#i can't afford that i'll be mobbed and killed

[saltedsolenoid]

i would do an analysis on sonic's character writing in sonic boom but that'd mean that i'd actually have to watch the show and i can't do that because everyone else's character writing sucks balls imo. peace and love

[mammalsofaction]

39

39. Perryshmirtz kissing as....time runs out

From the prompt list here.

Sugar, we're going down swingin'

Rating: T

Relationship: Heinz Doofenshmirtz/Perry the Platypus

Add tags: Angst, ambiguous ending, human Perry the Platypus, OWCA Files AU, PTSD flashbacks

A/N: Bit of a cliche but I loved getting to stretch my minute made writing muscles again. I considered a fluffy alt but I know Lex loves a bit of grief in her morning coffee.

Canon compliant to my Human Perry lore. Eve had been his sister (Ferb's biological mother), who died in the line of action about 12 years ago here.

---

There was something to be said, Perry thinks, of panicking.

(Every sound rang clear as crystal, as murky as dirt. He can feel his own pulse beating beneath his skin like every artery connected straight to his heart. It’s almost tranquil.

We've been here before.)

"Agent P," Harry yelled. It's difficult to hear over the sound of falling rubble, and the blaring alarms resonating through the inside of the volcano, and through the sheer rushing of blood through his ears. "Please, we need to leave!"

"Perry?" Heinz whispered. Perry looks up to him then, numbed of all feeling, save for the bleeding wound on his hip, stinging enough to remind him that he was, at least, still alive. He's looking up, he's staring, but he's not quite seeing. Perhaps physically, they were all trapped inside the lair of an alchemist madman, set to collapse above his head any minute, and to be fair it is all terribly exciting. But Perry was, in truth, bearing down a steel doorframe of an old warehouse stinking of gunpowder, dust and sweat, cradling two small bodies against himself, praying for the mercy of a God he doesn't believe in for a few minutes he could no longer afford 20 years ago.

"Can you walk?" Heinz asked. Right, yes, because he'd asked that question too, that fateful night of fire and gunpowder. What had Eve said to him then?

I can fight. He signed, and he pushes himself off, handing over the briefcase containing what they'd all come here for. The evidence, the antidote, the killing blow. Go, I'll catch up.

(He'd thought about what she'd said, there, in hindsight. He thinks it was meant to be funny. That was how she defaulted to things, on account of Perry not having a single humerous bone in his body, in stark comparison. She was the good cop.

We'd learned to fight before we'd learned how to walk, that was what she always said. There was pride in that, to mask the sadness underneath.)

The henchbots kick against the hinges of the only door holding them back, and bolts come flying. It won't be too long now. Heinz had frozen, briefcase pressed into his chest as he stares a bit dumbly at how Perry attempts to hold himself up, checking the ammo of his guns, so Perry gives him a little push to emphasize his point. He catches Perry's outstretched hand, instead.

"You can't be serious." He hissed, and Perry shook his head. "Come on."

There was only one pod left out of here, and Karen and Maggie had taken the only other one. Between their bulk, the briefcase, and the sheer speed they had to push for in order to make the gate closing any minute now, Perry would only slow them down.

Go, Perry said, and for a second his guard comes crashing down. His hand trembles, pressed against the side of his chest, and it is closest he'll ever get to a wobbly lip. Please?

"You-," Heinz said, but with one mighty kick the door finally bangs open under the assault of manic steel feet. Heinz flinched, but Perry opened fire, trigger finger cool and steady. Two simple headshots. He had 5 bullets left, and a mob to deal with.

"Guys, come on!"

"I'm not leaving you here." Heinz hissed, the grip on Perry's wrist almost crushing. "We're leaving together, or I'm not going anywhere, you hear me?"

Oh.

Oh, Heinz.

As rubble falls and crushes the control panel of the exit gates behind them, and the echo of a dozen feet barrels down the corridor, Perry tugs him closer, and their lips meet like an electric shock, still every bit of a thrill as the first. He feels it tingle right down to the tips of his toes, and slick swipe of his tongue down on Heinz's bottom lip like a promise.

They part with a gentle smacking sound, breathing the same air. Perry wants to remember this. He wants to leave on a good note.

"Perry," Heinz chokes, either on dust or on his own heart. "What do you-,"

I'll catch up. Perry lies, and presses on the trigger for the grappling hook on his belt. Heinz grunts, wide eyed, as it latches on the exit way of the foyer, right next to Harry himself, and Perry treats himself to one last look of his baby blue eyes wide open in fury as it pulls him back hip first.

5 bullets. Perry uses one of them to shoot a hairline fracture down the side of the wall, and the support beam keeping the lighting features aloft gives up the ghost. No way out. No way back in.

"Counting down, lair self destruct." The robotic overhead intercom announces, pleasant and calm. "T minus 10 seconds."

"Trespasser located." The henchbots declare, stepping into the foyer, falling apart. Perhaps one of them. Perhaps a bunch of them at once. He can hardly tell--blood seeps down his side in rivulets, and his head feels heavier by the minute. The edges of his vision begins to blur, and he can't quite tell what's up from down.

But Perry's got a gun in a steady hand, and he's got 4 bullets.

"Resistance is futile." The bots warn, the last of their cogs whirring. It's all appropriately dramatic.

Perry grins.

[boss-poss]

If I ever get access to millions of dollars I'm going to start a company that pretty much just sells bottled poison. Not enough to kill you outright but dangerous enough to get you very sick while still within the confines of the law. It will be advertised and sold as such. Poison in a can. It will make you very sick. There are no health benefits and no real reason to ever drink it. It's poison.

It would make so much money you can't even imagine. The risk, the suspension of disbelief, the potential for internet clout to be guy who survived the poison drink. It will be a phenomenon.

Sure, there will be lawsuits and angry backlash and such but I'll be sure to research the law with a team of the best lawyers I can afford and implement the necessary procedures to ensure that I and my company can't be held liable. They were forewarned clearly and obviously and chose to drink it of their own accord. Technically, we don't even endorse that you drink it! It's not for human consumption. You just buy it to have it.

What's that? The FDA doesn't approve? All right, put a sticker that says that. Angry people on the internet? Too bad, all company social media accounts just post an ad every day that says "This is posion. It will make you sick." with a link to buy. If everything is done correctly I'll be richer than I ever thought, infamous the world over, and memorialized for my insane business ventures.

It's an incredibly fucked up social experiment that will lead to hundreds, maybe even thousands of deaths but at the end of it all when I'm so hated that a mob of people are outside my house trying to lynch me I'll livestream myself taking a can of my patented beverage that I've previously filled with harmless mountain dew, pass it to a certified FDA inspector I've paid millions to say it's legit, and drink it in front of the world then say "Seems fine to me". Then I'll drop the empty can like a mic and press the button that releases millions of rats that I've been breeding over the years in a special underground facility into the streets of wherever I live and retire from the public eye.

[infinitethree]

Lucid sits at the island in Day's kitchen, catching him up on the latest developments.

“Delayed messages, huh? That's…mmh. Probably the doing of the big guy.” Day's wings flick with concern, though he hasn't paused his prep for dinner at all.

When further explanation doesn't come, Lucid asks, “Big guy?” “Theo and I got some…upsetting messages. Felt different– felt powerful. I wouldn't be shocked if they’re the one messing with the timing. I'll have to tell Theo, Vio, Helio, and probably Aster about it.”

The older him seems uneasy, and, in better circumstances, Lucid might have held off on bringing this up until he wasn’t in a bad mood.

But that was important info, and he can’t really wait for the other thing.

“And…Daz showed up the other night, just before dusk.” Day's eyes flick upwards, then right back down again. “...Okay? I'm not sure why you're telling me.”

This may or may not go over like a lead balloon. “He, uh…he wants to be trained, too. In being an admin, I mean.”

The knife is set down, and Day stares at him. “He wants to be an admin?” “Weirdly enough, no. The impression I got is that he wants to understand more about himself, and…he wants to help Lee. That was the big thing he talked about; how he's good at explaining, and might be able to help where we fall short.”

Day considers that, drumming his fingers on the counter. “...I'm worried he's trying to be useful. Even with three others on the team, the Welcome Wagon is a lot to deal with. We literally can't afford for him to push himself into a mental breakdown. I'm pretty sure an angry mob would show up at our doorsteps if that happened.”

He grimaces. It's not a pretty picture, but at the same time…is it really right to refuse him?

“Would probably help to talk to him, figure out where his head's at? Because, I mean…if he is good, if he does have a knack for it…? Nobody else would really be able to do that instead of him. If Lee, for whatever reason, doesn't become an admin…at the very least, having another competent mod would be irreplaceable. Best case scenario is that both of them thrive with it, obviously. But we need to think about the scenario of Lee not being suited.”

His older self glares at him. “Are you trying to cut my son out of the picture?” Ignoring the lemongrass and pine of San's concern, Lucid scoffs, “No, fuck no! One, I'm not stupid enough to do it that blatantly. Two, I still think Lee is the stronger choice. But if he hates it, or struggles…” his words falter, and then he sighs.

“I don't want him to feel like he's trapped. I couldn't live with myself if I thought I was basically forcing the kid to take that path. I mean, fuck– it's a huge deal! He's not just choosing for himself, but choosing for your entire family. But his heart is too big for him to easily choose to walk away if there’s nobody else. And that holds true for Daz, too! Both of them will be in a better place if we at least see. I wouldn't have brought Daz into it, but he asked.”

A long, tired sigh escapes from Day. “...I hate that you're right. But Daz is just…”

Reluctantly, Lucid adds, “He thinks being an admin is why he wound up here. If his Dream needed another admin, one completely under his control…”

Day looks vaguely ill. “He was violent and possessive. It– it wasn't about hurting him, I think. When I triggered the enchantment and Daz screamed, he forgot about Theo and I. He hesitated when he saw Theo, too. I've…I'm pretty sure Daz is right. That Dream needed him for something. Nothing good, obviously– you remember his code.”

A violent shudder goes down Lucid's spine. He’s seen a lot of fucked up code, but that…?

It was a miracle he survived it being added, a second miracle that the broken program didn't kill him, and a third miracle that the T3 showed up when they did.

By all rights, Daz should be deader than dead.

He says, “But that's another reason to bring him in. If anyone understands how serious fucking around with code is, it's him. He also…deserves to actually be taught, you know? By people who want to support him, instead of just using him. If he ultimately decides it's not what he wants, that's fine. But don't we owe him the chance to find out?”

A groan escapes Day. “Fuck…fine, fine. He'll have to cut back on his Welcome Wagon hours, though. I won't set him up for failure and burnout.”

Holy fucking Prime, for a minute he didn't think Day would actually agree. The man is infamously stubborn, after all; just as much bullheadedness as any Tommy.

…Probably why he gets along so well with Theo, actually.

“Agreed,” he says, “that's one of my biggest concerns. We might have to ask Raine to keep an eye out, warn us if he seems to be getting too overwhelmed.”

Day nods. “Alright, then. At least that's settled.”

Day's wings jolt when he gets the message. Lucid looks confused, but he can wait until the entire thing goes through.

…What a weird hypothetical.

“Got a question,” he says, mulling it over.

He picks up his knife again on autopilot and resumes dicing.

Another indicator that the messages are being filtered in some way, which is…worryingly on-topic.

A coincidence? Or is someone making sure they line up…?

The main point is weird, though.

Who the fuck would be forced to answer? More worryingly– is this really a hypothetical, or a secret being kept by someone?

It's impossible to tell. Sometimes the Observers seem to delight in making them, usually Day, suffer. Other times, they seem to actually care about them.

He sighs. “Depends on who it is and why they're in that position. I don’t like the idea, but…I don't know. Maybe they'd have an upside to it.”

Day ignores Lucid's curiosity. The entire conversation has been a lot already, and adding something that could just be Observers being assholes on top of that doesn’t interest him.

Lucid's frown grows more pronounced as he hears the lengthy message.

“...That sounds wrong, but…” he sighs, and tells Day, “One of the newer Observers is adamant that born admins have instincts. There’s something weird about a 'claim', and–”

“No, no, I heard it,” Day says, unease visibly growing. “I've never noticed anything…? Can you clarify what exactly you mean, and more importantly, explain who you're talking about? Because we don’t know.”

Of course, if they mean someone inside Sanctuary, then there are only really three possible answers. Or, well, two, considering that Lucid and Day were once the same person.

It’s either them, or it’s Daz. If it’s Lucid and Day, then the Observer might be able to bring some sort of clarity to past events.

If it’s Daz, though…the situation becomes much trickier. Do they get permission from him to learn about potentially distressing parts of his past? Do they ask him to convey whatever information the Observer has– and risk him being triggered or traumatized?

Or do they just leave it, and hope that whatever insights they might have gleaned don’t matter much?

At least they have confirmation that messages are, in fact, being delayed. That’s…great. Things only ever seem to get more complicated, never easier. As if he didn’t have enough on his plate as it is, just with traveling and training two admins.

He sighs softly and tells the Observer, “And my favorite animals are cats. I technically own one, though Patches pretty much does whatever she wants. She goes between all the Summer Hills houses as she pleases, though rarely goes any farther than that.”

[fallenangelofsalt]

New art blog @fallenangelofsaltart and current story/worldbuilding project @magicpiratesinspace

The AUs currently spinning in my head like a microwave

No idea if I'll ever write them.

Every one of them has a happy ending, but the road to it will be hell on earth because i like angst :D

TWST

Inkloop: Horror/mystery focused. 10 NRC students are stuck in a time loop, unable to stop the others from overblotting, and questioning whenever remembering is a blessing or a curse. But they will not stop trying. They will have their happy ending. They don't care how many more times they have to die for it. (TWs: gore, temporary character death, gaslighting, betrayal, body horror, possession, it is overall my angstiest AU because it lets me go ham without fear of permanently killing off a character so be warned)(there is also a lot of crack because the game itself has a lot of crack-ish moments and all the events happen at some point during the loops, so one moment it's pure angst and then sentient plush toy doppelgangers start falling from the sky) (Rollo becomes important at some point)

TITWT(This Is The Worst Timeline): Yuu does not get Isekai'd. This has a lot worse consequences than you would expect. Luckily, every student that would have overblotted in another reality gets the chance to see for themselves what will happen if they continue down their current paths via good old time travel shanneningans. Spoiler alert, they will need So Much Therapy. (Psychological horror, probably)

PokeIsekai: Yuu comes from the Pokemon world. Yeah. Not new. But this time the NRC students get air dropped through an ultra-wormhole in their world instead. In different regions. And I mean air dropped. From pretty high up. Someone got a concussion. And- WHAT DO YOU MEAN KALIM LANDED ON HISUI!? (overall pretty fluffy. Kinda. The pokeworld doesn't eat meat/fish so Savannaclaw+Octavinelle aren't doing so well, but Scarabia is currently separated by a couple hundred years and Kalim is deep in a survival horror setting because I could not resist abusing the hell out of the Zoroarks' angst potential and also gave him amnesia)

TwistedKingdoms: Kingdom Hearts crossover but without KH characters. Mostly just the setup. Each dorm is a different world with a "princess" of the heart, the teachers are the overworked remaining Keyblade wielders, and it's a mad dash to keep the worlds from falling into darkness one after the other. Heartslabyul has already been lost. (No one dies! ...Permanently.)

BlotPoisoned: A new magic-based poison has been created, known for having no known antidote and its slow but lethal effects. Unfortunately, Kalim and Jamil get firsthand experience with it, and now Kalim must find a cure before its too late. (has themes of suicide, murder, mild consensual human experimentation and Jamil is in a coma for half the story) Has a bunch of OCs.

BNHA

Devil's Gaze: OC reincarnated as a newborn Aizawa Shouta. They are not Eraserhead. She is someone else. But he can't afford not to play his role. That doesn't mean they have to do things his way. (angst and fluff focused. OC is going through the wringer before they graduate while still making the best of their new life, then things mellow out once they reach 20 and then canon starts and shit hits the fan)

QuirkSoup: (Nearly)Everyone has a different quirk. This changes a LOT of things.

MagiMadness: Madoka Magica inspired Magical Girls(and boys) AU. With a few changes because I'm weak for angst and gore but also can't handle killing anyone(permanently). (extremely gory, the main characters keep losing limbs on the regular)

MCSM

Mobapocalypse: The command block is damaged, and the Witherstorm is not the only disaster to happen that day. In fact, it is the lesser evil. Now everyone has been turned into a mob hybrid, and Jesse is the only one who has kept their sanity. But with every monster, wolf, fox and cat out for their blood, destroying the command block and ending this madness will be one hell of a challenge. (Survival horror, Jesse is being literally hunted for sport)

No.285: Jesse doesn't want to be a hero. Aiden is a mother hen. Lukas is a delinquent. Petra is a scaredy cat. They are not supposed to be this way, but the story will play out still. He will make sure of it. (mystery, kinda. Might count as psychological horror) (TW: has themes of suicide)

MAD(Mutually Assured Destruction): Aiden and Jesse(pre-Endercon) Time Travel to the (canon divergent) future, where Aiden is the tyrant of the Blaze Empire and Jesse is the leader of the resistance against him. Eventually becomes canon divergence. (does it count as major character death if its a future version of your very much alive friend?)

InkyMystery

Inky Secret: This body is not his(why does it feel like it is), he does not know how the story ends(oh god stars why did he have to be a dish of all the magic races), and the existence of the Labyrinth keeps his mouth shut(he does not remember his own name, his old face, his life), but cuss it if he's not gonna try his best to help. (Classic transmigration story) (I gave the OC such an overpowered talent and then gave them self worth issues to balance it out)

KingdomHearts

BTDO(Below The Darkest Ocean): The realm of darkness has actual worlds instead of just being a Danger Beach. They're just under the ocean(and based in games instead of disney movies with 1 exeption Aka TOH) (actually, animes get included as long as they're game-based. Ex, YuGiOh). Sora learns this the hard way after waking up in TWST with amnesia post-KH3.

PrincessRiku: Sorikai RoleSwap AU where Riku is the Princess, Kairi is the Hero and Sora is the Villain. I don't think I've ever seen someone switch their roles like this, and I find the concept interesting.

YuGiOh

MagiCards: Magical Girl/Boy/Kid AU, crossover with a side of reincarnation, VRAINS is a thing, magic is real, of course, and one of my favorite tropes: your power doesn't define you. Even if said power was given to you by an eldritch evil card god.

Persona

DnS(P5, Demons+Swap): Mix of a Swap AU and Demon AU. Demons take the place of personas and Akechi is the Detective Prince, recently placed in Shibuya to work on the Calling Card Killer case, where evidence heavily suggests Demonic influence at play. P5-typical warnings cranked up to 11. Seriously, everything is worse.

Doorsverse: Mementos is now dead in a ditch, the thieves got more members, and the entire story has been scrambled to hell and back. Has both elements and characters from P3, P4 and P5S(apparently P1&2 too?). Velvet Room? Gone. Yaldabaoth? Never heard of him. Maruki? Got a reality check. Morgana? Has no idea what he's doing but he's sure doing it. (it eventually turned into a whole series rewrite)

ReincarnationProject: A collection of AUs centered around someone with Persona knowledge getting Isekai'd as one of the Persona characters and how that affects the story. Rules: Character must have died before the start of their main story, AKA Chie dies before P4 or Junpei dies before P3, and since their death was too early to count as part of the story itself, the universe makes up for lost potential by reviving the body and then placing another soul inside. Their knowledge affects their abilities, Arcana, Persona and how the Metaverse works around them. Slow, gradual but sure deaths have a chance of merging their souls and memories. Otherwise, the New Soul will not have the Old Soul's Arcana, memories or Persona without external cognitive influences.

Dollhouse: P5 Angstfest, NG+, Joker has a palace and things keep getting worse. Heavy gore, horror, repeated temporary character death and permanent Major Character Death. A bunch of horror tropes smashed together into a story and before I knew it someone died for real. Basically Inkloop but P5.

SilentWish: P5, TimeLoop, Joker has a Palace. (TWs: Gore, Horror, Existential Horror, Gaslighting, repeated temporary character death, his palace is so many levels of messed up)

TADP(The Amazing Digital Palace): The Amazing Digital Circus AU.

Persomon: Pokemon AU where Pokemon are a product of the Metaverse and exist in place of Personas.

Homestuck

HomeStranded: Dave accidentaly Fucks Up So Severely it crashed the game and the timeline and now its lagging and bugged like someone downloaded 200 mods and half contradict each other. Impossible things have become possible, timelines are merging, there's a second Alternia, and everyone's sessions have become borderline unwinable because everyone has the wrong classpect. ...Why is Lil Cal still here?

HomeStolen: 3 years after the disappearance of his and his friends' younger siblings, Kankri is starting to lose hope of ever seeing Karkat again, when a self-proclaimed AI chooses to request his help searching for a different group of missing children that might just be connected. AKA, roadtrip from hell to save the beta kids and trolls from a doomsday cult that drabbles on human experimentation, starring Kankri, Hal, and Damara.

Unheroic: Classic Hero/Vigilante/Villain AU, with Dave as the hero working to keep his siblings safe, Sollux as the vigilante who is tired of sitting still while people die, and Karkat as the villain with the highest hero kill count.

LegoMonkieKid

Ink and Bone: MK villain/feral/possessed arc with a side of psychological torture courtesy of LBD, AKA LBD and Azure team up and ruin everything.

AnimatorVsAnimation

Purple Gold: Gold is "alive" and Purple pays the unexpected price. Contains horror. Masterpost here.

Team Screen: Hero/Vigilante/Villain AU. Scorch, AKA Second, is the leader of the vigilante group Team Screen, composed of themself, Scare(Red), Scream(Green), Smoke(Blue) and String(Yellow). She and her friends fight crime and run from the law in the streets of the outernet, unaware of her father's dark past as the top villain Noogai, or his connection to the top 2 heroes and their leader.

Black Gold: Swap AU where Gold is a runaway, Purple has a staff, and Dark is Suffering.

Cursor Curse: Alan is cursed to become a halfstick, half cursor and half stick.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Cryptomnesia —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: The gif is meant to express Cat’s vibe for this chapter lmao -Danny

Words: 1,572

Phase Five Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

xxiv: Junior & Stray

The rest of the month went by swiftly, Cat was on her best behavior, and Kate stayed until she had to go back to college. The mutant drove Kate to school, now that the girl didn't have money, it was important she began to live a more responsible life.

Cat opened the trunk and handed Kate her bags, she looked at the students coming in, and then at Kate, focused on hanging each bag on her shoulders without dropping them.

"You sure you wanna stay?"

"It's my last year, I can't drop out," Kate looked at her. "I'll be fine."

"How are you gonna pay for it?" Cat frowned. "Your mom's accounts are frozen, and you've got no—"

"Jack's helping me out, he feels guilty, for some reason," Kate grimaced. "I feel a little weird accepting his help, but it was either that or going into debt, so..."

"At least you got a job," Cat sighed. "Thank you, Starbucks."

"Which reminds me," Kate fixed her posture, carrying two massive bags on her shoulders. "What are you gonna do? I know you're running out of money."

She smiled. "Don't worry."

"Nothing illegal, okay?"

"Only if it sounds fun," when she noticed the girl's expression, she added. "I won't work for the mob. But I'm not following rules either, so..."

"Just tell me," Kate pleaded.

She dismissed it. "I'll tell you if I have to, I gotta talk to someone else first."

Kate wanted to trust her, but she wasn't there yet. They were still learning about each other, and even if Kate wanted to believe her, she didn't know her enough to be certain she wasn't lying, it was hard to tell.

"Just be careful, okay? I can't teleport if you get in trouble."

"I have one favor to ask you," Cat leaned forward. "Remember what we agreed on?"

Kate hesitated, then nodded.

"I don't think I'll be in danger anytime soon, but I need to know that you won't break your promise."

"Cat..."

"You said you knew the risks," she insisted. "We're good as a team, but if being one puts you in a bad spot, I need to know you'll step back. You wanna help, but you won't be of much help if they kill you first, right?"

"Who are 'they' ?"

"I'll tell you later! Just promise that if I die you'll keep my mission going."

A gloomy expression fell upon Kate's dainty features. "I promise."

Cat hugged her. "Have fun. But not too much, you can't afford to destroy a second tower."

Kate chuckled. "I'll keep it in mind."

"And don't party too hard— if a teacher's giving shit let me know—"

"I won't," Kate moved out of the embrace and started to leave. "Call me once you get home!"

"I'll call you every night right after you've fallen asleep!" She joked.

Harley was transported back to last year's summer the moment he stepped inside Cat's living room.

"Jesus Christ," he ran a hand through his hair. "What the hell happened here?"

The mutant crawled over the papers sprawled on her living room floor and stumbled to where he was standing, she grabbed his wrist and guided him to the mess, her pupils were round and dark, barely leaving space for the purple.

"Hear me out—"

He whined. "I came here to tell you my good news—"

"You got hired," she grabbed some of the papers from the floor, when she bent down Harley noticed there was a piece of tape stuck in her silver hair.

Harley frowned. "I told Happy I wanted to tell you in person!"

"Happy didn't tell me, I figured it out," she looked at him. "You're wearing a suit and you smell like a taxpayer."

The young man frowned. "I don't know what that means."

"You're getting paid, that's what it means," she lifted the papers. "I have a job for you."

"I don't like where this is going..." he groaned.

"Listen," she walked up to the table and spread the sheets of paper on its surface. "You were right— You were right, I'm a mercenary. I was. I mean for the right price I still am—"

"Get to the point before I run out of here," Harley approached reluctantly and pulled a chair to sit down. Felix jumped out with a hiss.

"My old boss?" She pushed Valentina De Fontaine's file toward him. "You won't guess where she used to work. Sharon Carter tried to scare me by threatening to reveal my identity but I can trace people too! Valentina was part of Hydra!"

"I don't know who this is," Harley frowned staring at the picture.

"Keep up, I just said she was my boss," she sat next to him. "How did she get away, you ask? She gave S.H.I.E.L.D. the location where we found Pietro and Wanda Maximoff! Now she's just a regular UN worker? The whole thing is dirty."

He stared at her. "I think it's you. When was the last time you showered?"

"Yesterday morning. I think. Anyway, she's cooperating with the mafia, she made me do a job for them last summer, and that's why I broke up with Matt. I almost broke my arm and his nose to get away but that's not the point— You know who's their boss? Wilson Fisk!"

"Fuck off!" He exclaimed that name he knew.

"Yes. Yeah, I know. Last December we got him arrested but something tells me it won't be permanent. Everything's dirty, Harley, everything. Fisk spoke to me when I fought him, Agent Zero might've escaped but Copycat is the target of an international manhunt."

He started to look through the papers. "Does that mean..?"

"They know who I am, used to be, and who I can be. Sharon Carter knows, at least, and she's using my name to scare some people. I think the only way to buy more time and find out who else knows about me is to get her out of the way. I can prove she's not playing by the rules and I can try and make her give names."

"I don't understand why I'm here."

She gulped, now more than ever she needed to sound convincing and confident.

"The articles are calling you the next Tony Stark, you'll need protection."

Harley frowned. "Stark Industries is dirty?"

"I'm saying the same men that are trying to get to me will try to get you, they'll see you as someone easy to break. We can't let them get a hold on Stark industries."

"How are you gonna stop that?" He inquired. "Pepper is the CEO, she has the last word of everything that happens there, why not warn her about this? Why using me?"

"It's easier to take down something with a weak foundation," she replied with certainty. "You're their target, Junior. Young men are easy to taint. But... Tony used Iron Man as a super bodyguard at first, remember? It's obvious Junior will have one too."

"Copycat," he said.

"Back and ready for action," she winked. "Imagine their shock when they realize the pot of gold has been claimed! All you have to do is convince Pepper to hire me as your guard."

"What are you expecting to get this way?"

"Harley, c'mon, you're smart," she said in annoyance. "I'll take Mouse with me, I'll read every man's file that's in the company and plug them out before they sneak into places where they don't belong."

"You realize they'll catch up on this, these imaginary tainted men," he raised a brow. "All the roads will lead to you."

"What's the use of having powers, knowledge, and connections if I'm not using them to do what I want?" She scoffed. "We brought everyone back, Harley, is my duty to make sure others don't ruin it."

"Is it?"

"This is the first time in years I've been called to do something," she pouted, "please, I'm trying to be good..."

Harley struggled to grasp the concept Cat was trying to sell, it was messy, and she was lousy, but the one time they'd teamed up it had gone well, and they'd been eighteen at the time. They were older and experienced, the idea wasn't far-fetched.

"You gotta promise me we won't risk Pepper nor Morgan's life with this. Happy stays out too."

"You have my word."

"And you won't kill unless is the last, last, all-the-way-to-the-bottom plan of escape."

"Sure."

Harley scowled at her. "What made you change your mind? I sure as hell wasn't."

"Change my mind?" Cat raised a brow. "I've never liked to be used, Harley, you know that. Valentina and Sharon tried to take advantage of me, and Fisk and Russo want me as their pet. I just wanna see what I'm capable of when I don't shoot myself in the foot. Gotta be just as grand as my fuck-ups, don't ya think?"

He snorted. "That's a way to put it."

"You wanted me to look at the bright side more often."

"Yeah, I'm glad you're back in your clown costume," he smirked. "Suits you far better than the sulky mercenary."

"I think I look great in both, to be honest," she looked at the mess in her apartment. "Well, let's get started... We should give it a name. Last time it was 'Plan M'— what now? Operation 'Clean Slate' ?"

Harley leaned on his chair, supporting one arm on the back of it. "The Weeding project?"

Cat cringed. "Why not just straight up the 'let's take the hydra out of the workplace'?"

"We'll figure it out," he stood and pushed the chair back in. "You should call Kurt, he'll hate you if you leave him out of this."

Cat stopped him, squeezing his hand. "Thank you. I promise you won't regret this."

"Oh, I'll regret it," he sighed, "but I'll settle with getting us a pardon from the President in the future."

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

@mikaelsonwhxrebae @ieatpanicattacksforlunch @jesuswasnotawhiteman @siriuslysirius1107 @greengarsstuff @itsyagirl01 @23victoria @espressopatronum454 @jkthinkstoomuch

[rejectedbad]

Rejected Bad: Gastro

The following is a rejected script from an early season of Breaking Bad.

INT. LOS POLLOS HERMANOS - DAY

The sun shines brightly on Los Pollos Hermanos as customers line up outside, eager to taste the famous fried chicken. Inside the restaurant, GUS FRING stands behind the counter, observing the chaos.

GUS:  (whispering to himself)  It's never easy, is it?

Suddenly, VICTOR stumbles into the restaurant, pale and disoriented.

VICTOR:  (Groaning)  Oh, man, this Gastro is killing me!

GUS rushes over to help VICTOR, concerned.

GUS:  What happened, Victor? We can't afford to lose customers today.

VICTOR:  I don't know, Gus. Just woke up this morning feeling like I got hit by a banana truck.

GUS looks outside the window and sees an angry MOB OF TOWNSFOLK chanting and carrying signs.

MOB MEMBER #1:  (angry)  We won't stand for your shenanigans, Gus! We demand answers!

GUS rushes to the door and addresses the crowd, attempting to calm them down.

GUS:  Please, everybody, listen to me. There's been a misunderstanding. I assure you we are doing everything within our capability to address your concerns.

MOB MEMBER #2:  (sarcastically)  Oh yeah? Where's that dancin’ fool Victor? He too sick to prance around now?

GUS turns back to see VICTOR barely holding himself up against the counter.

GUS:  (intensely)  Victor... I know you're not feeling well, but we need you out there. Go, put on that costume, and dance. They need to hear the truth.

VICTOR hesitates, clutching his stomach in pain.

VICTOR:  Gus, I can't even stand straight. I don't think I can make it.

GUS's face softens, realising the severity of the situation.

GUS:  (sincerely)  Victor, I understand you're unwell, but this is bigger than both of us. Our reputation is on the line. Los Pollos Hermanos is more than just a fast-food joint. It's a symbol of our commitment to this community. I need you to dig deep and find a way.

VICTOR sighs, defeated, but determined to prove his loyalty.

VICTOR:  Alright, Gus. I'll do it for you and Los Pollos Hermanos.

EXT. LOS POLLOS HERMANOS - DAY

VICTOR, barely able to walk, steps outside wearing the hip-hop ballet dance costume. The MOB instantly falls silent, watching him intently.

VICTOR gathers every ounce of strength and begins to dance, though with less energy than usual. He pushes through the pain and continues to perform, albeit slower and with less spirit.

The MOB, initially hostile, becomes captivated by VICTOR's perseverance. They start to cheer, slowly replacing their anger with curiosity.

VICTOR finishes his performance, his face pale and sweat-drenched. The crowd erupts into applause, clearly moved by his dedication.

MOB MEMBER #3:  (whispering, impressed)  He danced for us, even when he's sick. That takes real guts.

GUS steps forward, seizing the opportunity to address the crowd.

GUS:  (loudly)  Thank you all for your understanding. We appreciate your patience and will make every effort to answer your concerns. Los Pollos Hermanos is committed to serving this community.

With the tension diffused, the crowd disperses, leaving VICTOR panting, leaning against the restaurant's wall. GUS approaches VICTOR, placing a hand on his shoulder.

GUS:  (softly)  You've proven your loyalty, Victor. I'm proud of you.

VICTOR manages a weak smile, grateful for GUS's support.

FADE OUT.

[adelior]

Name: Unconditionally

Author: R. Adelio

Genre: Romance, Minecraft, Comedy, Fluff

Main Lead: Technoblade, Dreamwastaken

Female Lead: Reader

Chapter: 1

Special Addition: Tchnomaid

Letters: 10,718

<- ->

"I'm bored" You mumbled into your palm as you kept your gaze on the papers that were set up in front of you. "It's your fault for trespassing their area, [Name]. You should know by now how strict Dream is with the boundaries of the countries." Wilbur interpreted, his brows furrowing by the second. "They could have killed you."

"I'm sorry, I was just curious" Hearing you apologize, he softened up and groaned. Wil patted your shoulder with a somewhat forced smile before leaving the room. "Make sure to finish brewing the potions by the end of the day. For now," He looked back, nodding his head. "I'll see you around, [Name]."

"You too, Wil" Sighing, you turned to look at the blonde-haired boy who stood awkwardly in the corner. "Well uh, that went well at least!" Slamming your first, you startled Tommy as he shrieked. "I got in trouble in YOUR PLACE-"

"Yeahhhh, about that, I'm sorry!" Tommy shook you by the shoulders, a grin spreading across his face. "I'll make it up to you okay? I'll set you up on a date with Wilbur if it makes you feel any better" Your cheeks darkened, giving the kid a pathetic slap as you covered the bottom half of your face.

"It's really nothing like that. I don't.. like him.." The last part of your sentence was muttered, and as usual, the boy who knew of your feelings let out a hollering laugh. "I knew it! Who would have fucking thought that you'd fall for Wil! Out of all people!"

"LOOK-" You turned to face him, your face getting hotter and hotter the more you thought about it. "I have my reasons okay! He's a good guy, and on top of that, he's an amazing friend"

"An amazing friend you say? He's also one hell of a fucking leader that's for sure. But enough about your crush let's go out and play with Tubbo!" Dismissing him with a single wave, you gave your best sympathetic smile. "Sorry Tommy, but I have to finish brewing these potions by the end of the day. I can't afford to be disciplined by Wil again"

"Hm, whatever, fine" The boy shrugged, leaving you alone. "THIS ISN'T THE END WOMAN! You will join me and Tubbo on our conquest sooner or later!" You chuckled, smiling at his childish behavior. "Yeah, yeah, now go on and have fun"

You can hear him shout out loud, laughing as he tackled what you perceive to be Tubbo. "I never wanna leave" The sentence that slipped out of your mouth caught you off guard. Despite being an outsider to their nation, they treated you with respect and saw you as a member of their group.

Sitting back down, you continued to flip through the pages of the book. Studying the recipes and applying the specific ingredients to each bottle. "Oh shit, I ran out of spider eyes" Cursing, you stood up to walk towards the door, looking out into the hallway. "Niki!" You shouted from your office, capturing the woman's attention. "Yes, [Name]?"

"Do you know if we have any spider eyes left in the chest room? Or have we completely run out of it" She pondered for a second, answering once she finished checking her inventory. "I don't think we have any more spider eyes. I'm also not carrying any with me sadly"

"Oh, that's alright. I can just outside and kill some spiders myself" Pushing yourself forward to one of your chests, you opened it and took some resources. A bow, 10 arrows, and full iron armor apart from your golden shoes. "[Name], you don't need to go out and kill some on your own. It's dangerous at night"

"Exactly, which is why I plan to go to the Piglin market to trade some gold for a few stacks of spider eyes" Niki shook her head in denial, refusing to let you pass by. "That's even more dangerous! We're humans, we can't go inside there unless we have the King's permission. And usually, we'd have knightly escorts to go around with us"

"True, but I can slip in and slip out without being noticed" You shrugged on your hood, a robe that covered your full body apart from your face. "I can hide with this, besides if they aren't able to tell that I'm human they'll never be able to report it to the king"

"Al..right.." The short-haired girl had a troubled expression on her face, but nevertheless, let you pass. "Good luck! Please come home safely" You turned to give her a single nod, a reassuring smile that was enough to calm her down. "I promise, so don't worry about me okay?"

And so you left, walking to the basement of your home where the Nether Portal stood tall. You gulped at the mere sight of it, how mysterious yet alluring. The purple particles only making it look majestic. "beautiful.." You muttered as you slowly entered, the change of temperature really hit you hard. It was hot, humid compared to how it felt in the overworld. "Goddamn how do piglins live like this"

"Shocking, right?" A male voice erupted from the silence, causing you to stiffen. "I'm assuming you're not used to traveling to the Nether." You slowly turned around, only to be met with a man with dirty blonde hair. "Pardon?" You tilted your head, staring at his smiling mask. "Nothing, would you like me to escort you and keep you safe?"

"And what makes you think I'd trust a stranger" You questioned, earning a chuckle from the man. "You're not as dumb as you look. But don't worry you're not my type, I won't do anything."

"WH-" His hand went over your mouth in a flash, he moves fast for a person with netherite armor, and on top of that a black robe. "Keep your voice down, first rule when entering the Nether World is to never bring unnecessary attention to yourself."

"Got it" Your voice was muffled from his large hand, he stepped back before leading the way, making sure that you were tailing right behind him. "The second rule, make sure to always be with somebody. Never travel alone or you'll die in an instant without somebody keeping you safe."

"Safe? Is the Nether really dangerous for you to say that?" Observing his reaction, you realized how sharp his jawline was. You can't peak through the mask but his mouth was fully exposed. "Yes, I take it you've never looked into this dimension?"

"Well, to be fair I've only heard of the Nether. This is my first time actually setting foot into the portal" The man's mouth pulled back into a dumbfounded snarl, almost as if he was silently judging you for your actions. "Weird." Was all he said before nudging you forward. "We're here, keep your guard up. What are you here for exactly?"

"I'm here to trade gold for a few stacks of spider eyes" He sighed, pulling your hood closer to your face. "You do realize you could have killed a few spiders in the overworld without having to come here."

"Uh, not really the best in combat you see" You admitted, darting your attention to the passing piglings who stood at least 5 feet taller than the man leading the way. Their species were large and brute compared to humans, they were cool but dangerous to interact with. "What the hell were you thinking when you decided to come here without somebody to guide you."

"I honestly have no clue" You stared at the man with a blank face, earning a disappointed grunt from him. "Well, turn around Princess because we just arrived at the Mob looting store. Stay out here, I'll get the eyes for you."

"Wait a second- I feel bad you're the one who led me here and protected me-" The man that accompanied you patted your head with one of the most genuine smiles you've ever seen. Despite him being awfully mysterious, he has shown nothing but kindness all throughout your journey. "Don't worry about it. Just stay here and don't run off anywhere. It's even more dangerous inside because piglins tend to fight over items."

Fidgeting with your hands, you finally agreed. The blonde took that as an agreement and stepped into the store. You were left to stay outside, leaning against the wall that was nearest to the door. A few seconds passed, and yet you were still outside waiting. You were beginning to think that the man who you walked with abandoned you.

"Ex..c.." A piglin with long pink hair muttered, his hand reaching for you. "Excu.." You stepped aside, worried that the mob was here to harm you. The more you stared at him the more you realized he was one of them, but one that looked more human. "Is there something you need?" You questioned the man, earning a nod. "What is it?"

"Do you.. Do-" Before he was able to finish his sentence, your eyes widened in realization. You swung your right hand to open your inventory, taking out a gold bar to hand over to him. 'I heard piglins liked gold, maybe he'll leave me alone if I gave him one' Was what you thought as you urged the hybrid to take it.

He looked at you back and forth, debating whether or not he should accept it. "Take it, it's alright I have plenty of where that came from" The man in front of you hesitantly took the gold into his hands, his eyes widening when he realized how shiny and well kept the item was.

"You..-"

"Hey." The man who accompanied you shouted once he exited the shop, pulling out his netherite sword. "Back off."

"Hey wait! He didn't do anything wrong, leave him be" You pushed the blonde male back slightly, apologizing to the other person with a forced smile. "Let's just head back before we get caught!" Turning around, you tangled your fingers with his and ran away, waving the piglin goodbye.

"What are you doing." He asked, narrowing his eyes from under the mask. "You said to keep attention away from us so I am-"

"I wasn't even that loud." You turned to glare at him. "It got a lot of people's attention" The man laughed, swooping you into his arms, and began to speed up his pace. "You're a good listener." He complimented, a smile fighting to break through his irritated expression.

It took time for the two of you to finally reach the same Nether portal from before. The blonde slowly lowered you onto your feet, handing the bag of spider eyes into your chest. "Here, it's heavy so make sure to hold it with both hands."

"Thank you.." You muttered, gladly taking the bag with a smile. "Say, um.. I never caught your name?" Before the man was able to walk away, he turned to look at you one last time before telling you his name. "Clay, the name's clay."

"Clay?"

"I'll see you around." With that, he pushed you into the portal. You fell onto your back once you were transported over to the overworld, lying there with staggering breaths. "I never got to tell him my name though" But once you sat up, the Nether Portal's liquid-like wall disappeared. The particles were being sucked into the middle, and the doorway to hell was disappearing.

"What the..-"

"[NAME!]" You hear your name being called out by what sounds to be Wilbur. Turning to look over your shoulder, you see the whole group running towards you with a worrying expression. "You're back!"

<- ->

ec: @quacobs (instagram)

[phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing]

ok so PSA for those of us who have been personally victimized by Husk Nihilus in ER:

If you give up the floor, it's actually a pause button, not a failure. (do NOT click "give up and finalize", that is the real admit defeat button. you'll have to start over.)

In a pinch? hit pause. hit give up. confirm. you get back to the main screen but you can continue from the beginning of the floor. I assume the intention is for players to not lose all progress if something comes up? no more excuses to miss diner, folks.

By doing this, instead of restarting from the beginning, you can restart from the floor you were just on. For example the Nihilus floor. You will be stuck with your signets and the health you had going in.

You can exploit this to beat ER easier. This works with every single floor.

ER registers whether you failed a floor when you get the "Defeat" screen. If your HP hits zero but you didn't get it yet, you CAN still hit pause and give up and restart the floor. You're likely to have the computer be faster than you, though, so I recommend playing it safe and giving up whenever your HP is too low for comfort or your timer is too close to 0.

End of timer is automatic loss. No grace period. You lose immediately. The hard give up cheat limit on the timer is 1s. You have a liiiittle more leeway on HP, but barely (probably related to the death animation).

I have not tested whether you can reroll portals with this exploit, but I doubt it.

Note (edited): I have been told that if you win the floor but don’t go through the portal, you can replay it. Good way to get a bonus signet you missed! You keep the same portals though.

Will this make Nihilus (or the subsequent Elysia/Mobius) easier to beat? No. But you'll get a lot more practice in, pick up on their patterns better, and save a ton of time and motivation.

Note 2: sometimes if you replay the same floor over and over you'll get lucky and bug the AI. There was a couple times Elysia forgot to attack me. Sadly without dodging her hits I didn't have enough damage to kill her............. pain.

Boss specific advice under the cut.

Nihilus specific advice:

- Start the floor by dodging. It ALWAYS starts off full heelies yeeting into you like, thrice, your camera won't keep up, and it hits super hard.

- Overall maybe get VK in there to do damage for you and distract it while you run away screaming. (I did that. I use Raven. She's squishy.)

- Unless your damage output is REALLY nice, you probably can't afford to focus on the IMG mobs so just... ignore them.

- Watch out for img taint and the bullets of the mobs.

- If you think you dodged Nihilus's hit, keep running. The hitbox is usually a stupidly wide circle.

- If you've never fought Nihilus anywhere else and keep dying early, look up its patterns, there's a special phase where you have to break a bunch of gears and you need to be prepared to deal with that and fast. Whittling down its HP is not gonna be enough on this one. The faster you break the gears the less HP you'll have to hurt it through all over again.

- When that golden phase starts, run away, it might hit you midway and kill you (talking from experience). When you go back in make sure to dodge the clock hands.

Elysia specific advice:

- You fight her after a cutscene on the secret floor immediately after Nihilus. She always appears a bit far away off to the side instead of right in front. Watch out.

- Watch your health and watch the timer or you'll have to beat up Nihilus all over again. I cannot stress this enough. Fight Elysia super cautious unless you want to have to beat Nihilus all over again. This won't matter nearly as much after you beat her in story because she's a secret boss.

- You can move a little before the cutscene starts, so if you have Jingwei's Wings you CAN heal right away if you're quick enough.

- I'm 90% sure Hua signets buffs are accumulating during the cutscene so waiting through it is actually good for you. Someone test it pls I'll rectify if I'm wrong.

- Unless you're doing ludicrous damage, your fail condition isn't dying to her, it's her self heal after she hits you enough to fill the transformation bar. You'll know if she starts pulling pink light from you. She heals TONS and FAST and drains your SP, you'll prolly lose to the timer if she does it.

- If you're concerned about losing out on cutscene save: You can skip the Mei power walk CG without any consequence whatsoever, the rest is rapid click through.

- Unfortunately, Elysia's tower crystal thingies are tough to break, so get really good at dodging because you probably can't afford to take your eyes off of her.

- The crystal towers WILL distract any summoned valks you have, so try to summon them away from them if you need them to mob Ely herself.

- If you wanna break them crystal lazer towers, ideally you want Elysia to spawn them all very close to each other. You can achieve this by sticking close to the first she summons when she charges up that attack— it always appears next to you.

- Most important bit: you do really need to dodge her arrows. They're hard to notice normally and almost impossible to spot once the battlefield turns into utter chaos. I'm sorry.

[missvelvetsstuff]

Fridays Place

Bucky Barnes x Reader Mob AU

Chapter 8

Warnings: swearing, vague descriptions of non-con

Friday's mind tried to take her to better, happier times as she dreamed of when she started volunteering with Peggy and learning about the horses.

~Flashback~

11 year old Y/N was working her weekend job at the pony ride, riding her favorite pony, Brownie, when her boss Julie called her over "Hey Y/N, I'd like for you to meet a friend of mine, why don't you put Brownie up?"

Y/N looked confused but smiled "Of course, Julie. Give me a minute." She dismounted and put Brownie up, then walked up to Julie and a very pretty lady with curly brown hair and an English accent.

Julie reached out to Y/N "Peggy Carter, this is Y/N. She's one of my best workers and really has a way with the horses. Y/N, this is-"

"Oh my god, you're Peggy Carter. You're one of my heroes. Your last Olympic dressage performance was amazing" Y/N gushed before she realized it "Uh, sorry, I just-"

Peggy gently interrupted her "It's alright. I'm very excited to meet you, after what Julie has told me."

Y/N looked at Julie in confusion and Julie grinned at her "Peggy is moving here to retire and be close to her brother who married a local."

Peggy smiled "I'm starting up a small stable and was hoping you would like to come train with me. Between what Julie has told me and what I've seen, I think you have great potential. I would like to help you achieve that potential."

Y/N's eyes lit up for a moment then dimmed. "Thank you but my mom can't afford lessons for me. That's why I work here, so I can ride a little."

"If you could help me with chores and taking care of the horses I would consider lessons to be fair compensation" Peggy assured her. "I'll have to speak with your mom, of course, and you will need to keep up with your schoolwork. What do you say?"

Y/N's first day at the stable didn't go as well as she had hoped. She went right after school and was fine, mucking out stalls when she heard a new voice.

"Look Agatha, this must be the street rat that aunt Peggy hired. She wouldn't shut up about how good this girl is. She's from Bed-Stuy"

Another voice responded with "Eeewww, my mom says it's nasty there. Peggy must be desperate."

A laugh in the first voice "At least we won't have to muck out stalls. I'll have more time to practice with Louie."

Y/N heard someone walk up and looked up at two girls around her age. She smiled shyly and softly introduced herself

The blonde girl put her hand out "I'm Sharon, Peggy's niece. I'm the best rider here. This is Agatha, my cousin" She looked Y/N over and snorted "What are those shoes?"

Y/N looked at her feet "I don't know, something cheap. My mom got these so I don't ruin my regular sneakers cleaning up after horses."

Sharon laughed "Don't you have any boots?"

Y/N sighed "No, not yet. My mom is saving up for some"

"Saving up? Are you poor or something? My mom said you live in Bed-Stuy so you must be poor, I'm not even allowed to go there. What about your dad?"

Y/N looked uncomfortable "He died serving in Afghanistan. When I was little"

~end flashback

She felt an awful stinging across her stomach and started waking. Sharon was back, pouring alcohol on the cuts from her flogging.

Sharon laughed "I'm sorry did I wake you up? You don't get to sleep. I'm going to make sure you suffer until I kill you. Trash like you doesn't deserve any mercy. My mother always said you should have been put down at birth. Some Bed-Stuy ghetto whore with the nerve to think you should be allowed to come to my circle like you were one of us. Mom was so angry at Aunt Peggy for favoring you that she helped me cause your accident with Louie. How is your neck?"

Friday was too exhausted to be surprised "Peggy was devastated when he died. She rescued him as a baby, How could you do that to her?"

Sharon scoffed "Oh please, She started it. I was the best rider, her best student. She just felt so sorry for you that she said you were. She should have been honest and it would have kept you from thinking you were our equal. Even after we ruined you, you wouldn't go away. You should have given Peggy's land to me instead of keeping that dump open. Well, you aren't coming back this time. Even as a prisoner you are still trying to steal Brock from me but I won't have it. I don't care what he says, you will be dead soon and your little stable plowed into the dirt."

Friday swallowed nervously "Sharon, I'm sorry that I made you feel that way but I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just wanted to be the best rider that I could and you caused an accident that killed Peggys favorite horse and put me in the hospital with 2 fractured vertebrae, surgery and months of physical therapy before I could even ride again. You definitely ruined my show career and-"

Sharon snapped "Would you shut the fuck up. Poor little Friday, dad died when you were little and your mom was forced to move to Bed-Stuy. You were bullied and worked your ass off so you could learn to ride. Then you play saint and use your stable to help people. Most of the kids you work with don't deserve any help. They are meant to stay in their place to serve their betters like me. My mom always saw thru your little apple polisher act. She knew you would try to weasel your way into our crowd and it was sick the way that Peggy encouraged you, like you weren't lower than the shit on my boots. Like you were good enough to marry Dave."

Sharon paced, then screamed "I hate you!!! I can't wait until you're dead. I wouldn't wait but Bucky needs to see you die, he needs to suffer for even considering you as worthy of a relationship with him. He's better off with that stupid little nanny but she won't be around much longer either." She smiled and poured more alcohol on Fridays welts. The pain was too much and Friday fainted again.

Bucky was pacing, thanks to Dots watch they had her location, one of Pierce's warehouses by the docks but they were working on a plan to get in without getting Friday hurt even more. His phone chimed and his stomach dropped. He knew it was Brock with more video of his abuse of Friday but Bucky didn't think he could watch any more. He knew he should have killed Brock after the incident with Becca but he had worried about the effect on Sharon and Becca's relationship. Now he knew they would never have any kind of relationship.

Sharon had never wanted kids, the pregnancy took a toll on her and getting back into shape was difficult. She said kids are too much work, and insisted on a nanny as soon as Becca was born. He steeled himself and looked at the video. It was bad, they were treating her like a piece of meat. Bucky couldn't stop himself and bolted to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach.

When Friday woke up again she was alone. The room was dark and very cold. Everything hurt and she was sticky all over. She could feel her stomach rumble but didn't expect any food from her captors. The door opened and Brock came into the room.

He grinned at her. "Good morning slut, glad to see you're awake and ready for more. I had to knock Sharon out, she's really pissed that I'm keeping you, wouldn't shut up about it. If she keeps it up I might leave her down there with you for awhile. My own personal basement wife, or two." He winked "All you will have to do is keep yourself in shape and take everything I give you. No more sick horses or bills or bratty kids. Just you and me. And maybe Jack if he's good." Brock laughed at the fear on her face and grabbed her chin "We are going to have so much fun."

He climbed on top of her and started abusing her again. Friday tried to think about anything else but he wouldn't let her drift off and slapped her face a few times. She tried not to cry but she couldn't help herself. Friday had only had a handful of boyfriends and the ones she did sleep with were pretty vanilla. She'd had 2 girlfriends but even they were pretty basic sexually too. Her relationships never lasted long enough to get kinky. Most of the things Brock was doing to her she had never even heard of, much less tried.

Friday just couldn't understand how she came to this point. Kidnapped by a mobster was never something she thought she would experience.

Brock finished and pulled away from her for a moment, looking at his watch. He grinned "Maybe if you can make Sharon come at least once a day like you did earlier she'll be nicer. She was pretty happy until I let slip that I was keeping you. She'll learn to like it either way. It's about time to check in with Barnes, make sure you smile nice for him."

Buckys phone rang, private number, Brock again. He let his breath out and answered. "What?"

Brock laughed "Gee Barnes, you sound a bit stressed. Everything alright?"

Bucky spat "Just say what you called to say Brock."

"Don't worry, I will. I almost feel bad because Friday feels so much better than Sharon, so tight and responsive, but you will never know. She will be locked away safe and sound, somewhere convenient for me. Never know when a basement wife fuck is just what a man needs. So did you like the video? She really is good."

Bucky roared "You better make sure you kill me because I won't stop until she is safe from you."

Brock chortle "You'll have to find her first but don't worry, you'll be dead before I can even get her new room set up. I think one more video would be perfect but I'll have to get Jack here to help. Gimme an hour or so and I'll call you back."

And he ended the call.

Bucky felt like he was going to lose it. "Stark! We need to get this moving. Brock says he's going to keep her and is setting up a room in his basement. We need to get her before they get to his house. Once she's there the security will be damn near impossible to get past."

Tony nodded. They all sat and put together a rescue plan. It wasn't perfect but they couldn't wait much longer. Carol, Val and Maria would stay at the stable with the civilians while Bucky, Steve, Clint, Sam, Rhodey and a couple dozen of Bucky's lower ranks were headed to the warehouse.

When they were wrapping up and getting ready to leave, Bucky realized that Tony had been uncharacteristically quiet. "Tony!" He hollared "What's on your mind? You're too quiet."

Tony looked up, a little dazed. "I think we need to call in The Cavalry. I'll catch up with you shortly. Wait for us, no Leroy Jenkins BS today."

Bucky nodded grimly, climbed onto his bike and headed towards the waterfront with Steve next to him, Sam and Clint following right behind and a number of cars coming up behind them. When they pulled up down the block from the building they all took their places.... Sam and Clint up high, most of the other cars surrounded the building from a distance and even a few police boats in the water about half a mile out. Everyone waited tensely waiting for Bucky's signal until they heard him whistle and headed in.

Brock was still doing foul things to Friday's body but the exhaustion and pain had caused her to retreat back into her own mind. When he realized she wasn't paying attention he slapped her a few times but she still didn't respond. He spat on her face and swore, still nothing. Brock pulled away from her and had just decided a cold shower might help when he heard shouting and gunfire, then an explosion.

"Fuck!" Brock grabbed his phone and called "Rollins! Get this bitch moving and follow me. It's showtime!"

Chapter 9

[peanutxparker]

A (very long) list of all of my favorite AJJ lyrics because why not

Candy Cigarettes and Cap Guns (2005)

“Well my great grand-dad he died of cancer, from smoking too many cigarettes. But I must confess that he did quite profess to being the coolest motherfucker I ever met.”

“And cocaine is essentially vegan and they don't give a fuck anyway.”

“And I can't help but miss him even though he hit me everyday.”

“So fuck white people! (fuck white people!)”

“Heaven is a special place in hell where you can watch the people you hate get hurt.”

“You find me quite charming and I find it quite alarming ‘cause I'm gonna take your life. You find me quite charming and I find it quite alarming and I'm sad you won't be my wife.”

“What makes you think you can be so pretty? And what makes you think you can be so great? And what makes you think you can be so intelligent? And what makes you think you can be so far away?”

“What makes you think you can be so wonderful? And what makes you think you can be so keen? And what makes me think I can be so hurtful? And what makes me think I can be so mean?”

“Sometimes I feel like a cigarette, I'm wrapped in paper and I'm suffocating to death.”

“I don't want to be a cigarette anymore. I'll go to hell in my self death all day and night, so please just put me out.”

People Who Can Eat People Are The Luckiest People In The World (2007)

“Rejoice despite the fact this world will hurt you. Rejoice despite the fact this world will kill you. Rejoice despite the fact this world will tear you to shreds. Rejoice because you’re trying your best”

“I'm afraid to leave the house. I'm as timid as a mouse. I'm afraid if I go out I'll outwear my welcome. I'm not a courageous man. I don't have any big lasting plans. I'm too cowardly to take a stand, I want to keep my nose clean. And it's sad to know that we're not alone in this and it's sad to know that there's no honest way out. In this life we lead, we could conquer everything if we could just get the brave to get out of bed in the morning.”

“And I give a thank-you to my father for not raising me, and I give a finger to my step-father for beating me, and I give props to myself for achieving, and god damn I’m glad that I survived, and god damn I’m surprised that I survived.”

“So I looked into your eyes and I saw the reflection of a coward you and I both hate very much and then I grabbed the knife and I let the blood out of your throat and I smashed those tiny mirrors inside of your skull.”

“If I don’t go to hell when I die I might go to heaven, might go to heaven. But probably not.”

“Just happy times and half assed rhymes and mimes because mimes are dears, but most of all I want no more tears.”

“No more racism. No more discrimination. No more fat dumb fucks keeping people out of our nation.”

“We’re all one big band across this land and we should sing in tune. Let us grow the balls to break the walls, we’ve got to do it soon.”

“And I hope our candles flicker and die so that our hearts don’t burn to the ground.”

“First we were babies, we're birthing and dying. Then we were children, we're playing and crying. And then we're teenagers and smoking and fucking. But now we're all grown up and we're sadly sighing.”

“And your manic depression, it comes and it goes. Your parasympathetic nervous system reacts and you're in fight or flight mode.”

“How's the world so small when the world is so large? And what made the world? Could I please speak to who's in charge? Everything is real but it's also just as fake. From your daughter's birthday party to your grandmother's wake.”

“I've tried to know which words to sing so many times. I tried to know which chord to play and I tried to make it rhyme. And I tried to find the key that all good songs are in. And I tried to find that notes to make that great, resounding din.”

“There's someone in your head waiting to fucking strangle you.”

“I've got essays, I've got finals due. I have got lots and lots of problems.”

“Welcome to this world, have as much fun as you would like while helping others have as much fun as you're having. Be kind to those you love and be kind to those you don't but for God's sake you gotta be kind.”

Can’t Maintain (2009)

“I wanna pick up the pieces and plant them in the ground. When a tree grows there I want to chop that tree down. Build it into a boat and float it in a lake. And with dynamite I will explode the thing that makes me make mistakes.”

“Sometimes I get so lonesome I can't breathe. Sometimes I get so scared that I can't speak. Sometimes I get so worried I can't hear my heartbeat. Anyway…”

“I wanna tear out my heart and give it away to a person more deserving one day. If all I see is the worst in everything that's all I'm gonna get, that's all I'm gonna get, that's all I'm gonna get.”

“And people freak me out. People make me scared. People make me so damn self-aware.”

“I get bronchitis twice a year at least. My lungs aren't the way they should be. And I smoke more than a mother fuckin chimney. I declare war on my body.”

“You will cough up crows that peck my eyes and I will do nothing but go blind.”

“We could live there together or I'll live alone, less happy but I'll live... unfortunately.”

“And no one will know how I truly feel ‘cause I can no longer differentiate between what is fake and what is real. I don't know how I feel.”

“And I will always appreciate bad days like this because they grant me a point of reference in regards to my happiness.”

“If the bridge that I was driving over collapsed while I was driving over it that may not be such a bad thing. I would finally meet my maker, I could meet the great creator, and I'd punch him for teaching me how to sing.”

“Don't know if I believe in god but sometimes I pray because the way I was raised keeps me afraid.”

“I hope I can forgive me for having the nerve to exist. I hope someone can help me make some sense of this.”

“Sense and sensibility and peaceful productivity, a pretty girl with broken wings is all that I desire. But there's so much hostility in all the things surrounding me. The awful glow of enmity is trying to stop my shine. So I try to look inwardly at all the things inside of me but sodomy and buggery keep bubbling to the top.”

“I met you once over the phone, you sounded sad and you seemed alone. You left me but I never left you. I never had the chance to.”

“If you spend all your heart on something that has died you are not alive and that can't be your life.”

Knife Man (2011)

“There's no one to blame. People are just fucking mean.”

“So if I see a penny on the ground, I leave it alone or fucking flip it. I'm a straight white male in America. I've got all the luck I need.”

“I've got a pile of broken mirrors and I'm walking under ladders and I'll spill a ton of salt because to me that doesn't matter.”

“You were dead by the time that I had found you. Your blood was spilled on the couch where we had first kissed. So I carried you west to the sea so I could wash you. Your body felt just like a back pack.”

“I hate whiny, fucking songs like this but I can't afford a therapist. Sorry guys, here's a solo.”

“Some days I feel like I'm the weakest and others the strongest. These days are the longest and I've got the weirdest feeling about this and I wanna go away for a while.”

“I wish I had a bullet big enough to fucking kill the sun. I'm sick of songs about the summer.”

“When you have no one, you are no one. Like I said, I used to work at the people pound. All these no ones clumped together, just like a human lost and found. If they left them all be someones there wouldn't be enough to go around. It's better for us all us if there are no ones. And I knew a lot of no ones round that time. They used to all be someones until something took their life and all their someones disappeared while they're stuck there waiting in a line. And for them now, no one seems to have the time.”

“They say ambition is an enemy of weakness and greatness is an enemy of fame.When I pick up my guitar and I try to write a song, I think of what my mentor used to say… “Who fucking gives a rat's ass Steve, just write a love song. Cus they'll keep your belly full and your wallet lined. Don't bother these nice people with your sad sack songs. If you ask me I think they're just a waste of time.””

“Inspiration is the best friend of my sorrow and sorrow is the best friend of my drink. Well I want to look myself in the eye tomorrow but I'm too worried of what other folk's will think.”

“And the troubles in my heart need to get let out. And the troubles in my heart need to escape. And I never liked writing poetry and I never liked doing pottery and God knows that I never learned to paint. So every now and then, I'll sing sad songs. Cus it keeps my spirit light and my conscience clean. And if you don't care to hear I don't mind if you go out for some air. Cus I'm happy that you're happier than me.”

“So I wish I had a cigarette for every time a perfect stranger asked me for a cigarette but I wonder what a cigarette will really do to help that person out. I wish to God I had some spare change for every time a perfect stranger asked me for some spare change but there's not enough spare change in the world to make such an empty gesture count.”

“You can hope it gets better and you can follow your dreams but hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping.”

“You don't have it any better and you don't have it any worse. You're an irreplaceable human soul with your own understanding of what it means to suffer and that’s a huge bummer.”

“I'm afraid of the way I live my life. I'm afraid of the way I don't. I'm afraid of the things that I want to do but I won't. I'm afraid of God. I'm afraid to believe and I'm afraid of all the loved ones that I've made leave. I'm afraid that my dog doesn't love me anymore. I'm afraid of the social laziness that let Kitty Genovese die. And I'm afraid of the mob mentality that makes otherwise normal people go blind. I'm afraid of the way that the world works and I'm afraid of the words in my notebooks. I'm afraid that you all know that I am a pervert.”

“It's harder to be yourself than it is to be anybody else. I wish I were a little less of a coward but the big red bird that lives under the city doesn't give a damn about me and it dies every night. So I bought a knife. I am a knife.”

Rompilation (2012)

“I used to be a spiderman, I used to be a cowboy from hell, but not anymore. Now I'm just a clam and I live inside this shell inside this shell I am. God damn I hate my brain.”

“I'll dip my brain in medicine so that you can stand to be with me.”

“Give me your tired, give me your tired, give me your poor. When our government acts like this, I wonder what World War II was for and the rest of the country hates us more and more. Lady Liberty is not a whore.”

“This is not a protest, it's a tortoise slowly pushing through a race. I hope the tortoise keeps its patience while the hare continues to pepper-spray its face.”

“There is no enemy, there's only people that also love their families and they're scared that they won't have enough long after they are deceased. But how much money do they need? Love turns into fear, and fear turns into greed. There is no enemy, there's only dummies that also love their families.”

“And this is not a phase, it's just a matter of time, with diligence and peacefulness, you will reach them and you will change their minds. If you stay there long enough, they'll start to see you.”

“And when you pushed my face in shit how could that have made you feel like a man or like a monster. It's your fault that I can't tell the difference.”

“In the evening I try songwriting. I'm self loathing, but I love singing. I'll try escaping these evil feelings but they keep coming, they keep coming…”

“So the baby's gonna have a daddy, that's wonderful news. He won't be the greatest parent but neither will you! Gotta get out while you can, otherwise you're screwed. Your legs are broken and your eyes are black and blue.”

“And smoking is like hiring a hitman for five dollars a day, and as cool as that is, I don't wanna keep dying this way.”

Christmas Island (2014)

“Shoot him again ‘cause I can see his soul dancing.”

“If you give it to me I’ll give it back much harder. If you treat me like a son, then I’ll treat you like a daughter. Everyone has a future, everyone has a soul, everyone has a heart, they have a mind, they have control.”

“The Coffin Dancer dances like he has something the prove because he does. He sleeps a couple hours in the morning, hates the morning when he wakes up.”

“The Coffin Dancer dances like he wants to make a friend, but he does not.”

“Getting naked and playing with guns. There's a gerbil in the microwave, a baseball bat in everyone. Sharing kisses and building a bomb. We'll set it off like Microsoft in '94.”

“McDonald's PlayPlace before the Xbox, cake frosting, sweet talking, bedroom wall, covered in knives, touching God, burning shit. We'll make a wish and take a trip to Future Town like our daddy did.”

“Have you ever wanted to be, have you ever wanted to see someone better in the mirror? Have you ever wanted to go, have you ever wanted to know somewhere greener, somewhere cleaner. I bet you got something beautiful in mind.”

“I can’t handle astounding works of beauty. I think I like my pretty pretty ugly but the beautiful soul I witnessed in that movie was an entirely different kind of overwhelming. It was a dog that won’t stop barking. Like a cut that never stops bleeding. Arizona sunsets in the early evening. Or a grown man inconsolably weeping.”

“I am the Kool-Aid stains on the mouth of a kid whose name is most likely Cody. He had a juice box for breakfast and he carries a stick that he most likely found in the alley. Cody doesn't have friends and his parents hate each other and he wants to find a better way to love his family and after school he hangs out in the abandoned house behind the Arby's.”

The Bible 2 (2016)

“Oh, I love you cause I love you cause I can.”

“On your last night at Saint Mary's you were way too intoxicated to breathe. So I used your ribs as ladders and I climbed up on your chest and I jumped up and down just like a trampoline.”

“Confused and rude. Such a special kind of way to be cruel.”

“If I were one of the things, I'd be american garbage. The most beautiful thing. The most beautiful american garbage you have ever seen.”

“No more shame, no more fear, no more dread.”

“And if you don't want to feel the feeling, no one should ever make you feel the feeling.”

“I thought I saw you before I knew who you were.”

“I just wanted to rage but all I got was tired”

“I showed him all the books that I was raised on. Your Madeleine L'Engle(s) and D'Aulaires' Mythologies.”

“And his eyes became a beacon, an LCD projector, broadcasting all my memories in a clear and vivid picture. His tongue became a staircase, his uvula - The knocker of an ornate wooden door that lead me straight into my future. His throat became a hallway with a thousand baby pictures and I became forgiveness, I transformed into the closure that I lost when I learned about the tragedy of all of us. I lost it when I learned about the tragedy of all of us.”

Good Luck Everybody (2019)

“If you don't give it to them they'll starve to death and that's alright.”

“I've got the normalization blues, this isn't normal, this isn't good.”

“I'm detached and I'm distracted, all keyed up but unproductive, vacillating between being all excited and disgusted and then dozing lackadaisically in this bubble where I've made my mental home. Connection's more important now than it ever was, but I'd rather be alone.”

“And when we talk about the president, we're either pissed off or we're giggling about an atrocity he's committing or some stupid shit he's tweeting. He's a symptom and a weapon of the evil men who really run the show. The ones who melt down human beings into money like a cruel Sorcerer's Stone.”

“This is the golden age of dickotry, probably the last golden age of anything, and the ugliest word in the English language is anthropocene. Good luck, everybody. Good luck.”

“But before that, you'll be a doormat, for every vicious narcissist in the world. Oh how they'll screw you, all up and over, then feed you silence for dessert.”

“I'm sorry that you have to have a body, filled with infection, one hundred scabs singing in unison, eyes and hands, sometimes bullets, uninvited, passing through us.”

“Oh to be awake for such a shitty dream. A bullet in the head of every decent thing.”

“The lake of dead black children that America created is getting fuller than the founding Fathers even wanted. The ghost of great America was underestimated and now it rages like a cold sore on the lip of this dumb nation. Again we've slipped inside a pit of absolute despair. That's where we live.”

“Rewarding our worst cruelty, they destroyed our shared reality, and now they upsell us our dignity like some fucked VIP package.”

“There is no absolute, these days there's no such thing as truth and you don't need to be a dick about it.”

“I'm a burnout and a fool, oblivious to all I do. I move my lips when I read and breathe with my mouth open, wide open. Timid, meek, and cruel, this is the best that I can do. I need to speak my truth, yet here I'm broken wide, wide open. My resentment, big and strong, and all the things that I can't change. They'll buckle me beneath the weight. I will drive myself insane with all the things that I can't change. I hate all the things that I can't change.”

“You're a loudmouth and a tool, and as it turns out I am too, and you don't need to be a dick about it.”

“Because I know that you know what I need more than me and I know that you need me more than that.”

“For all the pussies you grab and the children you lock up in prison, for all the rights you roll back and your constant stream of racism, for all the poison you drip in my ear, for all your ugly American fear. I wrote you this beautiful song called Psychic Warfare.”

“I hate you with all of my heart. I hate you with all of my art.”

“I went back to the desert, little Midwest in me, and now I am colder than I used to be. I live in a fortress the shape of my body, and now there's a coldness, and it's shaped like me. Now I don't suffer any more bullshit gladly. Even though everything's bullshit now, here in 2019 and you can bet it's gonna be a bunch of bullshit too out in sweet 2020 or whenever this album's released.”

[rnufharose]

Blood, Sweat, and Tears - Chapter 8

Words: 2.9k

Trigger Warnings: There will be murder, violence, and post traumatic stress in this chapter. Please read at your discretion.

︻デ═一 ♥

The man stumbled backward, holding his bruised jaw before meeting the gaze of his attacker. He saw his black hair, those intense eyes, and his suit was as dark as night. He knew that man anywhere, a sneer curling on his lips before he broke into laughter, "You're him, aren't you?! Junmyeon's lapdog! I didn't think I'd find you here." Jong-hoon pulled his glock, pointing it toward Sehun, his finger on the trigger. "You sure know how to make a man angry...”

"You're way outside you bounds, Jong-hoon," the hitman said dryly, that cold expression not leaving his eyes. "If I were you, I'd leave before this situation gets worse. Wouldn't want other groups finding unwelcome guests stumbling about."

Jungkook pushed the door open. After taking a rest for a moment, he too had heard Haneul screaming. In a fit of panic, he ran into the alleyway to check on her, coming across the scene in front of him.

Choi Jonghoon of the FT Syndicate stood before them

Jungkook knew him from many news articles that showcased his violent crimes. He also saw the other man, who was most likely from another crime syndicate, but he wasn't too sure. He had never seen him before.

Following behind him was Taehyung and Bella, who noticed the way he had left abruptly. The silver-haired girl moved carefully to the side, reaching out her hand, "Neullie! Come quickly!"

The brunette snapped out of her frightened state, getting to her feet and running away from the two males, grabbing Bella's hand, and she pulled Haneul close to her.

"Take her inside," Sehun instructed in a hard tone, his eyes still on Jonghoon.

"Okay," Jungkook answered, and Taehyung ushered them back into the storage room, closing the door, leaving the two men to themselves.

"Oh Sehun... EXO's merciless hitman," the older male chuckled darkly as he raised his gun. "The boss is going to be pretty pissed when figures out you've got your sights on her. You do know she's a threat, right? She isn't as innocent as you think she is."

The raven-haired male took out his own handgun, ignoring his words. If one could hold the gun out toward the light, one would notice the small tally marks that were carved onto the barrel. "One last warning. Leave, keep your mouth shut, and you might live to see another day. In all honesty, a rat like you isn't even worth my time."

"But you're worth my time," Jonghoon hissed. "When I take you out, EXO will be crippled, Junmyeon won't have a hold of his territory, and that girl can join her pitiful grandmother!" He pulled the trigger, shooting at the hitman, who quickly ducked for cover behind the large metal trash bin.

He could hear the bullets hitting against it, leaving dents as the shots echoed through the alleyway. No doubt the civilians would be in a panic and Sehun hoped the employees in The Magic Shop would find a way to keep their customers from leaving.

Back inside, Haneul was seated in the couch, endeavoring to steady her heartbeat, the onset of a panic attack taking over her body. The events that transpired could have gone another way, but her friends had come to help her. And that man... she couldn't help but feel scared again. He looked like someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone. "Oh my God," she choked. "I was almost—"

"You weren't," Bella held her hand tightly, rubbing her back. "Nothing will happen to you."

"Aish," Taehyung ran his hands through the blue strands of his hair. "If the customers hear what's going on outside, they won't feel safe..."

"I'll keep them entertained," Jungkook proceeded toward the door. "Call the cops and tell them what's going on. I'm giving them a round of drinks on the house."

"Good idea," Bella looked away from the other girl, pulling out her phone to make a call.

The gunshots kept coming until Jonghoon had run out of ammo. He made to quickly reload his gun, but Sehun took this opportunity to shoot him in the shoulder and legs, crippling him and drawing out a painful grunt. He stood from his place behind the garbage disposal, his gun still poised and his eyes narrow. "And here I thought you were going to put up a fight..." his shots were clear and concise, as expected of a merciless killer.

The other man began to whimper, crawling back while nursing his wounds, blood staining his suit.

"You wasted bullets, firing at a target you couldn't even see. Being trigger happy doesn't get the job done," Sehun continued. "It's pathetic, really. You're in such a well-established syndicate, and yet, you can't even take out one person." He towered over the cowering man now, one of his hands tucked into his pocket. "I'm at a crossroads with myself... do I shoot and put you out of your misery? Or do I take you in and see what I can get out of you? You seem to know something I'm invested in."

"I-If you kill me," Jonghoon spat. "The boss will kill you," he didn't stop cowering as Sehun's tall figure overshadowed him. "That girl is going to get what's coming to her! Her blood—her family—is tainted! Once she's killed, she won't pose a threat to the boss!"

"And what threat does that girl and her family pose?" The hitman questioned, leaning forward. "Her grandmother wasn't just as innocent as she is, and now you're claiming she's a threat? I fail to see the logic here." At this point, if Jong-hoon kept talking, he was going to end up a corpse. He was practically giving away everything he knew.

"She's the heiress to the Cho Clan!" He spoke strongly, backing up against the building. "Her father... was Seoul's most elite mob boss. He owned almost every territory before my boss took him out! We were so sure we had killed every last one of them, but instead, the man shipped his daughter off to the boondocks to live with his wife's mother! That old lady had been raising our biggest threat! One day, she'll kill your clan too!"

"And what makes you think this girl has any recollection or indication as to what her family once did?" Sehun continued to inquire. "From my view, she doesn't have a single clue. You're just targeting her for something she isn't aware of. It's scum like you that I hate the most or yours or any other group will lay a finger on her." He places his finger on the trigger. "If they do, they won't make it out alive... I'll make sure of it."

The final gunshot sounded, and the male's body went limp against the building, no longer breathing. Sehun lowered his gun slowly, tucking it away as the sound of sirens came from the distance. He faced the back door of The Magic Shop, his expression softening before he ran out of the alleyway. We'll meet again, he thought with slight melancholy. She had seen his face and he saw the fear her eyes possessed. He didn't meant to scare her, but he knew she would eventually come to know of his existence. He would have to relay the events of today to Suho later.

︻デ═一 ♥

Word of Jonghoon's murder reached the ears of the civilians. The alleyway beside The Magic Shop has become a crime scene. After the patrons left and they closed up, the police had interrogated the staff but Taehyung had instructed everyone to stay quiet about the unknown hitman that had come to take out Jonghoon. It could have been out of gratitude, or maybe it was out of fear of getting involved with the mafia. One thing was certain: none of them wanted to become targets for any crime syndicates.

Haneul had changed out of her dress and into a black shirt and jeans, laying on the couch and pushing away any thoughts of what happened hours ago. She felt dirty, like his hands wouldn't leave her body. Even taking a shower and scrubbing her skin until it almost bled wasn't enough to make her feel clean again.

"Hey," Bella knocked on the door and stepped inside, and the brunette sat up, noticing the chipped mug of tea in her hand. "I made this for you. It's chamomile. It'll soothe you."

"Thank you," Haneul accepted the mug, the warmth of the tea spreading through her hands and across her nerves, the scent already soothing her.

"Sorry about the mug," her friend chuckled sheepishly. "The rim is slightly chipped."

"It's alright," she bright the mug to her lips. "I like it this way..." After taking a sip, she placed the beverage down, smiling sadly. "Halmeoni always had tea like this... I guess the two of us are a bit peculiar..." She released a long exhaled, closing her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever catch a break..."

"Things will turn out okay in the end. You'll see," Bella assured her. "You just have to hang in there. No one expects you to get back on your feet right away. I know you want to do it quickly but you've been through a lot. It's okay to be vulnerable and ask for help."

"I know, but this isn't like me," Haneul replied. "I've lost everything and I know it's hard, but I just want to be strong. I want to handle everything on my own. If I can't do that after everything that's happened, then what kind of a granddaughter am I?"

"Neullie," her friend began, her tone firm. "You are one hell of a good granddaughter, but if Halmeoni was here, she would tell you that it's fine to break. She knows you're trying your hardest not to let her death define you and she knows it was a traumatic experience on your part, but that doesn't mean you're not allowed to grieve. That doesn't mean you're not allowed to cry after what happened today. Don't bottle it up. Let everything out. Cry if you want to. It'll ease the pain you're feeling."

"Mianhe, Bella," Haneul apologized with a dejected chuckle. "But... I've cried enough. I'm on my own now. I can't afford to cry anymore."

The silver-haired girl opened her mouth to speak again, but the rest of the boys came into the storage room, gracing then with their presence.

"Gwenchana?" Jimin asked, his eyes wide with concern as he sat beside Haneul, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a tight hug.

"I'm fine now," she patted his arm. "A little shaken up, but I'll live."

"This is scary," Beomgyu frowned. "There was a mob fight right next to us and we could have been caught in the crossfire."

"Luckily, that didn't happen and everyone was safe," Jungkook reminded him.

"If this happens again, The Magic Shop will no longer be safe," Yoongi drowned, his eyes downcast. "What do we do?"

"We stay open," Namjoon answered. "We can't give up yet. The mafia isn't going to make our restaurant a base for their crimes."

"Namjoon hyung is right," Soobin added. "We'll take extra precautions. We can't bribe the customers with free drinks every time since we need the money, but we can put on performances ten times as better."

"I know we kept quiet when the police came but who were those two guys?" Jin wondered.

"Their names were Choi Jonghoon and Oh Sehun," Taehyung said, his hands tucked into his slacks. "Everyone knows who Jonghoon is, right?"

"One of the FT Clan's hitmen," Hoseok spike solemnly. "But what would he be doing here? It doesn't make any sense..."

"The mafia are dirty people," Yeonjun pointed out. "They're involved in the use of drugs, dealing with contraband, sex trafficking—the list goes on."

"And the other man? Oh Sehun?" Taehyun rubbed the back of his neck, looking between his friends.

"I don't know much about him aside form rumors," Huening Kai said. "People say he's very scary... he's ruthless and kills people without a second thought..."

"Yeah, he's in EXO. That's why," Taehyung said to the two of them, his face indicating seriousness. "He's a hitman under one of the most powerful clans in Seoul. Whatever you all do, if you see him again, run."

Bella tensed slightly afternoon hearing that name. It did well to stroke fear into her heart. She's heard a number of stories about EXO, and the realization that one of its members was right in their alleyway made her feel slightly unsafe. What was worse was that this was the same man she served a drink to, one who she thought was a good person who was genuinely interested in her friend. If she had known he harbored ill will toward Haneul, she wouldn't have talked to him. The possibility of him taking her and keeping her all to himself made her anxious.

"I'll stay far away," Haneul promised. Like Bella, the very name made her blood run cold. Even the man's face was frightening. She didn't think she could look him in the eyes God forbid she come across him again. "If... If I see him again... I'll run... I'll hide... I'll do whatever it takes to escape."

︻デ═一 ♥

On his way to meet with Suho, Sehun remained unfazed about the night's events. Haneul's expression of fear still plagued him immensely, even though he had managed to acquire information concerning her and regarding her grandmother's murder. It seemed now, the only way to protect her was having her at his side since she had seen his face.

The guard allowed him entry, opening the door to the penthouse, and Suho looked up from his tablet, placing it onto the coffee table and turning toward the younger male. "Sehun-ah... I heard what happened. Are you alright?"

"I am, hyung," he bowed respectfully. "I acquired information on Haneul as well. I'm sure you'll find it useful as I have."

"What is it?" He questioned.

"Jonghoon may be another body added to the count, but he was useful in his short time of living," the hitman explained. "He told me everything. Haneul is the last known member of the Cho syndicate. The FT syndicate feels threatened by her and have attempted to kill her even though she has no idea about her family's background."

"I see," EXO's leader held his chin, furrowing his brows. "You said the Cho Clan, yes? Well, as it turns out, my father was in an alliance with the Don of that syndicate?"

"Abeoji was one of his allies?" Sehun tilted his head. "How do you know that?"

"You'd be surprised about what you learn once you become the Don of your own clan," Suho chuckled, crossing the living room and pouring a glass of whiskey. He handed one glass for he raven-haired male before bringing his own drink to his lips. "The Cho Clan was the biggest syndicate in Seoul, ruling over almost the whole city. It's boss married a civilian woman and eventually, they had a daughter, who we now know is Haneul. I always thought she had been killed as well once the mob war between them and the FT Clan began. Abeoji always said there were no survivors, but now we know that she was given to her Halmeoni before she could get involved and she lived a life away from the violence, not knowing her origins. The only thing we can do now is protect her. Her father would have wanted that since he didn't want her to be a part of the underworld in the first place."

"Yeah... about protecting her," Sehun frowned, looking up from his drink. "She saw my face... I'm not sure how much longer I can go watching her from the shadows. By now, she's become more aware of her surroundings."

"So... she's afraid then," the older male hummed, placing his glass down. "I'm not sure what else you can do to alleviate her anxiety other than having her by your side. Give it time if she's scared. Now that she knows you're here, she'll eventually learn about your kind side. And if all else fails, show her Vivi. That dog will certainly assuage her worries."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sehun laughed a bit, his smile fading afterward. "Guess that means she has to live with me now..." the last thing he wanted was for her to be isolated from the world, to feel like a prisoner and be so small in his presence, but he wouldn't allow that. He would make sure she was comfortable and that she saw past his merciless side. Sehun couldn't imagine hurting her. After seeing her at the funeral, closed off from other people, and then tonight, signing out toward the customers at The Magic Shop, that girl had to be protected. She was a source of light in the darkness of his world and he would preserve the light that shone from her. He will treat her with care and patience and maybe, she won't feel afraid.