “if you keep working without sleep, you’re going to kill yourself.”

 You whipped around, seeing Kix smirking at you from where he lay on the bed.

 “Kix!” You rushed over to him, quickly glancing at his vitals monitor again before looking at his face. “How are you feeling?”

 He groaned, bringing his right hand up to rub his face. “Like I was blown up and then drugged. Which I think have worn off.” He looked up at you with a mischievous smile. “How much would I have to bribe you for another stim?”

 You chuckled and sat down, reaching behind you to grab one that you had already set out for when he was due for another shot. “Don’t you know it’s against the rules to bribe medical staff for drugs,” you teased as you gently angled his head so that you could inject the medicine into his neck.

 He grunted slightly at the feeling, but quickly relaxed once you pulled away. “You won’t go ratting me out, will you?”

 You laughed. “I promise.”

 At your words, Kix’s eyes widened, his body tensing before he winced and forced himself to relax again. His eyes now found place on his hands in front of him, which were now fiddling with the edge of the blanket he was under. He cleared his throat. “So, um… Did I say anything? While I was going under? Or-or was that just all in my head?”

 Your eyes widened in realization and you felt your face begin to heat up as you remembered his admission. “You, you um… May have said some things while you were going under.”

 He looks up at you briefly, an embarrassed look on his face. “Did I say what I think I said?”

 “Uh… yeah,” you said sheepishly. “But I know that the meds can make people say things that they don’t mean, like when we had to put Echo under on the last campaign?” You chuckled at the memory, clearing your throat as you realized Kix was still listening. You got up and began slowly backing away from his bed. “But anyways… I-I’ll just go, and we can forget that it ever happened. I know that you didn’t mean it and I don’t want things to get awkward. “

 You turned around but immediately felt a hand around your wrist. “Y/N, wait!” You heard Kix groan in pain and turned around to see him hunched forward so that he could stop you.

 “Woah, woah, woah! Take it easy! You’re gonna tear your stitches if you do that!” You lightly pushed on his chest to get him to lie back onto the bed.

 “Y/N, I-“

 “Now hold on,” you said, your mind switching into doctor mode. “I need to make sure you didn’t tear your stitches.”

 You lift up his shirt, and carefully inspect his side, checking for any sign of damage. Your hands grace over the skin just around his wound as you work in silence.

 After what feels like an eternity, you pull away and turn around to grab a bacta patch. “The stitches look fine, but the area around them is looking a little more inflamed than it should. I’m going to put a bacta patch on it just to be safe.”

 You pull apart the package, and once again silently begin working. You concentrate on the wound, being as gentle as possible as you place the bacta on Kix’s warm skin.

 “It wasn’t just the drugs you know.”

 His voice pulls you from your thoughts as you finish securing the patch in place with medical tape.

 You look at him, eyes wide as he stares right back at you. “What?”

 “What I said. It wasn’t just the drugs.” He reaches to his side and pulls your hand from there up to his chest, tenderly rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you for the longest time, but I just never knew how. I guess taking away my filter and thinking that I wasn’t going to see you again just… made my brain have to say it.”

 You don’t know what to say. Your skin was buzzing under his touch and you could feel your face getting hotter and hotter as your heart pounded in your chest.

 He continued. “I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but I just had to tell you. I needed you to know, even if just for a moment, that I love you.”

 “I do,” you blurt out.

 “What?”

 “I… I do feel the same way.” You start to smile as you see Kix’s eyes light up. “I never thought you would reciprocate, so I never said anything. But I do. I love you.”

 Kix smiled, bringing his hand that was not holding yours up to cup your face. His thumb ran over your cheek as he gazed at you with pure admiration. “Can I kiss you?”

 You sucked in a breath and smiled as you bit your bottom lip slightly between your teeth. You nodded and closed your eyes as Kix guided you forward.

 You felt your lips softly collide with his as your noses lightly bumped each other.

 As his lips moved against yours, it was tender and gentle and over far too soon.

 You both pulled back just enough so that you could look into each other’s eyes before bringing your foreheads together.

 “I love you, Y/N.”

 You smiled. “I love you too, Kix.”

 You then leaned forward and pressed another light kiss to his lips, feeling him smiling.

 “Well, I guess I don’t have to pretend to keep that secret anymore.”

 You whipped around, finding Jesse smugly standing in the doorway.

 “Shut up Jesse,” you said as you started getting up.

 You turned back to Kix, giving him a light peck on the lips and squeezing his hand. “I have to get back to work, but I promise that I will keep coming in to check on you.”

 He smiled at you squeezing your hand. “Don’t work too hard cyar'ika.”

 You smirked, picking up your datapad. “When have I ever taken it easy?”

 Kix chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I know. But just know that I am going to force you to take a three-day nap once I’m healed and can work again.”

 You laughed, feeling your eyes droop at the mention of sleep. “You have no idea how much I am looking forward to that.”

[fakecrfan]

I see sooo many time travel fix it fics for the Magnus Archives. It’s gotten me thinking about my own little scenario. Where Martin dies and Jon goes back in time from the apocalypse (as is standard) hopeful and determined to Fix Everything and… well. 

When Carlos Vittery’s statement comes up, Jon has already decided long in advance how he is going to deal with it. Martin suffered from the whole Prentiss incident. There is no need to put him through that again. So, Jon gets rid of the statement. Doesn’t even record it. Now Martin will be safe and happy.

Jon forms a simple but effective plan to get rid of Prentiss without being marked. It involves a lot of fire. After all his failures from the previous timeline, he has learned. To his own surprise, he carries out his plan successfully alone. 

Then… well. He stumbles back into the archives after that whole chase, tired, and instinctively goes up to Martin and…

...and Martin leans away where he’s sitting, almost cringing as he withdraws from Jon’s presence.

“Uh, Jon?’’ he asks. “Something wrong?’’

Jon hadn’t exactly paid attention to Martin before the whole Prentiss thing in the past timeline. He had never noticed exactly how… timid Martin had been around him, before. Now that he is zeroed in on all things Martin, he can see it--fists clenching, shoulders hunching to make himself small.  

To this Martin, Jon is still the boss who yells and makes snide remarks at him. Martin is nervous to please his boss--but also just nervous around him in general.

Jon backs off.

“Nothing,’’ he says quickly. “I’m just...tiring weekend.’’

He decides to wait. To ease off and lighten up until Martin is comfortable around him. It will happen. It happened before, and Jon can wait. 

From there--small talk. Questions about Martin’s life. But everything just… lands flat. Jon knows Martin too well. He knows that Martin is giving evasive non-answers to everything he asks. 

Jon tries compliments. 

“Excellent work on the followup,’’ he says.

Martin doesn’t look happy, or even relieved. Just confused. Nervous. “Thanks?’’

Jon can wait. Jon does wait. He slowly amps up the friendly behavior to all staff, doing his best not to single out Martin in an uncomfortable way. He gives compliments. He asks Friendly questions. It all comes out stiff and forced. 

The table to which the NotThem is bound arrives. Jon takes appropriate precautions. Now, he decides, Sasha won’t look at it and be taken. No one will. He steals it away from the Institute, puts it in a crate, fills the crate with cement, and drops the whole mess into the ocean--all successfully carried out alone. 

He itches to confide in Martin. But Martin still is the same around him. Always shrinking back or leaning away. 

“I don’t get it,’’ Jon overhears Martin confiding to Sasha. “Just overnight he seemed like a completely different person. And he’s all--’’

“Maybe something happened in his personal life,’’ Sasha says. “You never know.’’

“It’s weird. He keeps asking me things and I don’t know what expects...?’‘

Jon’s heart sinks. But he decides he can wait.

He gets less pushback from Elias than he expected. Elias, after all, is not working on his apocalyptic project on a deadline. He is immortal. He is used to taking his time. The last few archivists took decades to achieve powers, so he doesn’t expect Jon to progress very quickly. Jon obfuscates ignorance and skepticism every step of the way to slow things down, and Elias is too lazy in his assumptions to check Jon’s mind. Jon can keep this charade going for decades, if he plays his cards right.

So, after the threat of NotThem is dealt with… things are peaceful. 

There is no discovery of Gertrude’s body. No murder of Jurgen Leitner. No being framed for the murder and running after Jude Perry or Mike Crew. In lieu of all of this, working at the archives becomes practically a fantasy. Slow. Peaceful. Plenty of time to set up his own machinations to prevent Jonah’s apocalypse. Perfect, except--

Except Martin. 

It takes Jon embarrassingly long to realize that Martin falling in love with him was not a fixed event. He had never known before the exact moment Martin had fallen in love with him, when nervous desire to please had turned into something deeper. He had never asked Martin what exact sequence of events had led to that development. 

He had taken Martin’s love for granted. 

As though it had been some sort of fairytale magic that bound them. As though it had been love at first sight, or fate. A damn foolish mistake for a cynic.

Now, whatever sequence of events had led to that  blossoming has been disrupted. Jon is simply… a boss who used to terrorize Martin, and now is acting nicer.

“Nicer’’ is not a trait that makes one fall in love.

“Hey,’’ Tim asks Jon one day. “For a month or so I just thought you were having some weird manic moodswing or something but now I gotta ask… did you have a near-death experience? Convert to some new religion?’’

“Uh,’’ Jon shakes his head confused. “No?’’

“Okay, because you have been acting weirdly nice,’’ Tim says. “I think you’re scaring Martin with it. He’s half-convinced you’ve been replaced by some weird doppelganger like in Amy Patel’s statement.’’

That actually hurts. But Jon makes a face and bites out the lie he has prepared. “...I started therapy, actually.’’’

Tim claps his back, and congratulates him.

“Just don’t scare Martin too bad, okay?’’ Tim said. “He’s delicate, alright? The unexpected freaks him out. He… he takes a bit to believe niceness, you know?’’

Jon nods, and does not take note of the warmth in Tim’s eyes.

The word about his therapy excuse gets around. Jon hopes that will ease some nerves--but none of that turns out to matter. Because one day, Tim comes in late, shivering from a cold winter rain.

It wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary, except--except---

Martin jumps up at the sight of Tim. In a second Martin is all over him, fussing in a way Jon achingly recognizes. 

“Oh dear, are you okay?’’ Martin asks.

“Fine, fine,’’ Tim says. “Just forgot my… jacket. And umbrella. Ugh, it’s bloody cold down here!’’

Martin takes off his own jacket and drapes it over him. Tim freezes. Martin goes red and hesitates, before taking his scarf too and furiously wrapping it around Tim’s neck.

It’s the instant Jon realizes he’s lost.

“Sit down,’’ Martin says. “I’ll make you some warm tea.’’

‘’You’re such a grandma!’’ Tim shouts after Martin as he hurries out of the room. 

Neither of them catches Jon watching their moment, so Jon lets himself sink slowly down in his office and bury his face in his hands.

Nikola’s Unknowing will collapse on its own, of course. It doesn’t require any intervention--except insofar as Nikola herself will eventually target Jon as the Archivist, and the Institute, and that could get messy. So Jon heads over to Gertrude’s secret storage and gets her C4 to deal with Nikola before Nikola thinks to make a move on the Institute.

Jon deals with Nikola as with Prentiss and the NotThem--quickly, efficiently, and completely alone.

[prettyboymichaels-ao3]

Rewind, Rewire, Reword - Chapter 2: An Idling Car Is Bound To Overheat Eventually (Pt. 1)

Preparations are made.

(Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels ABO AU; NOT Kayfabe Compliant; Words: ~2.5k; Rating: M; Trigger warning/s, tag list, and chapter under the cut!)

(Prev: [x]; First [x])

-

tw for: references to attempted sexual assault in the first paragraph

tag list: @track12to13​, @piratewithvigor​, @sinderellanightwolf​. tell me if you want to be tagged for any future chapters!

-

They bickered the rest of the way to the hotel, which, thanks to their driver and his utter disregard for speed limits and traffic signals, and his seeming intuition on whether a cop was close by or not, was only around ten minutes. This was officially the longest they’d gone without saying something cutting to one another, without even raising their voices, in… months, at this point. It was… well, it was nice. It was even nicer pretending there was nothing going on outside of that little bubble, that they weren’t going to be having a title match in a week and a half, that they hadn’t fallen out with one another in the months leading up to the match in the first place, that Bret hadn’t basically discovered Shawn was an omega and helped fight off two attempted rapists at the same time a little while ago, that Bret wasn’t going to be staying with Shawn through his heat in a few short hours. Ignorance was fucking bliss.

Bret threw several more twenties at the cabbie when they were finally dropped off, to the man’s obvious glee, and helped Shawn get the jacket he still had in his hands settled over his shoulders instead. Shawn only gave a cursory protest about getting coddled when he did so, but tugged it tight around himself regardless, popping the collar so he could still scent it when they entered the lobby. It was late enough that they were the only ones present, the front desk receptionist probably using the time to do something more productive than sit and greet no one, so they had a straight-shot to the elevators, which were equally empty. All blessings in disguise; they both slumped a little with relief once the doors closed behind them. The thought of getting recognized and having to explain why the two of them smelt like pre-heat pheromones was enough to make his stomach roll, let alone Shawn’s.

They hit he and Owen’s room first, so Bret wouldn’t have to leave for anything once they were settled in Shawn’s room. Shawn didn’t come all the way in, just stood leaning against the closed door as Bret shoved whatever he’d managed to unpack (his toothbrush and toothpaste, mainly) back into his luggage to carry out with him. He hadn’t been able to wash his exercise gear yet today, and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be able to any time soon, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it now, so he just kept them tightly tied away in their drawstring bag. Hopefully they wouldn’t stink up the rest of his clothes in the meantime.

“You know you can still back out of this, right?” he heard Shawn say, and he looked up from the note he was writing Owen to find him shifting on his feet and rubbing his arms. He looked… not uncomfortable, but uneasy, and Bret felt a jolt down his spine.

“Is this your way of telling me I’m crossing a line?” he asked, suddenly worried he’d forced Shawn’s hand. I mean, he hadn’t really given him a choice, had he? Had Shawn even agreed to this–?

“Stop,” Shawn said, suddenly a lot closer and flicking his forehead to snap him out of what was sure to quickly become a downward spiral otherwise. Bret winced, rubbing the offending skin and glaring at the perpetrator, who crossed his arms at him. “Stop freaking out. I’m actually asking if you’re sure you wanna do this, not trying to tell you I changed my mind.”

Bret huffed and lowered his hand. “Well I haven’t either.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

“Awesome.”

A moment of silence.

“But are you sure?”

“Shawn,” Bret groaned, turning his back on him to finish scribbling his note for Owen. “I mean what I say, and I’m saying I’m gonna help you. Okay?” Shawn had his head tipped back, staring at the ceiling like it might have some answers when Bret turned back around, note in hand. “Okay?” he repeated, nudging him with his elbow, and only moved to place the note on Owen’s bed when Shawn bit out a short “fine”.

Another few moments of quiet, during which Bret returned to his suitcase. “I’m just saying–”

“Well stop saying it.” That earned him a scowl, one he gave right back. “I know what I’m getting myself into, alright? I’m not going into this blind, I’m not some poor, hapless beta who’s gonna freak out the first time he sees some slick, I know you’re gonna be out of it, I know you’re probably gonna do some things and say some shit you’re gonna regret when you’re in your right mind again. We just said we’re both on board with this, so stop trying to change my mind.” He paused, and watched Shawn work his jaw for a moment, refusing to look at him. “And I learn quickly, so even though I don’t know what the fuck Levesque and Nash do when they’re here, you can’t use that as an excuse, either.”

Shawn snorted, though his shoulders dropped when he did, looking somewhat more at ease, now. Maybe it was finally getting through his thick skull that Bret was serious about this. “They can’t do much. I can’t stand Hunter’s scent when my nose is like this, and he can’t stand mine, and Kev has to use grade-A scent salts just to get me to drink something, and then he has to leave for another few hours. Scott’s not much better.” His tone went flat, then. “And having an alpha nearby always makes… everything worse.”

That sounded like shit help, honestly, but… what else could they do? The whole point of going through a hormone cycle when you were unmated was to attract a mate, and if you were an alpha trying to take care of an in-heat omega without mating them… well. It was a miracle they’d come up with a working system at all. Bret, instead of acknowledging the reluctant, paper thin strand of respect this information had just given him for Hall and Nash, threw his arms out, then gestured pointedly to himself. “Beta,” he enunciated. “Remember?”

Shawn rolled his eyes, but pushed at him to turn him back to his suitcase. “Yeah, yeah, Hitman, you’re a big bad beta, we get it. Now get that thing off the bed, I’m stealing your pillows and sheets.”

That made him pause, and he raised his head to furrow his eyebrows at him.

Shawn blinked right back. “What?”

“Why do you need my–?”

“I’m making a nest, dipshit. In heat, remember?” he said, only a little mocking. Bret closed his eyes for a second before going back to zipping his suitcase shut, idly wondering if Shawn was going to stay this mouthy the next three days. Probably, with his luck, especially if Shawn usually didn’t have anyone around to hear him.

…That thought made his exasperation leave him on his next exhale, and he watched as Shawn stripped the mattress of its comforter, sheets, and pillows as soon as he removed his suitcase. He shoved the pillows at him once he’d done so, since he had a free hand and could tuck them under his arm to lock the door behind them.

Shawn’s room was the next floor up, as, according to him, when Bret had asked, he hadn’t been able to book a cycle suite on such short notice, with his heat having come a week early. “It happens,” he’d said as he bent to dig his room key out of his boot. “I’ll probably just have to rent out another room until they flush this one out.” Using the light from the hallway to see after finally getting the door open, Shawn immediately dumped his gathered hoard on top of the single bed the room housed before crouching to root around in his suitcase where it lay open on the floor, leaving Bret to shut and lock the door behind them. He kicked his shoes off, navigated over by what little light was coming in through the windows to drop the pillows he’d been given on top of the sheets and comforter Shawn had been carrying, placed his luggage down next to Shawn’s, and flicked the bedside lamp on to cast a yellow glow over most of the room in the time it took for Shawn to re-emerge with a victorious “a-ha!” from his suitcase. He brandished the hot water bottle and corded heating pad he’d fished from the depths of his clothing and toiletries like trophies, setting them down on the same bedside table as the lamp and then turning on his heel for the kitchen nook attached to the room.

Bret watched him grab two waters from the fridge and come back to place them next to the lamp before pushing the things they’d brought from Bret’s room to the foot of the bed so he could strip this mattress, too. “Aren’t I supposed to be doing all this?” Bret asked, feeling more than a little useless just standing there while Shawn did all the work. “Isn’t that why I’m here?”

Shawn laughed a little, his movements quick and efficient, clearly motions he was familiar with. “If you wanna be useful, you can turn the TV on and give us some background noise. I’ve still got a few hours before I’m laid up – ha, laid up.” The grin he shot Bret after that shitty joke was horribly smug, and Bret just shook his head. “I’m used to doing all this, anyway. Same routine, different state, all that shit. Keeps my hands busy.”

This did not inspire much confidence, but he couldn’t find a reason to argue that wouldn’t get Shawn’s hackles up, so he just did as he was told, flicking through the channels for something that wasn’t infomercials or porn, which, at almost midnight in a hotel room in Anaheim, California, was easier said than done. He was still looking when Shawn told him he was taking a shower, “Gotta get ‘em in while I can,” and it took several more minutes for him to settle on some old black and white channel. He didn’t recognize the film, but it had sound, at least, and he stood back up with a roll of his shoulders, peering at what Shawn’d done to the bed as he approached his own suitcase. One of the comforters was hiding most of his handy work, with the other acting as a barrier between that and the surface of the mattress, but the divot in the middle was clear to see, with two of the pillows placed at the head and the other two against the inner sides. His jacket, the one Shawn hadn’t let go of since he’d taken it, was laid over the first two pillows, right where Shawn’s head would lay once he climbed into the nest. That thing was gonna have Shawn’s scent burned into it by the time his heat was over.

He was just starting to dig some sleepwear out of his luggage when the bathroom door opened and released a cloud of steam and a red, toweled Shawn into the room, carrying several more towels in his arms and his discarded clothes in a plastic zip-lock bag that Bret must not’ve seen him bring in with him. “There’s one left,” he told him, tossing the bag in the general direction of his suitcase before dumping the towels onto the bed and starting to arrange them to his specifications. “You using it now?

He’d rinsed off after training earlier, but taking an actual shower definitely wasn’t the worst idea in the world. He still felt a little gritty, and, while Shawn hadn’t mentioned it, he was sure those alphas’ scents were still clinging to his skin like fleas, even after using those wet wipes. “Why not,” he said, pulling out a pair of sweats and a shirt. “You good out here?”

Shawn gave a distracted hum, narrowing his eyes at the towels and starting to move them again, and Bret escaped into the humidity of the bathroom before Shawn decided to drag him into that.

He was in and out in only a few minutes, not having bothered to wash his hair and paying special attention to his hands and face to make sure any offending scents were truly dead and gone. He was probably pink, now, from how hard he’d scrubbed, but, better to be a little tender than a walking, talking reminder of the night’s events.

When he left the bathroom, shutting the light off after him with his towel around his neck and his discarded clothes in his arms, Shawn was sitting cross-legged in the center of his nest in nothing but his towel, taking sips from one of the water bottles he’d pulled from the fridge. Half of it was gone already. He’d also managed to drag the room’s lone armchair from its original resting place to a spot directly beside the bed; no doubt, this was where Bret was meant to sleep in lieu of the bed being otherwise occupied. “I didn’t know if you wanted to sleep there or the floor,” he heard Shawn say, and looked away from the chair to find him wearing a rather sheepish expression. “There’re more pillows and blankets in the closet” —He gestured.— “but you’re gonna wind up with a helluva neck ache either way. Oh, and here.”

He held out another zip-lock bag, which Bret took without thinking. He assumed he was meant to be putting his clothes in it, something Shawn confirmed when he gave him a curious look; “I know you can’t smell it, but they’re covered in pre-heat pheromones. You put ‘em in with the rest of your clothes, everything’s gonna smell like that.” He nodded to the bag. “That should keep it contained for now, but you’re gonna have to wash those and whatever other clothes you wear here before actually putting them back in your suitcase.”

Bret hummed. It made sense, he supposed; Shawn was right, he couldn’t smell anything, but Shawn had been practically plastered to his side for almost half an hour, pumping out pheromones all the while. The fabric of his other clothes would pick them up if he just shoved these ones into his suitcase without a protective barrier between them, and he could only imagine the reactions he’d get if he started walking around smelling like that. So, he did as he was told, and tossed the now-full, closed bag into his suitcase before kicking it shut, collapsing into the chair and folding his towel. “Any other words of wisdom?” he asked dryly, earning a chuckle before Shawn downed the rest of the bottle, recapped it, and exchanged it for the full one.

“You might wanna wash all your clothes when you leave anyway,” he replied, cracking the lid. “Cycle pheromones sink into everything.”

Bret hummed again, filing the advice away for later, then squinted at the TV. “D’you know what this’s about?”

“Not a clue,” Shawn said brightly, raising the bottle to his lips. “But I think it’s a musical.”

Bret sighed to the sound of Shawn’s snickers. “Great.”

Shawn didn’t wind up passing out for another half hour or so, long enough for Bret to say with certainty that he was not a fan of the film he’d put on at all. It was with not insignificant enthusiasm that he shut the whole system off once he heard Shawn start snoring, as quiet as they were compared to Jim’s, and the lamp was soon to follow, plunging the room into a darkness only broken by the city lights that managed to seep through the curtains. He sank back into the armchair with another sigh, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep himself.

[izzyphantomgamer]

Episode Ignis.

A consideration of Ignis Scientia and his Episode.

I apologize if this is not my usual ridiculous post, but I wanted to talk about Ignis, a small rant of how I felt through all of this. If you want to read a sad post then please do, listen to the OST ‘Solidarity’ if possible.

"I'm afraid I must ask for your forgiveness"

Those words opened the Episode. It takes no genius to know how tragic his story is, perhaps all of us cried but the more I repeated the playthrough, the more I realized how unaware I was the first time I saw it.

 "I'm more worried about Noct. I'll find a way to the altar, but I need you to keep the enemy distracted."

"Be safe."

Being thrown into the water from a falling building that collided with an airship was never the easiest thing, but he had no time to wonder if the others, nor if he, himself, was alright. The moment he opened his eyes from the collision, he only had one thing in his mind: Noctis.

 Ignis "I need your help: I fear Noct is in danger."

Camelia "As in the entire city of Altissia. In case you haven't taken a look around. He and his 'girlfriend' are probably long gone."

Ignis "No, I made a promise to keep him safe - a promise I intend to keep!"

Camelia "How noble. I'll see what my men can do - but I won't promise anything."

This was the start of it – the change in his personality that we never expected. The side of Ignis that we never saw before, but nothing could prepare us for what was about to come.

 Ignis "Wait, I need to go to the altar. I need a boat."

Commander "Have you lost your marbles?"

Ignis "No - but we'll lose the King if we don't act."

Noctis is the future King of Lucis and it was his job to protect him and guide him, he was his royal retinue. ‘We’ll lose the King if we don’t act’ I believe that behind those words, lies something deeper. Ignis was not there to save Noctis, the One True King; he was there to save Noctis, his brother. He was not there to save him because it was his duty, he was there to save him because losing Noctis was unthinkable for him.

 Prompto "... Do you copy?"

Ignis "..."  

Gladiolus "Ain't a hard question, Iggy. Do you copy - yes or no?"

Ignis "Yes, I copy."

Gladiolus "Then speak up next time. Look: I'm just as worried as you are, but we can't go losing our heads. If we wanna save Noct, we've gotta keep it together."

Ignis "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Prompto "We'll keep moving. Hang in there, Iggy."

Ignis "I will... Thanks."

He was in a panic, his mind was racing. The once calm and sensible man that achieved all of his objectives through a clear and efficient manner, it was all disappearing. All he had in mind was to save Noctis and the fact that he was unsure how or if he made it in time made him apprehensive to the point that all he knew was to fight through the crowd of soldiers that prevented him from reaching the altar.

 "Hang on, Noct... I'm on my way."

He ran through the streets, he fought through hundreds of enemies, all alone at first, he tried to find a solution while aware that he had no time to lose. He continued to move, no concern of how much his body was in pain or how exhausted he felt. He would never let anything stop him.

 Ignis "Noct, didn't choose to become King, his ascension was ordained by the Crystal, it wasn't mere happenstance."

Ravus "It must have been a mistake, one that must be corrected."

Ignis "You of all people must understand how Noct feels: bereft of both parents and forced to carry on despite losing those you love. You both feel that pain!"

Despite all he went through that day, it was far from the end. He fought Ravus to save Noctis, he did all he was able to, he tackled him to the ground as he felt his body no longer able to do much because of the fatigue, but even so Ignis nevertheless continued to fight until he was no longer able to stand, while he still had all of Noctis’ pain in his mind, all the suffering he went through. It was evident at that point, about how much Ignis deeply cared for him.

 "I swore an oath to stand with Noctis and keep him safe. Whatever it takes, I will protect him!"

"This world means nothing to me. Do with it as you wish."

"But I refuse to let Noctis sacrifice his life to save ours. I won't let you take him away!"

"Even if it costs my own life to save him... I will pay that price!"

This is the point where we all realized how reckless he was when Noctis was in danger, how he was ready to sacrifice his life, not for the King of Lucis, but for his brother Noctis that he wanted to save. All that talk about the One True King that needed to be saved for the sake of the world, but to damn with that. He acted not out of the sense of obligation as a Crownsguard officer to sacrifice his life just for the sake of his title, but out of his own selfishness to permit Noctis to see and live another day.

But that was not all – the moment before Ardyn was able to hurt Noctis, the panic and fear on the face of Ignis was too visible to be missed, how helpless he felt to see the one dear to him get hurt while he was pinned on the hard ground. It was too much for him to take, it came to the point that he was almost reduced to tears, but to his relief Ravus managed to save him in time.

 "Please... forgive me..."

The Ring of Lucii, we know the price to pay for the power it gave for those who are not of royal blood and he certainly paid, how much pain he felt, how much of a torture the sensation was, how his consciousness almost left him but he swung his daggers still, he carried on and neglected the pain to make sure that Ardyn never got too close to Noctis. He was supposed to give up his life in exchange for the power he obtained, but his desire to protect Noctis surpassed all else and he it allowed him to live, but not without a cost – his sight. To live in the dark, to fail to see how Noctis got older and how he changed. He was never able to see that. But what use did he have for his sight if Noctis got killed? He told himself that, I honestly do believe it.

 "Where's Noct? Is he... alright?"

The first question once he was able to speak through his ragged breath. Again, all that was important for him was his safety. He fought a whole army of soldiers, their magitek armor, bestiary, Caligula, Ravus and Adyn but all he wanted was to know how he was, that was all he asked. If Noctis was alright then somehow he’d managed.

 Ignis "Perhaps it might be best if we brought our journey to a close."

Noctis "Why?"

Ignis "It's just that... uhm... we've already lost so much... too much"

Noctis "That's exactly why I have to keep going - because if I give up now, their sacrifices would have been for nothing! And you... you, of all people... You should know that better than anyone."

Ignis "The decision is yours to make and yours alone. But do remember we will stand with you always and help you bear your burdens. Don't be afraid to let us share the load. I'll be back."

How naïve I was, to think that he wanted end the journey because of all the pain he went through and because of his lack of sight when the reason was far greater. He saw a vision, the future that awaited Noctis – the future where he was to sacrifice himself to defeat Ardyn. He did not want to see that, he did not want to live a day where he was no more. He wanted Noctis to be away from that danger. He wanted to be selfish and convince him to end their journey. Although, who was he to force Noctis to be quiet while Eos was in danger. He was aware and it pained him to accept the reality he was confronted with.

It makes me think how much he cared for Noctis since the day he met him, through simple tasks like cleaning after him, making sure he had a proper meal and attending meetings in his stead. As his mother died and his father was busy as the King, he took it upon himself to make sure that he became a proper person despite sometimes being at a loss of how to do it. It makes me think even more how much he sacrificed for Noctis, how much he cares for him and how hard he worked to overcome his blindness for the day of his return. Sometimes, what gets me is at some point in the game, Gladio said that Ignis wanted his world to be crystal clear, but now all he saw was the dark.

I’m just glad I was able to get this off my chest.

[inmyownlittlecorner5]

libera nos a malo chapter 6: si, un mostro son

A fanfic Novel by la-topolina

Rated for Mature Audiences

Warnings: Language, Violence, Sexual Content

Chapter 6/20

libera nos a malo masterpost+

unstoppable force/immovable object masterpost+

<< chapter five+

chapter seven+ >>

During the first Potions lesson of the New Year, Cassie called in a favor. She hated to do this, preferring to hoard them like a miser hoards gold; but she knew that a favor never spent was almost as useless as one you’d never had in the first place. And she hadn’t wasted all of third year trailing Draco Malfoy in order to give Pansy Parkinson a detailed account of the boy’s habits and routines for nothing.

She arrived early for class to claim her prize as Draco’s bench partner for the rest of term. As a peace offering (for she doubted he would be pleased with the new arrangement), she gathered the supplies listed on the board for the day’s lesson, setting up both of their work spaces with quick efficiency and shaking hands. She’d not forgotten the feel of Fenrir Greyback’s teeth on her neck, and when Pansy flounced into the room and gave her a haughty glare before slinking to the back to partner with Tracey Davis, Cassie had to restrain herself from laughing out loud. She would never be afraid of the likes of Pansy Parkinson again.

Draco barely looked at her when he arrived, and she knew from the house elf chatter that he’d been up most of the night again. Class began as usual with Professor Slughorn asking a simple question and Hermione Granger regurgitating the text book. Apparently this was what the professor considered sufficient instruction, and he set them loose to create a credible antidote for the mystery poison assigned to them. When she and Draco each had their poison simmering in their cauldrons, she quietly drew a piece of parchment from her textbook and slid it across the worktable to her partner.

He glanced at it and stuffed it into his pocket. “Your uncle?” he asked indifferently.

“Yes. It’s the first step to restarting the magic. If it’s not too much trouble, please take notes on what happens when you follow those directions. Then I can send them to Uncle, and he’ll be able to advise you on what to do next,” she replied, her head bent over her work.

“This is going to take too long.”

“I’m sorry. We’re doing the best we can. If you like, I could come with you and take the notes myself. It might make the whole operation go a little faster.”

“No. I don’t need anymore of your help.”

“Something wrong, Draco?” asked Professor Slughorn from where he lazed at the front of the room, his feet propped up on a velvet poof.

“No, sir,” Draco quickly replied. “We were just discussing the next step.”

Professor Snape would not have allowed this to pass unexamined, but Professor Slughorn was thankfully both more benevolent and less energetic than their Head of House.

“Very good, carry on,” he said, and returned to his reading.

The antidote preparation soon demanded their complete attention, and it wasn’t until Cassie was painstakingly extracting the essence from a year-old cat’s gallbladder that they had time to speak again.

“I’m sorry, Draco,” she said. “I’m doing my best.”

He curled his lip unpleasantly at her, but she had the distinct feeling that if she prodded his angry mask ever so slightly, it would crumble into despair.

“Yeah, well, you’d better try harder,” he hissed back.

She swallowed hard and turned her focus to the extraction; trying not to think about Greyback’s teeth.

*****

On Thursday evening, Finn and Miranda were lingering over bowls of jambalaya and glasses of iced coffee in the MACUSA cafeteria while they waited for Finn’s portkey home. The Marx Brothers were the evening’s wall entertainment, and Miranda gave Harpo and Chico half her attention while a sweet sort of melancholy tickled her heart. She rarely spent time in self-reflection, but the looming end of this visit with her favorite living brother was tempting her to the vice.

“I’m going to miss you,” she said, hoping to disarm some of the emotion by speaking it aloud.

“Course you are,” he replied, a flattering mix of disappointment and affection on his face. “It ain’t the same at home without you, no matter how many times you go off. But if you’re really aimin’ to set up a homestead here, maybe now’s the time to start easin’ everybody into the idea.”

Leave it to Finn to thrust her right back into the middle of her confusion. “I’m not going to stay here forever.”

“You sure about that? I mean, we’ll give you shit about it, but if it’s what you want we’d all back your decision.”

She dragged her spoon through the dregs of her bowl, avoiding his shrewd eyes. “It’s not what I want. I mean, I’m planning to stay for awhile longer. The money’s good over here, and much as I hate all Healers, I want to keep working with Healer A’isha at least until I’m back to normal.”

He wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily. “And then there’s always Severus Snape.”

“I’m not staying because of him.” God, she didn’t want to talk about this now.

“Miranda Jane Rose, you lie to whoever you want, exceptin’ yourself and me.”

“I’m not lying to you!”

“Then what the actual fuck is going on with the two of you?”

“You wait until now to ask me that? You’re leaving in twenty minutes.”

“Exactly. There’s no time for you to beat around the bush. Now talk.”

“Ass. It’d serve you right if I just left you here without saying anything.”

“Probably.” He pulled out a pair of cigarettes and flipped one to her. “But you ain’t gonna.”

She gave a sigh of resignation and snapped her fingers to light the cigarettes. “The truth is, I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing. I thought it was just going to be a casual thing—just blowing off steam. It was that way for a long time. And then it wasn’t.”

“Do you love him?”

There was no way on God’s green earth that she was going to admit to that out loud. “I’d be an idiot if I did. He’s in the middle of a giant shit show over here, and he’s tied up in enough emotional knots to make Alexander scream.”

“Seems to me you know a thing or two about shit shows and fucked up emotions. Does he love you?”

“You are like a dog after a bone, Finn.”

He had the audacity to wink at her. “Yep.”

She never could lie to Finn. “He’s never said so, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he did. I’m not stupid. The way he looked after me when I got hurt in Romania—I know he wouldn’t have done all that if he didn’t care. And I know it hurt him when I moved out of his rooms and back to my cabin. But I couldn’t stay there with him and let it all choke me.”

“You do what you gotta do; but if he’s in that deep and you don’t feel the same way, it seems only sportin’ to let him go.”

“I know.”

“But?”

She puffed out a few rings of smoke and sent them dancing in and out of each other beneath the bright cafeteria lights. “But I don’t want to.”

“Interestin’. It ain’t your style to play with hearts like that.”

“I don’t need you to point that out to me. I know it’s a shit thing to do.”

“I ain’t here to judge you. Just watch your back. Even a lowly No-Maj like me can tell shit is hot over here, and I don’t wanna be goin’ to your funeral. I’ve had enough of buryin’ siblings to last me a lifetime.”

“Don’t I know it?”

They snuffed out their cigarettes and tossed them into their empty bowls. The interrogation had lasted long enough that they had to rush through the Hall of Virtues to make it to the Transportation Hub on time. Finn queued up at the back of the portkey line, and set down his rucksack to give his sister a fierce hug. She buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in the smell of home, and her throat was so tight it hurt to breathe. When he let go of her at last, his eyes were shining with unshed tears.

“See ya ‘round, Sis,” he said. “If you need anything, you call me. I’ll be here in two shakes.”

“I will,” she replied. “And same goes for you.”

He ran a hand through his hair, threw his rucksack over his shoulder, and stepped up on wide platform. The ruby slipper appeared on the marble pedestal before him, and he threw her one final grin over his shoulder before reaching out to touch the portkey.

Then he spun away, back to Kansas and home.

*****

Half an hour later Miranda was hurtling into classroom 1B, ten minutes late for her first Animagus lesson. She skidded to a halt and fought the urge to wince at the way her boots echoed through the cavernous room. The door slammed ominously shut behind her, and Minerva McGonagall did not deign to look up from the podium where she sat marking scrolls and looking severely disappointed. Miranda’s face turned red as she slunk penitentially to a desk near the back of the room, and she was surprised to see Remus Lupin, dressed in tattered trousers and an overlarge flannel shirt, already sitting in the back corner. He gave her a sympathetic look when their eyes met, but she had the distinct feeling that he was studying her every move, withholding judgement until she either won her place as his working partner—or lost it completely.

“How good of you to join us, Miss Rose,” Minerva said, still busily marking. “I take it you had trouble getting through security?”

Miranda already liked Hagrid too much to throw him under the Knight Bus. “No, Ma’am. My brother was heading back home tonight, and I didn’t figure in enough time to get from the Embassy to here. Sorry for the inconvenience, it won’t happen again.”

Minerva let this answer hang in the air and Miranda slid into a desk a few rows in front of Remus, suddenly feeling eleven years old again.

“See that it doesn’t,” Minerva said crisply.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Minerva finished marking the scroll while Miranda fell victim to the sort of restlessness that only descended on her in the classroom. Through monumental effort, she managed to restrain this feeling to the tapping of one toe inside her boot, but she knew it would only be a matter of minutes before she felt like screaming. At last the steely professor rolled up the scroll, laid down her quill, and gave her student a look that showed how very unimpressed she was with the American witch thus far.

“May I safely assume that you have read Perdix’s Animagi Liberatus?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“And do you have any initial questions on the material?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“Then please stand up and cast a Patronus.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” The chair squeaked horribly as she got up, and her boots sounded thunderous as she took her place in the middle of the empty aisle. She wet her lips and did her best to banish all these little humiliations with the thought of spring and perfect baseball games. “Expecto Patronum!”

The bobcat burst immediately out of her wand, displaying a confidence she didn’t quite feel. It eyed the inhabitants of the room curiously, slinking around Miranda’s ankles before prowling across the room to Remus.

“Funny, I thought you were a dog person,” he observed, returning the Patronus’s stare with an amused one of his own.

“I am. God has a sense of humor,” Miranda quipped.

“Please keep the commentary to a minimum,” Minerva ordered.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Remus and Miranda chorused.

“Thank you. Now, I want you to take a moment to study your Patronus as minutely as you can,” Minerva said.

Miranda squatted down to do as she was bid, narrowing her eyes as she marked each stripe and curve of her silvery bobcat. The Patronus ignored her, still staring at Remus, until it gave a hiss of displeasure and darted up one of the bookcases to perch imperiously on the top.

“Are you ready?” Minerva asked when the Patronus was settled.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Miranda had never made an emptier boast.

“To remind you, the incantation is Amato Animo Animato Animagus,” Minerva said.

“Decline puer,” Miranda muttered under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Minerva clearly didn’t believe her, but she let it pass. “Picture your Patronus as you speak the words, and don’t fight whatever happens afterwards.”

“Okay, here goes.” Miranda took a deep breath and let her mind go mildly unfocused. “Amato Animo Animato Animagus.”

As soon as the final syllable left Miranda’s lips, her skin started to itch everywhere. Her reptilian brain started to panic as coarse, striped fur sprouted all over her limbs and her spine stretched and snapped like a rubber band. She closed her eyes against the pain as her right hand shriveled into a mangled caricature of a cat’s paw. Gradually the pain and the pitiful pseudo-transformation stopped. Remus’s eyes were glinting with humor when she opened hers again, although he had the decency not to laugh at her attempt.

“Not bad for a first try,” Minerva allowed.

“Surely we don’t need an audience for this,” Miranda said in a voice that was now colored by a throaty purr. “We must be wasting Mr Lupin’s time.”

“Not at all,” Remus replied. “The more time I spend with you, the less likely I’ll be to attack you when the wolf takes over. The Wolfsbane Potion isn’t always enough on its own.”

“I see.”

“Please shift back to your human form and then we’ll try again,” Minerva ordered brusquely.

“God, this is going to be worse than Apparition,” Miranda muttered. “Amato Hominis.”

Remus’s eyes were still on her, and she did her best not to flinch at the discomfort of shifting back.

“Whenever you’re ready, Miss Rose,” Minerva said.

Miranda had a sinking feeling that Minerva McGonagall was going to turn out to be an even sterner taskmaster than Severus Snape.

*****

By the end of the lesson, Miranda ached from head to toe and wanted nothing more than to crawl down to Severus’s rooms and beg for a massage. Remus, unfortunately, stuck to her like a bad penny, and she had to make a show of “going home” for his sake.

“Care to join me for a drink at the Hog’s Head?” he asked as they went out into the frozen night.

She didn’t, but something in his tone told her this question was another test. “Sure. We should probably get to know one another if we’re going to be working together.”

“I agree.”

Hagrid and Fang met them at the gate, and they paused long enough for Miranda to scratch the mastiff behind his floppy ears. Once they were clear of the school’s wards, Remus held out his hand to her. His skin was rough and calloused, and soon she felt the unpleasant pull behind her navel as he side-alonged her to the edge of the Hogsmeade High Street. The Inn was quiet when they arrived, dingy and smelling of old ale. A dour man with bright eyes and a long hoary beard manned the bar, and he grunted to them by way of greeting.

“I’d take a pint when you get a minute, Aberforth,” Remus said as they went by. “What would you like, Miss Rose?”

“Rye if you’ve got it, Firewhiskey if you don’t,” she replied.

Aberforth muttered something derisive and shuffled away to gather their drinks while Remus led her to a table in the furthest recesses of the bar. Without asking, he took the chair with its back to the wall, putting her in the uncomfortable position of relying on his eyes for protection. They stared at each other, each taking the measure of the other, until Aberforth arrived with a chipped bowl of greasy popcorn, a pint of cloudy ale, and a glass of flaming liquor.

“To new beginnings,” Remus said, raising his glass.

“New beginnings.” Miranda clinked her glass to his and drank without breaking eye contact.

“So tell me,” he asked as he picked at the popcorn. “How did you wind up working for Albus Dumbledore?”

After the excellent dinner at the Embassy, Miranda had no stomach for bar food. “By way of Lucius Malfoy.”

“Really?” His curiosity was obviously piqued.

“Ironic, don’t you think? He hired me to hunt down Sirius Black, and Albus hired me to pretend to hunt down Sirius Black to keep Malfoy busy. Then just to make things more entertaining, Albus sent me to Romania to help Charlie Weasley with a project. Now that’s over, and here I am with you.”

“I see. Albus does like to get his money’s worth out of people.” The bitter edge to this observation did not go unnoticed.

“Do I remember correctly that you and Mr Black were friends?”

“You do.” If possible Remus’s already woeful countenance became even more melancholy. “We were mates from our school days.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. I never got to meet him, but I think I would have liked him, if I’d gotten the chance.”

“What makes you say that?” he asked dubiously.

Something about his gaze made her vaguely uncomfortable—as though he could see through her in a way most people couldn’t.

“I spent a fair amount of time interviewing people who knew him while I was on the case. I got the impression that he was a passionate man, fiercely loyal to his friends, brave to the point of recklessness, and possessed of a wicked sense of humor. Sounds to me like the sort of fellow I’d love to have known.”

Remus took a long drink and then stared into the depths of his pint. When he finally looked back up at her, she knew he was setting her yet another test.

“Tell me Miss Rose, is Severus Snape one of those many people you interviewed about Sirius?”

Through long practice she managed not to visibly react to Severus’s name being spoken, but her toe inside her boot started tapping again.

“No,” she replied. “I never met Professor Snape before that Order meeting when I met you.”

Remus gave her a cold, wolfish smile, that did not suit his features in the least. “This is a terrible start. I’m going to ask Albus to reassign you.”

Her heart started to pound uncomfortably, but her voice was even and curious. “Why? What did I do wrong?”

“We’ve barely met and you’re already lying to me. Doesn’t bode well for future work together.”

“What are you talking about?”

He leaned across the table and dropped his voice to a low growl. “Miss Rose, I don’t believe for an instant that you met Severus for the first time at that meeting. His smell was all over you, even after he left. What did you do, spend all day in bed with him?”

It was a stupid mistake—forgetting that some loup garous had a preternatural sense of smell even in human form—and she blushed for shame of having been caught making it. She covered her embarrassment by finishing her whiskey, then returned his gaze boldly.

“And if I did?” she challenged.

Remus snorted. “I don’t care who you sleep with. But if we’re going to work together the way Albus expects us to, we can’t lie to each other. With what we’re going to be walking into, we have to trust each other completely. Unfortunately, there’s no time to build that trust.” He slugged down the rest of his pint and stood up from the table. “I’m sorry to waste your time, but it’s better for you to be off this assignment anyway. Safer, you understand. It was good to meet you.”

“Mr Lupin, wait,” she said, taking the risk of laying a hand on his wrist before he walked away completely. He glared down at the trespass, and she strongly suspected he was fighting the urge to snarl at her. “Please, just sit down, have another drink, and let’s talk about this.”

She held his gaze fearlessly, surprised he didn’t shake her hand off. After a moment he signaled to Aberforth, and resumed his seat at the table. She waited until the barkeep had set them up with another round and a fresh bowl of popcorn, furiously working out what exactly she was going to say. In the end she fell back on her usual tactic; improvisation.

“Listen, I’m going to lay it all out for you, and then you can decide what you want to do,” she began, ignoring his scoff. “I met Severus the summer before last while I was hunting a vampire. We’ve been on and off since then; mostly on. I know about both of his…bosses. Albus knows about me, but the other one doesn’t, and we’re trying to keep it that way for everyone’s safety. I think you can imagine what the Dark Lord would do if he got wind of the fact that his minion is fucking a No-Maj born like me.”

“I didn’t know you were Muggle-born.”

She bristled. “Does that matter to you?”

“No, not at all.” Remus’s suspicious expression became very thoughtful. “I think I’m just surprised that it doesn’t matter to Severus.”

“I haven’t grilled him on it,” she shrugged.

“Maybe you should.”

This was not a conversation she wanted to pursue. “I don’t remember asking you for relationship advice.”

“You’re right, you didn’t.” His lips turned up in a humorless smile. “You’re wise to keep things quiet. Does anyone else in the Order know about you?”

“Arthur and Molly Weasley. But as far as I know they’ve kept mum, so I hope you won’t go clucking with them about it.”

“I won’t. What do you see in him?”

That was more than enough. “I don’t see the need to justify my love life to you, Mr Lupin. Or maybe you’d like me to start asking you questions about Auror Tonks.”

“No, I’d rather you didn’t,” he said coldly.

It seemed to her that they’d scuffled enough for one evening. “Maybe we should go back to safer topics,” she suggested as a peace offering. “Like loup garous or blood politics.”

He studied her for a long time, and then his face relaxed into a real smile. “Yes, let’s. Tell me more about the werewolves in America.”

*****

As the clock ticked perilously close to midnight, Severus sat in his armchair, reading Oscar Wilde and doing his best not to be annoyed with Miranda’s tardiness. He’d long since accepted her chronic lateness, and he knew she’d had a hefty list of commitments ahead of their engagement. Still, it was his birthday and it would be nice to see her at some point before the ninth of January turned into the tenth.

At five minutes to the new day, the door to his sitting room creaked open and he put aside his novel, greeting her tired smile with what he hoped was a reserved, but pleasant expression of his own. She hung her bag on a hook by the door that he’d installed for the purpose and stretched like a languid cat. He admired her form, unreasonably pleased that she was finally here.

“I’m glad that’s all over,” she said.

“Did your first Animagus lesson go so poorly?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Professor McGonagall said I did well, but my joints all say differently. She’s as hard a teacher as you are.”

“Harder, I think.”

She came to him and slipped onto his lap. His arms went around her waist, and as she laid her head on his shoulder he felt unnervingly content.

“Then Remus Lupin decided to give me the third degree. That’s what took me so long. He wanted to cut me out of the whole mission,” she explained.

Merlin, he didn’t want to think about the details of this pernicious mission. “Perhaps you should have let him.”

“I know you don’t like that I’m assigned to it, but it’s part of my job. And anyway, I talked him into keeping me.”

“I’m not surprised. You can be quite…persuasive when you care to be.”

She gave him an impish smile. “Speaking of persuasive, what would it take to convince you to give me a massage? I had no idea that Animagus training was going to make my body feel like a pretzel.”

“I give you a massage?” he teased. “I was under the impression that it was my birthday.”

“And so it is. I’ll give you your presents first if that’s what it takes.”

He kissed her temple and shook his head. “No. You’ve coerced me. To the bedroom with you.”

“I knew there was a reason I spent time with you.”

She stripped down to her knickers on the way to the bedroom. He hung his frock coat in the armoire, and rolled up his sleeves as she picked over his store of healing balms for a satisfactory concoction; more comfortable in her own skin than anyone he’d ever met. She tossed him her selection and stretched out on the bed with a happy sigh, and as he knelt over her his heart ached with an emotion it was ill-equipped to process. He buried this hurt with the feel of her flesh under his fingers, and the sound of her appreciative moans as he kneaded her pains away.

“Mmm…” she hummed. “You do love me.”

Her shoulders tensed instantly under his frozen hands, and he inwardly cursed her impulsive tongue for uttering such nonsensical truth.

“I mean metaphorically speaking,” she added quickly.

“Of course,” he replied, his hands mechanically returning to their work. “You’ve quite an inflated sense of your own importance, haven’t you?”

“That’s me,” she said, her voice nowhere near as relaxed as it had been moments before. “My head’s so big it’s in danger of floating away.”

For a brief moment he had the insane urge to confess the sin she’d lightheartedly accused him of; morbidly curious to witness the destruction it would likely cause. As she settled back into limpid tranquility under his touch, he frantically searched his mind for some other topic of conversation to distract him from wantonly lighting the inferno that would no doubt spell the end of their association.

“I…had thought we might attend the opera on Saturday,” he said. It was a mostly idle promise—he hadn’t even spoken to Charity to arrange the purchase of tickets—but he hoped mentioning it would both please Miranda and close the door on the previous topic.

“Oh, Severus, I’m so sorry, but I can’t,” she replied.

His temper was rubbed raw from the last ten minutes, and her contrition was salt in the wound.

“May I ask why?” he asked in an subtly acrid tone.

“I’m actually already going to the opera on Saturday.”

“I see. With whom?”

“Dante Sanguini. He set it up weeks ago. Didn’t I tell you about it earlier?”

“Not that I recall. I don’t suppose it matters to you if I mind that you are cavorting with a vampire.”

“My time is my time, and I’ll spend it with whomever I like.”

“Need I remind you that you have yet to regain your full strength either magically or physically?”

“No. I’m very aware of my limits.”

He seethed silently as his fingers worked on her muscles. How dare she be so reckless with her person and then claim he had no right to be concerned?

“Severus,” she said after a few moments of deadly silence had ticked by, “you’re hurting me.”

“My apologies,” he muttered, lightening his touch.

“Just stop. That’s enough anyway.” She extricated herself from her position beneath him and rolled up to sit against the headboard, her knees tucked to her chest as she studied him with new eyes. “I don’t need you telling me what to do. Do I complain when you go off to have tea with the Dark Lord?”

“That is different,” he growled.

“It’s not.”

He felt his face turn to stone and he got up off the bed, crossing his arms over his chest like a shield charm.

“I do not ever needlessly put myself in harm’s way. You make a sport of it,” he accused.

“Well why do you at all? Put yourself in harm’s way I mean. You’re not a hero, so why do you do it?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You hate teaching—and I’m not all that convinced you like Albus Dumbledore. You’re not a coward, but I don’t think you’re the sort of man to be swayed by “The Cause.” So why are you doing all this?”

“We aren’t talking about me. We’re talking about you and your dalliance with a creature that can snap your neck and drink your blood before you could raise a finger to stop him.”

She swung off the bed to face him, her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing. “You sound jealous.”

“I do not.”

“First Lupin and now Sanguini?”

“That is the most ridiculous accusation…”

The rest of his defense dwindled into hiss of pain as the mark on his arm flared to life, twisting with an ugly black fire. His suddenly numb fingers fumbled to roll down the sleeves and fasten the buttons as he watched the anger on Miranda’s face give way first to fear, and then to acceptance. She opened her mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it, and went out into the sitting room to collect his cloak for him. It took an age for him to don his frock coat and retrieve his mask from the armoire as he fought to bring his roiling emotions under some semblance of control.

His feet were like lead as he dragged himself to the door, and Miranda’s brave smile did little to cheer him. When he had his cloak in place, she impulsively threw her arms around his neck and kissed his mouth. He groaned pitifully as he pulled her against him; their embrace a fury of tongues and teeth as fierce as their argument had been.

“I can be here when you get back,” she said in a husky voice when they parted. “Or I can go if you think you’d rather be alone.”

“No. I want you to stay,” he replied, his own voice raw from choking back all the things he dared not say.

“Then I will.”

He traced a finger over her cheek and accepted the kiss that she pressed to his hand—a kiss that troubled him to the core of his battered heart. The mark on his arm continued to throb painfully as he paced outside the wards, breathing in the bitter night air and waiting for his mind to reach a place of indifference that Occlumency required. It seemed to him that the longer this misadventure continued, the more difficult coming to that place became. His life had never been under his own dominion; but now it often felt to him that Lily, the Dark Lord, Albus, and Miranda were horses intent on drawing and quartering him alive.

*****

The plush delights of the private box on the Grand Tier of the Royal Opera House, and the glorious music of Rigoletto did not quite assuage all of Miranda’s guilt that her companion for the evening was a sentimental vampire rather than a dour potions master. She was mildly annoyed at her conscience for smiting her and sullying what ought to have been an evening for decadence, and she was indulging in far more of Dante’s excellent cabernet in an effort to compensate. As the lights went up for the beginning of the interval, she knew she was well on the way to a headache in the morning, but she stubbornly stuck to her self-destructive course. Severus had no right to boss her around, and she was going to prove it by means of what was likely to be a wicked hangover.

“Tell me more about Giuseppe,” she said. There was nothing like hearing Verdi with a man who’d known him.

“There are those who would call him cold, but I liked him very well,” Dante replied. “Although he was at times a difficult partner at the card table. When the music would invade his brain, he would set everything aside until he’d jotted it down. I was there the night he sketched out that magnificent quartet.”

“That must have been thrilling.”

“It was. It’s a shame he would not let me bring him over.”

“Did you try?”

“Of course! A genius like that, to molder in a tomb. It’s a crime.”

He offered her a refill from the bottle of cabernet, which she accepted (although she probably shouldn’t have). His own glass he topped off with his preferred blend of merlot and type AB positive.

“What did he say when you offered?” she asked, enjoying the buzz from the wine and the music.

“He said that only a fool wished to live forever in a body of dust and grime.”

His smile was sharp on his pale lips, and whether he was mocking the dead composer or himself, she wasn’t sure.

“I’ve never thought you were a fool, Dante.”

“I thank you for the compliment, and I hope that you will not behave so stupidly when I come for you.”

She shivered. “I didn’t know you were planning to.”

“I was. As long as you do not manage to destroy yourself so extensively that my kiss would be useless.”

She was flattered and horrified in almost equal measure. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. But I want you to know that I’ll probably give you the same answer that Giuseppe did.”

“How disappointing. Why would you do such a thing?”

“I have my reasons.” She swirled the crimson liquid in her goblet, and the movement (or perhaps the conversation) made her head swim. “Do you mind if we change the subject? I hate talking about death at the opera.”

“And I adore it. But you are my guest, and I will indulge you. Tell me about your current projects. Hunting any other cousins of mine?”

“No, not lately. I’ve moved on to werewolves and Death Eaters.”

He raised his mocking eyebrows at her. “I never thought you one to play the hero.”

“I’m not, it’s all about the money.”

“I’ve always appreciated that ruthless streak in you.” He took her hand in his, laughing as the chill of his touch raised gooseflesh on her arms. “Do watch that charming backside of yours.”

“I will. But if you happen across any information that would help me watch it better, I hope you’ll share it.”

“And what will you pay me in? Smiles?”

“If you’ll take them, they’re yours.”

He brought her hand up and rested her palm against his cheek, sighing melodramatically.

“There is nothing quite like a warm hand when you are dead.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Is there something you’re getting at, or is all this a tease?”

He leaned down until his icy breath brushed her ear. “I have it on the best authority that a certain dark wizard is building an army of inferi.”

The chill that went through her had nothing to do with Dante’s breath. “How uninspired. Didn’t he do that last time?”

“His creativity is indeed lacking these days, but this new army will put the last one to shame.”

“Have you seen it?”

“I have.”

“Where is it?”

“It is moved by now.”

“By which you mean you aren’t going to tell me.”

“Topolina, I have told you enough already.”

He dipped his head and ran the edge of a sharp canine over the sensitive skin of her earlobe, and she put a finger on his cheek in warning.

“Thanks Dante, I do appreciate it. But I’m not going to fuck you tonight, even if you do cast a tutela charm to keep yourself from killing me.”

“Tease,” he grumbled. “Why not?”

“I’m just not interested.”

His dark gaze was as penetrating as Remus Lupin’s—and she was just about sick of being studied like a side of beef.

“You have a lover,” he accused. “That accounts for the extra perfume. You didn’t want me to know. Why not? Are you ashamed of him?”

“No. I just didn’t want to talk about him.” God she was sick of everyone being in her business. It was almost enough to take up the mantle of celibacy for the rest of her live-long days.

Dante, bless him, seemed to catch on to her exasperation. “Then I shan’t ask you anymore about him.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. Really.” The lights began to dim around them, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Dante, if I find myself needing a hand in the near future, will you help me? I’ll make it worth your while.”

He gave her a devilish smile. “Will you? Aren’t you afraid of what I might ask in return?”

She wasn’t fooled. “No. You’re a gentleman.”

“You wound me! But I could deny you nothing. Ask, and I will be there.”

“I knew I could count on you.”

“Shh,” he grumbled as the curtain rose. “The opera!”

*****

Notes: The chapter title (yes, i am a monster) is a quote from Verdi’s opera Rigoletto. In the opera, the Duke sings this line in jest—but he pretty much is a monster.

The incantation to become an Animagus is taken from Pottermore. The textbook, the incantation to turn back (and the attending Latin mistakes) are mine. The process by which one becomes an Animagus is also from my imagination.

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30. Danger In The Desert

The episode begins with some strange robots approaching a town in the middle of a desert. They are at the outskirts of the town. They then put their pipe-like arms into the ground, and begin sucking up water. All over the town, people are noticing that the water supply is disappearing. They check the pipes to see what is causing the water to suddenly be drained. Dr. Wily's robots approach the townsfolk and tell them that if they want their water back, they need to pay a rather large sum of money. The townsfolk look at each other with concern and worry. They tell them that they don't think that they can pay the ransom. The evil robots tell them that that's too bad, and so they will have to take the town. The townsfolk hold each other and whimper in fear.

On the other side of the country, Mega Man, Roll, and Rush are at a gas station on the side of a highway. Mega Man and Rush are waiting at their car for Roll to be done at the gas station's store. Mega Man is drinking a bottled drink, and Rush is drinking from a portable dog bowl. Roll comes out of the store with a drink of her own and a bag of some stuff. They all get in their car. On their way back to their home, Dr. Light calls them up on the car's videophone. He tells them that Dr. Wily has drained a town in the southwestern part of the country of its water, and that he is holding their water supply for ransom. Roll pulls over the car so that Mega Man and Rush can get out and fly over to the town.

When Mega Man and Rush arrive at the town, they find that it is being guarded by some Wily Bots. Mega Man destroys some of them with his plasma cannon. Some more Wily Bots come towards Mega Man. "Wanna try me?" Mega Man yells out to them. The Wily Bots fire at him. Mega Man cries out "Guess so!", and destroys them also with his plasma cannon. Mega Man then says to Rush, "Come on Rush, let's drive 'em out!" They then run into the town. In the town, Dr. Wily's robots are taking apart the pipes that carry water to the town. Guts Man reaches into the ground and tears out a large section of pipe. "Here's some more!" Guts Man cries out to the other bad robots. Proto Man praises Guts Man and turns to Cut Man digging out the pipes with the cutters on his head and says so that Cut Man can hear, "If only some robots were more efficient at ripping up pipes!" Cut Man yells back at Proto Man, "I'm trying my best, okay!?" He gets back to digging up some pipes. He manages to get one out and is carrying it to the pile of pipes. He sees Mega Man and Rush heading towards them. He cries out "Mega Man!" Mega Man responds with, "That's my name don't wear it out!" Proto Man runs up to Mega Man aims his cannon at him. Proto Man yells out "I'm going to wear you out, little bro!" He then fires some shots at Mega Man. 

Mega Man avoids the shots and fires back at Proto Man. Somewhere in the town, Pump Man hears the conflict and runs over to assist Proto Man and the others. Pump Man yells at the water-draining robots to continue their work. Meanwhile, Guts Man grabs one of the pipes and yells "Pipe down, blue dweeb!" at Mega Man and throws the pipe at him. The pipe hits Mega Man and pins him down onto the ground. Mega Man tries to lift the pipe off of himself. Guts Man stomps onto the pipe and pins Mega Man down with his foot. "Sorry, Mega Dweeb!" Guts Man tells him as he is struggling to get free, "But I've gotta put my foot down! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Guts Man pushes his foot harder on Mega Man. The pressure causes the pipe to crack. Mega Man charges up his plasma cannon and fires a fully charged blast at Guts Man's head. The blast shoots his head off. Gut's Man remaining body steps off of the pipe and goes of to retrieve the head. Guts Man's head lands into a trash can. Guts Man's body is aimlessly running around. His head yells out "Hey! Over here!" His body gets nearer to thetrash can. The body feels around in a recycling bin nearby. "No! Over here you idiot!" Guts Man's head cries out, the trash can making his voice echo. His body finally comes over to the trash can his head is in. The body reaches in and grabs the head. "Careful!" Guts Man's head yells out. The body puts his head back on. Meanwhile, Mega Man manages to lift the pipe off of himself. He gets up and sees that there is a large crack over his pectoral plate. "That's going to need some stitches!" Mega Man says to himself. Proto Man charges up his cannon and aims it at Mega Man. He says to Mega Man "Last warning, bro! Leave or be destroyed!" Cut Man also aims his weapon cannon at Mega Man and says "Yes, Mega Man! Beat it!" Pump Man and the water-draining robots aim their respective cannons at Mega Man as well. Mega Man sees that he is outnumbered, and walks away. An evil smile appears on Proto Man's face. "Ready...aim..." he slowly says. Mega Man turns his head around and sees that they are all preparing to fire at him at once. Guts Man manages to pull a huge chunk of rock out of the ground and prepares to throw it at Mega Man. Mega Man tries to run away from them as fast as his robotic legs can. "Fire!" Proto Man cries out with great power. They all fire their cannons at once. Guts Man throws his reasonably sized boulder. Mega Man manages to avoid some of the shots, but is hit by the rest of them. The boulder hits him on the back of his head. He gets knocked out and falls to the ground. Rush sees that Mega Man has been hurt, and runs up to him to get him out of danger's way. He places him on his back, turns into his Jet Mode, and flies away. Dr. Wily's robots watch them fly off. Proto Man yells out "Yeah, that's right! Fly away! Fly very far away!"  

Back at Dr. Light's lab, Mega Man is getting his pectoral plate fixed. As he is getting repaired, Mega Man is telling Dr. Light about the current situation at the desert town. "That's terrible!" Dr. Light says. Mega Man replies "Yeah, the whole entire town has been deprived of water!" Roll comes into the main lab and suggests secretly giving the townsfolk water while Mega Man sorts Dr. Wily out. Dr. Light tells Roll that Dr. Wily and his robots might do even worse to the town as they know that Mega Man is assisting them. Mega Man tells Dr. Light that that is still a good idea in order to keep the townsfolk alive and well. Dr. Light is now done with repairing Mega Man. Mega Man still has a scuff on the back of his helmet from where he was hit on the back of the head with Gut's Man thrown boulder. "We'll worry about that cosmetic defect later." Dr. Light tells Mega Man. Just then, a call comes up on the big screen. Dr. Light goes up to it. A few people show up on the screen. They quietly tell Dr. Light that their town has been taken over and deprived of water. Dr. Light tells them "You're going to have to speak up, I can barely hear you." Against the others' protests, one of them speaks up louder and tells Dr. Light "Some robots have taken our water supply! They're ripping the water pipes out of the ground and-" A disturbingly familiar voice cuts the person off. "They've gone over here!" the voice yells out. The people look over and see Guts Man and Cut Man walking down towards them. Dr. Light gasps and fears that they will be harmed for giving out information about the current state of their town. "We're cutting your little forbidden call short!" Cut Man yells out. He throws the cutters on his head at the screen. The screen blacks out. Dr. Light immediately goes over to Mega Man. Mega Man is still lying on the table, and has gotten comfortable and is sleeping. "Mega Man!" Dr. Light cries out. Mega Man suddenly wakes and cries out "What is it, Dr. Light?" Dr. Light says to him, "Dr. Wily's claimed another town in the desert, and it looks like his robots are going after the inhabitants there! You must get there immediately!" Mega Man gets up off of the table and says to Dr. Light "I'll be there in two shakes of a robot lamb's tail!" He calls out for Rush. "Rush! Come on! We have some humans to save!" Mega Man cries out. Rush runs over to Mega Man and immediately turns into his Jet Mode. Mega Man jumps on him and they both fly out of the main lab and off to

the desert. Dr. Light has Roll get some water tanks. He has her fill them up with water and pack them onto the Air Raider. "You can count on Roll's water delivery company!" Roll says to Dr. Light as she boards the Air Raider. The Air Raider flies off.

Back at the desert town, Guts Man is carrying the last of the townsfolk towards a makeshift cage. Aqua Man opens up the cage door, and Guts Man throws them in with the rest of the people. "You've been naughty!" Guts Man yells at them as they quiver in fear of the large robot "You brats need a time out! Ha ha ha ha ha!" He slams the door of the cage shut. Pipe Man walks over to Guts Man with some of the water-draining robots. He tells him that they need Cut Man and Proto Man to look out for Mega Man, as it is very likely that he has heard of the townsfolk's plight. "You should be on the lookout too!" Pump Man tells him. Guts Man protests "But da fleshy rats might es-" Pump Man cuts him off and says "Don't worry, Guts Man, they'll be fine!" Guts Man groans "Oh, alright! I'll go look fer da blue dweeb!" Guts Man walks away, as does Pump Man and the water-draining robots. The sun begins to beat down on the cage. Elsewhere, Proto Man is looking up at the sky for Mega Man. Up in the sky, Mega Man is flying towards the town. He spots Proto Man and tries to fly past him as quickly as

Rush can. Proto Man spots them and yells out "Hey! I thought we told you to not come back to these parts!" Mega Man yells down to Proto Man "It's a free country, Proto Man! Me and Rush can go wherever we please!" Rush barks in agreement. He then says "And I can do this as well!" Mega Man fires at Proto Man. Proto Man shoots back and hits one of Rush's jets. Rush cannot stabilize himself and ends up leaning. Mega Man nearly falls off and holds on to Rush. "Down Boy!" Proto Man says as he fires another shot at the other jet. Both of Rush's jets have now been destroyed. He plummets to the desert terrain. Mega Man is thrown off of Rush and lands hard onto the ground. The sun is brightly shining, making the ground rather hot. Rush turns back into his original form, and scoots his butt on the desert in order to stop the flames. Mega Man gets up off of the scorching ground and fires again at Proto Man. Proto Man calls up the robot masters and tells them that he needs reinforcements. Mega Man hears Rush yelp and looks over to see that Guts Man has gotten ahold of him. Mega Man aims his cannon at Guts Man and yells out to him "Let him go, Lug Head!" Guts Man says "Sure thing, Mega Dweeb!" He slams Rush down onto the ground, smashing him into parts. Mega Man angrily fires a fully charged blast at Guts Man. Guts Man is knocked down. Mega Man thinks that he has been knocked out and goes over to pick up Rush's parts. To his surprise, Guts Man gets up and swings at him, launching him across the area. "Surprise, Mega Dummy!" Guts Man yells out as Mega Man skids across the burning desert ground.

Mega Man tries to get up, but he has been a bit damaged. "Hurry! While he's down!" Proto Man cries out to the other evil robots. Cut Man, Aqua Man, Dive Man, and Guts Man each grab one of Mega Man's limbs. They tie him down onto the ground and leave him to be overheated by the sun. "Don't forget your sunscreen! Ha ha ha ha!" Proto Man says as he and the robot masters walk away. Mega Man looks up and sees that the sun is making him hot. Rush comes to and sees Mega Man bound to the ground. He tries to put himself together, but mixes up his body. Rush tries to hop over to Mega Man, but falls apart. Mega Man looks over

to Rush and tells him "It's okay, boy, you tried..." Rush whimpers and can only watch as the sun gets brighter and Mega Man's race getting redder from the intense heat of the desert sun. Mega Man looks up at the sun and closes his eyes. "So this is how I'm going to check out...fried like a motherboard..." Mega Man says to himself. He closes his eyes very tightly. He braces himself for his coming solar demise.

Proto Man and the other robot masters watch the whole situation from a distance. Cut Man says to Proto Man "Maybe we should turn him over so he's evenly cooked on both sides! Ahe he he he!" "No," Proto Man says to Cut Man "Just let him roast, real good! Ha ha ha ha ha!" He looks back at the other bad robots and says "Come on! We have another town to suck dry!" They walk away, leaving Mega man to slowly overheat. Mega Man closes his eyes tightly and begins to pant from the intense heat. He slowly says "Dr. Light...I'm sorry...I'm sorry that I failed...I should have just..." He suddenly feels a cold splash of water on his face. He opens his eyes and looks up. Roll is standing over him with a now empty bucket of water, the remaining drops dripping onto his nose. Roll laughs and says "You looked like you could use some cooling off!" Mega Man looks at his restraints and back up at Roll and says "Uhhh....I could use some more than just a quick, cold shower..." Roll smiles and says "Rush has got it covered!" and points over to Rush, who has been put back together by her. Mega Man's

face lights up as Rush runs over and rips off his restraints with his mouth. Mega Man gets up and hugs both of them. "I can always count on you guys to save my blue skin!" he says to them. Rush barks at them and points with his snout in the direction that Dr. Wily's robot ran off. "Good boy, Rush!" Mega Man says to him "Let's go round them up!" All three of them run off, but as they are about to get there, Mega Man begins to short circuit. He falls down. "Mega!" Roll cries out. Mega Man tells Roll "Guess my circuits were sizzled!" and tries to get up, but falls back down. Rush's rear end begins to smoke again. "Not you too, Rush?" Roll says to him as he rubs his butt on the ground to put out the smoke. Roll calls up Dr. Light on her arm and tells him that Mega Man and Rush need repairs. Dr. Light tells her that he will be right there in his Mobile Lab. Mega Man and Rush sit down on the ground and wait. Rush lays his head on Mega Man's lap. Roll tells Mega Man "Why don't you two wait in the Air Raider, where it's much cooler!" Rush barks and runs up to the Air Raider. Mega Man slowly walks to the air vehicle, twitching a bit along the way.

Inside the Air Raider, Mega Man and Rush are relaxing. Mega Man has his feet up on the dashboard. The videophone suddenly comes on, startling Mega Man. Mega Man nearly falls off of the chair. He then presses a button and answers the call. Dr. Light comes up on the screen. He tells him that he is calling them from his Mobile Lab. He informs Mega Man that Dr. Wily has claimed a few other towns. The other towns have also been drained of their water. Mega Man and Roll are shocked by this. Rush hears something and gets out of the Air Raider. "Rush! Where are you going?" Mega Man yells out. Rush yells out "People! Trouble!" Mega Man and Roll follow Rush in the Air Raider.

Elsewhere in the town, Rush finds the cage with the townsfolk inside and barks out to the Air Raider. The Air Raider lands and Mega Man gets out. He goes over to the cage to see the townsfolk. They are red and covered in sweat. "Mega Man!" one of them says "Thank goodness you're here!" Mega Man yells over to Roll "Roll! Give these humans some water! They really need it!" Mega Man blasts open the cage and frees them. Mega Man asks them about how the water had been taken from their town. As the townsfolk explain to Mega Man how Dr. Wily stole their water, Guts Man sees that Mega Man freed them. He jumps down from one of the rooftops with a thud so powerful that it breaks up the earth. Mega Man and his allies are nearly knocked to the ground by the earth-shattering force of Guts Man's jump onto the desert ground. Guts Man stomps over to them, smashing his footprints into the ground. "What do ya think yer doin'!?" he roars out. Mega Man aims his cannon at Guts Man and yells out "Don't even think about it, Guts Man!" Guts Man sees that Roll is quickly giving the very thirsty townsfolk some water. "Now yer in fer it!" he yells out at Roll. He runs over to her, getting ready to strike her. He tries to smash his way past Mega Man. Mega Man

sees that Guts Man is about to attack his sister. "Oh no you don't, Guts Lug!" Mega Man yells out in anger. He bends backwards, grabs Guts Man by his sides, and suplexes him forward. Guts Man is smashed into the ground with astonishing force. The force breaks up the ground around Guts Man. Guts Man's lower body and legs are sticking out of the ground. Mega Man wipes the sand and dirt off of his hands. Roll finishes up giving the townsfolk water and loads them up into the Air Raider. Proto Man and Cut Man hear and feel the commotion and run over to where the noise was coming from. They are too late, Mega Man and the others have flown away in the Air Raider. Proto Man sees Guts Man's legs flailing around and laughs at the spectacle before him. "What are you doing there?" Proto Man asks Guts Man, still laughing, "Trying to do a handstand?" Guts Man growls in anger, his growls muffled by the earth he is buried in. He yells out "Don't just stand there and gawk, help me out!" Proto Man replies "Why can't you get yourself out? I though you were the strongest robot in the world..." Guts Man becomes very frustrated and roars out "Fine! I'll get myself out!" The ground splits into large cracks as Guts Man frees himself. He pops out of the ground and falls right on his butt. Proto Man is surprised. The force of Mega Man's suplex has split

Guts Man's helmet completely in half, its halves remaining in the ground. Guts Man senses that he doesn't have his helmet on. He feels the top of his head and feels his buzzcut blonde hair. "Aw! Dat blue dweeb owes me a new helmet!" Guts Man yells out. Cut Man yells out "Proto Man! Over here!" Proto Man runs over to where the cage is. Cut Man points to some puddles on the ground. "So..." Proto Man says "They've been watering them under our noses..." He looks up at Cut Man and tells him "They must be hauling some water around and giving it to our towns. We need to put an end to their charity work!"

Back at the Mobile Lab, Dr. Light and the other townsfolk have set up camp. Dr. Light tells Mega Man and Roll to deliver water tanks to the townsfolk to keep them clean and hydrated until Dr. Wily can be sorted out. In the meantime, Dr. Light will create a large robot that will reinstall the water pipes. He tells Mega Man to attack Dr. Wily's robots if he must. Mega Man says "I sure hope they don't have any dirty little tricks up their metal sleeves..."

At Skull Fortress, Dr. Wily's robots are training in the "gym" room. Proto Man is using some rather heavy barbells. He hears Guts Man grunting loudly. Proto Man looks over and sees that Guts Man is lifting up a barbell with two tanks at each end. Proto Man snickers and says "Don't burst a wire, Guts Man!" Guts Man looks over and says "Aww, shut up, Proto Pipsqueak!" Guts Man looses his balance and falls backwards with the barbell landing on his neck. Cut Man is lifting a barbell with the cutters on his head. The p.a. system comes

on and makes a loud screech. Cut Man covers his ears. The barbell falls down and takes his cutter along with it. Dr. Wily comes on and tells his robots to report to the main lab for their next mission. "Finally, some action!" Proto Man yells out with excitement. Guts Man manages to lift the barbell off of himself and runs off along with the other bad robots. All three of them enter the main lab. "What's up, Doc?" Proto Man says to Dr. Wily. Dr. Wily groans at Proto Man's jokey greeting and turns around. He tells his robotic minions that he has a way to put an end to Mega Man and his allies bringing water to the townsfolk in the conquered towns in the desert. "You three are going to play 'spies' for me." Dr. Wily tells them. He tells them that when they find the water tanks, they will destroy them. There is a metal box on the table in the middle of the main lab. Dr. Wily goes over to it and says "I made you gentlebots some friends to assist you on your spy mission..." Dr. Wily opens up the metal box. Inside the box, are some strange-looking Batontons. They are basically large, metallic white eyes with grey irises and black wings with purple webbing. "Interesting Batontons, Doc..." Proto Man says as he gets in closer to see them. He then says "Are these Bantontons any different from the garden variety bat bots?" "Very different!" Dr. Wily says to Proto Man. He takes one out of the box and shows Proto Man how it works. He tells him that it is a spying robot. He explains to him that when he puts his information into it via touching it, its iris will change color to match his eye color. He can now close one eye in order to see through the Batonton's eye and use it to spy on wherever the Batonton flies to. "Cool!" Proto Man exclaims. "Yes, Proto Man," Dr. Wily says, "Very, very cool." "We are going to spy on Mega Man with these!" Dr. Wily tells his evil robots. Dr. Wily then says to them "There will be many eyes watching him, there will be nowhere for him to hide!" Cut Man is excited to use them. He reaches out a hand to touch one of them. Dr. Wily closes the lid of the metal box right on Cut Man's fingers. "Ow!" Cut Man yells out in pain. He looks at his hand and sees that four of his fingers have been crushed. Dr. Wily tells his robots that when they arrive back at the town, that each one of them should touch an Eye Batonton and use it to track down Mega Man and his allies. He hands the chest to Proto Man, who takes it with open arms. "Oh, and one more thing.." Dr. Wily says to Proto Man. "...and what's that?" Proto Man asks him with a bit of sass. Dr. Wily looks him straight in the eyes and says sternly "Do not fail me!" Proto Man frowns and simply turns and walks away. Guts Man and Cut Man just stand there with some fear in their expressions. Dr. Wily points in Proto Man's direction and yells at them, "Follow him!" Guts Man and Cut Man salute him and run off after Proto Man.

At one of the desert towns, Mega Man and Rush are hauling a tankard of water off to the next row of houses. "I wonder how Roll's doing..." Mega Man says to Rush. Proto Man sneaks onto a rooftop and sees them. He then jumps off of the building and runs off. Rush sniffs the air and growls. "Are Wily's bots around here?" Mega Man asks Rush. Rush nods and continues growling. Mega Man chuckles and says "Wily's robots stink, don't they?" They continue on with distributing water to the town's houses. Proto Man goes back over to Guts Man and Cut Man. Guts Man is holding the metal box. He places it on the ground and opens it up. Proto Man claps his hands and says "Alright, each of you get a Spy Batonton!" All three of them grab a Spy Bantonton. "Now place your hand on them," Proto Man continues "like this..."  Proto Man places his hand on the Spy Batonton. The Spy Batonton copies his head plan and its iris turns red to match his eye color. Guts Man and Cut Man place their hands on their respective Spy Batontons. They too copy their head plans. Guts Man's Spy Batonton's iris turns sky blue, and Cut Man's Spy Batonton's iris turns completely black. Proto Man yells out "Now unleash them!" All three of them throw the Spy Baontons up in the air. The Spy Batontons fly off in search of Mega Man.

Elsewhere, Mega Man is delivering water to a two-story house. "Thank you so much, Mega Man!" the woman living there says. She then asks him about the pipes being reinstalled. Mega Man tells her about Dr. Light building a large robot that will replace the pipes. Proto Man's Spy Batonton flies over behind Mega Man and Rush. Through the Spy Batonton's eye, Proto Man sees and hears that Dr. Light is going to build a robot to replace the pipes. "Bingo!" he says to himself. Proto Man calls up Cut Man on his arm cannon and says "Got the scoop on Roll yet, Cut Man?" Cut Man is in the town's plaza, siting on a bench. Cut Man answers Proto Man's call and says "I've still got my eye on her, if you know what I mean." One of his eyes is closed. Proto Man next calls up Guts Man. "Yo, Guts Man!" Proto Man says "Are you seeing anything good?" Guts Man is walking through one of the town's districts. As with Cut Man, one of his eyes is closed. Through the Spy Batonton, he comes across a huge vehicle. Dr. Light walks out of the vehicle. The mayors of the conquered towns ask Dr. Light about the progress of the robot. Dr. Light tells them that he is almost done constructing it. Guts Man chuckles evilly and says to Proto Man "A little Spy Batonton told me dat Dr. Light's gonna have a large robot replace dose pipes we ripped out." Proto Man laughs evilly and says "Dr. Wily's gonna love that!" Proto Man is distracted by Guts Man's revealing information, and doesn't notice that Rush has alerted Mega Man to the Spy Batonton behind them. "Sizzling Circuits! A spying batonton!" Mega Man yells out, grabbing Proto Man's attention. Proto Man tries to get the Spy Batonton to fly away, but it is too late, Mega Man quickly destroys it.

Proto Man shakes his head. Guts Man calls up Proto Man and tells him that Dr. Light has spotted his Spy Batonton. Proto Man calls up Cut Man and tells him to be careful, as their adversaries have found out that they are being spied on.  Cut Man doesn't pay attention to him, he is using his Spy Batonton to watch some robot girls. "Cut Man! Cut Man?" Proto Man calls to him. Cut Man laughs in a perverted way as he is watching them. Proto Man, in anger, yells out "Cut Man!" Cut Man is startled by Proto Man's angry yelling and cries out "What? What? What is it?" Proto Man groans and tells him "Keep an eye out! Literally! The good guys know they're being watched!" Cut Man replies "Don't worry Proto Man, my eye is peeled! Ahe ahe ahe!"

Meanwhile, Mega Man and Rush are running around, looking for the remaining Spy Batontons. "We need to keep our eyes out for those eyes!" Mega Man tells Rush. Mega Man calls up Roll on his arm cannon and tells her that there are some Spy Batontons flying around gathering intelligence for Dr. Wily and his robots. Roll tells him that she is almost done with bringing water to the townsfolk. Just then, something catches her eye. She looks up and is frightened by the sight of a Spy Batonton flying right in front of her. She runs away from it, but her means of escape is blocked by the other Spy Batonton. She switches to her ice pick attatchment and aims it at the flying robotic eye. She yells out "Get any closer and I'll poke your eyes out!" She aims her ice pick at both of the Spy Batontons. She hears Guts Man roar out "There she is!" She looks over to see Guts Man, Cut Man, and Proto Man looking down at her from the roof of a large general store. Proto Man tells Roll "There's a no water rule around here!" Cut Man throws the cutters on his head at the water tanks. To Cut Man's shock, Roll deflects the cutter with her ice pick. The cutter ends up slicing through the posts holding the general store up. The building falls down. Proto Man and Cut Man manage to jump off of the building before it crumbles down, but Guts Man is unable to get off before the building collapse. Cut Man and Proto Man cannot see Roll due to the dust cloud that has formed from the building collapsing. Cut Man tells Proto Man "Let me use my Spy Batonton!"

Through the Spy Batonton, Cut Man cannot find Roll anywhere. "She must have used the dust cloud to make an escape!" Proto Man tells Cut Man. He then says to him "Let's get her!" Cut Man asks Proto Man "What about Guts Man?" Proto Man replies "Don't worry about him, Cut Man, he can get himself out!" They run after Roll with Cut Man's Spy Batonton following them. The dust cloud settles, revealing that Guts Man is buried under the wooden planks of the general store. Mega Man and Rush run over to where the general store now lays in a heap of broken wood and glass. Guts Man's Spy Batonton turns around and spots them. Guts Man bursts out of the wreckage and yells out "Those dorky bots are mine!" He has his Spy Batonton go off after them. He runs off after them.

In the next town over, Pump Man, Aqua Man, and the water-draining robots are walking over to the Skullker. The Skullker is at another town. Dr. Wily gets out of the Skullker, looks at the town, and says "Another town, another trophy..." He then commands Pump Man and Aqua Man "Pump Man! Aqua Man! Suck them dry of their precious water! Mwa ha ha ha ha!" Pump Man responds "With great pleasure, Dr. Wily!" Aqua Man signals the water-draining robots to follow him into the town. "We'll drain them dry! Bone dry!" Aqua Man gloats with malice. They all walk towards the town. Back at the desert town, Roll is running away from Proto Man and Cut Man, with Cut Man's Spy Batonton flying behind them. Cut Man says "Let me get a better view of her! Ahe ahe ahe!" He has the Spy Batonton fly up closer to her.

Meanwhile, Mega Man and Rush manage to locate Roll. They see that she is being pursued. "Let's get down there and rescue Roll!" Mega Man says to Rush. They are about to jump down from the roof that they are on, but they are stopped by Guts Man's Spy Batonton flying

up right in front of them. Mega Man and Rush are startled and jump back. They hear Guts Man behind them yell out "There you are, ya rotten robots!" Guts Man climbs up onto the roof. On his way up, Guts Man yells out "I'm going to squash ya and turn ya into a Mega

Pancake!" Guts Man gets up onto the roof and uses his Super Arm to rip out a huge chunk of the roof. Guts Man throws the chunk at Mega Man and Rush. They both casually step aside to avoid the chunk. The chunk ends up hitting Guts Man's Spy Batonton and destroys it.

Mega Man smirks and says "Looks like your little toy got broken!" Guts Man stomps his foot and growls in anger. Smoke comes out of his 'ears' and his face turns red. He charges at Mega Man and attempts to hit him with his arm. The roof of the building gives way. Guts Man falls through the roof and lands with a loud, shaking thud. Mega Man and Rush look down the large hole in the roof and see that Guts Man has landed into a large crate of watermelons. Mega Man yells down to Guts Man "Drop by again next fall, Gutsy!" Mega Man and Rush then jump off of the roof of the building. Guts Man falls out of the watermelon crate, and tries to get up. But, he slips on the watermelon juice on the floor and lands into a large crate of tomatoes. He kicks his feet and lets out an enraged roar. Meanwhile, Roll is trying to shake of Proto Man and Cut Man. Cut Man's Spy Batonton flies in front of her. This gives her an idea. Cut Man says to Roll "I see you're cornered! Ahe ahe ahe!" Roll suddenly grabs the Spy Batonton and throws it at Cut Man. The Spy Batonton smashes into Cut Man's chest, knocking him down. "Strike One!" Roll yells out. Proto man says to her "Pretty sneaky, sis!" He gets ready to aim at Roll, but Dr. Wily calls him up on his arm cannon. Proto Man groans and says "I never get to have any fun!" Mega Man and Rush find Roll and walk up to her. "Are you alright, Roll?" Mega Man asks her, a little bit out of breath. "Of course I am, Mega!" Roll tells him. She looks down at a knocked out Cut Man and says "Too bad the same can't be said about Cut Man!" Dr. Light comes up on Mega Man's arm cannon and tells him that the pipe-placing robot is ready and that he needs him to serve as its "bodyguard". He tells Roll that she should continue in giving the townsfolk in the occupied towns water. Roll is a little upset that she can't assist Mega Man in guarding the large pipe-laying robot. Mega Man tells her that her assignment is much more valuable then his. Roll thanks him for the complement. Mega Man, Rush, and Roll go their separate ways. Mega Man and Rush fly off to where Dr. Light's Mobile Lab is parked, Roll runs over to the Air Raider.

Unbeknowst to them, Cut Man was feigning being knocked out. He gets up and throws the destroyed Spy Batonton off of himself. He stands up and hears Guts Man throwing a fit. "Guts Man?" Cut Man cries out. He can hear Guts Man from a few hundred feet away. He runs over to the source of Guts Man's yelling. As he gets closer, he can make out Guts Man yelling out "That blue dweeb and his dumb dog are going to pay for my ruined armor! Raaaaah!" Cut Man finds him getting out of the crate of tomatoes. Cut Man yells to Guts Man "Guts Man! This is not the time for a snack!" Guts Man finally gets up on his feet and yells out "It's the blue dork's fault! He's the one who made me-" "Never mind the blue dweeb!" Cut Man interrupts. He then says "We got to stop his ditzy sister from giving our hostages water!" Guts Man yells out "Well what are we waiting for!? Let's get her water delivery business all wet!" Guts Man runs out of the building. Cut Man sighs and follows him. Back at the Mobile Lab, Mega Man and Rush arrive at the wheeled lab. Dr. Light shows them the large pipe-laying robot. "Awesome!" Mega Man says. Dr. Wily's robots see that the robot is a lot bigger than they thought. Proto Man calls up Dr. Wily on his arm cannon and tells him "We're going to need the others, Doc. The pipe layer looks like it's one tough hombre!" Dr. Wily tells him that Pump Man and Aqua Man are busy and that they will have to take care of the robot themselves. Proto Man protests and says "But Mega Man and his dumb robo dog are going to be its bodyguards while it reinstalls the pipes..." Dr. Wily groans and says "If you say so...." Proto Man smiles, pleased that this time Dr. Wily actually listened to him, and says "In the meantime, me and the robo boys will give the good guys a very hard time!" Proto Man snickers evilly and presses a button on his arm cannon to hang up the call. He then says to Guts Man and Cut Man "Let's get them while they're gearing up! They'll be at their weakest!" All three of them run down towards the good guys. Rush hears them and barks out to Mega Man. "What is it, Rush?" Mega Man asks him. Rush turns to where the evil robots are and growls at them. Roll and Mega Man look up and see Dr. Wily's robots charging towards them. Proto Man and Cut Man fire at them. Mega Man has Roll and Rush guide the pipe-laying robot while he defends them from attack. "We're putting an end to your humanitarian endeavor!" Proto Man yells out as he fires at Mega Man. Mega Man replies "I didn't

know you knew big words!" Proto Man responds "That's right, Little Brother! Big words and big blasts!" He then fires a fully charged shot at Mega Man. Mega Man loses most of his power and falls down onto the ground. Proto Man turns to Cut Man and says "Execute him!" Cut Man laughs evilly in his unique way and says "Of course, Proto Man! Ahe ahe ahe!" Cut Man takes off the cutters on his head and prepares to throw them at a downed Mega Man. Dr. Light quickly gets back in the Mobile Lab and Eddie comes out. Roll switches to her vacuum attatchment and gets ready for Cut Man to throw his cutters at them. Cut Man remembers then previous times she's done that and says "Oh no! I'm not falling for that again!" He stops himself from throwing the cutters on his head. Guts Man yells out "Let me at 'em!" Mega Man has Roll go ahead and protect the pipe-laying robot. Eddie gives Mega Man some energy cans quickly. Mega Man drinks them and has his energy restored. He gets back up. He yells out to Guts Man "Ready for round 2, Gutsy?" Mega Man puts his fists up and prepares to fight Guts Man. Guts Man tries to punch him, but Mega Man keeps dodging his punches. Proto Man yells out to Guts Man "Quit playing with him, Guts Man, and just put his lights out!" Proto Man looks at Cut Man and says "Looks like he needs some tag partners!" They run over and fire at Mega Man. Mega Man fires back at them. Dr. Light comes out of the Mobile Lab and has the pipe-laying robot get on top of it. Mega Man charges up his cannon and fires a fully charged shot at Dr. Wily's robots. All three of the evil robots are knocked into a cactus patch. The Mobile Lab drives away with the pipe-laying robot on top of it.

Proto Man crawls out of the cactus patch. He picks off the spines that are stuck in his yellow scarf. He calls up Dr. Wily on his arm cannon and tells him that Dr. Light and the pipe-laying robot are heading towards one of the conquered desert towns. Dr. Wily yells out "What!?"

The calls hangs up much to Proto Man's surprise. As Guts Man and Cut Man are picking spines out of their armor, the Skullker lands in front of them. Cut Man finds that a large cactus spine has found its way in one of his ears. He pulls it out and flicks it to the ground. He sees the Skullker and says "Wily got here quick!" Guts Man spits out needles that were in his mouth. Dr. Wily yells out "Get in here now!" The evil robots quickly board the Skullker. The Skullker flies off in pursuit of the Mobile Lab.

At the town, the Mobile Lab parks in the town's plaza. The pipe-laying robot gets off of the Mobile Lab. Dr. Light and his robots get out of the lab on wheels. Pump Man, Aqua Man, and Dr. Wily's water pipe robots approach the plaza. "It's an ambush!" Mega Man cries out. Aqua Man tells them "We're going to dampen your pathetic attempt at saving our towns!" Pump Man sees the giant pipe-laying robot and says "Nice robot, Doc! It would be such a shame if something were to happen to it...like this!" He uses his weapon on the large pipe-laying robot. "Mega Man!" Dr. Light cries out "Defend the robot!" Mega Man nods at Dr. Light and fires at Pipe Man. Pipe Man and Aqua Man combine their weapons and fire a strong burst of high pressure water at Mega Man and Rush. The blast knocks Mega Man's helmet off. Mega Man is pushed against the Mobile Lab. He appears to have been knocked out, but he gets up, grabs his helmet, pours the water out of it, and places it back on his head. "Alright you washed-up robots!" He yells out, still dripping, "I'm ending this water fight!" He fires at Pump Man. Aqua Man order the water-draining robots to attack Mega Man. The water-draining robots charge at Mega Man. Mega Man fires a plasma shot into one of their tubes, causing it to explode. "This is a blast!" Mega Man comments. The other water-draining robots swing their tube-like arms at him. Mega Man grabs one of the robots by its arm and swings it into the other robot. Another one swings at Mega Man, who jumps above its arms and delivers a martial arts kick to its head. The robot comes crashing down. Pump Man sees that the water-draining robots are being destroyed one by one. He yells out "Let's give them a hand!" and runs out into the plaza. Aqua Man just stands there, a little bit confused. Pump Man runs up to Aqua Man and says "Come on, Aqua Brain!" The two water robot masters run out into the plaza. They fire their weapons at Mega Man. Mega Man grabs one of the water-draining robots, lifts it above his head, and throws it at Aqua Man. The water tank on top of Aqua Man's head breaks open as he falls down to the ground. He lays there, short-circuiting. Mega Man walks up to him and says "Ha ha ha! Looks like you've tanked, Aqua Man!" He bends down and copies his weapon, but before he can finish copying his weapon, he is hit by Pump Man's weapon. He is slightly damaged, but is still okay. He shouts out "I was in the middle of something, Pump Head!" Pump Man replies "Well sorry to interrupt your little copycat trick, Mega Man, but you're through this time!" He is about to fire his weapon at Mega Man again, but Mega Man says "I'm afraid you're the one who's through, Pump Man!" and fires a fully-charged shot right into the pipe in his chest. "Oh no!" Pump Man cries out before he explodes. He then explodes into parts. Mega Man goes over to one of his arms and says "And now to do my copycat trick!" He copies Pump Man's weapon and then goes over to Aqua Man and copies his weapon as well. He then goes over to stop the other evil robots, but sees that Rush is the only one in the plaza. He looks around and asks Rush "Where did everyone go, Rush?" Rush whimpers and points with one of his paws over to one of the streets. Mega Man sees that the Mobile Lab has left a trail. Mega Man tells Rush "We gotta chase Wily down and stop his pursuit of the Mobile Lab! That large robot is vital to saving the towns!" Rush barks and turns into his Jet Mode. Mega Man gets on them and they both fly off in the direction that the Mobile Lab went.

Meanwhile, the Skullker is pursuing the Mobile Lab. Inside the Mobile Lab, Dr. Light tells Roll that he doesn't know if the Mobile Lab has enough fuel to keep going. Roll says to him "Well, me and Eddie will stop the Skullker, right Eddie?" Eddie shakes his head vigorously, clearly not wanting to risk his life. Mega Man and Rush finally catch up to the Skullker. Mega Man says out loud "I'm sabotaging this hunt, Wily!" and fires at the Skullker. Inside the Skullker, an alarm sounds. The Skullker is suffering some significant damage. Dr. Wily turns to Proto Man and says "Proto Man, go out the back door and fire away!" Proto Man smiles widely and opens up the back door. "Hello there, Little Brother!" Proto Man sarcastically says to Mega Man. "Hello yourself!" Mega Man replies. He fires some shots at Proto Man. Proto Man gets hit by one of the shots and falls back into the Skullker. He bumps into Cut Man as he falls backwards, knocking him to the ground. "Proto Man, you klutz bot!" Cut Man yells at Proto Man. Proto Man gets up and says, "Hey, it's not my fault Mega Man has such great accuracy! Maybe next time, don't get in the way!" Cut Man tries to snap back at him "And you, you, you..." Dr. Wily yells at them "Quit fighting, you two, and do your jobs for once in your miserable mechanical lives!"

Just then, Mega Man manages to get into the Skullker. "Your town rustlin' days are over, Dr. Wily!" Mega Man yells at the mad robot scientist. Dr. Wily prepares to press a button on the cockpit's control panel. Mega Man aims his cannon at Dr. Wily and says "Don't you dare!" Dr. Wily laughs evilly and says "I will dare!" He presses the button. The Skullker charges up its laser cannon. Mega Man sees that it is going to fire at the large pipe-laying robot. "Just try to stop it!" Dr. Wily says to Mega Man. Mega Man runs over to the cockpit, but Guts Man grabs him and holds him tightly in his arms and laughs. "I need a hug! Ha ha ha ha!" Guts Man says to Mega Man as he writhes in his arms. He then says "And don't even think about giving me a 'hot foot'!" Mega Man bends his head down and jerks it back up, smashing his helmet into Guts Man's large mandible. Guts Man's mandible flies off of his face. Guts Man drops Mega Man, who then runs over to the cockpit. Dr. Wily shouts out "Stop him! He's going to power it down!" Cut Man throws the cutters on his head at Mega Man. Mega Man grabs the cutters and throws them back at Cut Man. Cut Man is cut in half horizontally. Cut Man tries to fire his weapon at Mega Man, but Mega Man shoots him and knocks him out.

Meanwhile, Dr. Light sees on one of the screens in his Mobile lab that the Skullker is going to fire its laser cannon at them. "Evasive maneuver, Roll!" Dr. Light yells out to Roll, who is at the lab's dashboard. "Right!" Roll says. She steers the Mobile Lab. The Mobile Lab turns right and makes a u-turn. The Skullker's laser cannon fires, but the Mobile Lab has avoided the blast. The blast instead hits the desert ground, kicking up a large cloud of sand and dust. Dr. Wily yells out in anger. He yells out to his remaining robots "Throw that blue piece of junk out of here!" Before Mega Man can react, Guts Man, who now has no lower jaw, grabs him. Before he throws him out, he tries to say something to Mega Man, but because he has no jaw, he basically mumbles. "You too, Mumble Mouth!" Mega Man yells to him. Guts Man hurls him out of the Skullker. Mega Man lands onto a large rock. One of his legs is broken from the fall. "That's gonna leave a mark!" Mega Man says to himself. He lets out a whistle. Rush comes flying over to him and sees that one of his legs has been damaged. Rush whimpers and says "Mega...." Mega Man tells him "Don't worry, Rush, I can still fight!" He crawls up on Rush, and they fly off in pursuit of the Skullker. The Skullker spots them and almost rams right into them. Mega Man sees that the Skullker is preparing to fire at the Mobile Lab again. "Not this time, Wily!" he shouts out. He fires Pump Man's weapon at the Skullker. One of the water-filled bubbles covers up the laser cannon. It backfires and ends up badly damaging the Skullker. Dr. Wily tries to fly it, but it is too damaged to do so. Dr. Wily can only watch as the good guys speed away with the pipe-laying robot. Guts Man mumbles something. "I have no idea!" Dr. Wily screams out. Proto Man says to Dr. Wily "We need to get you out of here before it falls-" The Skullker begins to fall apart all around them. Dr. Wily quickly gets into his Wily Capsule. Guts Man picks up his lower jaw and Cut Man's two halves. Proto Man and Guts Man hang onto the Wily Capsule as it launches out of the Skullker. The Skullker falls to pieces. The pieces scatter all over the ground. As the Wily Capsule flies off, Dr. Wily laments "My towns, I've lost my towns! My towns have been-" Proto Man cuts him off and says "Yeah, we get it, Wily! You've lost your precious desert towns!" The Wily Capsule flies off into the desert sky.

Back at one of the reclaimed desert towns, Mega Man is using Aqua Man's weapon to fill up a water tank. The large pipe-laying robot is reinstalling the water pipes. Roll comes over to Mega Man and tells him that another thing needs to be filled up. Mega Man follows her. She points to a kiddie pool. "Are you serious!?" Mega Man asks her. Roll tells him "But they really need the water!" The children in the kiddie pool plead to Mega Man. Mega Man rolls his eyes and says "Alright!" He walks over to the pool and refills it. The children thank him and begin splashing in the pool. Rush sees the pool, and runs over and jumps in it. Mega Man tells the children "Just make sure you share it with others!" and laughs. The episode ends with Rush splashing in the pool and playing with the children.

[iwillgiveyoumyhappiness]

김용희, Kim Yonghee

anonymous asked:

hi!! do you do cix requests? if you do, can you do some yonghee fluff :( where he’s Shy Boy and the other members totally know the reader has a crush on yonghee but he has no clue tq

Group: CIX (Complete in X)

Member: Yonghee

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You rushed backstage, various voices exchanging commands in your ear.

“Is anyone bringing mic five to stage right?” one of the voice asked. “Time-crunch is six minutes, then we’re live.”

You tapped your ear-piece twice with deadly efficiency, balancing the plethora of things in your arms. Mics, wires, props—you had it all. “I’m taking care of it, Jae-hee,” you answered the frantic, middle-aged man with too much on his shoulders. “I’m also bringing the black roses for the VAV Poison Special Stage.”

You had a knack for being calm in these high-tension situations, and you prided yourself in that. Still, despite that special skill of yours, nothing seemed to be going right tonight. 

There had been broadcasting issues, audio cut-outs, faulty lighting—the works. Just when you thought you’d started getting things under control, one of the stages was pushed up a few minutes, so you had to rush to get everything prepared. 

You’d lost count of how many times your feet had gotten stepped on by other busy staff members and stage-hands. You heaved an internal sigh, mentally preparing yourself for the wave of articles that would be rolling in sooner or later about the company’s ‘negligence’ and ‘lack of consideration for the artists’.

It wasn’t that at all.

Sometimes things just didn’t go right, and you felt that pressure just as much as anyone else. After having this job for a few years—a stage-hand and audio director at KBS—you’d made plenty of friends in the industry.

And even if you hadn’t, you still had massive respect for all those artists daring enough to brave the stage. You didn’t think you had it in yourself, and you always felt a sense of astonishment seeing those that looked so confident on stage. 

They looked like they were in their element.

But then again, wandering back and forth between side-stages, back-stages, changing, waiting and control rooms, you also saw what went on off the stage.

You saw the tears they shed from one tiny little mistakes, you saw the comfort they would seek from the people around them, you overheard the promises they made to themselves and the people they cared about. 

You saw the stress, the break-downs, the pressure, the excitement and happiness, the most intense and fiery passion, the joy—you saw the greatest behind-the-scenes in the world, because you saw the behind-the-scenes of the people, not the job.

The lifestyle of an artist—one that everyone thought was glamorous and beautiful—was no different from anyone else’s life. 

It had its ups and downs. Its good, bad and ugly.

“Four minutes,” Jae-hee said through your earpiece. You could hear an occasional clat-clat, so you knew he was chewing his thumb-nail again. You’d nagged him about that a couple of times because you knew his wife hated it.

You shouldered past one of your co-workers, giving them a quick smile of acknowledgment. “I’m almost there,” you said. “Don’t worry about it.” You quickened your pace, trying your best to make it down the seemingly endless hallway in due time. 

One of the black roses tucked under your arm decided to take a nose-dive to the floor. 

You clicked your tongue, slowing to a stop and kneeling down to scoop it up. You considered for a quick moment just carrying it in your mouth, but then you realized other people would be touching it later on, so hygiene overrode convenience.

Sniff, sniff

You froze, mid-reach. You knew that sound quite well; that tell-tale hitched breath. Your eyes shifted to the side, peering down the side-corridor, littered with vending machines and crappy lighting. 

“You almost there?” Jae-hee’s voice interrupted your scanning.

You double-tapped your earpiece, a habit you had when its sounds tickled your ears. “I’m almost there,” you said. It technically wasn’t a lie, but you may be a little delayed. 

You checked your watched, clicking your tongue once again. “May God give me the gift of punctuality,” you muttered to yourself, giving a quick look up to the ceiling, as if trying to make eye contact with the Big Man himself. 

You looked back down the corridor. 

Sure enough, leaning against the wall—slightly masked by a Sprite vending machine—was a young man, all puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. It hurt your chest to see such a sight. 

Crying alone was such a sad thing.

You studied the man briefly; his stature, the way he held himself, the forward bend of his shoulders. All-in-all, he was either naturally shy or very, very sad. 

Maybe both.

You let out a knowing hum seeing the mole under his eye. It was unmistakably Kim Yonghee.

You’d been familiar with CIX since their debut four months ago. You’d be in charge of the stage and camera directing for their first stage at KBS, and it’d given you the opportunity to meet with all the members to work out details. 

You’d even befriended the youngest, Hyunsuk.

Yonghee hadn’t made the strongest impression, if you were being completely honest. He stood stiffly and quietly, he was polite, he didn’t say much. He was awkward in more than a few ways, but you didn’t hold that against him. 

You were awkward in front of strangers, too. 

Seeing him like this, though? Tears streaming down his cheeks and any ghost of a smile disappeared from his face? It made you grip the front of your shirt, right over your heart.

You gently set down the black roses and tried to block out the sounds of Jae-hee’s nail-biting. With a deep breath, you put a smile on your face, gentle and ingenuous. 

You walked up to him with quiet steps, standing a reasonable distance away. He didn’t seem to notice you. You reached into your pocket, pulling out a bill. “What’s your favorite soda?” you asked. 

Yonghee jumped from the sudden question, letting out a quick yelp. His hands got busy with wiping his eyes and fixing his hair, trying to look presentable. It was as if he was trying to pretend that he wasn’t just sobbing in the dark. 

“Pardon?” he stuttered out.

You chuckled a little. “Soda,” you repeated. “Do you like it?”

He stared at you, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “I don’t really understand...” his words trailed off.

You nodded. “Water, then,” you said. You strode over to one of the vending machines, clicking a random number—it didn’t matter which one; they were all Dasani water bottles. 

You handed it to him. “Here,” you said, still smiling. “Stay hydrated.”

He took it from you with the most endearing hesitation. “Why?” he asked with a quiet voice. He frowned, not meeting your eyes. “Do you pity me?” 

You shook your head. “Of course not,” you said. He met your eyes, as if searching for an answer within them. Your smile grew wider. “I like your mole,” you said simply, pointing to the corner of your own eye for example. 

You shrugged. “That’s all.”

He looked dumbfounded. “You bought me water... Because you like my mole?” 

“Yeah,” you said. You heard Jae-hee’s nail-biting intensify, so you knew it was time to go. “Hey, I’ve gotta run,” you said, glancing at your watch, “but make sure you drink that.” You gave him a knowing look. “You’ve gotta replace that water somehow.” 

He looked embarrassed. “You saw?” he asked sheepishly.

“I heard, mostly,” you said. “It’s dark down here.” You chuckled. “A little creepy, honestly. Why do all buildings have a hallway like this, I wonder?” Without another word, you walked back into the light, scooping up the prop roses and the mic. 

Before you were too far down the hall, you called back to him, “By the way, I was listening in on the stage!” you called. He gave you a look, reminiscent of a curious pup, his ear perking up and eyebrows raising an inch or two. “Your voice-crack was nothing,” you said, giving him a thumbs up. “And the crowd loved you!”

And that was how you had officially met Kim Yonghee, a very sweet, shy young man that you had no idea you’d fall head over heels for, especially not at that time when you thought you were just cheering up a stranger.

Every time you saw him, it was because you were hanging out with Hyunsuk. You hit it off quickly, already having a secret handshake by your fourth hangout. 

By the fourth meeting with Yonghee, you were both still politely bowing to each other and sharing small, timid smiles. You were always the one to spark a conversation, though every once in a while, he would make the effort to compliment your outfit. He stayed away from compliments about your physique; for what reason, you were unaware.

Hyunsuk always called you before every trip to the KBS building, just to check if you were there that day. He was never not eager to see you and tell you about all of their crazy schedules and fun fan events.

Yonghee had never even asked for your number outright, even though the other guys had. He tried asking Hyunsuk for it, but of course, the youngest was the boisterous and chatty type, so that ‘secret conversation’ reached your ears in no time.

You were part of Hyunsuk’s life, Hyunsuk was part of your life, and Yonghee was part of Hyunsuk’s life. Therefore, you were part of each other’s lives.

CIX was part of both of their lives, so in no time, the six of you were involved with each other, melding into each others’ lives.

Yet he still didn’t seem to be able to get through his cute, thick skull that you had the most massive of crushes on him, even if everyone else knew at a glance.

Still, you gave yourself the freedom to imagine different scenarios between the two of you, smile because of him, and slowly learn more about him, because you respected yourself enough to not be ashamed of your feelings. 

A crush was defined as having a brief but intense infatuation for someone, and you were okay with that.

In your eyes, feelings didn’t have to be complicated. If it bloomed into something more, you were okay with that, but if it didn’t? You were fine with cooing over his smile in secret. ...And—perhaps—taking a few glances at his butt whenever he was turned away from you.

You weren’t trying to hide it from him, and it wasn’t your fault that he didn’t catch on. Though, you had to admit, you were getting tired of the other guys trying to drop ‘subtle’ hints toward you affections.

In case you couldn’t guess, they weren’t very subtle at all.

Byounggon was famous for his over-the-top winks whenever he would say something suggestive about you like, “Doesn’t she look nice today, Yonghee?” Cue the wink! He was like an embarrassing parent in that way.

Seunghun always had the perfect balance of throwing off your balance. To put it in other terms: he was well-versed in the arts of pushing you two into each other’s personal bubbles. You weren’t too fond of that, because it always hurt your pride a little to feel Yonghee inch away when you’d been pushed to lean on his shoulder.

Jinyoung was pretty innocent in his level of nosiness. He stuck to giving shy, blushed smiles like he was watching a romantic scene between two lovers, when really all you two did was say ‘hi’ to each other. He was the one you couldn’t get mad at, just because he was too cute while doing this.

Hyunsuk was by far the most problematic, just for the fact that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut about anything. He cared about you though, so he tried his best to hold his tongue. You kept telling him that you didn’t care if Yonghee found out or not because a crush is just that: a crush. Nothing to be ashamed about.

Despite how many times you’d told him that, he still insisted, “Don’t worry! I’ve got your back! I won’t blab to him,” he’d promise. You knew that eventually that wouldn’t be the case, but you still appreciated his efforts. Especially since it was hilarious to watch him struggle to make good on his promises.

He constantly let things slip, like his iconic: “She probably watches Yonghee fancams while she’s home alone”, while munching down on a piece of fried chicken.

Yonghee had looked up at him, confused eyebrows and surprised eyes. “Why would she do that?” he had asked, his gaze gingerly shifting to you. 

You shrugged. “Why not?” you posed the question, pouring some duck sauce over some fried rice. “You’re talented, and it’s cool to watch how you work on-stage.”

His cheeks got warmed as he shifted awkwardly. “Why, though?” He asked softly, yet there was a level of genuine curiosity behind it, like he wondered how anyone could be interested in him. 

Hyunsuk had rolled his eyes. “Duh,” he huffed exasperatedly, tossing down his chopsticks. “She likes y—!” 

Byounggon and Seunghun dived for the youngest at the same time, one of them successfully covering his mouth and the other one tackling him to the ground. Though, in the mess of limbs, you couldn’t really tell who was who.

“This one’s being dumb again,” Seunghun laughed (unconvincingly, in your opinion). “Don’t listen to him, ‘kay?” 

Yonghee shrugged meekly. “I don’t usually,” he said, making Hyunsuk let out a muffled ‘hey!’

All you could do was watch over the situation with a smile playing on your lips and laughter blooming in your chest. “You’re all dumb, okay?” you said. “I think we can all agree on that.”

“What about you?” Jinyoung asked, smiling a little. 

You thought for a moment. “I’m just a little smarter.” 

That whole scenario ended in a short-lived food fight between the six of you. Not only that, but one of your fondest memories, despite the sticky rice that refused to remove itself from your hair no matter how aggressively you finger-brushed it.

The guys didn’t have it much better, though; their shirts smudged with all kinds of sauces and gloop. They looked a lot like contemporary art pieces, if you were being honest.  

You didn’t care, though. It was still a fun time that you would always remember, not only because it made you hack up a lung in laughter, but also because they all looked so happy and free.

Especially Yonghee.

It was the first time you had seen him look so unburdened and happy, his smile reaching his eyes and his hands too busy scooping up noodles to chuck as ammunition for him to bother with getting embarrassed. 

It was also probably the first time he had truly made your heart beat up into your throat, choking back your breath. 

It was a few weeks after that day that you found yourself sitting in a restaurant with the five surprisingly loud boys that you’d gotten close to in celebration of their first win with Numb. 

“It’s a good song, you guys,” you said, raising a glass. “You deserve it.”

Everyone raised their glasses (most of them filled with iced water and tea), clinking them against your. “Heck yeah, we do!” Hyunsuk hollered, tossing back his drink with a wide grin on his face.

You’d never known someone that could get drunk on water, but you supposed if there was someone out there, it’d be Hyunsuk. 

Byounggon looked over at Yonghee. “This kinda feels like a date, doesn’t it?” he said. Cue the wink, once again. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes.

Yonghee quirked a brow, looking up from his plate. “Between six people...?” he said. “No, not really. This doesn’t feel like a date at all.” 

You nodded to yourself, acknowledging the fact that this was just a hangout between friends. Now, the biggest hurdle: convincing yourself that you were fine with that.

Seunghun nudged Yonghee with his shoulder, a smirk on his lips. “Are you sure?” he asked. His voice lowered to a poor whisper. “I’m not gonna pretend like a haven’t seen you checking her out every once in a while.”

Yonghee choked on his soup, spitting it all over the table. “What?” he got out. He jumped a bit, hitting his knee on the table. The pain didn’t seem to register. “What are you talking about?” he coughed out, a hot blush on his cheeks.

Your ears perked up. You didn’t take it seriously at first, but Yonghee’s ears only got that red when he was being too honest or he was lying. You’d be lying yourself if you said that you didn’t hope it was because of they lying.

Yonghee looked at you, something swimming in his eyes—seemingly guilt. “I swear I didn’t,” he said, his ears getting redder. “He’s just kidding.”

You opened your mouth to say something, but someone else beat you to it. 

“Oh my God!” Jinyoung groaned. “I’m stepping in!” He pointed to the two of you in turn. “You guys both like each other, okay?” he said, obviously completely done with the situation if it was enough to annoy him into speaking up about it. “The thing is, you’re both too humble to think yourselves ‘worthy of each other’—whatever that means—so you’re refusing to acknowledge your feelings for one another, even though they’re totally friggin’ obvious!”

He took a deep breath, recovering from his nagging free-style rap. “So just go on a date or kiss or something already!” he finished, panting.

You blinked at him, watching as his cheeks started dusting over with heat as he realized what he’d just shouted in the middle of a restaurant. You definitely hadn’t expected Jinyoung to be the one to spill the proverbial beans, but you pleasantly surprised at his sudden outburst. 

The realization of his actions dawned on him. “Sorry,” he stuttered out, bowing to anyone in the restaurant that might’ve been staring at him, including you.

You shook your head, shaking your head. “I don’t care, dude,” you said. You held out a celebratory fist. “That was friggin’ awesome.” 

He shyly bumped it with his own. “Thanks...” he said, sitting back down with a shy, downcast expression. With a slight nod of the head, he gestured to Yonghee. “Pay attention to him,” he mouthed. 

Your eyes snapped to Yonghee a little faster than you’d wanted. His eyes and mouth were hanging wide open, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. It almost made you a little uncomfortable how he was just staring out into open space. 

Hyunsuk tapped his shoulder hesitantly. “Are you... okay?” the youngest asked. 

That seemed to snap him out of his stupor. “You have a crush on me?” he asked suddenly, shaking his head and pinching his arm, as if trying to see if this was a dream. 

A smile crept its way onto your lips, uncontrollable in nature.

You two had a lot to talk about.

.

.

.

He’s so cute... Can someone gift CIX with more recognition and Yonghee with more self-confidence? If no one else’ll do it, I shall take it upon myself.

Thank you so much for reading and requesting! I enjoyed writing this so much. ^-^ I hope everyone’s holidays were pleasant, and I hope you’re staying warm! Spend the rest of your 2019 happily and with the people that make you feel your best, ‘cause there’s not much of the year left. I’m gonna stop here, because otherwise, this is gonna become a TED Talk, and none of y’all need that from me. 😂 Thanks again, Anon and anyone else reading!

[ayyoitsalex]

Chapter 10 - My Time To Shine

From the time I was seventeen I've been responsible for the meals prepared at the biggest holiday of them all; Thanksgiving. It's taken over as my personal favorite because I get to spend the day doing what I love, and what I do best. When it comes to me cooking for thanksgiving, my family has learned a few things. I know what I'm doing, don't distract me, and don't change my music. We got the week off from school, so I stayed up at my parent's house to get prepped for the upcoming event. Everyone was curious as to what kind of stops I was pulling out this year, but as always I wasn't saying. I'd come up with some new ideas I wanted to try out, and this was as good a time as any. When my siblings moved out I had my choice of which room I wanted to call my own. I picked Selena's room since it came with the best sunset views, and got the best night time breezes. When I got to be around sixteen I made the decision to paint the walls from the dark purple to a red. I hoped Selena wouldn't be too upset at what I'd done to her room. When I moved out, our parents kept the room relatively the same, but now there's not a bunch of clothes on the floor like I'm used to seeing it. I woke up early Tuesday with the task of doing the shopping on my mind. I called up my siblings to see which one of them could accompany me. Only Natalie was available, so I waited for her to come and pick me up.  Natalie unlocked the door and let herself in with baby Lexi in her arms. Before I could get up for a hug, she forced Lexi into my arms. "GOTTA PEE!" She screamed running to the bathroom. Lexi smiled at me as I held her close. "Your mommys so crazy Lexi. Did you know that?" "Yeah." She said laughing. Lexi can answer yes or no questions, but to whether or not she knows what it means remains to be seen. Natalie emerged from the bathroom looking relieved as ever. "Okay we ready?" She asked. "Yeah." Lexi said again putting her hands up. "Aha I guess that's a yes, let's get going!" I put Lexi in her carseat behind me. Natalie plugged in her phone and turned on the car. As the engine started the radio turned on. What came on wasn't music, but was some very intense whispering that sounded like it could be right in your ears. I gave Natalie a confused look before she practically slammed her hand into the off button. She fumbled around with her phone to put on actual music. "Um..what the fuck was that?" Natalie's face was turnning red. "Just some..patreon audio.." "What who's voice is that even?" "Dude it's so crazy it's this chick that does anime voices, but y'know makes them say bad things.." "Oh my god Natalie you're a freak haha." I palmed my face laughing hysterically. "Shut up! We all have our little things. This one just happens to be mine." "So..it's like audio porn?" "NO ABSOLUTELY NOT." She smacked the back of my head. "You little shit head.." "Ow!" "I am still your big sister y'know! Need to show me my respect!" We continued our drive to the store. When we got there  Natalie just followed behind as I pulled items into the basket. I was on a mission to get everything i needed. I didn't look back a few times, and at times lost Natalie through the crowd. "Elizabeth! Slow down a little!" When we finished checking out we went back home to put them all into the fridge. "Jesus how big is this turkey?" "Fifteen pounds." I answered looking through the vegetables, and looking through my checklist. "Can I just say I'm so glad you're good at cooking?" She hugged me. "Aha you could stand to mention it more often." The front door unlocked by Selena with her kids and Sam. "Helllo?" Selena called out for anyone home. "We're in here!" I answered. The kids rushed into the living room diving onto the couches. "Excuse me boys!" I stood there hands on my hips. Cole and AJ looked at one another before making their way towards me. I leaned down. "Hi aunt Liz." They said together hugging me, and kissing my cheeks on each side. "Love you guys." I smiled mussing up their hair as they walked back. "Well hey sister, excited for thanksgiving?" I turned to Selena. "Always! Gotta break out my fancy maternity pants so I won't lose a button." "Oh my god haha." I started taking out bowls to do as much prep work as I could before hand to make my life easier. That meant dicing up my mire poix, dry brining my turkey, making my compound butter, and cutting up bread for stuffing. My sisters both gathered around like I was doing magic, when I was just peeling vegetables. They continued looking on amazed as I chopped vegetables so easily and at times without looking. It might be stupid but it really does make me feel special. It's not that my sisters are bad cooks, I think it's just the fact that I'm going to school for cooking they think I have some more efficient way of doing simple things. Which I totally do.   "Lizzy are you sure you don't need any help?" Selena looked at me worried. I put down my knife and shook the aches out of my hand. "Yeah yeah I got it. You know me, I like doing it all." "Mm well if you say so. We can help too.." "I know I know, and I will need some help in the next couple days and maybe using you guys' ovens." "Jesus Liz what's all being made?" "Top secret!" Both Selena and Natalie rolled their eyes while I rubbed my hands together smiling devilishly. "Though if you really are set on helping these are some recipes you guys can do, and I made them as easy as possible." "Are you calling us stupid?! I HAVE A MASTERS DEGREE ELIZABETH!" Selena said faking getting mad. I rolled my eyes and went back to my cutting board. -Thursday- It's the big day and everything needs to go as planned or else I might kill somebody. I'm usually more go with the flow and easy going, but when it comes to cooking there is only one way to do things and it's my way. I was up around 5 am to start slow cooking some of the bigger proteins like the turkey and beef wellington I prepped the night before. Before putting the turkey into the oven I massaged the smoked garlic compoud butter underneath the skin. It's not the nicet feeling thing to do, but it makes a whole hell of a lot of difference down the line. I was still a bit sleepy, so I turned on the tv to wake me up a little. I flipped through the literal hundred of channels trying to find anything, but nothing was on. I turned on my newest favorite podcast and listened to "dead meat with James and Chelsea". I'm the only one of my family who is a huge horror movie buff. The only person I can get to go with me is Nathan, but he's not a addict like I am. Mom came down about an hour and a half after I did. "The only day I can expect you up this early." Mom laughed. "Well what can I say I love you all that much." I flashed a big smile to her. "Mm well happy thanksgiving my little head chef." She kissed the top of my head before going to get a cup of coffee. Nathan dropped by first around eight, and like the caring brother he is, he brought me breakfast. "Special delivery." He smirked handing me a bag of donuts. "Thanks brother!" I stuffed one in my mouth while giving him a hug. "Dinners gonna be ready about 4!" "Alright I'll have the girls all dressed and ready to see what you've come up with this year." "ITS FINNA BE LIT!" I smiled jumping up and down. "Right right..lit." Nathan not the one for today's slang terms. "Soph is making pies by the way!" Nathan said walking out the door. "Oh sweet! I knew I could trust one of you." -11 am- I was starting to get a little tired, but it wasn't anything I wasn't used to. I opened the fridge for the perfect remedy of an energy drink. I'd changed from my morning pajamas to a pair of jeans and my chef's coat to really feel the part. "Just like your father." Aunt Camryn said from behind me. I practically spit all over the fridge. "JESUS CHRIST." I put my hand over my chest. "I didn't hear anyone come in! My hearts like racing now." "Mm well thats from your lil energy nonsense. Drink coffee like an adult." "HUMPH. No coffees gross." "Peasant." Aunt Camryn muttered sipping her coffee. I turned my attention to the stove where I had potatoes, pasta, and stuffing working. Aunt Camryn peeked over my shoulder to see what I was working with, but I shielded her off. "No peeking!"  I practically shrieked as aunt Camryn took a step back. "Good lord Elizabeth you're not re-inventing the wheel here." "This is the one time I get to show out and I want to surprise. So please shoo." I even gave her a little hand wave motion.  Aunt Camryn looked like she was about to smack the life out of me. Mom walked in probably saving my face. "Nicole! She just told me to shoo!" She couldn't believe my audacity. "Haha c'mon Camryn leave Elizabeth to do her thing. You good here sweetie?" "Yeah I got it mom." She winked at me before guiding aunt Camryn into the other room. Selena walked in carrying trays of appetizers to appease guests while I finished cooking. "Well how's it coming along baby chef?" Selena smiled giving me a hug. "Everythings on schedule for 4 pm dinner." "Awesome, well I brought something special for you sincey you're being so great." She rummaged through the bags and pulled out a bowl of macaroni and cheese. It's my ultimate comfort food, and Selena would always make it for me when she would babysit. "YESS!" I ripped off the saran wrap and dug right in. I forgot I even had a hunger need until the first bite hit. "See not the only one who can cook. I also made more for dinner later for an extra side." "See you're helping!" I said like I was talking to one of her boys.   "Funny." Selena looked at me arms crossed. I got up and gave her another hug and kiss as a thank you. Although I didn't wipe my mouth enough so Selena had bits of cheese on her. "*sigh I expect things like this from my kids, not my adult sister." She pulled out wipes for her face.   "Oh! I have stuffing in that tray that needs to be finished off, can you do it in your oven please?" "Yeah sure, anything else?" I took a minute to run through the list in my head. "There's a tray of biscuits that need to be baked there. They're all portioned out, just put them in at 375, and brush the butter on top when they're done." "YES CHEF!" Selena saluted to me smiling. "Damn right yes chef!" "Okay we'll be back around 3." I pulled the turkey and beef at the same time to let them rest. The smell was absolutely intoxicating, roasted garlic, lemon, parsley, and bacon. It all was coming out the way in envisioned it. Mom helped me get all the serving plates while dad and uncle Logan set the table. Aunt Camryn "supervised" along with her glass of wine. My siblings all began to arrive with their families, so I stood at the door awaiting my tolls from the kids. "Happy thanksgiving auntie Liz here this is for you!" Daisy smiled happy as always. She hugged me tight and handed me a card she made of her handprint drawn into a turkey. "Thank you Daisy!" I squeezed her tight before moving onto the next in line. "What you got for me Julian?" I smiled down at him. He didn't say anything at first going straight into the hug. "Love you auntie Liz." AJ and Cole were next. "I wonder which of you loves me more..?" I said twiddling my thumbs. They shoved their way into my arms hugging as tight as they could. "Aha okay okay I see you both love me a lot." They laughed letting go. I looked at the table with the all the food I'd prepared along with sides prepared by everyone else, and marveled at it all. When everyone finally got a look at it they did as I did and were in awe of it. Along with the two stars of the show there was grilled asparagus, roasted brussel sprouts with pancetta, butter poached shrimp, pumpkin risotto, roasted acorn squash, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, stuffing, baked macaroni and cheese with a parmesan crust, and garden salad. The smells mixed together in the dining room and I could see everyone starting to salivate just a little at the sight. The dessert table looked just as amazing with the contributions of my sister-in-laws and siblings. "Elizabeth this looks so good. You did a great job." Selena putting her hands over my shoulders. "Yeah good job Liz it smells incredible." Nathan said looking over all the choices spread across the table. "I can't believe you did this on your own.." Natalie smiled. They all surrounded me in a big group hug before  we all joined hands. Dad looked to me and nodded. "Thank you god for bringing us all together and allowing me to show my family just how much they mean to me with a skill you've blessed me with. We give thanks for all the food we're about to have and pray for a good end to the coming year. Amen." "Amen." Everyone collectively answered back. Mom handed me my carving knife and I made the first cut into serving everyone. When everyone had a full plate we took our seats around the house. I plated up last and sat at the table between Sophia and Selena. "I'm so glad I've got my stretchy jeans on Liz. Cause definitely going back for more." Selena smiled eating. As dinner went on everyone would walk by and drop compliments to me and say thank you. It's what made it all worth it. Everyone seeing what I could do, and being recognized for it. I didn't care that my legs hurt from standing all day, my fingers had blisters from the knives, or I was tired beyond belief. Knowing that everyone enjoyed it so much made it worth going through. The kids dropped by me again to say thank you before starting dessert. "You did real good hon." Dad said kissing the top of my head as he walked towards the sink. "We'll all get the dishes sweetie. Take a break finally." Mom nudged me over to the recliner. "Yes will definitely do that." I collapsed into the chair, putting my feet up. The pain in my legs slowly subsiding while my body began to relax. I didn't move for a good twenty minutes before Selena walked by with two plates of pecan pie slices for the both of us. She handed one to me and we cheers'd our forks. I wasn't a pie person growing up, but they've grown on me. After dessert hit me everyone began contemplating the next step. My siblings finished off the dishes, and the kids were all starting to look sleepy. I cracked open another energy drink and split it with Selena. "So are we doing this?" Natalie asked eagerly. "Can you watch the kids?" Selena turned to mom. "We'll just put them to bed. We won't be gone more than a few hours." "Aw man guys go without me you know I hate it." Nathan waved off. "BABE! No way you gotta we can get a new tv." Sophia nudged him. Nathan's eye's lit up. "Yeah the kids can just sleep here while you're out. Oh

[nikkyshows]

Death’s Mistake and Apology

DISCLAIMER: reposted here to the new blog.

Day six of @violetvineyardnetwork 's pride week. Indigo/harmony.

I take harmonies to be in a friendship sort of way here — how people can fight and make up and be stronger for it. This is a normal occurrence for Xia and Davis. Hope you enjoy seeing their dynamic more!

Davis leaves Xia to play Death on her way to work, but this time, it makes her late. 1364 words and a warning for death mention/car wreck.

*****

Davis, despite all of his shortcomings and irritativeness, is not on bad terms with Xia. Oh, they play rough and exchange sharp words, but it’s never landed a hard blow and they know it’s all in fun.

That’s not to say neither have ever stepped over the line, though.

Her family is conflicted about her status as a Trader. It takes some time away where she could be Death, but that’s all scheduled and her work is understanding of her other duties. It’s full of Evers, after all, and some are still afraid that she’ll eat their soul if they cross her.

She could clear the misunderstanding — only the depraved of their kind are insane enough to consume souls and than, it destroys them — but finds no harm in letting it remain. It makes things more efficient. Things are kept concise and blunt, though some are beginning to warm up to her and she’ll tell the truth if they ask. It’s not something that she hides. She’s a solid worker and is praised for her focus and drive.

Not like Davis.

He has no human job, so he’s slotted in to be Death semi-regularly. Still less than her, because she’s a special case and she enjoys the work, but often enough. If a death is scheduled to occur somewhere in a ten-mile radius of her on a day off, or in her path on a day she’s working, he’ll leave it for her to clean up. To his benefit, she usually does and typically, she doesn’t mind it.

Until he takes it a little too far and makes her late, of course.

It’s an unlucky day and the circumstances aren’t in their favor. There’s a major wreck that takes place four and a half blocks from her work and he leaves the entire thing to her.

Now, on a day off, she wouldn’t mind too much — she’d give him hell, yes, but it would be the joking sort they always fling at each other. But this isn’t a day off and he isn’t answering his cell, so she does.

She calls him, gazing impassively at the mess of cars twisted together before her and speaks into her phone in what the others call her ‘death voice’. It’s slow and chilling and can scare a good chunk of her family, which is a sizeable feat. “Davis,” her fingers tighten microscopically over the phone pressed against her cheek, “if I am late to work because of this, I will put in a request to revoke your Death status.”

And that’s... maybe taking it a touch too far, but she’ll just apologize later. If she doesn’t carry it out. She’ll figure that out later too.

For now, she has a mess to clean up.

She digs in her bag for the spare death cloak she keeps tucked in the inner pocket. It’s dreadfully bland, short and a mockery of Death for them all, but it’s the only one small enough to hide in her bag.

If it was only one death, or two, she wouldn’t bother with this, but there’s near half a dozen, maybe more, so she’s obligated even though it isn’t her day.

“You’re so lucky I’m prepared,” she says into nothing, the invisibility spell etched in the soles of her heels active and silencing her words from outside ears.

There’s five cars and the first has a man with his daughter. Xia pulls out her soul-glass jar while murmuring a duplication spell — she’ll need more than one jar for this, as there is more than one soul in the process of passing.

It takes her fourty minutes to deal with the wreck and that makes her thirteen minutes late to work.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes to her boss, her bag weighted against her hip. “I had an errand to run and didn’t realize it would take so long.”

He eyes her with a grunt. “It’s fine. You’re hardly ever late. Just check in and get to work.”

“Thank you, sir.”

She stays fifteen minutes past the end of her shift to make up her late start. When she exits the building, Davis is standing on the sidewalk.

She scoffs and swerves to walk around him. She’s still upset about earlier and is debating on holding up her threat.

“Xia, wait!” He grapples for her elbow, but she spins out of his reach before he touches her.

She raises a brow and waits. He shies away at the harshness in her expression. Another impressive feat, but Xia’s always been special among her family.

“I’m sorry,” he says, showing her his palms in a meaningless Non’s gesture meant to show his harmlessness. She knows better and she’s considering trading one of her souls to smite him. “I didn’t realize it was so many, I thought you could handle it.”

Xia places her finger to the bridge of her nose and slides it up her forehead. “You made me late. This is a new branch of work for the Everlasting Trade Association. If I do poorly,” she places her palm to her chest, “than it could get shut down and we’ll go back to doing the same work for nothing. Do you want that?”

He lowers his head. “No.”

She sighs. “I thought so. Now,” she steps closer, smells his repugnant cologne (many see Death as a skeleton, he says, so I gotta smell like one) and eyes his indigo shirt peeking out of his Death Cloak, which he’s wearing in public. And, her eyes fall down, he’s wearing the matching shoes. Of course. “You need to stop slumming on the job. We could have had a big mess today and you’re on thin ice with the family as is. You need to get in their good graces and that means big soul counts.”

“I know.”

She turns to walk down the sidewalk, but only makes it four steps before she stops. “And stop wearing colors to work,” she calls out. “It’s tacky.”

He opens his cloak to showcase his shirt. “You like it? Got it on sale!”

Xia shakes her head and rubs at her hairline, near her temple, as an exasperated gesture and a way to fix her hair and starts walking. That idiot.

Though, he was kind of her idiot. Her friend, one of the only family members she could tolerate without the idea of dismembering them with her Soul Dagger. He was entertaining, if nothing else. So she wouldn’t report him to the family. This time. But—

“You owe me a favor!” She says, just loud enough for him to hear, looking back at him and noting that he’s wearing ripped jeans as well as a colored shirt. Grimness, how did he ever get allowed to be Death? Oh, yeah, because she vouched for him. What was she thinking?

She smiles and— she knows. She’d wanted to have a friend be Death so they could laugh about it. So she could poke fun at the rules without getting a disappointed sigh. So they could have fun together.

And while, yes, he slacked a little and broke some rules (guidelines more like — it was better to roll along with whatever visage the Nons thought of them, but not strictly necessary), he was a decent Death. Though, she had to debate if decent was well enough. Maybe she should put in a request to put him back to behind-the-scenes Death work. He’d cause less trouble there and put them all in less danger, but it’d wound him for her to do so.

As much as he annoys her, she doesn’t wish him anything truly ill-hearted.

Despite his lack of foresight, he was a good friend.

The evidence of that is in the chiffon cake sitting on her table when she gets home. It’s her favorite and Davis only ever gets gifts like this for her, as an apology because he’s not good at saying the words. She chuckles as she shrugs off her coat, pulling her phone from her pocket to type a quick text before she enjoys her free dessert.

You aren’t supposed to use Death to buy cake.

*****

Here’s more of Xia! A little more of Davis, too, from the last thing I did with her. Also just realized that I need to do day 7, which I totally spaced n, but I’ll try to get something out tomorrow, maybe another edit. 

Tags: @citrusysumo @emikoshiriyuki @caffeinewitchcraft (hope you don’t mind, but it’s Xia? Let me know what/if any works you’d like to be tagged in so I know).

[achtung-attitude]

Chapter 29: Hotel California - Part 1

“Marsellus!” cries a woman’s voice. The big-eared black man turns towards the reception desk, where a middle-aged woman is stationed. “What are you doing standing around for? Go and collect our guests’ luggage!” She claps twice, quickly, “Luther! You come out here and help as well!”

At the call, an elderly white man appears, wearing the lobby boy uniform, with a large red birthmark over his right eye, uncannily shaped like the state of California. He and Marsellus rush to take the luggage off the hands of the grateful driver. Even between the two of them, it is a lot to carry, arranging them into a tower of cases. The old man struggles especially, breathing heavily, shaky on his feet. He must be at least 80 years old.

In spite of Marsellus’ help, the tower inevitably begins to topple, just as the pair pass Kilo, the bags threatening to land on his head. Their descent is suddenly halted as SATURN BARZ appears, pushing them back in place with its back and shoulders. Kilo walks past, following Jerome and Shizuka, who are still rapt in awe of the hotel.

Kilo looks all around the lobby, frowning at the immaculately polished tile floor, the fine art, the architecture that seems to glow. Even the small decorative pool is gorgeously clear, without a single flaw. He wrinkles his nose and sniffs, catching up to his friends at the reception desk.

“You’re in luck, honored guests,” says the receptionist, “This just so happens to be our last vacancy for tonight. We hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Ohmygosh, Jerome, I can’t believe we’re gonna stay here!!” Shizuka exclaims in awe and excitement. “It’s such a lovely place!!”

“What did I say?? Is this place tight or what?” Jerome says, chuckling to himself, happy he’s bringing number one fan somewhere nice. He collects the room key from the woman standing behind the reception desk. The pin on her magenta blazer says the name “Martha”.

“If you say so,” Kilo assents, “Yo, you said you booked at the last minute right? Between this and getting your house fixed, what kinda dollars are you spending?”

“Don’t ask questions when you ain’t prepared for the answers, my man…” Jerome says slyly, keeping his golden grin.

The elevator dings open, and the trio catch their breath at this sight within. The occupant of the metal box ducks under the rim of the entrance and stands to his full height, towering over Kilo. The man is big in all directions, his crisp blue suit failing to contain his protruding bulk. He may have trampled right through them had he not spotted them at the last moment, his leathery face darting down. 

“Well!” he booms, “new guests! Pleasure to meet ya!” His hand shoots down and grabs Kilo’s hand, shaking it with the grip of a champion. Talking the whole time, he moves to do the same to Jerome, rattling his whole body with the force of his greeting. “Real genuine pleasure to meet my future constituents! I’m sure you don’t need me to introduce myself, but why shouldn’t I, this being our first official meeting!” He pauses in his stream only to stoop and plant a kiss on Shizuka’s hand. “Paul Mann’s the name. Businessman, and future governor of California! Why don’t you tell me a bit about yourselves?! What brings to this lovely establishment?!”

“Oh uh, we… my crib’s getting refurbished so we hanging out here for a while…” Jerome stutters.

“Ah, I’m visiting from New York…!” Shizuka chimes in.

“Are you real?” Kilo asks.

“I’m as real as you are, my friend! Well, if it’s a vacation you’re after, you certainly came to the right place! I’ve lived in this great state my whole life, and I’ve stayed in every hotel from San Francisco to San Diego, and this is without a doubt the best I’ve ever been in! It really is a lovely place! The penthouse where I'm staying at is unlike anything in this world!! Listen, I’m heading off to supper now! If any of you find your way down to the dining hall, you be sure to come on over, so we can have a proper conversation!” 

“Uh… sure, we’ll do that…!” Jerome says, raising a thumbs up.

“I’m looking forward to it!” declares Paul Mann, who it seems to only declare things, not say them. He leaves, waving at them as he heads across the lobby. It is Marsellus that breaks the trio out of their daze, beckoning them into the elevator.

“We are not eating with that guy,” Kilo says as they step inside, making a declaration of his own.

The bellboy presses the buttons Kilo catches sight of two people entering the hotel: a man and his son. They are the same man and son that have appeared in proximity to the gang the whole time, though neither party is aware of this.

“I can’t believe any of this!” the man mutters loudly, storming towards the empty reception desk, “So we broke one TV, they can just buy another one... Where do they get off kicking us out…? Hey, hello?! Anybody there?! I need a room for me and my son, right now!”

The woman, Martha, quickly slides behind the reception desk. “Apologies for the delay, sir,” she says, “How may I--”

“A big TV!” the kid shouts, “I wanna big TV, tell her Daddy! I wanna watch Fist of the North Star!”

“I got it, I got it!” His father responds, “You heard him, big TV. And thick walls, while you’re at it. I don’t want to have to listen to the neighbours banging in the next room, comprendé?”

Kilo, watching this scene unfold from the elevator, scoffs silently. “Too bad for you,” he thinks, “They booked out just about now.”

“Certainly, sir,” Martha says in her phonograph tones, “We have a room exactly suiting your needs. You’re in luck, it so happens to be our last vacancy.”

Kilo frowns and starts to say something, but then the elevator doors slide shut in front of him, closing with a metallic crunch.

                                                             ***

Shizuka’s first action upon entering the room was to bound inside, throw off her shoes and leap onto the king-size bed, squealing as it rebounded her two feet into the air before landing again, sinking into its soft embrace. All this, before Marsellus the bellboy could finish saying “Welcome to the Presidential Suite.” 

“Dope,” Jerome says, immediately running to open the mini fridge, then flicking on the television.

“We didn’t ask for a suite, we wanted a double room,” Kilo says, grimacing.

“I’m afraid this was the only room we had available, sir,” Marsellus explains, never dropping his photographic smile, “And after all, we have nothing but the best for the one and only C-King.”

“Word! This is the good life, Kilo!” 

“Indeed. As your companions have already found out, the Presidential offers a king-size bed, and interactive multimedia system, a fully stocked drinks cabinet. In addition,” the bellboy continues in a speech that is clearly rehearsed, “you’re provided with complimentary 4G WiFi and panoramic views of the Beverly Hills area. Last but not-”

“Inglewood.”

“... I beg your pardon?”

“We’re in Inglewood,” Kilo says, “Not Beverly Hills. You’re off by 10 miles.”

“... My mistake. Please forgive me.” Kilo says nothing in response, as Marsellus produces a bottle of wine from one of the cabinets underneath the TV monitor. “As a final feature, a bottle of Châteauneuf Du Pape 1969, a premium French red, compliments of the house.”

“That sounds so fancy!” Shizuka exclaims, rolling off the bed and skipping towards him. The bellboy produces three wine glasses and places them on the table next to the TV. He pours with practiced efficiency an equal amount into all three. 

The bellboy places the bottle on the table. Jerome and Shizuka pick up their glasses. “The Hotel California invites you to enjoy your stay. If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave--”

“Hold it,” Kilo says. Marsellus stops in his tracks, and turns to see Kilo raising the wine glass in his face. “You drink first.”

“Kilo--!” Shizuka protests.

“Hold it. Go on. Drink.”

Marsellus raises a hand. “Ah, sir, the wine isn’t for me. As I said, it’s complimentary for guests--”

“Call it a tip. How often do you get a break, anyway?”

“Sir, I appreciate it, but drinking is strictly prohibited on the job. I’d have to consult my supervisor if I were to--”

“It’s one sip. You ain’t gonna fall down drunk…” Silence falls, for a moment. “Either you drink, or we’re out of here.”

Silence falls again, tenser than before. Seconds tick by, agonizingly slow. Kilo levels his glare at the bellboy’s photograph face, which betrays no emotion at all.

“If you insist, sir,” Marsellus says finally, taking the glass. Without hesitation, he tilts his head back and sips the wine. He savours the taste for a moment, then swallows. He exhales, handing the glass back. “A gorgeous vintage. Will that be all then, sir?”

“... Sure.” Kilo says after a moment, taking the wine back and laying it on the table.

“In that case, if you have any further need of me, I’m one phone call away. Please don’t hesitate.” Marsellus exits the room on this note, closing the door behind him. 

“What the hell was that about, man!” Jerome yells, punching Kilo’s arm. Shizuka follows suit, kicking his shin. “You made us all look bad! I gotta be sure to give that guy a huge tip…!”

“I was making sure there wasn’t anything in the wine.”

“There was no need to be so rude. You have to be nice to the service staff!” Shizuka yells.

Kilo grits his teeth. “Do I need to remind you that we are in the middle of some gang war shit?”

“War?” Shizuka asks.

“Don’t tell you’ve forgotten already! Less than a day ago, you beat down one of the leaders of the Congregation! There could be Stand users in this hotel right now, waiting for the order to kill us all! We don’t have time to relax!”

“You’re being paranoid, Kilo!” Shizuka talks back. “What are the odds that there’s a gang assassin that just happens to be at this hotel, out of thousands in all of LA? This hotel is such a lovely place, there’s no way anything bad could happen here.”

“Bad shit can happen anywhere, at any time, to anybody…” he replies, somewhat melancholic.

Jerome sighs and steps forward. “Alright, alright. Tell you what, we stay the night, then come morning we find a new place. That sound good? If we move around, it’ll be harder for them to track us down, right?”

“…It’s a start.”

Jerome nods, smiling kindly. “Well, while we here, let’s try out that fucking restaurant the big guy was talking about!”

“I want fried rice and butter chicken!” Shizuka chimes in.

Kilo can only continue to grimace.

[cheemerthelizard]

Crusader of Life 2: Chapter 2

Oh, one more thing I should clear up: this story isn’t finished yet, meaning updates might take a while if I’m having writer’s block. Anyway, enjoy!

“Jotaro! Hey, Jotaro!” Lily called. The man turned to her voice, and waved at her as she ran across the street to catch up with him.

“Where’s Kakyoin?” he asked.

“Keeping watch over Emily,” Lily answered. “Did you sort everything out with Josuke?”

“I did,” Jotaro nodded. “Strangely, he started apologizing for causing chaos in the family. I was prepared to take a hit intended for the old man. I also told him about Angelo.”

“And how did he take that information?”

“Pretty well, actually. He didn’t freak out, but he also didn’t just brush it off like nothing.”

“Did you figure anything out about him? Like, his personality?”

“He’s a pretty passive guy, except for when you insult his hair. Then he goes berserk.”

“Huh.”

“Well, I’m going to check into the hotel. I’ll see you around.”

“You too.”

And with that, the two went their separate ways.

***

“Come on, Emily,” Kakyoin cooed. “It’s time for a nap.”

“I don’t wanna!” she screamed. “I don’t! I don’t!” Walking on Sunshine started to materialize behind her.

“Emily,” Kakyoin said sternly, grabbing onto Sunshine’s wrist with Hierophant, “it’s time for a nap.”

“Yessir,” Emily said quickly, crawling into bed.

“Goodnight, sweetie,” Kakyoin kissed the little girl’s forehead.

“Night night, Daddy,” Emily yawned, drifting off to sleep. When she was completely out, Kakyoin sighed.

“This girl is wearing me out,” he mumbled to himself. “Maybe I should’ve let Lily take care of her.”

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. “It’s Jotaro.”

“I got it!” Kakyoin said. He unlocked the door and let Jotaro in. “Lily was looking for you, actually.”

“I passed by her on the way here,” Jotaro replied.

“Ah, I see. Any luck as to where Angelo is?”

“Nothing, so far, but we just got here.”

“True, true.”

“Well, good luck with the kid. I’ve got to get back to Stand user hunting. I just wanted to check in with you before I went out again.”

“Thank you, and good luck with that, too.”

As soon as Jotaro left the room, Emily asked her dad, “Who was that?”

“That’s Jotaro,” Kakyoin answered her. “He’s a friend of mine. Now, you’ve gotta get some sleep, or your naptime will be longer today.”

“Okay,” Emily said, “but can you tell me a story first? The one about Egypt?”

“Okay,” Kakyoin chuckled. “But only if you promise to go right to sleep afterward.”

***

Koichi was walking home when he saw Lily strolling along the sidewalk. Apparently, she saw him, too, and called his name.

“Koichi! Hey!”

“Hi, Mrs. Kakyoin,” Koichi replied.

“Please, just Lily,” she laughed. “How was your first day of high school?”

“It was pretty good,” he said. “Apparently Josuke and I are in the same class. He actually introduced himself to me.”

“Yo! Koichi!” Josuke came running down the streets.

“Speak of the Devil,” Lily muttered.

“Hey, Josuke!” Koichi called. “Have you met Lily yet? She’s a friend of Jotaro’s.”

“Jotaro’s friend, huh?” Josuke asked, and held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“You too,” Lily greeted. “I’ve been told that you already know what’s happening with Angelo.”

“I do,” Josuke answered. “To be honest, it’s a little scary. A murderer, in my hometown?” He shivered. “I don’t like thinking about that.”

“Well, don’t worry about a thing,” Lily told him. “Jotaro, Noriaki, and I have got it covered.”

Suddenly, police sirens blared from behind them, and headed in their direction, whizzing past.

“Looks like there’s trouble,” Koichi said. “Do you want to follow the cars and see it?”

“Sure,” Josuke replied. “What about you, Lily?”

“Well, my Stand could probably take care of any victims,” she answered. “Sure! Let’s go!”

And with that, the three chased after the police cars.

“Wait, your Stand?” Josuke finally processed what Lily had said.

“Yes,” Lily laughed. “It’s called Ace of Pentacles, and it can duplicate anything that has life. That means I can stitch together open wounds in a person’s body if they get injured.”

“What a coincidence!” Josuke said. “Mine can heal people, too!”

What? Lily thought. This kid just nullified half of my usefulness! But maybe it’s not as quick as mine. “How long does the pain last?”

“Doesn’t last that long at all, actually,” Josuke answered.

“How easy is it to fix someone?”

“Usually just a simple touch from Crazy Diamond. Why?”

“Oh, no reason.” This guy just replaced me! I’m no longer the healer of the group! “Oh, would you look at the time! Little Emily must be waking up! I should be on my way!”

“See ya, Lily!” Koichi called out.

“You, too! Bye!”

When Lily was out of sight, she started groaning. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said to herself.

“What’s the matter?” Jotaro asked. Lily hadn’t noticed him there.

“Josuke’s Stand has healing properties, and they work faster and more efficiently than mine.”

“Jealous?”

“Of course I am!”

“Don’t be. You can make two of him. That’s something he can’t do.”

“I guess you’re right,” Lily sighed. “Still, all I mostly did was heal others back in our glory days.”

“You also saved multiple innocent people on many different occasions from enemies.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m going back to the hotel. Time for Noriaki and I to switch out. Bye!”

“Bye,” Jotaro repeated.

***

“You won’t believe it, Noriaki, you just won’t believe it,” Lily came into the hotel room already ranting.

“What will I not believe?” Kakyoin asked.

“Josuke has a Stand with healing powers,” Lily groaned.

“Are they better than yours?”

“Much better.”

“Mommy!” Emily ran to her mom.

“Hey, Emily!” Lily bent down and let the small girl run straight into her arms. “How was your day?”

“It was great!” Emily said. “Me and Daddy had a contest to see who could go higher!”

Lily looked at Kakyoin. “What does she mean?”

“I held her up with Hierophant, and she lifted me up with Walking on Sunshine.”

“I see,” Lily nodded.

“So, this Josuke kid?”

“It’s unbelievable! Just unbelievable!” At this point, Lily was joking around. “I can’t believe HIS Stand had the audacity to copy MY power!”

“Don’t be jealous, Lily,” Kakyoin laughed. “After all, the healing was your creativity. If we ever have a problem with a possession-type Stand, you’ll be the one to save us.”

“That’s what Jotaro told me,” Lily chuckled. “At this point, that’s all I’ll be good for.”

“Mommy,” Emily looked up into Lily’s eyes, “what are we having for dinner?”

“I think we should go out,” Kakyoin patted the little girl’s head. “What do you think?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Lily picked Emily up, and started carrying her out the door. “We’re going out to eat tonight!”

“Yay!” Emily could barely contain her excitement, which is never good for a young Stand user who barely has control over their powers. The two parents started flying up in the air, and Kakyoin had to grab onto the vases and paintings decorating the hallway with Hierophant.

“Emily,” Lily urged, “you have to calm down, baby.”

Emily quickly realized everything around her was floating around, and let Sunshine’s grasp go, sending everything straight down. It was a good thing Kakyoin had caught them, or they’d have some big bills to pay.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Lily consoled. “That’s what we’re here for. To help you control your Stand. Now, how about we go get that dinner?”

***

Lily’s eyes were slowly cracking open, expecting a bright morning sun. Instead, she was greeted with a full moon. She checked the time on her alarm. 3:30. What could have possibly woken me up this early? she wondered.

“Mommy!” Emily’s wails were heard from the other room. “Daddy! Help me!”

Oh.

“Noriaki,” Lily said groggily, nudging him awake. “Noriaki.”

“What is it?” Kakyoin yawned.

“Emily’s crying in the other room. Very hard.”

Kakyoin sighed. “I’ll get Hierophant ready.”

The two opened the door, and saw everything flying all over the place, almost tornado-like. Little by little, Hierophant Green grabbed the floating debris, and made a walkway for Lily to get to the fretting girl. She was lifted up, too, but she made her way to Emily thanks to a tentacle from Kakyoin.

“Oh, baby,” Lily cooed, hugging the little girl tightly. “What’s the matter, Emily?”

“I, I, I, I had a bad dre-e-eam,” Emily bawled.

“Oh, poor girl,” Lily comforted her, stroking her hair and letting the storm roll on around her. “I promise nothing will happen to you. The dream wasn’t real. You’re safe here, I promise you. You’re okay, you’re okay.”

Slowly but surely, the tornado of objects wasn’t whirling around the room as fast, and the objects were getting closer and closer to the ground until everything was either completely still or being put back in its place by Kakyoin.

“There we go,” Lily set the girl back down on her bed, and handed her her favorite stuffed animal. “Want Mister Bear to make you feel better?”

“Yes, please,” Emily sniffled, grabbing the teddy bear from her mother’s grasp.

“Crisis solved,” Kakyoin whispered as the two closed the door to Emily’s room. Now for their good night’s sleep.

***

“Lily,” Jotaro’s voice seemed to be coming from a dream. “Lily!”

“I’m fine, Jotaro, just focus on Dio.”

“Lily, wake up!”

The woman jerked up, breathing heavily, then looked to her side.

“Ah! How did you get in here?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have Josuke fix the door later.”

“That kid can fix inanimate objects, too?” Lily groaned. “Why’d you wake me up, anyway?”

“Because there’s one thing that you can do that Josuke can’t, and that’s deal with possession type Stands.”

Lily stared in awe at Jotaro. “You’re serious?”

“Am I ever not serious? Now, if you don't want anyone dying, I suggest you get dressed and get in the car right away! We’ve got a murderer to catch!”

[thankskenpenders]

So there’s this little cartoon you may have heard of...

As I’ve said on this blog before, I’d never watched all of SatAM. This might be shocking to hear from someone who runs a blog dedicated to Archie Sonic and one of the top twenty Bunnie Rabbot fangirls in the world. But it’s true.

SatAM was very difficult to track down compared to other Sonic cartoons when I was a kid, and I just never got around to watching it as an adult. So for the longest time, I had only ever seen the first episode, which I found uploaded in parts on YouTube in 2007. As the one cartoon featuring the characters I liked from the comics, it became sort of this holy grail of Sonic media for me as a kid, especially with people online always talking it up as the best thing ever and petitioning for a revival. Hell, to this day, a lot of people hold it up as this masterpiece and act like the Archie comics were a complete mockery of it

Anyway so I finally got around to watching the whole series with my boyfriend these past couple weeks, and it was pretty good. So instead of covering a comic today, here are some thoughts on the cartoon that started it all

General Thoughts

SatAM is a pretty good show. It isn’t the greatest piece of Sonic media ever, unlike what some older fans will tell you. It might not even be the best Sonic cartoon (you could easily make a case for the Japanese version of Sonic X, or Sonic Boom if you’re looking for something more comedic). It hasn’t aged the most gracefully, in some ways. The animation’s cheap, the stories sometimes bland. But for a DiC-produced video game cartoon from the early ‘90s, it’s really solid

I think that in many ways, SatAM is carried by the strength of its ideas over its actual execution. The darker, more serious tone is a really cool idea, even if at times it can get a little dull, and even if the show actually gets silly as hell pretty often. (This is a show where Snively literally tortures a captive Antoine by preparing French cuisine improperly.) That opening scene of Robotropolis in the first episode actually sets the mood really well and feels like it came straight out of some cyberpunk anime from the ‘80s or ‘90s. The concept of Robotnik turning people into robot slaves is really cool, even if surprisingly little was done with this aside from Uncle Chuck’s storyline. And I think the Freedom Fighters make a great supporting cast for Sonic, even if the writers didn’t use them to their full potential

Interestingly, I’d often heard from fans that season one was the stronger of the two, when I’d say that the opposite is true. Season one episodes were pretty samey, usually involving low stakes missions to Robotropolis with no real continuity, and Sally ended up being a damsel in distress more than I’d like--hell, so did Bunnie in a few episodes. It wasn’t bad, but it was highly repetitive, and I got a little bored at times. Season two had a few real stinkers (the Antoine episodes) and Dulcy was an unwelcome addition, but I thought the heavier focus on continuity gave the season some real momentum and more emotional weight, which made it way more enjoyable overall

Things I Liked

Sonic. I quite liked this version of Sonic, actually! Jaleel White is a great Sonic, and he was written pretty well. At times the extremely tubular ‘90s lingo was grating (I never wanna hear “Gotta juice!” again), but I was surprised to see that this version of Sonic had a lot of heart. He really cared about the well-being of his friends and Uncle Chuck, and they even let him cry a couple times. I thought they struck a good balance between snark and sincerity with him

Sally. I don’t think SatAM Sally was perfect, but I liked her. I’m still of the opinion that she should have been given more ways to defend herself physically (maybe some kind of power of her own) so that Sonic didn’t have to save her as much, but I liked the banter she and Sonic had. Unlike the early Archie comics, Sally doesn’t come off as the bossy girlfriend who ruins Sonic’s fun. Maybe it’s Jaleel White and Kath Soucie’s performances doing most of the work, but they had a fun back and forth dynamic, with Sally’s sarcasm keeping Sonic’s ego in check, but there still being clear chemistry between the two of them

I also liked the greatly reduced emphasis on her being a princess compared to much of Archie’s material. Like yeah, it’s there. Her dad’s the king, and left her some classified info via Nicole. But her status doesn’t really affect things much. They don’t talk about her having this grand destiny and being the next in line to rule. It’s clear that she’s in charge of the Freedom Fighters not because of her status, but because she’s smart, brave, and gets shit done. That’s the Sally I like.

Plus! In the finale, Sally insisted upon going with Sonic for the final confrontation, and was a crucial part of the climax. Her powering up with Sonic and matching his speed and strength ruled. Compare that to the climactic defeat of Robotnik in Archie, where she was fucking dead

Robotnik. I don’t think much needs to be said here. Jim Cummings rules as Robotnik, like everyone has always said. He’s just so evil and so much fun to watch

Snively??? I’ve never cared for Snively as a character, but Charlie Adler rules and his over-the-top performance made the character way funnier than he should’ve been. Just something about all the little noises he makes, and the way he almost shifts into the Red Guy voice at times

Nicole. It was fun to see Nicole start to get more of a personality in season two, having some banter with Sonic and also picking up some slang from him. It makes the later decision to turn Sally’s computer into a full character (which would have happened in season three, and obviously eventually became a big subplot in the comics) make a lot of sense

King Acorn. While he was only around briefly, I liked that he wasn’t a huge dick, unlike Archie’s King Max

Things I Didn’t Like

The misuse of the other Freedom Fighters. This is, by far, the show’s greatest crime.

I already write approximately 100k words a week on this blog about how I think Bunnie Rabbot is amazing and criminally underused, so I’ll keep this brief, but I was shocked to see how little she was used in this show. People tend to say Dulcy stole her screentime in season two, but she didn’t have much to do in the first season either! We somehow never got a single episode focusing on her. The one where she got temporarily deroboticized focused much more on Uncle Chuck. We never got to learn the story behind her roboticization, or delved into her feelings on the matter much. She mostly just served as a positive, lighthearted supporting member of the team who acts cute and gets some funny lines, but usually stays home

Antoine might have been even worse, honestly. Like, they used him so much! They had multiple episodes focusing entirely on him! And yet I’m not sure he ever really helped. Sonic and Sally kept taking him along, but every single time it felt like it would’ve been a wiser decision to bring Bunnie instead. The jokes about his broken English were just dumb, and god, the way he constantly hits on Sally and starts kissing her hand at the most inappropriate times is just SO fucking creepy. SatAM Antoine is just a horrible, one-dimensional stereotype. There’s a reason why readers of the Archie comics wanted him out of the series until later writers majorly rehabilitated him

Rotor also didn’t get much use, which was a shame, but it at least felt like he was used efficiently. I got the vibe that Rotor was much more bitter about the war with Robotnik than his friends, and it would’ve been interesting to see this explored more. At least we got that one fun episode where he went to space with Sonic

Dulcy. Oh my fucking god. I wanted to like Dulcy! I really did! But most of the time she was just a clutz used for comic relief, and they kept reusing the same joke where she crashed, bumped her head, got dizzy, and thought she was talking to her mom. This happened in almost every episode she was in.

The other miscellaneous Freedom Fighters. Like in the early Archie comics, none of the other miscellaneous Mobians they meet were as interesting as the core cast. They just always felt very bland and I was never as invested in them as the writers wanted me to be. Ari was boring, and that episode where they found the underground city and this other dude started hitting on Sally was a drag. Lupe’s cute though

Rings. This is a common problem in Sonic adaptations, but the fact that rings always serve as Sonic’s instant win button kind of sucks. Basically any time Sonic’s in a pinch, he pulls a ring out of his backpack, powers up, and wins. Not exactly a recipe for suspenseful action

Oh, also, I did kinda find it weird how much Sonic and Sally kissed? Like, all the time? Often while their friends just stand there and stare at them? Not something I’d expect from a Sonic cartoon

Things Archie Did Better

I’ll limit this to the first 50 issues or so, since I don’t think it would be fair to compare two short seasons of SatAM to the highlights of nearly 500 issues of comics

Tails. Tails is okay in SatAM, Archie just used him as Sonic’s sidekick way more. He was barely even in the show. Poor little guy only gets to play dirt hockey all day

Bunnie. Again, Bunnie was underutilized in both series, but the Archie comics did her better. They actually showed the story of how she got roboticized (even if it was a silly story), and they got to flesh her out a bit more. Gallagher showing that she was a carrot farmer before her roboticization and saying she wanted to be a hairdresser was at least something. And as I keep harping on, Rich Koslowski’s backup story in #37 where we find out Bunnie has recurring nightmares about her robot parts taking over and making her a threat to her friends? This single backup story did more to flesh her out than all 26 episodes of SatAM combined

Antoine. Not hard to do better than SatAM here, really. He was really bad early on, serving as little more than Sonic’s punching bag, but eventually they started to set up a romance between him and Bunnie and explored his past a bit, saying that Antoine’s father (his personal role model) was a member of the royal guard who was roboticized in the war. While he still had a long way to go, these were important first steps towards him being a decent character. Hell, these days, being Bunnie’s love interest is one of Antoine’s defining characteristics! And it doesn’t come from the cartoon at all

Roboticization in general. I was surprised how little this came up in the cartoon! In the comics, it’s such a central element. We see more of the heroes’ loved ones turned into robots, and we even got some fun stories where characters like Sonic and Sally were roboticized temporarily. The Freedom Fighters’ efforts to reverse the process was a major part of the plot for quite a while. Bunnie’s fear of losing control is a pretty important part of her character (even if it was only touched on briefly), and after they’re rescued, the rest of the Mobians fear that the “Robians” (including Sonic’s entire family) will turn evil again. It comes up a lot! There are interesting things to discuss here! But SatAM only really talks about Uncle Chuck. We never even see what happened to everyone else

Closing Thoughts

SatAM is not the best show in the world, but it is a solid and enjoyable one. It’s easy to see why people who grew up with it are fond of it, even if I think that it’s long past time certain fans quit acting like it’s the only valid take on the Sonic source material and petitioning for a third season. At the very least, the concepts and characters introduced here are strong ones, and it’s easy to see how they spawned over 20 years of comics exploring said ideas in greater detail. While I’m not sure I could recommend it to non-fans, I think it’s definitely worth checking out for Sonic fans who missed out on it (especially fans of the Archie comics)

Anyway I got to see Bunnie dropkick some Swatbots twice her height so I had fun